The Little Words Mean the Most

 

 

Selected Highlights BloomCon 2018 Baltimore 5/21/18

 

Amy Eisenstein explains how to get HAPPIER fast, before you make that next donor call.

 

The night before, a table full of Bloomies and speakers and guests ate at the 1744 Elkridge Furnace Inn. Early arrivals are (just in from the Italian fundraising conference) Simone J. Sweetikins; Bloomerang co-founder, Jay Love; and Nonprofit Business Solutions founder, Mike Niman (he's doing amazing stuff with hyper-personalization). That's owner and executive chef, Daniel Wecker, classically trained in French cooking, serving contemporary American dishes entirely locally sourced and organic, explaining the history of his pre-Revolutionary building (it was a wreck when he took it over).

The new face for me was Kishshana Palmer, CFRE. She spoke about hiring and keeping great talent. Simone had told me Kishshana was on fire. And she OWNED that crowd: smart, charismatic, and fabulous. ("Life is too short to wear boring clothes.") Simone agrees: she premiered her new Vegas-themed skirt, bought a month ago at a playful Detroit boutique.

i made an infographic, mom (Don't step in it!)

 

 

 

Super Powers Under Consideration (SPUCs)

 

Ignorance is NOT a superpower

 

Ignorance IS my superpower.

 

Exclusivity is a superpower. Anger is a superpower. Greed is a superpower. Pride is a superpower.

 

Icould g on

Detroit Confidential: Dedicated to the ever-marvelous Ian MacQuillin

 

found in a print shop in Detroit

 

 

 

 

Detroit Confidential: Shopping for pleasure mixed with meaning, dinner at Wright & Company

 

He was my friend

 

 

 

no more phone calls at 3:40 AM

Johnny Boy is dead

he was my friend

"my best friend" I called him

back many many times

 

it is the season of death

 

at last; it is also spring and irony sits panting

John panted and slurred

like a teeny toad pasted on my front door

within my fingers' withering reach

a never-large circle of friends

shrinking to a dot, you recall

how TVs once shut down?

 

 

Detroit Confidential: Is this what "affordable housing" looks like in your mind? Many perceptions are 50 years out of date.

 

Presbyterian Villages of Michigan, Thome Rivertown Neighborhood in Detroit.

Detroit Confidential: Murals everywhere

Detroit Confidential: The Crawl Ends at the Candy Bar

 

The most popular cocktail takes the longest to make: The New Gimlet. The Candy Bar, at the Siren Hotel, counts itself (without undue hubris) amongst the 4 best bars in Detroit, for innovation. It's tiny, behind a heavy curtain, off the lobby of a hotel that's under renovation. And everyone behind the counter would be a better President than Donald Trump. Why do they carefully place drops of the finger-lime caviar on the leaf floating in their Gimlet. "To simulate dew on lily pads." I quote. NEVER travel without a note pad and a pen.