Tuesday, April 26, 2016

I'm Stuck in Neutral

I know Northeast Ohioans. Hell I even am one. That being said...I know some of this is going to hurt to hear but it needs to be said:

We actually need your help fixing the crap you broke to begin with.
The 20th century is over. Seriously. I know that's when all your "good old days" were and your hair style was popular and the music you listen to was popular and you got all the sex you could ever try to remember but the 21st century needs you. You can for sure try to keep things they way they were but you need to be present and conscious and contributing. You really screwed things up and it's more than we can fix while you remember high school football. A lot of you shouldn't be rewarded for the very little you did from voting idiots into office that ruined this country all the way to raising shitty little drains on society. We aren't going to live as long as you. We're not going to have as much money as you. We aren't going to be as successful as you. It's the equivalent to not knowing how to tie your shoes out there in this scary ass world. A big sarcastic thank you from all of us trying to fix this mess.

The museum and you have a lot in common.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame city is losing to Akron as far as birthing good relevant rock bands goes. Rock, like this city and you, hasn't been consistently awesome since the 70's. One of them is making a comeback. The others have a coolness factor that is on life support. Guess which ones are which?...
Rock is dead because you were or had bad parents. There's a McDonalds on every corner for the exact same reason. You forgot what it was like to rebel and push the envelope and then rebel some more. The suburbs are your recliner with an attached remote. You can move the chair up and forward so much that you don't have to even expel energy to get out of it. This world has made you soft and conquerable. You pick the best of the shit that's offered to you and you take solice in the fact that you at least you were given a choice.
With Rock falling more and more into obscurity every year, Cleveland can be its retirement home and life support. Rock venues, record companies, old fogies tour stops, Hall of Fame, ect... The Austin or Nashville or Memphis of Rock and Roll is just waiting to be milked for every dollar.

You're better off supporting the Arts.
You will die before the Browns win the Superbowl so you can stop buying tickets. Hell making or hosting a Superbowl may never happen in your lifetime either. The Indians might make it back to a World Series but it's like a tree falling in the woods. Oh and on a similar note, the Semi Trailers in the upper deck at Jacob's Field look stupid...and it's all our faults for not going to more games. Oh and all you idiots (including me even though I didn't vote for it) help pay for a millionaire's to make these "improvements" to your stadiums. All they do is keep sending out crappy teams to play there.
And while we're on the subject of sports...Old men who watch young high school boys they aren't related to play sports kinda creeps me out. Unless it's homecoming. I get school spirit and coaching but if you haven't been to "school" in 15 years and you never miss a game...take up a hobby like woodworking.

There's a very small percentage of you who are actually "successful".
You are basically the assistant to the assistant manager.
The Republican party could care less about most of you. Think about it. Do you make more money when they're in office? Do you ever see any of the huge topics go one way or the other? Face it. You're just a pawn who hates gays and/or minorities. You got tricked and are so afraid of the stigma your viewpoint carries that you have to ride this turd wave all the way.
Just because you drive a foreign luxury car doesn't mean you can drive like an asshole. It's never a dude in a Kia and when it is, it's not on purpose. I guess rich people just can't wait.
Which bathroom people use is distracting you from what really matters...here's a hint: it's not guns, abortion, gay marriage, immigration, or welfare.
If I were homeless, I'd panhandle at Crocker Park just to see the reactions. I may even pull my balls through my zipper while I do it.
No one wants to talk to you about politics or unions or religion. We'll ask your opinion when we need it. This is actually for both sides. Most of the time people are just ignorantly repeating things the rest of us heard already but don't have the heart to call you out. I am well aware that I am breaking this one right now but if you got this far...you've been fooled again.

"Get'er Done" is nothing to be proud of.
Take your giant truck with the sparkling clean bed and go back to the suburbs...and drive off a bridge.
I hate the sound motorcycles make so much it makes me hate people who drive them. If a Prius can have little to no sound, so can a motorcycle. It's not a question of safety. It's a giant clock around Flavor Flav's neck. A toddler crying for attention. A jerk just looking to bother people. I'll never understand it and I'm not sure you want me to. I just don't get why this is cool?
If you think moving to Florida is a good idea, move there. We need our schools to improve.
If you've seen one tree, you've seen them all. Unless they're huge...or bare fruit. Then I'd like a pear please.
Stop subsidizing corn. That shit's in everything and it's slowly killing us all. I'm pretty sure you can take the training wheels off that tank. Plus farms shouldn't be too big to fail just like banks.
I really really like Bluegrass music. Maybe one day when women move on to something else it'll be popular again. Yup, women drive country music today. Started about 1995. Men, you have been tricked. In revolt, I invite you to fill your beer cans up with lighter fluid, tear the sleeves off your shirt, tuck them down the hole, light that shit, and fire bomb the next Luke Bryan concert... then give your old lady a black eye to show her your country should be more like Merl and less like N'sync. Mmmerica!

I like this city.
Your smooth fast car ride to downtown on a highway is not as important as the neighborhoods highways destroy. Highways don't pay taxes either but the houses that were destroyed to build them did. Why don't they pave these damn road again?
I'd shit if I could pay 1/4 of my yearly car payments for a metro card and keep the rest because I don't need my car anymore. It's almost a litmus test for having a successful city. Your citizens only need 1 car. Oh and if you complain about traffic, move closer to your job. Unless you like to complain. Then just stay away.
DUI's exist because bars were made to be walked to and from. If you can't stumble home from a bar, you live in the wrong area...and that's what's wrong with America.
I get sad seeing pictures of the buildings that have been torn down in this city. Like really really sad.
I wish this city had more people with mo-hawks and less with fohawks. There's a real lack of creativity and art here. Maybe they're all starving and fighting for exposure...
My soul died a little when they cancelled Cleveland's New Years Eve party. It was something we could hold up and say "Hey, we got this too!". It was also the thing no one wanted to face...this city doesn't have enough money yet to be everything it could.
I hate to shop at Giant Eagle. That being said, I take Gina there as a treat when I know she's down...even though I know she goes there almost everyday...or I don't complain when she takes me to one.
No matter how well Cleveland does, as long as a good rain prevents you from swimming in the lake because there might be some floating poop...we will never overcome our negative perception.
If Chicago gets deep dish pizza and NYC gets NY style pizza, Cleveland should start putting pizza in perogies as filler. Cleveland - Home of the Polish Pizza Hot Pocket!
This city has too many houses under 1000 square feet. I'm not saying get rid of them all but Jesus that's all that's out there. Old people aren't moving into a 1000 sq foot house in Cuddell even though there are literally 100,000 of them available. Oh and banks aren't giving mortgages for $36k.
Progress is made in this city everyday and it makes me proud.

Misc thoughts I wrote while in a bad mood.
As much as you want to bang your 22 year old waitress is exactly how much your wife loves banging her ex behind your back. Don't believe the hype. Women are 40 cents an hour away from being just as big of a collection of assholes as men are. Which leads me to my next point...
To want equality because you're jealous of the shit someone else gets away with is just wrong. We are all inspiring to have a life like the wolf of Wall St and that's not for everyone. Someone out there has to be nice and honest. So few are and I've noticed recently a magnet like attraction to people who say "please", "thank you", or who just smile. Doesn't matter who. Just be pleasant.
Something that's cool doesn't mean it's good. It just means kids like it and they are the dumbest of us all.

This one is so close to my heart that I saved it for the end...
The weather is not news. We all have phones...and windows.

Sometimes you just have to say something to get it off your chest urban explorers even if it's hard to hear.


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Wednesday, March 30, 2016

What HAVEN'T we been up to?!?

So it's been about a month since my last post so I'll catch you up on what the hell we've been up to...

Orchid Mania at the Cleveland Botanical Garden - Gina and I love the Botanical Garden! We also love Groupons and when we got one to Orchid Mania, we decided to grab it quickly and go. Orchids are beautiful but are also super weird looking. Some have pouch leaves. Some look like the Atlanta Hawks old swooping hawk logo. You can dye the petals to make them turn beautiful colors. They really do hold their own as the focus flower of this wonderful event and you can't beat the Botanical Garden as a venue.



Happy Birthday! - One day I will get to eat the roasted pigs head at the Greenhouse Tavern but unfortunately this birthday wasn't that day...because no one could come to my birthday party. See Gina is good at inviting people and getting together a group for an outing and I still think all my friends are single and childless. F#cking adults... That didn't stop us from dwindling our reservations down from 10 to 2 and going for my favorite dinner that can only be described as a marathon of garlic >> Crispy Chicken Wings Confit! Oh and of course I get them with animal style frites. The wings are citrus, spicy, and super garlicky but they fall off the bone as you try to dig them out of a bowl filled with garlic cloves. This is not a "date" meal. This is a "she's accidentally left a turd in the toilet and I saw it" meal. You'll sweat garlic for days. Your breath will be awesomely garlicky. Your "stuff" may just take on the taste...think along the lines of pineapple. With all that being said...it's totally worth it. One day I will try something else on the menu because I've heard the guy's a good cook or something (winky face) but for my birthday, this was my gift to me.



Postsecret the Show at Playhouse Square - Before I went to this show I had no idea what Postsecret was. The name does not lend itself to what it's about like say "The Vagina Monologues". Gina knew all about it and so she bought the tickets. I was just happy to go to Playhouse Square. I'm a simple idiot. I won't give it all away because I think it was very powerful to go in with a blank slate but what I will say is that you will cry your god-damned eyes out and then...without warning you burst into laughter...shortly after that you sink deep into thought. This thing is an emotional roller coaster and not like crappy movies when they say they are and then you get a sorry breakup/reconcile story that no one cares about. This is the real deal and the crazy thing is...none of it is fake. These are real secrets that people wrote down and sent into their website. It's sad to hear people's inner thoughts when they are battling depression or loss or envy or fear...but on the other hand it is kinda refreshing to hear someone confess something that you've been holding inside and have been to afraid to face. This in my opinion is a must experience for everyone. You won't leave the same person you were when you walked in.


This was me for a few days...Ahem...I mean "Thisa waza me fora few dayz!"



St. Patrick's Day - So since Gina is Irish and my sister Emily wants to be Irish we all got together and celebrated St. Patrick's Day! In true Irish fashion Gina yelled at the wait staff at the Flat Iron Cafe because they wouldn't serve her Irish Car Bombs at 6:30 am because "this city is stupid and laws are for assholes". My sister took a picture of a woman with the biggest boobs on the planet. I didn't get as hammered as I wanted to but did get to go to Moriarty's on East 6th for a shot of Jameson's. Then the parade happened! It was a lot of fun and I didn't take a lot of pics this year because...well it's a parade and those things don't change too much so if you want to see pics go back a year and look at that post. So anywho, Emily left after awhile and Gina and I took a nap before we did something else and went to bed...Oh we ate corned beef!...and then went to bed. Man we're old!



Castaway Bay - We went to Castaway Bay because Gina is a 12 year old girl at heart...plus Emily and my nephew Jeremy were there to celebrate his good grades or negative drug test or a promotion or whatever kids do well now a days. I admit that I wasn't expecting to have a lot of fun being a 240 lbs 36 year old. I thought it was going to be full of trashy parents in inappropriate and revealing swimwear drinking and not at all watching their kids who are all stuck by their ankles up-side-down in a rope net somewhere being slowly dripped on Chinese water torture style....oh and the water is like 82% pee. I was surprised though because I did have fun! Lots of fun actually. The rest of that stuff was true too but it was all part of the experience so I was good to go. We played in the arcade. We chilled in the indoor/outdoor hot tub. We climbed the jungle gym of water. We rode a water propelled roller coaster! It was a damn good time and I'm glad Em and J invited us.



Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Private Tour - Thanks to Eli and Alexa Kazimir for inviting us to tag along on their private tour of the Rock Hall! Our tour guide (who's name escapes me at the moment) was super entertaining and informative. We got to see a lot of behind the scenes areas, offices, and got some great background info on even some of the most overlooked exhibits! If you have an opportunity to take a tour, even if you've recently went to the Rock Hall on your own, I highly recommend you go! It was quite an experience and gives you a whole new appreciation of rock. Plus there's going to be a new restaurant out on the pier soon so you can make it a nice and easy, walkable, date night! Get back to your rock roots and head bang your blues away.



Well that's it for now. I think we're all caught up except for Dyngus Day but I'll save that for another post. The Avenue at Tower City was sold to Dan Gilbert. Will he listen to me and add residential to Tower City finally??? We'll have to wait and see. Summer is coming urban explorers and that means festivals are just around the corner! A city is there for all to enjoy.



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Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Addressing the CLE Mullet

I sometimes fear that my very hip beard look is going to go the way of the mullet someday and Facebook will be the everlasting reminder of how caught up in this weird trend I am. Why do I have it? I don't know. I just kinda don't feel like shaving. Maybe it's forgiveness lies in the fact that as long as I don't put an effort into it, I can just claim laziness...or crippling depression! Man we all knew back in the day that mullets were just awful. We were kids though so we all wanted long flowing metal hair still until parents got lazy and cheap and starting cutting hair with a bowl...although is that really cheaper than just letting it grow? We didn't have time to care about looks and the hormones to care about how we looked in front of girls so most of my classmates missed out on mullet-mania.

So why mullets? OK it's stretch but it adds framing so I just don't rant and complain for a whole post again this time. A man once described a mullet as "Business in the front, party in the back"...probably to a collection of poofy haired women drinking Alabama Slammers at the local honky tonk. He probably beat up some ninjas out back of the bar and totally got laid BUT his fun little description got me comparing stuff creatively. My fair city of Cleveland has some great momentum. People are moving downtown, there's a grocery store, Lebron, the RNC...and...other stuff... and that's all well and good but now that the rental market is running like a freight train, we should start looking at other things. Ready for it?

Business (in the front)

Small business is still not being supported like it should be but things are getting better as people slowly start to see that all of their favorite little shops and restaurants are all the babies of small business owners!...but I've done that to death so I'm going to focus the other way>>>BIG business! ::Sigh:: It can be said that business is business is business which in more better words means one thing... no matter what your feeling at this moment, business follows the money. No matter where your business resides at this moment, business follows the money. In case you need a 3rd scenario, business follows the money. Right now, what I like to call the "90's money" is in the suburbs. Not the close suburbs either. Think 2nd level. Traditional big business is in Westlake and along 271. Oh headquarters galore! Big sprawling castles with their parking lot moats paying almost nothing in taxes and squeezing every penny from where ever they can for their executives... MMMMMAAAAAAANNNNNNNNN!!!! 

And there's nothing Cleveland can do about it...

Cuyahoga county says no poaching from other cities within the county. Businesses need to make the decision on their own. Fine. We were cool with that at a time because it seemed as if the 90's would never end. Golfing executives and Mom-jeaned PTA members were taking their families away from crime and ethnics out to the wonderful 2nd level suburbs. Just like the greatest generation, they saw a problem and they...ran from it like a bunch of pussies? Hey wait a minute!

See Nazi >> Go over and kill Nazi!

See Crime >> Get me the F*ck outta here!

We are literally more scared of blacks than we were of Nazis! Hell white people are more scared of their shadows sometimes... Well that's how my generation is starting to see it now anyways...but back in the 80's and 90's the new burbs were a blank slate. We could have all the land we wanted to mow and we'd design our neighborhood to be so expensive and exclusive that you could spot a car-jacker as a darker dot in the distance before he crossed the city boundary. You could build your own headquarters and no longer have to pay crazy downtown rent. Hell FREE PARKING DUDE!!! Plus there's a 13 lane highway just waiting to be overbuilt that'll bring people from hours away every day!...you know, white...people...from miles away.

So businesses left... in droves. A lot of them. BP, OfficeMax, Reliance Electric, Ferro Corp. Even, the Browns. Ya the Browns are a business. They left. Then 9/11. Then George W Bush. Then John Kasich. Then the recession. Things couldn't have been any worse for Cleveland...and then things started to turn around. At least that's what we read in the paper. Brooklyn, Portland, hipsters... and just when you started to think things were turning around LIKE FOR REAL 2013 TURNING AROUND...Eaton Corp left. It's just not Cleveland either. American Greeting left Brooklyn. The place where the Plain Dealer and Key left to go to years ago...had someone leave for greener pastures further out. What goes around comes around huh?

Oh and don't forget industry! Mexico and China...the Westlake and Mayfield of the world. And unlike business...Industry is never coming back. Never. Global economy or whatever buzz word they use for slave labor now-a-days just simply translates to no pride in America anymore. And politicians who weren't even in politics when it all went down will not 1) admit there was a mistake made or 2) do anything about it. It's permanent folks. Bye-bye industry.

What came in to replace them? Some small businesses but not as many. You can't forget the ones that stayed either. Damn good troopers! We love each and every one of them. All of this is to show you that as we finally get caught up to the 21st century notion of "people living downtown", we just aren't bringing in enough jobs to keep it going. Soon we're going to hit a magic number and as people pat themselves on the back...the next person who moves into an apartment is going to look out his or her window and say to themselves "This is cool...but how am I going to pay for all of it?" No job postings higher than min wage. "I have a college degree and even past that...I HAVE STUDENT LOAN DEBT!"

Oh and the state isn't going to help. Face it, to people in columbus, Cleveland is the capital of Kenya. We really should start having local celebs do commercials for the East Side at 3am. In the arms of the angles! Faaaaar aaaawwwwaaaaayyyyy from me... For just 12 cents a day you can feed a crackhead from Glenville's baby. One day someone who has power will care about Cleveland...

With all that being said, this city needs to do 2 things:

I) Start taking step to bring in some major businesses. 1 or 2 will keep this train going another 3-5 years further. Get them to buy in to the city and who knows. We just haven't seen a lot of that. We see businesses moving from building to building but we really need to see some jockeying from city hall trying to attract businesses here. Loud, vocal, and aggressive attempts! Apartments are just not enough!

II) Reward the businesses who are here now for still being here now! Free muffins every Monday for ever? Put some public art outside their buildings? Free window cleaning? Whatever it is, if you have been a company headquartered in Cleveland for more than 20 years...You deserve much more than a thank you! Free billboard advertising, whatever! New business is great but you wouldn't be here without these businesses who have stayed here and stayed loyal. Thank you.

Party (in the back)

I was saddened to hear that the Great American Ribs Cook-Off was cancelled after 24 years. This along with the Cleveland Rocks New Year's party being cancelled is starting to make me worry. Look, Cleveland is getting better but this city needs to let loose every once in awhile. Every step in the right direction is a milestone for old Cleve-town as it pushes against the nationally accepted suburban agenda. Truthfully, we like to get to relax and wipe our brow every so often as we take a breath. We look forward to enjoying ethnically themed food and music or summer classics or anything that allows us to forget about the grey gray winter. That's why Cleveland not having a new year's celebration while Akron gets to enjoy one is just embarrassing. Well, maybe not as embarrassing as Berea still having a Ribs cook-off and us not tho.

Look, we all cringed when you brought in techno and rap acts to headline your "Cleveland Rocks" event but we figured that you'd crack a history book and see that we are the god-damned home of ROCK AND ROLL!...and there are a plethora of local acts that you could have brought in to help us all "rock" in the new year. Cheap, up and coming, fun acts. Or you could have even went the lazy route and brought in an oldie but goody. You would have lost the young crowd a bit but...really you wouldn't have since every asshole in this region digs old time-a-rock and roll. I find it pathetic but it would have went over pretty well. Then, you could have went big time. You could have went huge local and huge talent and huge draw...you could have went Black Keys. You could have charged $50 a tickets for let's say Drew Carey, the Black Keys, and maybe Cleveland's own Nine Inch Nails??? Or went back in time and reunited Dazz Band for some Let It Whip. Or brought in Bone Thugs. Or something!!! Look, the Rock Scene is pretty meh and the bands coming out of Cleveland (or all of Ohio) are very meh but we have some stuff! And you're "not enough funds to go around because of the RNC" excuse was pathetic. I never got a call for money. If you didn't call me, you didn't call anyone. But most of all you fumbled the ball during a time when you can't do wrong in this city. For Shame...

Now loosing the Great American Ribs Cook-Off feels less like a choke job (like the New Years thing) and more like there were just too many options on one weekend thing. It was fairly inexpensive to get in and there were ribs and local rock acts like Ryan Humbert. Memorial Day is an event-crowded weekend as well with local events like the Tremont Greek Fest, Berea National Ribs Cook-off, and others happening all at the same time and vying for the same pool of people. That pool of people is a bit thin too since its a 3-5 day weekend (depending on how you maneuver your vacation days) which always offers the opportunity to go away on vacation. No matter what the reason it was cancelled, I'm sad to see this one go. It was on my list of things to attend this year and it's been around for 24 years. Loosing something that's been around for that long is a bummer.

Oh well. Change is always happening and as you lose one event you hopefully gain another. That's were I worry. I pray that we get a fun event that has great food and is something you can bring kids to. Maybe it'll become a national phenomenon and will always be married to Cleveland as the place it was born. Maybe it'll keep people from driving to Berea or Chagrin Falls or Twinsburg and they can just take the rapid in. Maybe there won't be a racially explosive public melee. Maybe we can just have a little fun together as a community.

So there's a bit of my achy-breaky heart on my sleeve. From Joe Dirt to Andre Agassi there are two thing we can learn... 1) Jumping on trends and riding them out works only so far until eventually you and your fad fade away into the abyss as a "burning river-esque" punchline. Having a well rounded approach while also pushing the boundary is a more sustainable plan that ensures you have nets set up in case...oh I don't know...let's say that the Medical Mart was as not as huge of a move as we thought... We're not just left with a giant empty mistake right on our city mall. Oh and 2) As much work as the business of turning this #2 most dangerous, burning river, mistake by the lake, section 8, welfare city around takes... we need to take time every once in awhile to enjoy our success and party.

Every once in awhile you have to go out on a limb urban explorers...but more often try to be the person who perfects the fad and not the person who tries to start them all...unless you can afford to. Then go ahead and San Fran it up cities!



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Thursday, February 4, 2016

A Neon Pink Sore Thumb

The difference between a cute little place like let's say Amish Country vs a big city like New York are vast but there are similarities that make parts of both places work. For this particular thought, I focus on small businesses. Mom and pop stores and local businesses help create a certain experience for residents and visitors that they relate back to the area as a whole. If supported correctly, small local businesses can provide your city or town with a unique personality when it comes to the customer experience. That uniqueness is vital when competing with cookie cutter malls and big box stores.

There's my college term paper opener...but basically it boils down to me being tired of places like Walmart and wanting cities to start having local hardware stores again. I'm not even tired of big box stores being the "giant evil blah blah". I just think they're boring. I'm not a huge fan of cookie cutter and enjoy a good neon pink sore thumb house or business just because it breaks up the same old same old experience. Go to any strip mall. You got a Target, Walmart, Home Depot, Best Buy, Bed Bath and Beyond... It really is like the participation trophy in kids sports. Yeeeaaaa your city has the same businesses as countless others in your state or even sometimes county but who gives a f*ck? I mean is that really the thing that makes you swell up with civic pride? We were lucky or awesome enough to get this region's Sam's club!?!

I guess it's even kinda the same when you say you have a brewery and Columbus has a brewery and Cincinnati has a brewery for example. Ya they're in the same industry but at least they aren't selling the exact same recipes and won't always have a Kay Jewelers to the left of their building and a Panera to the right of their building. There's some sort of difference between the breweries and what they make and where they're located. Sure there are industry standards but you are allowed to be artistic with your vision. That's what you lose when you get a strip mall and big box malls. You lose that artistic experience. You lose that neon pink sore thumb. You could literally live in any town in the US. I hate that thought as much as I hate when I see someone out wearing the exact same shirt as me. I instantly want to burn it at my feet. There's a huge difference between having a burning desire to express yourself through your craft and just wanting to make millions of dollars. Most people don't understand needing to make something to express a feeling. Most people can however relate to wanting to make a quick and easy million. I'm afraid we've just lost that understanding...that concept. That makes me sad...

Arch 2! Electric Boogastabmurder!
You want examples?!? I've got examples! How about this...I want to build an exact replica of the St. Louis Arch in Cleveland. Have it go right over the river or be an excuse to bulldoze some crack houses on the east side but I want it. I think it's nice and it really fills a landmark hole that Cleveland has. I'm sure the architectural drawings are still around so it won't be hard to reproduce PLUS we could probably do it cheaper and faster now-a-days because technology! Yup, no "of". Just Technology. People would come to see Arch 2 and pay money when they're here and take pictures and buy souvenirs. How is that so different from both of our cities having a Walmart. Why does your douche meter go off when you think about Arch 2 but you praise and patronize businesses that out of the kindness of their hearts bring their cheap labor force, Chinese goods, and acres of parking lots to your city? Come on...it doesn't validates you and your city... it's already great somewhere else and you're just getting a copy of it. They didn't even change the design of the building. Know why? Because no matter how many local whatevers they sponsor... they don't care about you.

Let's drive it into the ground shall we?...

When you think of vacation cities anywhere in the world do you wonder if they have a IHOP just like the one that's a 7 minute drive away so you can get breakfast? or a Giant Eagle so you can get your fuel points? or a Dick's Sporting goods just in case you forget your swim suit?...Do you eat McDonald's in Italy over eating a locally made pasta dish? This is fun and I really could go on and on but the answer is "No". You go to see or experience something that you couldn't experience where you live. All those businesses I listed are nice-ities but if they aren't there, something else will be. Now I'm going to circle back to my college term paper opener or it wouldn't have been necessary to even write it to begin with. You go to Amish country because it's a unique destination that contains things and experiences you can't find where you live or really most anywhere else. You go to New York City for the exact same reason...the details of the reason are night and day but that's why you go to places like that. Cities that have all-year-round Christmas or white sandy beaches or legalized prostitution all have something that you can't drive to the local strip mall to experience and that's what you should be striving for! A unique experience!...or fake it and trick us! Who cares!?!

Now think of your city or town. Do you really have anything worth visiting? Oh by the way and along the same thought, picking an area to live based on "living close to your parents so you can have built in babysitters" is just lame. I don't normally say it out load because parents LOVE to tell me that I don't know what I'm talking about because I don't have kids. After the red anger leaves my face, I think about never talking to them again, and then think this...
"Just because you screwed and created life, it doesn't make you a goddamn genius."
Honey-boo-boo exists. Would you let her parents do your taxes because they're parents?...just like you wouldn't take parenting advice from them no matter how many kids they've reared. I take what you have to say into consideration BUT in no way take it as the god's honest truth. Don't fool yourself. Babies don't fix stupid.

With that being said - I love all of you and there's nothing you can do about it. God I'm so tired this week...



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Tuesday, January 26, 2016

I'm Now Our Block Club Co-Chair

So I won an election! I'm now the co-chairperson of our block club. Our name is as unique as anyone else's block club I guess, North of Literary. You know, because as you can see below we exist North of Literary Road. Why complicate things. Anyways I was elected to help chair the block club and am damn happy to step up and help.

This is Tremont...sorta. Our boundaries include the Cuyahoga River to the North and East, MetroHealth Medical Center to the South and West 25th Street and Columbus Avenue to the West.
This is North of Literary. Our little slice of heaven.
We have great restaurants like Sokolowski's, Fat Cats, Parallax, Southside, Tony's Southside, Lolita, Press, and Barrio. Man that's a lot when you list them all together. We get our coffee from Loop. We rock at Pat's in the Flats. We get our beer and chips from the Fairfield Market. We have the only Bank in the neighborhood, Fifth Third. We ride our bikes past people taking pictures at the Abbey Ave Park by I90 with the best views of downtown behind them. We sneak into downtown across the W 3rd lift bridge. We party at the Greek festival, Dyngus Day, and Taste of Tremont. We'll have the towpath trail cutting through in a few years which means connections to the lake and all the way down to... Canal Fulton? Right? Dover? Somewhere south. We have churches and salons and other businesses too. Oh and according to Trulia, we're Safe! Best of all though we have a group of really good people living here who are very active in the block club. I couldn't have stepped into a better 1st leadership role.

My block is all green! Yikes, poor Ohio City.

I can't wait to get started and make difference in neighborhood. It's a good feeling. Oh and if it wasn't obvious, COME TO TREMONT AND VISIT NORTH OF LITERARY! We've got all sorts of stuff for you to do!



OK, enough about me. Read this blog post. It's awesome and the writer is pretty much my hero:

http://neo-trans.blogspot.com/2016/01/cleveland-ready-to-scrape-skies-more.html



Sometimes friends of the urban area, you get a look at change from a macro level and it gives you hope.



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Monday, January 11, 2016

CLE's Housing Stock

First off, Happy New Year! I hope your 2016 is even better than your 2015. Now on to the show!

Eventually, after everyone has patted themselves on the back for having a safe, beautiful, and vibrant downtown with a 0% vacancy rate and tons of jobs, there's another issue that will need to be addressed. I mean, you know, after crime, education, poverty, and the infant mortality rate. It's the housing stock. If you own a great house in this city, you're not giving it up for anything. That's fine and is what happens everywhere. The problem is that the houses that are left for the rest of us are...well, either too expensive or $hit. Now $hit can mean a lot of things in this post - dangerous, small, uninspired, ugly, run down, ready to fall over, currently on fire, a crack den, a squatter's hangout, etc... I know this because I've been looking for a house in Cleveland and I only really have seen 1-2 out of the over 50 we've looked at that I like. Now I may or may not be the normal dude looking for houses in Cleveland but I am pretty average. Do you think maybe there are people like me who, in frustration, turn to Lakewood or Cleveland Heights to find the right combo of things in a house and neighborhood while still being in a hip urban area close to hip urban parts of Cleveland? I do...or I wouldn't be writing this. He's what I've learned so far from my house hunting experience:
  • There's a premium on safety - Money = safety and even then it doesn't equal absolute safety. It doesn't even necessarily mean things to do or access to transportation. The safest neighborhoods have the highest priced houses and vice versa. This is the 1st thing you look at when you start looking for houses in this city...and then when you see the prices you start to look at small areas that are still Cleveland but are on the other side of the highway from murder (like around the river) or areas tucked away behind a park or hidden within factories. Places not even criminals go since there's too much work to get to them or they don't even know about them. Then your parents catch wind and with their limited knowledge of the area have a full on freak out that more than likely cut 10 years off of their life. I get it, safety is important but make your urban pioneer move when you're young, single, and orphaned. It'll be a lot easier without people using logic against you.
  • Since $ = safety, the quality of the house for the money suffers - I like a good old house as much as anyone. I grew up in a 3000 sq ft Victorian rebuilt from the ground up by my parents and that's what I want. I love the attention to detail and the open feeling of wide pocket doors and hard wood everywhere and push button lights and all of it!...except finding something like this for sale in Cleveland is like finding a needle in a haystack...that's as big as the city itself and when you do, who knows what your surroundings will be like? There are beautiful Victorians in East Cleveland but there's also daily murders so there you go. So then what? You settle...for a lot of orange wood and lackluster curved entryways and no window frames and 1,100 sq feet and the occasional armed robbery. That's fine with me. I have vision and the handyman skills to make things into what I want them to look like. Problem is I'll never get my money back when I sell the place so what's the point? I don't have the finances to sacrifice for the good of the city as much as I would like to do the Johnny Appleseed thing (only instead of planting apple trees I fix up sorta crappy houses not worrying about the cost).
  • HUD homes are a great idea! - Except no one will loan you the money for one and you don't have $30k in cash lying around. Found that out after getting really excited about one.
  • Home is where your girlfriend's stuff is - It's not JUST where your heart is because your heart is pressuring you to move and you feel claustrophobic in your current appt because your heart has so much stuff that she hearts and wants it in your small apartment...and garage...and a side room in the garage...and in the basement...and in your parent's garage...and in the basement of your rental...and in a barn in East Canton. To say I didn't think this through is sorta unfair. I didn't know the extent of the stuff and I also didn't know it would become my responsibility. I didn't think I'd have been tasked with finding a place for all of it. And I wasn't in the beginning but because there's so so much stuff and no one is willing to get rid of any of it, it makes renting an apartment impossible...which I think was the plan all along.
  • No place for my tax bracket - Millennials and retirees have downtown, the flats, and Ohio City. Hipsters and hip retirees have Tremont. College people (students, workers, professors, etc...) have University Circle. Old money has Detroit Shoreway except for Gordon Square which is new money. Old empty-nesters and city worker families have Old Brooklyn and West Park. I'm sorry to generalize but the rest is the wild wild...wild...crazy dangerous...wild west. The problem is unless I want to live in the wild areas, I have to be crazy wealthy...or at least better off than the 2 of us are now...which is not well off. We can afford a $100k house in Cleveland because the taxes are awesome but it's tight. That doesn't put us in a great range. We can get a nice house in a nice area for that but will probably lose money on it and it'll probably not be big enough for "our" stuff. The yard will never be big enough. It won't be close to anything like bars or grocery stores or downtown or the highway. Sooooooooo why not live in the f'ing suburbs then!
  • There are some really great neighborhoods in Cleveland that no one knows about -  And for good reason. Big houses, great access to places, tree lined streets, safety, wonderful neighbors...and they don't want you driving through and discovering them and telling all your friends about them because then the criminals will know where to hit next!...Seriously. Little tucked away areas in this city that have the same mentality as Louisville, Ohio >> where I grew up. All I can tell you is that you'll almost never pass these areas in your travels through the city. You won't know that they exists if you set up your filters for your price range on the for sale websites. You'll only know about them if you're like me and are curious as to why a big section of homes doesn't really have anything for sale...and you've limited your search to Cleveland. You know, a weirdo.
  • Sometimes old doesn't mean classic - We tend to think that just because old people are old they are these wise people with this untapped life experience and sweet demeanor. Well just like everything else (military, clergy, bartenders, strippers) not  all of them are great. Some of them are dicks. Some of them have done a lifetime of awful things. Some of them are just broken. Houses are the same way. A lot of old houses have so much charm that they cry out to be refurbished or have been cared for by good people throughout the years because it was only logical to continue to take care of such beauty. Then there are time periods in the early 1900's where the houses that were built in Cleveland were just awful. They were put up fast with poor quality materials and uninspired designs on plots of land that were just too small...and they suck. Now they're old and no one really cares about them anymore. That means they just sit there. No one really want to rehab them and boy do they need it because they're old. No A/C, no finished basements or attics, bad carpet, cramped kitchens, small bedrooms...and on and on. So every year they lose a couple thousand off their price until they end up just being left for dead because you just won't get the money you put into it back again. Then the city comes along and tears it down...or not. There's a lot of areas where "or not" is the case. I say this -- group the houses by type and do some analysis on the situation. Or...just buy up neighborhoods, tear them down, and start over with a more urban type of today house that will stand the test of time in a mixed use neighborhood with a hip feel. Oh if I would just win the powerball... Scorched Earth! Oh and for you people who think that anything old should be saved...if it was so worth saving, buy it and save it already. 60 years of neglect doesn't prove to me anything but that it needs put out of it's misery. My opinion only goes for houses. Downtowns are completely different. I'm talking about a house that you can find an exact replica of but built backwards or with a window missing on a million different streets in this city.
  • I may have realized my dreams too late in life - This is a preparation statement for all of the a$$holes who will ask "why aren't you living in Cleveland if you love it so much????!?!?!" There's going to be a day in the future when I won't live in Cleveland. I'm dating someone who's not urban and who's dream house is a farm. I wasted all my money on a Hummer H3 during the gas crisis and a house during the housing crisis and basically different ways to try to impress women so they'd look past how fat I was/am. I'm now in charge of half a football field's worth of stuff. My nice guy demeanor...before it'll put me in heaven, has cost me quite a bit of my life. I will never have the means to make the difference I want to make. Too many people rely on me to be able to just pull a 180. I'm too old and haven't really made anything of myself in life. I am this one man team to make my dreams come true and it takes much more than that and a bit of luck. With all that said, one day I'll have to be OK with giving up my dreams. Sooo....I don't really have the money to buy a house that fits all of this physical,mental, and dream $hit even if it did magically come up for sale in Cleveland or pretty much anywhere else. Such is life.
Urban pioneers...do it while you still can. Make a difference. Be remembered.



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Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Holiday Lights Trolley Ride

I went on a Holiday Lights Trolley Ride through ole Cle-town with these 3 drunkin' elves:
Our point of origin was JUKEBOX where we got free chili, a to-go brew cup with straw, and a Santa hat! Drinking beer from a straw like I was forced to go to church in college sounded fun. To be festive I made my beer of choice Great Lakes Christmas Ale which I had to open a Christmas gift to get at...a gift I was giving someone else...this is the 3rd time I've done this this month. Since I didn't have to drive I figured why the hell not! We all got situated and listened to the best Jukebox in the city until it was time to go. I really, really like this bar. All the things that a bar should be are here with none of the gimmicky fluff. Good tunes. Good brews. Good service. Good people. Good times. A perfect place to start this adventure!

Stop #1 - A Christmas Story House: 
Even though we practically live down the street, we've only ever driven past the A Christmas Story House. It was everything I remembered from the movie, leg lamp and all. They even changed the interior of the house to reflect what you'd see if the movie was actually filmed inside. Thank God there are people out there creative enough (and rich enough) to do such wonderful things all because of a movie they loved when they were younger. I wish the neighborhood was a little less run down when it's dark out tho. I mean it's not bad but those houses are in a historical neighborhood which is rich people slang for how you'd describe grandpa before you put him in a lower middle ranked nursing home. It is a great tourist destination for the neighborhood and city tho and A Christmas Story Run 5k/10k benefits the neighborhood revitalization efforts. I will always be happy to have this piece of Christmassy Hollywood right here in Cleveland.

Stop #2 - The Horseshoe Casino...Higbee's:
Here's a stock photo of what some of the lights look like since I didn't have time to take pictures because I WON $250!...which instantly went to a Christmas gift for Gina. Yes, folks that's right. I'll never be rich. Anyway it was a fun stop and Gina took great pictures I heard. I was too busy being happy and strut walking like a champ!

Stop #3 - Playhouse Square
This is my favorite place in the city. As I may or may not have said before, it's like Cleveland's version of Disneyland and Vegas all rolled into one in the winter. It reminds me that this city is beautiful and grown up. It shows what happens if you really care about the arts and classic architecture. I could have stood there in a drunk awe all night. I can only hope that this kind of stuff spreads to other neighborhoods. It's certainly worth visiting Cleveland just to see it. I'd say more but I talk about how awesome this area is like every 2 posts.


Stop #4: The Euclid Beach Park Carousel at the Western Reserve Historical Society
So ya, another stock photo because we didn't really stop at this one. We just kinda drove by which was a bummer because it's beautiful! From what we could see they did an excellent job with the whole restoration and building. I definitely want to stop there and check it out soon. 

And yes, I was much to drunk to take a photo from a moving bus and have a conversation about whatever I was talking about. That's what the internets are for.


Stop #5: Nela Park (pronounced N-el-a like when hillbillies say "yellow", Kerry!) in "beautiful" East Cleveland, Ohio

So NELA Park is really a beautiful light setup that I'm going to guess most of you won't risk it to go see (which is understandable) but you are missing out. I actually didn't know this was even here. It's like a mile of lights and lit up figures and presents and up lighting and more lights. You'd think this was a light factory or sumphin! If you do decide to venture out and take picture, you will see police cars across the street watching you and making sure your safe. Hey, East Cleveland know who puts the government issued butter on what side of the government issued bread! Even more of a reason for Cleveland to annex this city...or for you to go and see this wonderful display!

The End!

Thanks Gina for getting the tickets and Kerry for spending time with us. It really was a fun experience being a tourist in my own city and guzzling some holiday cheer while doing so. I don't know which one will last longer, my indigestion from the chili or the Christmas hat, but the memories of this trip will last for a lifetime.

I hope all of you Urban Pioneers have a safe and happy holiday season. I may talk to you one more time in 2015 but if I don't, Happy New Year!

A few last things:
  1. If you haven't seen the new Star Wars yet, maybe think about seeing at the Capitol Theater! Tickets on Mondays are like $7 and the place is so big, you won't have to be packed in right next to anyone. Oh and there's beer and wine AND liquor! And you can see it in 3-D!!! Accomplish the Gordon Square triple play >> Eat dinner at Happy Dog, get dessert at Sweet Moses, and see frickin' Star Wars at the Capitol Theater >> Bring a date and it's at least a guaranteed beej!
  2. If you haven't been to Playhouse Square yet this holiday season, you're a god-damned Grinch! Take your stupid lights off of you dumb house and bury yourself alive in the backyard!...or I guess going there right now would be way easier for you. I mean how would you bury... never mind. Just go. Oh and after it's dark so you can get the full light-gasm enjoyment!
  3. Quit being a jerk and go to the A Christmas Story house already! It's open all year round so I mean you could go like in January when $hits calms down. Just go. If you watch it all day on Christmas, go! Bring friends and buy tickets!
  4. #Sadie - If you are too good for my childish and disgusting elf on the shelf pictures, then fine. But...if you're not a soulless PC religious soccer mom, you'll definitely get a kick out of year's 1 and 2 of #Sadie - Crackwhore Elf of the North Stripper Pole. Oh and if you do, no one will judge you for liking a photo or 12 on Facebook. You can just heart it on Instagram if you're trying to keep all of your evil secrets away from your judgy Facebook friends. No one looks at those names but me...and I picture you nude while clicking like...while I'm nude....touching my elf. Sooooo go do that already because likes and comments have been slim this year and I'm ditching if I don't think people care about it.



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