Summer O' Reading

Well, it took me long enough but I'm finally a card-carrying member of the Ann Arbor District Library! I was browsing at Borders this morning, trying to decide how to spend a $10 gift card, and I realized there were tons of books that I wanted to read but very few I actually cared to own. So I hurried over to the library, got my card, and promptly checked out two books (American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld and The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, if you are interested).

Meanwhile this summer (or judging by our week of 45-degree weather, spring), I've already read Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen and The Witch of Portobello by Paul Coelho, and I'm halfway through Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. If you're interested in my reviews, I loved Water for Elephants although found it was a very different story than I was expecting. It was a quick and easy read--great for beach bumming. I actually really did not like The Witch of Portobello, which was surprising given how great Coelho's The Alchemist was. I thought this book was pretty one-sided and superficial; it didn't explore in much depth why celebration of the female divine is important. On the other end of the spectrum, I'm loving Three Cups of Tea! I have never traveled to Asia or the Middle East, but Mortenson's experiences in Pakistan remind me exactly of my time in Botswana and Madagascar. Little things that are so difficult to articulate come through in his book--the frustration with the "greediness" of the Pakistanis who fight and manipulate to get Mortenson's school built in their village, at the same time deciding (hoping?) that greediness is maybe explained away by extreme poverty, and the impatience with a society that seemingly never sticks to deadlines and moves at the pace of molasses. And then, the description of Mortenson's disbelief and disgust upon returning to the States, where he stands with a half-empty camping backpack in the middle of swarms of suburbanites dashing to their next espresso. Love it! To anyone who has ever spent time in a developing country, this book does a great job of expressing all the mixed emotions of being a foreigner trying to do good in a world that most fellow Americans don't care to understand.

So, I do hope that the weather here shapes up, quits raining, and decides to actually be summer, but if it doesn't, at least I now have endless opportunities for reading!

FYI: Composting

My friend Lael has a great blog and just posted a video we made last year for our environmental journalism class. I hadn't watched it since that class ended, so when I rediscovered it on her blog, I was really impressed! (Maybe if environmental consulting doesn't work out, I will go into film production.) If you're interested in vermicomposting (using worms to compost inside rather than in a garden), check it out.

And if you have a garden and don't like the idea of worms as pets, just know that the instructions are the same for outdoor composting: include plenty of newspaper or cardboard along with food scraps to balance the nutrients for decomposition, bury the food and mix the compost regularly to speed up the process, and don't try to compost meat or dairy unless you have very good protection from raccoons and things.

I've also heard that 10% of the garbage from an average household is food waste, and (this is super cool) since rolling out their new/expanded residential recycling and composting program last year, Ann Arbor has actually been able to reduce time spent on trash collection, saving the city some much needed money. Both good reasons to compost!

To Do, For Fun!

This time two years ago, I had a long list of things that I simply had to do before leaving Brown. (How did I do? Pretty well.) This time around, I've been again working on a "To Do For Fun" list. Since I was so busy during the school year, most of these will have to happen over the summer. Here's my list! I'd love your suggestions if you know of other iconic Ann Arbor things that I should make sure I see or do before July.

• Big Ten sports: check! I had season tickets for football both years, and that is honestly the thing I'm going to miss most about Michigan. Football Saturdays are... amazing! I also went to two hockey games (one in the hockey arena and one outdoor game on the football field!), and three basketball games (we won one, lost one, and I can't remember the outcome of the third, but we did make it to an 8th place seed in NCAA March Madness!)
• Selma Cafe: check! This delicious "cafe" is only open from 6-10am on Fridays in some people's house, and it's pay-what-you-want for a local food, homecooked breakfast. They bring in visiting chefs each week and all proceeds support local hoop house farms. The food is extraordinary. 
• Mackinac Island: check! Thanks to Grandmother and Grandaddy, I was able to explore the quaint island where cars have been banned since the 1800s. Even though May is apparently not the right season to sightsee in Northern Michigan, we had a great time. Ate some delicious fudge, too. 
• Canada: check! I've now been to Canada TWICE. Once to Windsor, across Lake Huron from Detroit, and once to Sault Ste. Marie and Lake Superior. 
• Great Lakes: I've now seen four of the five (Huron, Michigan, Erie, and Superior). All I'm missing is Ontario, but unfortunately that will be easier if I go to New York rather than staying here in Michigan. 
• Fairy Doors: Apparently Ann Arbor artists have created a cute series of miniature fairy doors scattered across the city. You have to hunt them to see them! I've never managed to see one, so my plan is to look up locations online and go on a Fairy Door hunt one nice day. 
• Bell Tower: The iconic clock tower on campus is just begging me to go inside. I'm not even sure you can get to the top to look out, but I intend to try. 
• Top of the Park: a summer festival in Ann Arbor with lots of outdoor music and events, only a couple blocks from my house!
• Ann Arbor Summer Art Fair: another summer festival that is apparently a huge tradition. I'm a sucker for summer festivals!
• Krazy Jim's Blimpy Burger: apparently this burger place is worth checking out (according to the Food Network...), although after watching the video, I have to admit, I'm a little nervous about knowing how to order what I want!

Looks like I'll have a busy summer ahead of me!

Mastered science; now on to life.

Yay! I officially graduated almost two weeks ago and spent the following days exploring Michigan and Ontario, Canada, with my family. Now that I'm back in Ann Arbor, it's finally spring, and I'm loving all the free time I have to enjoy the weather. Soon enough, I know, I'll be busy moving myself to Boston and getting used to the working world. Here is a sampling of the events of these couple weeks:

 

Master Claire, adjusting my academic regalia.

Fellow SNREds process into the Big House!

Five-mile bridge across the Straits of Mackinaw.

The only state highway never to have been driven on by a car! (On Mackinac Island.)

Arch Rock and Lake Huron on Mackinac Island.

Carriage tour past beautiful, wealthy homes on Mackinac.

Lake Superior is still ringed with snow in Ontario.

Tahqemenon Falls on Michigan's Upper Peninsula, colored red by the tannin of the trees.