Category Archives: OCD

Now all your grandmothers know that I have OCD

By Mark | May 28, 2013

I wouldn’t have thought it possible, but I’m featured briefly this month in the journal of genteel Ann Arbor society that is The Observer. The article, it would seem upon my first glance, is about men who, due to some serious character flaw, continue to blog in spite of the fact that the format has […]

Also posted in Mark's Life, Media | Tagged A2GastroBoy, Ann Arbor Observer, Ben Connor Barrie, Ed Vielmetti, Reverend Aitor | 12 Comments

Ideas to Steal: The Huron Hammock

By Mark | May 6, 2013

Arlo and I were walking around the elevated path that runs along the edge of Frog Island Park this evening, looking down toward the river, and talking about fish, when we noticed a young woman sleeping in a hammock that she’d tied up between two trees, just a few feet off the water. It looked […]

Also posted in Mark's Life, Ypsilanti | Tagged Arlo, Frog Island Park, hammock, Huron River, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, jealousy, pod people, seed pods | 9 Comments

The unsolved mystery of Jack Brown’s 1984 murder in Ypsilanti

By Mark | March 17, 2012

Every once in a while, my OCD gets the best of me, and I find myself going off on a tangent, obsessed by some little thing that, if I were anyone else, I’d probably just disregard. Recently, as you might recall, I got a little fixated, for whatever reason, by a large bell that figured […]

Also posted in Mark's Life, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti | Tagged 1984, Brenda Stumbo, conspiracy theories, contract killing, Cynthia Wilbanks, Eagle Brief, Ed Hall, Ehman and Greenstreet Real Estate, Gary Hawks, getting away with murder, historic reenactment, hit man, In Search Of, Jack Brown, Kirk Profit, Mike Hawks, murder, murder for hire, murder mystery, Orson Welles, real estate, Roy Wilbanks, scandals, sitcom ideas, The Hearts of Age, Unsolved Mysteries, Ypsilanti police department | 22 Comments

God Bless America

By Mark | February 7, 2012

A few days ago, I posted video here of Bill Murray, on the first episode of Late Night with David Letterman. I have no way of knowing how many people took my advice and watched the clip, which was absolutely brilliant, but it only garnered one comment. (Someone, making the case that he was still […]

Also posted in Art and Culture, Mark's Life, Uncategorized | Tagged American culture, anxiety, Bill Murray, black comedy, Bobcat Goldthwait, celebrity culture, comedy, depression, Disney, Falling Down, FDR American Badass, Joel Murray, Juno, Late Night with David Letterman, Mark, mental health, OCD, Police Academy, pre-war jazz and blues, reality television, Scrooged, Shakes the Clown, Sleeping Dogs Lie, Tara Lynn Barr, the cesspool that is American culture, the Taliban should win, World's Greatest Dad | 17 Comments

My pilot light is out

By Mark | December 15, 2011

Every once in a while, I get the urge to stop blogging. I sat and stared at the screen last night for a few hours, and just couldn’t seem to muster the energy or enthusiasm for it. I feel like blaming the baby, as he’s been keeping us up for the past two weeks, but […]