Porch pirate takes $600 computer processor

A man who lives in the 3100 block of Coolidge Highway reported someone stole an Amazon package delivered to his residence containing a $600 computer processor.

The package was stolen last month, but the man told police Feb. 12 he had to file a police report in order to be reimbursed for the stolen package.

Like a plant growing out of a crack in the sidewalk, many have had to find a way to push forward through hardship, especially in the turmoil of the past year. In her acrylic painting “Still Blooming,” artist Nina Ashraf Asmi captures this strength that many people have found.

Working over weeks, adding multiple layers of paint to both reveal and hide elements of the blooms, she says the piece is about continuing on in the face of struggle.

“To me, art is healing — and meditation and hope,” says Ashraf, of Bloomfield Hills. “It’s something that breaks boundaries and brings people together.”

Ashraf Asmi learned about resilience when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Art has served as a “companion in healing” and “an immense source of strength and hope.”

She says that effect is important amid the pandemic.

“A lot of people have gone through hardships, have lost loved ones or have themselves been affected by COVID. However, nothing can subdue the spirit,” Ashraf Asmi says. “‘Still Blooming’ signifies resilience against all odds — no matter what the challenge.”

Art has been Ashraf Asmi’s passion since childhood, from the first time she appreciated the beauty of colors. She says she recalls roller skating down the hallways of her childhood home “with fistfuls of crayons” to draw rainbow lines on the walls.

“Luckily my parents were art lovers, so they didn’t mind my earliest attempts at murals any more than they did my later attempts. Now I have been exhibiting and showing my work for more than 20 years, but the spirit of it has stayed the same,” she says.

“Still Blooming” is one of 25 pieces being exhibited in Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center’s juried 2021 Current Student Works Exhibition. In addition to paintings in various media, the show also includes sculpture, jewelry and weaving.