y p s i ~ d i x i t
Motto: "You must realize that until you have thrown off your bourgeois shackles and enjoyed a leisurely smoke while letting a Giant African Snail determine your cadence, you have not begun to demonstrate what has been lost to expertization." --L.F.

Who: Laura
Where: Ypsilanti, MI
What: Ypsi, Iraq, windfarm dumping
When: Aug. 7, 1967
Whence: Mt. Clemens, MI
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2005-01-19-12:47 p.m.:
A TALE OF YPSILANTI: The Eastern Echo's Adam Sparkes writes a rambling yet haunting meditation on

the downtown halfway houses,
the "skidz,"
the sneakers on the telephone wire,
the asylum south of town,
the guy who sits on a woven folding chair in his yard wearing a mask of Lubriderm all day,

...and other things about Ypsi that led Sparkes to get this tattoo.

1 comments--add a comment

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2005-01-19-8:59 a.m.: TODAY'S HELPING OF SCHADENFREUDE comes courtesy of Tree Town, where at Weber's Bar a convicted felon left his loaded gun on the bar by mistake. He left. "A customer stepped on it, thought it was a cell phone [a common mistake] and turned it in." Then the guy came back, demanding his gun.

27 comments--add a comment

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2005-01-19-8:58 a.m.: THIS MORNING�S RUSH HOUR STORM immediately knocked the bus schedule akilter. By the time Ypsidixit biked downtown at 7:45--trying to divine where the sidewalk might be in front of an unnamed local house next to a certain historical museum--the only bus even vaguely on time was the old-reliable Washtenaw-Ave 4.

At times the bus is a sort of rolling museum display case of human nature. At Arborland, a cheerful lady in a wheelchair got on. I pondered and admired the grit and determination necessary to push ice-cold, possibly wet handle-rims through inches of snow. As more and more bedraggled-looking, snow-covered people packed on, one frail young underdressed tween sort of hovered in the aisle, incongruously holding a blanket with mittenless hands. The husky young guy next to me gave up his comfy seat and wedged himself into the swaying strap-hangers in order to give the girl a seat. Ypsidixit loves to see such graceful chivalry.

0 comments--add a comment

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2005-01-18-9:41 p.m.: DUMPSTER-DIVING DISCUSSION BOARD. Finds range from a Murano glass lamp and an antique china peanut to "pharmacy finds."

Ypsidixit is proud to say she's furnished an entire house, quite prettily, with recycled items that include:

1. curbside saves (aquarium, 2 bentwood rocking chairs, former TV table, and an incidental table and elegant dresser that I refinished)
2. garage- and estate-sale finds (beautiful mint condition massive four-poster cherrywood bed, washing machine, dining room chair set--thanks, Pop!)
3. family hand-me-downs (loveseat, aquarium table, big dresser, rock maple dining table, office desk)
4. divorce fallout (piano, computer, printer)
5. items that mysteriously disappeared for awhile during divorce proceedings (is that a cardinal on the birdfeeder?)

Ypsidixit wonders what trash-to-treasure you've found.

8 comments--add a comment

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2005-01-18-6:58 p.m.: KIND READER AND VOGELEIN CREATOR JANE IRWIN told* Ypsidixit that she'd just bought a snazzy new, non-"hooptie"** soybean car! It's awfully cute and stylish-looking.

She also said that the Carpenter Road Meijer's is putting in a biodiesel pump, which puts biodiesel technology within reach of every Ypsilantian. Additionally, Jane said that on this coldest of days, the soybean car instantly roared to life this morning, adding, "so much for unreliable diesels."

Ypsidixit admires Jane for caring for the Earth to the tune of a major investment. Very cool.

Incidentally, Vogelein graphic novels are available at the Cross Street bookshop, perched precariously on a huge pile of stuff in the front area.

*and gave me permission to post this.
**I'm not sure what "hooptie" means.

15 comments--add a comment

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2005-01-17-9:52 p.m.: YPSILANTI-BASED KALITTA AIR CARGO SERVICE, flying out of Willow Run, is the Army's designated carrier for mail to troops in Iraq.

Threatened by SCUDs, flying secret missions, and losing all navigational aids over the pitch-black ocean: one Kalitta pilot tells his story.

2 comments--add a comment

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2005-01-17-12:17 p.m.: ANDREW "TRAIL OF TEARS" JACKSON'S WILD INAUGURAL PARTY scandalized the Washington elite. The first President who wasn't an Eastern aristocrat, Jackson played up his rugged frontiersman image before the election--in reality, he was a rich slaveholder.

20,000 people came to the White House for the party [pictured]. They slogged mud all over fine imported carpets, they caused thousands of dollars of damage to glassware alone--and pretty much anything not nailed down disappeared.

It got so crazy they had to put "washtubs of whiskey and orange juice" on the front lawn to lure people out of the house--Jackson himself escaped the crush through a window.

12 comments--add a comment

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2005-01-16-11:09 p.m.: IN 1945, FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT held an austere wartime Inauguration ceremony that included a lunch for 1,000 of cold chicken salad, rolls without butter, and coffee.

7 comments--add a comment

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2005-01-16-7:27 p.m.: NON-BIKE-FRIENDLY TRAFFIC CIRCLE PLANNED for Geddes at Superior. To ease congestion at this 12,000-car-a-day intersection, the county is installing a traffic roundabout, through which traffic flows without stoplights. (How it works).

Said to be safer than regular intersections, this type of roadway would be scary for bikers and peds trying to guess whether an oncoming car will turn into the lane they're trying to cross. Ypsidixit also thought the giant new Dixboro Rd. bridge was meant to ease the flood of cars pouring on and off US-23, but apparently there's plenty of money in county coffers for expensive car-friendly projects, as opposed to, say, pumping a bit of cash into AATA so that the Sunday buses don't stop running at 6 p.m.

A roundabout is also planned for the intersection of Whittaker and Stony Creek Rd.

25 comments--add a comment

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2005-01-15-5:02 p.m.:
IN 1942, THE WAR PEOPLE CAME TO WASHTENAW COUNTY, to sift it of its scrap rubber and metal for the war effort. Local farms proved to be treasure troves, coughing up tons of scrap.

Here you can see Mr. Wright, a Dexter farmer, heaving scrap onto the pile, with a WPA truck in the background.

Ypsidixit wonders why such collections aren't ongoing nowadays. We all have so much stuff lying around--Ypsidixit has surplus clothes, bikes, lumber, and tools.

Ypsidixit wonders why recycling was feasible then but not now. She further speculates that war-collectors knocking on doors might make the war seem more real to those without family or friends involved.

18 comments--add a comment

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2005-01-14-10:28 p.m.: YPSILANTI'S THOMAS MORE LAW CENTER WEIGHS IN ON ANTI-EVOLUTION STICKER BAN: Mere seconds after Georgia-based U.S. District Judge Clarence Cooper ruled that a proposed Georgia biology school textbook sticker that questions evolution is unconstitutional, the Thomas More Center chimed in with fallacious arguments in support of this sticker.

EXCERPT FROM ABOVE LINK: "Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel of the Thomas More Law Center, commented Thursday, "This decision makes the theory of evolution the Sacred Cow of the public school system." [exaggeration].�"According to the decision, any criticism of Darwin's theory in a public school biology classroom endorses "religion" in violation of the federal constitution, and therefore must be prohibited.�[correct]. "For the sake of good science education, this ruling must be appealed." [Why? Evolution is understood as the proper way of understanding our history. It is disingenuous to suggest that in the interest of students being exposed to other "theories" they be subject to such fallacious Christian constructs as "intelligent design."]

On another site, Richard Thomspson says, "�This decision is bad law, bad for education, and ultimately bad for students who are purposely kept in the dark about the growing scientific controversy over the Theory of Evolution,� Thompson concluded." [This is disingenuous. There is no "growing controversy" about evolution.]

The theory of gravity is also a "theory." Nobody really understands how gravity works and why things stick to the surface of the Earth. But you don't hear the radical-right Christians getting het up about gravity and proposing alternate "intelligent gravitational" theories about God pulling everything down towards the center of the earth. Seems to me they pick and choose among scientific "theories" so as to push through a Christian agenda.

Ypsidixit is quite content to have a monkey for a grandpa, as it were. If we all come to understand that life is brief and ends absolutely after a handful of decades, we might treasure all the more our short time here, and take time to notice and care for its beauties more, and love all the better the dear ones in our lives.

14 comments--add a comment

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2005-01-14-12:22 p.m.: YPSI GARAGE EXPLODES WITH HOMEOWNER INSIDE: Every wall was blown out and the roof crashed down.

And the guy?

He got "singed eyebrows."

The roof was stopped from falling on him by a van and a freezer. Talk about a close shave. Story.

3 comments--add a comment

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2005-01-14-9:43 a.m.: WHITTAKER ROAD KILLER FOUND: Leighton kindly reports that the 20-year-old Sumpter Township boy who killed Ms. Tooles while she was checking her mail on Whittaker Rd. has been caught. He was hiding the car in a barn. I'll add more info as it comes in.

7 comments--add a comment

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2005-01-13-7:26 p.m.: FORMER SALINE MAYOR DONALD SHELTON URGED SALINE'S CITY COUNCIL TO SUPPORT A COUNTYWIDE JAIL MILLAGE, even though a mere .9% of those held in the county jail at Carpenter and Hogback come from Saline (72% come from AA, Ypsi, and Ypsi Twp.)

The jail is so overcrowded that 600 prisoners, half of them felons, have been granted early release since 2003. Also, says Saline police chief Paul Bunten, outstanding warrants are not being pursued. "Fugitive apprehension efforts just aren�t done. There isn�t anywhere to put them."

Adding to the problem is the changing nature of prisoners. In 1998, 43% of inmates were jailed for assault; in 2003, the number was 64%. In 2002, 57% of the inmates were charged with felonies; in 2004, 75%.

We clearly have a problem. Although the jail was only recently expanded, the millage is sorely needed to expand it again.

Ypsidixit is unsure if it'll pass. Outcounty voters might justifiably claim it's not their problem, and AA-Ypsi folk might not want this highly visible, centrally-located jail to mushroom into some gun-towered, razor-wired eyesore.

The millage fails. And another abusive spouse gets early release, and walks off towards the home of his victim, to "give her what she deserves."

The Saline Reporter story.

4 comments--add a comment

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2005-01-13-8:29 a.m.: THERE'S AN AMBER ALERT for a missing Ypsi girl.

2 comments--add a comment

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2005-01-13-1:21 a.m.: THE INAUGURATION WILL BE SCARY FOR PARTICIPANTS, who, after undergoing body searches and bomb-sniffing dogs, have been commanded not to look directly at our leader or make any sudden movements, says this story [scroll way down]:

EXCERPT: "Thousands of performers - marching bands, color guards, pompon dancers, hand bell-ringers, drill teams on horseback and Civil War re-enactors - will be bused early in the morning to the Pentagon parking lot across the Potomac in Virginia. While performers disembark and go through metal detectors, bomb-sniffing dogs will search the buses."

"Then everybody will get back on the buses for a trip to the National Mall, where they will spend most of the day in heavily guarded warming tents. Participants have been warned that they will not be allowed to leave the tents except to go to portable toilets accompanied by a security escort."

"Other instructions given performers include a warning not to look directly at Bush while passing the presidential reviewing stand, not to look to either side and not to make any sudden movements. "They want you to just look straight ahead," said Danielle Adam, co-director of the Mid American Pompon All Star Team from Michigan, which also performed in the 2001 inaugural parade."

51 comments--add a comment

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2005-01-12-11:23 p.m.: NEW "YPSI" BLOG: Scott, formerly the "fashion police" detail of the downtown bike shop Bicycles in Town, kindly emailed Ypsidixit from his new home in Fayetteville, N.C. to alert her that he's started a new blog.

Why "fashion police"? Well, infatuated last summer with the recumbent in stock at BIT, Y. stopped by one day to take it on another test ride. I was wearing a shorty-short skirt, and Scott diplomatically pointed out the disadvantages of riding a 'bent in such garb. The shy and modest Y. turned beet-red, right there in the bike shop, as Scott regarded her, appraisingly. It was in fact a rather charming if not downright flirtatious moment. But I digress.

At any rate, here's Scott's blog, ashtrayfloors. A scan of his profile reveals coolness in his admirable career aspiration and a liking for ole-timey music master Uncle Tupelo.

2 comments--add a comment

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2005-01-12-6:16 p.m.: 100-CAR PILEUP: NPR reports a fog-caused 100-car pileup on I-96. It's so foggy the police can't even count all the cars. A 12-mile section of 96 is closed down. Zounds.

Ypsidixit biked (carefully) to Jerusalem Garden for a kibbeh sandwich and back to work--thinking only that it was a beautiful, soft, foggy night, very lovely. Hope no one in the crash was hurt.

11 comments--add a comment

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2005-01-12-1:24 p.m.: YPSI WOMAN INCOGNITO SERVES IN CIVIL WAR: Ypsidixit's adventurous friend informs her that the following card exists in the Ypsi City Archives obit file:

"Major William S. Atwood. Died 8-3-1867. Committed suicide at grave of adopted daughter in Elmwood Cemetery, Detroit. He was stationed at Fort Gratiot at one time. Enlisted for Civil War. His wife donned male attire and followed him throughout the war without detection. After the war he opened a law office in Ypsilanti."

I love the way they don't give his wife's name, just the possessive pronoun and the marital indicator. However, this brave and clever Ypsilanti woman did have a name, and I'm trying to find it.

11 comments--add a comment

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2005-01-12-8:33 a.m.: FORMER WEMU DJ THAYRONE, canned in 2003 for refusing to air NPR news and for too much pro-Iraq War talk, has been canned again, from WKQL (107.1). Why? Supposedly because he played a misogynist song, says the Clear Channel lawyer.

One little song? Seems like mightly slender grounds on which to outright fire someone. Ypsidixit thinks there's more to this story.

10 comments--add a comment

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2005-01-11-12:40 p.m.: RENT STRIKE AT HIGHLAND APARTMENTS: A KIND READER* gives an insider's view (posted with her permission) of Highland Apartments and the tenant's rent strike now going on:

"I have not had a good experience here. One thing that offended me the most was when what appeared to be a "crackhouse" of some sort moved into the next building this summer. There was a shooting in the parking lot as a result. There were residents and children outside at the time, but luckily no one was hurt. I guess what makes me so "sensitive" is that during this time, there were many clearly "middle class" folks driving up to that building in nice cars (ostensibly to buy drugs) and leaving quickly. These are the same sort of people (and I do NOT mean you or your friend) who can be heard around town making fun of "the Highlands", while greatly contributing to the problem.

"There doesn't appear to be a "crackhouse" anymore, but there is an incredibly high incidence of crime here. It could be assumed that most of it is due to the residents themselves, but there are residents here who are just hard-working people who got a bad break in life.

"The inside of many of the apartments look very nice, but the buildings are filthy, with the main doors unlocked, allowing all sorts of vagrants and others to enter to sleep, drink, and smoke drugs. It is not a pleasant or safe situation. I could go on and on, but believe me, any horror you could think of is going on here.

"I grew up in Detroit, and this is one hundred times worse.

"I didn't mention that I am in law school and such to brag, it is just that I have heard a lot of people (I don't mean you) say that the people who live here are losers, so who cares? When I tell these "educated types" that I am in law school they suddenly change their tune. It is unfortunate, but that is the way most people think. I feel like the many of the residents are a problem, but the landlord should take reasonable care, as I believe he is required to by law.

"Currently there is a tenant's association, and most of the tenants (including myself) are now witholding rent until many of these issues have been resolved. I will be so glad when I am done with school and can move somewhere a lot better, but considering that there are so many people here who have very limited financial options, I think it is important they they are protected and not taken advantage of. I personally didn't have the sewage problem in my building, but it was very scary when the Building Inspectors gave us notices that we might have to be evacuated during that time. I really hope that justice is served for all of the decent residents here.


*who's been commenting in an old post buried in the archives.

12 comments--add a comment

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2005-01-10-7:16 p.m.: EMINENT LOCAL HISTORIAN JAMES MANN PROFILED BY ANN ARBOR NEWS: Mann's giving a talk January 26 on how to research your home. He gives tips in the article on where to start. This Mann guy sounds pretty knowledgable, not to mention charmingly urbane. But he's also modest to a fault when he says, shyly digging his toe in the sand, "I know a lot about the city, but I'm not going to be able to tell someone when their fireplace was installed. I'm good, but I'm not that good."

Turns out you can hire Mann to research *your* home, and Ypsidixit is going to do just that, since she works five million hours a week and regrettably doesn't have time for archive-poking. Ypsidixit would love to know more about her 790-square-foot 1948 cottage. She's found shotgun shells and duck decoys piled on the overhead garage shelf. There's a plank used as makeshift flooring in the attic that was part of a crate from an army base in Texas. Neighbors say that the house used to be lurid green with apricot awnings. Lovely.

Ypsidixit has also learned that this house used to be occupied by an eccentric old crab on the prickly side without much use for people.

How times have changed.

Ypsidixit would love to know what secrets you've uncovered about the history of your home.

23 comments--add a comment

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2005-01-09-10:10 p.m.: U.S. TROOPS ALLEGEDLY USING NAPALM IN FALLUJAH: Ypsidixit was under the impression that this substance was outlawed. She also doesn't remember seeing this horrifying story plastered all over the front page of today's Free Press. But there was a story about the auto show.

Sometimes Ypsidixit just feels like screaming.

Napalm-in-Fallujah stories here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

15 comments--add a comment

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2005-01-09-6:49 p.m.: TRAGEDY ON WHITTAKER ROAD: A 54-year-old Ypsi Twp. woman pedestrian was struck and killed 6 p.m. Saturday by a hit-and-run driver in a blue sedan on Whittaker Road between Textile and Merritt. Whittaker Road was closed for part of Saturday night as police investigated.

How awful. Ypsidixit has long felt that Whittaker Road is one of the most dangerous roads in the Township. People drive insanely fast, there's that confusing lane-merge just south of 94, and for the volume of traffic it has [exacerbated by recent housing developments], it should be a four-lane, not a two-lane.

Ypsidixit was sad to hear this news and hopes they catch the cowardly driver.

52 comments--add a comment

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2005-01-08-7:37 p.m.: YPSIDIXIT was delighted to see the new snow this morning after lolling lazily in bed till after 9--is there anything better than lolling lazily in bed in winter? No. She finally got up and fixed some tea and raisin bran and finally got up enough steam to trek down to the bus stop to go to work.

Work was fun as usual--Ypsidisit carefully counts her blessings--and Ypsidixit left around suppertime. Once home, she threw a defrosted turkey in the oven after coating it with sage and rosemary, and the bird is filling the house with the most savory smell imaginable, as the dog eats a piece of paper on the couch (her favorite snack, for unknown reasons). Ypsidixit is thankful to be cozy with 12 pounds of food in the oven and no worries.

3 comments--add a comment

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2005-01-08-7:16 p.m.: A KIND READER send a question that with his permission I'm posting. Note that he runs a (heretofore unknown to me) Ypsi blog!

"Subject: Is there an Ypsi bloggers group?
Hi Laura,
I heard a rumor about such a gathering.� I've been blogging for awhile now and I'd like to check out local blogs and meet local bloggers.
Mine is at http://www-personal.umich.edu/~touch ...I'm going to redesign it soon and add permalinks and comments."

Ypsidixit doesn't know of any such group. The last time she had the pleasure of meeting other local bloggers was at a debate-watching gathering at Frenchie's.

2 comments--add a comment

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2005-01-07-9:41 p.m.: ANN ARBOR LOGO CONTEST: Several downtown AA associations have banded together to create a "Capture the Cool" contest to design the best logo for downtown Ann Arbor. $1,000 prize for the winning design, which may include a catch-phrase.

Ypsidixit, who eschews all branded clothing, avoids bigname brands in general, and who views the cult of brand-seeking as a misguided attempt to create modern-day meaning-giving totems in a sterile postmodern life too divorced from the land, wonders what this logo is meant to accomplish.

Downtown AA is a bunch of shops and restaurants, with some nice 19th-century architecture. Ypsidixit likes shopping in certain AA shops, such as Acme Mercantile, which has offbeat items that make nice presents. But what's the point of creating a brand for downtown AA? It's just a bunch of merchants. Can one capture the essence of a passel of mostly overpriced shops in a punchy logo? Then what? Guess I don't understand this drive to brand at all.

10 comments--add a comment

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2005-01-07-8:22 p.m.: JUMP DRIVE: While chatting with an acquaintance on the bus ride home, Ypsidixit was intro'd to the techie marvel that is the jump drive.

This portable hard drive, the size of a small cigarette lighter, plugs into a USB port (both Mac and PC versions available). It can store hundreds of documents. Ypsidixit's acquaintance was using it to take home several hundred grant applications that she needed to look at for a project. Jump drives retail for around $30 up, depending on storage capacity. Ypsidixit's acquaintance got one for $19 on sale.

One major trend of Ypsidixit's life so far is the secretion of ever vaster universes of data on ever smaller silicon grains of rice. Pretty soon we'll have infinity stored in a quark.

5 comments--add a comment

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2005-01-07-12:24 p.m.: GARDEN OF EDEN: In 1907, 64-year-old Lucas, Kansas resident S. P. Dinsmoor took 2,273 sacks of cement and tons of limestone to make his "Garden of Eden," which includes a "log" home, weird trees with things in them, and his own pagodalike mausoleum, where he lies in a glass-topped coffin.

10 comments--add a comment

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2005-01-07-8:41 a.m.: THIS SEARING DAVID GESSNER ESSAY RAGES AGAINST THE PRISSINESS OF NATURE WRITING and has a vignette of the rip-roaring Hunter Thompson of nature writers, Edward Abbey.

EXCERPT: "[nature writing,] a literary form that, for all its wonder and beauty, can be a little like going to Sunday School. A strange Sunday School where I alternate between sitting in the pews (reading nature) and standing at the pulpit (writing nature). And not only do I preach from my pulpit, I preach to the converted. After all, who reads nature books? Fellow nature lovers who already believe that the land shouldn't be destroyed. Too often when I flip through the pages of contemporary nature books the tone is awed, hushed, reverential. The same things that drove me away from Sunday School. And the same thing that drove me, unable to resist my own buffoonery, to fart loudly against the pews."

0 comments--add a comment

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2005-01-06-7:04 p.m.: YOU'RE GOING TO LOVE THIS CHARACTERIZATION OF YPSILANTI: This is a press release from a group that purchases and upgrades apartment communities:

JER PARTNERS AND PLATO FOUFAS & CO., LLC, ACQUIRE LAKE IN THE WOODS APARTMENT COMMUNITY IN YPSILANTI, MICHIGAN
Plans underway for $7 million renovation to enhance apartments and community grounds.

YPSILANTI, MI � On December 27, 2004, JER Partners and Plato Foufas & Co., LLC purchased Lake in the Woods Apartments, a 1,028-unit gated community located on 975-acre Ford Lake in Ypsilanti, Michigan, a rapidly growing suburb of Ann Arbor, approximately 20 minutes west of the Detroit Metro Wayne County Airport."

Now, when a fellow Ypsilantian work colleague alerted me to this, she noted, "So the people who were priced out of the Ann Arbor housing market have suddenly found Ypsilanti...[voice dripping with sarcasm]...tolerable."

Ypsidixit notes for the record that our French tradin' post was going strong DECADES before Ann Arbor was a twinkle in John Allen and Elisha Rumsey's eye. Remainder of press release in "comments."

64 comments--add a comment

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2005-01-06-1:21 p.m.: LADIES! You've all heard of mail-order brides. In the West's storied past, many women signed up and took their chances. Initial correspondence led to many lasting marriages. Well, in all fairness, now it's our turn. Visit Mail-Order Husbands and tell me your pick.

4 comments--add a comment

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2005-01-06-8:18 a.m.: TELL ME IF I'M TOO FAR OUT on this one, but after scanning a bunch of reviews for the movie "The Life Aquatic," half-thinking of going to go see it, I got the vague impression that this movie is loosely based on Moby Dick. Now, I haven't seen this mentioned in any review, but it seems to some degree obvious to me. My question is--WHY haven't I seen this idea at least floated in some review somewhere? Even one? Somewhere?

Moby Dick is said to be the greatest novel never read, but--hasn't any reviewer read this magnificent American classic?

22 comments--add a comment

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2005-01-05-8:26 p.m.: [NOTE: I fixed the link. Sorry about that.]

YPSILANTI PIONEER'S DISLOCATED SHOULDER LEADS TO DEATH, according to 19th-century Ypsilanti blogger Catherine Haviland: Even a slight injury could prove fatal, in early Ypsilanti.

"1884 Friday August 1st - Mr Haviland started to the east field to see where Roger M was laying a fence between Robert Cummin and himself. he was crossing a wet place on a fallen tree, when he sliped and plunged in the water, all over his head. he made his way home...saying I have met with a terrible accident, I washed him all over dressed him gave him some stimulant, he lay down a little while, then got up he said his hand was paralised."

"1884 Sunday August 10th - Dr Knapp and Ruggles came, Knapp did not look at it two minutes, when he said it was dislocated, he undertook to set it, with Mr Haviland sitting on a Chair, but said I have not strength enough...Ruggles & Roger M heard it snap, as soon as they said that I came to them, I had been walking the floor, for anything that hurt my poor husband hurt me...it commenced to be painful right away, wee supposed it was what would be called knitting, Ruggles called once said it was doeing well."

"1884 Sept 15th - Dr Knapp was sick on the bed, with sick headache I wished him to look at his shoulder, he done so, and said it was dislocated again, he said if wee would stay til the next day he would set it again...the Dr said it was a botched job...I took his Shirts off, saw him, seated on the Surgeons chair, kissed him and went out, walked up and down the streets of Fenton praying to God. I came to the door in a few minutes raped, walked back to the corner, when Bernard called to me, I went in to the Drs office there lay my poor husband like a corpse but soon returned to concionsness and felt sadly dissipointed when Dr Knapp said it was not set nor he could not doe it."

"1884 Sept 24th - Roger Haviland is dead. He died at St Marys hospital Detroit where he went for treatment of a dislocated shoulder, he was held under treatment til he was struck with death."

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2005-01-05-8:36 a.m.: OH, DEAR: On Monday, an Ann Arbor mom bit her teen son in an altercation over a $20 bill, reports the Washington Times. It's not the first bit of trouble in the 2100 block of Hemlock--there was also the Turtle Toss and the Hamster Heave. Ypsidixit hopes Hemlock Drive finds a bit more peace in the New Year.

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2005-01-04-8:07 p.m.: BOOKS READ: "Ypsilanti Psychiatric Regional Hospital, 1931-1981."

This capsule history of the hospital, written by hospital staff, includes two historical overviews, one written in 1956 and one in 1981. Both works are models of bland, resolutely upbeat institutional whitewashes of what was a grim, city-sized haven of desperation and sadness.

Ypsidixit's ability to read between the lines was taxed to its utmost with this cheery, matter-of-fact work. But I did find a few hints that life here was not all butter and roses.

In the 1930s, shortly after the hospital's founding in 1930, "patient treatment was centered primarily about the maintenance of the institution itself." Translation: sick patients received absolutely no treatment for their disorders, but were captive slaves used to paint, clean, and farm the place (it once had a huge farm that provided most of the food needed by the hospital).

In 1956, "electro-stimulation [electro-shock] treatments are but a handful compared to many hundred in previous years."

In 1956, "ground permission patients, of course, may use the facilities of the Store at any time. Patients who do not have this privilege but are physically able to go, are taken to the Store twice weekly, where they may spend their money as they desire. It is felt that it is very therapeutic for the patient to be permitted to select his own merchandise as he or she could do if living in the community." This struck Ypsidixit as very sad.

In the 1950s, "electro-shock therapy was by far the primary form of treatment utilized. In 1950, 1037 patients received 4,767 convulsive seizure treatments [that's an average of 4.5 shocks per person--guess it took a while to dull some people down]. "During that year,...17 lobotomies took place at the Hospital."

In 1960, "commitment to a mental hospital was relatively easy to obtain. A petition for commitment as a mentally ill person was made by an individual recognized by a judge as being the most interested person, usually a relative. The petition was then supported by an affidavit or certificate of two practitioners of medicine." Yikes. That's a tad too perfunctory for Ypsidixit's tastes, given the past and to some degree present repressive attitudes towards uppity females.

In the mid-60s, "chemotherapy was used extensively [to treat TB and syphilis]. "Eighty per cent of the patients were on tranquilizers."

In the mid-1960s, "convulsive therapy included Indoklon Inhalation and electro-convulsive treatments. [In three years,] 1,533 convulsive treatments were given..."

The result? One former nurse at the hospital remembers what she calls the "end-of-the-line ward" as "somber and oppressed...The sadness of many of those old folks and their pitiful existence often brings a tear when I reminisce."

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2005-01-04-4:21 p.m.: KIND READER VINCE says hello from the Caribbean!

"...I have not been posting much lately (here or at my own blog) because I am on the Caribbean island of Nevis until Thursday and do not have easy computer access. It is a very beautiful and warm place and I almost hate to have to come back to the Frozen Tundra of Michigan, but that is where my job is so I will be back Thursday."

Ypsidixit is tickled to think that down there in the flowery, beautiful islands, one little computer screen glowed dark green.

Wow, Nevis is beautiful. Pictured: Oualie Bay.

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2005-01-03-8:05 p.m.: FAIRY TALES are among our oldest stories, and they seethe with mystery and cultural memes disguised as weird symbols. They mutate as they hop from culture to culture (Cinderella originated in 9th-century China, a culture that practiced footbinding, which explains why Cinderella's petite foot is prized). Over five hundred versions of the Cinderella tale have been noted in Europe alone. Cinderella links.)

"Jack and the Bean-Stalk" (annotated version here) has always struck Ypsidixit as one of the more inexplicable fairy tales. Would you like to read a strange 1807 version, an original copy of which was scanned and put online? [illustration at right]. This is the first time the tale appears in print. Note Jack's laziness and even cruelty to his mother, instead of the more familiar plain old doltishness. Note also the weird fairy, whose contrived story provides moral exoneration for Jack's actions.

Ypsidixit has the feeling some prissy old 18th-century do-gooder inelegantly rammed in the fairy bits, just so the wee ones wouldn't be corrupted.

Browse other annotated fairy tales [scroll down a bit] such as Bluebeard (shudder).

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2005-01-02-10:31 p.m.: DUTCH EX-ASTRONAUT WUBBO OCKELS has dreamed up a plan to harvest wind energy with a 5-mile-high rotating belt of kites.

Called the Laddermolen (Laddermill, or, ladder of windmills), the kites "could be used to generate clean energy at a cost comparable with that of polluting power stations, researchers claim.

"The Laddermill would only be flown where aircraft are banned. One such area is the zone along the US-Mexican border, where high-flying balloons fitted with radar are used to combat drug traffickers."

Sounds promising, given that the winds up there are much more powerful than down here at sea level. Ypsidixit hopes that in her lifetime such visionary schemes come to fruition and provide a clean source of power.

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2005-01-01-11:02 p.m.: EVERY YEAR, Lake Superior State University publishes its list of banned words, and every year the list (based mostly on recommendations from Michiganians) has that quaint, peculiarly Michigan brand of almost-with-it whitebread hickness.

This year is no exception. Prim would-be censors object with attempted wit to the term "blog" ("Sounds like a Viking�s drink that�s better than grog, or a technique to kill a frog" lampoons one modern-day Wilde), "erectile dysfunction" ("Too much information!� opines one presumably chastity-belted submittor), and what's called "izzle speak" in rap/hiphop (�It was clever for about five minutes, or should I say five �minizzles?" grouses one Michigan Lawrence Welk fan who never wasted a goddam dime on that [unintelligible curse] Eminem movie.

Ypsidixit chuckles indulgently to see such inept, homebrew attempts at hip. However, she blanches to think any old person can access this list and form an opinion of Michigan as a state where the cold has tightly puckered the citizens' collective nether hole and reduced major areas of brain tissue to Jello.

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2005-01-01-2:49 p.m.: STRENUOUS NEW-YEAR CLEANING has already cleared out four giant trashbags of 1. wornout clothes I never wear, 2. extra wire hangers--I seem to have millions, 3. old boxes I thriftily saved for no reason. Forgotten sweaters surface, a wad of old photos from an old romance-driven jaunt to Maine prompts nostalgia, and the satisfaction of clearing clutter out is all derailed by listening to a 2-CD set of "NPR Driveway Moments" given to me at Christmas by my generous sister. Except it's "Rocking Chair Moments," listening rapt to engrossing stories. Ypsidixit's adventurous friend called to invite her to a walk in a nature preserve, but there's no stopping now. It'll never get done otherwise. OK, back to work.

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2005-01-01-12:51 a.m.: HAGGIS HUNTERS: Track down that elusive and repulsive Scottish tidbit for fabulous prizes. You can do it from the comfort of your desk, thank to haggis-cams.

The Scotsman asks, "Why not also swot up on your haggis lore with our extensive Haggisclopedia?"

Why not, indeed? Swot up, kind readers.

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2004-12-31-11:54 p.m.: CHAMPAGNE, CHAMPAGNE, CHAMPAGNE,
Fireworks and guns explode,
the backyard fire smoked, put out by a bucket of fishpond water,
champagne,
the divorce long over, fading,
more champagne,
delight in my family and friends, good-wishes phone calls at midnight,
more champagne, woo-hoo, welcome 2005!

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