The Needle and the Tanager Done
From a story in the latest Observer about Ann Arbor book tours comes a description of what may be the most consummately Ann Arbor book ever written:
[Nicola’s Books owner] Nicola Rooney was taken by surprise when a big crowd turned up to hear former prisoner turned talented embroiderer Ray Materson sign his book Sins and Needles. The store had expected, she says, “just our embroidery people.”
But they also apparently got their every-prisoner-is-a-political-prisoner people, and between the two crowds, that’s about 55 percent of the A2 population. If Materson’s embroidery had depicted historic homes and rare birds through the use of found objects, they would have needed to book Hill Auditorium.
That last sentence is perhaps the greatest thing you’ve ever written. I don’t know where you go from here.
posted by Brian on May 29th, 2006 at 2:58 pmHeh, thanks. Into a rapid downward spiral, most likely.
posted by ann arbor is overrated on May 29th, 2006 at 3:17 pmIt could be the two mint juleps I just consumed to help battle this heat, but I second Brian. That last line’s hysterical.
posted by Young OWSider on May 29th, 2006 at 9:40 pmCareful. I don’t think we’re ready for aaioio.
posted by Bruce Fields on May 29th, 2006 at 10:42 pmThe greatest thing Overrated has ever written? That still has to be Friday’s “Shut your fucking bitching and dont read it you fucking cunt.” Not only his wittiest, but perhaps also his classiest.
posted by This Blog Is Whiny on May 30th, 2006 at 9:03 am>>The greatest thing Overrated has ever written? That still has to be Friday’s “Shut your fucking bitching and dont read it you fucking cunt.†Not only his wittiest, but perhaps also his classiest.
posted by HNG on May 30th, 2006 at 12:18 pmTo finish my thought above, I can’t believe someone actually thinks that’s AAIO.
It’s too hot today.
posted by HNG on May 30th, 2006 at 12:19 pmAmazing.
posted by Wilk on May 30th, 2006 at 3:57 pmGreat post. I fully think someone *should* do that sort of work, just so I can observe the phenomenon that will ensue in the city.
posted by Max on May 31st, 2006 at 5:03 pmWhiny you bitch give credit where credit is due. Asshole.
posted by nobody forced you to this link on May 31st, 2006 at 6:31 pmHNG is the smart one. He gets a chocolate chip oatmeal sugar cookie with m&ms.
Hopefully HNG isn’t diabetic…
posted by Stink Face on June 1st, 2006 at 11:36 amHNG, AAIO did attempt to hide his not-so-nice words behind another moniker.
But the fact that they were posted a mere 5 minutes after what I wrote shows that it was in all likelihood him.
Plus, this entire site reeks of the “can dish it out but can’t take it” blogger personality.
posted by This Blog Is Whiny on June 1st, 2006 at 6:12 pmWhiny how naive are you? If he was to hide behind a “moniker” as you said what would he gain? Also you might want to check the date and time of the replies it seems you are incapable of counting either of them. I still dont understand why you keep comming back to check the comments if you dont like the blog. Seems somewhat illogical to me.
I can’t assure you that AAIO and my self are not one and the same, but that tends to happen with the anonymity of the interweb.
So all I say to you is, Die in a fire.
posted by nobody forced you to this link on June 1st, 2006 at 10:17 pmZOMG he posted a minute after me. It must be AAIO. It has to be nobody would reply that fast.
posted by Whiny #1 on June 1st, 2006 at 10:19 pm“Plus, this entire site reeks of the “can dish it out but can’t take it†blogger personality.”
What do you expect? We like to come on here and read humorous anectdotes and news about this town regarded as so great by those who don’t live here, and you come in here like Trolly McTrollerson posting brainless quips that no one finds amusing, and you wonder why people don’t like your posts?
I like cookies, so thanks.
posted by HNG on June 2nd, 2006 at 10:09 amGreat logic: Someone posted right after me, therefore it must be AAIO.
You don’t have any idea how many people read this blog, do you?
posted by Dave on June 2nd, 2006 at 2:48 pmWhoops, I forgot to log out as “Dave” when I posted that.
posted by ann arbor is overrated on June 2nd, 2006 at 2:51 pmI’m AAiO
posted by Dale on June 2nd, 2006 at 2:56 pmI’m Spartacus.
posted by Heidi on June 3rd, 2006 at 8:29 amI’m Brian. And so’s my wife.
posted by arkaycee on June 3rd, 2006 at 12:58 pmI’m not aaio.
posted by hale on June 3rd, 2006 at 2:38 pmI’m not anyone at all.
In fact, I won’t even be overrated until at least Monday.
Out of curiosity, HNG, who is Trolley McTrollerson? Should I change my moniker to Troller McTrollerson Thinks This Blog Is Whiny?
As for whether AAIO posted the “fucking cunt” line, I of course have no way of knowing that for sure. Nor did I make that claim. It seemed more than a little odd, however, that the nasty post followed mine by a mere 5 minutes. That sign points in the direction of the blogger.
As for my original post, it simply pointed out that while, yes, the Lexus of Ann Arbor ad was pretentious, it said absolutely nothing about Ann Arbor. It’s a safe bet that Lexus uses the same asinine strategies in every market and that it’s not the only company to do so.
When I wrote that AAIO can dish it out but not take it, I was also referring to the fact that when someone raises a reasonable criticism of what he’s written (see: previous paragraph), he does not seem to respond.
posted by This Blog Is Whiny on June 3rd, 2006 at 4:55 pmNo, I don’t generally respond to non-factual criticism. My duties, if I have any, are to post reasonably frequently to the front page and keep the comments running smoothly by deleting spam. I try to post something silly about Ann Arbor every day, and it’s rarely something that, taken by itself, proves anything bad about A2.
posted by ann arbor is overrated on June 5th, 2006 at 9:48 am