Postsecret / Found Event at the Michigan Theater

Meredith, Karen and I attended the Postsecret/Found event at the Michigan Theater last night. A benefit for 826 Michigan and the Neutral Zone, it was extremely cool! The evening got off to a rough start when an accident on I-94 delayed us substantially. Though we had tickets to the reception beforehand, we arrived with less than five minutes left to go, so we pretty much missed it. We did bump into a ton of people we knew, some of Meredith's and Karen's former students, and I even got to chat with my children's former nanny, Amy, for the first time in years, who now is Program Director for 826 Michigan. Frank Warren, founder of Postsecret presented a number of secrets, stories and personal anecdotes. He was also available to sign books in the lobby after the show. Davy Rothbart, creator and editor of Found Magazine (also of This American Life fame), presented a number of stories as well, including a very funny story about tormenting his deaf mother as a child. And you know anyone who can make tormenting a deaf person funny must have some talent, eh? His brother, Peter Rothbart, performed a few songs on guitar, including the Ypsilanti anthem, "The Booty Don't Stop." You can visit Mark Maynard's blog for the history of this song and its unlikely yet storied link to Ypsi politics. The event was fantastic. If they come back (and they probably will), don't miss it. And, buy the more expensive tickets to help out some very worthy causes. For more PostSecret stuff, visit postsecret.com. And if you want to get copies of any of the Rothbart stuff, including This American Life recordings, visit 21 Balloons. For your listening and viewing pleasure, here's a YouTube version of Peter Rothbart's "The Booty Don't Stop:" And here's a short video on the Found tour:

Wet, chilly, fall day

Here's a song I wrote a few years back that seems to fit this chilly fall day pretty well. (Clicking on the link will commence downloading the song, which is just over 4 Megs).

Landslide

The unofficial results displayed a landslide in favor of the Vote NO campaign: The margin was slightly better than 2 to 1. Pete and Steve celebrated the win at Pub 13: Mary, Amy and John also celebrated: Here's Joe, with Pete in the background: And Karen, another dedicated NO campaigner: And here's some South-siders who all voted NO: Many thanks to all those who contributed to the win!

Vote NO on the income tax Tuesday, November 6

A partial listing of online articles and commentary provided by your neighbors and mine follows: Businesses say vote NO. Bob says vote NO. Residents say vote NO. Renters say vote NO. Pete, Brian and Steve say vote NO and NO and NO and NO. Kate says vote NO. SCIT says vote NO. EMU students say vote NO. The Chamber of Commerce says vote NO. Lynne says vote NO. Brian says vote NO. trusty getto says vote NO. There are plenty of others voting NO, some explaining why and some not. There are plenty of reasons to vote NO. Though I have spent more time on others' blogs discussing this tax than on mine, I can sum up my reasons to vote NO: The tax won't actually solve our city's problems, and even its proponents admit it. The tax is likely to reduce the already undervalued residential property market in Ypsi. The tax is regressive, taking a larger percentage of income from poor people, renters and students than from landowners, which I consider to be a betrayal of my progressive, Democratic values. We need to make Ypsi more attractive for new residents and businesses -- not less. Ypsi already bears the highest property tax burden in the county, and we would be fools to ignore the fact that residents and businesses look at taxes when deciding where to locate. If we adopt a tax, the likely response from state leaders will be to breathe a sigh of relief and further put off solving the problems that communities like ours face rather than making it a priority to solve them. The tax is little more than a thinly disguised Water Street bailout, which is a problem no tax can solve. I have concluded that the only way this ill-conceived push for new, higher taxes will be abandoned is if enough people show up and decisively kill it by voting it down. Only then, after a large margin banishes forever this boondoggle from hell, will our City begin moving toward real, actual solutions to the challenges that face us. Please show your city officials, elected and not, what you think of their income tax proposal by showing up this Tuesday, November 6, 2007, and voting NO. UPDATE: For more cartoon fun, click here.

Exceptionally Beautiful All Hallows Eve

It was an exceptionally beautiful Halloween last night. The weather was mostly in the 60s, and the rain held off until trick-or-treating was over. Amelia invited us to trick-or-treat with her, and the kids were delighted to have the invitation: We also had the good fortune of meeting up with Alicia and Claudia, two great friends, and they all went trick-or-treating together. Claudia and Alicia's costumes were so good, we almost didn't recognize them: We were on the move the entire evening. Here's the kids departing one candy grab for the next: It was one of the best Halloweens yet!