Category Archives: Ypsilanti

As of today, Linette and I have been married 20 years

By Mark | October 2, 2019

On Saturday, October 2, 1999, Linette and I were married. Here, to mark the occasion, is a little something I wrote a while back, slightly updated to reflect that yet another year has passed. Twenty years ago today, after seven years of living with one another in sin, I married my friend and collaborator Linette […]

Also posted in Mark's Life, Uncategorized | Tagged American Studies, anniversary, Arlo, Chevy Blazer, Clementine, Cross Street Station, Dan Richardson, Doug Coombe, Leisa Thompson, Linette Lao, luck, Mama June, marriage, Matt Krizowsky, milestones, Northville, Plymouth, thankful, things I'm thankful for, weddings | 12 Comments

Ypsi Immigration Interview: Ingrid Ankerson

By Mark | September 8, 2019

Yesterday evening, I had the pleasure of attending a housewarming party here in Ypsilanti for Washtenaw Community College graphic design instructor Ingrid Ankerson. Here, for those of you who haven’t already had the pleasure of meeting Ingrid, who just moved to Ypsi from Wisconsin — by way of Baltimore and Ann Arbor — is her […]

Also posted in Ann Arbor | Tagged 1824, 2020, Annarbour, Baltimore, Ben Wikler, Brooklyn, cheese, cheese curds, crabs, dairy, dark money, Donald Trump, Elijah Cummings, Elisha Walker Rumsey, enamel, farming, gay marriage, gerrymandering, hot tub, immigration interview, infested, Ingrid Ankerson, jacuzzi, John Allen, Kettle Moraine, Kewaskum, Kohls, letterpress, Linette, Madison, Milwaukee, PJ Harvey, Pod Save America, racism, Ryan Molloy, Scott Walker, sheep, Sidetrack, Signal Return, teeth, typography, unions, Vandercook, Washtenaw Community College, West Bend, Wisconsin, Ypsi immigration interview | 15 Comments

“Honk if You Love Donald Trump!”

By Mark | August 29, 2019

A few days ago, I was listening to the punk rock classic Anarchy is Stupid in my car, when it occurred to me that it might be time to revisit the underlying conceit of the song. For those of you who aren’t well versed in rock and roll history, the song was recorded live almost […]

Also posted in Mark's Life, Uncategorized | Tagged Anarchy is Stupid, call to act, deprogramming, Donal Trump, Eastern Michigan University, EMU, honking, MAGA, Mark's big ideas, paranoia, performance art, political action, Prehensile Monkey-tailed Skink, shaming, Sterling Hayden, stupidity | 29 Comments

“Herp Talk” with local amphibian biologist Katy Greenwald

By Mark | June 23, 2019

Over the past few weeks, I’ve posted here about both tadpoles and frogs that my son and I had found in Riverside Park. Well, as a result of these posts, I’ve come into contact with Eastern Michigan University amphibian biologist Katy Greenwald, who, I guess, felt professionally obligated to write in and correct me, informing […]

Also posted in Environment, Mark's Life, Michigan, Uncategorized | Tagged Ambystoma, amphibian biology, amphibian fungus, amphibian sex, amphibians, Ann Arbor Natural Area Preservation, Anura, Arlo, Arnold Lobel, Australia, biology, Bufonidae, bullfrog, Cane toad, cats, Central America, chickens, children's literature, chytrid, chytridiomycosis, critters, cryptozoology, cultural impact study, Diplocaulus, earth science, Eastern Michigan University, EMU, environmental impact study, evolution, evolutionary biology, evolutionary tactics, extinction, faking death, faking one's death, flying frogs, Frog and Toad, frog-eating, frogamander, frogs, frozen frogs, gay characters in children's literature, Georgia, Gerobatrachus, Goro Furuta, habitat management, habitat preservation, HCI, herpetology, Heterodon platyrhinos, historic archeology, Historic Conservation and Interpretation, hognose snakes, Huron River, hybrid salamanders, immigration interview, invasive species, Karen Warkentin, Katy Greenwald, Kelly's Island, landscape architecture, Lepospondyls, Loveland Frog, Madagascar, Mark's frog pond, mass extinction, metamorphosis, nontraditional sex, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, OCD, Paleocene, pit viper, Population Viability Analysis, predators, Ranidae, relocating wetlands, reproduction, reptiles, restoring wetlands, Rick Shine, ringneck snake, Rutherford Pool, salamanders, Science Friday, sentinel species, Skyline high school, smeet, snakes, South America, sperm-stealing, tadpoles, Temnospondyls, the canary in the cole mine, toads, treefrogs, twofold cost of males, unisexual, University of Michigan natural history museum, vernal pool, warts, wetlands, Ypsi immigration interview, zoospores | 27 Comments

“The IT Outsourcing at WCC is a Scam. As a Taxpayer, You Should Fight It. Here’s Why and How.”

By Mark | June 20, 2019

Every once in a while, I’m reminded of the fact that we live in a pretty wonderful community. About a week or so ago, I heard about proposed layoffs at Washtenaw Community College, and I posted something here on the site about what was happening. As I said at the time, I don’t have a […]