My friends: We were here late last night doing something we could not be more proud of. Have you met the Gearbots? Their living room is located in the front window of the Liberty Street Robot Supply & Repair. They are a robot family from the 1950s watching what we have determined is the robot version of the holiday classic It’s a Wonderful Life. (You’ll have to stop by to find out what that is.) Have you heard about the Main Street Area Association’s Window Display Contest? It is our hope that the Gearbots win, and you can help.
Here’s how it works: MSAA is offering $500 (which would be great to help fund all of our free student programs!) and $250 in gift certificates (which would be perfect for appreciating our volunteers!) to the best window. We are PRETTY SURE this is it:
You really should stop by and see it for yourself!
Here’s how you help: All you have to do is click this link, and vote for us. It couldn’t be easier! VOTE NOW. And we hope to see you in the Liberty Street Robot Supply & Repair soon!
Monday, November 9, 2009 – Two Things. Or Maybe, err ... Let’s Call It One-and-a-Half Things.
Hi! I’m dropping in today to remind you that THIS WEEKEND is our Euchre-for-Cheaters Tournament and Michimania Festival. I’m also going to cheat, sort of, you know, in the spirit of the event.
For those of you who don’t know, our Euchre-for-Cheaters event works like this: Team solicit donations for 826michigan. The more money they make, the more “cheats” they earn, so they can cheat their way to victory! Cheats include changing trump half-way through a round, reneging on purpose, and making your opponent play in mittens.
HERE’S where I cheat: My PARENTS are participating. Have you met my parents? They are wonderful people. I mean it. I don’t mean to brag, but I literally do not know anyone who has better parents than me. So if you’ve been thinking about donating to 826michigan, or if you’d like to sponsor a team in our tournament, allow me to recommend Bill and Linda Sumerton, aka the Loner Knights. You can get to their page (and see their hilarious picture AND where I get my sense of humor) here. Go on … DO IT!
And HERE’S the half: New window display going up Thursday night in the Liberty Street Robot Supply & Repair! We worked on it all weekend, and all I can say is this: YOU WILL BE WANTING TO STOP BY FRIDAY AND SEE IT BECAUSE IT’S GOING TO BE AMAZING.
Sunday, November 1, 2009 – Volunteer of the Month for November 2009
Sunday, November 1, 2009 – Feature of the Month: Superhero World of Words Podcast!
This October, Ami Walsh, MFA, and Cynthia Smith, BSN, RN, joined forces once again and reprised their Superhero World of Words workshop. This six-session workshop brought together two young writers who had faced a medical challenge, and showed them that words are a powerful tool for recovery!
Press play above to listen (5:21)
Or click here to download the mp3 (4.9 MB)
Ari and Sofia did an impromptu reading in front of the Liberty Street Robot Supply & Repair on the workshop’s final night:
Many thanks to Ami, Cynthia, and our magnificent and wonderful workshops intern, Catherine Calabro.
Thursday, October 29, 2009 – Workshops for Adults! Hooray!
Hey, adults! If you have ever said to yourself, Boy, I wish I could sign up for an 826michigan workshop, or, Geez, I wish 826michigan offered workshops for adults too, this is for you: 826’s How to Write Like I Do, a series of writing workshops for adults taught by professionals in their fields. These absolutely affordable workshops benefit the free programming we provide for students (AND feature Zingerman’s goodies!). This fall: fiction, graphic novels, screenplays, and blogging!
And so, without further ado, we proudly present our fall series of How to Write Like I Do workshops for adults:
Saturday, Oct. 31, 1-4pm — Stephen Elliott, (!!!!), author of seven books including the just released true-crime memoir The Adderall Diaries, presents: Writing from Experience. Attendees will discuss how to use their own lives as jumping points and framing devices for their stories, both fiction and non-fiction.
* Stephen Elliott will also be at 826michigan TONIGHT, Thursday, Oct. 29 at 7pm, as the kick-off for our new Great Lakes, Great Times Reading Series (details forthcoming). He’ll read from his new novel and answer questions. This event is free to the public, so please come. (We should probably note that this is not exactly, well, “family friendly.”)
Thursday, Nov. 5, 6-9pm — Jim Ottaviani, Eisner-nominated author of eight graphic novels about scientists, most recently T-Minus, presents: How to Write with Pictures: Scripting Graphic Novels. Attendees will discuss how the graphic medium has progressed, how to tap into its particular strengths, and how to get from idea to script to an effective collaboration with artists and editors.
Thursday, Nov. 12, 6-9pm — Jeff Meyers, lead film critic for Detroit’s Metro Times, and editor of the online publications Metromode and Concentrate presents: A Crash Course in Screenplay Structure. Attendees will discuss the basics of screenplay structure and constructing an effective logline.
Thursday, Dec. 10, 6-9pm — Mark Maynard, local blogger, has been publishing the award-winning zine Crimewave USA for fifteen years, and blogging for about eight, at the popular local site MarkMaynard.com. During the course of the evening, he will share some of the more successful and unsuccessful articles, interviews and comics that he’s put out over the years, and work with people on their own ideas for blogs/zines/etc. He will also talk about the use of blogs for social change.
Cost is $60 for a single workshop, or $50 per workshop for those signing up for multiple workshops. Do these make a great present to yourself or someone you know? YES! To sign up for a workshop, click here. As I mentioned, all proceeds benefit free student programming (including our on-site tutoring program at West Middle School, in-school residencies for four Ypsilanti schools and one Ann Arbor school, writing workshops, field trips, publishing opportunities, and more!), AND coffee and goodies (read: brownies and other yums) provided by Zingerman’s.
Questions? Email Angela at Angela@826michigan.org.
Monday, October 26, 2009 – ONWARD, Indeed.
After many, MANY months of excitement, turmoil, photography, description-writing, emails, and more, we are proud to present: a website for the Liberty Street Robot Supply & Repair. At long last, robot owners and enthusiasts alike can order all of the parts and improvements their robots need online.
Do not tarry! Travel to www.onwardrobots.com immediately and check it out!
SPOILER ALERT! We’re too excited not to mention that: very soon, the general public will be able to order our limited-edition set of screen-printed robot travel posters from the internet. These beautiful posters, designed by Ben English, will make the perfect holiday gift for anyone on your list.
Many thanks to Mollie Edgar and Claire Gaynor, the website designers! We could not thank you enough for all the hours of your lives you whittled away coding, cropping, importing, uploading, and a bunch of other words I have only a slight understanding of. What are you still doing here? Go to www.onwardrobots.com right away!
Tuesday, October 13, 2009 – Isn't Your Fridge Looking a Little ... Barren?
How do YOU feel about win-wins? You probably love them. Am I right? What’s NOT to love about a win-win?
This week, because it is fall, because we had such a lovely time at the Where the Wild Things Are pre-screening (thanks, really, everyone for all your very kind words, my goodness I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a response!), because programs are rocking along so smoothly, because we have such marvelous interns, because our volunteer orientations are more full than ever before, because we’re feeling a little famous lately, what with Dave Eggers visiting last week and David Cross and Amber Tamblyn shopping in the Liberty Street Robot Supply & Repair yesterday, wait … where was I going with this? Off track, apparently. All these things are true, however, what I WANT to tell you about today is:
This Thursday! Whole Foods Market has chosen us as the beneficiary for one of their Community Support Days, during which 5 percent of their total sales for the day goes to 826michigan. Cool, right? Join us, then, this Thursday, October 15, for our Community Support Day at Whole Foods Market! Simply go to the Cranbrook Whole Foods Market (that’s the one at the corner of Eisenhower and Ann Arbor-Saline Road) and grocery shop! A wonderful 5 percent of your purchase supports our free student programming!
I recommend stocking up on frozen foods, wines, and other things that you’ll need in the next few months that won’t go bad. Why not? It’s for a good cause! You: get groceries, which you probably need anyway; We: continue offering free tutoring, in-class support to teachers, field trips, publishing opportunities, workshops, and more; You: get to keep 826michigan alive and well in our community.
Come to think of it, it’s a win-win-win. Even better! Hope to see you there!
Monday, October 5, 2009 – Day Six: Zingerman's #46. 100% of the profits. Need we say more?
Even if we don’t, we feel, in our collective heart, the overpowering need to say more. Zingerman’s already does a lot for us; we got a private tour of the Bakehouse for an intern outing, they provide the goodies for our adult workshop series, they are always super nice whenever we call, and they make bread that has bacon in it (among a lot of other stuff). That’s why this next thing is so above and beyond:
Today, Zingerman’s Deli is donating 100% of the profits from sales of #46: Stan’s Canadian Hotfoot sandwich to us! We cannot believe our good fortune to again be recipients of their continuing generosity. Here are the details on the assemblage — Montréal smoked meat (beef) served warm, Switzerland Swiss cheese, hot mustard, and New Mexico green chiles on Jewish rye bread. Hungry yet?
Okay, now we really have no more to say, because tomorrow is THE DAY, the special pre-release screening of Where the Wild Things Are at the Michigan Theater (!), and we are running around like crazy to make sure everything goes off without a hitch.
See you there!
Sunday, October 4, 2009 – Day Five: We Finally Procured a Prize, and It's a Good One!
Back when we first announced that there would be an entire Week of Wild Things, we knew we wanted to have a prize giveaway, but it was just too early in the game to have secured the goods. Well, the time has come, and we think the winner will be happy.
Everyone who purchased four or more tickets was automatically entered into our very scientific hat* drawing. The winner will receive:
- $50 in gift certificates to The Melting Pot, 309 South Main Street, for a lovely fondue dinner
- A copy of Spike Jonze’s insanely cool three-books-in-one book Heads On and We Shoot: The Making of Where the Wild Things Are
- A signed copy of Dave Eggers’ The Wild Things, Dave’s novelization of his Where the Wild Things Are screenplay
Special thanks to The Melting Pot for their generous contribution to our prize package.
And the winner is:
DANIEL REISS
Congratulations, Daniel!
*We actually used a plastic container.
Tomorrow: Zingerman’s!
Saturday, October 3, 2009 – Day Four: Paper that is Scary
Almost a year ago, Matt Shlian contacted me about possibly teaching a paper-crafting workshop for us. We scheduled a meeting, and when that day arrived, he came in with one of the most astounding, amazing, and awe-inspiring portfolios I’ve ever seen. I essentially begged him, on the spot, to ALWAYS teach workshops for us. So far, he has taken us up on that. For which we are forever grateful.
Case in point: today, day four of our Week of Wild Things. When I approached Matt about teaching a monster-crafting workshop for us, he was more than up for the task. If you’re downtown today around 1pm, I invite you to pop into the Liberty Street Robot Supply & Repair, and peek behind the red curtains and into the workshop. The workshop, entitled Secrets of Paper Engineering: Monster-crafting 101, is, as you might expect, full (and with a waitlist about a mile long). In it, students will learn how to make paper scary. Neat, right?
Feel free to check out Matt’s website here, order a copy of his awesome Papercuts book here (or pick it up in the robot shop), and check out his amazing robotic paper entry in Art Prize (he’s in the top twenty-five out of 1200 artists!) here.
Prize drawing for $50 at the Melting Pot and a copy of the ingenious Heads On and We Shoot: The Making of Where the Wild Things Are tomorrow…
Friday, October 2, 2009 – Day Three: In Which I Teach a Workshop
A month or so ago, as I was putting the Fall Workshop Schedule together, I asked the amazing Scott Beal if he would teach a monster poetry workshop for us as part of the Week of Wild Things. He, quite excitedly, I might add, accepted. Alas, tragedy struck Scott’s family this week, and he will be unable to be at 826 tonight.
And so, quite accidentally, and even a little nervously, I will be teaching the Institute for Monster Studies. Or perhaps it’s more fair to say that the Downtowners will be teaching the Institute for Monster Studies, as I anxiously enlisted some of my dearest friends for the task at hand. Who are the Downtowners, you might ask? Think of us as an 826-super-group featuring myself (826’s program director), Jason DePasquale (co-creator of the robot store, Volunteer of the Month August 2006, Storytelling & Bookmaking artist, teacher of Dignifying the Doodle), Tyler Brubaker (robot-store all-star, Volunteer of the Month November 2007, kickball-team pitcher), and Dr. Sara Walker (robotier, kickball all-star, clinical psychologist). We’re not totally sure what we’re going to do tonight, but if it goes well, you’ll know, because every workshop schedule from here until the end of time will feature a workshop taught by the Downtowners. (I currently have a Be a Horrible Stand-Up Comic workshop brewing in my head. Details might be forthcoming.)
Week of Wild Things INDEED.
Monster-crafting with the illustrious Matthew Shlian tomorrow…
Wednesday, September 30, 2009 – Day Two: "Frisee (lettuce that looks like hair)"
When the fine people at Café du Jour offered to do a soup and sandwich combo for our Week of Wild Things, and told us that the soup portion would be Wild Mushroom, we thought, Wild mushroom soup. That’s appropriate! Little did we know that the sandwich counterpart would be just as, nay, even MORE wild. In fact, they kindly took the time to explain what frisee looks like, just in case we didn’t know (and, to be fair, some of us didn’t).
Visit Café du Jour today, 117 W. Washington, and order this tasty combo:
Wild Boar Ham sandwich with Havarti Cream Cheese, Dill, Tomato, and Frisee, served with French Mustard on a Pretzel Roll; and Wild Mushroom soup.
826michigan receives a portion of the proceeds from today’s sales, and your belly receives joy and happiness.
Today also marks the introduction of “The Wild Thing,” an adult beverage created by Full Moon Bar, 207 W. Main Street. They tell us it tastes much like a chocolate mint cookie, to which we said: YUM. So, if you are an adult who likes chocolate mint cookies, perhaps in refreshing beverage variety, stop by the Full Moon all week to order The Wild Thing. Once again, a portion of the proceeds will be donated to us.
Whew! Tomorrow: The Institute for Monster Studies workshop...
Wednesday, September 30, 2009 – Feature of the Month: National Day on Writing Podcasts!
In July, Michigan Radio’s Jennifer Guerra teamed up with UM Zell Fellow Brian Short to lead two installments of a very special workshop. The workshop, titled “Why Write?: Young Writers on Writing”, invited students to share their thoughts and experiences on the topic. Jen and Brian then put together two amazing, insightful, and hilarious podcasts, which are this month’s Feature of the Month.
Ages 8-11 workshop:
Press play above to listen (3:07)
Or click here to download the mp3 (1.43 MB)
Ages 12-16 workshop:
Press play above to listen (3:54)
Or click here to download the mp3 (1.79 MB)
The podcasts are also featured in the National Gallery of Writing, in conjunction with the National Day on Writing. For more information on the National Day on Writing, click here! We’ll be participating in Eastern Michigan University’s installment, providing volunteers and a fun activity in EMU’s Grand Ballroom from 10am to 3pm on Tuesday, October 20. Hope to see you there!
Wednesday, September 30, 2009 – Volunteer of the Month for October 2009
Wednesday, September 30, 2009 – Day One: Get Out Your Jammies!
HOORAY, hooray, hooray! Today kicks off our Week of Wild Things, at long last. Which seems fitting, somehow, as tickets to the event SOLD OUT YESTERDAY. (Yes, we know there are many sad people out there, and we’re sorry. We’re going through all the will-call stuff today and tomorrow, and once the dust settles, we MAY be releasing a few more tickets. Please check this website Monday at noon to see if we’ll have more tickets for the pre-screening of Where the Wild Things Are.)
However: Tonight! Please join us for our Pajama Pub Crawl. That’s right, you get to wear your PJs in public, you get to sample beer from some of Ann Arbor’s finest pubs, AND all proceeds go to 826michigan. The wild rumpus starts at 7pm at Old Town Tavern, 122 W. Liberty Street. As if the PJs weren’t enough, we’ll also have monster masks and crowns on hand to add to your costume, and who doesn’t love monster masks and crowns?!?
Pub crawl passes are $25, for which you’ll receive five drink tickets, redeemable for one selected beer at participating pubs. The tour includes: Old Town Tavern, Jolly Pumpkin, Full Moon, Blue Tractor, and Grizzly Peak; and the night wraps up with discounted snacks (and a chance to win a trip for two to the Bell’s Brewery in Kalamazoo, complete with hotel stay!) at the Arena at 11pm.
You can order tickets now on our website here, or get them at Old Town at 7pm. Hope to see you (and your jams) tonight!
Wednesday, September 23, 2009 – What's Happening at West
Tutoring really is the backbone of our programs: it provides much needed one-on-one attention from caring adults to students who, in many cases, would not be able to finish their homework on their own (or, in many other cases, would technically finish their homework, but wouldn’t necessarily understand it).
This year, we decided to do something pretty incredible with our drop-in tutoring program. We know that many Ypsilanti students would benefit greatly from our free student programming, but we also know that it is often impossible for those students to get to downtown Ann Arbor after school. So, what did we decide to do? We decided to bring our drop-in tutoring program to them. This year, Monday through Thursday, we offer free homework help at West Middle School in Ypsilanti from 2:30-5pm.
We just started this week, but we’re already, I think it is safe to say, in love. I had the good fortune to go on Monday. I worked, over the course of two-and-a-half hours, with three students, all of whom had what I would call a tenuous grasp of what was expected of them for their math homework. Let it be known: my grasp on almost all math is tenuous. However, the students were eager to learn, eager for the one-on-one attention, and eager for us to figure it out together.
Driving back to 826, all I could think was: Lives are being CHANGED, for the better, and maybe even in-the-best-possible-way, at West Middle this year. I felt like, here it is, September, and students are already falling behind in their math (and science and reading and so on) classes. It’s likely, if not certain, that were 826michigan not providing free tutoring to these students this year, by the end of the school year, many of them would consider themselves lost causes in certain subjects, and label themselves “bad at math” (or science or reading or so on).
Instead, these students will have an opportunity to have a caring adult help them understand their homework four days a week, right in their very school. Students who might have gone into the school year “bad at math” might label themselves “math whizzes” by the end of the school year. They might not be behind at all. They might be at the top of their class.
Even MORE exciting, we're teaming up with MERC (Michigan Education Reform Club), including Professor Bob Bain and club leader Dave Melter, our new BFFs, to do it. This incredible new club is supplying us with hoards of education majors to work with the students! We could not be more thankful for or impressed with Bob and Dave and their team.
It probably goes without saying, and I know that I am biased, but sometimes I am overwhelmed with all the good work being done at 826michigan. To think that we have HUNDREDS of caring adults who want to donate their time to us to help students write stories and be creative and have fun and express themselves and understand their homework (and so on) is truly, TRULY amazing. I am biased to be sure, but I also feel so lucky to play any part (even what is most often a behind-the-scenes one) in the hundreds of hours of good work that happens in our community through 826. And our staff of two can, quite literally, only take credit for the smallest part of it, because it is our wonderful army of volunteers that really makes it happen.
And, because I’ve gushed enough (probably) for today, I’ll end this by taking a quick moment to thank Phoebe Goldberg, our magnificent tutoring intern who is heading up West Middle this year (and someone I really cannot say enough good things about), and Deianira Smith, the counselor at West with whom we’ve been working, whose dedication and commitment to her students has really rubbed off on the rest of us. This project absolutely could not happen without the two of you. Thank you!
If my warm fuzziness today made you feel warm and fuzzy, you can download a volunteer application here.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009 – Busy, Busy, BUSY!
Okay, lots to cover here, and who doesn’t love an itemized list, am I right? And in the interest of saving your time and ours, I’ll give you the Top 5:
- Amanda had her baby! Beatrix Eleanor was born last Thursday, right around noon. Nine pounds and healthy as can be! Mom, Dad, and baby are all doing great.
- Tutoring started! For the last two days, we’ve had about ten tutors and almost as many students; not bad for the first week, I can tell you from experience. We start our brand-new tutoring program at West Middle School in Ypsilanti tomorrow. (And, it’s too early to get into details right now, but I met up with the amazing students of the Michigan Education Reform Club at U of M last night, and their advisory professor and I had an incredibly exciting conversation about how we might partner with MERC for this project. Details forthcoming!)
- Fall Workshop Schedule starts Saturday!
- Workshops! You can find them here. We still have a couple that aren’t full.
- Drop-in ELL! Finally! An English Language Learners program! ELL students, please join us this Saturday at noon for fun and creative instruction on grammar and communication skills. This is for any and all English Language Learners aged 8 to 18. Click the link for workshops for more info.
- Drop-in Writing! Drop-in Writing starts this coming Monday at 6pm! If you are between the ages of 8 and 18, please join us for an hour of goofy-to-semi-serious-and-all-points-in-between writing exercises!
- Where the Wild Things Are special pre-screening! Click here for more information and here to get your tickets. They have not even been on sale for a week yet and we are more than halfway to sold out, so do not tarry!
- Week of Wild Things! Find out about all our plans here. The kickoff is our Pajama Pub Crawl, info here, and tickets—also about halfway to sold out—here.
Okay, friends, THERE IS SO MUCH TO BE DONE, so I am off. Hope to see you soon at four out of the five items above. (Am I right in thinking it would be weird to see you all “at” Amanda’s baby?)
Wednesday, September 9, 2009 – IT'S HERE!
We proudly present: The Fall 2009 Workshop Schedule. Enjoy!
Thursday, September 3, 2009 – 826michigan presents: Our Week of Wild Things!
& Repair lately? Friends, this is only a very
SMALL SECTION of our Wild Window Display.
The wild rumpus begins:
1. Wednesday, September 30, with our monsterishously hilarious Pajama Pub Crawl. Join us as we meander the streets of Ann Arbor bedecked in our favorite PJs, wearing crowns and monster masks. Click here for more information, and to order tickets while they are still available!
And continues:
2. Thursday, October 1, when monsterishously delicious Soup du Jour offers a special-for-us, Wild-Things-themed soup and sandwich combo, proceeds to benefit 826!
3. Friday, October 2, as the monsterishously divine Scott Beal invites students to join him at the Institute for Monster Studies, a poetry workshop for 8-11 year olds. (Sign up for this on the Fall Workshop Schedule. Registration begins on this very website next Wednesday, September 9, at 7pm.)
4. Saturday, October 3, when the monsterishously brilliant Matthew Shlian teaches students to make monster-y pop-up books, an exercise in making paper scary for 9-12 year olds. (Sign up for this on the Fall Workshop Schedule. Registration begins on this very website next Wednesday, September 9, at 7pm.)
5. Sunday, October 4, as our monsterishously mysterious (at least at this moment) prize drawing is held. People who purchase four or more tickets for the pre-screening of Where the Wild Things Are will automatically be entered. What do they win? We’re not sure yet,, but it will happen on this day, and it will be good.
6. Monday, October 5, when monsterishously tasty Zingerman’s Deli creates a one-of-a-kind, only-for-us sandwich, proceeds to benefit us!
And finishes up:
7. Tuesday, October 6, at the monsterishously monumental Michigan Theater for the pre-screening of Where the Wild Things Are. Many of you probably know by now that 826 founder Dave Eggers co-wrote the screenplay for this film, and therefore, all seven 826s get special pre-screenings before the movie is even released!
Once again: tickets will be released Thursday, September 10, at noon. They will be available at that time on our website and in our store, the Liberty Street Robot Supply & Repair. We have an INCREDIBLY limited number of seats, so this WILL SELL OUT. Dave Eggers will be in attendance for a Q&A, and we’ll have a small number of VIP tickets for people who want to come to the movie and go to the exclusive afterparty at Grange with Dave.
See you back here in almost exactly one week!
Tuesday, September 1, 2009 – Feature of the Month: Roboto!
Roboto! This summer, we held an intensive, week-long Animation Camp for teens led by Oscar-nominated animator and filmmaker Gary Schwartz. The students holed up in our basement for up to ten hours a day, and when they emerged, they'd made: Roboto, an amazing two-minute stop-motion film. The film will show at the Hiroshima International Animation Festival in Japan next year! Here's your chance to see it first.
Many thanks to our facilitators, Aaron Howard, Chris Hiltz, Martine Moore, Theresa Choe, and our sound technicians, Fred Thomas and Ryan Howard.
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