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Unexpected Art Fair, with Pokemon
Jul. 25th, 2016 03:58 pmOver the weekend, I was called upon to run an errand to the outskirts Ann Arbor. Darwin came along to keep me company. After the errand was completed, we realized we were both starving, and downtown Ann Arbor has a great many wonderful restaurants. We grab a quick bite there before going home.
Oh boy.
When we arrived, we ran smack into Art Fair. Art Fair is Ann Arbor's annual massive street fair, and it takes over the entire downtown area. It's more than booths of artists--it's music and shows and street performers and political demonstrations and food. It also means all the parking gets sucked up.
I thought Art Fair had already happened. Otherwise, I would have suggested we just head home. By the time we realized what was going on, it was easier just to pay for parking and make a go of it.
By sheer accident, we passed by the building where my friend Sarah Zettel rents office space. She's self-employed as a fiction writer and could work at home, but she finds going to an office both gets her out of the house and makes her more productive. "Oh!" I said as Darwin and I passed the building. "Here's the place where Sarah works. Oh! There's Sarah!" She was visible through the window.
We knocked gently on the glass and made genteel faces at her, but nonetheless startled the bejabbers out of her because she was so deep into her writing. Against all probabililty and better judgement, she let us in and we chatted a bit before Darwin and I moved on for supper.
After a tasty dinner at the Grizzly Pub, we were ready to head back home, but it turned out that Darwin had never visited Art Fair before. Well! We had rectify that.
We strolled among the booths, admiring the artwork. The crowd was shockingly light for a Saturday. We (and Sarah) suspected it was the heat--90s all day, with bright sun. Things were cooling down a bit now, though.
I realized I was actually on a mission. I drink a lot of tea, but my teapot has a badly-designed spout that dribbles each time you pour. I wanted a better one, and Art Fair is a good place to find something stylish.
I also played Pokemon Go.
Downtown Ann Arbor is RIFE with wild Pokemon for the catching. It's also packed with Pokespots and gyms. For some reaosn, Drowzees kept showing up. A powerful Pokemon called a Haunted showed up, but it escaped me, darn it. (I learned from Aran that they're very hard to catch.) I ended up with twenty-odd more monsters. This alternately exasperated and amused Darwin, who doesn't understand the phenomenon. I've actually had nothing to do with Pokemon until this app came out, and I kind of like it. It's not something I go out of my way to play, but it's amusing to do on a visit to a new place or when I'm standing in line or in the car (when someone else is driving). When you play, you become alert to other people playing. Darwin is convinced it's a fad for children, but I kept pointing out other players as we passed, all of them well over 25. A trio outside a party store was posing for pictures while they caught whatever monster they found in the parking lot. I like it. It starts conversations with new people, it gets people outside, and it draws your attention to local landmarks.
Anyway, we examined and rejected a number of teapots (along with other art), and finally found a very nice one, reasonably priced, at Heron Pottery. Note the heron design on the side and the top:
I like it very much.
We also got ice cream, and still marveled at the light crowd. But hey--it made life easier for us. We only checked out a couple blocks, though. It was time to go home.
Oh boy.
When we arrived, we ran smack into Art Fair. Art Fair is Ann Arbor's annual massive street fair, and it takes over the entire downtown area. It's more than booths of artists--it's music and shows and street performers and political demonstrations and food. It also means all the parking gets sucked up.
I thought Art Fair had already happened. Otherwise, I would have suggested we just head home. By the time we realized what was going on, it was easier just to pay for parking and make a go of it.
By sheer accident, we passed by the building where my friend Sarah Zettel rents office space. She's self-employed as a fiction writer and could work at home, but she finds going to an office both gets her out of the house and makes her more productive. "Oh!" I said as Darwin and I passed the building. "Here's the place where Sarah works. Oh! There's Sarah!" She was visible through the window.
We knocked gently on the glass and made genteel faces at her, but nonetheless startled the bejabbers out of her because she was so deep into her writing. Against all probabililty and better judgement, she let us in and we chatted a bit before Darwin and I moved on for supper.
After a tasty dinner at the Grizzly Pub, we were ready to head back home, but it turned out that Darwin had never visited Art Fair before. Well! We had rectify that.
We strolled among the booths, admiring the artwork. The crowd was shockingly light for a Saturday. We (and Sarah) suspected it was the heat--90s all day, with bright sun. Things were cooling down a bit now, though.
I realized I was actually on a mission. I drink a lot of tea, but my teapot has a badly-designed spout that dribbles each time you pour. I wanted a better one, and Art Fair is a good place to find something stylish.
I also played Pokemon Go.
Downtown Ann Arbor is RIFE with wild Pokemon for the catching. It's also packed with Pokespots and gyms. For some reaosn, Drowzees kept showing up. A powerful Pokemon called a Haunted showed up, but it escaped me, darn it. (I learned from Aran that they're very hard to catch.) I ended up with twenty-odd more monsters. This alternately exasperated and amused Darwin, who doesn't understand the phenomenon. I've actually had nothing to do with Pokemon until this app came out, and I kind of like it. It's not something I go out of my way to play, but it's amusing to do on a visit to a new place or when I'm standing in line or in the car (when someone else is driving). When you play, you become alert to other people playing. Darwin is convinced it's a fad for children, but I kept pointing out other players as we passed, all of them well over 25. A trio outside a party store was posing for pictures while they caught whatever monster they found in the parking lot. I like it. It starts conversations with new people, it gets people outside, and it draws your attention to local landmarks.
Anyway, we examined and rejected a number of teapots (along with other art), and finally found a very nice one, reasonably priced, at Heron Pottery. Note the heron design on the side and the top:
I like it very much.
We also got ice cream, and still marveled at the light crowd. But hey--it made life easier for us. We only checked out a couple blocks, though. It was time to go home.
