I'm learning as I go

I've got one official article posted, one queued up, and one that I'm putting together the final touches on. I've got a flurry of article ideas in my head, and I hope I can solidify some direction or aim for the overall blog that I'm trying to run:

-Please, please reach out to me for any questions, comments, or concerns! I'm still learning this whole blogging thing! If you have anything to add, get ahold of me either here, via email, or on other social medias. I'm TulipCityDispatch@gmail.com, @TulipCityDispatch on Insta, and @TulipDispatch on Twitter. I strive for academic standards, and as much transparency as I can offer. It is not my intent to misrepresent any of the people, places, or things that I write about - however, I'm just one guy doing this in my spare time, and I'll probably miss something.

-I struggled with naming this blog. As mentioned in one of my earlier posts, I want to showcase the little oddities around Holland and the greater Ottawa County area...things that aren't necessarily in the tourist brochures or history books, but the little things that give character to West Michigan. I was thinking of "Beyond The Tulips" or "Behind The Tulips," or some variation thereof, but there are blogs under both those names from The Netherlands. The name "Tulip City Dispatch" brought to my mind the feel of an old-timey newspaper, and eventually, I want to have the entire blog feel like that.

-I've got articles scheduled to auto-post on Wednesdays, but to maintain transparency, I want to add some filler posts in the meantime (like this one).

-Not gonna lie, I got so wrapped up in books at the library for the first couple articles I have up that I completely forgot about a plain ol' Google search. That has turned up some great results for my planned 3rd and 4th posts that simply aren't published in any books that I can find. The truly weird stuff isn't officially documented, and takes a different type of homework to track down social media posts, email addresses, and phone numbers associated with urban myths and legends.

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The Eddie Bentz Bank Robbery

Prohibition is one of the most storied periods in American history. Urban myths and legends abound nationwide, with tales of folk heroes like Al Capone, Babyface Nelson, and John Dillinger. Tall tales are woven around organized crime, wild bootleggers, underground saloons, and well-dressed gangsters. There's something uniquely American about the DIY ethos of taking matters into your own hands, making illegal alcohol, and selling it through clandestine channels; stickin' it to the man like those in the illegal alcohol industry did. These stories are immortalized in movies like The Road To Perdition and Public Enemies, as well as TV series like HBO's Boardwalk Empire and, well, PBS's Prohibition. Many lakeshore towns in Western Michigan have tales of organized crime and bootlegging. Easy access to Lake Michigan meant that bootleggers had easy access to boat routes, safely out of reach of authorities. Booze was funneled in from Canada, then taken by boat to cities all aro

August 2023 Holland Photoblog!

The assignment was to take an old disposable camera that I'd found in the basement, jimmy-rig a polarized filter out of an old pair of sunglasses, then shoot what I saw in and around Downtown Holland, Michigan. Some key takeaways? It's not necessarily worth using a filter like this when the clouds are making diffuse light anyway (except when it is) Rule Of Thirds is a general guideline, and I hope I didn't create too much imbalance Holland has some really cool architecture! A view of the sidewalk in Holland Heights, looking westward along E. 8th Street The entryway to the Windmill Way subdivision, at the corner of Paw Paw Drive and E. 8th St. A retaining wall looking west on E 8th St, just a bit down the road from Windmill Way Construction in front of Barber Ford, looking westward at US-31. Background has the Shell Station and the plaza where Ditto and the Secretary Of State office are Barber Ford looking south along Homestead Drive. Love that Blue Oval! The same const

Junk Food Review: Chocolatey Payday.

I saw an ad on my Instagram page for a chocolate-covered Payday bar. Jokingly, I took a screenshot, and posted it on my stories asking the question "Isn't this just a Baby Ruth?" A friend responded by saying that no, a Baby Ruth is peanuts surrounding caramel and chocolate-flavored nougat; the chocolate-covered Payday is peanuts in caramel-flavored nougat, dipped in chocolate. Now, candy bars are made from a few common ingredients: Chocolate, peanuts, nougat, and caramel. Chocolate and nougat is something like a 3 Musketeers. Chocolate, nougat, and caramel is something like a Milky Way. All 4 makes a Snickers bar. Chocolate and Peanuts is a Mr. Goodbar. Chocolate and caramel is either a Caramello or a type of Milky Way. Peanuts and caramel (no chocolate) is a Payday. And, chocolate, peanuts, and caramel led to the confusion that took me down the road to writing this article in the first place. I did what any sane person would do: I bought both bars, and did a

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