Dear Downtown Dayton Partnership

I really liked your "Find It Downtown - Valentine's Day Ideas" e-mail. Seriously. It's a good idea. Heck, there's good stuff on your website - like the article about ReCreate. Sounds fascinating.

It's too damn bad it's not there in HTML.

Seriously. Putting all the "real" information in Word (*.doc) and PDF files? Whose idea was that? Sure, Google can search them now, but it interrupts the experience. It makes it harder for those who want to spread the word [insert me whistling innocently here] to actually get the information and pass it along. And for those poor souls still slogging along with Adobe Reader... Well, yeah. You might have a high-end machine, but that doesn't me we do.

Don't get *rid* of the PDFs, but make a HTML layout as well. Since you've got a weekly newsletter, make it a blog, with an RSS feed, twitter account, Facebook page. Whatever. Just make it open, transparent, and easy for us to get to.

UD Diversity Lecture Series: An Evening With Elie Wiesel

[Note: I hear that tickets for this are already running low, which is why I'm running this so early...]

The University of Dayton Diversity Lecture Series presents..."An Evening with Elie Wiesel." Prof. Wiesel, Holocaust survivor, prolific author and 1986 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, rounds out the series season with a talk at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 25, at the Benjamin and Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center. Tickets for the general public are $15 and $20; and $5 for K-12 students and their accompanying teachers, chaperones, or parents. Call (937) 228-3630 for individual ticket information. For group sales, contact Barrie Denmark at (937) 228-7591, x3074 . Prof. Wiesel's appearance is presented by the University of Dayton and Victoria Theatre Association. The University of Dayton's Diversity Lecture Series is part of a larger strategic plan to increase inclusion and diversity on campus and prepare students, faculty, staff and the Dayton community for success in a global society.

Free Intro to Yoga Class - 7 Feb

Feb. 7 • Free Intro To Yoga Class
Practice Yoga, 504 E. Fifth St.; call for time.
Beginners are welcome to enjoy a taste of Vinyasa Yoga in a relaxed, non-competitive environment. The class is designed for those who've never visited Practice Yoga and is appropriate for all fitness levels. You'll sweat a little, learn a lot. No memberships, no pressure. Free. 321-7676

First Friday Art Hop - TOMORROW (5 Feb)

The next free First Friday art hop will be held from 5 to 10 p.m. Feb. 5 at these locations:
Cachet G!, 133 E. Third St.
Cannery Art and Design Center, 434 E. Third St.
Color of Energy, 16 Brown St.
c{space, 20 N. Jefferson St.
Dayton Visual Arts Center, 118 N. Jefferson St
Gallery 510 Fine Art, 510 E. Fifth St.
H. David Clay Studio, 33 S. St. Clair St.
K12 Gallery for Young People, 510 E. Third St.
Link Gallery, 519 E. Fifth St.
Missing Peace Art Space, 234 S. Dutoit St.
National City 2nd Street Market, 600 E. Second St.
The Ohio Coffee Co., 46 W. Fifth St.
ReCreate, 438 E. Fifth St.
Sandra's Art Emporium, 27 S. St. Clair St

Also, Courteous Mass returns to First Friday (which could be fun in the snow!), hosting a 45-minute ride through downtown and surrounding neighborhoods. The group meets at Don Crawford Plaza in front of Fifth Third Field, on the corner of Patterson Boulevard and Monument Avenue, at 5 p.m. The ride begins at 5:30 p.m.