Month: July 2004

  • Green Space Vs. Private Space

    My family and I walk and bike the superb Kenilworth Trail upon which Charlie Lazor’s Flatpak house has intruded [“The Prefigured House,” July]. Now, instead of turning off a city street onto a gorgeous trail flanked with green, bikers and walkers first see Mr. Lazor’s concrete wall. Every lost piece of green growth in a…

  • Peeping Toms: Neighborhood Asset

    Julie Caniglia’s article “Peeping Tom Goes Legit” [June] is an unfair critique of the Minneapolis and St. Paul Home Tour. Because the writer is having trouble finding an affordable home, she seems to want to take it out on the folks who have decided to stay in the core cities for the long haul, show…

  • Thank Goodness for Nalgenes

    Covering a Nalgene bottle with duct tape [“A Watery World,” the Rakish Angle, July] is in fact a clever way for those “outdoor types” to cut down on supplies. Minimalism is key when space is limited. But who could leave home without a roll of duct tape? Some might even say it’s as important as…

  • “I Love My Cub!”

    Somewhere in the middle of the nation’s heated debate about gay marriage, a new billboard popped up on one of my usual routes. The ad, for Cub Foods, features two women positioned in friendly proximity to each other and to a bag of groceries. The tag line says, “Real People. Real Values.” Wow, I thought.…

  • Keeping It Together

    In a sweet little house several miles south of mine, a girl named Esmé keeps a box on her dresser. In the box is a collection of necklaces—a painted chime ball, Thor’s hammer, a polished unity stone, and her favorite, a sterling angel. These are all trinkets I’ve given her over the years that I’ve…

  • Do It Yourself!

    Maybe they were emboldened by the frank talk of Dick Cheney. Or maybe they’re feeling a little overextended by their thrilling new store in Bloomington, which finally opened in mid-July. Maybe they just aren’t comfortable with their English yet. But Ikea, the upscale Swedish company that sells lots of unassembled Scandinavian furniture, has recently seemed…