Wednesday, October 04, 2006

And I Ran, I Ran So Far Away; I Just Ran, I Ran All Night and Day; I Couldn't Get Away

Last night we went to Griffin's preschool open house.

I get twitty when I'm in a large group of people. And I get really twitty when said large group of people are dressed in Armani suits and cashmere sweaters. Blech.

And when they talk about my pigtails and refer to me as "an artist" and "a hippy" and make those words sound like they have some regurgitation in the back of their mouths... sometimes, I really don't like where I live.

Yes, I live in a pretty nice town. Yes, there is a lot of money in my area. No, we don't have a lot of money. And no, I really don't enjoy living close to hoity-toity people that act like the have a rod shoved up their ass (not any rod mind you, but a designer rod).

I love my neighborhood, I love my neighbors. I loved the old vintage Don Stein Used Cars sign that use to be at the end of my street (now covered by a Hyundai sign and Don't Get Me Started On That).

I love supporting local businesses, the farmers market and local growers. I believe in eating fresh and eating local. I believe in paying a little more for something to support small business.

I believe in good architecture; vintage signs and recycling materials.

I've been pretty uninspired lately; part of it is due to all the projects I have in progress and yet not making much progress at all. So, to help me in that department (and to procrastinate a little bit more), I developed a new flickr group showcasing local architecture.


I love old signs, glowing neon in the twilight.

I love to see where other people live... what their landmarks are, their local architecture, how people paint their homes, how small businesses merchandise their stock.

So join, or not. I'm just feeling the need to shake things up a bit.

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Be nice now... :)

I'll be on the lookout. You know I never leave the house without my camera!

Ali said...

Don't tell my neighbours there are DESIGNER rods available - they'll all be wanting one!

My verification word ends in fbi - are you being watched, you subversive hippy-with-a-camera?

Anonymous said...

o man, I WISH I had a photo of that don stein sign. it was awesome.

my dh thinks the white haven is a motel for klan members.

what? that's a terrible name!

okey doke. I have some good ideas in mind...

xxxxx me

Kim -today's creative blog said...

Here is one of our wonderful signs
http://flickr.com/photos/sassylittlepunkin/9672623/

Sounds like you need to move here. We recycle and don't wear pearls.

Anonymous said...

That's so funny! I was just digging around in my office crap, looking for these pictures that I took of some of the signs and architecture on Metcalf a couple years ago. I was going to scan them in for the blog. I saw something being torn down on Metcalf, and felt the need to post those pics.

But cashmere is soft. :) And you can wear it with pigtails -- I do. I know what you mean though. And I only have one cashmere sweater, bought for $15 at an after-Christmas sale. And it probably doesn't fit me anymore since I had Elise...

Leanne said...

You know, you could support local businesses by buying each of those uppity-ups a "rod-remover" from the hardware store, but that would actually require paying any attention to those morons... Sounds a lot like Okemos or East Lansing!!! Cool signage, though. Flickr group sounds like a great idea!

Anonymous said...

Now see, people like that don't make me twitty, they make me scared and dumbstruck. My tongue swells to ten times its normal size.

Green Kitchen said...

I mean Kirsty. Sorry Kirsty.

You can call me Betty, or Bethany, or Beth ...Just don't call me late for dinner. said...

That is so funny.. in My son's school functions it seems it much more trendy to own a Harley, 17 non running cars, and not quite all your teeth. I can't relate on a whole different level. Help! I have no tatoos and I don't fit in!

However... I think My PTA could beat up Your PTA..

But I will send in some pics to your flickr group.. as soon as I get my ass in gear to take some.

Kerrie McLoughlin said...

what's a dh?

i love that motel ... run by Catholics, didja know?

Anonymous said...

you know, I think you should really play up the 'artist/hippie' look and scare the crap out of them. And it'll give you the freedom to do what the hell you want,

who/how would you rather be? YOURSELF. Exactly.

And those rods look mighty uncomfortable.

In Italy, we don't say people like that wear 'rod', rather they have 'pooh' under their noses. Don't know what's worse!

Anonymous said...

Ah yes - I didn't know there were people with desiner rods up their asses in the midwest. I thought it was still all about lemonade and front porches and children chasing barking puppies into the twilight.

I guess the West Coast disease has spead.

Sorry. ;-)

I joined your flikr group. If you love old neon, girl then THIS is the place for you. LOL. I love old stuff. Old buildings, old houses - not only is the architecture more interesting, but I can feel the people who were there before me - like putting on someone elses well loved and worn shoes. They may not be there anymore but they left their footprint.

Anonymous said...

Ahh- Johnson county. The rich people down here wear cashmere and flip flops which really tempers their rods....

No more Don Stein sign? Boo hoo.

Just joined the group. Fun. I always need more excuses to take photos. I DO!

deb said...

What a wonderful idea! Chin up.. I think you're fabulous! :)

deb said...

What a wonderful idea! Chin up.. I think you're fabulous! :)

Anonymous said...

That JoCo designer rod attitude is why we live in Lawrence and Tim commutes to JoCo. It makes me twitchy too!

Long live granolas & hippies!

And I'll be adding some fun Larryville buildings to your group. Cheers!

PamKittyMorning said...

Nothing wrong with being an outsider. The really good thing about living someplace were there's money is that your kids will get a good education. Because those rod people will be donating playgrounds and computers and crap like that to the school. We live in an area like that and the kids all have computers in the classrooms and beautiful playground equipment and parents raise zillions so we have after school programs and fine art class and music, new sports field etc. When Frankie was in elementary school one family donated 50k just for new playground equipment. And we don't live in that snazzy an area. In her classes in high school each kid had their own laptop in class. Way not fair to those in the not-so-nice areas of town. Maybe there is an upside to the snotty rod people.

PamKittyMorning said...

But let me add, nothing made me happier than when she graduated high school AND I NEVER HAD TO GO TO THE SCHOOL AGAIN.

beki said...

I'm pretty sure rod-up-the-assitus is everywhere.
Be you and be proud!

Anonymous said...

groovy.
cool signs.
I'll look around. Not much neon round here though....hmm....

Anonymous said...

See, this is why you should go ahead with the purple hair. You'd look even artsier, and it would be fun to watch the rod-up-the-ass people get all twitchy. ;)

I agree with you. People are so Johnson-Countier-than-thou around here.