I’m about to head down towards the Art Institute to dine at the Russian Tea Room with Dondi, Ted, Adam and others. While many of the people coming have blogs, this is not a blogger meet-up or a geek dinner. Just, um, a dinner of geeks with blogs who happen to be friends. After dinner we will wander north and go see the Nightmare Before Christmas in 3D.
I did say geeks, right?
Blogging has been light lately. I wish I could say that it is because I have been diligently working on my novel, you know, the one I need for my Novel Writer’s Workshop. But I haven’t. Or because I’ve been diligently working on organizing, purging, cleaning and sprucing up my place. But I haven’t. I have been watching a lot of Family Guy and Two and a Half Men. Two shows I’m surprised to enjoy in their non-stop syndicated life on WGN.
Work has been very good lately. I had a major client presenation–the wrap-up of three months of research. Whew. I got kudos for leading the project–overbudget, but on time and with big ups from the client. I’ll work on better use of budget on the next big project.
I’m preparing for a trip out east for a week of writing. Hooray! My Edelman Escape is finally happening. Five nights in a cabin on the Potomac River. Writing. Writing a novel. Cool, huh?
Thanks to the people who gave me constructive feedback on fundraising. Lots of good questions and things to consider. One friend wants to see if we can do some stuff with ThePoint.com–fundraising using the Tipping Point. Nobody pays until enough is pledged to make a difference.
The renovation of the sanctuary at Emanuel created, as I understand it, a much more flexible and open space. I do not think creating a space that fits a congregation is a misuse of funds. We do, if people were wondering, have a finance committee and fundraising committees. I’m just in my first year on the Board of Directors (a huge honor for someone my age) and learning the ropes of boards, religious institutions (before I became a Jew and joined Emanuel, I was never a member of a religious institution) and Jewish philanthropy.
I think the idea of a foundation to fund construction at little shuls might be interesting. I even wonder (thinking out loud here) what would happen on a local level. All the synagogues raising funding into a collective pool and then doling it out as appropriate. Face it, Agudas Achim needs more work than any of the rest of us.
I don’t know what the incomes of other shuls are, honestly I don’t spend a lot of time comparing us to other shuls. I don’t find that particularly constructive. What I do find constructive is dreaming big and putting those dreams on paper occasionally.
And by paper, I mean blog.
Have I found those friends with an extra $500,000? Not yet. I’ll let you all know when I do and invite you to the ribbon cutting ceremony in the basement near the boiler.
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