Scientific Ink

Tag: Ann Arbor

  • The value of libraries and bookstores (gratitude #24)

    So, there’s this blog I read, and the author has a book with a really compelling title. I’ve enjoyed his blog posts on the topic, and I had put his book on my Amazon wish list.

    In support of my intention to acquire, maintain, and store less stuff, I moved most of my Amazon wish list to a wish list (personal card catalog) at the Ann Arbor District Library. They don’t have every book I’ve ever wanted, but they have an awful lot of them. Amazing. I suppose I’m not as unique as I thought ;). I’m also storing some of the list on my anobii.com bookshelf’s wish list (edited to remove the link since I now use Goodreads).

    Anyway, this blogger’s interesting sounding book with the compelling title was available from the library. I put it on hold, received the notification email, visited the library, checked it out, and then returned it the same day. Funny, flipping through the book, it seemed so tangential to my current interests and so, yes, I’ll say it, thin with huge spaces between lines, not many words on the page, not many pages. After touching the book, I no longer had any interest in its contents. Funny. Glad I didn’t buy it or get someone else to buy it for me.

    Note to self – always touch books I’m going to buy or ask to be purchased for me. Online descriptions just don’t compare.

  • My blogs about work and walking elsewhere

    Now and then I post on Pure Visibility’s internet marketing blog – typically posts about our culture, our process, our clients, and events. Recently, the GetDowntown blog featured profiles of folks who, like me, love walking to work. I’m included in the group. But I’m particularly proud of my “Curb Your Car Month Citizen Blog” I curbed my elevator car in May.

  • Ann Arbor in Bloom (gratitude #21)

    It’s the time of year when everything is bursting open – while my tulips have faded, the redbud in the back has finally decided (after several years of skipping flowering and going straight to leaf, just to spite us) that it is, in fact, a redbud. We’re thrilled it has deigned to bloom in our backyard, joining a host of other redbuds planted throughout the city. The neighborhood’s Forsythia are greening up now, after their show of yellow flowers. And, perhaps the best of all, the lilac just over the fence from our deck has gone crazy with blooms.

    We have a cat, and the cat lives for being outside in the summer time, especially in the evenings. In a moment of weakness, I let him outside this evening. This means that I have been outside calling for him several times, one time I spotted him under the car in the driveway and he moved out of sight to snub my attentions. Cats!

    Likely it will take a few more trips to the deck to call into the night to convince him to join me inside. Well, at least tonight the dizzying scent of the neighbor’s lilacs are rewarding me for each otherwise fruitless visit to the back deck to call a cat who hears me and chooses not to listen. I have a special relationship with this lilac. It lives on the other side of the fence, but bends its boughs into the sunlight on our side too, and I’ve set my compost pile at its feet, nourishing it quite accidentally, because it is close to the kitchen door. So. perhaps I share just a small bit of responsibility for its the frothy blooms and the fragrance. Now if only I could get my cat inside, all would be about perfect.

  • Curb Your Car Month – Kick off! (gratitude #20)

    I love that I live in a walkable city. I love that May is Curb Your Car Month in Ann Arbor. This morning I joined other Curb Your Car Month Ambassadors at City Hall to kick off the month’s activities. How nice to meet up with like minded spirits and celebrate walking to work!

  • Local Ann Arbor treats power party (gratitude #19)

    A photo of people attending a party.
    The group at the bridal shower.

    Jointly with the mother of the bride, I hosted a bridal shower for a friend this Saturday. The bride’s mom called me from New York and said she wanted to throw a party, but needed “support on the ground”. So, I agreed to pull together a guest list and host.

    I had a lot of fun picking out and picking up the party food. I stopped at 4 stores, 3 of which were in walking distance of my home. Technically the 4th (Busch’s on South Main Street) was also in walking distance, but I didn’t leave enough time for the trip. Here’s the menu:

    What fun to spend a beautiful spring day walking through the neighborhood to gather treats for the party!

  • Goodies from Ann Arbor (gratitude # 13)

    So, when I went to meet my sister for the Heinrich family reunion in Logansport, I brought with me some local treats for my Atlanta-based sister and her family. Specifically, I transported the following:

    I’m happy there are still some special things I can share from my hometown. As for the tea tasting, my sister preferred the Genmaicha and my mom preferred the Gunpowder #2. I’m trying to make room in my cupboard for Jade Oolong – the best tea ever, so I was happy to give away the Genmaicha and Gunpowder.