Hail to thee, alma mater?

Not sure which profile in the college alumni magazine makes me feel least-accomplished: The circus acrobat, the winemaker, the twentysomething making a living off her food blog, "Wild" author Cheryl Strayed, or the dude who worked in the Vatican's secret archives. ARE THERE EXTRA COMMANDMENTS ONLY HE KNOWS ABOUT??

Bowling for dollars

I perhaps too much would like to scoop up all the stuff this closing Minnesota bowling alley is selling. Who wouldn't want a birthday bowling pin, or an M&M machine?

Seattle--snobby, yet beloved?

So I'm from the Twin Cities, but live in Seattle now. Some people absolutely have a weird reverence for Seattle. It's like the Ellen DeGeneres of cities--most everybody loves it.

So I wasn't that surprised to find out that Seattle was rated the most-liked US city in 2012 (last year, I know), though a little surprised to find out that BOTH Seattle and the Twin Cities ranked high on the snobby city list. I blame Frasier.

Our state bird is a great state bird

I love this attack on our nation's state birds so so much, mainly because the guy is SO ANGRY.

I also love that he recognizes Minnesota's state bird, the common loon, is right on the money.

Check out your state rating.

His comment on Arkansas gives you an idea of what you'll get: "Christ. What makes this even less funny is that there are like eight other states with mockingbird as their official bird. I’m convinced that the guy whose job it was to report to the state’s legislature on what the official bird should be forgot until the day it was due and he was in line for a breakfast sandwich at Burger King. In a panic he walked outside and selected the first bird he could find, a dirty mockingbird singing its stupid head off on top of a dumpster."

I don't think we're in Kansas anymore

I once interviewed for (and didn't get) a job at the Utne Reader, which was then located right above the Loring Cafe on the edge of downtown Minneapolis.

I can believe that the staff refused to move to Topeka.

Corny

Dammit, Rick, now you kind of make me want to try the sweet corn ice cream at the Minnesota State Fair!

It's the best state fair in our state

The Minnesota State Fair opens Thursday! The Strib has a web cam up so I can sneak peeks until we're actually in the state. Hopefully the web cam is in better shape than it was when I worked at the Strib, when it was always, always going down and we had to call the people in the promo booth and try and beg them to restart it.

Where all the storytellers are above average

Non-Minnesotans have no idea how cool this is, but Minnesota playwright Kevin Kling may take over at "Prairie Home Companion" when Garrison Keiller retires. THIS MEANS I MAY ACTUALLY HAVE TO LISTEN TO 'PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION,' PEOPLE.

Kevin Kling is outstandingly talented and if you like my writing at all, you will love his. Along the lines of Lynda Barry, kind of. If you ever get a chance to see his "Ice Fishing Play," take that chance. Rob and I still quote from it.

Sayonara, Shinders

When I think about moving back to the Twin Cities, I remember that a lot of the things I really loved there are gone.

People, yes, but even things like long-gone stores make me sad. St. Paul Book and Stationery, I'd love to shop you again. (who remembers the jingle? "A cent-u-ry of priiiiiide!") And I really mourn Shinders, the great local magazine chain that had everything...specialty mags, international newspapers, baseball cards, weird candy, comic books, a porn room that I always saw that one weird guy from my work exiting...it had it all.

The family running it passed it down to a relative who messed it up and lost it. And now they are auctioning off the final remains. So, so sad.

Arby's if Arby's were good

Minnesotans need never go to Arby's -- Mavericks does what Arby's dreams of. Roast beef sliced meltingly thin on fresh bakery buns with tons of toppings that you choose plus au jus, Italian beef, brisket ... you name it.

We stopped by when we were in town for book promotion appearances and it was just great.

Hometown mention

This is nice for me, even though it's just a little mention of our book in the newspaper I used to work for, the Minneapolis Star Tribune. You see, I've edited a ton of listings, a ton of roundup columns like this, and to have my own book in one is kind of a sweet completion of a circle.

Steee-rike!

Guy issues bomb threat at one of my old bowling alleys because he sucks at pool.

The Midwest is the best

What the HECK? There's a restaurant in West Seattle, the Heartland Cafe, that specializes in Upper Midwest food! (No, not the Minnesota pizza place in Ballard.)
Brats and sauerkraut, Leinie's, Kielbasa, Tater Tots, cheese curds, Chicago Italian beef, JUICY LUCYS.

I'm already planning a visit with my other Upper Midwest transplant friends. I told them maybe we'd all wear our respective state shirts, or something.

Subtract THIS!

A math professor from my college punched the University of Minnesota mascot in the face. Awesome. I cannot even type those words without laughing. A MATH PROFESSOR.

The story, too, is written like the reporter was shaking to hold in the laughter.

""Honestly, we thought it was funny at the time," said Barry Colthorpe, who watched the bleacher knock-down unfold as he sat with his wife. "I know it shouldn't be funny that someone got punched, but the fact that it was a mascot, it was an unreal situation. But you can't go around punching people even if it's a mascot."
and

"Goldy put up his hands, err, paws. "He was shocked," Elder said. "Then the guy stands over him and punches him again."
Goldy hustled out because "Goldy doesn't fight," Elder said."

and

 "I've been here 22 years," he said, "and I can never remember Goldy being punched."

I miss home, but maybe not yesterday

Sunday in the Twin Cities was the snowiest February day EVER. And that's saying something.

No more Baby Burgers

Aw, looks like my childhood A&W (Little Canada, MN) was one of this guy's four franchises, and is now closed. There's been an A&W there since at least the early 1970s. Not the best food in the land, but I loved the icy root beer and the kid-size mugs.

Beer me

Somehow I knew St. Paul's Hamm's Brewery would be on this list of abandoned breweries, though Schmidt is the one I remember.

From the land of sky blue waters...

Oh, Brett...

Oh, Brett...

Jacob's Hope

If this man didn't have anything to do with Jacob Wetterling's abduction, I really feel sorry for him, because it surely seems that everyone believes he did.

This was interesting -- I had not seen that the "person of interest" sat for any previous interviews. It also made me a little sick to my stomach that Patty Wetterling requested and got a private interview with him and flat-out asked him if he took Jacob, even couching it to ask if he was playing a prank that got out of hand.

I wonder if anything relating to Jacob's abduction will ever be learned in my lifetime. I asked John Walsh about this specifically a few years ago -- he said that they would have to find bones, because there was unlikely to be a deathbed confession in this case.

Red Dragon first kiss

I love this: Someone made a diorama of their first kiss with their sweetie, and it was outside the Red Dragon in Mpls.

Most people I know did not experience their first kiss at the Red Dragon, but perhaps their first restroom-or-outdoor-bushes-barfing session, thanks to the incredibly strong retro drinks, the mediocre Chinese food, and how hot it gets inside when you're wearing Minnesota winter clothes.