MARK: When did you first move to Ypsilanti, and what were the circumstances that brought you here?

ZACH: My wife & I are originally from the Toledo area… Ohio that is. After college I had dreams of becoming a rock star and we moved to Chicago so I could start a band. Obviously that didn’t pan out, but, in the meantime, I started a career in the freight forwarding industry. We lived in Chicago for about 7 years when I got an opportunity to move to Michigan to manage my company’s Detroit branch office.

As Toledoans my wife & I grew up very enamored of Ann Arbor and decided to live there. Then reality set in and we bought a house in Ypsilanti… at the absolute peak of the real estate market.

MARK: As I understand it, you’re now going to be moving back to Chicago, which is interesting, as I just interviewed a guy by the name of Ted McClelland, who has written quite a bit about Chicago and the fact that it lures away a disproportionate number of Michigan’s best and brightest. Have you by any chance read his recent column in Salon, entitled “Michigan Just Gives Up“? If so, I’m curious to know your thoughts.

ZACH: I’ve read the article, and it’s very interesting. The same thing is true of Ohioans. When I originally moved to Chicago, back in 1996, practically everyone I knew and everyone I met was from Ohio, Michigan or Missouri.

Anyway, I agree with the sentiment of the article. I have wholly embraced Michigan as HOME. I have passed up other work opportunities in the past because I love it here, and didn’t want to leave. Despite the economic ups and downs of the last decade, my work has been consistently busy and prosperous. I have worked with people in all types of businesses who are thriving & hiring people, and I have come to be extremely optimistic about Michigan’s future prospects. It just takes a really long time to diversify.

It’s funny about the draw of Chicago. I think that pretty much any major city is going to function as a magnet drawing young adults to where the action is. I think this is true of LA & New York and probably also Shanghai, Mexico City & Sao Paulo. That’s what cities are. They bring in the country bumpkins, and grind ‘em up in the mill of Capitalism. Ultimately some succeed, some are destroyed, and some move to the suburbs.

I, for one, already moved out of Chicago to settle down and start a family here in Michigan, and never planned on moving back.

MARK: So, why are you leaving?

ZACH: I got a promotion at work.

MARK: What will you miss about Ypsilanti?

ZACH: I will miss a lot about Ypsi. As I said above, this really is home. My kids were born here, and it’s part of our family identity. We fit in here and have great friends. That is going to be the absolute hardest thing about moving away. We’ve met all of our best friends since we’ve lived here, and most of them are neighbors. We all get weepy when we think about the friends we’re leaving behind.

On a personal level, I will miss my band – Black Jake & the Carnies. I love those guys, and they are like a second family to me. The band is a crazy mix of people. Whatever people’s experience has been arguing with band members (or their troll pseudonyms) on your blog, it has enriched my life to be with people who hold such different and offensive points of view.

As we’ve been trying to figure out where to live in Chicago, I’ve been thinking a lot about Granholm’s “Cool Cities” thing and the “Hip, Historic, Hipsilanti” flags that used to be around town. These were both ridiculous, and I mocked them openly. But it’s actually what I want, and I think Ypsi is a cool city. Young people can afford to live here. Families of all ages can get decent homes in a neighborhood with community and vitality. We have the Ypsi Food Co-Op and Growing Hope. Ypsi has a ton of artists & musicians. There are venues and events to showcase them like Woodruffs, Spur Studios & the Shadow Art Fair. There is a vibrant stickering community (LOL!).

I live in Depot Town & I love old East Cross Street. My block is pretty much the most perfect block in Ypsi. My neighbors are great. My kids can just run out the back door and meet the neighbor’s kids in the alley to just play all day. True, they mostly play in the yards of abandoned houses & vacant lots, but, hey, whatever. Open space is open space and there are WAY fewer prostitutes then there used to be.

MARK: I love the phrase, “it has enriched my life to be with people who hold such different & offensive points of view.” Do you care to elaborate?

ZACH: Well… If you know the individual Carnies you’ll know what I’m talking about. Get us all together and one of us is guaranteed to offend someone, or maybe a whole bunch of people. Anyway, I firmly believe that it’s good to have your assumptions challenged & not to surround yourself only with people who agree with you.

MARK: I don’t know where you stand politically, but I’m curious as to whether or not you’ve been watching what’s been going on in Lansing for these past few months, and, if so, if that makes it a bit easier to leave Michigan.

ZACH: Of course, it’s impossible to miss what’s been happening in Lansing. I’m an unashamed bleeding heart liberal. I have been extremely dismayed by the right wing agenda that has been rammed through the state legislature. I have no love for Rick Snyder but he’s such a nerd (which I usually take to be a good thing) that I foolishly hoped that he might not be a complete bastard.

Regardless, none of this makes it any easier to leave. Firstly, Illinois is no political paradise. It’s the textbook example of corrupt machine politics. This doesn’t excite me. Secondly, I really do love Michigan and I want the best for this state. It saddens me to be leaving when so much is at stake for labor, for women, for education.

MARK: Any constructive criticism for Ypsilanti? Anything you’ve always wanted to say, but just kept bottled up inside? I’d even settle for destructive criticism, if that’s all you’ve got.

ZACH: Of course, Ypsi isn’t some kind of paradise, and I have a very realistic perspective about it. Personally, one of the biggest issues for my family is school. Ypsi schools aren’t doing so hot. My oldest daughter is in 3rd grade, and she has already had 3 different teachers this year. There are good people there, doing their best, but it’s extremely difficult in light of the financial obstacles that the district is facing.

I would like to see Ypsilanti, as well as Michigan, and the country as a whole, prioritize education. As we’ve been looking for houses in Illinois everyone keeps saying “Watch out for property taxes in… this or that suburb.” Then you look at ‘em and they’re thriving communities with great schools. I welcome taxes, I love paying taxes. I would gladly pay more taxes if we could agree as a community to prioritize the education of our children. I would vote for any millage increase that went to schools or libraries.

My family and I were in Riverside Park this summer as part of the Huron River Watershed Council – River Cleanup. We were (the only people) down in the water picking whiskey bottles, vodka bottles, gin bottles, beer bottles and pop bottles out of the water, and somebody came along and stole all of our stuff that was sitting in the grass at the river’s edge. Ya know they stole big money items like my kids’ snacks & my daughter’s favorite shirt. That sort of sums up Ypsi for me.

Ya know… people are starting to graffiti the trees in Riverside Park. Whatever your views about the artistic merits of graffiti, I think you have to admit that spray painting some illegible bullshit on a tree is pretty stupid.

Don’t even get me started on crackhouses with absentee landlords or Beal’s ongoing “Work” to rebuild the Thompson Block.

MARK: I know it can be a touchy subject, but I’m curious as to what your experience has been selling your home, and how, if at all, the experience may have influenced your thoughts on the future of Ypsilanti. In other words, are people actually looking and buying homes in Ypsilanti these days? And has the interest level in your home been more or less than what you were expecting?

ZACH: Selling my house has been one of the most extraordinary experiences of my life. We never even listed the house or “put it on the market.” When I accepted my job offer and started telling friends we were moving, we immediately started getting phone calls. Within two weeks we informally showed our house to two couples, and the second couple bought the house… just like that. After that we continued to get unsolicited calls about our house from people who wanted to rent and buy. Our house is kind of cute, but still… It blew my mind.

I have to clarify that we lost a lot of money on the deal. Part of the reason I accepted my new position was that it put me in a financial position that we could afford to sell this house. So we sold it for a realistic price based on other houses in the area, and, joy of joys, the appraisal matched, and the deal was done.

Doing a “For Sale By Owner” was scary but we got a ton of help from one of our neighbors who works for a realtor. We couldn’t have done it without her, and we’ll be forever grateful for her help. The new owners are a really cool couple who currently rent in downtown Ypsi and we are so thrilled that they’re moving in here. All-in-all a very good experience that I think bodes well for Ypsi.

MARK: How have you seen Ypsilanti change over the time that you’ve been here? Or, to put it another way, is there one change that you’ve seen in Ypsi that you think speaks to a larger trend? For instance, I remember Linette saying to me that, in the late 80′s and early 90′s, you’d never see people pushing strollers in the City. I know it’s not exactly scientific, as she likely just wasn’t paying attention to babies when she was 18, but I think that maybe there’s something to it. Or, at least it seems to me that a lot of folks, yourself included, started moving into the City and having babies at about the same time.

ZACH: Oh yes. Back in ’02 we lived in a rental house in Ann Arbor, while looking for houses to buy. I thought to myself that “this is where yuppies go to to breed”. It’s a little different in Ypsi but not THAT different. There’s a lot of families with young kids here, and I was definitely part of that. I remember when the Corner Brewery first opened they seemed totally overwhelmed, and not too happy, when the beer garden was overrun by families. On a side note, we hardly get ANY trick-or-treaters… what’s that about?

I’ve also been seeing more young people buying houses in my area, and they’re not all just house flippers. Pretty much every new person who’s bought a house in my area in the last few years has been in their 20′s or early 30′s. I’d be curious to see if the demographics of Ypsi have been trending toward a younger population.

Overall I think Ypsi is getting a little better all the time. For instance, Water Street may be a development quagmire with a tax situation that threatens to bankrupt the city. But it could have been a development quagmire that threatened to bankrupt the city – with old factory buildings and toxic soil. So you know, that’s good.

MARK: You mention that, before living in Ypsilanti, you rented in Ann Arbor. I’m curious as to what first brought you to Ypsi, and what it was that convinced you that buying here would be a good idea. If it was just price, did you also look at homes in other communities, like Milan and Saline?

ZACH: Right off the bat people I knew were telling me we should live in Ypsi. They said it was cool and arty, and, since I was an indie rocker type, I would fit right in. We looked at houses for six months, though, and had little interest in Ypsilanti.

Our realtor was brand new and all the Ypsi houses she showed us had a beauty salon in the living room, a dozen hoarder sheds in the backyard, or a yard full of barking pitbulls next door. I swear one house was literally whispering “GET OUT”. But all the houses in Ann Arbor were like $220K for 600 square feet, so we had to go in another direction. We had one deal fall through in Ypsi (FHA hates radon) before we finally saw our house & fell in love with it on the spot. Also:
Milan = Prison
Saline = Republicans

MARK: Earlier, when I asked what you’d miss about Ypsi, I couldn’t help but notice that you didn’t mention this website, and I have to ask… Would I be wrong to assume that hatred of everything that I do is the one thread that binds all the members of Black Jake and the Carnies together and animates your work?

ZACH: Yes, that is our unifying principle.

For the record, your site is blocked by my employer’s web filter as a “Social Networking” site. I finally got it unblocked, but it took like five years. The company is based in Philadelphia so apparently the hatred of all things Mark Maynard spreads well beyond the borders of Michigan.

You would also not be wrong to assume that Black Jake & the Carnies are playing at the Blind Pig on January 27th as part of the Folk the Police festival. It makes me cry that I’m not in the band anymore. You should go see them.

MARK: I don’t know if it’s true of all the Carnies, but, from what I can recall of conversations I’ve had with the band, there’s a sense shared by most, if not all, of the members, that society could be on the brink of some kind of collapse. I realize, of course, that there are varying degrees of that, with some members of the band being much more in the survivalist camp than others, but my sense is that you all felt, to some degree, that community was going to be significantly more important in the future, as resources become more scarce. At least I seem to recall sitting around a table on a few occasions, talking with quite a few of you about raising chickens, trying out different opossum recipes, and the like. Well, as I was thinking about your imminent departure, it occurred to me that you’re not just leaving a band, but you’re leaving a scrappy little community of somewhat like-minded individuals who would have, I’m thinking, had a pretty good chance of making it through tough times together, and I’m wondering if that’s something that you thought about. I don’t want to overplay this facet of the band, and make it sound as though the group is a “doomsday cult,” but I did always get the sense that there was a kind of unwritten understanding that, when the shit hit the fan, you’d all be living in a heavily-fortified compound at the top of East Cross Street. Am I way off base on that? Or at there plans to recommission the cannon in Prospect Park?

ZACH: Haha, that’s hilarious. I’m sure folks who attended our recent Apocalyps-Mas Special at the Ark on 12/21/12 might agree with you. We are by no means a homogenous group – philosophically, religiously or politically. We all pretty much disagree about everything there is to disagree about.

One exception is that we have tended to agree that it isn’t a bad idea for local communities to be a little more self sufficient and/or sustainable. We all arrived at this conclusion through different channels – one might be a libertarian anarcho-capitalist, one an Eagle Scout, and one just a dabbler who likes weird hobbies.

In any event, we’ve totally had each others backs in the event there is a Zombie Apocalypse, the rise of the Mayan God of the Underworld or some sort of Fiscal Cliff. But not if there is a giant asteroid strike… we’re totally screwed in that case.

And here’s a little video from that Mayan apocalypse show at the Ark. (That’s Zach on the right, playing the mandolin.

And how cool is it that he hacked away at his company’s network for five straight years, in hopes of getting though their MarkMaynard.com firewall? That’s some serious dedication. I just hope, when he finally got through, he wasn’t disappointed.

Bye, Zach. You’ll be missed.

[note: The rest of my Ypsi/Arbor Exit Interviews can be found here.]

MARK: Do you know where you’re going to?

VINNIE: Belleville (temporarily), Detroit (in late September). If opportunities at MOCAD, and in Detroit, don’t work out, New York after… I still like the idea of moving recklessly to Berlin. Supposedly, that city is as cheap as Ypsilanti to live in.

MARK: Do you like the things that life is showing you?

VINNIE: Yes! Life is going well. Consistently, I’ve been taking more risks over the last six months and reaping the rewards. I left the comfort of Beezy’s and have done my best to travel and do more interesting things, despite my status as an underemployed artist (et cetera). I was offered a gig performing with the Joshua Light Show this upcoming September at NYU (with Lou Reed and others), and that would not have happened if I would have continued existing as a barista in Ypsi. Every week something new happens and I’m consistently amazed at what I’m doing.

MARK: I’ve exhausted by Diana Ross-inspired questions….

VINNIE: Diana Ross, wow, what a crooner.

MARK: I actually do have one more question from Ms. Ross… “Why must we separate, my love?”

VINNIE: My theory on Ypsilanti, at least in progress, is that Ypsilanti is a wonderful city to settle down in. Ypsi has a small-town feel with enough big city amenities to make the city pleasurable if you’re looking for consistent experiences without having to leave the city limits. This is especially true, if you have a family or have limited fun/free time. Or, you don’t like to get out much.

There is a steady selection of bars, a small and somewhat diverse selection of restaurants, interesting things to do, et al. And, much to the chagrin of haters, Ypsi is like Brooklyn to Ann Arbor’s Manhattan. Do you need an expensive steak or seafood place? More variety? Ritz? Glamour? Ride a bike, take the bus or drive a few miles west. Ann Arbor! So many options! Right next door!

But, Ypsilanti isn’t diverse enough for someone who wants new adventures regularly or places to explore. There is only so much to do without getting bored (and yes, I know the same applies to other cities, but we’re not talking about other cities). And I’m not a boring person, so I can’t stand finding myself bored.

I don’t want to settle down right now, or, probably ever.

For me, I need to move to feel great change. I know many artists and musicians who travel, perform in other cities, et cetera, but there’s a difference between living in a city and traveling. When I’m traveling, I tend to only do fun things. When I live somewhere, I have to wake up and face the creeping banality of reality like everyone else. I attended university in Ypsilanti, and I read somewhere you’re not supposed to stay in the same city that you attended school in. Force change, even if its uncomfortable.

Comfort is the enemy of progress. Ypsilanti is very comfortable.

At the same time, I’ve had an ugly number of people tell me to, “get out of Ypsilanti before it sucks you in.” That is another question, however.

MARK: Where were you before you came to Ypsi?

VINNIE: I lived in Flint for about one year.

MARK: But you grew up in Michigan?

VINNIE: I was born in Flint, lived there for the first five years of my life and then was transplanted into Otter Lake, MI.

Otter Lake was something of a mind-fuck growing up: a former resort community where the economy dried up and the result was an extensive amount of low-income people. Fun fact: Otter Lake is home to the cleanest water in the state! The former for-rent vacation cabins become long-term personal homes and, despite the number of smiling faces, the whole place reeks of small town charm. (Minorities not welcome.)

Because of the cheap land, the Massiminos were one of the first in an influx of factory families buying healthy amounts of land for cheap over the next decade, mostly from Saginaw, Oakland County and Flint. I grew up with some people from a similar mindset, feeling alien – from urban backgrounds and adapting to the small town values and people. Both of my parents became something like community leaders, coaching soccer and getting involved in the schools, et cetera. My brother and I were absolute oddities and it didn’t occur to me that I may have been lynched if it weren’t for popularity of my mom!

In jest, of course. The school district was lovely and some of my favorite people were my teachers. I’ve always been an eccentric and just happened to learn early on to make good with popular-types and friends with good people. Middle school, post-puberty is where I began flourishing. I had a good number of friends, and I stay in touch with the few who also moved away for more diverse pastures. Unfortunately, as situations often are, I can only really stay in regular touch with my friends who also moved, and stayed, away.

Polarizing is the best way to describe it. Contact with former-friends becomes strange when they discuss having children (at nineteen), dropping out of college and ‘hoping’ for something better. Conversely, living on no-money, not wanting to settle down and being flown to New York for freelance work just doesn’t make any sense to a lot of people.

So, Michigan: yes. M!ch!gan, Michigan! I’ve continually said yes to Michigan and loved how different a one-hour drive (from Otter Lake to Flint, or Flint to Ypsilanti) can make one state feel.

MARK: So, after high school, you moved to Flint for a while, and then came to Ypsi to attend EMU?

VINNIE: After high school graduation I faced the realization that I didn’t have the money to become a world travel or follow gentlemanly pursuits, so instead I spent nearly every weekend in Ypsilanti working on a movie called Stairclimbing with my friends (who evolved into the SONS OF DADS).

I began travelling to Ypsilanti during 2004 and, to echo a statement from earlier, when I travel I only tend to do “fun” things. Spending one weekend per month visiting a friend who was attending EMU, I loved Ypsilanti and the levels of excitement it presented. Ypsilanti felt adult – I had freedom from oppression! Relatively speaking, I did what I wanted, when I wanted! Growing up with a overly-shielding father, in a small town where the excitement is small, I went to Ypsilanti and found so many wonders!

And then, Ann Arbor, which felt wonderful. I wanted to be a journalist and University of Michigan had (somewhat recently, at the time) completely dropped their journalism program. (Uninformed, I was never told you didn’t have to use your field of study, per se, the idea is to gain a liberal arts degree, et cetera). So, I planned to attend Eastern for journalism. I wanted to attend NYU for film school and then realized the expense of living in New York/tuition rates, so that idea was no more. EMU was a safety net. I chose EMU and for where I am now, I really cannot complain. I dropped journalism quickly and then received a wonderful communications, rhetoric-focused education.

However, at the last minute, for a variety of reasons, Flint seemed like a fun idea. I lived with my brother and his girlfriend and wasn’t charged rent. I acted as an indentured servant, of sorts, cleaning their spacious apartment and enjoying the odd feel of the city. I did not want to go to college yet, but realized that to for myself to succeed I should at least get the basics out of the way. For a very low tuition, I attended community college and then drafted out a five-year vision. Flint worked for the year I lived there and then I moved to Ypsilanti to finish school.

And then I became myself.

MARK: Care to share the five year vision?

VINNIE: The five-year vision was something as follows:

- Travel regularly
- Have a Bachelor’s degree
- Receive acclaim and/or make money off of short films/videos
- Make a Baroque Pop album with the production style of The Cure’s Pornography
- Enjoy what you’re doing

Four out of five isn’t terrible! I still would like to make the great-American baroque pop masterpiece, but for now I’m far too focused on other work to care. And also, I admit that there may have been other, more extravagant goals, but fairly, I don’t remember them.

MARK: So, as you know, due to some strange circumstances, I ended up on a date with you and your girlfriend a few weeks ago. As we sat there, romantically ensconced in the booth at the 8 Ball, I didn’t get the sense that you were planning to pack up and leave town. When did the idea first occur to you?

VINNIE: Ha! The situation was only the more romantic with you playing ‘the dad.’

The question of moving has been prominent since day-once in Ypsilanti. I had a conversation with a friend recently where they described myself as someone who, “always has one foot out the door.” I couldn’t help but agree. I’ve never liked the idea of settling down, so the question of, “when?” has always been greater.

To begin, I never planned to live in Ypsilanti more than four years.

I built up a solid friend basis in Ypsilanti as soon as I arrived. The small acclaim we received with our work as SONS OF DADS steadily grew and then burst. SOD was contracted in 2009 to make a television series for unnamed parties and we thought, “Oh, perhaps this will work!” Michigan, at that point in time, seemed infinite. Then, throughout the course of the show (three-to-four months of work), we received no rewards – we never got paid, all promises by the producer fell through and then we received the blame for her incompetence! We often fronted our own money and used our own gear and I felt cheated. The whole thing was sorted out later with the other parties, but it left a bad taste in our collective mouth.

Three of the members – Byron, Posky and myself – made a short film about our feelings at the time. I watched it for the first time in a year the other day. (As did Posky, who texted me with saying, “I watched reflections too. Mind fuck.”)

The television series brought out our collective and individual strengths and weaknesses. Although a few more short films were produced, I would say that programme was the end of regular SOD productions and marking the beginning of VOSKY, the collaborative name used with my friend Matt Posky. (And, another shameless plug – that television series did produce one of my personal favorites – Bathroom Reviews.)

So, after that – mid 2009 – we realized there wasn’t a scene for underground comedy or even a real infrastructure for the kind of entertainment we wanted to produce. You need to move to NYC for underground comedy, LA for Hollywood (the usual). I was in the direct middle of my college education and then, that fall, three of my good friends moved. Posky and I began visiting NYC with regularity (every three or four months at most) and the air was ready for change. We kept pushing and pushing – Byron was excited for the MI Film Grants under Granholm – there was optimism! And nothing happened from that.

Shadow Art Fair 2011 was sort of the end of the first VOSKY-era – a twelve-hour celebration of our accomplishments. Two months later, Posky moved. As did my other best-friend, Brett (who makes most of the music for my short films). One friend, Matt, just moved back to Michigan. Byron moved to Portland, Oregon last month.

All of my major collaborators moved, yet, I didn’t see the sense in myself moving at the moment. I chose a few more months of Beezy’s, made another five year plan and then pursued MOCAD. The MOCAD thing then led to an offer to work with the Joshua Light Show, a professional job and a fondness for Detroit. I try my best to make very calculated decisions about all aspects of my life, and I know that if I would have moved to NYC to pursue comedy writing, I wouldn’t enjoy Detroit, have any of my new friendships or have an apprenticeship with Joshua White.

At the same time, I will never know. I could also be dead.

MARK: It’s nice that you think I looked like your dad that night at the 8 Ball. I kept thinking that, from the perspective of the other folks in the bar, I looked like a creepy older dude auditioning a young couple for some kind of debauched weekend of swinging.

VINNIE: What better way to start out a weekend of three-way sexual encounters than an interview with prospective partners at the 8 Ball on a Thursday evening? I like the idea of you being my father too, this being the woman I’ve been dating, and then we’re both going to give her (and each other) the deed. Family!

Kissin’ cousins and such.

MARK: So, as you have friends here, and enjoy traveling, I imagine you’ll be back on occasion, right?

VINNIE: As long as I have friends in the community and Beezy’s, Corner Brewery and the Ugly Mug all remain open, I will visit the city with enough regularity. For as much as I’ve said about Ypsilanti in the past (whether it be in private or at my SAF stand-up set), I really do like the city. For me, it was just time to leave.

I’ve had more people tell me in private to “get out.”

“Get out of Ypsilanti. Don’t waste your potential here; Don’t look back,” et cetera.

I did it! Hooray for me?! But I’m at peace with Ypsilanti as an idea. Ypsilanti is perfect for settling down. I just don’t think most people in my situation are. Or, at the very least, most people I’ve known from being ‘around’ for five years, are.

I grew very tired of hearing these (mostly) mid-twenties people complaining so often about how they don’t know what they’re doing. Neither do I! Do I want to stay in Detroit, or New York, or anywhere forever? Of course not. I’m very much into the idea of moving, or doing new stuff all the time. Travel, adventures, doing what I want and enjoying life. In theory, most of these people probably like that “free spirited” idea also, but what are they really doing to better themselves?

Stop bitching about your café job, stop complaining about the fact that you moved back to Ypsilanti from New York City or Europe or some other fantastical place. If you don’t really like it, move (on). I did. I can understand feeling lost or confused, but if you are so, just move away. Take an extended leave of absence – from what I gather, it’s not like Ypsilanti is really going to change very much whenever you decide to come back.

The other day, my girlfriend and I went to dinner at [popular Ann Arbor vegetarian restaurant] and a long time friend was our server. She was so excited to hate on Ypsilanti – how “awful” it was living there. She was so excited to live in Dearborn. (And a forty minute commute each way, every day. Exciting?) “Friend” grew so bitter, so so bitter, had this hatred for Ypsilanti and moved to her mom’s house. Salvation!?

How many people do you know that the following statement describes?

Profile:
You moved to Ypsilanti for cheapness/school, drink coffee at the Ugly Mug (if you’re old: when it was red and you could smoke), drink at (The Elbow Room/Woodruff’s), worked at (local restaurant/VG Kids briefly) and enjoyed your youth! You may have finished your degree, but settled into how cheap the city is and continued working at local business.

(Paradox: you must work to have money, but your job isn’t relevant for a ‘real’ job. So, finding a job after a certain point becomes hard, so you keep working at your underpaid local job and move nowhere).

But then you grew up. You either keep living the life and not complain publicly or, you do what I did, and become a relative recluse for months at a time. You date/fuck enough people in town that you/they start sleeping with other people everyone else knows, so there’s gossip! You become bitter because you may still be in love with said person, or bitter because you’re now in your mid-twenties (thirties, whatever) and you’re still doing the same bullshit you’ve been doing.

And repeat!

There are so many variables to this whole mess, but I just described half of the people I know.

All of these people have one thing in common: they’re settling. Settling is okay. Settling is fine. Everyone settles somewhere in their lives, but I think a good majority of these people don’t realize it. Then, one day, they have to confront the fact that they’ve settled into making lower-tax-bracket money, doing the same things they’ve been doing for years. Two choices: change or be fine with that. I wasn’t fine with that, I grew tired and the situation exacerbated itself every time I heard a friend say something similar.

So I moved.

The other half of the people I know are settled and loving it. Jobs, kids, whatever you like, Ypsilanti is the perfect mix of ridiculous and sane for a healthy upbringing. (Notes Mark Maynard’s recent posts on Mike Eller.) How can such a ridiculous conservative exist? Especially here? Because they do exist! At the same time, you have very insane liberals on the other end. All in one very American, wonderful city. You (Mark Maynard) settled in Ypsilanti and have made a life and minor-celebrity of it. Personal hero (Bee Roll) lived all over the United States and found Ypsilanti to be what she exactly wants. I find that so great! Ben Miller at the Library is the best example of someone who lives and breathes Ypsi. (And the list of people could go on and on).

So will I be back? Of course, if the city will have me. I have no regrets for pissing off/polarizing the audience (at the Shadow Art Fair) with my dark humor and journal entries from the midst of unemployment. I may have been the catalyst to make people think about what they’re doing with themselves, but I doubt it.

In closing, with a similar sentiment from Facebook, “After a five year of residency, I’ve moved from Ypsilanti. Thank-you all for such a lovely period of my life! College, growing up, barista jobs, drunk walks terrorizing the streets, existential crises, the best times and often the worst – living. Ypsilanti! The city that has crafted this young adult with so much care and ferocity! You’re all wonderful, but now I must m o v e o n to other adventures!”

In short, everything I just said could be summed up with New Order’s “Thieves Like Us.”

I was going to ask him to elaborate on this deep, personal connection he feels with Spies Like Us, but that’s where thge operator cut in and asked to me put in another nickle.

[note: For more of my exit interviews, just click here.]

So… I gotta say, how fucking awesome was that science teacher-looking guy, with the tall socks and white hair, playing that face-melting punk??? I need to see them play again. Shadow was a great time, y’all never disappoint.

The science teacher-looking guy is my friend Andy, who, as you might recall, once stirred up a lot of shit on this site by saying, “I detest the bands of today. They have now raw power. They just noodle and stand there.” As you saw on Saturday, despite his advanced age, he’s still not one to just stand around and noodle.

Oh, and he doesn’t teach science. He does, however, as someone pointed out in the comments section, look a lot like a certain famous time-traveling scientist from America’s past/future.

I’ve known Andy, by they way, since the early 90′s, when we used to play shows together. His band, The Monarchs, would open for my band, Prehensile Monkey-tailed Skink, and vice versa. There were many good times had, but, unfortunately, I don’t believe there’s much documentary evidence, except for a few 45s released by Bulb Records… But here Andy is, some 20 years later, still going at it with the raw power of an angry teen.

The band, by the way, is Minus9, and I have it on good authority that they’ll be playing the soon-to-be-announced 10th anniversary party for this website, along with a number of other local music luminaries. So, if you missed them at the Shadow, stay tuned.

Oh, and it’s probably worth nothing that Ian Fulcher, the man who books the entertainment for the Shadow each summer, didn’t just limit himself to grindcore this year. The lineup was incredibly diverse, extending from folk to comedy. While I wasn’t able to make it outside very often, I did get to catch a few songs by the newly re-formed Saturday Looks Good to Me. Here’s one of their numbers, for those of you who don’t so much care for songs about being attacked with acid.

And thank you again to all of the bands who came out to play on Saturday, Ian for curating the whole damn thing, and the guys who volunteered to handle the sound. Without them, the Shadow wouldn’t be the truly magical event that it is today.

I believe I already mentioned that, during the course of the Shadow, I had the opportunity to sit down and talk with, among other people, Clementine’s beloved second grade teacher, my friend Mike G, and a reader of this site who happens to be running for Washtenaw County Circuit Judge. I didn’t mention, however, that I also had very nice conversations with Paul Saginaw (founder of Zingerman’s) and his wife Lori, Chris Becker (the former editor of Factsheet Five), Ben Connor Barrie (the man behind the website Damn Arbor), Patrick Dunn (the former editor of Ann Arbor’s ill-fated version of The Onion), and lots of friends, former co-workers and the like. Unfortunately, most of the conversations weren’t taped. Here, however, is one that was. It’s with a former Ypsi resident by the name of Josh Steichman, who successfully parlayed an EMU journalism degree into a career working for Larry Flynt in what he lovingly refers to as the “porn Death Star” in Los Angeles. Josh has since moved on to better things, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to ask a few questions about what it was like working for the giant man-baby that is Flynt.

While we’re on the subject of adult imagery, here’s another piece of video that I shot yesterday. This one is with Dustin Krcatovich, the designer of our 2012 Shadow Art Fair poster… I thought it only fair to give him an opportunity to explain the graphic sexual imagery apparent in the dog’s snout. (See above.)

OK, and here are some random photos.

A baby with a contraption that keeps it from enjoying music.

Our Friends at VG Kids debuted a new coffee at the Shadow, developed in cooperation with the Ugly Mug. I haven’t tried it yet, but it smelled really good when I submerged my nose in the beans.

Martha Bishop’s redecorated plates… Linette and I bought one with a giant squirrel on it.

Those of us who plan the Shadow Art Fair have been wanting to do a manscaping booth for a while, but the idea languished until Trevor Stone and Natalie Berry took it on. Unfortunately, no one took them up on the offer to go “behind the curtain” for a “comprehensive” consultation. Lots of mustaches and beards were trimmed and painted on, though. And, to their credit, I only saw one Hitler mustache… and the woman sporting it was adamant that it was a “Chaplin.”

The Foraging Florist was super cool. In just a few minutes, he taught me tons about what it takes to grow moss, ensuring that I’ll never be hungry again.

My short-lived “Say whatever you want through a megaphone… $1 for 10 seconds” booth. I only had one taker. My daughter’s friend Juna gave me 25-cents for 2.5 seconds.

There was a lot more, but I’m still exhausted and I need to sleep now… If you came out, thank you. I hope that you had a good time.

10:39 AM Someone added “poop” to the title of this post, illustrating how important it is that you not walk way from your computer at an event like this.

10:45 AM After the Shadow this evening, I’d suggest that you go over and visit our friends at Woodruff’s, for the 39th installment of the best damned drag show this side of Atlanta, Elbow Deep… Speaking of Elbow Deep 39, I think it’s time they stop numbering them, and start naming them like hurricanes. (What’s the gayest name starting with an “A” that you can think of? Is there something gayer than Alfonso? Surely there’s a resource online for parents looking to choose gay names for their children. Actually, I think that’s a great business idea. I should make a “Gay Baby Names” book.)

10:54 AM It just occurred to me that the 20% off coupon for the Rocket is still good today, so, if you’re coming to Ypsi for the Shadow Art Fair, be sure to drop by the a href=”http://www.shoptherocket.com/” >Rocket on Michigan Avenue.

11:22 AM In addition to the articles in Concentrate, AnnArbor.com, and the Eastern Echo, there’s also something out today on The Awesome Mitten. This has been a good year for press. Hopefully it translates to people coming out and complaining.

11:29 AM I’m not positive yet, but I’m thinking about allowing people, for a dollar, to post anything they want under my name on Facebook.

12:17 PM Fifteen minutes in, and no complaints yet. I think that’s pretty good. Also, I’ve seen two sales already, which I think it a pretty good sign. I’m going to shoot a few pictures now. Hopefully I’ll have photos to share soon.

12:33 PM If you’re finding it hard to locate me, in order to wage your complaint, my booth is wedged between John “pooping wizard” Maggie and Nathan “space panty” Hoste. And, yes, this is the spot that I requested.

12:40 PM If you leave a complaint on this threat, you will be billed $1. (Be sure to leave your address.)

12:45 PM OK, I’m thinking that it’s time to try something else, before real complaints start coming in.

1:30 PM I just asked Dustin Krcatovich about the fact that the dog’s snout, in the poster that he designed for this year’s Shadow Art Fair looked like something from the Kama Sutra. I’m downloading the video now. I hope to share it soon. Here, in the meantime, is video of Patrick Elkins, explaining how his comedy/beard-kissing booth works.

1:45 PM I just had my first complaint. It wasn’t about the Shadow Art Fair so much as it was about the nature of evil and the current intractable issues facing mankind. Sadly, there was nothing I could do to help… I chose not to accept the dollar.

2:20 PM Speaking of complaints, someone left the this comment on Facebook a couple of days ago, explaining why she wouldn’t be attending this year’s Shadow Art Fair. I don’t agree with her, of course, but it’s healthy, I think, to have people saying negative stuff about the Shadow. I don’t know about everyone else, but I find that I’m motivated by criticism. And this comment made me want to make this year’s Shadow even weirder…. Speaking of which, you can be completely manscaped at this year’s Shadow, just a few feet from where I’m sitting.

3:27 PM The former editor of Ann Arbor’s version of the Onion just stopped by. Before him, it was a guy running for Washtenaw County Judge. Neither had complaints. Both just wanted to sit down and chat, which was nice… The music has started outside. I’ve only caught a few numbers so far, but they were good.

3:53 PM Just had a nice talk with Clementine’s 2nd grade teacher.

6:30 PM No one took us up on it, but we just tried a “Talk to a Breastfeeding Mom” booth.

TO BE CONTINUED….

…Amok is a Malay word for the homicidal sprees occasionally undertaken by lonely, Indochinese men who have suffered a loss of love, a loss of money, or a loss of face. The syndrome has been described in a culture even more remote from the West: the stone-age foragers of Papua New Guinea.

The amok man is patently out of his mind, an automaton oblivious to his surroundings and unreachable by appeals or threats. But his rampage is preceded by lengthy brooding over failure, and is carefully planned as a means of deliverance from an unbearable situation. The amok state is chillingly cognitive. It is triggered not by a stimulus, not by a tumor, not by a random spurt of brain chemicals, but by an idea. The idea is so standard that the following summary of the amok mind-set, composed in 1968 by a psychiatrist who had interviewed seven hospitalized amoks in Papua New Guinea, is an apt description of the the thoughts of mass murderers continents and decades away:

“I am not an important man… I possess only my personal sense of dignity. My life has been reduced to nothing by an intolerable insult. Therefore, I have nothing to lose except my life, which is nothing, so I trade my life for yours, as your life is favoured. The exchange is in my favour, so I shall not only kill you, but I shall kill many of you, and at the same time rehabilitate myself in the eyes of the group of which I am a member, even though I might be killed in the process.”

The amok syndrome is an extreme instance of the puzzle of human emotions. Exotic at first glance, upon scrutiny they turn out to be universal; quintessentially irrational, they are tightly interwoven with abstract thought and have a cold logic of their own…

For a list of other vendors who will be featured at Saturday’s Shadow Art Fair, just click here.

Well, we had some good luck. Almost immediately upon stepping onto Ypsilanti’s historic tridge, we encountered a gentleman being fellated. Unfortunately, he wasn’t too keen on having his photo taken, so we began to seek out others, following voices into the darkness. And, finally, after a particularly tense encounter with a man who clearly didn’t want his presence documented in any way, we found some folks who were into the idea of standing in as honorary members of the team, alongside Chris, Melissa and me. (We were particularly enthusiastic about the participation of a young man brandishing a machete.) Unfortunately, I don’t have any of those photos to share just yet, but here’s one of the Michigan Design Militia team, as we were applying jelly to our dolls.

[Pictured: Chris Sandon, Mark Maynard, Melissa Dettloff. Photo by Doug Coombe for Concentrate.]

Speaking of the Shadow, it’s set to take place from noon to midnight, this Saturday, at the Corner Brewery. I’m told it will be our 13th, and it’s shaping up to be among our very best yet. In addition to having a lot of interesting vendors, as always, we’ll have a number of people sharing their cool, interactive projects. Among these folks will be Vinnie Massimino, who will be shooting Shadow visitors in front of his green screen, and Chris Sandon and Martin Thoburn, who will be sharing their Exquisite Motion Corpse project, as seen below in their newly launched Kickstarter campaign. (They want to create a version of the Exquisite Motion Corpse for iPhone, iPad, etc, and they’re almost half way to their goal of raising $8,000 to do it.) Here are videos on both projects.

Green Screen Improv Troupe from Vinnie Massimino on Vimeo.

Oh, and I should also mention that, in addition to all of this, we’ll also be unveiling a special, limited edition Shadow Brew, and we’ll have a ton of bands, out in the beer garden, like Saturday Looks Good To Me, Minus9, Drunken Barn Dance, and Hot Boss. (Thanks to Ian Fulcher, as always, for curating this year’s band lineup.) I’m told that Charlie Slick may also be treating us to a bit of comedy. It should be a a great time. And, as always, it’s only 2-cents to enter.

For those of you who would like to know more, in addition to the piece coming out in Concentrate tomorrow (about our unwillingness to ever sell out), there’s also a new article at AnnArbor.com (about our plans to sell out). And, we’ll be visiting Mike Perini’s show on WCBN (Pandora’s Lunchbox) to discuss the Shadow at 6:30 PM on Thursday, for those of you who would like to tune in.

And, if you want to let us know that you’re coming to the Shadow, so that we can plan accordingly, you can do that on Facebook.

See you Saturday.

update: The Concentrate article is now live.

And here’s another photo from the shoot… That’s the machete being pointed toward the camera. (I think it looks like a wand here, which makes it even better.)

I’ve thought for a long time that it would be cool to have a portable confessional that I could take to local bars. I think people would find it therapeutic, and I suspect that the recordings, if I decided to release them, would be of interest to the folks who read this site… I suppose people could regret it later, like some of the young women who appear in Girls Gone Wild videos must, but I think I could prevent that by using some kind of voice changing technology, so that everyone sounds like robots as they tell me about their shameful pasts. [Speaking of sad, beer-drinking robots, who remembers this post?] And, of course, I wouldn’t capture images of the people on the other side of the confessional’s screen.

I’m also thinking that it would be cool to pay people for their stories. No one, to my knowledge, in the history of the Shadow, has ever flipped the traditional art fair dynamic around, and paid their customers, and I think that would be an interesting thing to explore. I don’t know how much money I have to dedicate to such a project, but I think it would be cool to pay people by pushing coins through a slot. (Or, maybe I could feed them through beer through tubes, like those that you use to hydrate hamsters.) I’m thinking that I would continue to pass them coins as long as they remained interesting.

Maybe it’s not a great idea, but I think it beats my earlier ones, like the booth offering free, no-questins-asked pet euthanasia. I did, however, like my idea about locking random visitors to the Shadow in a glass box with someone smoking synthetic “face eating” drugs. I think that’s the kind of thing that would get me in the Whitney Biennial.

Ragula explains her decision to open a brick-and-mortar location as follows: “There comes a point (in a movement like this) where there needs to be a more outward-facing presence, that seeks to engage the wider community. We’re at that point. We need small epicenters of transition activity, where (the principles of) BALLE and the Transition movement, can come together (and be put into action).” She envisions a future in which such centers exist across the country, leveraging downtown storefronts left vacant in the wake of shopping malls and big box retailers. Each center, she says, would be independently run, and take on the flavor of the community in which it’s housed. The subject matter addressed within these centers, she says, could span from healthy food access to business incubation, with the common thread being the shared values of localism, social justice, permaculture, education, biomimicry, economic empowerment, etc.

Rajala’s Local Economy Center, the Share Exchange, is one block off the main drag in Santa Rosa, the second largest city in California’s Wine Country. (Their population is 167,815.) They chose not to pursue corporate sponsorships, as other centers have, but, instead, to focus on the grass roots. They are organized as a cooperative under California law. (They’ve yet to define their bylaws, but that is in process.) Their intention is to become both a consumer coop, and a worker coop. The space is 1,800 square feet, and they pay $1 per quare foot. (The space was relatively move-in ready when they took possession.)

Their rent, for the most part, is covered by the sales of the Made Local Marketplace, which takes up the first 400 square feet of their space. At present, according to Rajala, the goods available in the store, all of which are made in their county, are relatively “gifty.” She’s hoping, however, to transition, over the coming year, into more practical items. The vision, says Rajala, is to have it be like a general store. (I believe she said that, since opening, they’ve sold the work of close to 250 artists, makers, etc.) The entire space is open to the public from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM… I asked about the revenue generated by the Marketplace, and she said that it covered half of their budget. (Their budget was $100,000 the first year, and $130,000 the second.) She also said that half of the Marketplace sales were recorded in the first three weeks of December. Last year, they hosted a street fair, hoping to generate non-December sales. (I didn’t ask how much they raised.)

Behind the store, there is a co-working space, which presently has 60 members. This area has a kitchen, video conferencing room, etc. And, over time, they will be adding entrepreneurial services, helping people to launch businesses that make the community more sustainable.

They also generate revenue by renting their space, after hours, to organizations that are “mission aligned.” (They rent the space approximately 200 evenings a year.) Craft groups, community organizations, and local businesses, among others, make use of their meeting rooms, which are outfitted with white boards, and other tools to facilitate the creative exchange of ideas.

Furthermore, they’ve started something called the Local Economy Institute, which they hope will evolve into something like the Evergreen Cooperative, in Cleveland, helping to create jobs by looking for opportunities to fill in the local supply chain. For example, she mentions that Amy’s Kitchen, a huge, vegetarian food processor in her area, imports most of their ingredients. So, she wants to start a worker-owned farm to supply them. The Local Economy Institute would not only identify such opportunities, and help launch companies to take advantage of them, but also hold courses for people on how to be responsible, successful worker/owners.

The secret to staying afloat, she says, is to diversify revenue streams, and thereby bring in enough money to support those activities that don’t make money. (They also do some contract work for nearby cities that are interested in sustainability, marketing work for local businesses, etc. Furthermore, a local bank has recently stepped up to be a sponsor.) The key, she says, is to stay flexible.

The organization has two staff members. And, there are five makers/artists who volunteer to run the store. In exchange for running the store, these five people pay a much lower commission rate on their pieces that sell in the store. (Occasionally the two employees of the organization need to run the store, as the volunteers can’t always make their shifts.)

When asked what she would have done differently, Rajala says that she would have done more outreach concerning co-working. As it was something new in the community, she said, people weren’t ready for it. And, as a result, those spaces aren’t fully utilized, and, as a result, the people who are using the co-working facility, are essentially being subsidized. She says that she doesn’t know if co-working is going to work in the long run. They may have to transition some of their co-working space into dedicated offices for startup companies, she says, which they can rent by the year.

They’re constantly trying new things. They looked into the possibility of a time bank, but decided to put it off for the time being. They’re working with the national Slow Money Network to roll out their Credibles program, which is a platform though which people can pre-pay for goods at their favorite food-related businesses, and, in so doing, help budding food entrepreneurs by advancing them working capital. They will also soon be rolling out a matchmaking service through which people with unused yard space in urban areas can be matched up with would-be farmers who are looking for plots to cultivate. And, they’re hoping to replicate the Port Townsend Local Investing Opportunities Network (LION) that I told you about not too long ago, in hopes of getting high-net-worth individuals investing in local startup enterprises that create jobs, improve the community’s resiliency, and contribute positively toward the local ecosystem. And, they want to explore all kinds of swapping and sharing, whether it be in the form of hosting local fabric swaps, or facilitating equipment lending networks. She also says that they’d like to do more to get the people who create things for their store into stores of their own. The main thing, she says, it to keep going… to keep finding new sources of revenue, so that you can continue to push the envelope. In order to do that, according to Rajala, you have to be creative, and you have to foster partnerships.

I had thought, since the first Shadow Art Fair, that Ypsilanti might be able to support a year-round store, managed by volunteers, that would sell the products of our food entrepreneurs, craftspeople, and makers. The idea that such a business could serve as a gateway to something bigger, though, is something that I hadn’t considered. And I like it. Unfortunately, what works in a city of 167,000, where you only pay $1 a square foot in rent, may not work in a considerably less affluent community that’s a fraction of that size. Still, though, it’s interesting to consider what a Local Economy Center would look like in Ypsilanti.