Saturday, August 22, 2009

hippie, please.

(title blatantly stolen from Marko, the munchkin wrangler)

Last night Mike and I celebrated his birthday with a quiet dinner at a Turkish restaurant in Cleveland Heights, a hip place notorious for a lively bohemian vibe, artsy shopping districts, diverse neighborhoods full of wonderful old houses and, well...liberals. Visiting is like an adventure for Mike and me, tourists in this land of hemp-wearing Gaia-worshiping vegetarians. We love the tiny, quirky little shops and, of course, the people watching is excellent. The city also is home to some of the best restaurants in the area, so we end up going pretty frequently.

Parking is always a bit of a hassle, as it is in most old neighborhoods that have suddenly become culinary or nightlife hotspots but luckily, and after much circling, we were able to find a spot in one of the public lots. I was busily scrounging around in my purse for loose change for the meter and looked up to see this:

Yes, a crocheted parking meter cozy. Some sort of public art, I suppose, but....but...really? What the hell?

Between being trapped for hours in yesterday's odd architecture and then this, I felt as if I'd slipped down some psychedelic rabbit hole into an alternate, Crayola-colored universe.

The lamb, however, was delicious.

20 comments:

Lissa said...

(beating Borepatch to the punch)

"If you like animals, you'll love lamb!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOUR__Ximp8&feature=related

(WV: "coldict"
def: a ruling from the life-or-death panels coming with ObamaCare; abbrev. "cold edict"

Crustyrusty said...

They have Doner Kebap...

Cool. I might actually drive up there LOL.

Anonymous said...

I suppose there are a lot of more destructive pursuits besides knitting sweaters for parking meters. I think its odd, don't get me wrong, but it is pretty much harmless.

Jim

Ed Rasimus said...

It must be a trend. Friday's restaurant review in the Dallas Morning Fishwrap was on a Turkish restaurant, now you mention one. Could be the next culinary "big thing"--since Asian fusion is about burned out.

Gotta confess though that even with sixteen months living in Turkey (one month AF alert rotations), I never got enamored of the food. Was kind of neat though--When language was a problem, the waiter or owner would simply take you back to the kitchen and let you sniff and taste the bubbling pots of stuff. Good meals usually resulted.

Anonymous said...

It may have been a nice enough place but remember, cute, cuddly fluffy lambs go there to die!

Joanna said...

I remember the whole "knitting/crocheting cozies for outdoor fixtures" thing being a, well, thing a year or two ago.

I think some people have far too much time on their hands.

Tom said...

Be glad it wasn't one of those "homeless meters" that are there to collect money to buy homeless people .gov issued IDs.

As far as "too much time" what do you expect when real jobs beat feet, unemployment is high, and the idiots keep jacking up taxes.

Oh, just had a thought. There was a program a few years back called sparxx in the city (I think) that painted fire hydrants one year, another was making short films, and they've done other things. Maybe this was part of that... .gov grants to "artify" the city, as if a broke dying city will suddenly attract folks if it looks pretty.

Anonymous said...

Not all of Heights folks are granola crunching hippies. Some of us even own, .. guns.

breda said...

Anon 5:55 - you radical, you!

Old NFO said...

lively bohemian vibe, artsy shopping districts... LOL- I "think" I'll stay away from there! Sounds too much like Haight Ashbury back in the day!

Mark Alger said...

As Bob Dylan once said, "Don't follow leaders/Watch the parking meters."

M

Julie said...

okay, i will put that in the "now i've seen everything" category and move quickly on ....

Anonymous said...

Mary had a little lamb
She ate it with mint sauce.
And everywhere that Mary went
The lamb went too, of course!

I am still waiting to see a cute and fluffy lamb outside of the show ring. All the ones I've met were bossy, demanding and either muddy or had twigs and things in their wool. But they do taste good!
LittleRed1

phlegmfatale said...

One would hate the little parking meters to be knock-kneed with chill during those cold winters up there.

FatWhiteMan said...

Try open carry there. That'll make the hippies squirm.

Anonymous said...

Crochet meter cozies - obviously silly, but crochet bacon...?

Anonymous said...

Watch out for the parking meters in Cleveland Heights. Some of them run a little fast.

d smith kaich jones said...

That is just wrong. There are homeless people out there who could've used a new pair of gloves.

LauraB said...

What's wrong with a little snappy needlework?

Anticraft even has decorative merkins. I mean, you just never know...
http://www.theanticraft.com/index.htm

Jeanne S said...

Parking meter cozy?! As someone who's been crocheting for 20 years (and shooting for 25), I promise I will never ever crochet anything for an outdoor inanimate object. (I have, however, toyed with the idea of crocheting a gun cozy. Or creating a crocheted yarn gun...)