SF to Division Ave.

No, I didn't go to San Francisco, never have been. I have however seen close to a dozen shows and films documenting the scene in the Mission District and "The Haight", or Haight Ashbury as it's properly called. These areas were "hippie" enclaves in the '60's and beyond, and evolved into having seedy, homeless populations permeating they're existance. Despite the fact that both have a growing underground, hipster gentrification scene, the seedy underbelly side has remained giving the districts a very unique, edgy and in some lights dangerous atache.

In 1996 the Van Andel Arena opened in Grand Rapids, Michigan's Heartside district. This entire area had been beaten down for several decades, was in complete disrepair, and while not quite to the "Bronx is burning" stage, was home to mainly the homeless and drug-addict population of downtown. In fact, the night before the first act at the arena, the Grand Rapids Police did a complete sweep of the area to "move" all of the "undesirable" (homeless) populations out of the area so the white suburban populace would not feel threatened. Yes, that's a little known fact of GR history for you.

A decade and a half later that very arena is still at the top of it's game, and is continually ranked the number one mid-sized entertainment venue in the country. What has happened in downtown Grand Rapids in the decade and a half since has been breathtaking. Rarely does an arena spark a total revival and rebirth, but in GR's case, it did. Downtown GR is now THE place to be and THE place to be seen in West Michigan. It's a beautiful mix of occupied classical buildings housing offices, apartments, condos, restaurants and bars, with glassy, modern new motel, office and condo buildings fill in the mix. Gentrification to the Nth degree. From September to April, college students flock downtown. In the summer, the mix is just as heavy and palpable. The growth and gentrification has stretched all bounds of downtown Grand Rapids, and that includes Division Avenue. Yes, THAT Division Avenue.

It's an unlikely mix in a conservative, right-wing portion of the Great Lakes. Homeless, down-on-their-luck, recovering drug and alcohol addicts, missions and shelters and clinics. In their midst the Catholic Diocese of Grand Rapids and Catholic Central High School, and of course Van Andel Arena and what it has spurned. New bars, clubs, restaurants and apartments mix with the old population on a daily basis. Suburbanites, college students, and the new (and growing) young urban residents mix with the underbelly that city leaders sought to hide so feverishly just a decade ago. Hipster vinyl record stores, tattoo parlors, a modern Goodwill store and even a bank branch. Division Avenue is a force within a region of total change. Completely repelling change, while begrudgingly welcoming it at the same time.

The second decade of the 21st century will tell if the changes continue and push out the seedy underbelly of West Michigan in favor of a more commercially lucrative venture. Until then, the balance that has been struck in the past couple years has a striking resemblance to something that only San Francisco could offer up. Is this our gray area? Is this where our line blurs from the predjices of old generations to the more adventurous ones of the new in West Michigan? Is this a temporary arrangement, set merely for a few years to one day be talked about in local hostory books? Or is this our worm hole. Our visible and invisible zone where the total have-nots and haves mingle side-by-side with predjudices aside? Do we momentarily tolerate each other enough to have this mixing in our midst? Is this a flash in GR's evolutionary pan, or is this our Haight Ashbury and Mission District? Time will tell.

The UICA (Urban Instituate for Contemporary Arts) just opened it's new location on the corner of Fulton and Division, and September is two days away. What does that mean? ArtPrize #3 is a month away. Is there a breaking point, or simply co-existance?

Let's pray for co-existance.

PJ

9-11 - A Decade Later

Has it really been that long? What's happened in that time, that ten year gap from that shocking day to the ten-year memorial. In the time since that day a lot of things have happened. I've graduated high school as well as college, had a couple internships, witnessed two wars, two elections, two presidents, numerous scandals, 1.5 economic depressions, a massive power blackout, Katrina, the tsunamis in South Asia and Japan, the near death of the Big Three in Detroit, the Lions went 0-16, the Red Wings won two Stanley Cups, the Tigers went to the World Series, and Grand Valley becaome the predominant athletic powerhouse in Division 2. Wow has a lot happened! Let me hear your memories from the last decade since one of the most defining moments in our generation's existance.

Ron Paul 2012

I like Ron Paul's responses here. He seems even less of a conservative than Obama does. I do hope he can get some backing, but unfortunatly I see Bachmann, Perry and Romney getting backing before Paul does.

A Perfect Weekend for Planespotting

This past weekend's weather was superb, and in-lieu of our beach plans (which deteriorated due to to-do lists) my girlfriend and I hit GRR for some fun planespotting. What a great couple cloudless late-July evenings with the my better half.

Unholy (Savings) Angel.

So what makes this angel so unholy? A mixture of unrealistic expectations for the normal person's schedule, and the lack of actual product on their own website.

What does this mean? Well it means that Savings-Angel does not actually contain the coupons that they advertise. Once you have spent 45 minutes to an hour searching the list(s) of specials they have, you can create your "list" and print it. Have you actually printed any coupons however? No, not a single one. You now must need to go out and subscribe to the publications, newspapers and websites/email lists that contain these coupons simply to get them. If you have the time and patience to do this, then it may work for you. The normal human being in this country is not a stay-at-home mother/father, so the time needed to invest is rather unrealistic for anyone who works a normal schedule, let alone the person who works more than 40 hours a week. In only 15 minutes my girlfriend was able to clip 8-9 "normal" coupons from a weekly ad mailer. Having paid $5 for a two-week membership and invested three to four times the actual time and effort of "normal" coupon clipping, we were empty handed.

Savings Angel presents itself as a time-saver as well as a money-saver. The first variable I would say is quite misleading. While it can save you some money, the amount of time and effort it seems one needs to invest is completely unrealistic. If you are a normal family of four, BOTH parents work at least 40 hours a week. In MOST cases, neither of those parents have the time to sit online for an hour or more to search for and print coupons. There are random exceptions, but if I had two kids, I don't think I would have much time to devote to a website that simply adds to the time it takes to search for coupons.

In my own opinion, if you require me to pay a membership to your coupon website, you'd better have all those coupons available on your site and let me print those coupons right from your website, other than that you haven't really done me many favors worth my money.

The District Through my Eyes.

Here's a small photographic sampling of my wanderings around downtown Washington D.C. during my trip. Remember, you can click on each picture for a larger, more detailed version. Thanks and ENJOY!

The Return Leg: AirTran BWI-GRR

So after a quick few days in the Washington D.C. metro region, it was time to return to 'The Mitten'. Good times, great family, amazingly delicious bbq and middle-eastern food and more than a few tasty East-coast craft beers were had.

On Sunday, July 17 we began our journey up the 295 Baltimore-Washington Parkway toward BWI about 1:15pm EST for our 3:30pm departure. Immediatly upon entering the parkway we encountered bottlenecked and clogged traffic travelling at only 5-10mph. My concerns began to grow each minute we were stuck in the mess with no forseeable end. Soon enough however (in about 15 mins) the clog mercifully cleared at the exit for the (now closed) Goddard Space Center. No accident, no construction, no lane closures. I guess beltway people like to gawk at off-ramps ;). At any length, we arrived promptly curbside about 2pm sharp. I immediatly got myself checked in at a kiosk and then proceeded to show my technology-deficient mom how to use the kiosks, haha. A small backup in the TSA lines were no problem, and by 2:30 we were walking toward gate D23.

Sunday, July 17, 2011.
AirTran Airways
Flight #484 BWI-GRR
Equipment: Boeing 717-200
Seat: 23A - Window
Dep. 3:33 PM
Arr. 5:06 PM

On time departure saw us launching to the West, which sadly meant no banking out over the Chesapeake. One could immediatly see the heat haze in the small-popping clouds as we ascended over the mid-atlantic toward the great lakes region.


Super-quick climb-out. You can simply tell how warm and volatile the air is from the clouds.


The last shot over Lake Erie really let's the viewer see the heat-haze I speak of. Pictured is the start of the Toledo River. Upon landing in GRR it was well above 90 Degrees F.

During the flight I would have said the load was only between 60% and 70%. We were seated in row 23 on the left side, right behind the second exit row. Behind us there were only 5-7 people. Both seats in the exit row in front of us was empty, so yours truly jumped forward and grabbed some extra leg room for a little bit.

All too quickly I recognized the Northwestern Ohio coast of Lake Erie below us, and soon after decent began. The quickness of that hop seemed odd to me, as all my travels in the last several years have taken me to California. It was however over all too soon and we landed parallel I-196 on rwy. 26L in GRR. A quick taxi in and my amazing girlfriend was waiting for us at the end of concourse B. I could not think up a better welcoming comittee!

As mentioned in the out-going trip report, the only flaw of AirTran was the dang destroyed arm-rest. Boarding was event-free and even though I was in zone 5, I was on in under 6 minutes! Now I use Delta (and formerly Northwest) for most of my flying needs. It seems as if on all of my Delta flights, no matter where, the gate lice and line-jumpers are everywhere. The gate dragon calls for first class only, and 40 people run to the gate, or during the call for those needing assistance four able-bodied business men/women head up. I don't know what the difference is, it might have just been random circumstance, but it was pleasant to see!

Apologies for the lack of photos on this leg, I think I was more focused on the chores to catch up on at home upon return, as well as being somewhat sad of the vacation's end.

I hope all have enjoyed, even though the experience is short and ordinary.

Thank you and happy travels!