Blog Post
Feeling Foolish?
by Sancho Panza
Street Theater Art (START) Project co-creators Shoshana Hurand and Mark Tucker are throwing a big, silly party this Thursday to kick off preparations for Festifools 2008! This year they have a spacious new studio in the UM Campus Security Services Building (room 1309). Festifools 2007 was a huge success—the project combined the efforts of UM students and volunteers from throughout the community to create enormous Mardi Gras-style puppets that were marched through the streets of Ann Arbor on April Fools’ Day. Photos of the event will be on display at the open house, which runs from 5-7pm.
Photo by Myra Klarman, used with permission.
Blog Post
Creative Connections Tonight!
by Sancho Panza
Do you make art, perform plays, write poetry, or otherwise behave creatively? Tonight’s your night to mingle! The Ann Arbor Arts Alliance is sponsoring its first Creative Connections of the season at the Ann Arbor Art Center’s Art Factory on Felch St. from 6:30-8:00pm. Creative Connections takes place on the third Monday of the month, and provides an opportunity for individuals involved in Arts and Culture in Washtenaw County to network in a relaxed, informal way. The focus of tonight’s event is the launch of ArtsCount, a county-wide artist census. Grab a glass of wine and start connecting!
Blog Post
Exploring Anxiety
by Sancho Panza
A few months ago, I read a fascinating book by Allen Shawn, brother of the actor and playwright Wallace Shawn, called Wish I Could Be There: Notes from a Phobic Life. Though a successful professor and composer, Shawn faces debilitating anxiety when crossing bridges, walking across parking lots, navigating shopping malls, and generally encountering new situations. Despite his ability to intellectually comprehend his predicament, Shawn remains, to some extent, ensnared by his fears.
Do these limitations imposed by anxiety and fear sound familiar? Next Tuesday, September 25 in the Downtown Library’s Multipurpose Room, Bright Nights Community Forum will attempt to explore anxiety disorders such as Shawn’s, and perhaps offer some relief. A panel of medical professionals from UM’s Depression Center will discuss recent findings related to anxiety, panic and phobia, and how these conditions relate to depression. Following the talk, there will be an opportunity for the audience to ask questions.
Blog Post
Hispanic Heritage Month
by Beth Manuel
Learn more about Hispanic Heritage Month on this site for kids--enlightening for grown-ups as well! There are some exciting local events beginning this week-end to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month. Fun for the whole family is Gran Noche Mexicana in Ypsilanti. Also this week-end, performing in Detroit, the talented Ballet Folklorico de Mexico. Feel like staying in and having a private salsa or merengue fiesta? Check out Baila! A Latin Dance Party!
Blog Post
How Green Is Your Computer?
by MarilynG
Power consumption and sustainability methods being used locally were the focus of the 12th Annual University of Michigan Energy Fest. The Library’s Malletts Creek Branch’s green roof was highlighted. For suggestions on energy management and green computing, check out the web site of the host of the Energy Fest, the University of Michigan Utilities and Plant Engineering.
Blog Post
Madeleine L'Engle Brought Us Such Reading Pleasure
by StoryLaura
I remember being curled up in my "hiding place" 44 years ago and reading the first line, "It was a dark and stormy night". How many thousands of other children were turned upside down by Madeleine L'Engle's imagination and amazing literary skills? In her Newbery Award acceptance speech the author, who often claimed that children's literature is literature too difficult for adults to understand, said "A writer of fantasy, fairy tale or myth must inevitably discover that he is not writing out of his own knowledge or experience, but out of something both deeper and wider." That is why L'Engle, who wrote more than 60 books and died this week at the age of 88, will continue to enrich the lives of many young readers on a dark and stormy night.
Blog Post
Kerrytown BookFest Sunday!
by Sancho Panza
Ready for the Kerrytown BookFest this Sunday? AADL will be there, along with over 100 other exhibitors, authors, demonstrators, and booksellers. Stop by the information booth to sign up for tours of Ben Burkhart’s functioning linotype machine, and then head over to the Author’s Tent at 11 to see Library Director Josie Parker receive the annual Book Community Award, presented this year by the KBF’s honorary chair, Ed Surovell. Library staff members will also be manning a booth at the Fest, so makes sure to say hello to them, too! Can’t wait until Sunday? Check out Jim Horton’s fascinating photo tour of the process he used to make the Fest’s letterpress printed posters, and study up on the Library’s collection of book arts materials.
Blog Post
Comics AND Science!
by anned
What better format through which to explore science than comics? Jim Ottaviani does a splendid job of introducing us to the scientists who shaped the 20th century (including one of my all time favorites Richard P. Feynman). His informative writing is enhanced by the illustrative stylings of many talented artists.
Jim Ottaviani will be at the Kerrytown Book Festival this Sunday (September 9) appearing on the Future of Comic Art panel with Jerzy Drozd, Kay Fedewa, and Chad Sell.
Blog Post
Sancho's Scene: Community Events that Wander off the Path
by Sancho Panza
Walking past Peaceable Kingdom earlier this week, I noticed an adorable poster in their window. Arranged in layers like a barnyard trifle, a thoughtful cow, an orderly row of puffy chicks, and a stout pink pig announce the 34th annual Dawn Farm Jamboree. The event takes place this Sunday, September 9, which happens to be the same day as the Kerrytown BookFest and the AAUW Book Sale here in Ann Arbor. All those pastoral animals marching by make me want to reach for James Herriot’s All Creatures Great and Small, or perhaps a little Dick King Smith. That’ll do, pig.
Blog Post
ACT/SAT Test Practice on Thursday, September 6
by K.C.
Taking the ACT or SAT soon? LearningExpressLibrary can help you get ready. Join us 7:00-8:30 p.m. in the Pittsfield Computer Training Center and take an e-practice test.