Blog Post
Forgiveness May Be Good For You
by Stewart
Do you think that you are a forgiving person? Take a quiz to find out.
What's so great about forgiveness? Turns out, the act of forgiveness may benefit you and the people around you. The Power of Forgiveness is an incredible film that takes a look at forgiveness from the perspectives of academic research, faith, and the victim. Check it out.
Blog Post
Pedal Power
by Stewart
Hey Commuter Challenge enthusiasts! Check out the book Pedal Power: The Quiet Rise of the Bicycle in American Public Life. DePaul University Professor J. Harry Wray takes a look at how the simple act of riding a bike may impact perceptions of the world. Professor Wray says, "Because the world is experienced in a different way on a bike than it is in a car, the rider inevitably thinks of that world differently than does the driver." (page 18). The author had the idea for the "Biking and Politics" class in which he and his students ride 35 miles through the South and West side of Chicago.
Blog Post
Affordable Housing in Ann Arbor
by Debbie G.
The Housing and Human Services Advisory Board will hold a Public Meeting on Tuesday, May 13, 6 - 8:30 p.m. to discuss recommendations on the replacement of the 100-affordable housing units at the former YMCA. The meeting will be held at the Washtenaw County Building, 200 N. Main, Lower Level Conference Room. Following a 15-minute presentation, the public is invited to comment. CTN will replay the meeting throughout the week.
Blog Post
Poet Marvin Bell on Politics and Aging
by iralax
Marvin Bell is now retired from teaching poetry at the Iowa Writers' Workshop, but this wordsmith isn't slowing down. His nineteenth book, Mars Being Red, is a gutsy meditation on politics and aging. In "I Didn't Sleep," we read "I thought maybe I could sleep after the war / or catch a nap after the next election." And from "Assisted Living Quarters," Bell observes "All / the mothers have seventy-year-old babies." These are difficult themes for poems without coming across preachy or trite. Bell succeeds with measured doses of humor and grace, surprise and anger, and a fearless spirit.
Blog Post
Help support the Women's Center
by Maxine
This Friday, May 2, The Women's Center of Southeastern Michigan will be hosting their seventh annual fundraising event, "Opening Doors," an auction and dinner at the Morris Lawrence Building of Washtenaw Community College. The Women's Center is an agency devoted to helping women achieve personal and economic self-sufficiency through personal and financial counseling, job coaching and support groups. They charge minimal fees so that any woman can take advantage of their services. For more information on the event or their services, call 973-6779.
We have a great collection of books at the library on women's issues that may also be helpful to women going through some life transitions.
Blog Post
27 Million Slaves - Horror Stories
by annevm
Investigative journalist Benjamin Skinner deserves an award for researching, for four years, and writing this new book A Crime So Monstrous: Face to Face with Modern Day Slavery. The book puts human faces on “human trafficking” around the world. Salon has a good review and author interview, in which Skinner credits the 1999 book Disposable People for helping inspire his work.
Blog Post
A Literary Dealbreaker?
by jaegerla
Today an interesting topic came up in a discussion on NPR: do a person's reading preferences determine whether or not they are dateable? Would it be a "deal-breaker" to enter a date's home and find a Clive Cussler* novel on his-or-her coffee table? Would whether or not you pursue a relationship with a person depend on their Amazon wish list? What do you think matters more, what a person reads, or how much they actually reflect on what they read? If the latter appeals to you more, the library offers several books with information on critical reading, and feel free to offer your thoughts on this topic in the comment thread for this post!
*Note: If you have a Clive Cussler novel on your coffee table, my apologies.
Blog Post
Life As A Polygamist's Wife
by darla
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A friend of mine emailed me saying "You have to read this!" about Irene Spencer's autobiography Shattered Dreams: My Life as a Polygamist's Wife. Now that I've started the book, I too am hooked. Spencer's story of growing up in a Mormon fundamentalist family, and eventually becoming the wife of a man with nine other wives and 56 children, is a glimpse into a world that I can't seem to wrap my mind around. Her story traces her painful journey through life in a polygamous relationship and her choice to leave that situation, despite the teachings of the faith she had been raised in. Irene Spencer is currently in a monogamous relationship, which is also discussed in her book (obviously from an unique vantage point), and the honesty of her life story is intriguing, horrifying, hilarious, and ultimately a page-turner. I am near the end of the book now, and can't wait to see how she ends this novel.
Blog Post
Dawn Farm Education Series
by Beth Manuel
Dawn Farm invites you to attend the following free Education Series in January. Codependency will be presented on January 22, 2008 from 7:30-9:00 pm. “Chemical Dependency and the Family” will be presented on January 29, same time. For more information go to their website, it’s full of information about substance abuse & recovery, as well as the interesting impact they've had on the recovery culture in Japan.
Blog Post
What’s A Truax? Well I’m So Glad You Asked, Let Me Tell You!
by John J. Madonna
In Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax, an entrepreneur named Once-Ler sees his business grow from a one-room shop to a gigantic factory selling useless Thneeds made from tufts of chopped down Truffula Trees. The titular character, a small creature that speaks for the trees, pleads to Once-Ler to leave the trees alone, but alas and alack, the forest is destroyed and The Lorax leaves. Seuss chillingly bookends the tale in the idyllic forest-cum-wasteland with the now impoverished Once-Ler telling his story to a young man. In rare form, [Seuss, Dr">Seuss adds a real subtlety to Once-Ler as the now remorseful enemy, and doesn’t pander—does he ever?—to kids with his message. So what’s The Truax? Why it’s the hardwood flooring industry’s delightful rebuttal.
Just how does Truax measure up? Well, I imagine this is what Dr. Seuss would be like if Dr. Seuss sucked at writing and was an idiot. Harsh? Yes. False? The book’s online, read it and you tell me. Unlike The Lorax, Truax forgoes plot for merely a discussion betwixt Lumberjack (Once-Ler, but with a face) and Guardbark (The Bizarro Lorax.) In their first interaction, Guardbark, speaking for the trees, throws a hissied fit, whereas patient Lumberjack was Cucumber Boy (as in “cool as a.”) Even the animals, appearing only on Lumberjack’s half of the illustration, think Guardbark a nut. Once-Ler, despite being only a pair of disembodied hands, seems more a person than either these blokes.
The book, though, takes a surprising turn: it makes sense. The logging industry helps prevent wildfires, sets aside preserves, and even replants trees (though plenty of people deforest and don’t replant.) As Lumberjack makes sense, Guardbark gets nervous. But GB pulls out the big guns: “What about endangered species?” LJ responds, “Would anyone mind if we lost, say, a tick / That carried a germ that made the Cuddlebears sick…. How far will we go? How much will we pay? / To keep a few [creatures] from dying away?” In other words, “What about endangered species?” And Cuddlebear? Really? You’re going with Cuddlebear? Yet, this convinces Guardbark.
Guardbark, leave tree representation to The Lorax. Parents, if you don’t agree with The Lorax or Seuss, leaf through 570-599 in the Dewey numbers to find books about nature, animals, and biodiversity for your kids. Terri Birkett, author of Truax, leave the writing (and made-up animal name creating) to Dr. Seuss. In fact, just leave writing. Leave computers, pens, pencils, typewriters, crayons, markers, watercolours, everything. Don’t even write your name; just sign all your checks from the hardwood flooring industry with an X.
Post Script: Truax really bugs me.