Click On This

About the time this issue hits the stands, we’ll be raising the curtain on a relaunch of our website, baltimoremagazine.net, an effort to make a good thing even better. The redo is also a response to a rapid growth in the site’s followers, including thousands of mobile users, who are looking for the area’s best dining, events, and shopping, as well as our blogs and other online-only content.

Our mobile visitors are, in fact, nearing 50 percent of our audience and our new site helps people find what they’re looking for faster, no matter what device they’re using: desktop, tablet, or phone. It’ll also be easier to browse, with speedy search tools, simple navigation, and a clutter-free reading experience on every screen.

And there’s something new every day: In addition to frequent blog posts, we also have a comprehensive events calendar, a searchable dining guide, and popular reader surveys and giveaways. Our goal? To make our digital publication as strong as its print counterpart. Trust me, you’ll like it.

Many Baltimoreans with longtime ties to mega-bakery owner and real-estate developer John Paterakis mourned the recent, sudden passing at age 71 of his executive secretary of 39 years, Geraldine Rose Milam Zlotkowski—known affectionately to all as Jeri Z. Ten years ago, to mark Administrative Assistant Day in the April issue, we wrote about some of the powerhouse gatekeepers in Baltimore, and she ranked with the best. But more importantly, Jeri Z. was just a fine person. She’ll be missed.

On a personal note, I offer a deep Japanese bow to my son, Stevie, a sixth grader at St. Paul’s School, who, for several years, has been in the school’s Japanese language and culture classes, taught by William Matsuzaki, who also exposes the kids to Japanese art. Recently, Stevie entered a “Year of the Horse”-themed drawing in the national Nengajo Contest sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of Japanese. Competing against 500 other young artists in the middle-school division, he won second place in the comical category—and was the only Marylander to place. Check it out at aatj.org/nengajo-contest/2014-middle. おめでとうございます! Stevie! (That’s omedetougozaimasu for you phonics lovers—or congrats in English.)