Why do so many Americans drive for miles each autumn to buy a vegetable that they are unlikely to eat? While most people around the world eat pumpkin throughout the year, North Americans reserve it for holiday pies and other desserts that celebrate the harvest season and the rural past. They decorate the front of their houses with pumpkins every autumn and welcome Halloween trick-or-treaters with elaborately carved jack-o’-lanterns. Towns hold annual pumpkin festivals featuring giant pumpkins and carving contests, even though few have any historic ties to the crop.

Are you constantly experiencing stress, burnout, anxiety, beating yourself up for mistakes, fixated on what might happen if you fail? More than likely, your Saboteurs (Mental Stoppers) are running the show and your Mental Fitness is running weak. Mental fitness is your way of experiencing and creating your life. In this workshop, we will unlock new self-discoveries that will increase your inner power, connection, and inner peace.

No one left to beat? Come see the best Ann Arbor has to offer! We provide the Switches, you supply the smash! Join us for the longest-running Smash series in town and a chance to win a prize.

In his late twenties, poet Russell Brakefield was diagnosed with keratoconus, a degenerative eye condition causing progressive loss of sight. His new collection, My Modest Blindness, traverses this blurry landscape, connecting art, literature, natural history, and pop culture. In her late twenties, poet Katie Hartsock was diagnosed with late-onset Type 1 diabetes. Her new collection, Wolf Trees, meditates on this chronic illness and its daily demands alongside motherhood, mythology, and Midwestern woods.

Each week, AADL staff members share recipes in a specific category – from “Unusual Veggies” to “Favorite Cookies” - whether tried and true or tried and failed. The recipes that are discussed in this episode are attached to this event page. Please join the conversation in the comments section! What are your favorite recipes from this week’s category?

David and Susan Schwartz are two of the most enthusiastic speakers and biggest Costco fans you’d ever want to meet. In their new book, The Joy of Costco: A Treasure Hunt from A to Z (Hot Dog Press; September 12, 2023), they describe the many positive attributes of this retail giant and well-known civic leader. During the event, they will discuss the amazing scale on which Costco operates, describe the “behind the scenes magic” of a day in the life of a Costco Wa

Join the hosts of Haunted Mitten Podcast as they talk about the spookier side of Ann Arbor. Find out which of your favorite businesses have their own spooky tales to tell!

https://www.hauntedmitten.com/

Learn some basic and unique paper folding techniques as you create a zine in this workshop led by Jamie John. Jamie is an enrolled member of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians based in Traverse City, MI., and will also include a presentation on Anishinaabe artworks, including their own work, and how they communicate their lived experience through art.

Join AADL in welcoming Detroit's own Curtis Chin, author of the memoir Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant. Chin will be be in conversation with Doris Truong.

Jan Leland is a long time Ann Arbor mental health therapist with a background in helping her patients develop coping mechanisms for dealing with chronic stress. She is also a first-time published author who has used writing as a way to cope with stress. At this educational event, she will discuss how these two experiences came together during the first year of the COVID pandemic as she published her first novel, After the Before Times.

This event includes a signing with books for sale.