8 posts tagged “ann arbor”
good news: the city lets you pull a permit the same day, if it's uncomplicated enough to pass the building department the same day. Go in on tuesday after lunch and emerge with the right to build.
What was the worst job you ever had?
Submitted by salaryman.
Working book rush at the Barnes and Noble in the Michigan Union one spring. The job was mostly straightening and shelving books, and no one ever wanted (or needed) any help on the sales floor. When book rush was over the job disappeared suddenly one day.
Not a career for me!
Monday was National African American Parent Involvement Day (NAAPID) at Saul's school, so I made a quick bus trip mid day to see him at first grade.
I saw part of a science lesson (how to tell what birds eat by the shape of their beaks), computer class (learn to type your name because you have to key it in to log in to the server), and a wonderful storyteller at an assembly.
It's a lot different than I remember first grade, which was more about penmanship and reading Dick and Jane and Spot (dreadful). The kids sit at groups of tables and not in rows, there's a lot more creative writing, and it generally looks like a lot more fun.
Trip to Lansing today to cover the Governor's press conference about the new Google office in Ann Arbor. I had an interesting exchange with the press secretary about my invitation to be there - they're not used to having bloggers show up for media events in the state capitol. That alone was worth the price of admission.
There was an interview by the MSU NPR station afterwards, and then I finished up my blog post on the topic and headed back down the freeway. Tagged two new Plazes along the way.
farmer's market report:
lots of fruit - cherries from Traverse City and locally, blueberries, and the last of this season's strawberry crop.
quite a bit of produce - peas, beets, kohlrabi, lettuce, bok choi, summer squash, some asparagus, new potatoes, early tomatoes.
a good time of year, and the market was quite crowded.
I spent many an hour in college playing pinball - places like Pinball Pete's and Mickey Rat's and the basement of the dorm were good spots. My review of Ann Arbor pinball from 1991 is a good state of the world then.
My favorite game now is blogs as a MMORPG.
Stopped in for the first time at the Clements library to see an exhibit they had running of "colonial era photography" - really photographs from the 1850s-1870s of Colonial era buildings and landmarks.
It was remarkable to place what seem now to be familiar landmarks, all carefully and tidily and neatly preserved if they still exist, into a context of what things were only 100 years after their creation. You see things like landmark houses with weeds growing nearby, very early structures surrounded by Civil War era bold signs of commerce, and the ruins of what were once grand estates.
Now, of course, anything that old is either gone or polished up within an inch of its life.
Marinated spinach, shredded cucumber, marinated carrot pieces, bean sprouts if you can find them, and sliced egg pancake on top. Serve on a bowl of rice, with gochujang sauce on the side and a side of kimchi.
If you can't make it at home, join a bunch of friends (every thursday lunch) in Ann Arbor at Eastern Accents.
