As an Ann Arbor non-native, a very important part of my job is going out, meeting people, and exploring Ann Arbor. I’ve had rosé at York with a former wine advisor to the stars, sat barefoot in a field next to a cornfield with a community organizer, and done five-minute interviews with local artists at Art Fair. These conversations usually leave me feeling inspired and connected, and so I thought I’d use this space to share these experiences with whoever might be curious. And if you ever want to get together to show me a slice of Ann Arbor, drop me a line at [email protected].
October 20 and 21 were production, which means my colleagues and I were at our computers all day, doing the carefully choreographed dance of digital collaboration that results in a new issue of the Observer. The next day was a staff field trip to Stafford, where the Observer is printed. And the day after that, I decided to indulge in one of my very favorite things: a long bike ride.
I was warm by the time I crossed the line between Ypsi and A2, every song was hitting, the foliage was psychedelic, and the ride in was a reminder that every day is an opportunity. The B2B Trail is an absolute gem. (P.S. The grand opening of the Bandemer Park tunnel is on November 5, yayyy!)
First, I met up with Trianne. She’s a Tennessee transplant, a musician (I guessed that she plays bassoon, but she’s actually a percussionist, and she plays xylophone, vibes, and a Chinese instrument called… something I didn’t write down correctly that is lost to the sands of time), was a music journalist in college, and now does PR for the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra. You know how sometimes you’re so into an artist that you just want to shout their name from the rooftops? That’s Trianne’s JOB!
We talked about music of course — how it can elevate a moment and preserve a time in your life as if in amber — and about how organizations like the Observer and the A2SO can stay modern, relevant, and impactful in a changing world.
At A2SO, they value the importance of balancing the canon with accessibility — like pops concerts featuring artists like Jacob Collier and Chris Thile, and the music of Michael Jackson, Prince, and Diana Ross. Or KinderConcerts. Or my favorite, free chamber music at local farmers markets. Music in the background just knits the whole moment together.
Then I biked over to Detroit Street Filling Station to have lunch with Phyllis. You know Phyllis, right? She’s amazing! An old-school Ann Arbor radical, community organizer, small-businessperson who believes in the recovery-friendly workplace and creating opportunities for community — she’s just a genuinely good person.
She invited me to lunch because she wanted to swap adventure stories. She told me about driving from Michigan to Nicaragua (the roads were nonexistent in places, and as soon as night fell, they had to park and pitch a tent. One night, they heard gunshots from over a hill. “Maybe we should sing,” suggested one of her compatriots. Phyllis wisely told him that that was probably not the best idea) and backpacking in Europe, and also about growing up in Ann Arbor, and going hiking with badass 70-something-year-old ladies. We’ve both, at one point in our lives, been fired for insubordination (aka standing up for what we believe in), and I thought that was a cool thing to have in common with a cool person like Phyllis.
