In the East Village of Grand Rapids, fashionistas were able to walk from venue to venue along Cherry Street. I passed a pleasant ten minutes viewing the passing people, men in silk ties and blue blazers and women in black cocktail dresses and high heeled boots, marching east and west along the brick lined boulevard. The evening had enough warmth that jackets weren't required. Those that had them wore them and didn't have to cover up with a coat.
Despite another warm evening and two weeks left before calendar declares fall, It is pretty much autumn. Richard App (Rapp) has a lovely, almost abstract, landscape painting of a ridge, surmounted with a sparse row of maples , ready for color touring. The deep blue of the sky, in which the blazing tree crowns swam, had not failed. The dispersed small and distant crowns blazed orange and red. It's a longer painting, about two feet long, and so two people can stand before it and admire. She was transfixed, musing, maybe remembering a drive in the country or a view from a favorite house. Since it was a wide painting, I asked, "So which wall do you imagine hanging this painting? Rather a lame conversation gambit, and she began to talk about the painter, her friend. I had a chance to talk with the painter too, he and I standing before the landscape as he described his painting. We had common ground. Even though she was stretch taller than I, a photographer commenced capturing our conversation on film. I suppose we looked interesting, engaged in conversation.
Truly, I love it when I meet a conversationalist. I love Dallas, Montreal, San Francisco and even L.A. because so many people see conversation as an opportunity. In L.A., the actors and artists love to drip on me, promote their projects and products.. In Dallas, I remember meeting a woman in a wine bar who exclaimed five minutes in, "Wilbo, I do believe you are in love with me!" I cannot quote any conversations with the women of Montreal, just as I cannot remember dreams. This tall woman in blue had a gift and a has a purpose for conversation. Maniactive is a brand called Maniactive. So any conversation with Maniactive promotes the brand of Maniactive.
Often times, I like to leave a conversation just before the energy runs out. And I like to leave it without really introducing myself. There's a school in Chinese Philosophy called the Pure Conversation. Not to psychobable here too much, but energy in the moment has to pass from one person to another, and conversation transfers that energy well. And it doesn't have to be much of a conversation, and it doesn't matter if the two conversants ever talk again. So introductions are often unnecessary and maybe even odious. In these conversations, my face is my calling card. But I really wanted to know who was this person with the pleasant voice, sign of choral training, and an affable, focused manner, sign of a writer. And she introduced herself as Laura Bergells. First name and last name given, she identified herself as old school. Not a nickname or a first name introduction, but an introduction that made it clear her name was a well-developed brand. And I was stunned. Maniactive really must drop the head shot. It simply belies the fact that Ms. Bergells is ready for the cover of Fortune Magazine. I would simply contact Redhead Writing's photographer and duplicate one of Erika Napoletano's recent poses. Blue business suit and warm smile and a commanding presence, all that's missing is Napoletano's hand on a globe. If it sounds as if I am plugging Maniactive, well, she's easy to talk up about.
And so I offered, "And so, I have heard you got kicked out of Beggar's Banquet". Ah, it only took a few seconds for her to realize she had tagged Wilbo. We caught up like old friends after that, talking about @RedHeadWriting, @MotionLisa, @RobertaFKing, #Coopersville and the wonderful pies at Gavin Orchards in Coopersville. Contrarian at her heart, Laura countered me with her theory: Michigan is the country of the common, extraordinary fruit pie. So the extraordinary pies at Gavin Orchard, the mode, and good a la mode.
Of course, I was hanging that night with E.T. the press agent for a collective of artists and E.K.B., a favorite photographer, and I had to connect them with Laura Bergells, the brand called Maniactive.
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