Amanda – Beloved daughter. The light of my days on this mortal plane.
America – Land of the free and the home of the brave, as the song goes. True enough, so stop your complaining and contribute as best you can.
A Pattern Language - The best book ever on placemaking. Have lost count of how many I've given away.
AW11 - First generation Toyota MR2 chassis code. Hellarad, or so says the license plate.
Baseball – Been very good to me.
Bladel (Mike) – Thank goodness for Mike Bladel. Former Police Chief, turned U.S. Marshal (ret).
Briley (Tanisha) - ICMA rock star, got her start in Davenport.
Brooke (Charlie) Mayor – A pivot point in Davenport history. Suffered fools with bemusement, if not patience. RIP
Casino – Want to export $20+ million or import $20+ million, each year? Not a trick question.
Centerfield - (1) Song by John Fogerty (2) Fleet of foot, keen of vision and committed in body and spirit to turning disbelief to certainty? This is your position.
Chicago – Born and raised in the architecture capital of the world. Needs help these days. A city manager is hardly enough, but couldn't hurt.
Colin – Beloved son. The y chromosome continues on, improved in all respects.
Dad – Unfailingly kind. Shockingly mortal. Eulogized December 31, 2011.
Davenport, the City – 8/28/01 to 6/26/15. Everything that went wrong was my fault. Everything that went well was because we had a great staff.
Davenport, the community - Norman Rockwell life in a Grant Wood landscape? This is the place.
davenporttoday.com - Best municipal website in America, with 100% transparency. Drove the Quad City Times (their word) "crazy". Died much too young.
Donchez (Frank) – Police Chief with excellent sense of timing, and perhaps the highest performance to maintenance ratio of anyone I’ve ever worked with.
Douglas County – Prior employer. 1,492 square miles of Wisconsin northwoods and trout streams on the shore of Lake Superior. As big, remote and beautiful as that sounds.
Essays – Some better than others. Aspire to the elan of Peter Egan. Which is a joke perhaps only Peter Egan would get.
Fool For The City – Foghat song, job description, or both?
FOS / Fortress of Solitude - Superman's casual, getaway place. For four years, the western-most outpost of the Malin clan. Replaced by the One-ga-low.
Frese (Mark) – Retired Davenport Fire Chief. One of those people with such exceptional leadership instincts you feel embarrassed to be appointed their supervisor.
Gallbladder – Deemed medical waste Friday, April 25, 2014. Back at work Monday.
Gaslight Anthem – Start with the 59 Sound or Miles Davis & The Cool, and go from there. “All hope abandon, ye who enter here, said the sign I read that was hanging above her bed …”.
Gene – Brother. Lives in New York (state). Big guy. Bigger heart.
Gluba (Bill) Mayor – Good guy, heart in right place. One odd morning doesn’t change that.
Graduation – High school? “Unconventional” would be the word.
Harvard – Been there. Done that. Doing it some more.
Heads (Talking) - #2 favorite band.
Homicide – The last television series I made any effort to watch, until Top Gear. RIP Andre Braugher.
In The Mood – Favorite tune? Tough to narrow down, but Glenn Miller’s buoyant composition is at or near the top.
International Style - Simplified mass, emphasis on surface texture, form following function, reduced and abstrated ornament. Generally white or black. Taking people by surprise at 240 W. Mill Street, since 2023.
Jake (Hales) - Bulldog right fieder, never dropped a ball
Jeanne (Gang) & Mary Margaret (Jones) - The duo who are going to design my home and landscape ... when my ship comes in.
Jeep – Levis edition CJ-5 Renegade in high school and college, with a 304 V8 spitting fire through headers and glasspacks. XJ, TJ and JK follow. America’s longest running and most authentic sports car. Unstoppable. Utilitarian. Unassuming. What’s not to love?
Lights - (1) Unnecessary blemish on Wrigley Field (2) Lights Quality Built; a Davenport Pony league team with a PTSD inducing offense.
Madalinski – The last name I started out with, before dad Americanized it to Malin.
Marcia – Calls to invite me on a date, and my life changes, unalterably, for the better. Smart. Beautiful. Kind. Perfect.
Michigan (Lake) – Lifeguard plucks me from. Later become a lifeguard to repay the karmic debt.
Mooseheart – Been there / done that orphanage. If you ever wonder how poor you are as a kid, finding you’re too poor to have a family provides instant clarity. The cheerful resilience? Comes from being dropped off here, and deciding to be an optimist.
Negativity – Its own punishment.
Northwestern University – Been there. Did part of that but had to stop because the commute went from 30 miles one way to 650 miles.
Old 97s – The most durable of the alt country bands which dominate the non-jazz section of the ipod. “Love is a marathon, sometimes you puke”.
One-ga-low - Seaside cottage or live-in REI store / workshop / dorm room on steroids? Hard to tell.
Pie - Pecan. Apple or cherry, in a pinch.
Prairie Crossing Charter School – Sticking it to the man, with environmental responsibility, since 1998.
Promise (Davenport) – Want to cap property taxes and provide every Davenport high school grad with a college scholarship? Again, not a trick question.
Python - Monty.
Replacements – Favorite all time band. Never let their early lack of skill hold them back, which is about all you need to know about progress in any human endeavor. Consistently terrible career choices, and all the better for it. “Heading out to San Francisco, definitely not L.A. …”
Roosevelt University – Been there. Done that. Immersed in the temple Sullivan conjured and Wright drafted.
Rotator Cuff – Ted Lilly and I both get a throwing shoulder tune up on November 4, 2009. He makes $13 million the next season. I throw BP to Little Leaguers. I had the better deal.
Rubio (Ralph) Mayor - Gentleman. Carpenter. Always a good combo. RIP
RZ350 - Chain saw on wheels.
Seaside - Florida or California, both pretty swell.
Stratos – Lancia. Favorite car. A tasty wedge of Ghandini cheesecake, with a Ferrari mill shrieking right behind your ear, laying waste to the World Rally Car Championship for three years.
Stuff – (1) Colloquial metric for pitching control and craftiness, off which I have much of the former and none of the latter. (2) The Right Stuff – excellent book by Tom Wolfe and best American movie ever made. I’m talking to you, Terms of Endearment voters.
Sweetpea - see: Amanda
Top Gear – Real characters + excellent editing x lurid moto porn = best show on television. A shame Jeremy got cranky about the cold cuts.
University of Illinois – Been there. Done that.
Vernon Hills – Prior employer. Only city in America without a property tax and a AAA bond rating? Neat trick to pull off.
Webster University – Been there. Done that.
Wellner (Brian) - Just not that ... strong a journalist. https://www.facebook.com/TheSingleHilarity/videos/synchronized-swimming-snl-s10-ep1-1984/189427659893211
Western Illinois University – Been there. Done that.
Wheelchair – Been there. Done that. Trying hard not to do it again.
Winborn (Ed) Mayor – Great guy.
Wings of Desire – Favorite movie is a black and white german language film with Peter Falk, playing himself? Sounds implausible, but true. Stop what you are doing, and go watch the movie.
Yerington (Phil) Mayor – Ask me about "My prayers have been answered!” RIP
Zepplin! - Shouted out answer to trivia question at Museum of Science and Industry. Perhaps you had to be there.
