One year, when the holidays were over, I grabbed this card after we took down the Christmas cards that were sent to WDVD.  We would always post all the cards we got every year up on the walls of every station where I worked (and I bet they still do).

It's former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and family. I'm pretty sure this was from 2003. Preparing this post I extensively researched this one website that says Jonas was born in 2001, and he looks about 2 in this picture, right?

"Happy Holidays" is printed in metallic ink. That glare on the pic is on the photo on the card itself.  It's a photo of a photo in a photo frame.  I think they just dropped a family photo into a bin at Bronner's and then snapped a pic.

Let's open it up!

It reads:

May you receive unexpected blessings this holiday season that will refresh your heart, renew your hope, and rejuvenate your spirit long after the season is gone.  Happy Holidays from Detroit's First Family Mayor Kwame, First Lady Carlita, Jelani, Jalil & Jonas Kilpatrick.

And it's "signed" by the boys.

I wanted to write a big, long, sarcastic post about the card, but aside from the cheesy front, it's actually kind of nice. The boys seem like they're enjoying the experience, and the sentiments expressed seem sincere.

Merry Christmas!

[Kwame Kilpatrick was elected mayor in 2001.  Then he did a bunch of dumb stuff.  

Um.  Allegedly.]

More than twenty years ago, I worked at Oakland Mall in Troy, MI.  I worked at the Gap (mostly folding jeans) and the movie theater (which is now a discount clothing store). The mall, like most in America, is not what it used to be. It still has its charms, like groups of three young male shoppers who start following you around once they notice your laptop. 

[Was it my imagination? Well, they did follow me twice around a purposefully odd circle pattern in front of JC Penney, but whatever.]

There's a store at the mall called Robarge Rustics. It looks like it may be a seasonal, temporary store, but 78% of the stores in the mall look like they may be temporary, so who knows?

This looks like it's their website.  Very nice work.

It's a cool little shop filled with hand-made, carved and twisted wood objects for indoor and outdoor decoration.  Stepping inside, it smells like a fresh spring forest.  Really nice. 

But right near the door, the main attraction is The Eminem Bench.

Is there anyone who does not want to own this bench?  Whether you love sitting outside looking for a little peace, or rolling with your crew looking for a little piece, this bench suits you!

They could easily charge people to take their picture sitting on the bench. "Get Your Picture Taken With Eminem('s Name on a Bench)! This is a million-dollar idea.

I wonder if Em is aware of this?

This week, Christopher Hitchens died.  I didn't always agree with what he said (although I rarely disagreed), but he always said it really really with gooder words than with what how I be talk sometimes:

• "...Anything can be pardoned except utter indifference" - 1990
  
• "...There aren't enough churches in the country to hold the hordes who boast of attending" - 2007
• "To do nothing is a policy." - 1984
• "The forces set off by the big bang, the great redshifts and waves of radiation that send the galaxies and nebulas speeding apart from one another, are morally neutral. These forces do not know or care whether you are a Baptist, a snake handler, a Druze, or a Hindu." - 1992
• "Time has a way of assigning value" - 2003
• "In some ways I feel sorry for racists and for religious fanatics, because they so much miss the point of being human, and deserve a sort of pity. But then I harden my heart, and decide to hate them all the more, because of the misery they inflict and because of the contemptible excuses they advance for doing so." - 2001

Share a favorite of yours in the comments below!

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