ypsi~dixit

« april 2006 | Main | juni 2006 »

31 mei 2006

Improv Sausage Fest Friday, June 2

A KIND READER, member of a local improv group, writes with news of a fun upcoming event:

I don't know if you ever get to Depot Town at all but this June 2nd our
comedy troupe Vegan Meat Locker is having a celebration.  We'll be
having a small BBQ at the dreamland theater (weather permitting) and 3
hours of improv comedy from 7-10 pm.  We will have Vegan friendly and
non-friendly sausages at the event!  This is in return for the support
we get from Luwak and the Dreamland Theater.  Could you let your readers
know about this?  Thanks!

IMPROV SAUSAGE FEST
Dreamland Theater
June 2nd 2006     6-10 pm (comedy starts at 7)
www.myspace.com/veganmeatlocker

Posted by ypsidixit at 07:12 pm | Comments (2)

First Nations Reenactment June 10 & 11

THE WATERLOO AREA FARM MUSEUM is hosting its first annual First Nations reenactment June 10 & 11. You can see French traders and Native Americans tradin' in the log cabin on the grounds, try a game of lacrosse, and see traditional-foods cooking demos. Also Native American body painting, wigwams, and the game Double Ball. It should be really, really cool. Press release below, in "Continue Reading."

Michigan's Native Heritage Comes to Life at "The First Americans" June 10-11

Waterloo Township, MI-The Waterloo Area Historical Society is proud to announce "The First Americans," an authentic recreation of a Woodland Indian village on the grounds of the Waterloo Farm Museum. The event is scheduled for Saturday, June 10th, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Sunday, June 11, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Before Michigan was the Car Capital of America, a state, or even a territory, it was home to thousands of Native Michiganders. In fact, the word Michigan comes from the Algonquin Indian word "Michigama," which means "Big Lake." The first Europeans to encounter these natives were French furtraders, who made their way to our shores in the late 1600s.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, the Michigan Indians had a thriving commerce with the French traders and Jesuits. Both cultures were changed and greatly influenced by one another.

"The First Americans" event will recreate a Woodland Indian village complete with wigwams, crafts, and cooking demonstrations. Visitors will be invited to join the Natives in a game of Lacrosse or Double Ball and witness how Native men painted body and face for each day. The log house will serve as a trading post where the intersection of the French and Native cultures will come to life.

Admission to the Waterloo Farm Museum grounds, 9998 Waterloo-Munith Rd., Waterloo Twp., MI 49240, is free in honor of this first-ever event.

For directions and membership information, visit www.waterloofarmmuseum.org or contact Event Coordinator Dennis Petsch at 517-851-7760, petschd@panthernet.net.

Posted by ypsidixit at 12:56 pm | Comments (25)

Posted by ypsidixit at 12:39 pm | Comments (15)

30 mei 2006

TODAY'S BONEHEAD AWARD goes to a guy in Austin who stole 1,000 gallons of gas while pretending to power-wash parking lots...and then sold it from his driveway.

His neighbor turned him in. After buying two 55-gallon drums of gas from him. Story.

Posted by ypsidixit at 01:23 pm

ALL OF THE JUMPING, none of the tripping.

Posted by ypsidixit at 01:10 pm | Comments (1)

29 mei 2006

Log Thievery

YPSIDIXIT'S NEIGHBORS cut down a dead tree this weekend. Y. was eyeing the resulting log sections all weekend, thinking covetously, "Y'know, one o' them logs would make a unique and cool table."

Tonight under cover of darkness I made my move. I took my damnably squeaky wheelbarrow, which I kept shushing, to no avail. Once at the log-pile, I chuckled to see how unrealistic it would be to heft one of these ginormous logs into the wheelbarrow. Ain't gonna happen. I selected the biggest, prettiest log, and rolled her stealthily home. Got it into the house...somehow. One of those baby-under-the-truck moments. I'm just glad I didn't break a leg in the process.

I moved my Squeaky Peep (pictured) to its new place of honor on my new log-table! Also a book on Civil War prisons and one of the pottery trilobites I made in my pottery trilobite series. Yes sir, my new log table is quite at home! No, you can't get it at IKEA! Yes, I furnish my home with the arboreal castoffs of strangers! I just hope it doesn't start growing fungus or something. Ick-o. Or break my floor with its awesome weight. Log table! Geeked! Exhausted! Not only am I streaming in sweat from log-table exertions, I also reek of stinky fish from planting my remaining corn-mounds today. Very attractive, all in all. Time to call it a day and close out the Mem. Day weekend. Hope yours was fun and enjoyable.

Log table!

Posted by ypsidixit at 11:22 pm | Comments (7)

Tenting Tonight on the Old...Driveway

YPSIDIXIT'S RUGGED, YET EXQUISITELY GENTLEMANLY courier de bois friend most kindly stopped by today to generously and selflessly sell her--for a pittance--his beautiful, spotless, two-person tent.

Y. is thrilled with her lovely tent. It is a four-season tent with a rain thingie (yellow part). I also got a squishy, super-comfortable spongy mat, and "the vestibule" (sticky-outy part). The courier de bois assembled it, and I'm praying I remember how for next time. It also has a ground-cloth.

Y. and the courier de bois are two of the shyest people in Washtenaw County, so it's a bit of a miracle that we enjoyed a nice conversation about books. The courier de bois inspected a rather gory book about Civil War medicine and expressed historical wall chart envy upon seeing Y.'s historical wall chart. Gracious as always, he also chivalrously admired the yellow freshness of the dandelion growing in my truckbed.

Y. foolishly forgot to invite this esteemed gentleman to squeak her Peep (yes, this person is a member of the select Peep-squeaking "inner circle"). Ah well. Next time. It was a day of fun, laughter, tent-setting-up, and humbled thankfulness and gratitude.

The roomy interior featurse a ceiling-shelf for handy storage, and four side-pockets.

The dome shape ensures maximum square footage and spaciousness. Yet the whole shebang packs up into a bag the size of a large salami, and is eminently bikeable.

Posted by ypsidixit at 05:19 pm | Comments (6)

26 mei 2006

AATA Refuses to Raise Rates

Last night the AATA board refused to raise rates to $1.25. The boildown is that Ypsi is no longer paying for bus service, at all, beginning in 2007. I don't expect the AATA to continue service to a city that, unlike all the other participating municipalities, refuses to pay.

One thing you can do about this is sign our petition to reserve .65 mils annually for bus service until a regional millage is passed. The petition will be at the Farmer's Market on Saturday, or email me. Help us preserve monies to secure future bus service for our neighbors.

Posted by ypsidixit at 01:31 pm | Comments (2)

25 mei 2006

DIY Fish Emulsion

COME WITH ME on the strange and wonderful journey to homebrew fish emulsion.

You'll need: a package of "Eun Kal Chi" (salted cutlass fish) from the Michigan Ave. Korean grocery, a bag o' leaves, a cup o' dirt, and a sealable container (I used a washed kim chi jar with screw-on lid). Seaweed is optional. I have some old sushi seaweed floating around somewhere but unsurprisingly couldn't find it, so I'll add it later.

Remove 4 of the Eun Kal Chi filets (whew, talk about fishy!) from the package. Put the remaining 4 in the freezer for later. Chop up one filet into niblets. Put the remaining 3 in the fridge for a delicious dinner later of baked Eun Kal Chi, rice, and kim chi, yum-o. So not only does this project yield a garden helper, it yields a meal laden with nostalgia for the wonderful cuisine of Korea. Mmm. It's a win-win.

Crumble a handful of leaves, salvaged from the truck-bed, into jar till it's half-filled. Add a handful of dirt scooped from the front-yard dog lawn-destruction zone and a cup of water. These bacteria-laden ingredients will magically interact with the fish to create a rich bacterial soup that, when eventually diluted 1: 10 with water, will make plants spring up like jacks-in the box.

Add the fish bits and seal tightly. Put container on sunny windowsill (mine is on my kitchen windowsill). Stir once a day for two weeks till the fish is well rotted. Yes sir, no need to shell out hard-earned cash for them fancy fish emulsions when you can rot fish at home on your kitchen counter! Note: you may want to use a respirator when unsealing the jar for its daily stir. Happy Decaying!

Posted by ypsidixit at 07:52 pm | Comments (21)

Newer Orleans

A SCHOOLGIRL'S POIGNANT DRAWING inspired a Dutch architectural firm to design one possible flood refuge: a grassy, treesy artificial hill that is also a school, right in the middle of town.

Posted by ypsidixit at 12:59 pm | Comments (6)

My Annoyingly Politically Correct Garden: Minute-By-Minute Update!

EVER SINCE a kind reader said that she planned to have tons of heirloom vegetables in her Three Sisters garden, I've been nervous as a flea in a frying pan. I surveyed my vanilla beans guiltily. "Dang nab it," I thought, "I can do better than this!"

So today at lunchtime I whisked off to Downtown Home and Garden and heirloomed up. I got multicolored heirloom corn, 3 (yes, 3) kinds of heirloom beans, AND more sunflowers. Goin' crazy here.

OK. So NOW my 3 (4) Sisters garden is *all* heirlooms. Check it out. I've got Hutterite beans, brought to this country by wild-eyed religious fanatics in the 1760s! "Put dry pods in feed sack or pillow case, and dance to separate seeds from pods." It really says that on the package! The mental image of dancing on a pillow o' beans to my current favorite CD is...a jarring one.

Posted by ypsidixit at 12:22 pm | Comments (3)

A KIND READER sends a link to the latest Courier story on the bus campaign. Kudos to City Council for approving the fare increase...now if the AATA would please approve it, too (crosses fingers).

Posted by ypsidixit at 09:57 am | Comments (10)

24 mei 2006

AN ALERT KIND READER emails to say that Ypsidixit was linked on the Invasive Species weblog. Heh.

Posted by ypsidixit at 10:00 pm | Comments (2)

KYR Theme Song

LOCAL SINGER-SONGWRITER BRANDON KIERDORF of the band Narwhals Collide has written a KYR theme song. It is bouncy and upbeat--mp3 available soon. Y. is in awe of creative local folk who can craft something so inspiring and fun. When weary from petitioning, the thought that this kind gentleman has actually written a KYR song makes me perk up and keep goin'. Kudos to Mr. K. The lyrics (as yet incomplete):

Keep Ypsi Rollin' Theme Song (partial)

Keep Ypsi rollin'
Keep the people flowin'
to work and to school
and all the places they're goin'
Mass transit for the masses
gets us to work and to classes
to the mall or downtown
then back home where we cash in
________________________________
I take the number three
down the HRD
to get to my classes
at WCC
Don't mean to be surly
the three already stops early
ain't trying to be a grumpy Gus
just trying to get around
Old West Side to Depot Town
and I've been riding the Ride longer than the school bus
_____________________________________
I take the number four
down Washtenaw
'cause it always makes a stop
at the Arborland Mall
________________________________________
I take the number five
it keeps me alive
because it goes from where I work
to where I reside

Posted by ypsidixit at 09:30 pm | Comments (4)

eek!

Posted by ypsidixit at 05:06 pm | Comments (2)

Avoiding Trouble at the Ann Arbor Farmer’s Market

The Farmer’s Market, bustling today, exerts a strange power over its patrons. It draws irritating, even hazardous behavior from the most reasonable people. Here are some market dangers to avoid (in "Continue Reading":

1. The Philosopher: Often, perambulating shoppers will fall into a meditative haze and drift to a stop right in the middle of the crowded market. Who knows what they are pondering? They could be working out Fermat’s Last Theorem, or plumbing the twists and turns of a Zen koan. Respect their absorption and quietly step around the spot where they stand rooted.

2. The Sidewalk Parker: There’s no better spot for a leisurely chat between 6 girlfriends, each one with a stroller the size of a Ford Escort, than right in the middle of the sidewalk. Watch for small, slow herds of strollers drifting into the impenetrable-wall formation, and be ready to hop into the street to get around them.

3. The Forager: Intent on making a meal from consuming every free sample available in the market, this hungry browser will wedge in front of paying customers to inquire about the chances of getting a free fruit or vegetable, while scrabbling up all the cut-up sample pieces from the sample bowl. When informed that the wares on display may be exchanged for small green pieces of paper, the Forager disdainfully stalks off to the next sample bowl. Hunger will drive people to behavioral extremes, so stay away from the free-sample bowl.

That’s a small sampling, but a good start to successful, irritation-free shopping.

Posted by ypsidixit at 12:59 pm | Comments (5)

Friends Speaking in Tongues

SOME OF YPSIDIXIT'S MALE FRIENDS, two in particular, have mysteriously reverted from speaking English to speaking a cryptic code that has Y. even more baffled than usual. This bizarre dialect superficially resembles English but is replete with such odd phrases as "series final between Phoenix and the Clippers" and "Miami's secondary players were strong" and "Dallas eliminated San Antonio" (alarming news: I hadn't known these cities had such antipathy towards each other).

I try. Really, I do. I earnestly dug up some news stories in a fumbling attempt to reestablish communication with these two gentlemen. But I hang my head to admit that when I read the headline "Pistons can't take the heat" I thought it meant the stadium AC was broken.

It's hopeless.

Posted by ypsidixit at 12:41 pm | Comments (7)

23 mei 2006

Four Sisters Project

YPSIDIXIT WORKED on her four-sisters agricultural project tonight. I am, thankfully, destroying my backyard lawn to put in corn, beans, and squash planted in the Ojibway/Potowatomi method, in foot-high hills seperated by one step.

Here is a bowl of corn seeds mixed with "Mammoth" sunflowers and some pieces of cut pollack, the cheapo fish from the co-op. I decided to throw sunflowers into the "Three Sisters" mix of corn, squash, and beans. I read somewhere that they're compatible, and I so love sunflowers. If I had to pick a flower for my heraldic crest it would be a sunflower.

More pix in "Continue Reading."

Here are some of the hoed mounds awaiting seeds.

In each mound I scooped out a handful of dirt to make it a volcano shape, then put in one cut piece of fish, three corn kernels in a six-inch-per-side triangle, then put in sunflower seeds alternating with the corn kernels. I patted the volcano closed.

I wanted to plant before tomorrow's rains. The first batch of corn is in the ground! I also planted lots of sunflowers along my garage, in a sunny hot area whre they'll get dripwater from the roof.

Y. also spaded up a new section of backyard lawn and is pooped. This farming business, it takes energy.

Posted by ypsidixit at 09:46 pm | Comments (9)

Cool Cities Program Not Working

REPUBLICAN legislators (who won't stop faxing me!) say that the Cool Cities program is not working.

Posted by ypsidixit at 12:54 pm | Comments (13)

Mouse in Burrito

Misdemeanor or felony? Surprise!

Posted by ypsidixit at 12:04 pm | Comments (11)

Nautical Lingo with Cap'n Ned

YPSIDIXIT is going floating this coming Saturday, and was casting about for a page of nautical lingo with which to educate her stubbornly anti-nautical-lingo adventurous friend (creator of the term "portboard"). Imagine my delight when I found Cap'n Ned and his Helpful Page O' Lingo! Thank you, Cap'n Ned!

Posted by ypsidixit at 08:55 am | Comments (2)

22 mei 2006

Bus Breakdown Adventure

THE BUS STARTED BEEPING on the way home. I looked up to see riders on the packed #4 looking curiously up at the driver and exchanging fleeting "no clue" looks with each other before the beeping bus sighed to a rolling stop in front of County Farm Park on Washtenaw. Ypsidixit loves surprises and anything that breaks a routine. The blue-haired hospital worker next to me asked how far Arborland was, and I said a quarter mile or so. She took off. Other riders stood up and began filing off, walking down the grassy bank to the path running alongside County Farm Park. As the resigned driver chatted with HQ on the BusPhone, Y. rigged her bike off and scooted onto the path. I wove among the walkers and biked on ahead.

Glancing back at the tired exodus, I had a Walter Mitty moment. Follow me, my people! I will lead you to safety! Follow the beacon of my gleaming silver helmet! Don't give up! People with water bottles, share your water! Onwards!

Y. left her people at the next stop and on a lark biked powerfully up the hill to Arborland, where she caught the next #4 and rejoined her people, who'd gotten on at the stop by the breakdown. Safe at last. Crisis averted. Y. sank back into her magazine, thankful for the bit of excitement and opportunity for heroism.

Posted by ypsidixit at 07:28 pm | Comments (5)

Floored

YPSIDIXIT has been getting a huge kick out of walking on her new delightfully creaky, warm, red wood floor since the weekend. But I do have to seal it with something. Toxic poly-urethane is out. Y. consulted today with the "practical" subset of her pool of friends. One said our hardy pioneer forefathers would have used shellac, but that when used on floors shellac needs some sort of mysterious wax coating. Lacquer was also mentioned, and Y. also wondered if she could just heave a big bucket of linseed oil on it, mop it around, and call it a day. My head is spinning with floor sealant trivia. I have to sit down. What should I do?

Posted by ypsidixit at 07:15 pm | Comments (31)

Local Business Owner Comments on DDA

A KIND READER asked me to post this item as a new post. Apparently this lady or gentleman is a downtown business owner with some disagreements with the DDA:

DDA IN FANTASY LAND, NEVER LISTENING TO BUSINESS OWNERS IN DOWNTOWN YPSILANTI.

DDA,
Just reminds me of the movie Back to School with Rodney Dangerfield in the 80s when Rodney was in Business Class with the out of touch in some other world Dr. Bombay.
Dr. Bombay was trying to find out where to put his business?
Rodney said; "HOW ABOUT FANTASY LAND?"

That's the DDA's relation and understanding of Downtown Business needs. "FANTASY LAND"

How about taking the money for the ripped up parking lots and giving it back to the tireless business owners of downtown Ypsilanti for all the business they lost (thousands of dollars) the last couple of years dealing with the "FANTASY LAND DDA."
Or, maybe listening to the business owners once in a while; before the DDA's mind is already made up?
Just a thought.

(Shaking my Head)

Posted by ypsidixit at 12:51 pm | Comments (94)

"NONE OF US deserves the love that we expect. So when it comes, it's the exception to the rule."
--Leonard Cohen, from today's interview with Terry Gross.

Posted by ypsidixit at 12:19 pm | Comments (4)

21 mei 2006

Lilacs

YPSIDIXIT and her faithful friend stopped off at a friend's house for a special gift: a lilac seedling grown by my friend's erstwhile partner. I was moved to receive something so lovely. We admired his farm, then nestled the lilac in the back and headed south on the time-honored Rural Route to my folks' house to celebrate my mom's birthday.

It was a fun day. We sat around yakking, then my sis and brother-in-law & 2 nephews arrived. Faithful friend and I went out to prune my mom's rampant lilac. We pruned it, all right. What started as a rambling mass the size of a small hot-sir balloon transformed into a frieze of sticks. "It'll grow back," I assured my duibous mom, who is so tender-hearted she cannot even bring herself to pinch back her geraniums. I potted up some rooted sprigs of her lilac for my sis and I to take home and plant.

We played "school" with the kids outside under the deck in the cool concrete plaza. My sis was the teacher. We had a lesson on the planets. My Very Elegant Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas. We had a fire drill, and marched studiously out of the plaza. We had a tornado drill, too, and marched studiously out of the plaza before remembering that one doesn't go outside in a tornado drill...

The "school" went on a field trip. "Let's go visit the old cabin," said my sis, pointing to her and my old playhouse at the back of the yard. "The old pioneer cabin?" I asked. "Yes," said Iss, "let's go see what life was like...thirty years ago."

We laughed. Poignant and sweet moment.

Driving back, my faithful friend and I made up a rhyme to describe the finger-high corn we observed in the fields, to go with "knee high by the fourth of July." It is "A finger's run by May twenty-one." We also coined the term "young green" to describe the corn-color, and admired the pretty pearly sundown clouds. A lovely, memorable day.

Posted by ypsidixit at 10:23 pm | Comments (8)

20 mei 2006

Despite Vigilance, Ypsidixit is Peep-Bombed

YPSIDIXIT has been slaving away on carpet-removal all day. I also took an afternoon nap, on the theory that weekend naps are God's gift to mental health. After my nap, I made preparations to go to the store and get a new broom and mop with which to clean my new beautiful wood floor. What did I find but a book on my fence, with a kind note from a friend, and--a Peep! But not just any old Peep--a squeaky-toy plastic Peep! I squeaked it in delight before displaying it in a place of honor on my bookshelves. How nice is it when a friend stops by and gives me a present? Pretty dang nice. It sure made my day. Peep-bombed or no, Ypsidixit is happy as a clam. (Squeak!)

Posted by ypsidixit at 07:18 pm | Comments (7)

19 mei 2006

Petition at Farmer's Market

IF YOU'D LIKE to sign the KYR petition, it'll be at the Ypsi Farmer's Market tomorrow. Look for the urbane book-seller.

Posted by ypsidixit at 08:56 pm | Comments (4)

Weekend Book Stock-Up

WE'VE JUST GONE TO PRESS at work, which means this is the first free weekend Y. has had in a long time. So I needed new books, and tonight visited the Cross Street bookshop to stock up, on the theory that if a book is worth your time in reading it, it is worth owning. No libraries for me. I am my own library.

Anyways, here's what I got:

Margaret Cheney, Tesla: Man Out of Time (I'm just rereading my other Tesla bio, so it will be interesting to compare them).
"Yank" Levy, Guerrilla Warfare (a 1942 gem with a photo on the front of a red-blooded American with a Hun in a chokehold and a truly hilarious picture on the back of "Yank" crouching menacingly in a field of daisies...Sheridan and I had a good laugh over this one).
James Fenimore Cooper, Last of the Mohicans
John Brunner, The Sheep Look Up (have wanted this dystopian novel a long time).
Dorcas Miller, Stars of the First People (a truly mesmerizing book of Native American constellations and stories, very different from our own constellations---utterly fascinating).
Ernest and Trevor Dupuy, The Compact History of the Civil War (award-winner).
John Brooks, Telephone: The First Hundred Years (I adore reading about the history of inventions).
Kaempffert, A Popular History of American Inventions (a fabulous 1924 volume with loads of period photos--also fascinating).

I should be OK till Monday. It's a lot of books, but, you know, your mood varies and you want different things, so you have to have a lot on hand. Just in case.

Posted by ypsidixit at 08:42 pm | Comments (7)

Sustainability Means No Stupid Carpet

THE OTHER DAY my dog had an accident on my stupid carpet. No fault of hers. But I sighed. I rigged out the enzyme cleaner spray and sprayed the spots, then overlaid them with wet towels, then dreaded getting out my steam cleaner and using electricity to clean...a stupid carpet.

"That tears it," I thought. I have no fewer than 2 giant electric machines, a vacuum and a freakin' steam cleaner, to service a hideous light beige carpet that, despite my best efforts, shows every spot from here to breakfast and is a Shroud of Turin of pet stains despite my most arduous exertions.

No more.

At the same time that I am removing the carpet of grass from my back yard for my Three Sisters project, I've resolved to remove my carpet, one swatch at a time so that I can feed rolled and duct-taped sections out in the trash as my weekly allowed 1 bulk item.

This morning before work I was prying up the edges of the carpet and peeking beneath. Hardwood floors, as promised by my realtor 6 years ago. Beautiful wood. Lovely dark wood for my bare tootsies to relish. Warm, pretty wood instead of stainerrific carpet.Wood I can clean sustainably with a broom and mop, not with two hideous roaring heavy energy-sucking machines.

That's it then. Regular visitors to my humble home will note the glacier of carpet melting away in stages. This will be a summer of carpet stages, as slowly and beautifully the clean, pure, pretty wood emerges. Goodbye, foul carpet.

Posted by ypsidixit at 08:20 pm | Comments (20)

Ikea Campout Time!

YPSIDIXIT has no life, responsibilities, interests, friends, or ongoing projects. She usually just goes home and stares at the walls.

So when she learned that the new Canton Ikea will allow people to camp out up to two days before the grand opening, Y. was overjoyed. Ypsidixit is so spiritually bankrupt that the only source of meaning and grace in her life is buying products. And it's really, really important to me that I beat my neighbors in going there first, so that I can boast of the accomplishment of visiting a store.

So you can imagine my excitement.

Posted by ypsidixit at 01:25 pm | Comments (24)

Friday Open Mike

Ypsi Pride Day? The recent Thompson building foreclosure? Local landlord David Kircher's bid for a Council seat in Ward 1? It's up to you.

Posted by ypsidixit at 08:28 am | Comments (10)

Live Asian Carp Seized in Ypsi Market

84 live Asian carp, that much-feared invasive species that can jump six feet into the air and eat 40% of its body weight daily, were found in one Ypsi and one Southfield food market. It is illegal to transport or sell this fish in Michigan as it's feared that, if allowed to enter the Great Lakes, the Asian carp could decimate the sport fishing industry. Story.

Ypsidixit is dying to know what the Ypsi market was. Is there an Asian food market in Ypsi that has live fish for sale? I can't think of one.

Posted by ypsidixit at 08:10 am | Comments (19)

18 mei 2006

Three-Sisters Update

YPSIDIXIT had a bit of time, in the gloaming, to continue work on her Three Sisters project. I dug up another 4 by 12-foot section of lawn, rejoicing in the destruction of my stupid lawn in favor of an agricultural project. My dog Clover took great interest in the activity and closely monitored each spaded-up shovelful, snacking on a couple of worms and a beetle that came to light.

Sod destruction is hard work. You have to bang each shovel-sized glob of sod against the shovelhead to beat out the dirt before tossing the dedirted grass into the wheelbarrow. Y. labored quietly alone in the backyard as night rose up from the ground. Have you ever noticed that night rises up from the ground, and does not descend from the sky? First there are shadows under the bushes. Then there's a blurring of neighbors' greenery. Then there's darkness under bushes and trees, as the sun sinks. Night is everywhere under nearby bushes and trees before the sky is dark.

Y. worked quietly under Clover's supervision, taking breaks to watch the light fade from her neighbors' tall elms, watch the slowly-passing dark grey clouds, and ponder the meaning of the greenery around me, in my 38th spring.

Posted by ypsidixit at 10:25 pm | Comments (1)

That Registered-Voter Aura

YPSIDIXIT bumped into one of the KYR petition stringers on the way home, on the #4 bus. Y. and stringer, Mr. Bibliophile, chatted enjoyably about books. Y. was glad this learned gentleman did not ask her what her current book was, secreted in my bike-bag for bus-reading. It is Pin-Up: The Shocking Untold Story of Betty Grable (with 16 pages of shocking untold photos!) Y. likes reading lurid trash at times and recently finished rereading one of her more colorful Elvis biographies (I have 3). Anyways, the conversation turned to the petition.

Y. "Oh, one thing I wanted to double-check with you: the petition-circulator has to be a registered voter. Are you a registered voter?"
Mr. B.: "Yep, I'm a registered voter."
Y. "I thought so, for some reason."
Mr. B. "I just have that 'registered-voter' aura."
Y. (laughs)

It's true. This gentleman radiates that beguiling je ne sais quoi that quietly, yet forcefully, communicates--Registered Voter.

Posted by ypsidixit at 08:35 pm

SINCE WHEN do werewolves wear pink-appliqued vests?

Posted by ypsidixit at 12:59 pm | Comments (1)

Best Work of American Fiction in the Last 25 Years

THE NEW YORK TIMES asked a couple of hundred writers, critics, and editors ranging from Harold Bloom to David Eggers what they thought was the best work of American fiction in the past quarter century. Results:

THE WINNER:
Beloved
Toni Morrison
(1987)

THE RUNNERS-UP:
Underworld
Don DeLillo
(1997)

Blood Meridian
Cormac McCarthy
(1985)

Rabbit Angstrom: The Four Novels
John Updike
'Rabbit at Rest'
(1990)
'Rabbit Is Rich'
(1981)
'Rabbit Redux'
(1971)
'Rabbit, Run'
(1960)

American Pastoral
Philip Roth
(1997)

Posted by ypsidixit at 12:37 pm

17 mei 2006

YPSIDIXIT'S courier de bois friend turned 40 today, not without understandable angst. She sent him this Ted Kooser poem, since he, like Y., feasts humbly and gratefully on every green moment.

A Birthday Poem

Just past dawn, the sun stands
with its heavy red head
in a black stanchion of trees,
waiting for someone to come
with his bucket
for the foamy white light,
and then a long day in the pasture.
I too spend my days grazing,
feasting on every green moment
till darkness calls,
and with the others
I walk away into the night,
swinging the little tin bell
of my name.

Posted by ypsidixit at 09:11 pm | Comments (11)

YPSIDIXIT BROKE GROUND on her Three Sisters project this evening. First I raked up a big pile of sunflower stalks left over from last year, next to the grape arbor.I chopped down a bunch of volunteer maples with a hatchet and weeded up a lot of vile deadly nightshade. Then I dug up and spaded over the ground next to the grape arbor. Stage 2 will be destroying, thankfully, the lawn next to my crabapple tree and stage 3 will be making the prescribed mounds. Stage 4 is planting them. I hope to get to Stage 4 by the end of Saturday, and plant my beans and squash around Memorial Day. Ypsidixit found some lovely moss under the vile nightshade, and carefully dug it up and put it in a bowl to make Bowl O' Moss, which is currently residing in its velvety green glory on the edge of my kitchen sink near the sunny southern window.

Posted by ypsidixit at 08:59 pm | Comments (4)

Uh-oh.

Posted by ypsidixit at 01:53 pm

Negative Reviews for Da Vinci Code

Variety gives it a pan, adding that the movie's badness is probably the best thing its religious critics could have hoped for.

Posted by ypsidixit at 12:32 pm | Comments (8)

New Issue of Depot Town Rag Out!

What a delightful publication. Here is a nice, clear, pdf you can read on your desktop or print out.

Posted by ypsidixit at 11:34 am | Comments (2)

16 mei 2006

Sign Personalities

Y. notes that there are but 3 commercial signs, the kind you stick letters and prices on, that evince the slighest bit of personality between AA and Ypsi.

They are: the Tios sign on Washtenaw, the Mike's Books sign on Washtenaw at Summit, and the Walgreen's sign, opposite Tio's, on Washtenaw at Hewitt.

The Tios sign often has personal appeals. Today it asked, "have you hugged a hospital worker today?" An ambulance was parked in the parking lot. Mike's Books' sign currently reads, "Young Minds Thirsting for Knowledge Need Textbooks." The Walgreen's signs pleads with seniors to register for Medicare plans before the May 15 deadline, and even gives a phone number.

Additionally, in Y's neighborhood, the Ypsi First Baptist Church offers such gems as "SIGN BROKEN: COME INSIDE FOR MESSAGE" and "DON'T LOSE HOPE: EVEN MOSES WAS ONCE A BASKET CASE." Makes me wonder if all the residents of my street should each have their own lawn sign with moveable letters. Sort of a mini-blog. People could arrange letters to read, "FREE LILACS" or "DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT BOTHERING ME TODAY" or "LIKE TO HELP ME DIG UP MY LAWN ON SATURDAY, 11 TO 3?" Or maybe not.

Posted by ypsidixit at 11:32 pm | Comments (10)

Illusory Wealth and Real Wealth

WARNING: Sappiness ahead.

YPSIDIXIT was given a lesson today in illusory wealth and real wealth. I cashed my paycheck and because of several recent expenses noted the balance was lower than usual. It gave me the quimblies and I vowed to economize even more than I do. Y. reserves 30% of her pay for her retirement thingie so it's already a slender take-home amount. After rendering unto Caesar, it's macaroni and cheese time. For which I am grateful.

In contrast, Y. was blessed to be given many shining examples of where her true wealth lies. One kind friend today offered me a rare and beautiful gift--a lilac seedling his partner, now passed, had grown. I was moved to be the recipient of something so lovely and beautiful. I get to pick it up Sunday. Another kind friend wrote to say he'd received my (paper) letter and had been "deeply touched," which in turn touched me. Another kind friend wrote to spitball weekend plans. And another wrote to offer a ride to the lilac seedling, and also met me for petitioning tonight.

My bank balance can dwindle a bit, and there could be a few ramen noodle dinners, which I actually like, but in reality Y. is richer than a queen and feels jeweled in the kindnesses of her much-loved friends.

Posted by ypsidixit at 08:20 pm | Comments (3)

Al Gore's Global Warming Film Slammed

AND SLAMMED VERY WELL in this excoriating, perceptive review. The film is coming to the Michigan in June.

Excerpt: "“An Inconvenient Truth” is something you rarely see in movies today: a blatant intellectual fraud. Shame on all of the people involved in this travesty."

Posted by ypsidixit at 08:49 am | Comments (19)

Random Historical Tidbit

"American History" [textbook] then generalizes, "Those who planted seeds and cultivated the land instead of merely hunting and gathering were more secure and comfortable." Apparently the author has not encountered the "affluent primitive" theory, which persuaded anthropology some twenty-five years ago that hunter-gatherers lived quite comfortably. "American History" completes the evolutionary stereotype: "these agricultural peoples were mostly peaceful, though they could fight fiercely to protect their fields. The hunters and wanderers, on the other hand, were quite warlike because their need to move about brought them frequently into conflict with other groups." Here the author betrays hte influence of the old savage-to-barbaric-to-civilized school dating back to L. H. Morgan and Karl Marx in the last century. The authors of history textbooks may well have encountered such thinking in anthropology courses when they were undergraduates; it is no longer taught today, however. Decades ago, most anthropologists challenged the outmoded continuum, determining that hunters and gatherers were relatively peaceful, compared to agriculturalists, and that modern societies were more warlike still. Thus violence increases with civilization.

--Lies My Teacher Told Me, James Loewen

Posted by ypsidixit at 12:15 am | Comments (3)

13 mei 2006

Garden Update

YPSIDIXIT IS FILTHY. She planted like a fiend today, gettin' tons of plants in the ground during this helpfully rainy time. All my tomatoes this year are 19th-century (or older) varieties: Mortgage Lifter, Kellogg (orange) Muscovite (Siberian), Brandywine, (1885 variety) and Green Zebra. I also planted 5 kinds of peppers: sweet yellow banana peppers, super-hot habaneros, sweet yellow bells, and 2 kinds of green bells. I made up pots of basil, moved my hibiscus outside after their long winter indoor sojourn, caged up the planted tomatoes. Y. can't wait to share the historical tomatoes in her garden beds and is tremendously excited!

Posted by ypsidixit at 10:17 pm | Comments (18)

TONIGHT'S KYR PETITIONING has been cancelled due to rain. The weather reports say rain should continue through the evening. Thanks to the kind friends who expressed interest, and see you Tuesday and Thursday next week at Cafe Luwak for 6:30-8 p.m. petitioning!

Posted by ypsidixit at 02:14 pm | Comments (1)

Ave Maria Radio

YPSIDIXIT is at work and is listening with interest to Ave Maria radio. It's actually pretty interesting, for two reasons. One is that I learned some stuff I never would have before. There was one story about a furor caused in this country by the Chinese premier creating new Chinese Catholic bishops, when only the Vatican is supposed to do that. The second reason is that the mindset of the guests is so different from mine that it is fascinating to me. There was one story about the Church's past work to secure a living wage so that families could be supported by one breadwinner that combined a peek into laudable, progressive social work by the Church with a sepia-tinged snapshot of a 1950s family. Right now there's a lady excoriating "The Da Vinci Code." She sounds like a bit of a martinet. But for the rest, it's pretty interesting.

Posted by ypsidixit at 01:36 pm | Comments (9)

12 mei 2006

Help Me Identify This Object

YPSIDIXIT had the fun of working in her gardens this evening. I hoed the cauliflower bed and the flower bed in the front, spaded up the tomato bed along the garage, and raked and trimmed.

Y. is never happier than when mucking about in the dirt. I find gardening to be a lot like pottery. The dirt responds to your shaping it, no more, no less, like clay. I weeded and trimmed some ambitious weeds.

Y. cleaned out her cookout area and raked it smooth. I love cooking out and usually do so every weekend from April-November. There is nothing better than lounging in a lawn chair, with goodies on the grill, reading a book or chatting with friends, and enjoying juicy hot grilled shish kebab. Mmm.

Anyways, while spading up the tomato bed, I came across this mysterious chrysalis. I almost chopped down the treelet it's attached to, till I saw the object. What is it? I left it alone, bemused by its mystery.

Posted by ypsidixit at 09:22 pm | Comments (6)

Friday Open Mike

Heirloom tomatoes? Korean beauty soaps? Cameras disguised as rocks on the Huron River near Superior Dam? It's up to you.

Posted by ypsidixit at 12:53 pm | Comments (31)

Gordon's One-Year Anniversary

Close on the heels of Cafe Luwak's one-year birthday, Gordon's Five and Dime, Y.'s favorite local source for quality marbles, celebrates its one-year anniversary on Memorial Day Weekend with a roster of fun events (from their press release):

May 26th (Fri.) – Mrs. Gordon is passing out cupcakes and gift bags while supplies last.

May 27th (Sat.) – Games for kids 2-10 years old with prizes.

May 28th (Sun.) – Mr. Gordon will judge the annual “Dubble Bubble Bubble Gum Blowing Contest”. Contest starts at 2 PM.

May 29th (Mon.) - Balsa Wood Glider Contest. We provide the plane, you provide the skill and strength. Meet & sign up at Gordon’s at 2 PM. Contest will be held at Frog Island Park at 2:30.

Posted by ypsidixit at 09:42 am | Comments (3)

KYR Meeting

KYR team members massed tonight at Bombadill's to discuss our amazing petition success thus far and debrief. We swapped some petitioning stories, and charted some future petitioning dates. Join us as we patition:

Saturday, May 13, 6:30-8 p.m., meet at Cafe Luwak
Tuesday, May 16, 6:30-8 p.m., Cafe L.
Thursday, May 18, 6:30-8 p.m., Cafe L.
And every Tuesday and Thursday threafter till June 10.

You can also sign the petition at the Saturday Ypsi Farmer's Market, 7 a.m.-3 p.m. Look for the handsome gentleman selling books.

We're on our way! Join us in our efforts to Keep Ypis Rollin'!

Posted by ypsidixit at 01:52 am | Comments (4)

11 mei 2006

The Children They Gave Away

"In the decades between World War II and Roe v. Wade, 1.5 million young women were secretly sent to homes for unwed mothers and coerced into giving their babies up for adoption. Now their stories are finally being told."

Posted by ypsidixit at 12:12 pm | Comments (1)

Time to Switch to Qwest

"Leslie Cauley reports that the National Security Agency has been "secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth."

"The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans — most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews."

"One major telecommunications company declined to participate in the program: Qwest." "According to sources familiar with the events, Qwest's CEO at the time, Joe Nacchio, was deeply troubled by the NSA's assertion that Qwest didn't need a court order — or approval under FISA — to proceed. Adding to the tension, Qwest was unclear about who, exactly, would have access to its customers' information, and how that information might be used." --from The Note

Posted by ypsidixit at 08:06 am | Comments (6)

THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS: as portrayed by gummi bears.

Posted by ypsidixit at 07:45 am

10 mei 2006

Alternative Home Tour Proposal

IS THERE ANYTHING MORE TEDIOUS than ritzy home tours? Ooh, granite countertops. Wow, mahogany trim--how cool that you care not a whit for the environment. Geez--sweeping staircase. You have a higher number of dollar bills than I do. Therefore, I am impressed (suppresses yawn).

I'd like to see a Home Tour of everyday, ordinary homes. Here's my antique trivet. Here's my 1930s Ypsilanti map on the wall. Here's my Korean marriage-ducks. I think it would be a whole lot more interesting and a good fundraiser. I know of one home on my humble working-class street with a ginormous bearskin splayed over the wall and another with some genuine Salvador Dali lithographs. For sure I'd rather see things like that than the latest pricey pretension. Expense does not equal interest or worth. Ypsidixit votes for the Down Home Tour.

Posted by ypsidixit at 09:04 pm | Comments (19)

THE HANDY GodPod, the delicious Bible Bar, and the attractive Glow Grave--just three of the many useful religious items available at Gadgets for God.

Don't miss the Fruitcake Zone.

Posted by ypsidixit at 01:04 pm | Comments (7)

Washtenaw Area Transportation Study

THE RECENTLY COMPLETED WATS study recommends the merger of the Western Washtenaw Area Value Express (formerly Chelsea Area Transit Service), which is a bus linking Chelsea, Dexter and Ann Arbor plus an on-demand service, and the Manchester Area Senior Citizens Council's transit program. The complete WATS report may be read here.

Posted by ypsidixit at 08:55 am

09 mei 2006

Tonight's Budget Meeting Disappointing

Tonight's budget meeting was disappointing.

The city dedicated no money to the bus system.

AATA president Greg Cook said that thanks to the fare increase plus another $20,000 gift from the AATA to Ypsi, the service will be preserved in fiscal year 2006-7.

That's when we reach the edge of the cliff. When the city eliminates all bus system funding.

Cook spoke about an eventual regional or county millage. He acknowledged that this would require a reorganization of AATA, maybe into a Washtenaw Area Regional Transit Authority...

One nearby lady in a now-faded Keep Ypsi Rolling T-shirt said out loud, "WARTA"? In the audience, Paul Schreiber laughed. Several Council members smiled. "Well, maybe not that acronym," said Cook.

The upshot is that Ypsilanti will be the only participant in the AATA to get the service for free, beginning in 2008. That's not fair to Ypsi Twp. (whose POSA is bigger than the City's POSA), Superior Township, Pittsfield Township. And that sure won't sit well with Ann Arbor voters, who heavily subsidize the system, or the outlying communities, who have no interest in bailing out Ypsi.. Voters will not support a regional millage if they see it as an Ypsi bailout.

As the AATA moves towards its commendable eventual regional goals, Ypsi must pull its weight--if it wants an eventual regional millage to pass. Ypsi's failure to chip in will send the regional millage the City so lauds down in flames.

Posted by ypsidixit at 09:55 pm | Comments (10)

May 9 AATA/City Budget Meeting: Estabrook School

"Please advise community members that the City Council Budget Study
Session for Tuesday, May 9, 2006 (TOMORROW) will be held at Estabrook School
(1555 W Cross). This is due to the anticipated larger crowd due to our
discussion of our AATA Purchase of Service Agreement (POSA) in the context
of the 2006/2007 City budget.  Greg Cook, Director of AATA, will be
presenting the proposals available to restrain cost of service as the City
looks to maintain a balanced budget in the face of rising costs."

Posted by ypsidixit at 01:10 am | Comments (4)

08 mei 2006

YHS Braves Logo Down in Flames

A KIND READER at the Braves logo meeting tonight reports that though the image will be removed, the term "Braves" will be preserved. This person notes, "it was a very unpleasant meeting, especially for the
Native Americans in attendance." Talk of substituting the Water Tower for the "Brave" image? While buying smokes at her neighborhood gas station late this eve on the way home, Y. noted a pile of fliers on the counter for an upcoming pro-Brave fundraiser at Cady's Grill.

Y. has difficulty understanding why anyone would want to retain a logo that is offensive to others, when there are so many good alternatives. The Couriers de Bois! The Trappers! The Rivermen! The Pioneer Wives! Basically I think we need to abandon the tribalism of high school mascots, or any other group branding, like corporate songs. It only fosters unhealthy group-think. Let us each make our own personal logo, like "ypsidixit"! Let a thousand logos bloom! Let a thousand schools of thought contend! Anyways, I'm gald we got rid of the chiseled, dual-feathered, cartoonish "Braves" logo this evening.

Posted by ypsidixit at 11:45 pm | Comments (28)

Fun-Filled Kempf House Board Meeting

TONIGHT'S KEMPF HOUSE board meeting, a long one, was interesting and fun. "That one looks too Waffle House," said one board member, sotto voce to me, of the swirliest of the four nice mock-ups of our new stationery design and logo. As usual this individual, who is also my adventurous friend, made it hard for me to keep a decent, straight face. During the rest of the meeting, when I thought of the phrase "Waffle House," I had to pretend to turn my suppressed giggles into a little cough.

Y. caused a bit of a sensation with a mini-presentation on a proposed CafePress Kempf House shop. Board members expressed delight and astonishment at the prospect of a Kempf House dog T-shirt. One member pointed out that a stein is among the offered products, in line with Kempf House's German heritage. People seemed excited at the CafePress concept. At the next meeting I'll give another little presentation on the amazing range of products that board members could choose to put in the shop. One board member expressed interest in the trucker cap.

Y. is on the Nominating Committee to find our next president and vice president. Since we are such a small group, it's hard to find folks to serve who haven't served before and who have some experience with the KH. Afterwards, walking to the car, Y. floated the prospect of being the Kempf House Presdent to her adventurous friend, a KH newbie like Y. Y. painted a rosy picture of her friend's sculpted profile appearing on stationery, on a special Kempf House commemmorative coin, and of the tempting prospect of having an official Presidential Stamp with which to stamp things. Y.'s friend, a busy gentleman who works and goes to school, was unmoved. He did seem to like the coin idea. The prospect of immortality--of one's face turning up at a 2050 flea market on a commemmorative coin--must have been a tempting one. I'll have to press that point with him. Coin! Shiny! Shiny coin!

Y. is a bit flip, but is very fond of this good group. I just find the random historical details that surface both funny and fascinating. It's a privilege to serve with this funny, creative, very friendly group.

Posted by ypsidixit at 10:56 pm | Comments (7)

06 mei 2006

Garden Update

YPSIDIXIT had the good fortune to muck about in the dirt today, which she loves doing. I planted a strawberry patch, planted cauliflower and bell peppers, sprinkled those li'l plants with the sprinkler, drastically pruned back the now bloomless forsythia (now is the time to drastically prune back your forsythia!) and trimmed the weigela and other bushes into neat compact shapes. The dog helped, trailing along hopefully as I dug up stuff, since I feed her all the white grubs that surface when digging. Those grubs are her hors d'oeuvres. A tad gross but--hey, it's true. And it degrubs my yard, so, more power to her. Y.'s yard is looking nice and neat for the time being. Mowed the stupid lawn too, shearing off the rain-greened growth to expose the usual brown thatchy underpinnings. Stupid lawn. Rather use that easement land to grow the "three sisters," but what can you do. Community standards and all (grumbles).

Posted by ypsidixit at 11:14 pm | Comments (7)

Petition Party #2 a Success

YPSIDIXIT and a crack team of KYR petitioners massed at Cafe Luwak today, then hit the Historic South Side. I found people very sympathetic to our ballot proposal and again had only 2 refusals all day. We debriefed at Aubrees, piled up our signed pages, and had a beer to celebrate. Y. is grateful to all these dedicated, hard-working KYRers selflessly giving up their Saturdays to amass signatures. We are well on our way--and that's not even considering our army of kind community stringers throughout the city. Kudos to all of them, and my gratitude and respect, too.

Posted by ypsidixit at 06:54 pm | Comments (9)

05 mei 2006

THE SINGLE most heartwarming, beautiful, and fun thing I've come across all day...and it's been a long day.

Ypsi needs a group like Improv Everywhere, to stage stuff on the buses...if AATA approved. Bingo! Birthday parties! Balloons! Streamers! Fun!

Posted by ypsidixit at 10:47 pm

Open Mike Friday

Take it away!

Posted by ypsidixit at 09:54 am | Comments (8)

04 mei 2006

Keep Ypsi Rollin's Mission

Y. NOTES that there have been tons of new visitors to this humble blog in the past few days, who may not be aware of our mission:

PROBLEM: At present, bus service to Ypsi is slated to be cut starting in 2007. Present budget recommendations stipulate that routes 3 and 5 are cut in 2007 and the entire bus service is eliminated in 2008.

OUR SOLUTION: Keep Ypsi Rolling is petitioning to put an item on the November ballot for voters to decide on.

Key points:

1. Our solution does not raise taxes. (Ypsilanti is currently at the legal taxable limit of 20 mills).
2. Our solution proposes that the city saves .65 mil per year ($225,000-$235,000) to fund the bus system, which costs Ypsi approx. $180,000 per year.
3. Our solution is temporary. It has a sunset clause that says that when a regional or county-wide millage is passed, our plan is automatically null and void.
4. KYR is in favor of a regional or county-wide millage. However, the reason we're promoting our solution and not a regional or county millage at this time is that such a millage would take too long to put into place, thus endangering the system in the meantime.

REGIONAL OR COUNTY-WIDE MILLAGE: In order for either to happen, the AATA must reorganize from an Ann Arbor into a recional authority, thus changing its bureaucratic structure. It must work out power-sharing with participating communities, readjust its funding structure, and arrange for bus services of some kind to the outlying participating communities. There would also be a public education/campaigning period.

Keep Ypsi Rolling is in favor of an eventual regional plan. Down the line, we'll work to help pass it. Our solution incorporates a regional plan--it's a bridge to get the bus service into the safe zone of a successfully passed regional/county millage. Given the complexity of such a millage, we don't think it can be instituted in less than several years. We don't want our neighbors to lose their freedom and independence in the meantime.

That's why we propose our solution. Please email me if you want more information or have questions: ypsidixit@gmail.com, and check out www.keepypsirollin.org.

Posted by ypsidixit at 06:52 pm | Comments (2)

THE DEPOT TOWN RUMOR MILL, says a friend, says that Grizzly Peak will soon be moving into the Thompson Building. Hm. Is that even possible? I thought the building was uninhabitable until rehabbed. This is the second Ann Arbor brewery to move into Ypsi this year.

Posted by ypsidixit at 02:29 pm | Comments (7)

TOYOTA officially bought the old State Hospital site last Friday, and plans to open its facility in 2008. The YCUA is running water and sewer services all the way out there and just signed a 35-year contract with York Township.

Posted by ypsidixit at 12:58 pm | Comments (5)

03 mei 2006

Calling All Community Petition Helpers!

YPSIDIXIT'S email Inbox, already a frenzy of activity this past month, has lit up like a pinball machine with notes from the kindest of community members stepping forward, out of their full and busy lives, to actually volunteer to circulate our petition. Y. has been biking all over Ypsi from here to breakfast, dropping off petition packets. My jaw drops to see the wave of help and interest from total strangers, and I am deeply grateful. KYR has also been actively seeding our petition throughout the community with key contact people.

If you can collect so much as ONE signature, we'd accept it with gratitude and thanks, and for one signature I'll be happy to bike across town to personally bring the petition to you and pick it up later.

Here are the petition rules:

THE CIRCULATOR: must be a registered voter in Washtenaw County. Not a reg. voter? No problem. I've got the reg. voter form that you can fill out on the spot--I'll mail it. You can be from AA, Saline, AA Township--doesn't matter--so long as you're registered in Washtenaw County.

THE SIGNERS: must:
1. be a registered voter in the City of Ypsi and
2. must live within the city limits of Ypsi

Also, the circulator must personally witness each signature, then sign the page when it's filled out. I'll collect it from you. I'll bring it to you, collect it from you, and thank you gratefully. All you have to do is pick up even only one sig.

We've got till June 1 to collect 1,000 signatures from Ypsi voters.

We can do it. Together, we can preserve bus service for an entire city. You can make a real, lasting difference in helping thousands of our neighbors retain their independence and freedom.

Your one collected signature makes a difference.

Email me at ypsidixit@gmail.com. And please accept my humble gratitude at even considering helping our swelling ranks in our effort.

Posted by ypsidixit at 10:57 pm | Comments (3)

Letter to Ypsilanti City Council

Greetings Council members,

I am writing to thank the City Council for stating that they are
involved in talks with community entities to secure funding from them.

May I please ask, which specific members of Council have spoken to
which community entities? How much funding have you secured, on paper,
from WCC, St. Joe's, and EMU? How much money can we count on for
fiscal year 2007-8, when your budget proposals recommend eliminating
all bus service?

Also, what is your back-up plan if said community entities decide, as
did WCC in the 1980s, to cease funding?

What progress have you made towards securing a regional or county-wide
millage? Have you decided which one to pursue? Or not? I have heard no
campaigning on your part for any millage, although the unfunded bus
year in question, 2007-8, is a mere 7 months away.

Are you aware of the necessity for AATA to re-formulate its entire bureaucratic
structure in order to become a regional entity? Do you think that Ann
Arbor, which very heavily subsidizes the AATA, would be willing to
cede any AATA control to Manchester, Chelsea, Dexter, Saline, and
several Ypsi-area townships? Also, how will you sell this millage to
the outlying communities? What incentives do you plan to offer them? A
few years ago, routes to these communities were canceled due to lack
of ridership. What's changed since then?

In short, KYR has a plan to secure bus service for fiscal year 2007-8.
We are the first to say it is an imperfect plan that not everyone will
like. But it will maintain the bus system until a millage is passed a
few years from now. The amendment has a sunset clause stating that it
is null and void the moment a millage is passed. It's a temporary,
workable plan.

What's your solution? What funding have you secured on paper? The City
Council has not even, unlike Ypsilanti Township, officially approved
the fare increase. Where's your solution?

It's been over two months now since KYR formed and offered Council our
3 solutions at the April 4 Council meeting and, now, our charter
amendment solution to secure bus funding. We've talked to AATA, done
the research, had a lot of meetings, and worked hard to offer you 4
solutions to keep our Ypsi neighbors rollin' to work, school, the
hospital, and child care.

We've given your our time, research findings, and help, to work
cooperatively with you to solve the bus crisis created by the budget
cuts you propose.

May I respectfully ask: where's your solution?

Thank you for considering my questions.

Yours truly,
Laura Bien
"Keep Ypsi Rollin'" director
www.keepypsirollin.org

Posted by ypsidixit at 12:29 am | Comments (30)

02 mei 2006

Petitioning the Polls

KYR petitioned today's election, politely asking kind voters to please consder signing our petition to get our bus solution on the November ballot. The sigs rolled in. One stringer was a stranger, who emerged from the woodwork to kindly volunteer her time--kudos to you, G. Another helper had an Ypsi elected official scream at her and get into her space, to the horror of an onlooking neighbor, while the helper was exercising her democratic right to petition. Y's day at the Senior Center was uneventful. I got really soggy in the p.m. as I patrolled the edge of the "campaign zone" (100 feet from the door of the polling place). I got some nice comments from kind neighbors and almost ran out of blank pages. KYR thanks the kind Ypsi voters who took time out of their day to help the city preserve its bus system.

Posted by ypsidixit at 09:50 pm | Comments (13)

One Summerfest performer has his detractors.

Posted by ypsidixit at 03:29 pm | Comments (14)

SUPERHERO REGISTRATION ACT: Abuse of civil liberties? Or vital security measure? The controversy mounts.

Posted by ypsidixit at 02:54 pm | Comments (2)

William Shatner builds a house with a kidneystone.

Posted by ypsidixit at 12:11 pm | Comments (1)

When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloomed

MAY 2, 1865: Abraham Lincoln's nine-car funeral train, the Lincoln Special, with a portrait of Lincoln riding over the cowcatcher, traveled at 5 to 20 miles an hour just to the south of Michigan and reached Chicago. "Throughout the day, at the rate of 7,000 people per hour, mourners passed by Mr. Lincoln's coffin. The body's discoloration, noticeable in New York, had reached the extent of distressing the viewers."

When Lincoln was exhumed in 1901 (after being moved 17 times since his original burial), his eyebrows had vanished. A 13-year-old boy at this viewing, J. C. Thompson, died only 4 years before Y. was born.

1
WHEN lilacs last in the door-yard bloom’d,
And the great star early droop’d in the western sky in the night,
I mourn’d—and yet shall mourn with ever-returning spring.

O ever-returning spring! trinity sure to me you bring;
Lilac blooming perennial, and drooping star in the west, 5
And thought of him I love.

2
O powerful, western, fallen star!
O shades of night! O moody, tearful night!
O great star disappear’d! O the black murk that hides the star!
O cruel hands that hold me powerless! O helpless soul of me! 10
O harsh surrounding cloud, that will not free my soul!

3
In the door-yard fronting an old farm-house, near the white-wash’d palings,
Stands the lilac bush, tall-growing, with heart-shaped leaves of rich green,
With many a pointed blossom, rising, delicate, with the perfume strong I love,
With every leaf a miracle......and from this bush in the door-yard, 15
With delicate-color’d blossoms, and heart-shaped leaves of rich green,
A sprig, with its flower, I break.

4
In the swamp, in secluded recesses,
A shy and hidden bird is warbling a song.

Solitary, the thrush, 20
The hermit, withdrawn to himself, avoiding the settlements,
Sings by himself a song.

Song of the bleeding throat!
Death’s outlet song of life—(for well, dear brother, I know
If thou wast not gifted to sing, thou would’st surely die.) 25

5
Over the breast of the spring, the land, amid cities,
Amid lanes, and through old woods, (where lately the violets peep’d from the ground, spotting the gray debris;)
Amid the grass in the fields each side of the lanes—passing the endless grass;
Passing the yellow-spear’d wheat, every grain from its shroud in the dark-brown fields uprising;
Passing the apple-tree blows of white and pink in the orchards; 30
Carrying a corpse to where it shall rest in the grave,
Night and day journeys a coffin.

6
Coffin that passes through lanes and streets,
Through day and night, with the great cloud darkening the land,
With the pomp of the inloop’d flags, with the cities draped in black, 35
With the show of the States themselves, as of crape-veil’d women, standing,
With processions long and winding, and the flambeaus of the night,
With the countless torches lit—with the silent sea of faces, and the unbared heads,
With the waiting depot, the arriving coffin, and the sombre faces,
With dirges through the night, with the thousand voices rising strong and solemn; 40
With all the mournful voices of the dirges, pour’d around the coffin,
The dim-lit churches and the shuddering organs—Where amid these you journey,
With the tolling, tolling bells’ perpetual clang;
Here! coffin that slowly passes,
I give you my sprig of lilac. 45

7
(Nor for you, for one, alone;
Blossoms and branches green to coffins all I bring:
For fresh as the morning—thus would I carol a song for you, O sane and sacred death.

All over bouquets of roses,
O death! I cover you over with roses and early lilies; 50
But mostly and now the lilac that blooms the first,
Copious, I break, I break the sprigs from the bushes;
With loaded arms I come, pouring for you,
For you, and the coffins all of you, O death.)

8
O western orb, sailing the heaven! 55
Now I know what you must have meant, as a month since we walk’d,
As we walk’d up and down in the dark blue so mystic,
As we walk’d in silence the transparent shadowy night,
As I saw you had something to tell, as you bent to me night after night,
As you droop’d from the sky low down, as if to my side, (while the other stars all look’d on;) 60
As we wander’d together the solemn night, (for something, I know not what, kept me from sleep;)
As the night advanced, and I saw on the rim of the west, ere you went, how full you were of woe;
As I stood on the rising ground in the breeze, in the cold transparent night,
As I watch’d where you pass’d and was lost in the netherward black of the night,
As my soul, in its trouble, dissatisfied, sank, as where you, sad orb, 65
Concluded, dropt in the night, and was gone.

9
Sing on, there in the swamp!
O singer bashful and tender! I hear your notes—I hear your call;
I hear—I come presently—I understand you;
But a moment I linger—for the lustrous star has detain’d me; 70
The star, my departing comrade, holds and detains me.

10
O how shall I warble myself for the dead one there I loved?
And how shall I deck my song for the large sweet soul that has gone?
And what shall my perfume be, for the grave of him I love?

Sea-winds, blown from east and west, 75
Blown from the eastern sea, and blown from the western sea, till there on the prairies meeting:
These, and with these, and the breath of my chant,
I perfume the grave of him I love.

11
O what shall I hang on the chamber walls?
And what shall the pictures be that I hang on the walls, 80
To adorn the burial-house of him I love?

Pictures of growing spring, and farms, and homes,
With the Fourth-month eve at sundown, and the gray smoke lucid and bright,
With floods of the yellow gold of the gorgeous, indolent, sinking sun, burning, expanding the air;
With the fresh sweet herbage under foot, and the pale green leaves of the trees prolific; 85
In the distance the flowing glaze, the breast of the river, with a wind-dapple here and there;
With ranging hills on the banks, with many a line against the sky, and shadows;
And the city at hand, with dwellings so dense, and stacks of chimneys,
And all the scenes of life, and the workshops, and the workmen homeward returning.

12
Lo! body and soul! this land! 90
Mighty Manhattan, with spires, and the sparkling and hurrying tides, and the ships;
The varied and ample land—the South and the North in the light—Ohio’s shores, and flashing Missouri,
And ever the far-spreading prairies, cover’d with grass and corn.

Lo! the most excellent sun, so calm and haughty;
The violet and purple morn, with just-felt breezes; 95
The gentle, soft-born, measureless light;
The miracle, spreading, bathing all—the fulfill’d noon;
The coming eve, delicious—the welcome night, and the stars,
Over my cities shining all, enveloping man and land.

13
Sing on! sing on, you gray-brown bird! 100
Sing from the swamps, the recesses—pour your chant from the bushes;
Limitless out of the dusk, out of the cedars and pines.

Sing on, dearest brother—warble your reedy song;
Loud human song, with voice of uttermost woe.

O liquid, and free, and tender! 105
O wild and loose to my soul! O wondrous singer!
You only I hear......yet the star holds me, (but will soon depart;)
Yet the lilac, with mastering odor, holds me.

14
Now while I sat in the day, and look’d forth,
In the close of the day, with its light, and the fields of spring, and the farmer preparing his crops, 110
In the large unconscious scenery of my land, with its lakes and forests,
In the heavenly aerial beauty, (after the perturb’d winds, and the storms;)
Under the arching heavens of the afternoon swift passing, and the voices of children and women,
The many-moving sea-tides,—and I saw the ships how they sail’d,
And the summer approaching with richness, and the fields all busy with labor, 115
And the infinite separate houses, how they all went on, each with its meals and minutia of daily usages;
And the streets, how their throbbings throbb’d, and the cities pent—lo! then and there,
Falling upon them all, and among them all, enveloping me with the rest,
Appear’d the cloud, appear’d the long black trail;
And I knew Death, its thought, and the sacred knowledge of death. 120

15
Then with the knowledge of death as walking one side of me,
And the thought of death close-walking the other side of me,
And I in the middle, as with companions, and as holding the hands of companions,
I fled forth to the hiding receiving night, that talks not,
Down to the shores of the water, the path by the swamp in the dimness, 125
To the solemn shadowy cedars, and ghostly pines so still.

And the singer so shy to the rest receiv’d me;
The gray-brown bird I know, receiv’d us comrades three;
And he sang what seem’d the carol of death, and a verse for him I love.

From deep secluded recesses, 130
From the fragrant cedars, and the ghostly pines so still,
Came the carol of the bird.

And the charm of the carol rapt me,
As I held, as if by their hands, my comrades in the night;
And the voice of my spirit tallied the song of the bird. 135

DEATH CAROL.

16
Come, lovely and soothing Death,
Undulate round the world, serenely arriving, arriving,
In the day, in the night, to all, to each,
Sooner or later, delicate Death.

Prais’d be the fathomless universe, 140
For life and joy, and for objects and knowledge curious;
And for love, sweet love—But praise! praise! praise!
For the sure-enwinding arms of cool-enfolding Death.

Dark Mother, always gliding near, with soft feet,
Have none chanted for thee a chant of fullest welcome? 145

Then I chant it for thee—I glorify thee above all;
I bring thee a song that when thou must indeed come, come unfalteringly.

Approach, strong Deliveress!
When it is so—when thou hast taken them, I joyously sing the dead,
Lost in the loving, floating ocean of thee, 150
Laved in the flood of thy bliss, O Death.

From me to thee glad serenades,
Dances for thee I propose, saluting thee—adornments and feastings for thee;
And the sights of the open landscape, and the high-spread sky, are fitting,
And life and the fields, and the huge and thoughtful night. 155

The night, in silence, under many a star;
The ocean shore, and the husky whispering wave, whose voice I know;
And the soul turning to thee, O vast and well-veil’d Death,
And the body gratefully nestling close to thee.

Over the tree-tops I float thee a song! 160
Over the rising and sinking waves—over the myriad fields, and the prairies wide;
Over the dense-pack’d cities all, and the teeming wharves and ways,
I float this carol with joy, with joy to thee, O Death!

17
To the tally of my soul,
Loud and strong kept up the gray-brown bird, 165
With pure, deliberate notes, spreading, filling the night.

Loud in the pines and cedars dim,
Clear in the freshness moist, and the swamp-perfume;
And I with my comrades there in the night.

While my sight that was bound in my eyes unclosed, 170
As to long panoramas of visions.

18
I saw askant the armies;
And I saw, as in noiseless dreams, hundreds of battle-flags;
Borne through the smoke of the battles, and pierc’d with missiles, I saw them,
And carried hither and yon through the smoke, and torn and bloody; 175
And at last but a few shreds left on the staffs, (and all in silence,)
And the staffs all splinter’d and broken.

I saw battle-corpses, myriads of them,
And the white skeletons of young men—I saw them;
I saw the debris and debris of all the dead soldiers of the war; 180
But I saw they were not as was thought;
They themselves were fully at rest—they suffer’d not;
The living remain’d and suffer’d—the mother suffer’d,
And the wife and the child, and the musing comrade suffer’d,
And the armies that remain’d suffer’d. 185

19
Passing the visions, passing the night;
Passing, unloosing the hold of my comrades’ hands;
Passing the song of the hermit bird, and the tallying song of my soul,
(Victorious song, death’s outlet song, yet varying, ever-altering song,
As low and wailing, yet clear the notes, rising and falling, flooding the night, 190
Sadly sinking and fainting, as warning and warning, and yet again bursting with joy,
Covering the earth, and filling the spread of the heaven,
As that powerful psalm in the night I heard from recesses,)
Passing, I leave thee, lilac with heart-shaped leaves;
I leave thee there in the door-yard, blooming, returning with spring, 195
I cease from my song for thee;
From my gaze on thee in the west, fronting the west, communing with thee,
O comrade lustrous, with silver face in the night.

20
Yet each I keep, and all, retrievements out of the night;
The song, the wondrous chant of the gray-brown bird, 200
And the tallying chant, the echo arous’d in my soul,
With the lustrous and drooping star, with the countenance full of woe,
With the lilac tall, and its blossoms of mastering odor;
With the holders holding my hand, nearing the call of the bird,
Comrades mine, and I in the midst, and their memory ever I keep—for the dead I loved so well; 205
For the sweetest, wisest soul of all my days and lands...and this for his dear sake;
Lilac and star and bird, twined with the chant of my soul,
There in the fragrant pines, and the cedars dusk and dim.

poem explanation

Posted by ypsidixit at 08:59 am | Comments (15)

01 mei 2006

MAYDAY!

"A colleague where I work sent a message all around the building to invite only those who believe in the "power of prayer" to a session of praying in the conference room. The first of May, the colleague has advertised, is "Prayer Day."

"In many places around the world, Europe in particular, today is "Workers' Day." This celebration seems to be a carryover from the good old days of communism. Remember those tanks and goosesteppers in Moscow's Red Square? I knew a drunken, loudmouthed, commie-hater from Arkansas when I was in the army who ended up, though unable to swim, drowned in the Nekar River. Rumor claimed that Donald had railed once too loud against The Red Menace and that the evening swim was against his will.

"For a few decades, the first of May has been advertised as "Law Day." We citizens of the U.S.A. are supposed to celebrate our freedoms to the extent they are preserved by law. Today I've seen already the many lawless speeding and weaving through traffic, threatening our lives and property. Where's the law? The churches and businesses of Ypsilanti, Michigan, are working diligently to prevent a law requiring businesses to service customers without regard for race, national origin, religion, veteran status, gender, sexual orientation, or so-forth. There's your law. As we used to say when I was in the army, "Who do ya hafta blow to get a beer around here?"

"Also, of course, is the distress call "mayday!" of innumerable pilots in innumerable 40s movies. We always rooted for the brave warriors in danger, cut down viciously by a merciless enemy.

"I prefer the May Day of my personal memories. We prepubescent urchins of the swampy Michigan woods were taught that on the first of May one should seek out the gift of wildflowers, package them prettily, and leave them as a token as if of sprites on the steps of widows and other old ladies. This duty we performed willingly and craftily. This is my May Day. No prayer. No work. No law. No war. Instead, flowers from fairies for the house-bound lonesome.

--Raymond Masters, May 1, 1997

Posted by ypsidixit at 11:05 pm | Comments (3)

A KIND READER inquires if I know who runs Union-Udell Cemetery. I know it's run by an association, but couldn't find anything online. I suggested contacting the geneo society and sent along a link, but in the meantime, might another kind reader know who runs this very busy cemetery? Thank you.

Posted by ypsidixit at 09:50 pm | Comments (3)

NEITHER CHERYL FARMER nor Bill Nickels will run for mayor this year. Story below.

11-year incumbent says she won't run for re-election

Monday, May 01, 2006
BY KHALIL E. HACHEM
News Staff Reporter
Ypsilanti Mayor Cheryl Farmer will not seek a fourth term this year.

Farmer, 59, who is a medical doctor, said she needs to devote more time to her job. She and other doctors have organized a private medical practice in Ann Arbor and she needs to share the responsibility of running the business, she said. Farmer, mayor for 11 years, is one of the longest-serving mayors in the city.

"It's been my honor to do it,'' Farmer said. "It's a big job. I have put my heart and soul into it and I hope it has made a difference.''

Farmer is the second person to announce retirement from the City Council this year. Council Member Barry LaRue, D-3rd Ward, said two weeks ago that he will not seek a third term in November. He too plans to devote more time to his job; to the Riverside Arts Center, where he is a facility chairman, and to teaching performing arts at Washtenaw Community College.

In addition to Farmer and LaRue's seats, Council Members William Nickels, D-2nd Ward, and Trudy Swanson, D-1st Ward, are up for re-election.

So far, the only candidates to file for the seats are Steve Pierce, who is seeking the mayor's job, and Brian Robb, who has filed for the Ward 3 seat.

Nickels, 67, had talked about running for mayor if Farmer didn't, but he told The Ann Arbor News on Saturday that he reconsidered his decision and plans to run for a third term in his ward. He said the mayor's job has more responsibilities and demands more time than his current post on the council.

"I decided not to be a mayoral candidate when it became apparent to me that I could not devote the time I should to the office thereby doing disservice to the community,'' Nickels said.

Farmer served on the city's charter commission in the early 1990s and became mayor in 1995, one year after the city adopted a new charter that included a Board of Ethics and a Human Relations Commission.

Under her leadership, the city has gone through many changes and faced multiple challenges.

The city established annual meetings to set goals for the city and for the city manager to follow. The process fostered a good working relationship among the council, the city manager and department heads, Farmer said.

"Hiring Ed Koryzno as city manager in 1996 was crucial to all of these efforts,'' Farmer said. "His competence and tireless dedication has enabled us to achieve so many of our common goals, even in the face of growing financial challenges.''

The city rebuilt all of its streets and replaced water mains, a project that came out of the goal-setting meetings. About $38 million worth of those projects continue this year, with street work and improvements to major thoroughfares in the city.

The city also embarked on the Water Street project, buying 38 acres east of downtown a few years ago to build a new neighborhood. The city wants to clear old buildings and replace them with condominiums and retail space south of Michigan Avenue and between the Huron River and Park Street. The city failed to reach an agreement with a Troy developer in December 2004, but selected Joseph Freed and Associates of Illinois last week as a developer for the project.

Also on the development front, the city attracted several investments, including Peninsular Place along LeForge Road, where new apartments replaced a former paper mill, and a downtown project that turned three empty buildings into loft apartments.

Farmer said she also is proud of successfully defending the city's Human Relations Ordinance after a group of residents challenged it at the ballot box, twice. The ordinance has several provisions, including the protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Farmer also initiated several ordinances to revamp housing in the city and encourage owner-occupied housing. Nearly 65 percent of Ypsilanti's housing stock is rental.

The city has a strong council, Farmer said. She also said she will continue to participate in the community.

"Our renaissance has been and will continue to be a team effort,'' she said.

Khalil E. Hachem can be reached at khachem@annarbornews.com or 734-482-3225.

Posted by ypsidixit at 01:33 pm | Comments (1)

5 Worst Songs of All Time

As ranked by CNN:

5. "Seasons in the Sun," Terry Jacks (No. 1 for three weeks, 1974): "A melody you couldn't play for your dog combined with inane lyrics" (Chris K.); "An all-time piece of dreck" (Darrell); "Having to listen to it is a season in hell" (Bonnie D.).

4. "I've Never Been to Me," Charlene (No. 3, 1982): "I want to punch out my radio when it comes on the air" (Larry W.); "Even the mush department at Hallmark would puke" (Eric and Linda); "I'm thinking that in her case, 'Me' probably wasn't such a fun place to go to" (Brenda K.).

3. "You Light Up My Life," Debby Boone (No. 1 for 10 weeks, 1977): "How can anything so insipidly slow light up anything?" (Bob B.); "[It] sounded like it was thrown together on a rainy afternoon by a lovestruck adolescent" (Jan R.); "The musical equivalent of being keel-hauled" (Michael R.).

2. "Muskrat Love," The Captain and Tennille (No. 4, 1976): "A song about aquatic rodents doin' the wild thing? Eeeeeew!" (Garland E.); "The name says it all" (Stacy D.); "I would pay good money to have its lyrics, tune, and even the fact of its existence erased from my memory" (Dave C.).

And the No. 1 worst song as voted on by CNN.com users:

1. "(You're) Having My Baby," Paul Anka (No. 1 for three weeks, 1974): It wasn't even close; Anka's hit beat out "Muskrat" by more than 50 votes, a veritable landslide under the circumstances. As our correspondents raved: "How can a person not be annoyed by lyrics like, 'You're a woman in love and I love what it's doin' to ya'?" (Shauna M.); " 'What a lovely way of sayin' how much you love me' -- If that isn't the most egocentric solipsistic revolting line of all time" (Stu S. and Andi S.); "I don't know a woman alive who doesn't cringe when it comes on the radio. I'm sure it's banned in most countries around the world" (Gord P.).

Posted by ypsidixit at 12:49 pm | Comments (27)