More fun than Mayonnaise... or at least equally fun... OK, it's less fun, but you're still reading...
More fun than Mayonnaise... or at least equally fun... OK, it's less fun, but you're still reading...
did anyone see wed night's sunset? one of the most amazing things ever. i was in the middle of dinner.... in the middle of a tv show... and i ran out the door to see it.... no camera... no sweater... just one of those spectacular nights you can only dream of...
once or twice a year i watch a movie that makes me excited to make movies. this year's lucky prize goes to "the science of sleep", suggested by dsplit. quirky, funny, real, absurd. everything made out of cardboard made me laugh. one on hand, i'm glad someone made it. on the other, i'm upset i didn't get to. i also ate ice-cream tonight.
straktospheric event proposition :: 43c
destination :: pedal.pub
cost :: $20/person (full pub assumed)
duration :: 2 hour evening
skirting the issue of whether you should pepper your university with advertisements promoting your university to people who already attend..... we can all agree that there is no reason tell people how to get to the university after you have already arrived.
all womens and mens new shoes must be crafted from italian woods by joseph debach. the world wide interwebs doesn't do justice to the fly in-person displays i saw....
i hate making people fill out stupid surveys about themselves, but i love the idea of visual dna [a string of pictures revealing your preferences/personality].
maybe it's all the cold medicine talking, but i'm posting a link to the survey anyway... at home sick.... slept all afternoon.... need a nap soon...
i couldn't fall asleep because my arm had the hiccups.... i moved it, i shook it, i rolled over, but the muscle continually twitched at average hiccup speeds until i fell asleep.... i guess this is the cross those of us with rapidly growing muscles need to bear...
12:02am :: culling my closet. broke down and got new spring shirt. one old shirt must go.
09:27am :: i went to my homepage because it links to other blogs i like. in the last 9 hours i had totally forgotten i was doing a running blog. there was a disappointing lack of email this'morn.
10:56am :: i vill video blog [decided, fri]. made my first comment on a friend's schmlog [endorsed].... then i realized i stole this "running blog" idea from her bf.... will i give him credit? never!
04:22pm :: just realized a running blog = a regular post, if nobody checks regularly. but then a lack of audience has never stopped me before...
08:51pm :: tried to read, but the beet lady sat behind me on the connector and i kept both ears glued to her conversation about an upcoming wrist surgery.... gupta softly mumbled in the background...
thank you to every package catcher in the great stuff free-for-all. today's stationwagon-trunk's worth of goodwill boxes hammered the final nail in this coffin of apartment reclamation! my life is back! tomorrow i begin doing what i was doing 2 weeks ago [candy chart, UB??].... time unfreezes.... as i wait for the next rainy saturday to tackle those obnoxious-but-livable projects like a 49er tackles a mute kimono dragon....
race :: for justice
distance :: 5 kilometers
status :: kompleted
time :: 26.53 [official]
cause :: supporting mn lawyers
stuff addendum :: i feel great. i stopped at four people's houses to unload stuff that had been encroaching on my life. here's hoping it will be useful to them. silly stuff.
i hate stuff.
this weekend i packed stuff, sorted stuff, stacked stuff, threw out stuff, recycled stuff, compacted stuff, rearranged stuff... only to find more stuff.... then i realized what a waste of time stuff is. it's seems important at the time.... it seems like something you'll never live without.... and then you come across a box of every geography assignment from 7th grade.
stuff wastes your time, wastes your space, and wastes your sanity.... i don't want it anymore....
April is still wet behind the ears. She came in like a lion instead of a liar. The one opportunity I had to make socially acceptable pranks is over and done and I never took advantage of her.... At least that's what I'm claiming when the investigations start-up....
national day of celebration
:: disstraktor honored with parades
:: children rejoice in streets
:: one cat seen wearing party hat
M: integrate childhood memories, tupperware, into apartment [CHECK]
T: mail assortment of packages awaiting postage [CHECK]
W: submit poetry somewhere to get published [CHECK]
Th: do a real cleaning [CHECK]
memories lost :: 4 garbage bags, 3 recyclable bags, 8 mall of america brochures, countless copies of old band programs.
memories retained :: binders of childhood art, old journal, school projects, awards won while i was still doing things i loved.
HAPPY PI DAY!
mandatory U holiday this weekend in honor of circumference over diameter.
3.14159-2653589-7932384-626-43 :: the only digits i can remember
delighted to see the little yellow key in my p.o. box, i knew an unexpected package was moments away. opening the 2'x2'x3' "train locker", i was surprised to see a simple manila envelope staring back at me.
walking back to my apartment, i shook the envelope with trepidation since this friend often peppers her letter with glitter or spangles of unknown genus. sure enough, this shook with tell-tail signs of "carpet-dirtiers".
inside was a beautiful macaroni scene of a hammock between two palms by the ocean.... and just as enjoyable was the little sign on the front, which the USPS actually headed.... reading: macaroni card. please hand stamp.
i am in love. seriously.
i ate at cosmos [downtown.msp :: $$$$$$$$]
i'm in love with the frosted glass ambiance.
i'm in love with the attentive staff [a toned-down andy dick sporting businessman hair]
i'm in love with the intermezzos they surprised me with between courses.
i'm in love with the spice garden they braised into my lamb.
i'm in love with the crunch of dark chocolate against a smooth raspberry sorbet.
i loved how she challenged me [raspberry & beet]
i loved how she held me.
thankfully, i'm no stranger to paying for love.
rodrigo station
winter defense through spandex.
snow, ice, sleet, or rain
i'm here to protect.
i carry a full list of oscar "best pictures" in my wallet.... if i don't know what to rent, i can always pick a classic movie of cinematic importance.
i have never used it.
i also never watch the oscars. they don't award my movies [little miss sunshine vs the departed].
sometimes every tree needs good pruning.
At 5:45 (Central Time) Snickers "Turkey Dog" Hanson passed away. She had been unusually somber the last day, so Dad tried to regale her spirits with Chicken for two. (People food, playing ball and walks never failed to delight her. ) After dinner, she quietly surveyed her backyard dominion one last time. The austere spring air coaxed her to stay out as long as nature would allow. Dignified and clear in spirit, she pittered back to her favorite hallway napping ground, where she gracefully tucked her head between her paws and heaved that peaceful sigh of contentment.
since i was born, the sheep population [new zealand] has decreased from 70 million to 40 million.
trains don't even account for 1% of passenger trips taken within new zealand.
sadly, sheep now comprise less than .0002% of new zealand train conductors.
existentialism: devoting all your time to arts and academics only to realize that future generations won't care because those people don't pass on their jeans.
SCAM.PREREQUISITS
* empty gift card
* recently thrown away receipt with timestamp you can point to.
SCAM.NARRATIVE
"I just returned this sweater... but they wouldn't give me cash, so they credited this gift card [sympathy]. I can't find anything I want [more sympathy], so would you buy this gift card from me at 75% of its value [the hook]. Here's the receipt [build trust]... if you want to use my cell phone, you can call to verify the card [impractical offer, but more trust]..."
SCAM.EXECUTION
scamee hands over $10. scammer heads straight for the door, but not suspiciously fast.
SCAM.SUMMARY
i immediately went to a cashier to verify the card after our transaction. waiting in line was the LONGEST two minutes of my life. luckily, everything was legit.... this time... but i'll never again hand over money without verifying the card first.... no matter how grisly and smoke-filled his voice sounds...
some days everything you should write will get you in trouble with someone... or fired...
so instead, i write about the terrible cold that drove enough bikers indoors that the janitors had to put up indoor warning signs about bikers.
sorry.
removed dead leaves from plants and emptied junk from coat pockets.
replaced coat nickles and pennies with quarters.
mourned my carnage before her final burial.
welcome to the council of dvds final report.
i had blockbuster totalaccess for 12 of my 14-day trial. in this time, i received 2 "wrong" dvds and 2 "broken" dvds. the shows i yearn to watch are demarked as "short wait" or "long wait" and never shipped. furthermore, the in-store free rentals[apparent perk] rarely provide what i want.
are these problems just as prevalent with american start-up netflix [up and coming]???
the council decision: no
code: 74ð
**UPDATE**
upon the unanimous advice of the council, i quit blockbuster and will enlist in netflix. thanks to all participants.
warning level :: § [smashed car window]
location :: uptown old chicago
incident time :: 11:00pm [central time]
theivery :: none
calling the police yielded no reaction since (1) there were no witnesses, (2) there were no suspects, (3) there was no hotwiring. insurance company [farmer's] procured new glass within 12 hours, to my amazement. upon first viewing the carnage, i feared the loss of my notes/writing binders. after verifying their safety, all else seemed petty.... but that didn't prevent the drive home from being cold.
** BEGIN OFFICIAL ENDORSEMENT BULLETIN **
on one leg, stand up straight in front of a chair or table.
keeping it straight, put the other leg up on said chair or table.
stretch.
this is the greatest physical pleasure known to god fearing men. do it daily and your jeans will fit better, you will earn more money and you'll finally find happiness. ignore this warning and a plague of locusts will eat your styrofoam latte cups for seven years.
stretch to be performed en masse at my wedding, child's baptism and funeral.
** TRANSMISSION COMPLETE **
*** NEWS ALERT ***
update your bookmarks and interweb habits to comply with new zoning:
» http://www.generationbob.com
feature set:
† photoblog [3-5 new pictures/week]
† quoteblog [1-3 new quotes/week]
† movieblog [2-4 new movie reviews/month]
† midnight urban style [aka "stratosphere @ dusk"]
† plus all the regular generation[bob] posts you love
don't be sorry, go to: http://www.generationbob.com
***************
my apologies for the recent lack of posting, but i've been doing a lot of re-calculating. 2007 is the year of change[life, all aspects]... this new eDentity is step one. hey gb, i'm whiny and afraid you'll stop posting just when i start relying on you for my daily happiness. have faith. many weeks of photos and quotes have already been uploaded to prevent such droughts.
happy birthday generation[bob]... you just hit 365 posts.... that's one computer year!
next.generation[bob]
status :: re-construction
new.feature :: photoblog
new.feature :: movieblog
new.style :: urban[nightfall]
grand.relaunch :: monday january.15[2007]
is it more amazing that i keep writing entries or that you keep returning to read them? either way, we are in an unhealthy relationship. thank goodness change is hard. we can continue indefinitely... just don't tell me how i've become more like your mom and i won't tell you my dad leaves comments like that. sure, i may someday add a photoblog or fix my stylesheet, but i'll still be the same jerk... leaving obnoxious posts like this one...
[one plus one]
the new year will hopefully bring about a generation[bob] photoblog. i want it to start with a pink bead necklace that broke in our parking lot... spilling all over the charcoal asphalt...
[one plus one plus one]
paranoias can be quite different. a good friend has general anxiety... all the time. i have small, bizarre worries... like how many squares of toilet paper i use versus my roommate.... if we prorated tp on a per square basis, does our usage warrant a 50-50 cost split???
bond: gritty, sobering, real [for a bond film]
driving from bond: hearse, headlights off, man in brisk overcoat, straight posture, neighboring apartment complex. i keep the conversation going, but really am wondering how life changes in a second.
best buy has terrible service. best buy has bad service. problems with best buy. can you tell where this post is going? answer: nowhere, i blew my wad in the opening.
i bought a warranty (PSP) from best buy (geek squad) for my home computer. the CD/DVD burner stopped working, but everything else was fine. what should have been a simple 1-day part swap, turned into them stealing my computer for a month and never fully resolving the problem.
i will not shop at best buy.
i will not buy a warranty from best buy.
... to end on a happier note, i highly recommend: Penzey's Spices [fresh delicious spices, reasonable prices] and Ing Direct [banking, highest interest rates around, get $25 if i refer you] best buy has bad service. best buy has terrible service.
actual cnn black frydai article dokumenting:
car maheim in tennessee...
crazy macy's manhattanness...
and three shoppers sitting alone at some mall in north dakota.... dontchaknow.... could ya pass dat dere cinnabon, betsie?
DISSTRESSOR bought google and is using his financial might to tumble the straktosphere [run on google technology]. His unstoppable troops are making headway into Generation Bob's playground. Defeat looks inevitable, which is why we begun diverting resources from electronic shields to establishing a vast network of underground resistence. VIVE LA DISSTRAKT</communication>
since the guessed vanished, i obviously can't ask them how vigorously they stirred... and we'll never know whether the knife (a giveaway of how deep they mixed) was hand-washed in a selfless act of giving back to the hosts or a hostile pb-cover-up.
in summary: does anyone want a free jar of natural smucker's chunky peanut butter. buying a new jar is the only way to free my mind from this investigation.
i tried to unlock my car door [front, driver] but instead of putting the key in the lock, i somehow pushed the entire locking mechanism deep into the door.... where it fell into the hollow, steel depths of my car. the lock still works [auto-unlock-button, other side], and the lock is still there [rolls and clinks when i turn].... but i'll be giggered if i could essplain what just happened....
today, the day after halloween, is actually the best shopping. wigs, capes, hats and other forms of tom-foolery are on sale.
be there.
but i often wonder what she is up.... if she still has the same soft, flaxen hair. aside from beautiful straktospherian headlines and anonymously poetic signatures, she never made it big. never got discovered. never played broadway. but she still manages to find work.... as long as there are travel, food and home improvement channels on cable...
most recent: friday, a co-worker convinced me to watch "notorious" and then roomie came home an hour later with a rental of notorious.
coolest: late night link hopping the day before spring break, i found and got tickets to a week-long conference on dream symbolism.
why? it's a delicate swatch of idealism, perfectionism and cockynessm pulled taut over the sadistic cannon of anti-hedonic tendencies with a chaser of moderate-to-low self-esteem.
in another words, why hold hands when you can write a poem? why make banal dinner conversation, when you can make an audience laugh? why steal bases when you could watch beakman's world... get your ham radio license... bake croissants... embrace unfettered possibility.
super duper double dog tired. can't sleep. woke up dreaming that i put my upstairs neighbors in burning quicksand... just to make sure the job got done.
creative acts (like blogging) require creative energy.... but you have to pamper yourself and relax in order to recharge your batteries. i am out of snoose after 5 shows this weekend. tonight i recharge with a movie and grilled hamburgers.
this fall, beakman's world returned to syndication and i now have hope that the rest of my life will fall in place.
anyone wishing to understand how my mind works need only watch one episode (or montage clip). beakman's world is the externalization of my brain: penguin puppets, men in rat suits, lime green lab coats, stupid puns, viewer mail and bad dancing.
fox. saturday mornings. 9am and 10am. (particularly 10am... "the later seasons").
note: all comments reflecting bill nye in a positive light will immediately be deleted and the author will be shot. consider yourself warned.
for those of you who had not noticed a difference in quality, please look closer at my posting history. there IS a subtle different between a well polished turd and a turd.
recharging my vibe between songs, my only friend in the room left me to my own devices where i struck up a conversation with a local cheese saleswoman.
we talk.
we laughed.
we talked more.
i awkwardly begged her for her sassy sandals, claiming they would complete my ensemble....
and as she got pulled away, she invited me to her cheese shop where i would "learn the secret to amazing grilled cheeses."
so now, a la sarah jessica parker, i type, alone, on my bed: does a relationship need to be based on more than just cheese?
[introduction of problem]
i haven't had time to wash them and they've been burning a whole in the pockets of my other pants... so i did it. i wore used jeans without washing them. all day long my legs have itched. i have felt spiders crawling into my socks. i check myself for ticks every hour. i've googled diseases/infections/infestations that love denim. and i throw-up a little each time i smell their pugnant vintage aroma. in fact, i may be typing this in my office, pantsless.
[a surprising, yet inevitable resolution]
anyone care to mambo? i need something to wisk my mind off her feet.
I generally don't like you tube because I'm an old dial-up-er at heart who lives for streamlined, quick-loading pages. Cozy internet armchairs like youtube make me nervous. However, today's menu features a brilliant little video that delights me on so many levels.
plus, it is only 4 seconds long....
I tried picking on people in person.... on the phone... via email.... and everybody ignored me. I guess you're all too good to punch old GB on the arm. Fine. I didn't want to fight anyway.
Singing "diamonds are a girl's best friend" at the top of my lungs on 94 westbound, I realized that two of my favorite movies (and CDs) feature lounge singers (technically 3 do, but I don't consider Annie Hall a professional musician)... not only that, but I like these movies because they're about lounge singers.
So where do you get to know them? Why do I only see them in movies? Is it true that if you look around a room and don't see any lounge singers than you are probably the lounge singer? Do any of you have BBQs and invite your lounge singers friends? Someone must because everyone love burgers.
i'm surprised that i actually liked lentils. i guess they are more than a cool bean to glue to mother's day cards.
started playing an online government simulation in an attempt to connect with polisci co-workers on a personal and meaningful level. in five days, my policies lead 12 million citizens into anarchy.
i want to blow my nose right now, but i've got nothing to blow out. i just really want to blow my nose, but not in a cold way. in a dusty-post-sneeze way. it would be very satisfying.
I just want to go home. I have grocery shopping, other shopping, cleaning, unpacking, reading, relaxing and many other gerands that I want to accomplish. But my sister is dragging her feet.... wanting to watch videos, wanting to bake pies, wanting to sort through old toys. I would go outside and smash an apple in the driveway out of frustration, but there are so many bees that I would be stung to death walking back to the house, sucrose and blood dripping from my shoes.
What's the deal with posting emails? I had a really fun email I sent someone, but I felt dirty and unloyal also posting on a blog. It was much more interesting than this post.
We met at the gym. My normal 25 min routine stretched into 45 min because we had such great conversation. But at the restaurant she only had one-word answers. I tried to talk about travel, movies, art, music, cool local attractions, shared college experiences. However....
"Do you watch a lot of TV?"
"Don't own one."
"Without TV killing your time, you must have a lot of really cool hobbies."
"No. I watch lots of DVDs on my computer."
"Cool, is there a genre you really like? Favorite actor? Series?"
"Nah."
"What did you just watch recently?"
(long pause) "Old School."
"Did you like it?"
"It was fine."
"I thought it was funny, particularly when they were regifting the bread maker... but a little too much naked Will Ferrell for me."
"I guess."
She also looked better at the gym than in the gray hooded sweatshirt she wore to dinner.
Our conversation was disjointed at the gym (pause to exercise to watch something on TV)... but those same gaps stayed at dinner and were painfully long without an activity to distract us.
She physically reminded me of a friend's woman who I have never found attractive, so that was creepy when I looked at her.
Perhaps I went to a bad restaurant since this is my second bad experience. (Last one was meeting an old kindergarten accquaintance)
It was the first time I ever blurted out "no" when the waitor asked if I wanted dessert.
A caped crusader with his sidekick of rhymed couplets, who exactly is the Anonymous Poet? He is a friend and guardian of Generation Bob's playground called in by the telltale signs of comment-dearth. Equipped with the brilliance of Mark Twain, the wit of Ambrose Bierce and the signature mask of a grandmaster ninja, he assaults boredom with sais of motif.
Your secret is safe with me. It's the least I can do.
night(s) 1, 2: loud neighbors until 2am. complaining only yielded that she has guests who will be gone after night 3.
night 3: stay out until 1am since neighbors would keep me up. went for drinks with a really famous national improver. just being around him inspired me to be a better performer. improv is a way of life, not a 2-hour show.
night 4: dead tired, i went to bed early, took a sleeping pill just to be sure, and slept like a baby.
night 5: normal sleep. dream of visiting a magical germanic castle a few hours north of minneapolis. the front gates of minneapolis had a fountain but hidden in the fountain was a beautiful soap mold. if you brought soap mix, you could have a magestic sea-shell shaped bar. riding around town in carrage you could tell a lot about the buildings in town (all shaped like warehouses) by the varying colours of blue that were painted on them. later at a fancy-pants restaurant, i got up to go to the bathroom.... walking through the "bathroom" door was a maze of stairs, swimming pool, elevator and escalator... all amounting to an additional 10 minutes of travel to actually reach the toilet.
Quietly transfering mail for an even quieter faculty member, a high pitched scream reverbates through the 12th floor of my office complex. STEVE, HELP. I come running out, with a shoe-less colleague to find a book case falling on top of a pregnant faculty member. She and her husband are doing all they can to keep the bookcase from teetering harder than the town drunkerd. We help push the bookcase back against the wall and the adrenaline slowly wore off.
Later that day, I got a free pencil. I love how the universe rewards good deeds.
when was the last time you got soap in your eye? it almost happened to me tonight. after the sudden rush of fear, i was over come with memories of tear-free johnson and johnson's shampoo. why did i ever switch? i don't think this conditioner stuff is doing that much for me.
Unhinging the Press-and-Seal crinkles like a roll of fresh packing tape. I move to the kitchen because my roommate is trying to sleep for the bar exam in the bedroom next to mine. Suddenly, the packaging bursts open and I am overcome with the fragrance of graham cracker. It's actually butterier than graham crackers, but my nose never figures that out. I pour 2% chocolate milk into my cow coffee mug and walk back to my bedroom.
Admiring the matching "fork marks" on the cookie and chocolate it's hard to tell exactly what the proportions of chocolate to cookie will be. The words "coco leibniz" are etched in between dimples on the cookie. I take my first bite and am immediately amazed by the crunch of this sturdy bar. An initial sting of bitterness hits my tongue as the crisp chomps slowly melt into a rich wave of milk chocolate. I take a second bite and don't notice the bitterness, just the primordial dance of butterfats and cacao.
The bite mark reveals the cookie is 80% biscuit despite the balance of flavor with his oft overpowering brother, cacao. I take a drink to clear my palette and dunk the cookie. The biscuit is impenetrable by liquid and the crunching is only exacerbated by the suddenly cooled chocolate. Another sip of milk washes away the straggling shards of biscuit. With one sixth of the bar left, I take a big sip of milk and simultaneously crunch the bar as if Kellogg's had finally based a cereal off my input. The final bite was disappointing because I loved the bipolar change from bad cop crunch to the good cop salve of chocolate. Perhaps, this is why they are best eaten in pairs.
Why yes, there is stuff on my cat [.com]. What can one say when they come across this site? I am without words. My favorite was the cat-as-placemat.
i feel as though a posting is necessary, but i haven't done much that's blogworthy.... been mostly keeping to myself. our chimeny got swept yesterday. now we won't start fires while we aren't using our fireplace. roomie is studying hard for the bar next week. got rid of old books. threw out old boxes. reorganizing the office. excited for m. night shamalan's new movie. wish i had eaten more ice-cream. had forgotten how much i love summer thunderstorms. don't know what to do with monopoly money i keep finding as i clean.
The sun rises over the deep green hills of Southern Minnesota. The shadow of a loon silloettes the burgeoning red fireball and I turn my attention to comforting churn of white propellers. Each rotation drains another quarter penny out of the wallet of one foolish blog owner who just agreed to power his apartment with wind.
It's only $1/week, but part of me feels like I've been taken for a ride.
the week without reading is over and it was tough.
downside of the week: interesting people i missed emailing and fun blogmasters i missed interacting with.
upside: learned how frequently i went to cnn and other junk sites just as a way to pass time.
verdict: hope to use that junk time more efficiently.
(nothing to report about giving up tv. it was easy and i didn't miss it much)
Experiment One:
I am on a reading deprivation diet because my arteries have become clogged with transfatty cnn.coms and high cholestoral economist.coms. As a side-effect, I also won't be reading blog comments or your blogs.
Experiment Two:
A week of unfettered, unmoderated commental freedom.
In the comments section, introduce yourself to others (for real or fictitiously)... introduce yourself again how you really are... if you're having a bad day, write "i feel rotten" and don't sign your name.... if your bored, write what you'd love to be doing now.... start a story.... write a poem.... journal... relax... laugh.... live.... vent.... interact... just be you....
The only rules are: no profane comments, no junk comments (that goes for you too mr. junk commentor) and don't belittle other people's posts. What happens when people are given a blank virtual space to interact freely and safely? Please write. If you're stuck, write about these random internet people:
Are you ready for the graffiti of life?
Update 07.13.2006
Experiment one is tougher than I expected, and I find myself accidently reading quite often.
Experiment two is done and was a bust. Thanks to "not a muse" for playing along.
I made a friend pick between reading my blog and giving me his grill. Now I've got a charcoal weber sitting on my back stoop and I don't really know what to do with it. I'd love to make perfect burgers, but betting odds favor:
[a] burning down something taller than 6 feet
[b] food poisoning within 48 hours
[c] a spontaneous game of scrabble
Walking along the Mississippi, I strayed from the cement path, following well beat-down grass for thirty feet so that I could get a view of the sunset while sitting on a stony alcove. Unsure if I was trespassing on Federal land, my palms sweat for a few minutes until I ran into a barefoot middle-aged man drinking Mountain Dew, two couple with guitars singing like John Mayer and another couple watching the sky from a blanket they brought with them or made there... I don't know which. I was suddenly surrounded by more people in these bluffs than the sidewalk along river road.
The sunset was beautiful, I saw real fish flopping around in the Mississippi and a pair of birds fluttered around the bushes. Was I actually in St. Paul proper?
