I've been a member of the Ann Arbor Ad Club for several years now. This year will be my last. When I started, the annual membership covered 6-7 presentations at which dinner was served. In the first season, they were at Mediterrano, and they were wonderful. The speakers were good, the food was fantastic and there was a cash bar. Then they moved the meetings to what's now the basement at SPARK. It wasn't as nice, but they had good catering and offered free wine and beer. And then they moved to Conor O'Neill's, which was better, but then they went out to a hotel at the mall, which was abysmal. Now they're back to the hideous SPARK basement. And as ...

I bought a new laptop this week - one of the new 13" MacBooks. It's very pretty and I'm enjoying it very much. My HP laptop died a month or two ago, so I'd been waiting on tenterhooks for the announcement of these new Mac laptops. I tried to go get one the day after the announcement, but the Briarwood store was useless and didn't have any. But my dear friends wouldn't let me be deterred and we went out to Novi on Wednesday afternoon. They had them there - yay - and now I have one. It was an interesting sight at the store - one after another after another new laptops walking out the door. I made an apple ...

We have a big ancient apple tree in our front yard. Mostly, it's the source of consternation: apples have to be picked up before they rot and before the grass can be cut. We don't spray or otherwise tend to the fruit, so we haven't ever really tried to eat them. But as you can see, they're pretty decent looking, albeit with some insect blemishes. So this year we tried to collect some for eating. Now, from this picture, you might suppose we could just reach up and grab them. But the apples in the picture are really high up - about level with the second story dormer. We ...

A new bar opened on Main Street - The Black Pearl. It was such a nice night last night, and Keith was itching to go out, so we gave them a try. Not bad for their first weekend of being open! We each had a martini: I had something they called an 'Ann Arbor Cosmo,' a regular cosmopolitan with the vodka switched out for Patron. It was ok; different, I suppose. Keith can't remember the name of his (something with elderflower???), but it was tart as all get out. Like a Sweettart candy. Both were ok; neither filled to the brim (Keith's especially was well below full) and neither had any garnish of any kind (no twists, no nothing). They ...

Enjoy a little Frank O'Hara this morning: Mothers of America let your kids go to the movies! get them out of the house so they won't know what you're up to The full poem can be read at frankohara.org

Oh dear, with a picture and everything. And big thanks to Ed Vielmetti for being a good sport. Now. Go sign up for Startup Weekend.

Dexter Road westbound is closed near Maple Road. Maple Road is down to two lanes, one each direction. This is supposed to last a week or so. There are a few other restrictions: Going Eastbound on Dexter: You may not turn left onto northbound Maple. You can go straight or turn right. Going Westbound on Dexter: You must turn. Northbound Maple is backing up heavily at rush hour due to merging down to one lane. Eastbound Dexter doesn't look too bad; I think people are avoiding it completely. The AATA #9 is picking up and dropping off on the west side of Maple, just south of Dexter (the Plum Market stop). Now ...

Two little stories, make of them what you will: Jack is in seventh grade and is taking the required Health class. It includes the dreaded Subject One Does Not Speak About With One's Mother, but apparently covers other stuff like exercise and nutrition and so forth as well. He was feeling chatty after school yesterday and was telling me that they were covering why people eat the foods they do. For example, your religion may ban certain foods, your culture may have its own foods, certain foods may be convenient, etc. I asked him if they talked about economics - why you might make food choices based on how much some foods cost. Nope. Never mentioned. As I watch the economy imploding ...

The boys have just arrived after spending the weekend at Norm's. They're here all this week - all day, every day - because it's spring break. AAPS didn't used to have this week off, they just did an Easter break, but somewhere along the line, the School Board decided that in a college town where the U has this week off, the schools need to be off, too. I'll note that the U doesn't have a long Easter break, but the AAPS didn't cancel theirs, so that kind of shoots the 'we need to match their schedule' argument, no? So now the kids get two weeks off school, spaced about 3 weeks apart. Can you feel my enthusiasm? Luckily, Keith ...

ANN ARBOR, FAR WEST SIDE. My inside source says that the Plum Market will be opening on February 7. What a fine birthday present! The signs just went up in the last couple days. They look great; it's a terrific new look for Maple Village. Not real happy about the blinding parking lot lights, though. I'm surprised the city let them put up so many lights - it's well over the line from safety into light pollution. Pretty sucky. But looking forward to a grocery store being close. Ahmo's also looks like it's on the verge of opening. There are menus up on the wall, chairs and so on in place, and there was a big Sysco truck delivering ...