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Art Scare '04
Jul. 22nd, 2004 05:22 pmMan, you can tell it's bad when I ditch my own mother and come into work for a couple hours just so I can escape Art Fair.
For those of you not from around these parts: every year, for four days during the most hellaciously hot part of July (i.e., now), the City of Ann Arbor puts on the mother of all Art Fairs. In fact, it's four separate art fairs, all squished into one city. All the major roads are closed off, the city basically shuts down, and the population of Ann Arbor triples over the course of the Fair.
My mother has been dragging me to Art Fair since I was in a stroller. I've probably gone 19 or 20 of the 22 years I've been alive--I missed a couple years here and there when I was Too Cool For Such Things, and I think I was on some trip for at least one year, but other than that, it's been a pretty religiously observed annual tradition.
The problem is, I hate Art Fair. I hate it with the fire of a thousand suns. I hate the horrible crowds and the inability to drive anywhere and the thousands upon thousands of old people who seem to make it their mission to walk at a snail's pace right in front of me. I hate the ubiquitous Art Onna Stick and the fact that every food place in town raises their prices through the roof.
But my mom loves it, and so every year I take the day off work so I can spend the day following her around, getting sunburn and over-heating and looking at overpriced art. I made it about three, three and a half hours this year before I was getting so cranky from the sun and the crowd that I knew we'd just get in a big fight if I hung around anymore, so I claimed that I'd promised to put in a couple hours today, despite the fact that no one gives a shit whether or not I show up, so I could spend some time in the blessed air conditioned quiet of the library.
My mood is, of course, not helped any by the fact that, as of 5:30, all I've had to eat today is a slimfast shake, some horrendously overpriced watered down lemonade, and a free sample of ice cream. My mom started muttering about needing to get food something like three hours ago, but first she got distracted by the non-profit booths and then she had to get through one more block of art and then every single food booth/restaurant was too expensive, or the line was too long, or whatever. That was the point that I threw up my hands and escaped to work, except of course I forgot that that pretty much guarantees I'm not going to get anything to eat until I meet my mom, Aubrey and her mom, and Haley for dinner at 7.
Feh, On the upside, she chipped in to get me a very nice silver bracelet that'll go perfectly with my dress for Jason's wedding, and I acquired a too-big-but-still-awesome t-shirt that says "Talk Nerdy To Me" for a whopping $5. If drying it on high doesn't shrink it to a wearable size, I bet Haley has all kinds of DIY ideas I could use. All in all, I think I've done a pretty decent job at restraining myself. I am, after all, leaving for NY in eight days and will most likely return almost broke. I need all the financial cushion I can get at this point.
And on that note, back to work I go.
For those of you not from around these parts: every year, for four days during the most hellaciously hot part of July (i.e., now), the City of Ann Arbor puts on the mother of all Art Fairs. In fact, it's four separate art fairs, all squished into one city. All the major roads are closed off, the city basically shuts down, and the population of Ann Arbor triples over the course of the Fair.
My mother has been dragging me to Art Fair since I was in a stroller. I've probably gone 19 or 20 of the 22 years I've been alive--I missed a couple years here and there when I was Too Cool For Such Things, and I think I was on some trip for at least one year, but other than that, it's been a pretty religiously observed annual tradition.
The problem is, I hate Art Fair. I hate it with the fire of a thousand suns. I hate the horrible crowds and the inability to drive anywhere and the thousands upon thousands of old people who seem to make it their mission to walk at a snail's pace right in front of me. I hate the ubiquitous Art Onna Stick and the fact that every food place in town raises their prices through the roof.
But my mom loves it, and so every year I take the day off work so I can spend the day following her around, getting sunburn and over-heating and looking at overpriced art. I made it about three, three and a half hours this year before I was getting so cranky from the sun and the crowd that I knew we'd just get in a big fight if I hung around anymore, so I claimed that I'd promised to put in a couple hours today, despite the fact that no one gives a shit whether or not I show up, so I could spend some time in the blessed air conditioned quiet of the library.
My mood is, of course, not helped any by the fact that, as of 5:30, all I've had to eat today is a slimfast shake, some horrendously overpriced watered down lemonade, and a free sample of ice cream. My mom started muttering about needing to get food something like three hours ago, but first she got distracted by the non-profit booths and then she had to get through one more block of art and then every single food booth/restaurant was too expensive, or the line was too long, or whatever. That was the point that I threw up my hands and escaped to work, except of course I forgot that that pretty much guarantees I'm not going to get anything to eat until I meet my mom, Aubrey and her mom, and Haley for dinner at 7.
Feh, On the upside, she chipped in to get me a very nice silver bracelet that'll go perfectly with my dress for Jason's wedding, and I acquired a too-big-but-still-awesome t-shirt that says "Talk Nerdy To Me" for a whopping $5. If drying it on high doesn't shrink it to a wearable size, I bet Haley has all kinds of DIY ideas I could use. All in all, I think I've done a pretty decent job at restraining myself. I am, after all, leaving for NY in eight days and will most likely return almost broke. I need all the financial cushion I can get at this point.
And on that note, back to work I go.
