When we were all basically home bound during the worst of the pandemic, I started walking my neighborhood daily. I’ve continued the habit, even throughout Michigan winters, except when ice makes me fear for life and limb. One of the joys of neighborhood walks is discovering new little libraries, those small delights in which neighbors … Continue reading
A recent headline in a Detroit paper read, “Change your outlook with the 100 Days Project.” Given how hard it can be to maintain a positive outlook while deluged with information from the news, social media, etc., I had to read on. The 100 Day Project, I learned, is a global art project that takes … Continue reading
Recently I was heading to my back yard with a 5-year-old friend, and she dropped a ball, which then bounced down the steps to the lawn. She looked at me and without missing a beat, she said, in perfect rhythm: What’s that bouncing down the deck? A ball, a ball! Oh, what the heck. It … Continue reading
Just in case you, like me, missed the Bardcore genre when it emerged in 2020, this seemed like a good day to share a bit, just for fun. Somehow I missed the phenomenon when it was streaking across the Internet, but it is still a fine example of genre-bending flexibility that folks who are interested … Continue reading
David Zinn is an Ann Arbor treasure. I’ve written before about the seeming magic of his chalk art, in which fantastical creatures briefly appear in the nooks and crannies of the city, only to disappear with the summer rains or (as currently) winter snows. Now Zinn has shared his techniques with young people in The … Continue reading
What makes sound? What makes music? If you’d like to explore these questions, and perhaps set your students on a summer quest, consider Frank Pahl. Frank Pahl is a Michigan musician and composer who works with automatic music, or music created using automatic instruments. Automatic instruments don’t require a human to directly operate them, like … Continue reading
I was a young adolescent when the Beatles first appeared on Ed Sullivan. Their music sounded from every treasured 45 rpm record (yes, actual records) and boys in school were suddenly send home from school for combing their inch-long hair forward in the dreaded “Beatles hairdo.” After that phenomenon, nothing much has compared, so there … Continue reading
It is autumn in Michigan, that beautiful season that fills me with equal amounts of awe and dread. Crisp fall days with glorious leaves and (pre-COVID) cider mill trips are some of the most beautiful of the year. But we all know what’s coming next. Winds come, leaves fall, and November gloom descends before we … Continue reading
Want to make a comic book? Create a character? Play a scribble game? Do you really really need some summer fun when activities are closed? Author/illustrator Jarrett Lerner has your back. Lerner, author of books like EngiNerds (and Revenge of the EngiNerds!), has a wonderful website, full of treasures for teachers, students and parents. There’s … Continue reading
Ever scratch your head wondering how to make a coffin shaped paper box? OK, I haven’t either, but now that I’ve thought about it, I’m curious. The thing that sparked my musings, about coffin-shaped boxes, paper polygons, “exploding boxes” (no actual explosives involved) and even a paper icosahedron—along with other paper platonic solids—is a fascinating … Continue reading
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