Josh Shear

I know, I know, I haven't posted anywhere in a while. Not here, not 365 walks, not anywhere.

But I have to tell you about this event happening next Thursday, May 17.

Back in September, I let you know why I'm working with the Future Fund. The Future Fund is a giving circle – in more cutting edge terms, it's crowd-sourced funding for local projects.

The group gives a $5,000 grant every year to a local organization. Members, who donate $100 to the fund, pick the focus area in September (this year we picked The Arts), and an open call for letters of intent goes out to non-profits throughout Central New York. The grants committee offers feedback on the letters and lets the applicant organizations know if their project sounds like a potential match. Applicants then send their full proposal to the fund, and members sit around a table and discuss the projects, then vote to get it down to three finalists. Site visits are scheduled for all finalists so members can see the project first-hand, and then votes are tallied for a single grant recipient.

Voting is still open (I'll mention the finalists in a minute), but the event next Thursday is a two-fold thing. We're writing out the award check, and unveiling a new tagline (which was voted upon by members). The event happens at Benjamin's on Franklin (the former Ohm and Styleen's), and is catered by Kitty Hoynes. Tickets are $20 for members, $25 for non-members and available here. We're also getting a performance from the Nottingham High Jazz Band, a presentation from the 40 Below Public Arts Task Force, and some sort of presentation from the grant recipient.

The finalists are (and this is the first time I've actually had to think about who I was voting for, because they're all really good projects this year):

- The Media Unit, which gets inner-city youth writing and performing about issues affecting inner-city youth, and they give dozens of performances for inner-city youth every summer.
- The YMCA's Y Arts Program, which is looking to provide scholarships for inner city youth to attend arts camp.
- ARC of Onondaga's Arts Outreach program, in which they'll work with a performing arts organization to have adults with developmental disabilities learn to act and to perform in a professional production locally.

Voting closes tomorrow night, so there is actually still time to join and vote if you want, but even without being a member, you're definitely welcome at the event next week.

I sat down with Tracy recently and she reminded me that I needed to do another post about places I like. So, here are some of my current favorites.

Cafe at 407

I've written about 407 before. I'm actually sitting in the cafe writing this blog post, staring at the real whipped cream on top of a hot chocolate a child is drinking while waiting for the singer-songwriter to start playing. In fact, I'm sitting in an overstuffed chair on the wifi with a cup of coffee on the side table, remembering that this place raises money for a non-profit called Ophelia's Place, which deals with eating disordered youth and adults. There's a conference room in back, next to the employees' cubicles and an outpatient clinic. It's in the village of Liverpool. Go there.

Recess

Recess Coffee is celebrating their fifth anniversary this week. The cafe was packed the other night (that's where I had the aforementioned get-together with Tracy), and they are not going anywhere any time soon. Best hot chocolate in town (York, Almond Joy, peanut butter, and more), and a few really good whole-bean roasts.

Farmshed CNY

Farmshed CNY is a web-based app (that is, you go to the website, you don't download it) that will find you farms, farmers markets, restaurants, breweries, dessert, bakeries and more in Central New York. The idea is to have you buying local foods, drinking local beer, and considering where you're sourcing your stuff. And also it helps you find it, by determining your location by GPS. It's awesome.

Small Potatoes Marketing

Maybe it's weird to recognize a marketing firm, but Marty at Small Potatoes works hard to get Central New York food producers distributed into bigger venues. He started as strictly a shoe leather business, and eventually let himself be talked into a blog and Twitter account, both of which he's done really well with. Look for Better Brittle, Recess Coffee and Brooklyn Salsa at the CNY Regional Market thanks to Small Potatoes, and he's worked with a bunch of other locals you're starting to see more and more places, too!

Laci's Tapas Bar

You've probably heard of Laci's by now; they've been around a couple of years. Tapas is a food presentation that features appetizer-size portions of really beautiful, frequently creative food. The menu is excellent, the service is wonderful, and they're over in a part of town you never go to. Try them out!

What are your favorite hot spots this winter?

Every year someone has something stupid to say about the Old Newsboys campaign.

In case you're unfamiliar with this, a bunch of people go around "selling" The Post-Standard and asking for extra donations on a two-day campaign.

It looks very much like the newspaper is just trying to expand its reach, but actually, all those newspapers sold are donated. Even if you only give them the cost of the paper (75 cents), it all goes to a fund called the Christmas Bureau, which is a joint operation of the Salvation Army and United Way of Central New York.

Read: It helps people.

So even if you don't want the paper, give something. You don't have to take the newspaper.

The Old Newsboys volunteers will be out and about on Friday and Saturday this week (Dec. 9 and 10). Thank them for volunteering in our community, and give them something to bring back to those in need this holiday season.

For my birthday, one of the things I wanted to do was head to the Everson Museum of Art to check out From Here to There: Alec Soth's America (I'm also a big fan of the ceramics room – I can spend a couple hours down there without thinking).

Soth is an Artist, with a capital A. He takes photos with an 8x10 camera. If you've never seen one, here's a good representation. The photographer has to hide under a hood, and it takes for-freaking-ever to focus on your subject.

If you want to take a close-up, you actually have to be really.gosh.darn.close up.

It's a long process, for both the photographer and the subject. It requires poses (something I've not been a fan of in the past), and then a lot of waiting to get the focus right.

Soth finds inspiration in a variety of subjets – people, floating mattresses, Niagara Falls (particularly the dichotomy of it being a lover's destination as well as a place for suicides).

This exhibit is a lot of fun. It includes a lot of Soth's projects, including his Mississippi River project, his Niagara Falls project, his Loneliest Man in America project, as well as 33 Movie Theaters and a Funeral Home and Single Goth Seeks Same.

But something a little more subtle stands out to me. While the vernacular is we "take photos," this exhibit includes descriptions about "making photos."

It's not the first time I've heard the term, but it's the first time I've really thought about it.

Taking photos feels like we're stealing something. It's something we do a lot. We go to a place that we find beautiful, and we take something with us. This "making" photos feels a little different. It's intentional, it's creative, it's the start of something.

What are you making today?

The Buy Local Bash is coming up on Monday of next week – that's November 21 – after work at Benjamin's on Franklin (it used to be Ohm for those of you who have been here a few years; Styleen's Rhythm Palace for those who have been here a few more).

The event kicks off this year's Shift Your Shopping campaign, which aims to get you to think about shopping local for your holiday gifts. Buy Local week begins on Black Friday and continues throughout the following week at participating locally owned retailers.

Tickets for the event are $20, and include wine and beer from vendors, as well as some food.

It's a great party.

And here's how you can pay $15 for your tickets instead of $20.

- Like Benjamin's on Franklin's Facebook page.
- Mention the Buy Local Bash on the wall.

Pretty easy, huh? It'd be pretty cool if you'd like Syracuse First, too, since they are the organization putting on the event.

See you Monday!

PRESS RELEASE for Friday November 18th.

What:
BREW & VIEW 35mm Film Series Steven Spielberg double Feature of E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial & Jaws
BREW & VIEW 35mm Film series is presented by AmeriCU Credit Union and SIFF

Cost:
$10/ all ages for movies/ 21+ with valid ID for Alcohol

When:
Friday November 18th. Doors open at 6:30pm
7:00pm - ET
9:30pm - JAWS

Synopsis:
E.T.: THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL (1982)
Director: Steven Spielberg
Trailer

JAWS (1975)
Director: Steven Spielberg
Trailer

Most of us will never be philanthropists on the scale of Bill and Melinda Gates. The foundation model – one in which one huge donation gets an endowment together and the interest pays out grants (while the foundation continues to solicit donations to add to the endowment) – is changing, Katherine Fulton explains in her 2007 TED talk.

Enter the Future Fund, an affiliate fund of the Central New York Community Foundation (CNYCF).

One of the things the Community Foundation has done through the years is help people set up personal "funds" – when you see a memorials scholarship fund, or something like that, it starts with a $5,000 check and the CNYCF's 501(c)(3). But who among the young professionals out there – here, in the Syracuse area – is writing a $5,000 check to get something amazing started?

Not many people. So the CNYCF came up with this idea: Let's find 50 young people to donate $100, and that'll be good for a $5,000 grant every year to a local non-profit.

This group of young professionals first nominates a "cause category," such as nutrition or mentoring, then sends out a request for proposals (RFP). A committee narrows the field down to a dozen or so, and then everybody who donated (we call them members) gets to vet the semifinalists, narrowing the field down to three.

Site visits are set up for the three finalists; all members may attend, and then a final vote is held.

For the 2010-2011 grant season, the topic was nutrition, and we awarded Syracuse Grows $5,000 to help them with urban gardening throughout the city.

The Future Fund is an amazing group of people. I'd encourage you to come meet some of them October 13 at the kickoff event at Montage.

Here is the first email of the season, so you can get a feel for what we do.

Greetings, Future Fund Members!

Welcome to the 2011-2012 Future Fund grant-making season. We're extremely proud of what we've done over the past few years and can't wait to get moving on the new year!

Over the past few years, you – our members – have helped make Central New York an amazing place by funding programs that provide, among other things, youth mentoring, financial literacy, workforce development, and, most recently, nutrition and wellness. With that nutrition and wellness grant, we supported Syracuse Grows, which has graciously invited us to their Harvest Dinner, a potluck event, on Sept. 25 from 3:30-5:30pm at the Southwest Community Farm, 100 Bellevue Ave., Syracuse. If you plan to go, RSVP to syracusegrows@gmail.com.

Save the date! Our annual kickoff event is coming up Thursday, October 13 at 5:30pm. This is for members, families, friends, colleagues, and random strangers you think will enjoy a night of free hors d'oeuvres (and a cash bar). Keep an eye on your inbox in the coming weeks for the details.

Worth Watching: TED Fellow Katherine Fulton discusses the future of philanthropy. It's a 12-minute lecture on the changing model of philanthropy – the future will not be the Bill Gateses and George Soroses of the world, it will be people like us. If you come across other interesting stories of philanthropy, send them to us at futurefundcny@gmail.com.

Happy giving!
The Future Fund Steering Committee

--
The Future Fund of Central New York
c/o Central New York Community Foundation
431 East Fayette Street
Suite 100
Syracuse, NY 13202
Tel: 315-422-9538
futurefundcny@gmail.com

I own a drill. I've used it to mount a stereo and iPod charger below a kitchen cabinet.

I also own a circular saw. It came with the drill. I've never used it.

I have a lot of other tools that I do use, though some of them (like my chainsaw and my ax) are going to see very limited use throughout their lives.

It's an example of waste that Alex Steffen uses in that TED talk above. Most homeowners, he says, have a drill. The average drill sees between 6 and 20 minutes of use in its lifetime. There are maybe a dozen houses on my block. Over the next 25 years or so, we'll use a little over an hour of drilling time. Why do we own 12 drills?

I live 3.4 miles from work; that's less than an hour's walk. Eyeballing it, I'd say there's a little under a half-mile of sidewalk. Do I walk to work? Nope. I could use a little safety.

I live about a mile from a grocery store. I go often, since I tend to eat fresh foods that only last a day or two in the fridge. There are no sidewalks, and just about the entire trip is on a 40-mph road. I don't walk there, either.

In the next 30-40 years, Steffen estimates, some 8 billion people will live close to cities. We need to be smarter with how we build them. We also need to be smarter about how we choose where we live, and our use of energy, and our sharing (see also, drills).

Learn something. Build something. Create something. Advance us, don't just make more of us.

Yesterday, a few of us from Civic Engagement volunteered at the American Diabetes Association's Tour de Cure. Diabetes isn't one of my primary causes, but my employer is a national sponsor, so I had easy access to the organizers.

This is a really great event. Rather than a "simple" run or walk or ride, it's five rides – a 100-miler, a 62.5-miler, a 40-miler, a 25-miler and a 15-miler. It requires volunteers at many stages and a whole lot of planning.

From our perspective, it went as smoothly as we could imagine. We got bad directions to the rest stop we were supposed to run, but got there and set up before the first riders came in. We were missing some supplies, but our radio operator (yes, they have someone operating short-wave radios at each stop, in trail vehicles and at the home base) managed to get in touch with home base to get us the stuff we needed in time.

I didn't look up the numbers (the amount raised or the number of people involved), but it was impressive. If you're looking for a way to get involved, I highly recommend the event.

Last summer, I did a series on Central New York places you might want to work from or bring a client to. Here are those posts:

• 5 Syracuse-area Coffee Shops to Work From
• 5 Syracuse-area Bars to Work From
• 5 Places to Bring Clients in the Syracuse Area (Note: Edward Thomas Cigar is now something a bit more private and secluded, and is no longer on that list.)

Here are five places in the Syracuse area not on these lists that you might want to try out.

1. Frosty Fuzions

Located in the Gold's Gym in DeWitt, Frosty Fuzions is locally owned, employs a couple of people part-time, and serves organic smoothies and coffee, locally made high protein bread, and other energy drinks and food bars. The owner, Shawn Hannon, is personable and he keeps up on sports and politics, so there's always something to talk about at the counter. He also does corn-based plastics. You don't need to be a member of the gym to go in; just let the folks at the member service center know you're heading in for a smoothie.

2. The Beginning II (B2)

The B2 is a little off the beaten path, but not far (a little bit up Bridge St, past all the action). They have a lot of really good food (they claim they have the best wings in town – they're definitely up there – but the pizza, nachos and sandwiches are pretty awesome as well). The B2 is a sports bar (Syracuse U, Red Sox and Buffalo Bills) with beach volleyball courts out back. It draws a mix of people, from students to retirees, and has a friendly staff. Try them out on a non-sports day if you're not into the sports crowd.

3. The Cafe at 407

I wish I was out Liverpool way more often. Located in the village of Liverpool, the Cafe at 407 supports Ophelia's Place, a safe haven and support center for people with body image issues. The serve fair trade, organic, awesome foods (coffee, salads, sandwiches, soups, cakes, etc.). Free wifi, and a very comfy space.

4. Kelley's

If you're on Tipp Hill or near the Onondaga Hill neighborhood, you're probably not a stranger to Kelley's. Upstairs, Kelley's is a nice-looking place, but at the bar downstairs, it really comes to life. Dark woods, a couple of dining tables in quiet corners and otherwise a sports bar feel. The food is very good (try the Buffalo mac-n-cheese!), and they have some really good off- and on-menu wing sauces that you'll just have to go to experience.

5. Books and Memories

Books and Memories is a large used book and music shop. They're currently in transition, dumping some of their dead weight and opening themselves up some storage space downstairs, but they still have five rooms with narrow aisles, tall shelves, and stacks of books laying around waiting to be filed. While I miss the basement (it was so big they'd have to yell downstairs a few times before closing to make sure they didn't lock anyone in the shop at closing time), I was still able to spend several hours browsing recently – and that didn't include opening up my computer, or checking out any CDs or vinyl. They offer coffee and tea for free while you browse (they have a donation jar, but it's serve yourself and leave something if you want), and the wifi is free as well. It takes up a block on James Street in Eastwood, and is the perfect place to spend a rainy weekend afternoon.