Julie Caniglia If you follow pop culture’s magic rule of three, then the Mississippi River counts as a bona-fide trend this summer. There’s the promotional extravaganza called the Grand Excursion, and the Minneapolis Institute of Art’s ambitious exhibition, Art & Life Along The Mississippi River, 1850-1861 (which covers the time of the original 1854 Grand Excursion), plus … Read more
It’s early June, and the house going up near Cedar Lake is still weeks from being completed. Already, however, its roof needs replacing. The new roof has just been dropped off at the construction site: It consists of metal-encased foam panels bundled into large, rectangular plastic-bound packages—kind of like a giant, shrink-wrapped twenty-four-pack of Kleenex … Read more
Along with its pollen counts during spring and summer, the local news should also offer an index on real estate fever. My case is rather acute this year. No doubt it has something to do with a recent move from a city with an obscene real-estate market to one where it is merely overheated (and … Read more
It started innocently enough, with a casual decision to gradually weed beige out of my wardrobe. What has beige done for me lately? What does it do for anyone, really? Have you ever received a compliment on a beige blouse or scarf? Later, while car shopping, I eagerly clicked on a web listing for a … Read more
Rick Sordelet knows how to fight dirty. “When you’re going to Wisconsin bars as a college kid, you’re going to get in fights, that’s just a given,” he said. He also knows his Shakespeare. He has choreographed fight scenes for sixty-three productions of Romeo and Juliet, including the Guthrie’s current staging. He’s plotted fisticuffs and … Read more