Archive for March, 2009

Why do otherwise civilized human beings disregard decorum so entirely in the presence of cell phones?

It sounds like such a retro problem, doesn’t it? With everyone texting and Twittering and updating their Facebook pages, who has time to actually talk? Apparently, the etiquette impaired.

Tuesday night, during a live performance at the Fox Theatre, a patron not only left his cell phone on but answered during the show and proceeded to have a conversation!

“Oh, that’s okay, you aren’t bothering me,” the guy told whoever was calling.

Seriously, I am not making this up. Apparently he and his companion didn’t care much for the performance, and were in the process of walking out when the phone rang.

The patron was seated near the front and continued with his conversation all along his walk up the aisle and out the back of the theater! Not only was this an affront to other members of the audience it was unconscionably rude to the performers.

SB considered dialing 911 but figured …

Continue reading Mobile manners? »

A file photo of the 2005 Race for the Cure

With a little more than a month to go before this year’s Race for the Cure, corporate sponsorship dollars are down between $30,000 and $40,000 from than last year’s event. The April 22 Flavors of Atlanta gala benefiting the Georgia chapter of the American Liver Foundation is projected to net about $90,000, a $30,000 drop from last year and well below the original goal of $175,000. Similarly, the May 2 Wings of Mercy ball, benefiting the St. Joseph’s Mercy Foundation,  is likely going to net around $200,000, some $70,000 less than last year.

The bottom line is fewer dollars for great causes, but charity directors and volunteers aren’t complaining. They’re getting creative.

Christan Wojcik, left, and Joanne Chesler Gross, are both seeing changes to the fundraising landscape. They're shown here with Kim Lape, center, at the recent Atlanta Ballet Ball.

“The days of throwing a cool party just to throw a cool party and calling it a …

Continue reading How do you fundraise in a tough economy? »

Burn, baby, burn.

The models from this year’s Georgia Heat Firefighters Calendar will be on hand to sign the calendar and meet fans from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. April 18 at Urban Body Studios, 730 Ponce De Leon Place.

Lest you fear SB is trafficking in beefcake for prurience alone, these are real firefighters who lend their fine selves to good causes. Sales of the calendar, which include important fire-safety tips, benefit the Georgia Firefighters Burn Foundation.

The event, featuring a silent auction and fashion show, is co-hosted by Action Cycling Atlanta and the Burn Foundation, benefits the Emory Vaccine Center.  

Caterer Keith Hand of Bridge Catering is feeding the crowd while guests take in the fashions of Drew Lewis and groove to tunes by DJ Todd Skelton.

No word on what or how much the calendar guys will be wearing.

Continue reading Return of the hot, half-naked firefighters »

Tiffany & Co. opened at Phipps Plaza in 1969 as the iconic chain’s first mall presence, and has played a major role in Atlanta’s philanthropic scene, hosting events or donating bling for charity auctions.

In appreciation, well-wishers toasted regional vice president Tom Carroll, who is taking a top T&C post in San Francisco. The March 25 gathering at Lola was hosted by Cynthia Good and Joey Reiman, Vikki Locke and  Mike Hughes, Claudia Patton, Meg Reggie and Rick Butgereit and Tony Conway. Guests included Margaret Anthony, Allison Carter, Misty Elliott, Charles Ellis, Drs. Nancy and Jeff Gallups, Marylin Johnson, Judith and Juan Montier, Sharon Silva, Karin Smithson and Nancy Staab.

Buckhead Coalition president Sam Massell made a presentation declaring Carroll the Honorary Mayor of Buckhead for the day.  All of the guests signed the mat around a framed party invitation as a parting gift for Carroll.   

Vikki Locke and Tom Carroll

We visited before Tom and wife Carolyn …

Continue reading Cocktails at Tiffany’s »

It’s been a gray and trying week, so I sought solace at Slice.

For some reason I felt like listening to Come Pick Me Up over and over again, so that’s what I did. (By the way did anyone else catch Ryan Adams and the Cardinal’s farewell show at the Fox last Friday night? Phenomenal.)

Maranda Kenady wasn’t having it. Neither rain nor gloom nor blasting iPod was going to keep her from her appointed rounds, which seem to include chatting up guests.

She passed this note under my nose and snapped me right out of my funk. As you can tell by the photo, she sports some impressive body art. Her ex-boyfriend is the artist. I said things must have parted pretty amicably, if she’s letting him come after her with a needle.

“Oh yes, he’s one of my best friends,” she said.

See? Happy endings are possible.

Anyway, you’re probably wondering about this fantastic purse. There it is, above. I got it for about 30 bucks at Luxe on Marietta Street.

Tonight at 8 p.m. Luxe hosts UrbanCouture …

Continue reading The kindness of strangers »

"The Hip-Hop Hug." Illustration by Jonathan Carlson for TIME

I stumbled across this funny Time mag article this afternoon: “Are Hugs the New Handshakes?”

The piece detailed a number of different hug types. The super-close hug, for family and close friends, a more distant hug, appropriate for people you’re not that tight with, and the manly half-hug that involves lots of back-slapping.

Image from http://obama4usa.wordpress.com

Their peg was national – seems our president is hugging everyone he can get his hands on – but  it’s a topic that certainly resonates here in Atlanta. This is one hug-happy town.

Photo credit: Heidi Morton

I love this picture above, from a recent gathering of more than 350 alumi of the Jewish Educational Alliance, the precursor to today’s Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta. The fun-loving group who got together recently included, from left, Stella Firestone, Harold “Baby” Mizell and Stanford Firestone.

Photo credit: Kim Janney

A similarly …

Continue reading Hugs: the new handshakes? »

SB salutes the refined readers of this blog. After many of you commented on a recent post about grammar, someone has suggested a post on “netiquette.”

A fine idea, given our ever coarsening society, and good timing. I had earlier received an email from John E. McIntyre, director of the Copy Desk at The Baltimore Sun:

Ms. Brett 

A note forwarded to me says that you are working on an article on the pros and cons of correcting people’s grammar. I have just posted on that issue on my blog. 

Here’s the response I sent:

Mr. McIntyre,

I’m so glad to know about your blog. It’s an oasis of erudition amid Internet flotsam. 

I will say I have been pleasantly surprised at the responses this grammar query elicited. So many postings suggest that their authors communicate in real life by crashing metal folding chairs down upon one another’s heads. But the grammar comments seem to represent folks you would not fear, should they approach in a dark alley.

I will update the blog directly to …

Continue reading Twittered out? Fed-up with Facebook? »

You don’t usually hear the A-word bandied about in the city’s social circles. And by that I mean “affordable.”

But these are unusual times, so the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation bills its April 17 gala as casual, fun and, yes, affordable.

The 25th annual Preservation Bash starts at 7 p.m. at Mason Murer Fine Art and features cocktails and hors d’œuvres, jazz and swing music, dinner, dancing and dessert. (Info: 404-885-7812, www.georgiatrust.org). Tickets are $125 per person for members, $150 for non-members (that ticket price includes membership) and $100 for guests under 35. Tix to last year’s gala, held at the Atlanta History Center, were $200. Organizers note that this year’s fete is a relative bargain.

Cheap, it seems, is the new black.

‘I’m on the young friends board of our hospital and we try to have our events based on networking and affordability,” said Beth Dunn, author of the Social Climbers, a novel about the upwardly aspirational.

Hmm. There’s that A-word …

Continue reading Is cheap the new black? »

I thought it was just me, but I tossed out a query the other day and am now awash in validation.

“I think most people believe respect for proper spelling, grammar and punctuation is a thing of the past, largely because of the shorthand way we communicate today,” said Atlanta copywriter Susan Hawkins, who charmingly noted that she proof-read her e-mail four times before sending it to me.

Jeff Siegel of Monarch Communications was succinct: “I gnash my teeth and cringe when I see blatant disregard for basic grammar.”

Atlanta travel agent Ann Lombardi remembers major grammatical errors would get a paper docked 30 points in composition class at Immaculate Heart of Mary School. Would that we had all labored under the tutelage of Sister Grace Maria.

“ Writers (even ones from the AJC!), network news reporters, celebrity talk show hosts, and others have been guilty of glaring grammar gaffes,” Lombardi was sad to report. 

Mercy.

Jim Wallace was good enough to write in from …

Continue reading Does bad grammar make you [sic]? »

A big congrats to CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta and wife Rebecca, who welcomed their third daughter this week.

Little Soleil Asha arrived at 5:45am on Monday, weighing 8 pounds even and measuring 20 inches long. She joins sisters Sage, 3, and Sky, 2.

An Atlanta neurosurgeon as well as CNN’s chief medical correspondent, Gupta recently withdrew his name from consideration for surgeon general.

We’re guessing he has plenty to keep him busy.

Continue reading Dr. Sanjay Gupta is a dad again! »