The Deuce

Snowpocalypse causing rise in early week grocery shopping?

As read on facebook yesterday...

"(Nameless friend) needs to go grocery shopping this afternoon. However, I will point out that this is my normal grocery shopping day and I am not going because of Snowpocalypse 2010."

Hillers Market during the early parts of this weeks snow storm

smith | contributor

Urban dictionary.com calls a snowpocalypse "when weathermen predict large amounts of snowfall in a short period of time." According to this mornings reports, weathermen are calling for anywhere from 4 to 12 inches.

Snowpocalypse?

Snownihilation?

Flakicane?

Flurricide?

Are you taking precautions to get you through the white stuff this week?

Recession blues: A fabulous birthday(s) on the cheap

I had it all planned. I would get up early, dress in my Sunday best, and hit as many free-birthday item spots in Ann Arbor as I could cram in. It may sound a bit dodgy, but the deals are plainly offered on ArborWiki for all to take advantage—and as an (ex)friend of mine joked, I might as well get a jump on my senior discounts.

I had a list: extensive, comprehensive, chronologically ordered. I was gonna run this game like a Swiss watch.

Lie to Your Cats About Santa

the deuce: Valentine's Day gift ideas from the experts

Valentine's Day is six days away and it's time to do some research. Rather than trust Google or (ugh) KGB (see below) I asked a panel of hand-picked experts for their suggestions on the perfect Valentine's Day gift ideas. They didn't disappoint.

KGB Team
KGB (text 542542 for answers)
Relationship status: unknown
"The best Valentine’s gift would be a romantic dinner that you cooked followed by a long walk."

Jamie - Hot Topic

Ashley Danielson
Build-A-Bear-Workshop Salesperson
Relationship status: married
"I’m a sucker for a guy who plays guitar, so if he wrote me a song and played it I’d melt. I think a good Valentine’s Day gift would be Champ the Bear. You can personalize a sound for him and buy accessories and everything."

Forest Juziuk is a one-man arts community in Ann Arbor

Forest Juziuk is a bit of a Renaissance man. Managing Wazoo Records (336½ South State) by day and upping Ann Arbor’s cultural clout on the side, Juziuk hosts popular experimental film and music events; performs as a DJ, comedian and performance artist; designs posters for the Ann Arbor Soul Club; runs record label Hall of Owls; and has published stories by artist/musician Brent Van Daley.

Juziuk says, “I don’t know exactly what the impetus was” for initially getting involved in the film, performance and music scene. However, he shares a clear vision of what he thinks is lacking from Ann Arbor’s creative scene and how he thinks his events and performances fill a cultural void.

My two cents: Shoes from the Grammys inspire spring update

Though the groundhog may not agree, spring is just around the corner, and judging by the stores it is already here. Spring is a great time for a new look or a few updates on your style.

To be honest, I have a favorite pair of shoes for snowy days that my daughter does not think should be worn out of the house. They are black rubbery clogs that are older than one of my kids. I keep them by the back door and wear them most days, but really felt too embarrassed to post a picture of my biggest fashion faux pas.

Instead, here are some inspirations of fun shoes from the weekend Grammy awards.

From the Front of the Room

Twice a day, even a busted clock gets it right

There are times when I’m out after midnight, taping posters to lampposts and electrical boxes, my fingers freezing in the cold, that I wonder why I do this. What’s the point, really? Yeah, so we hold a poetry event. A few hundred people show up. Some are bored. We barely break even financially. For weeks beforehand, I get almost no sleep. People get sick of my emails and Facebook updates and delete me when I infiltrate their in-boxes. My jaw hurts when, yet again, my robot-mouth says, …and I have tickets to sell for Poetry Night. Five bucks now, seven dollars if you wait to get them at the door. And, yet again, I have to fight the same battle with the principal’s secretary about how many posters I’m allowed to hang in the hallway. My kids and wife get frustrated that I’m not home enough. I don’t have any time to dedicate to my own writing. I live in constant fear that a blizzard will white-out the show.

SPUR Studios supplies demand for studio and practice space, reaches capacity

Ypsilanti’s new arts incubator, SPUR Studios, booked up fast.

After leases became available, in July 2009, an eager creative community staked claim to the 30 artist studios and band practice spaces located at the converted manufacturing office building at 800 Lowell. Within the first 2 months, 70 percent of the studios were rented. With only 2 units currently unclaimed, SPUR Studios is close to reaching full capacity, according to founder James Marks.

Chris Sandon of Dirty Bros. cleans up his office space before closing up for the night at SPUR Studios in Ypsilanti. Sandon and his Dirty Bros. partner, Steve Emschwiller, are managers of the building.

Melanie Maxwell I AnnArbor.com

Marks, who runs SPUR Studios with managers Chris Sandon and Steve Emschwiller, fell for 800 Lowell while he was looking for a new location to house his local merchandising company VGKids. He recognized immediately that the building was inappropriate for VGKids, but he saw potential for transforming the space into affordable studio space for artists, musicians, writers and other creative professionals and serious non-professionals.

Lie to Your Cats About Santa

Party bus, Open Skate and the Detroit Red Wings

If someone asks you to go on a party bus - it doesn’t matter where, it doesn’t matter when - just say yes. Don’t think about it, don’t check your calendar, don’t worry if you can afford it- it’ll all work out. Just say yes. I said yes twice in the last two months and I regret neither decision.

Got a fashion question? Send it to me!

Have you ever found yourself in a fashion dilemma that you didn't know how to solve? Let's put my knowledge to the test. Ask me anything! Not that I claim to be the be all end all when it comes to fashion. I really kind of go my own way for the most part. But, I do focus my life's work on this topic, so let's see how good I actually am. To start with here is a fashion conundrum that a friend recently asked me about.

Q. How do you keep denim dark? Can you recommend a detergent, washer/dryer settings, etc?

University of Michigan Law Quad's corbels tell a story

The Law Quad is probably the University of Michigan's single greatest architectural achievement. It is one of the most attractive places on campus and a big selling point when prospective law students come to Ann Arbor.

The Law Quad was built for the university by Michigan Law alum William W. Cook (Class of 1880 undergrad, class of 1882 law school) after the successful New York attorney wrote the Board of Regents in 1922 asking if he could contribute funds for "a law students' combined club and dormitory building.” More after the jump…

with slideshow: Caregivers Cup in Ypsilanti draws a crowd despite setbacks

Ben Lang, a glass blower from Louisville, Ky., shows off a pair of glass pipes he made for Puff Danny's in Ypsilanti, during the First Annual Caregivers Cup at the Ypsilanti Marriott Saturday.

Lon Horwedel | AnnArbor.com

Tiffany Bickelhaupt came all the way from Birmingham, Ala., for the 2010 Michigan Caregivers Cup in Ypsilanti.

There had been plenty of buzz for the canceled caregivers cup competition, in which caregivers in the state's medical marijuana program were to furnish medicine for patients.

The Deuce: J.D. Salinger dies, but The Catcher in the Rye Lives On

The Catcher in the Rye By J.D. Salinger

The Catcher in the Rye cast the same spell on me as it does on many high school readers; it took me a while to figure it out. It was definitely unlike any other book that I had read, and I couldn’t decide whether I liked it or not. I started out hating Holden and resisting Salinger’s unique writing style, but after I got past that, I was able to see how much more lies within his story and his character.

Spotlight on student clubs

Huron High School's Key Club is a rainbow of diversity

Key Club members helping wrap up gifts during the winter holiday season.

Jing Chai | Contributor

Huron High School is known statewide for its academic excellence. In addition to strong core programs, Huron boasts a plethora of extracurricular clubs that students of all backgrounds can join to broaden their interests. Key Club is among the most prominent of the clubs because it is the largest community service organization at Huron.

To give you a better picture of the extracurricular clubs at Huron, I will be doing a series highlighting several clubs at the school. I will begin this series with a brief commentary on Key Club.

play preview

Community High stages "Moon Over Buffalo"

Phil Walker is directing Community Ensemble Theater students in Ken Ludwig's light-hearted theater spoof, "Moon Over Buffalo," which runs February 4-7.

Recession Blues: Penniless (and clueless) at the auto show

Since we got in the car, the boys have been speaking in acronyms. I understand every fourth word or so—“sucks,” “awesome,” “I disagree.” They might as well be speaking Japanese.