Along the lines of how you found this blog and where you're from, I'd like to know about where you're from. Since I'm asking for so much, let me start by explaining how I found A Neuie Perspective (cheesy, I know) and maybe a bit about where I'm from. Over two years ago I thought about starting a blog but had no idea what to write about. I just wanted a place to put my thoughts down in writing, maybe somewhere to offer my take on everything going on around me since I didn't see my point of view represented in the blogosphere. Still, I did nothing because I didn't feel I had a catch to get people to read what I wrote. Then one night it hit me- the title of the blog. For years my friends have called me SaraNeuie and it just seemed to fit. I wasn't offering just my opinions, I was offering a new way of looking at things, a Neuie Perspective on life. Now that I had my perfect title, I was able to start... except I didn't. Because perfect title or not I had nothing I felt belonged on here. For a long time I ignored my blog, even forgot it existed briefly, and then I started going to Red Wings games last season. And taking pictures.... and wanting some way to share them with the world. Or at least the Commune that was taking shape as the bloggers and readers got closer and started forming genuine friendships.
The real catalyst, however, came in the form of Jiri Hudler. They put him on the calendar being sold in stores. For my birthday month. It just couldn't be allowed to stay that way, so I made a collage of some of my favorite pictures the way I'd done for The Scrappy Octopus a few times before and took pictures of it to share with the group. Then I remembered my poor, lonely blog and it clicked again, photo blog. That's the short (ha!) version.
Now on to where I'm from. I grew up in the hometown of Henry Ford and birthplace of Brian Rafalski, Dearborn. We're known for a lot of things in the metro area, but the main thing would have to be Ford Motor Company. Henry Ford lived here, helped set up areas of the town for his workers to live in...
like that one, taken from the passenger seat of a car, so it's not that great a view... we're also the location of the Ford World Headquarters. We have a ton of public schools, dozens more than some of the surrounding cities, as well as Henry Ford Community College and University of Michigan- Dearborn. We're also known for having the largest concentration of Arabic people outside the Middle East. That might not seem important, but it really shapes the community in terms of food, culture, music, all kinds of different ways. If you go to the East side of Dearborn, you'll see tons of stores where the writing is in Arabic first and then there's tiny English print below it. (sadly, I have no pictures of that...)
We're also the site of a Cheli's Chili (the only one with the kitchen regularly open)
You can get the best burger I've ever had at Miller's Bar...
...produce from all over the country and around Michigan at Westborn Market...
...walk around the "downtown" area, noticing all the little improvements they made to try to create a more realistic and walkable downtown (we have 3 or so pseudo-downtowns)...
...relax in one of the many local parks...
Oxford Park actually has a small ice rink/pond thing in the winter for as long as they can keep it frozen. I've never gone skating on it (can't really skate) but it's awesome to drive by and see little kids- or older kids and adults- playing hockey, practicing their shots, or just skating around.
So, now that you know more than you ever wanted to about my blog and hometown, tell me about yourself. Where are you from? How did you find this site? And, most importantly, what do you want to see on here?
I found the blog through Twitter. You tweeted about it. As easy as that.
ReplyDeleteAs you know I'm from Oslo, Norway. I am feeling a bit lazy today, so I will share something I wrote about it, another place at another time.
Oslo is the capital and biggest city of Norway. We have 586 000 inhabitants, and 1.4 mill in metro Oslo. It is the world's only capital that also is a ski resort. Holmenkollen, a hill on the west side of Oslo (and the richest part of Oslo) had world cup events in cross country, Nordic combined and ski jumping last weekend and will have biathlon world cup events this weekend. They will have the nordic skiing world chamionships next year. Holmenkollen is maybe the most famous, and definitely most traditional and prestigious of all Nordic skiing arenas. The old ski hill (http://www.holmenkollen.oslo.kommune.no/getfile.php/Webside%20forutbyggingsprosjektet%20i%20Holmenkollen%20til%20VM%202011%20%28HKP%29/Internett%20%28HKP%29/Bilder/gammelbakke.jpg%20%28600x327%29.jpg) was a HUGE icon, but was torn down. The new one (http://gfx.dagbladet.no/pub/artikkel/5/50/505/505912/HolmenkollenX20PlansjeX2011_1184128983_1184128997.jpg) is nice too.
Oslo is surrounded by large forests on three side and the Oslo fjord on the fourth. Our new opera house lies by the sea and has won many prices: http://z.about.com/d/architecture/1/0/A/q/OsloOperaHouseNorway-ErikBerg.jpg
Other than that Oslo is the financial center of Norway and also Europe's heroine capital.
The city was founded in 1048, but most of it burnt down in 1624. It has more than 25% immigrants.
Another nice landmark is Akershus fortress, built in 1299, but adjusted in 1646. It's not huge and impressing, but very beautiful: http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fil:Akershus_festning_by_night.jpg
Oslo itself is probably a better place to live than to visit and it is incredibly expensive here. Like, we are among the most expensive cities in the world (people earn ALOT, but then stuff is EXPENSIVE). But it is well worth to visit. Other than the Opera and the iconic Holmenkollen, we also have the following things that tourists love:
ReplyDelete- The Munch museum. Edvard Munch (they guy that painted "Scream" and "Madonna") donated many of his pictures to the city of Oslo. They are now in a great museum.
- The National gallery. More Munch, some foreign art, a lot of other famous Norwegian painters that I generally dislike.
- The Fram museum. Fram ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fram )is a large and very special ship that was used in several North and South pole expeditions, including Roald Amundsen's successful run at beeing first to the South Pole. It is in a large museum and you can go into the ship and watch how everything was.
- The Kon-Tiki museum. The Kon-tiki ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kon-Tiki ) is a wooden raft that Thor Heyerdahl used to reach the Polynesian islands from South America, thereby proving that the Polynesians might have migrated from South America. The museum also has a couple of other famous rafts that he used.
- The Viking ship museum ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viking_Ship_Museum_%28Oslo%29 ) is a nice small building with three old viking ships in it. Truly amazing.
- The folk museum. A nice outdoor museum with houses from different eras and parts of Norway. The houses have been deconstructed, brought to Oslo and then rebuilt so that they are exactly the same. Also has a stave church.
aaand, the most famous one:
- The Vigeland sculpture park ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vigeland_Sculpture_Park ). All the Americans love this one. It's extremely famous. It's a beautiful park in central Oslo designed by artist Gustav Vigeland and filled with his sculpture (mostly of naked people).
Alot more to see too. Oslo is nice, but not in the wooow this is a beautiful place kind of way.
What I want to see is more pictures, more Ritola and more motivational posters!
To be honest, I don't remember how I originally "found" your site -- I'm sure it was during or immediately after spending some great times at H2H.
ReplyDeleteI dig A Neuie Perspective because it offers something DIFFERENT and UNIQUE -- which is something that forty-plus Wings blogs could learn from. And that's why it made the new site's blogroll. I want to continue seeing perspective photos and motivational posters, because they're awesome. Well done, Sara.
I grew up in Farmington Hills, MI -- but it's been ten years since I was able to call it home. After high school, I spent five years in Chicago, and adored it, but to do what I do, I had to say goodbye and move to New York.
Moving to Manhattan without many friends, I spent a lot of time wandering around taking pictures of stuff. For as much as I dislike New York as a place to live, there's no denying it's one of the most photogenic places on the planet.
Like Andy, I have to resort to linking to photos, but if you have a little while and you're curious, here's a link to my photography portfolio:
http://michaelpetrella.shutterfly.com/
The vast majority of the photos there were taken in New York -- including a handful that were either purchased for use in guide books and/or were featured in gallery showings. Yay, hobby!
I'm pretty sure I found your blog because you tweeted about it. I know I found you because of your comments on The Scrappy Octopus, which led me to track you down on Twitter. :)
ReplyDeleteI grew up in Watsonville, CA, which no one has ever heard of, unless they are in the habit of reading their strawberry containers or Martinelli's apple cider labels. (Truth be told, I usually tell people I'm from Santa Cruz, because most people have heard of that.) As you might have guessed, Watsonville is mainly an agricultural area. I used to get summer jobs at places like Dole and Naturipe. So I got out of there as soon as I could - college in LA, then three years in Boston, then moved to Colorado, where I have now been for 14(!) years.
Sadly, I am not possessed of any photographic talent whatsoever - though my husband is. His pictures have been mistaken for Ansel Adams more than once! And my Twitter avatar and background photos were taken by him in Moab last fall.
I agree with Andy and Michael - I love the photos and motivational posters. You really do provide a unique perspective and I can't wait to see more of it!
I'm pretty sure I found your blog because of H2H. I'm not really sure, though.
ReplyDeleteAs you know, I'm from a place called Troy, MI (Oakland County) which is not to be confused with the other Troy, MI on the west side in Newaygo County that always screws up my Mapquest directions. Troy is notable for being the location of Exit 69 off of I-75, which is made even better by the fact that the exit is for Big Beaver Road (http://media.ebaumsworld.com/picture/NickwithaD/BigBeaverRoad.png). It's the stuff of legend, and a main feature on our wikipedia page. We're also home to Hockeytown Authentics and Somerset and Oakland Malls. I'm told that Somerset is famous, but to me it's just the place we used to go to after school to get followed around by security. Other than that, we don't have a whole lot going on. We do have a huge population of Chinese and Indian immigrants who settled in Troy so I was lucky to get to do things like help make authentic homemade Chinese food and go to Diwali parties with my friends when I was growing up. We used to have a city fair called Troy Daze that was literally right across the street from my house, but the city council decided to cancel it for budget cuts even though the fair is self-supporting and usually turns a profit. You figure that one out. I'm still a little bitter about it. I don't really have any good pictures of Troy that aren't just my living room or backyard, and there isn't really anything good on Google Images. I did try to do a search for Troy High School to see if I could get anything good for that, but it just returned a bunch of pictures of Troy Bolton from High School Musical.
I love A Neuie Perspective because I love you, of course. And you post awesome pictures and motivational posters.
Well I am new to all of this... I don't have a blog and up until twitter I never really read any. Yours is one of the most interesting I have come across so far, although I just recently started following you on twitter (which is how I discovered your blog). I can't offer any suggestions because I honestly don't have a clue, but I think you're doing great already!
ReplyDeleteI am from Traverse City, MI. Many Red Wings fans know of it because training camp is held there every fall. It's often called Hockeytown North (a nickname which I am very proud of). TC has much more to offer than training camp though.
Traverse City is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been, regardless of the season. The scenery and the bays are spectacular. It wasn't until I moved to Ann Arbor for college that I truly realized how luck I was to live there.
TC is famous for the cherries grown there, and every summer the Cherry Festival is held. It is a huge tourist (or as we call them fudgies) attraction, and traffic is crazy. But even when the Cherry Festival isn't going on, the town is full of tourists. In the winter they come to ski, snowboard, snowmobile, etc. In the spring it is just gorgeous. Summer is full of tourists for the water and the festival, and in the fall people come for the changing colors and, of course, the Red Wings.
Hopefully if you haven't visited TC yet, you'll get to someday. It's a great place to see!
I found your blog shortly after H2H, when you posted a bunch of photos up from the event IIRC. Like Michael mentioned above, I like reading this because it's a different type of blog. It's not strictly a Red Wings blog, and when you do blog about the Wings there are a bunch of amazing photos to go with it. The photos are amazing, and whenever I find out you put a new post up I'm eager to see what's there. I dig the photos of Dearborn above, too (more on that in a moment).
ReplyDeleteAs for me, I grew up in Detroit right around the Gratiot and 6 Mile area until I was ten and the family moved to St. Clair Shores (which was a real culture shock). Went to high school at South Lake (SCS has three districts) and got to play football, basketball and some tennis there. Even remained there for the first couple years of college since I went to UM-Dearborn which is predominantly a commuter campus-I wish I'd known about Miller's Bar but I spent some time at the Biergarten there before finally transferring off to Ann Arbor. Stayed in the Metro Detroit area until last June when I moved to Chicago...but now I'm moving back. I love Chicago (the city, not the bandwagoning fanbase), but things just didn't work out here and I also didn't realize how much I'd miss this area too.
As for what I want to see? Just keep doing what you're doing and I'll keep coming back to read. It's a great site!
@TheNorm41
Like most everyonse else, I came here by way of Twitter. I didn't get a chance to make it out for H2H, and I think I came here the first time for the pictures.
ReplyDeleteNever lived in Detroit, grew up as an Air Force brat...first in England, then Phoenix, then all over California. I've always loved hockey, but moving around, I never had a home town team. I started paying attention to the Wings during the Fedorov defection days...that solidified when I moved to Southern California and the Ducks came into existance. There was no way in hell I was cheering for them just because they were local, so I just identified myself as a Wings Fan. Then as coverage got better over the years, I became a diehard. (I used to cringe at the 'Bandwagon Fan' label, but I've been cheering for the red and white for nearly 20 years now. That's a hell of a bandwagon.)
Other than that, I'm a former musician turned web developer/wannabe designer (see herm2hockeytown.com...), and the proud dad of Sophie (5) who doesn't seem to care about hockey (I blame her mom) and Julia (3) who has said that the saddest day of her whole life will be the day Nick Lidstrom retires. (I got misty eyed when she said it.)
Anyway, as for the blog, I've liked what I've seen from your site so far, no suggestions other than I hope you keep going. :)
I also found your blog through twitter, but it was well after H2H (which I didn't attend), but I went back and looked at the pics. I have always enjoyed the photos you put up because they are yours, not just some pro's pics that you used.
ReplyDeleteI grew up in a suburb of Toronto called Brampton. While it's not very well-known, when I was growing up it had a population of over 250,000, so it was not exactly a small town. The portion of the city that I lived in was called the "M" section, because all of the street names started with the letter M. There were sections for just about every letter of the alphabet, and living in the M section allowed me to eat at Mackay Pizza, the only place I know of where you can a cheese slice and a Jamaican Patty.
Just before I moved here to Chicago, we got an OHL team, the Battalion, and I went to many games to see the future of the NHL. I loved their "1 minute to ceasefire" when there was a minute left in the period. It was nice to finally have a team that was "ours", especially because I was a Wings fan among a sea of Maple Leaf-fanatics. I became a Wing fan when I saw Yzerman play in the late '80s, and I've never looked back.
While I normally have not been a regular reader, as I have gotten deeper into the site, I have really enjoyed your photos and writing, and I plan to make this a regular stop on the Wings blogosphere.
Well, let's see...I think I found your blog because I was searching for "XXX pictures of Aaron Downey" and Google pointed me in your direction. Oh, wait, I have to wait until after training camp for those? Oh, where's that desk calendar...?
ReplyDeleteAs far as I'm concerned, Petrella nailed it when he said, "I dig A Neuie Perspective because it offers something DIFFERENT and UNIQUE -- which is something that forty-plus Wings blogs could learn from." Not only do I adore you personally, but I always anxiously await new posts from you because your site is refreshingly different and honest, unlike the 89 million redundant sites that have come along since that I ignore. Your passion for the game and the Red Wings comes through in every single photo and motivational poster, and it always, always, always brightens my day to check it out. (I still have that post with the Ville picture starred in my Google Reader.) And, for those of us long-distance members of Hockeytown at Large, you make us feel like we're at the games, too. Photos taken by a fan for fans? What more could we all ask for?
Keep up the fantastic work, HBFF!
Andy- thanks for the great description of Oslo (even though it's a repeat, it's still interesting) I'll do my best to get some more Ritola up here, hopefully about 9 games worth of him (see my prediction)
ReplyDeletePetrella- Everyone else is calling you some form of Mike, but that didn't seem right this morning... anyways, thank you. That's very cool about your pictures getting used in guide books and galleries, the ones I've had time to look at are wonderful. I laughed when I read my first three comments because everyone wants more motivational posters and I always worried they were lame, I'll work on making some more this season. I look forward to seeing what TPL has to offer us as the season starts too :)
Jenn- Ahh, The Scrappy Octopus comment section, it's a fun place to hang out :) That's awesome about your husband's photos. Did you guys always have the best, freshest produce growing up? Hopefully you did, otherwise what's the point of having it all around you?
Kris- aw, thanks. And I love you too (and your blog) That sounds like a cool way to grow up, kinda how I always got awesome Arabic food, although I've never been to celebrations or anything like that. (Also, great picture) That's too bad about Troy Daze. They shut down a lot of self-sustaining things in Dearborn too and kept others that lost money. Explain that to me...
Gabrielle- since you're so new, welcome to the blog! I actually know of TC mainly because of cherries and partially because my best friend in college was from near there (he called me a fudgie all the time because I went camping in Mackinaw every year...I may be a fudgie, but he was still a troll, haha!) I don't believe I've been to TC yet, but I'll be at training camp this year, so I'll finally get to see it
Norm- I never realized you knew the Biergarten because you went to UM- Dearborn, and no one ever told you to go to Miller's? I'm kinda shocked. Their burgers are getting more expensive, but it's still the best in town by far. I think it even shows up on some Food Network thing as one of the top 3 in Michigan. We might have to fix this when you move back up here...
Gabriel- I'm not sure if you're a new reader or just a new commenter, but welcome :) And, for the record, I think if you stay a fan any bandwagon association drops. Unless it's for the Hawks, then I'm not so sure... I say give Sophie some time to see how awesome hockey is, it takes time for some kids (I say as if I have a gaggle of hockey-loving girls of my own...not so much) and Julia's comment is adorable and very close to echoing my own feelings. And you did the H2H site? It was awesome- I spent WAY too much time on that site last year :)
Graham- not gonna lie, I had to look you up because I only knew your twitter name, now I feel silly, haha. I've borrowed a pro photo or two, but I don't feel right using them, you can find them anywhere, plus I love using my own... It maybe be because I've watched too much CBC, but I've heard of Brampton before, just never new where to go for pizza until now :) And "1 minute to ceasefire" is the coolest thing I've heard all morning
Natalie- hahaha! Well, that saves me from having to ask what you want to see from training camp! And thanks, coming from the writer of one of my favorite blogs and just one of my favorite people in general, that means a lot. Best HBFF ever :)
Sara, new commenter, been reading for a few months.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the compliments on the H2H site...I wanted to do a lot more, but time was pretty limited. I was just happy I was able to contribute to such a cool night, even if I couldn't actually make it. (I was in Detroit 4 days later for business. Figures, right?) There's always next year though, and I'm hoping to have herm2hockeytown2.com up by the start of the season...we'll see how that goes.
I'm a Twitter result. I had to check out the blog of anyone as consistently entertaining as you are.
ReplyDeleteI grew up in Connecticut, back when they actually had a hockey team. My hometown has the sort of picture postcard views of historic houses and old churches and scenic parks you see in photobooks. It boasts the longest village green in New England and apparently produced Jonathan Quick, who I didn't know existed because *gag* I'm so much older than he is.
I also grew up in a non-sports family, so I didn't really learn about hockey or the Wings until I moved across the country to Washington state and started sharing a house with a friends who grew up near Grand Rapids. She converted me to the true faith, so here I am.
As for what I'd like to see on the site, you're already doing it. I'm totally here for the photos, which you handle perfectly. Just keep it up and I'll always keep coming back. Plus, it doesn't hurt that you're a pretty cool person, too.
Gabriel- Ahh, gotcha. In that case, welcome to the comment section and thanks for sticking around all these months :)
ReplyDeleteIt's too bad you couldn't make it to H2H, hopefully you'll be able make it to H2H2. I look forward to seeing the new website.
Christine- Thanks! Sounds like a lovely place to grow up, too bad you didn't get to enjoy hockey growing up but I'm glad you got converted :)
Hi, I came across your blog by just hitting 'next blog'. I am a homegrown Dearbornite; and you took some great photos of Dbn!! Is that Historic Dbn home the mayor's house? And, don't forget Dearborn is home to The Henry Ford (or as many ppl know it: Greenfield Village and Henry Ford Musuem) - it is a gem!
ReplyDelete