Category: Uncategorized

While subbing in the media center of a south central AA middle school today, the latest issue of People came in, featuring the ‘50 […]

Today was significantly more crowded around campus than yesterday. Not sure why; was Monday the tail end of a three-day weekend? Anyway, it’ll be […]

I read on one Okie blog that respondents to a poll on that site voted that computer access and refrigeration are more important than […]

Former rightwing attack shill David Brock has « a new website, Media Matters », ostensibly dedicated to combating the same Fascist claptrap he used […]

« Here’s how our Tough-on-Terror Boy Emperor is protecting us from evil »: ‘The Treasury Department agency entrusted with blocking the financial resources of […]

The Boy Emperor’s twin ideological tenets, tax cuts for wealthy people and privatization of everything so that those wealthy get even wealthier, is « […]

Says Pat Boone, « ‘Censorship is healthy‘ »: ‘A healthy society needs censorship to survive, 1950s musical icon Pat Boone said yesterday. He added […]

Doing some catchup as to what’s going on around the world: Since it was in the Village Voice, it wasn’t much noticed, but « […]

The BBC is all atwitter tonight about the 25th anniversary of the accession to power of Margaret Thatcher (or should I call her Baroness […]

My favorite artificial language. [Link courtesy Political Theory Daily.]

I must plead guilty to causing the cold snap. I lowered the roof on the Jeep for the first time since we moved to […]

All you can do is laugh (unless you’re kicking yourself for forgetting your gloves): The National Weather Service in Detroit/Pontiac has issued a freeze […]

My undergrad university’s alumni mag has this article on blogs in its latest issue. Nothing out of the ordinary, that is, nothing beyond the […]

It was great to hear Loretta Lynn, God bless her, shock and tweak the boring Melissa Block on NPR today during an interview about […]

According to Total Guitar Magazine (via BBC), these are the Top 20 Riffs of All Time: Guns N’Roses “Sweet Child o’ Mine” Nirvana “Smells […]

Morrissey at the Apollo????? It’s true. According to a link from Gawker, he’s playing there tonight through Friday. That is truly surreal. It’s sort […]

Bush was reportedly in Niles, Kalamazoo, and Sterling Heights today on a “bus tour.” His bus has the slogan “America, Yes We Can” on […]

It’s May 3, but the wind was astonishingly cold and biting this morning, so much so that I regretted leaving the house without coat […]

It was not empty in Ambrosia this afternoon, but it wasn’t packed, either. The atmosphere was more relaxed than it’s been in a while. […]

More slurpees today. I’m developing a serious addiction to FCB’s slurpees, particularly coke and wild cherry and white cherry. Nirvana. Thank god they’re downtown […]

We were visited by two beautiful birds today, a resplendent bluejay and a shyer cardinal (hence the not-so-hot picture of it). They muscled in […]

The town does appear to be clearing out. We took a little drive this afternoon. The area around our neighborhood was quiet, way quieter […]

There’s a big fat front page story in the Ann Arbor News today headlined “Library considers big changes for main branch downtown.” Apparently the […]

Can’t express my disgust for LunarPages and their sysadmin ignorance in terms strong enough or colorful enough. I’m just now putting the pieces back […]

Nuggets from the current issue of « Harper’s »: ‘The phrase “national security” undoubtedly will make numerous appearances in the campaign speeches between now […]

Perhaps I’m doing something right in the classroom … As I arrived at a northeast Ann Arbor high school this morning, I met a […]

And Sunday’s “move-out today,” or so goes the scuttlebutt (heard as I walked by a couple of people sitting out in front of Ambrosia […]

Helicopters circling over central campus, lots of clueless out-of-towners wandering around, lots of ties and shirts and trousers as opposed to jeans and shorts, […]

I’m done. The end of the year has come for me, and I seem to have survived. (The true test will come when grades […]

Today’s Duke Ellington’s birthday. A tip of the hat to the incomparable Sir Duke.

One of the north-south streets through East Pasadena is Michillinda—it starts up in Sierra Madre, near where my sister lives, and descends into San […]

Things are beginning to look up; I should be able to get back to posting soon … and lord knows there’s plenty to post […]

I had no earthly idea that I was living with a closeted “Love Will Keep Us Together” fan. Good lord, you think you know […]

Meanwhile, record-breaking temperatures back on the left coast. Pasadena, my hometown, hit 99 degrees (breaking a record set in 1992 by 7 degrees). The […]

srah said it was snowing this morning ….. and sure enough, when I took the dog out, there were unmistakable flakes in the air. […]

In the interest of full self-disclosure (to a point), people in glass houses, etc., I hereby present a brief (and by no means exhaustive) […]

Says the National Weather Service: ‘Tuesday Night: Patchy frost. Otherwise, increasing clouds, with a low around 34.’ Oh, c’mon now, people, it’s pretty much […]

More candidates that I hadn’t thought of for 50 worst songs (from Stereogum): Chris De Burgh “Lady in Red” (truly horrific) Patrick Swayze “She’s […]

An amazing quote from a new biography of King James I by Alan Stewart that I’m saving to read until after the end of […]

I went to work around 9.00 this morning and the campus seemed blessedly deserted. I saw maybe five people cross my path as I […]

Saw this today on Metafilter—a nice place to compare statistics and see photos of cities all over the country. I pulled up the stats […]

There’s a seven-minute (or so) segment in the bonus features on the DVD of Jeffrey Blitz’s 2002 documentary “Spellbound” that features a semifinalist from […]

Today, a first: a trio of homeless people kicking back with their cadged shopping carts in Frisinger Park. They must have been there because […]

It’s Ella Fitzgerald’s birthday. Happy Birthday, Lady Ella, wherever you are.

Strange how you can have two very different experiences at two not-all-that-dissimilar chain restaurants. We had dinner at Macaroni Grill on Thursday night, and […]

Pickerel Lake is hardly a unique appellation. Turns out there’s at least 22 other lakes in Michigan with exactly the same name.

We drove past campus today and saw undergrads dutifully trundling their belongings out to sidewalks and cars, along with a few half-hearted, exhausted lawn […]

Maybe we didn’t give it enough of a chance, but I was kind of underwhelmed by the Ann Arbor Book Festival today. (It fills […]

I’m really, really going to have to take (and see through) 502 next winter. Damn. Having said that, I know (especially now that the […]

Can’t recall the last time I slept for 10 hours straight, but that’s what I did last night. It felt great.