Month: June 2006

  • A Power Hitter Needs A Proper Name

    Justin doesn’t cut it. Every high school football and soccer team in America has a half dozen Justins on its roster, and the name reeks of suburban privilege. It’s a boy-band name, and I’d love to see Justin Morneau go in a different direction. Granted, the big Canuck seems to be doing just fine right…

  • Pink in the face

    Since I don’t often plug charity events, and am starting to feel as though I’ve got a hardened, black heart, I thought I’d pass along this info about an event happening tonight at the grandest she-palace in all the Twin Cities, Alfred’s Grand Petit Magasin. Before I get into the event: This magnificent store, in…

  • Glad And Sorry

    When he came up through the tunnel, the darkness had not yet lifted and the cicada were still in full damp rattle. The heat had broken in the night, and the coolness was stirring up an apparational moving fog, heavy, moist. The street lights were dropping fuzzed cones of grainy and ineffectual light straight down…

  • Market Frenzy

    Like many food tourists, I’m driven to seek out local markets—public, farmers, indoor, outdoor—everywhere I travel. Invariably, I end up wandering the aisles awash with both wonder and jealousy. In Vancouver, the booths and stands crowded into the Granville Island Public Market nearly bring me to tears with their spectacular selection of fresh fish and…

  • Why Race?

    When we were all younger and firmer, my husband was a competitive runner and our daughters were Dad groupies. Upon returning from the crusades, battle scarred and sweaty, the girls would surround him, hopping around with Barbies in their fists and shrieking, “Did you win Dad, did you win?” The situation was such that sometimes…

  • Lizz Winstead

    Jon Stewart’s smart satire makes watching The Daily Show one of our favorite things to do in bed. But it’s a little-known fact that the show owes much of its sassy vibe to Minnesota-born humorist Lizz Winstead, who, with Madeleine Smithberg, co-created the show. Winstead still works the comedy circuit, performing one-woman shows such as…