Mark Maynard | metaphors

Two Frenchies on what they love about Detroit’s “Do It Ourselves” culture, and why they’re making a film about it

By Mark | July 12, 2012

A few months ago, I received a nice note from two French filmmakers, who, for some reason, had stumbled across my site and liked it. Their names were Nora Mandray and Hélène Bienvenu, and, as I’d come to learn over the course of subsequent emails, they had been living in the the area for some […]

Posted in Art and Culture, Detroit, Sustainability | Also tagged Arthur K. Peters Memorial Travel Grant, Beaubien, bikes, Caspar David Friedrich, Centre National de la Cinématographie, cities, community, community coming together, decent human community, decline, Detroit je t'aime, Detroit Soup, DIO, DIY, documentary film, Fender Bender, film making, France, French Film Institute, Fulbright scholars, generation Y, Grace Lee Boggs, hackers, Hantz Farms, Hungary, ingenuity, Kickstarter, La Croix, Lafayette, Nora Mandray, Packard Plant, parables, Paris, Paris Institute of Political Studies, post-industrial era, Recycle Here, Romain Meffre, Romantism, ruin porn, self-reliance, soup, the Detroit situation, the future of American cities, the lessons of Detroit, the parable of Detroit, UCLA, urban farming, urban food system, urban living, urban renewal, utopias, Yves Marchand | 21 Comments

The collapse of Cross Street Station

By Mark | April 19, 2010

A reader of the site just sent this photo to me. I’d heard a while ago, from the former manager of the bar, that the roof had fallen in, but it’s amazing to actually see it. I think I’ve mentioned it here before, but this is where, about 17 years ago, I met Linette. I’d […]

Posted in History, Mark's Life, Ypsilanti | Also tagged analogies, condemned buildings, Cross Street, Cross Street Station, historic places, Linette Lao, Oliva, palces that need to be marked by a plaque, Prehensile Monkey-tailed Skink, roof collapse, Ward Tomich, Yeti Load | 16 Comments

It’s like a jelly donut full of crab meat, only without the crab meat

By Mark | June 1, 2009

[This conversation with the spine surgeon took place a few weeks ago, as we looked at images from my MRI. Basically she told me that I’d never get my old disk back, but that, by watching what I did, and building up my core strength, I could avoid future flair ups. I forget the exact […]

Posted in Mark's Life | Also tagged back pain, bad metaphors, cartoon, it sucks getting old, jelly donut full of crab meat, looking for someone to blame, mixed metaphors, My Life in Ypsi | 13 Comments

Tag Archives: metaphors

Two Frenchies on what they love about Detroit’s “Do It Ourselves” culture, and why they’re making a film about it

The collapse of Cross Street Station

It’s like a jelly donut full of crab meat, only without the crab meat

Connect

Recent Comments

Elsewhere

Arts and Culture

Friends

Information, News & Politics

Organizations

SE Michigan Blogs

Special Projects

Ypsi Living

Search