Reviews, Recipes, and Random Slices of Life

Am hoping a trip to the Midtown Global Market this afternoon will kill 3 birds with one stone:
* buy apples to slow-cook for gothluck on Monday
* access free wi-fi for the uploading of photographs (I seem to recall somebody saying they had free wi-fi)
* satisfy that urge I've had to do "city things"

"City things" are a lot of the reason that I feel like I'm a city person, not a country person or a small town person, and yet when things get busy or I forget and let it slide...no city things. And then I say to myself, "I live in a city, I should really be taking advantage of city things!" City things include zoos, history museums, art museums, science museums, historic houses open to the public, tours, live music, non-chain restaurants, farmers markets, art show openings, and other events/places that only exist because we're in a city. Yes, this even includes Mall of America (confession: I like visiting it). And Midtown Global Market. They're the sort of things that some citydwellers tend to forget about until that once-every-five-years visit from family members.

Yup. That there's one of my goals for the next year, and why wait 'til then? I live in a city, and I like living in a city, but it's about time I learned to take advantage of it properly. As is, I feel rather backwards. Oh, I take advantage of a lot of the wonderful things about the Twin Cities--ethnic foods, the Mississippi River, citywide events, free or next-to-nothing lectures and classes--but usually it's by default rather than because I'm seeking out the wonder. My photograph safaris (when it's warm enough out) have helped me to find the unique, the random, the irreplaceable in my neighborhood, and I want to extend that to all of the Twin Cities.

Change starts now. To begin with, I'm going to seek out Christmassy celebrations in the Twin Cities--the Ice Palace, the Macy's display, the biggest gingerbread house ever in the MoA, Holidazzle.... This may be a horrible thing for the Mad Scientist, who's quite a Grinch; every year I have to fight him tooth and nail just to get a Christmas tree in the door. I haven't quite won the battle yet this year, as we will probably have to take the tree down before Christmas unless we can find someone to housesit the beginning of our Christmas break or to swing by and water the damn thing 2-3 times a day, reliably. Heaven help me when he figures out that I plan on actually decorating the entire house for Christmas. Anybody else got any tips about Christmassy-type celebrations that I should seek out in the Twin Cities?

More generally, though--I'm quite seriously contemplating getting a tourist guide to the Twin Cities so that I can fully appreciate it. In the meantime, however, I'm planning on taking exploring (at a leisurely pace of perhaps one or two a month) the museums and centers and zoos and interesting restaurants and whatnot. Many of these places have free days (irksomely, many on Thursdays, when I have Tae Soo Do classes), I can go to a limited number of restaurants for free as part of the mystery shop program I'm in, and the public library system has a great new system, the Museum Adventure Pass (duration unknown, funded by Macy's) allowing people to "check out" free passes for four to a certain number of events. Today we got to go to the Science Museum, which was a lot of fun, though we didn't go to the BodyWorlds exhibit, because Holy Exorbitant Pricing, Batman! I think next I'll be going to the Minnesota Zoo.

I'm entirely willing to share the free tickets obtained from the library, or to have company on my "free day" adventures.

( The List of Library-Sponsored Free Locations )

Taken this fall on one of my photo safaris around the neighborhood. Window overlooks the alley.

Red, White, and Blue
Fallen popsicle at the Minneapolis Farmer's Market.

I adore painted advertisements fading on brick walls. I only like them because of how quaint their death throes are.

I am drawn to interesting doors, worn and decaying buildings, and old painted signs. This building has the trifecta, and I feel its lure every time I pass it.



( More doors )

Poker tonight. New place and a bunch of new people, so it should be interesting. Hopefully I'll have better card luck than last time...and also play a little less tight when I shouldn't. The time before last, when I had just arrived, a car in the parking lot exploded from the inside. It was a hot day; it was a black car.

That day, I learned that that such occurences weren't just an urban myth.

One of the most surreal experiences to be found in the Minneapolis public services.