April 30, 2019 The Love Letter Does anyone under the age of 30 even know what a “love letter” is? Back in the day…before smart phones, computers, the internet, instantaneous communication, there were letters. Real letters. Handwritten. Thought-out. Emotional. Confidential. Meaningful. Heartfelt. Back in the day, people spoke on telephones, in person, and managed to engage with one another without the use of any electronic devices whatsoever. And they wrote to each other. Love letters. Letters home from camp. Postcards from faraway places, like Ocean City, Maryland. Slips of paper passed in school. Grocery lists. Letters to friends. Letters to distant relatives. Thank you notes. RSVP…
April 16, 2019 Shatter the Illusion of Integrity (part 2) Not to pile on, but doesn’t it seem like we just can’t seem to get this integrity thing right here in Baltimore? I guess this must happen in other municipalities, no? But jeez Louise, really, more tawdry scandal again? And we can’t even claim a scandal of the salacious variety (think Anthony Weiner); ours is embarrassingly petty: not particularly large sums of money acquired in dishonest and/or questionable ways by Baltimoreans whom we are supposed to trust. Dixon with her gift cards. DeSousa avoiding income taxes. And now Healthy Holly. As longtime Baltimore chronicler and conscience Dan Rodricks reminds us,…
April 3, 2019 Would a Little Follow Up Kill You? Feast or famine. When it comes to follow up, this is what happens: You either are stalked hourly by a robocomputer emailing you about your unclaimed shopping cart on a website you visited by accident 3 years ago, or you get crickets from the person who took time to come out, meet with you, ask you pointed questions, so much so that you feel compelled to file a missing person’s report on him. Why does appropriate follow up seem like such a daunting challenge? If you are in sales (and these days, we all are, pretty much), and you respond…
