#Ann Arbor Hills

[meganmazurek]

#JustListed: Incredible Ann Arbor Hills Home on Melrose Ave

Don’t miss 2137 Melrose Ave, one of the original houses in the sought-after Ann Arbor Hills neighborhood with all of the charm expected from the era with a thoughtful and seamless Damian Farrell-designed addition. 

The expansive first floor features a large living room with fireplace backing on a second fireplace in the office/den.

The formal dining room, with original built-ins, is off of the kitchen with stainless steel appliances, granite countertops, and recessed lighting. 

The addition includes a large breakfast nook with the original beautiful repurposed kitchen cabinets, leading to the covered porch. 

The spacious family room has custom cherry built-ins. 

On the second level you'll find the original primary suite with an attached bathroom, 2 bedrooms, full bathroom, and current primary suite with a walk-in closet, two sinks, soaking jacuzzi tub, and standing shower. 

On the third floor you'll find 2 bedrooms and large attic storage area. 

The partially finished lower level provides another office or family room, laundry, half bathroom, and plenty of storage space. 

The oversized 4-car garage features plenty of storage, workspace, and a loft.

Located in an ideal location near both University of Michigan campuses, downtown Ann Arbor, Hospitals, restaurants and shopping.

>  Click here to see more pictures of 2137 Melrose Ave in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

>  Click here to watch the video tour of 2137 Melrose Ave.

Call or text 734-645-4296 to schedule a showing today.

About the Author: Megan Mazurek is a full-time residential Realtor with the Charles Reinhart Company serving buyers and sellers in Ann Arbor, Saline, Ypsilanti and throughout Washtenaw County.

[morffyne]

[restrumed]

Never in my wildest dreams, did I think I would be announcing such a DREAM come true!!

Please help Super Kera accomplish this goal, all while snagging a Restrumed & _____ Merch Set!!!!

The link to the merchandise is in the comments!!

#restrumed #guitarstringjewelry #upcycled #jewelry #guitar #guitarpick #guitarist #musicians #artist #wearableart #guitarstrings #music #musiclover #gifts #crohnswarrior #fender #gibson #madeindetroit #bandmerch #stageusedjewelry #themachineshop #easternmarket #pineknob #wrif #wriffest #festival #detroit #flint #michigan #superkera

[roysexton]

The Future of Work: Human Connections #lma23 #lmamkt … interview with yours truly

READ INTERVIEW HERE: https://lnkd.in/gwrJfjAx Thank you, Gina Longo! I so enjoyed our conversation a few weeks back, and WOW! I love how you captured and framed it here. I come off like quite the good-hearted provocateur! I’ll take it! Love you EXCERPT: “And I’ll add one more: live in abundance, not scarcity. Stop competing with your own colleagues over nothing. Don’t do that to people. Just be…

[cabinetekmi]

Creative Storage Solutions to Indulge in During Bathroom Remodeling in Ann Arbor and Plymouth, MI

When it comes to bathroom remodels, creating efficient and stylish storage solutions can significantly enhance the space's functionality and aesthetics. Small bathrooms, in particular, benefit immensely from creative storage ideas that maximize every inch. The following are some innovative storage solutions to consider for bathroom remodeling in Ann Arbor and Plymouth, MI.

Built-In Shelving-Custom Recessed Shelves

Built-in recessed shelves are an excellent way to add storage without occupying floor space. These shelves can be installed in shower areas, next to the bathtub, or along any unused wall space. Customizing the size and location of these shelves ensures they blend seamlessly with the overall design while providing ample space for toiletries, towels, and decorative items.

Vanity Innovations-Floating Vanities

Floating vanities not only give the bathroom a modern look but also create additional storage space underneath. This space can store baskets, bins, or even extra drawers. Floating vanities make cleaning easier and provide an open feel to the bathroom.

Vanity with Deep Drawers

Opt for vanities that come with deep drawers instead of traditional cabinets. Deep drawers are easier to organize and provide better access to stored items. Consider adding dividers or organizers within these drawers to keep toiletries, makeup, and other essentials neatly arranged.

Creative Cabinetry-Medicine Cabinets with Mirrors

Medicine cabinets with mirrored fronts are a classic storage solution that always stays in style. They provide a convenient place to store medications, toiletries, and grooming essentials while serving as a functional mirror.  

Corner Cabinets

Utilizing corner spaces in the bathroom can significantly increase storage without compromising space. Corner cabinets or shelves can be custom-built to fit snugly, providing additional storage for towels, toiletries, and cleaning supplies.The same corner space can be utilized at its best while going for custom kitchen cabinets in Birmingham and Rochester Hills, MI.

Towel Racks with Shelves

Towel racks that incorporate shelving provide a dual-purpose solution. These fixtures offer a place to hang towels while providing additional storage shelves. They can be mounted on walls or above the door to save space.

Lazy Susans

Installing a lazy Susan inside bathroom cabinets can help organize and access smaller items like bottles and jars. This rotating tray makes it easy to find items without digging through cluttered shelves.

Maximizing Vertical Space-High Shelving

Adding shelves high on the walls can effectively utilize vertical space. These shelves are perfect for storing items that are not used daily, such as extra towels, seasonal decor, or bulk toiletries. Decorative baskets or bins on these shelves can keep things organized and add a stylish touch.

Creative storage solutions are essential for making the most out of one's bathroom remodel in Plymouth. By incorporating built-in shelving, innovative vanity designs, multifunctional fixtures, and maximizing vertical space, one can create a bathroom that is both organized and aesthetically pleasing. These ideas not only enhance the functionality of the bathroom but also contribute to a cleaner, more streamlined space.

[paulpingminho]

[blueskrugs]

I Love You (It's Ruining My Life) | Nick Blankenburg

this is a christmas fic. in july. for demi @wyattjohnston's birthday. which was in june. does the earliness of one make up for the lateness of the other? uh. happy birthday/happy holidays, I guess? fear of commitment / secret admirer / stranded / high school sweethearts / exes to lovers length: 6.4k words

Nick Blankenburg is the boy Olivia will never get over. 

There’s a framed photo in her mother’s living room from seven years ago of Nick and Olivia at senior prom. Nick’s tie and boutonniere matched Olivia’s red Sherri Hill dress and corsage. In her heels, she was a couple of inches taller than him. Olivia sees it, sees them nestled in between the rest of their family photos, every time she’s home. She loved that photo; Nick is smiling softly at her, hand on her hip as she laughs at something one of her friends was doing off-camera. There’s a blooper of that photo, of Nick making faces to keep Olivia laughing, because “her smile is better that way.” That was her phone lock screen for months after that day. 

Sometimes she wishes she could hide that picture frame now, or throw it into the fireplace and watch it burn.

But that would be dramatic. 

Dramatic like Nick breaking up with her two months after high school graduation, saying he needed time to “figure some things out.” Dramatic like Nick hardly talking to her for weeks before he dumped her, after they’d been dating for three years. 

Olivia had cried for weeks. Nick had been her first boyfriend, her first love. Washington was a small town, and almost everyone Olivia knew had married their high school sweetheart and settled down. She’d thought that would be her and Nick, too, until Nick decided to set his sights on bigger things. 

Olivia pretended to get over it and moved to Ann Arbor in the fall. Nick seemed like he was always over it, and he moved to Detroit to join Victory Honda. 

Olivia threw everything she had into school. She joined a sorority, joined clubs, started coaching a local girls’ soccer team. She was doing well.

By the time she was in her third year and one of her sorority sisters was telling her about the cute overage freshman named Nick who had joined the Michigan hockey team, Olivia is doing her best impersonation of a girl who finally got over her high school boyfriend.

It doesn’t stop her from dropping her phone on her face when her friend Paige leans over from her perch on the end of Olivia’s bed to show her the newest member of the hockey team. Nick Blankenburg’s smiling face stares back at Olivia from Paige’s phone screen.

“It says he’s from Washington, d’you know him?” Paige asks, oblivious. She’s already resumed scrolling.

“Yeah, uh,” Olivia says. “I think we went to high school together.”

“Oh, cool,” Paige says, continuing her blithe scrolling again. 

Olivia thinks that’s the end of it. Hopes it’s the end of it. She doesn’t frequent hockey games these days, and since Nick spent two years in juniors instead of heading straight to Michigan, it’s unlikely they’ll be crossing paths on campus any time soon. 

Then the football game against Ohio State rolls around. Olivia’s boyfriend Austin had traveled from Ohio to Michigan for Thanksgiving with Olivia’s family, and he stuck around through the weekend to go to the game at The Big House. Austin sticks out like a sore thumb, decked in all red, in a sea of maize and blue, but he good naturedly kisses Olivia at kickoff, ignoring the jeers of the crowd around them. 

Michigan loses. It’s a bit of a blowout. 

Someone from the next section over shouts something at Austin. He turns to shout back, tightening his arm around Olivia’s waist as they try to make their way out of the stadium with the rest of the crowd. Olivia’s not sure who starts it, but someone starts shoving. Olivia gets caught in the middle of it, jostled to the side as a fight starts. There’s more yelling. Someone pushes Olivia from behind, then from the side, and she falls. 

Or, starts to fall, until someone catches her. It’s oddly reminiscent of the time Olivia met Austin, at another Ohio State versus Michigan football game her freshman year, and someone had bumped into him, causing him to spill a soda on Olivia. 

She looks up into the face of the hands that caught her. “Nick?” she blurts. Nick’s grip on her elbows gets tighter, before he realizes he’s squeezing and lets go. He helps Olivia to her feet again. The crush of the crowd shoves them together, and Nick’s hands slide to Olivia’s hips to steady her. She’s still staring at him in awe, as if she’s never seen him before. 

Nick still hasn’t said anything. Through the crowd, someone takes Olivia’s hand. Austin. She turns to find him, following as he tugs her away from Nick. 

“Who was that?” Austin asks, leaning in close to speak in Olivia’s ear. Olivia cranes her neck around, but Nick’s lost to the crowd again. 

“No one,” Olivia says. “It was no one.” She’s not sure if she’s trying to convince herself or Austin. 

It seems impossible to continue to avoid Nick around Ann Arbor after that. Michigan’s campus has never felt so small. She sees him in the library, studying intently with his headphones on. She sees him walking across campus, always with a few other rowdy hockey players. She sees him waiting in line for coffee at Sweetwaters in the student union. Nick tries to talk to her, once. 

They were crossing paths on campus, and Nick reached out a hand. He was alone, for once.

“Liv, hey,” he’d started. Olivia takes a second to look at him properly for the first time. He’s grown up a little since they left high school, but he still looks like the same sweet Nick she used to know. She pulls her arm away from him.

“I’m late for a class, sorry,” she said. She was heading in the opposite direction of the Education building, and she thought Nick might know that. She walked away before Nick could get another word in. He never tried to talk to her again after that. They share smiles every once in a while; Olivia’s always feel fake.

The years pass. Olivia graduates, gets a job as a fourth grade teacher in Detroit. Austin moves in with her. She finally stops thinking about Nick.

When Nick signs with the Columbus Blue Jackets, Paige takes the liberty of forwarding every single Instagram post about him to Olivia. Olivia FaceTimes Paige just so she can flip her off. Paige spends the next year and a half making it her personal responsibility to keep Olivia updated on her ex-boyfriend—every injury, every goal, every time he’s sent back down to the AHL. 

Olivia tries not to pay any attention to it. Keyword: tries. 

Austin and Olivia drive back down to Ohio a few days before Christmas to visit his family in Columbus. Olivia very carefully doesn’t mention that Nick had been called up a few weeks back the entire drive. It had caused a fight, once, when she mindlessly dropped into a conversation about the Blue Jackets that she knew Nick. She’s never talked about him around Austin again. 

Later that night, when Olivia is standing on the curb outside of Austin’s parents’, her bag by her feet, tears drying on her cheeks in the freezing air, she’s briefly grateful for Paige’s incessant updates on Nick. At least she knows that the only person she knows in this awful city isn’t actually two hours away in Cleveland. She pulls out her phone with shaky hands. 

God, she hopes Nick hasn’t changed his phone number. 

The phone rings for so long that Olivia thinks Nick won’t answer. She swears under her breath and starts to pull her phone away from her ear to call an Uber instead when she hears a muffled, “Hello?” on the other end of the line. It sounds like she woke him. 

“Nick?” Olivia asks. A car drives by, kicking up dirty slush, and Olivia flinches. There’s a moment of silence. “You know what, never mind, I’ll just—” Olivia goes to hang up the phone again, but Nick cuts her off.

“Liv? Hang on, what’s wrong?” There’s shuffling on Nick’s end of the call. He sounds wide awake now. “Where are you, are you in trouble?”

“Can you come pick me up?” Olivia whispers. 

“Text me your address, I’ll be right there.” Nick hangs up.

Olivia’s numb by the time a car pulls up to the curb in front of her. A familiar figure jumps out of the driver’s seat and runs around the front of the car to pull Olivia into a tight hug. Olivia lets herself hug Nick back for a brief second, before he’s pulling away again and reaching for her suitcase.

“Liv, it’s freezing, what the hell are you doing standing out here?” he asks. He ushers her to the passenger seat and throws her suitcase in the back of the car. The heat’s blasting, and Olivia thinks Nick turned on the seat warmer for her. Her teeth are chattering. 

Nick pulls away from the curb. Olivia settles back and lets the suburbs of Columbus turn into a blur outside the windows. Nick allows her to wallow in silence for a few minutes before he turns to Olivia at a red light.

“You didn’t tell me what happened, or why you needed me to pick you up in the middle of the night from the fucking Columbus suburbs,” Nick says. He doesn’t sound angry, just worried. Washed in the red glow of the stoplight, Olivia can see the way his eyebrows crease. 

“Never gave me a chance,” Olivia manages. Nick shoots her an unimpressed look, but the light turns green again, saving Olivia from Nick’s gaze. 

Nick’s CarPlay is softly playing Taylor Swift on shuffle. Olivia lets it cycle through a few songs before she speaks again.

“Austin and I broke up,” Olivia says. 

Nick, to his credit, doesn’t ask who Austin is. Olivia’s pretty sure he never unfollowed her on Instagram. He’s probably seen all of her sappy posts from the last six years. 

Nick just clicks his tongue and says, “Sorry, Liv, that’s shitty.”

Neither of them say anything else for the rest of the drive to Nick’s apartment. Olivia gawks out the window as they approach what is, apparently, Nick’s building.

“What?” Nick asks, pulling carefully into a spot in the parking garage.

“Nick, this is bougie as hell.” Olivia has never felt so far from Washington, Michigan in her life.

Nick shrugs as he puts his car in park and climbs out. He pulls Olivia’s suitcase out before opening her door for her. “It’s not that fancy.”

Olivia smacks him on the chest. She’s struck, suddenly, at how solid Nick’s become now that they’ve grown up. Now that they don’t know each other. The reminder of how different they are, how far they’ve come since high school, shocks Olivia into silence as she follows Nick up the elevator and to his apartment door.

He shoots her another worried look over his shoulder as he unlocks the door. “Are you sure you’re okay? Are you still cold?” He pulls Olivia by the wrist across the threshold and over to his couch. He turns on the gas fireplace, which Olivia raises her eyebrows at.

“Not that fancy,” she murmurs. Nick’s still bustling around, turning his heat up, disappearing into his bedroom and re-emerging with an armful of blankets, dressed in sweats and a ratty Michigan T-shirt. He throws a blanket at Olivia’s face. She rips it off, sputtering, before she realizes what it is. “You still have this?” she asks, incredulous.

The blanket in question is a T-shirt blanket, emblazoned all over with Romeo High School—dozens of Nick’s high school T-shirts, cut up and quilted together by Olivia’s mom after they had graduated. Olivia has a matching one, laid across the foot of her bed back in Detroit. 

Nick looks sheepish for the first time since he picked up Olivia. “My mom, uh, helped me move in here, and she wanted to make sure I was never cold, I guess.”

The blanket looks worn, like it’s been used and washed dozens of times since they were eighteen. Olivia doesn’t call Nick out on it. 

Nick settles on his couch next to Olivia. “I’m, uh, driving home first thing in the morning if you want to come with,” he says awkwardly.

Olivia chuckles wryly. “Not like I’ve got anywhere else to go,” she says. Her mother is going to be so shocked when Olivia shows up on the doorstep in the morning. Olivia was supposed to come back from Ohio with a ring on her finger, not lugging back a broken heart. 

“Oh. Right,” Nick says. They lapse into stiff silence, until Nick yawns.

“You don’t have to stay up on my behalf,” Olivia says.

Nick looks over at her. “Nah, I’m fine.” 

He pulls out his phone, so Olivia does the same, content to scroll in silence for a while. Until Nick starts laughing quietly at something on his phone. Olivia stretches out and pokes him in the thigh with her toes.

“What’s so funny?”

Nick locks his phone sheepishly. “Nothing.” When Olivia raises her eyebrows at him, he relents. “Kent keeps sending me these tweets about me, they’re kinda funny, I guess.” 

Olivia feels her heart skip a beat, but she tries to mask it. She nudges Nick with her foot again. “Tweets about you? I need to see these.”

Nick blushes and tries to hold his phone farther out of Olivia’s reach. Her eyes narrow. That’s as good as a challenge, in her mind. Before she can think better of it, Olivia lunges across the couch for Nick’s phone. Nick jerks back, laughing, but Olivia manages to grab ahold of his wrist. 

“Liv,” Nick says, but then they’re wrestling for the phone. Nick’s still laughing. Olivia’s struck, again, at how much bigger Nick is than when they were still in high school. In the scuffle, Olivia ends up halfway in Nick’s lap, but she’s also successfully clutching Nick’s phone in her hand.

Olivia says a quick prayer that Nick is too sentimental to change his phone passcode. (It’s his mom’s birthday.) Nick half-heartedly swipes at the phone as it clicks unlocked.

God bless Karin Blankenburg. 

“Liv, c’mon, you don’t—” 

Olivia isn’t sure what the next words out of Nick’s mouth are going to be, because she cuts him off by bursting into laughter. She’s swiping quickly through the photo gallery in Nick’s message thread with Kent Johnson. Tweet screenshot, tweet screenshot, random golf photo, another tweet screenshot. They’re mostly innocuous, or vaguely thirsty, or rants about how Nick is underrated by the Blue Jackets organization and how he should get more playing time.

“Liv, what’s so funny?” Nick complains. He sounds put-out, and Olivia glances up from his phone to look at his face. He’s blushing again.

“Nick, like half of these tweets are mine.” From an anonymous Twitter account no one in her life knows about. Nick gapes at her. “I thought I had it locked down, but I guess some have slipped through.” She should check to make sure that account is still private, actually. Nick gapes at her. “What?” Olivia asks. Satisfied, she locks Nick’s phone and hands it back. 

 “I didn’t know you still paid any attention to me,” Nick says. Olivia hasn’t moved from her position in Nick’s lap. 

“A lot of it has been against my will,” Olivia admits. A lot of her tweets were posted under the influence, as well. Nick raises an eyebrow in question. “My friend, Paige, has made it her personal mission to give me a play-by-play of your entire career. Guess I was more invested than I thought.” 

Nick’s gaping at Olivia again. She wishes he wouldn’t look at her like that. She shifts uncomfortably back to her end of the couch.

Nick doesn’t say anything.

“Hey, uh, do you mind if I use your shower?” Olivia asks, trying desperately to break the awkward silence she has created. “I’m still a little cold.” In truth, she’s warmed up a bit, but she doesn’t think she could bear to sit in the same room as Nick for another moment. 

Nick seems to shake himself. “Oh, yeah, of course.” He points towards his bedroom. “The, uh, bathroom’s through there. There should be a couple extra clean towels and stuff in the closet. Use whatever.”

As Olivia stands to root through her luggage for a change of clothes and her toiletry bag, Nick does the same but slips into the kitchen. Olivia feels a tightness in her chest she didn’t realize was there ease. She sighs. 

When Olivia emerges from the shower twenty minutes later, smelling of Nick’s soap and only feeling marginally more like herself, Nick’s still hiding in the kitchen. He’s eating Christmas cookies, and he looks sheepish when he sees Olivia, like he’s a little kid caught sneaking into the cookie jar.

“Are those your mom’s cookies?” Olivia asks. Karin’s Christmas cookies were practically legendary back home in Washington. Olivia has missed them every year since Nick broke up with her.

Nick smiles. “Yeah, she sent me some a few days ago.” Olivia doesn’t bother pointing out that he’ll be home the next day. He holds the Tupperware out to Olivia. “D’you want one?”

“Is that even a question?” Olivia says, snatching the Tupperware. She slides onto the stool next to Nick at the counter, digging for a gingerbread cookie. Nick’s knee nudges hers. “These are the best cookies I’ve ever had. I thought I would die without ever having them again.”

Nick chuckles and gently slides the Tupperware away from Olivia. “That’s a little dramatic.” At Olivia’s skeptical look, he continues, “My mom loves you. She would make you cookies if you asked.” 

Olivia takes another bite of her cookie instead of responding. Olivia’s on her fourth cookie when Nick yawns. 

“Dude, go to bed,” Olivia tells him. Nick opens his mouth to protest again. “You’re the one driving back to Michigan tomorrow, and I’m obviously keeping you up. Go to bed.”

Nick rolls his eyes but gives in. “Fine, I’ll see you in the morning.”

The door to his bedroom is shut before Olivia can figure out what happened. 

Later, Olivia’s most of the way to sleep when Nick’s door creaks open again. Olivia hears Nick’s quiet footsteps as he creeps over to the couch Olivia’s laying on. She cracks her eyes open.

“Sorry,” Nick whispers. “I just wanted an extra blanket.” 

There’s four blankets Olivia isn’t using piled at the end of the couch. Nick carefully pulls one off. In the dim light, Olivia watches as he wraps it around his shoulders like a cape. She shuts her eyes again as Nick’s footsteps recede. 

“Liv?” Nick whispers. Olivia can barely hear him.

“What, Nick?” 

“I thought you hated me,” he says.

“I could never hate you,” Olivia murmurs sleepily. She’s asleep before Nick's door even shuts again. 

The next morning, Nick’s up early. Olivia groans and rolls over, burying her face in one of Nick’s throw pillows. She rolls back over when the scent of fresh eggs and toast reaches her nose.

“You made breakfast?” she asks.

“Yeah,” Nick replies, the duh implied. “Come over here, and eat while it’s still hot.”

Olivia reluctantly drags herself off the couch and takes her place at the counter next to Nick. Nick’s knee bumps hers again as he slides a plate towards her.

“No coffee?” Olivia jokes.

“We can stop for Starbucks before we hit the road.” 

For some reason, Olivia wasn’t expecting that answer. She can’t come up with a witty response, so she eats her breakfast in silence.

Nick clears both of their plates when they’ve finished, starts the dishwasher, wipes nonexistent crumbs off the countertop. Olivia looks around Nick’s apartment. It’s pretty much spotless, except for the nest of blankets Olivia left on the couch. Nick’s bags are packed and stacked next to Olivia’s by the front door. The apartment’s nice, but it doesn’t feel lived in. Olivia guesses it really isn’t much, since Nick’s been grinding down in Cleveland most of the season. 

“Ready?” Nick asks, jolting Olivia out of her thoughts.

“Yeah, sure, just lemme—” grab my bags, is what she was going to say, but Nick’s already hefting his duffel bag over his shoulder and grabbing the handle of Olivia’s suitcase. “Uh, yeah, let’s go.”

Nick leads the way back down to his car. Olivia watches as he tosses their bags in the trunk, then steps over to the passenger door to open it for Olivia. When he slides into the driver’s seat, he tosses his phone to Olivia. 

“Order yourself some Starbucks,” he says. “My order’s marked as a favorite, add that in, too.” 

Olivia sticks her tongue out at Nick as she unlocks his phone. “Like I would not order you something.”

She taps in her order while Nick drives to the nearest Starbucks. He makes a face when he hands Olivia her drink.

“How do you even drink that? Is there any coffee in there? Also, it’s iced, and it’s December.” Nick takes an appalled drink of his own hot coffee as Olivia sips her own very light, very sweet, and very iced coffee.

“Maybe you’re the one with shitty taste in coffee,” Olivia retorts, zero heat behind her words. When they were still in high school, neither of them drank coffee. Just another thing about Nick that changed without Olivia knowing.

Coffees in hand, they finally get on the road towards Michigan for real. Olivia had slept poorly on Nick’s couch, so she’s looking forward to dozing for a little while. Except, Nick chatters nervously for the first forty-five minutes of the drive. He even drowns out the Christmas playlist (her own) that Olivia cued up on his CarPlay. 

Olivia fights off a yawn. “Nick, you can just ask.”

Nick cuts himself off mid-sentence. “I don’t know what you mean.” Olivia gives him a flat look. Nick blushes and stares out the windshield instead of glancing over again. He sighs. “Why’d you and what’s-his-face break up?”

“Austin,” Olivia replies automatically. She notices Nick shake his head at her. She hesitates. “I thought he was going to propose this week,” she admits.

There’s a pause. “I don’t get it.”

“Austin told me that if I wanted a ring, I’d have to move to Ohio,” Olivia says. 

“What?” Nick asks. His immediate outrage is a little funny. “Liv, I’m sorry, that’s so shitty.” 

Olivia shrugs. “There was a fight about me wanting to stay in Michigan when I graduated a few years ago,” she says. “He never wanted to live in Detroit. I guess I sorta always knew this would happen, and I was just delaying the inevitable.” 

Nick clicks his tongue at her. “You love Michigan. Even in high school, you always talked about how you never wanted to leave.” 

Olivia can’t believe Nick remembers those conversations they had about the future. “I can’t believe you remember that,” she says.

Nick looks away from the highway for a moment to give Olivia a disbelieving look. “Why wouldn’t I remember that?” he asks.

Olivia doesn’t have a good response to that.

They’re both quiet for another few miles. 

“My turn,” Olivia asks, over the sound of The Carpenters playing on the car’s speakers. Nick makes a face, but doesn’t protest. “Why’d you break up with me?”

The question had been plaguing Olivia for years. She had thought she’d finally outrun it, but it followed her all the way to Nick’s car, all the way down I-75 towards Michigan. Maybe if she could get Nick to answer her now, she could finally truly move on. As soon as she could get out of this fucking car, that is. 

Nick sighs. “Liv, that’s not fair.”

“How is that ‘not fair’?” Olivia snaps. “You got to ask me a question, now I’m asking you.”

“Because I never liked that asshole you were dating, and I wanted to know what he did to break your heart.” 

“You never even met Austin!” Olivia says. 

“I didn’t need to,” Nick says. His knuckles are white on the steering wheel. “He got in that fight at the football game, and let you get pushed around.” “Nick, oh my god,” Olivia laughs. “It was a game against Ohio, all kinds of shit gets started at them.”

“He never should have let you fall,” Nick argues.

“Dude, that was like four years ago, how are you still upset about this?”

“He never deserved you,” Nick says.

“You never even met him!” Olivia says again. “And why do you even care so much? You dumped me after graduation.” Nick winces. “Why’d you break up with me, Nick?” she asks again.

“I didn’t want to hold you back,” Nick says,

“Hold me back? From what?” Olivia asks, but Nick talks over her.

“You were going off to Ann Arbor, I wasn’t even going to college.”

Olivia scoffs. “Nick, you moved to Detroit. That’s, like, 45 minutes from Ann Arbor.” Nick shakes his head. “And you ended up at Michigan a few years later, anyway. And you’re literally in the NHL now!”

Nick sighs again. “You’re not getting it, Liv. I worked my ass off to get where I am. I walked on to the team at Michigan. I never should have made it all the way to the NHL, but people took chances on me. I didn’t want you waiting around on some kid who wasn’t even good enough to get a second look from anyone for years. Would you have really wanted to be a senior, dating some stupid sophomore?”

“I don’t know! You never gave me the chance to decide that for myself. I never cared about the hockey, Nick. I just really loved you,” Olivia says quietly. “Wait, we’re literally the same age. Just because you were a sophomore by credits doesn’t somehow make you two years younger than me.” “That’s what you focused on?” Nick asks, but he’s laughing. His face becomes serious again. “I wasn’t ready to start thinking about the future. I was just trying to hold onto hockey for as long as I could back then. I knew everyone expected us to settle down like everyone else in town does, but I couldn’t do that.”

“I did think we would get married one day,” Olivia admits.

“See!” Nick says. “I felt like everyone had this idea, this plan for us, but I wanted to make my own plans. I don’t know, I guess I got scared of the idea of my future being written by someone who wasn’t me.” 

Olivia looks out the window, at the dirty snow along the highway. She thinks she gets it. She had this idea of what a perfect life with Nick would have looked like, and when she didn’t get it, she tried to mold Austin into all the gaps in her life that Nick had left behind.

“We were just kids, Nick,” she says softly. 

Nick chuckles wryly. “And when have you ever known kids to be good at talking about big things?” he asks. 

Olivia has lost track of how long they’ve been driving. She’s not even really sure how far of a drive it is back to home, but Nick seems to know the way. His GPS isn’t even on. They lapse into silence for the duration of another song, then two.

Finally, Nick breaks the silence. “So, now what?”

Olivia huffs out a laugh and scrubs at her face. “Cry. Delete the Pinterest board I had for wedding planning.” 

Nick shoots her a sideways look. “People actually do that?”

Olivia laughs again. This time it’s more real. “Dude, I’ve been working on this board since we were in high school.”

Nick doesn’t respond to that, though his cheeks look a little pink. Olivia wonders if she went too far. Nick had just admitted he had been scared off by everyone basically planning their wedding when they were eighteen. She’s about to open her mouth to apologize, to take it back somehow, when Nick speaks again instead.

“We’ve still got a ways ahead of us, I can shut up so you can get some rest if you want.”

Although Olivia had been planning on napping in the car when this little road trip started, Nick’s sentence makes her sit up straighter. 

“Nicholas, why would I want you to shut up?”

“I don’t know how you don’t hate me, Liv.”

Olivia could smack him. “Would you stop that? I don’t think it’s possible for anyone to hate you, dumbass.”

“But I broke your heart—”

“When we were eighteen! I was never angry at you, Nick, just confused, really.”

Nick falls silent. He’s quiet for long enough that Olivia does start to doze off.

“I missed you more than I hated you,” she whispers before she falls asleep. 

It takes Olivia a moment to reorient herself when she wakes up again. The car has stopped. Nick’s still sitting beside her in the driver’s seat, Christmas playlist still playing over the car’s speakers. Olivia looks blearily out the passenger window.

“This isn’t my house, Nick,” she says warily.

Nick gives her a sheepish look as he pushes open his car door, at the same time the Blankenburgs’ front door opens, and Karin appears.

“My mom wanted to see you,” he says. 

Olivia huffs and pushes her car door open, too. Karin is still standing on the front porch. Nick makes his way up the stairs, but his mom is focused on Olivia as she trails after him.

She reaches to pull Olivia into a hug. “Oh, Livvy, it’s so good to see you.”

Olivia stiffens, but hugs Karin back after a moment. “You too, Mrs. B.” She probably hasn’t seen Nick’s mom since before they broke up. “Merry Christmas.”

“Olivia, you know you can call me Karin.”

Olivia is physically incapable of that, actually, but she grins at Karin, anyway. 

Nick reappears on the front porch. Olivia hadn’t realized he’d stepped inside, but the door wafts all kinds of delicious smells from inside the Blankenburgs’ house as it swings shut. Olivia’s stomach grumbles. They must have driven through lunch.

“Okay, Mom, you got to say hi,” Nick says, stepping to Olivia’s side. “We should let Liv go, I’m sure she wants to see her own family.”

“Oh, they’re already all inside! So are your brother and sister, we’ve just been waiting on you two!” 

“What?” Nick and Olivia ask in unison. They share a bewildered look.

“Well, when you told me you were bringing Livvy home, I just invited her family over for brunch.” Nick and Olivia must still look confused, because she continues, “You know I always make too much food. And right now it’s all getting cold, so c’mon!”

Karin leaves Nick and Olivia on the porch.

Olivia looks sideways at Nick. “D’you think she made cinnamon rolls?” Olivia used to love it when she was allowed to sleep over on Saturday nights (in Katrina’s old room, while Nick slept in his own) and Karin made them fresh cinnamon rolls Sunday morning. 

Nick rolls his eyes, but he grins at Olivia. “All you care about is my mother’s cooking, huh?”

He pulls open the door for Olivia, still grinning. Olivia elbows him as she slips through the front door. She follows the smell of food and sound of laughter down the hall to the Blankenburgs’ formal dining room, Nick trailing after her. Every inch of the house is decked out in Karin’s Christmas decorations, and the dining room is no exception. The only thing Olivia is really focused on, though, is the table, piled high with food, and the two empty chairs at one end that are clearly meant for Nick and Olivia. They share another look, but everyone is waiting for them, so they take their seats. 

Brunch is great, if a little awkward. Nick’s brother and his girlfriend are home, so are Katrina and her husband. It’s nice to catch up with them, in between Karin grilling Olivia on her life over the last seven years. Karin’s cooking is as good as Olivia remembers it. She eats two cinnamon rolls. 

Olivia is in the middle of cuddling Katrina’s little boy when Karin says, “Oh, Livvy, it was such a surprise when Nick told me he was bringing you home. I can’t believe he didn’t tell me you two got back together!”

Nick and Olivia say, “Oh, we’re not—” at the same time Olivia’s mom says, “No, Olivia’s been with Austin, oh, what, six years now?”

An awkward silence falls over the table. Olivia realizes she probably should have told her mom the real reason she was coming home early from Ohio. Nick clears his throat as Olivia pushes her chair back from the table. She hands Katrina her squirming toddler back. 

“Mom,” Nick starts, but Olivia cuts him off.

“You know, Mrs. B, thank you so much for having us all over, but I’m pretty tired. Nick’s couch isn’t the most comfortable to sleep on.”

Nick shoves his chair back, too. “I’ll take you back home, Liv. I’ve still got your bags in my car, anyway.”

Karin stands, too. The dining room suddenly feels too small. She gently takes Olivia by the elbow. “Here, Livvy, let me pack up some leftovers for you.” Olivia follows her to the kitchen.

She overhears Katrina hiss, “You made her sleep on the couch?” as they head into the kitchen. Olivia waits obediently while Karin plies her with Tupperwares of leftovers and Christmas cookies. 

“It really was nice to see you, Livvy,” Karin whispers. “You know you’re always welcome here, remember.” She looks like she wants to say something else, or maybe hug Olivia, but Olivia’s too busy trying not to drop anything. 

“Thanks, Mrs. B,” Olivia whispers back. 

Arms full of food, Olivia bypasses the still-awkwardly silent dining room and sneaks down the hallway to where Nick is waiting for her by the front door. He looks upset, still, but his face relaxes when he sees Olivia. 

“Geez, did my mom give you enough leftovers?” he asks. He takes a few of the Tupperware containers off the top of the stack. When Olivia doesn’t crack a smile at his teasing, his face morphs back into something like concern. “Liv, you okay?” he asks.

Olivia forces a smile. “Yeah, just ready to go home.”

It starts to snow again on the way back to Olivia’s childhood home. Nick doesn’t need a GPS to get there. He pulls into the driveway and puts his car in park. Neither of them make any move to get out of the car. Nick turns the radio off and turns to face Olivia.

“Liv, you okay?” Nicks asks again. 

For the first time since she stood on the freezing curb the night before, Olivia starts to cry. 

“No, I don’t know—” She takes a shaky breath. “When we were together, I used to think I had my whole life figured out, then we broke up, and I was so lost. I started dating Austin, and I could finally see a plan for the future again, and I clung to that idea of a perfect happily ever after with him for so long, but it was all just a lie, and now I’m 26 and single again—”

“Hold on,” Nick interrupts, “26 is not that old, Liv, oh my God.” He sounds like he’s about to laugh, which makes Olivia giggle, too.

“I thought I was going to be married to you by now!” she protests. 

To her surprise, Nick doesn’t shut down. Instead, he laughs for real. “Liv, if you’d married me, you’d still end up living in Ohio, babe.”

Olivia makes a face. Nick laughs harder. “Okay, but, like—” She doesn’t have a good ending to that sentence. In a desperate attempt to avoid Nick’s knowing gaze, she flings open the passenger door and dashes up the front steps to the door.

She distantly hears Nick swear and throw his car door open as well. He runs up the stairs after her, putting himself between Olivia and the door. 

“But what, Liv?” he asks, breathless.

“Nick, I don’t know.” She does know. “I think a part of me always knew Austin wasn’t the right person. I guess, maybe, Ohio wouldn’t be too bad with the right person.”

It’s freezing outside. Nick’s warm breath fans across Olivia’s chilled cheeks. 

“And who’s the right person, Liv?” Olivia doesn’t answer, refuses to meet Nick’s eyes. Nick huffs. He captures Olivia’s chin gently between his finger and thumb and tilts her chin up until she has no choice but to look him in the face. “How ‘bout this: do you think we could try again, Olivia?” he asks. 

Olivia swallows hard. “I don’t know, Nick—”

Olivia thinks about desperately calling Nick the night before when she needed help. Thinks about the blanket her mom made him years ago still laying on his bed every night. Thinks about brunch at the Blankenburgs’, the inexplicable feeling of home, there with her family and Nick’s. 

Thinks about Nick, standing in front of her now.

“They say long-distance can be pretty hard, Blankenburg,” Olivia says. 

Nick scoffs, eyes warm. “Who cares what they say?” Nick’s leaning in now. “Please tell me I can kiss you.”

Olivia laughs and winds her arms around Nick’s neck. “I guess I’ll allow it,” she teases.

“Fuck’s sake,” Nick says under his breath. “You guess.” Then he’s kissing Olivia, both hands tight on her hips, fierce and sweet at the same time, years of unspoken words passing between them.

Olivia makes herself pull away. Nick pouts at her. “Knowing our parents when they get together, we probably have a few hours until Mom and Dad come home.” Nick grins, already knowing what Olivia’s going to say next. “Would you like to come inside?”

Nick kisses Olivia again, quick, before dashing off the front porch to his car. Olivia watches as he hurriedly pulls her bags out of the trunk. 

“Liv, I thought you’d never ask.”

Olivia watches, a smile on her face, as Nick excitedly makes his way back to her. Long-distance may be hard, but with Nick, Olivia thinks it’ll be worth it. Besides, everyone always says that “home is where the heart is,” right? Olivia thinks home is wherever Nick Blankenburg is. And maybe one day, he’ll sign a contract with Detroit, and they’ll both get to come back home to Michigan.

[cctinsleybaxter]

anyway if you live in the US go vote 'uncommitted' in the primaries on tuesday 3/5 (in these states); i know a lot of people aren't going to bother because it's not going to get biden removed from the ballot, but it shows dems that they're in danger of losing the election if they don't start actively courting their voter base; that fear is more likely to push us toward a ceasefire than any other within-the-system political gesture. From the Times:

...two of the Michigan cities with the highest concentrations of Arab Americans. With nearly all ballots counted, Dearborn gave 56 percent of its Democratic primary vote to “uncommitted.” In Hamtramck, “uncommitted” drew 61 percent of the city’s Democratic vote.

Perhaps more worrisome for Mr. Biden was his performance in Ann Arbor, a college town 30 miles to the west. There, where most students and faculty members at the University of Michigan live, “uncommitted” earned 19 percent of the vote. In East Lansing, home to Michigan State University, “uncommitted” got 15 percent of the vote.

While no other battleground states have Arab American communities the size of Michigan’s, they all have college towns where young, progressive voters are angry about American support for Israel. It is in those places — Madison, Wis.; Athens, Ga.; Chapel Hill and Durham, N.C.; Tucson, Ariz.; and State College, Pa., among others — where Mr. Biden faces a general-election threat if he does not attract overwhelming support and turnout among students in November.

[huriya]

College Shitlist (boycott these colleges)

This is the updating list of colleges where pro-palestine protests are present that have brutalized/arrested/punished their students for protesting the ongoing palestinian genocide.

REMEMBER: DO NOT GIVE YOUR MONEY TO THESE COLLEGES. PROTESTS ON THESE CAMPUSES ARE IMPORTANT, BUT KEEPING YOUR INTELLIGENCE AND MONEY AWAY FROM THESE ABHORRENT INSTITUTIONS DIMINISHES THEIR POWER. THEIR ONLY POWER COMES FROM THEIR STUDENTS AND THEIR MONEY. YOU HAVE THE POWER TO TAKE THEIR PRESTIGE AWAY.

In No Particular Order:

Princeton University

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

University of California - Berkeley

Stanford University

Virginia Tech

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

University of Washington

University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

University of Wisconsin - Madison

Harvard University

Yale University

University of California - Los Angeles

Cornell University

University of Pittsburgh

University of Chicago

University of Southern California

University of California - San Diego

Tufts University

Northeastern University

Stony Brook University

University of Connecticut

University of California - Merced

University of Massachusetts - Amherst

University of Iowa

University of Arizona

Arizona State University

University of California - Irvine

George Washington University

DePaul University

University of Pennsylvania

Pomona College

University of Texas - Dallas

The New School

University of Houston

University of Rochester

University of New Mexico

Duke University

New York University

University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill

Barnards College

University of Vanderbilt

Rutgers University - New Brunswick

Columbia University

Portland State University

University of Oregon

California Polytechnic Institute Humboldt

California Polytechnic University - San Luis Obispo

Northern Arizona University

University of Utah

University of Kansas

University of Illinois - Urbana Champaign

Washington University

New Mexico State University

University of Texas - Austin

Tulane University

University of South Florida

University of North Florida

University of Florida

Emory University

University of Georgia

Mercer University

Notre Dame University

Case Western Reserve University

The Ohio State University

Virginian Commonwealth University

University of Virginia

University of Buffalo

State University of New York - Purchase

State University of New York - New Paltz

Brown University

Brandeis University

Dartmouth College

University of New Hampshire

Emerson College

CUNY City College of New York

International List:

University of Amsterdam

University of Alberta

University of Queensland

University of Sydney

University of Melbourne

Australian National University

University of New South Wales

University of Calgary

University of Oxford

Feel free to share this list, send me additional colleges to add (WITH SOURCES), and/or request more information on a particular college

[undergroundrockpress]

The Stooges - Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor, January 13th, 1970.

[fiercynn]

palestinian poets: sara abou rashed

sara abou rashed is a poet, speaker, storyteller, and translator. originally from palestine, but born and raised in syria, sara moved with her family to columbus, ohio in 2013 when she was a teenager. in 2015, only two years after learning english, she won the ohio poetry association high school contest and became the 2015 columbus city poetry slam champion. she has a b.a. in creative writing and international studies from denison university, and she recently graduated from the helen zell writers’ program at the university of michigan-ann Arbor with an m.f.a. in poetry.

her works appear in the anthology a land with a people: palestinians and jews confront zionism and 9-12 english language arts curriculum from mcgraw hill as well as numerous other publications. her one-woman show map of myself has also received rave reviews. you can also read her essay a different ending is possible: from a palestinian american in matter news on the current escalation in genocidal violence against palestinians.

IF YOU READ JUST ONE POEM BY SARA ABOU RASHED, MAKE IT THIS ONE

OTHER POEMS ONLINE I LOVE BY SARA ABOU RASHED

Confession I at the rumpus

What the Exiled Are at the kenyon review

Against Content Warnings at the la review of books

History Says at pleidas: literature in context

you can find the full list of poets featured in this series here!

[antisemitism-us]

The Ann Arbor Police Department says the incident happened on Hill Street and South Forest Avenue at 12:45 a.m. local time on Sunday — a day ago.

“The 19-year-old male victim reported he was walking when a group of unknown males behind him asked if he was Jewish,” a police statement says. “When the victim replied yes, the group of males proceeded to assault him. The suspects fled the area on foot.”

[dailyanarchistposts]

Bibliography for FAQ

Works about Anarchism

Alexander, Robert, The Anarchists in the Spanish Civil War (2 vols.), Janus Publishing Company, London, 1999.

Anderson, Carlotta R., All-American Anarchist: Joseph A. Labadie and the Labor Movement, Wayne State University Press, Detroit, 1998.

Apter, D. and Joll, J (Eds.), Anarchism Today, Macmillan, London, 1971.

Archer, Julian P. W., The First International in France, 1864–1872: Its Origins, Theories, and Impact, University Press of America, Inc., Lanham/Oxford, 1997.

Cahm, C., Kropotkin and the Rise of Revolutionary Anarchism 1872–1886,Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1989.

Carr, Edward Hallett, Michael Bakunin, Macmillan, London, 1937.

Coleman, Stephen and O’Sullivan, Paddy (eds.), William Morris and News from Nowhere: A Vision for Our Time,Green Books, Bideford, 1990.

Coughlin, Michael E., Hamilton, Charles H. and Sullivan, Mark A. (eds.), Benjamin R. Tucker and the Champions of Liberty: A Centenary Anthology, Michael E. Coughlin Publisher, St. Paul, Minnesota, 1986.

Crowder, George, Classical Anarchism: The Political Thought of Godwin, Proudhon, Bakunin and Kropotkin, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1991.

Delamotte, Eugenia C., Gates of Freedom: Voltairine de Cleyre and the Revolution of the Mind — With Selections from Her Writing, The University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, 2004.

Dirlik, Arif, Anarchism in the Chinese Revolution, University of CaliforniaPress, Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1991.

Ehrenberg, John, Proudhon and his Age, Humanity Books, New York, 1996.

Esenwein, George Richard, Anarchist Ideology and the Working Class Movement in Spain, 1868–1898, University of California Press,Berkeley, 1989.

Guillamon, Agustin, The Friends of Durruti Group: 1937–1939, AK Press, Edinburgh/San Francisco, 1996.

Guthke, Karl S., B. Traven: The life behind the legends, Lawrence Hill Books, New York, 1991.

Hart, John M., Anarchism and the Mexican Working Class, 1860–1931, University of Texas Press, Austin, 1987.

Holton, Bob, British Syndicalism: 1900–1914: Myths and Realities, Pluto Press, London, 1976.

Hyams, Edward, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon: His Revolutionary Life, Mind and Works, John Murray, London, 1979.

Jackson, Corinne, The Black Flag of Anarchy: Antistatism in the United States, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1968.

Jennings, Jeremy, Syndicalism in France: a study of ideas, Macmillan, London, 1990

Kline, Wm. Gary, The Individualist Anarchists: A Critique of Liberalism, University Press of America, Lanham, Maryland, 1987.

Linden, Marcel van der and Thorpe, Wayne (eds.), Revolutionary Syndicalism: An International Perspective, Scolar Press, Aldershort, 1990.

Merithew, Caroline Waldron, “Anarchist Motherhood: Toward the making of a revolutionary Proletariat in Illinois Coal towns”, pp. 217–246, Donna R. Gabaccoia and Franca Iacovetta (eds.), Women, Gender, and Transnational Lives: Italian Workers of the World, University of Toronto Press, Toronto, 2002.

Miller, Martin A., Kropotkin, The University of Chicago Press, London, 1976.

Milner, Susan, The Dilemmas of Internationalism: French Syndicalism and the International Labour Movement 1900–1914, Berg, New York, 1990.

Mintz, Jerome R., The Anarchists of Casas Viejas, Indiana University Press, Bloomington, 1994.

Moya, Jose, “Italians in Buenos Aires’s Anarchist Movement: Gender Ideology and Women’s Participation, 1890–1910,” pp. 189–216, Donna R. Gabaccoia and Franca Iacovetta (eds.), Women, Gender, and Transnational Lives: Italian Workers of the World, University of Toronto Press, Toronto, 2002.

Oved, Yaacov, ”‘Communsmo Libertario’ and Communalism in Spanish Collectivisations (1936–1939)”, The Raven: AnarchistQuarterly, no. 17 (Vol. 5, No. 1), Jan-Mar 1992, Freedom Press, pp. 39–61.

Palij, Michael, The Anarchism of Nestor Makhno, 1918–1921: An Aspect of theUkrainian Revolution, University of Washington Press,Seattle, 1976.

Pernicone, Nunzio, Italian Anarchism: 1864–1892, Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1993.

Carlo Tresca: Portrait of a Rebel, Palgrave MacMillian, New York, 2005.

Pyziur, Eugene, The Doctrine of Anarchism of Michael A. Bakunin, Marquette University Press, Milwaukee, 1955.

Ravindranathan, T. R., Bakunin and the Italians, McGill-Queen’s Univsersity Press, Kingston and Montreal, 1988.

Reichert, William O., Partisans of Freedom: A study in American Anarchism, Bowling Green University Popular Press, Bowling Green, Ohio, 1976.

Ritter, Alan, The Political Thought of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, PrincetonUniversity Press, Princeton, 1969.

Salerno, Salvatore, Red November, Black November: Culture and Community inthe Industrial Workers of the World, State UniversityPress of New York, Albany, 1989.

Saltman, Richard B., The Social and Political Thought of Michael Bakunin, Greenwood Press, Westport Connecticut, 1983.

Schuster, Eunice, Native American Anarchism : A Study of Left-Wing American Individualism, De Capo Press, New Yprk, 1970.

Sysyn, Frank, “Nestor Makhno and the Ukrainian Revolution”, contained inHunczak, Taras (ed.), The Ukrainian, 1917–1921: A Studyin Revolution, Harvard University Press, Massachusetts, 1977.

Taylor, Michael, Community, Anarchy and Liberty, Cambrdige University Press, Cambridge, 1982.

Thomas, Edith, Louise Michel, Black Rose Books, Montreal, 1980.

Thomas, Matthew, Anarchist ideas and counter-cultures in Britain, 1880–1914: revolutions in everyday life, Aldershot, Ashgate, 2005.

Thorpe, Wayne, “The Workers Themselves”: Revolutionary Syndicalism and International Labour, 1913–1923, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, 1989.

Vincent, K. Steven, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon and the Rise of French RepublicanSocialism, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1984.

Zarrow, Peter, Anarchism and Chinese Political Culture, Columbia University Press, New York, 1990.

[roysexton]

Finding Your Voice: Leveraging Your Professional (and Personal) Brand on Social Media #lmamkt

Thank you, Madelyne Lawry and Ingham County Bar Association, for sharing this. Alexandra France and I were/are so grateful for the opportunity. ✨ And thank you, Charley Lawler, for suggesting this! https://youtu.be/fZDakFLD5-Q “With the rise of social media, knowing how to use it can be a vitally important tool. We had two experts from Clark Hill, Roy Sexton and Alexandra France, give an…

[cabinetekmi]

Bathroom Remodeling in Ann Arbor and Plymouth, MI

Elevate your kitchen with Exclusively Cabinets by Cabinetek. From custom kitchen cabinets in Birmingham and Rochester Hills to exquisite bathroom remodeling in Ann Arbor and Plymouth, MI, we bring timeless elegance and functionality to your home.

[contreparry]

Hi Ann! How about Arboreal Fort. Creative solutions to uncommon problems. Flatten the area? —Cullen. Of course the commander suggests hitting the hills until they forget they’re hills. —L I was joking. Meanwhile, have you threatened to cut out anyone’s tongue today? —Cullen Thinking about it right now. —L from DA Lore prompts? Happy writing!

Absolutely! Here's some Cassandra (with Varric) for @dadrunkwriting

The rope ladders weren't the disaster Cullen thought they might be. Cassandra was certain that Leliana would be smugly writing a note to be delivered by raven if she saw the secured rope ladders that crossed up the cliff face like the threads of a spider's web. The land need not be flattened with a mallet after all, dear Commander, she'd write (probably write), and Cullen would once more insist it was a joke and Leliana would insist on deliberately taking his every word earnestly, and Josephine would try to turn the ensuing argument to her advantage-

Cassandra felt a headache blooming behind her eyes, and she was leagues away from Skyhold and the War Table. Imagining the chaos within was enough to set her on edge. She inhaled the crisp morning air to settle her nerves. Best to get started. Traversing the Frostback Basin would take up most of the morning, even with her early start.

"Damn. Couldn't have put the rungs a little closer, huh? Or maybe built some stairs?" Varric remarked, his wry tone making Cassandra want to snap that they were on official business, not a pleasure jaunt. But she held her tongue, for Varric had a point. The rope ladder right above them was made with longer legs in mind. They might have to- and Cassandra almost groaned at the thought- find another way around.

Perhaps flattening the hills did hold some merit.

"I suppose we could lower a rope and hoist you up. Like a crate," Cassandra suggested, and Varric shuddered dramatically before offering her a (what he must have thought was charming) wink and grin.

"No need, Seeker. Just spied a ladder made for shorter legs riiiiight over there," Varric pointed towards a ladder towards the left of her own. " He walked off then, whistling merrily even though Cassandra caught his grimace right before he turned away. It was typical of Varric to hide his displeasure or discomfort behind a smile and false cheer, though Cassandra was surprised to see that he maintained this facade here, even with her. Usually he was happy to complain within her earshot, but now...

Perhaps this was his way of showing her mercy, Cassandra thought as she gripped the rope ladder and hoisted herself up the first rung. Her headache abated slightly. Perhaps today wouldn't be as dreadful as she first feared.