I somehow got cited as being one of the Detroit area’s “most influential independent journalists” in Metormode today, alongside Curt Guyette, of the ACLU, and Steve Neavling, of Motor City Muckraker, both of whom do fantastic, serious work. I’m not sure why I was selected for this honor. Maybe I was meant to represent all of the less serious blogger types out there, who just keep swinging away year after year in hopes of occasionally landing a punch. Whatever the reason, it was nice to be included alongside Guyette and Neavling, and to have my contributions, such as they are, acknowledged. I just wish that I’d talked a little less about blogging in my underwear and the fact that it’s my OCD that propels me.
Here, because I know my mother and grandmother will like them, are a few of the photos taken of me for the article by the great Doug Coombe.
For what it’s worth, I didn’t just come out and say to the article’s very talented author Patrick Dunn, “Hey, Patrick, guess what I wear when I blog,” immediately followed by, “I blog in my underwear.” I wasn’t trying to be outrageous or titillating. I merely mentioned it in response to his question about whether or not I considered myself a journalist. I think I said something along the lines of, “No, I blog late at night, after work, after my kids are asleep, when I’m in bed, just sitting around in my underwear reading the news.” I just mentioned it to illustrate the fact that writing about politics and culture was something that I did once my workday was done. I wasn’t, as some have suggested, purposefully trying to fill your minds with images of me sprawled across a bed in a thong, typing away about the various crimes of the Snyder administration with one hand, while sexily stroking my luxurious silver beard with the other. Regardless of my intention, though, I’m sorry if I ruined this site for you by putting that image in your mind.
As for the stuff about my OCD motivating my work, maybe I was exaggerating just a bit. I do think, however, that anxiety and depression motivate me… Or, to put it somewhat differently, I can’t imagine that I’d be sitting here in my bed, sexily writing about life in Ypsilanti for hours on end each night, especially when there are dozens of episodes of Columbo available online, if it weren’t for something being wrong in my brain. That sad truth of it, all joking aside, is that I feel compelled to post things here, and I feel an incredibly amount of guilt and anxiety when I don’t. I know it’s not healthy, but at least it’s a compulsion that sometimes serves the greater good, and I’m OK with that. It’s a hell of a lot better, I think, than checking door locks for hours on end, which is what I’d probably be doing otherwise.
I’d like to say more about the piece, and what Patrick chose to include from our hour and a half long interview, during which I talked about many things other than underwear and mental illness, but I have to go now and make a new header for this site. “A bright spot in an otherwise bleak media landscape,” is just too good of a quote to pass up.
One last thing… I am truly grateful that my work here is appreciated, and, as much as I like to indulge in self-depreciating comments and the like, I am truly proud of some of the work I’ve done here over the years on serious subjects that effect all of us. Hopefully I can keep it up for a long time to come.
34 Comments
This article would have been exponentially better if you’d allowed yourself to be photographed nude in your bed drinking beer.
Congratulations, Mark.
With the withering away of “mainstream” journalism, I’m glad you’re here to help share important news and information, foster ideas, and occasionally stir the pot.
Good for you!
Years ago you used to say that you would change into a special “blogging leotard” before writing. Was that a lie? Has it been underwear all this time?
You are our newspaper now. You are Important to our community and this is a well deserved tribute.
Now will the city give you an Ypsi Real banner?
Can we hear more about this “sexily stroking”?
If you want to go to Congress, you need to tuck your shirt in.
You are one of the best sources for what is going on in Ypsi. I agree with that totally. Thanks Mark. Sorry it is being driven by a mental illness but it is nice to see that it is possible to work with one’s illness rather than fighting it all of the time. Keep on truckin man.
I am glad you are receiving some recognition. I appreciate all of your hard work on this blog. Markmaynard.com is a great resource.
The title is strange. It should read, “On being named one of the Detroit area’s “influential independent journalists.”
Journalist should be plural.
True Gangstar Status!
I see that the title has been changed.
Good work. I would hate to see people try to discredit you.
Congrats, Mark. Resist the urge to pathologize that which motivates you!
Out of context, that photo could be of the new owner of Deja Vu Gentlemen’s Club. In context, congratulations. Well deserved.
Congratulations, but lord help us. I guess journalism is officially dead.
I mean, good work. You do “land a punch” once in a while, despite not being a pro.
You blog well, and you look sharp in that suit. Untucked looks good on you. Seriously, thank you Mark.
Good work, Mark. Thanks for your continued diligence.
Nice Pictures, Nice Article, Nice Son!
This photo would have been exponentially better if they’d still had up their “MILFs vs. GILFs” marquee.
Thank you all for the kind words. I appreciate them.
Now in AdWeek.
http://www.adweek.com/fishbowlny/steve-neavling-motor-city-muckraker/369322
I recently had a conversation with a guy who claimed that, back in 2010, you sat on critical information which would have likely kept Rick Snyder from getting elected governor.
What did Mark know, and when did he know it?!
Yes, a lot of very important Republicans confide in me. I’m not sure why, but they tell me their deepest, darkest secrets. Even more perplexing is the fact that I choose to do nothing with this information. Donald Trump has told me things that, if I were to tell them, would end his campaign immediately. And yet I choose to do nothing.
The guy, who I’m guessing wants to stay anonymous, said Snyder ripped off a UM graduate student’s work and made a bunch of money off of it. This guy claims you had information regarding the details of this unethical conduct, and refused to provide it so that it could be made public.
I wasn’t too sure of the legitimacy of the story, but anytime anybody tells me they have even the slightest amount of dirt on Mark Maynard, I’m willing to listen.
Rick, after leaving Gateway, moved to Ann Arbor and set up a venture capital firm called Ardesta. And, through Ardesta, he launched a number of companies, many of which were built around technologies developed at, and licensed from, universities. (The Ann Arbor News wrote quite a bit about it at the time, and I’m sure you can find the stories.) Some of these were UM technologies. That’s true. To my knowledge, however, no one was “ripped off”. It sounds to me as though your source just doesn’t understand that it’s common for technologies developed on college campuses to be licensed to companies. (This is how Google, as well as thousands of other companies, was started.) There are real reasons to be angry about what our Governor has done to Michigan, but this, as far as I know, is not one of them. But thanks, Robert, for suggesting publicly that I was in a position to stop Snyder from getting elected. You might as well say that I killed the 9 people in Flint who died from Legionnaire’s Disease.
This is great. When will the anger-bliss crowd start picketing MM’s home… or at least the radio show? Mark Maynard is clearly wholey corrupt. He was bought by big moneyed interests at U-M. I hear they pay him money in bi-weekly installments. Maybe even provide health insurance for him and his family. Maybe a retirement plan? I mean he couldn’t possibly be anything but bought.
Mr. Maynard is clearly corrupt. If he wanted to do the right thing, he would quit his UM job and start selling handmade good at the farmers market.
Mark, I didn’t suggest I believed you were ever in a position to keep Snyder from getting elected. I know very few people actually read this blog, and even fewer take it seriously.
I thought I made it clear, the accusation came from someone else, and he is someone I assume you know. He seems to be very knowledgeable regarding Snyder’s business dealings and associates, and that is the only reason I would give it any thought and figured I’d bring these accusations up. I was just curious if any of what he claimed was true.
Until this informant of mine gives us permission to make his identity public, I’ll just refer to him as “Mr.X.” I’ll refer to the UM grad student as “Ms. Y” and it is my understanding that she is a visiting international researcher from China.
I am now thinking this sounds like something worth looking into further. I would like to find out who this Ms.Y is exactly and see if I can interview her regarding her experience at the University of Michigan. I think a lot of people would be interested in knowing more about this.
I’m curious, how does Ardesta get the profit rights to products developed by grad students at UM? Is there some sort of bidding process?
The question is whether something exploitive has developed from this business-university-student relationship. If visiting graduate students are being mislead in any way, I am certain there are many people who would have a problem with that, and would insist something be done about it.
I don’t think this will give you any comfort, but I’ve always imagined you blogging in your underwear. Congrats!