If you visit the P.M. Bedroom Gallery in Blaine or Woodbury, you might run into Jim Borofka, co-owner of the stores and one of the last waterbed salesmen in the Twin Cities. The showrooms at HOM, for example, don’t feature waterbeds, though the store was once called the Waterbed Room. Borofka accuses HOM of “disconnecting” … Read more
My older sister and I have this vulgar habit of putting dibs on our mom’s best stuff. Pointing to the valuable Roseville vases, crystal aperitif glasses, and heirloom doilies that were hand stitched by our great-grandmother one hundred years ago, we’ll march through Mom’s home, saying things like “That’s mine someday.” This strikes me now … Read more
"It’s the only high-fashion-slash-golf-school on the planet,” said local clothing designer Joy Teiken, standing in the doorway of the Como Avenue warehouse she shares with her husband, Craig, a professional golf instructor. Originally built in the early 1900s to manufacture tractors and other farm equipment, the front space retains a utilitarian air, despite the putting … Read more
Tornadoes don’t have names, they have dates and times. The inky spiral that drops from the sky is memorialized according to the moment it touches down and stays, cuts the power, and skitters any which way it pleases across a field or farm or town. St. Peter’s tornado struck at 5:20 p.m. on March 29, … Read more
When I moved into my apartment, I inherited the previous owner’s leftover futon and threw a tapestry over it. But at thirty-eight years of age, I felt I was beyond tapestries and futons. I wanted a new couch. I decided that the only way to get one would be to unload the grubby futon. Because … Read more
The face of George W. Bush, sliced into eleven salmon-pink fillets, is neatly arranged on a six-foot banquet table in the sunken living room of a suite at the Venetian Resort in Las Vegas. This sounds like a liberal fantasy but in fact it’s a Republican one. The fillets are dusted with something that looks … Read more
Calhoun Square shoppers peek into Aura during the day and see no action, just stools flipped on top of tables. Dedicated purely to nocturnal enjoyment, the former 101 Blu space is atmospheric and alluring, ushering in nightfall early with a happy hour that includes delicious mini sandwiches–BBQ pulled pork, BLTs, and tangy El Cubanos. Unusual … Read more
Near Block E on March 31, spring arrived with a .44-caliber bang. The hero of the day was Minneapolis Police Officer Jomar Villamor, who quickly apprehended the suspect. It turned out that Officer Villamor was working off-duty, as were many of the police who responded that Friday night to the murder of a Minnetonka mortgage … Read more
Perhaps if Augusten Burroughs’ successful memoirs Running With Scissors and Dry hadn’t made addiction look like such a profitable publishing proposition, James Frey wouldn’t be tormented by persistent nightmares in which Oprah chases him down dark alleys brandishing his own shaken “memoir” and calling him a lousy liar. Burroughs is one of those writers who’s … Read more
Native Minnesotan women spend the majority of each year with their bodies covered from head to ankle out of environmental necessity. Somali women residing in Minnesota have a similar head-to-ankle requirement, although the practice of wearing a modesty-preserving veil, or hijab, has its roots in tradition rather than meteorology. Pitted one against the other: Which … Read more