April 02, 2008
street observation III
Sometimes I see the driver of a car pull up to a stop, get out, and the passenger replaces him behind the wheel and drives off. Until now the driver has always been male, but today in downtown Minneapolis a woman (a Sista) got out to go to work and was replaced by man, a Brotha. Go 'head on, y'all!
March 29, 2008
street observation II
Today a Brotha passed me on a bike. He answered my "What up?" with "God is Great! Pimpin' ain't easy but someone's got to do it!" Um, I don't think that particular juxtaposition would have ever occurred to me, but I'll give my man props for creativity!
February 19, 2008
Blu-Ray's victory
Well, it appears that Blu-Ray has won the high definition DVD war with HD-DVD, so now I can get off the sidelines and upgrade my DVD player. It's been starting to skip and do other crazy things, so Toshiba's announcement is right on time!
February 14, 2008
February 01, 2008
we need new stories
From William Kittredge's Who Owns the West? (Mercury House, 1996):
"Many of us...lose track of the story of ourselves, the story that tells us who we are supposed to be and how we are supposed to act."
"It isn't any fun, and it doesn't just happen to people; it happens to entire societies. Stories are places to live, inside the imagination. We know a lot of them, and we're in trouble when we don't know which one is ours. Or when the one we inhabit doesn't work anymore and we stick with it anyway."
"We live in stories. What we are is stories...."
"We need to inhabit stories that encourage us to pay close attention. We need stories that will encourage us towards acts of the imagination that in turn will drive us to the arts of empathy, for each other and for the world. We need stories that will encourage us to understand that we are part of everything, that the world exists under our skins, and that destroying it is a way of killing ourselves. We need stories that will drive us to care for one another and for the world. We need stories that will drive us to take action."
"[C]omplexity is actual."
Indeed.
January 29, 2008
the nature of wisdom
Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast has posted a great entry about Toni Morrison's take on Barack Obama's wisdom.
January 01, 2008
New Year's Eve celebrations
Happy New Year! As usual, I did not do anything special last night for New Year's Eve (and was asleep before midnight). Five years ago I attended a New Year's Eve wedding of friends, and in high school I went to a New Year's Eve and Day youth mini-camp. Other than that, the only thing I occassionally do is watch the Times Square Ball countdown. Next year I'll have to try something different....
December 02, 2007
one cold hand
Pittsburgh has a web site about lost gloves, one cold hand. We need something like that in the Twin Cities....
snow assistance
While doing round three of show shovelling this morning I noticed that a young woman walked up to my neighbor's house, shovelled his sidewalk and driveway, and then walked away. As my neighbor is over 70, I assumed he asked her to do it for him. When he came out later he was surprised that his walk and drive were cleared, and he could not determine who did the good deed, even after a couple of phone calls. I guess that he has a secret admirer!
December 01, 2007
first snow
The first snow storm of the season blew into the Twin Cities today. I just finished the second round of my favorite winter activity: shovelling snow. The snow was still coming down when I knocked off at 9:15 PM, so I'll be out again tomorrow morning....
November 27, 2007
zafu
The December Atlantic Monthly has a story about tools for finding better fitting clothes, such as at zafu.com. Looks like they only have stuff up and running for women's clothes so far, so I'll have to check back in later. For as long as I can remember I've been wearing Levi's Silver Tab jeans, but this year's crop was awful (way too flimsy and a weird thread pattern), so I switched over to another brand that doesn't fit as well. Hopefully, though, Silver Tab will be back to normal next year....
November 17, 2007
a pizza deal?
I've ordered lots of stuff online, but never pizza. Tonight I had an online-only coupon to Papa John's, so I went to the site to see about placing an order. I did not get very far, though, given that (a) the system kept rejecting the perfectly valid coupon code, and (b) it appeared that I had to create an account vs. placing a one-time only order. I guess that some things are better done the old-fashioned way....
November 10, 2007
real hip hop
"You would rather have a Lexus, or Justice? A dream, or some substance? A beamer, a necklace, or freedom?" (Dead Prez, "Hip Hop"). Word!
October 31, 2007
October 31
Happy Halloween! As usual, I'll only celebrate by passing out candy to trick-or-treating neighborhood kids....
October 14, 2007
stereotypes in action
Today I ran a quick errand to the Mall of America, and grabbed some takeout from Tiger Sushi. The teen who took my order had a look that said, "Negroes eat sushi?" Either that or "Please don't rob the place." I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume it was the first stereotype in action....
back of the bus
The University of Minnesota has a free campus shuttle bus system. On Friday I boarded the WABC bus and went to the back seat when that shuttle bus pulled up to a layover stop. Five minutes later it departed with me as the only passenger. I asked myself, "Would Rosa Parks be mad at me for sitting in the back of the bus?" Naw, she would have applauded me for going to the warmest place on a chilly day!
September 03, 2007
last day of summer
It's the last day of the summer. (Officially, summer ends on September 22 or something, but Labor Day is always the last real day of summer, as school is back in the next day). As I reported two weeks ago, I saw very few movies this summer. Tonight I'll add one more to the list: The Bourne Ultimatum.
marriage
"Marriage for the most part appears to be a series of mostly comfortable silences punctuated by joy, despair, and sudden dialogues that serve to calibrate the relationship, bring it up to speed, reassure and inform, after which we lapse back into our own quiet worlds" (Daniel Wallace, in the short story "A Terrible Thing"). Hhhmmm...
August 24, 2007
a cross-cultural moment
Today I helped a new student from Japan find the U's Blegen Hall campus bus stop. In thanks, she saluted me! Um, OK. One doesn't get that on your average day....
July 08, 2007
Good Reads
Want to social network about good books? Check out goodreads.com. Be warned, though: you can spend hours cataloguing your books!
June 26, 2007
iPhone
As much as I'd love to grab a cool new iPhone on Friday, today's announced prices extinguished that desire. I guess that $60 a month (plus $500 for the phone) is worthwhile to many, but my current phone was free and I pay $20 for 60 anytime minutes/300 weekend...and I don't even use the 60 minutes! Oh well....
June 20, 2007
NE Minneapolis parade
Yesterday I attended my first Northeast Minneapolis parade, which featured several marching bands, which I love. I'll have to make sure that I go every year....
June 08, 2007
be the change
"Today I made up my mind: I gotta get it together. If I can be the change I wanna see, then I can live forever" (from "Forever," by Freedom Theory).
June 01, 2007
neighborhood festival
This afternoon is the Pratt Ice Cream Social. I'm scheduled to work games from 5:30-6:30, and be a tour guide for the Witch's Hat Tower from 8-9. I hope that it doesn't rain....
May 09, 2007
journey to the 1950s and back again
On Monday I received an ad for Mother's Day products that featured the following graphic:
Note that all of the Moms are White (well, dining and/or pampered & pretty Moms might be bi-racial); I thought that the advertisers' code mandates that at least one obviously "ethnic" person be included in each spot?!
Yesterday I was catapulted back to this century, when a UPS driver handed me a package out in the front yard of my house, even though I was grungy from cutting the grass. I thought, "how does she know this is my house without asking for ID," but was impressed that I was given the benefit of the doubt....
May 01, 2007
April 26, 2007
April 10, 2007
ancient rock music
On the bulletin board of the Dinkytown Potbelly is a notice advertising piano lessons in "ancient rock music." Huh? Maybe this cat smoked something past its prime just before he typed that up....
March 26, 2007
suburban surprises
On Saturday V wanted to see Pan's Labyrinth, which was only playing in two places that night. Since neither of us likes The Lagoon Theater very much, we decided to trek 20 miles to Maple Grove. I thought we were going to a relatively new stadium-seating gigaplex, but was surprised to find that the movie was playing at a much older place a couple of blocks away. Once inside, I was greeted with a couple of additional surprises. First, tickets were only $3 each, and I got a large popcorn and small Coke for just $8. Second, in the small crowd was a male/female couple who left a seat empty between them (!). Now, I know why two guys would do this (the "not gay seat," to use the non-vulgar expression), but a man and a woman? If they were on a date they would, of course, be next to each other, and if friends they would be comfortable with close contact. Ah, maybe that points us in the right direction: they are in limbo as friends vs. something else, so the guy wanted to signal that he was not interested in the something else? Whatever the case, it was weird.
March 21, 2007
the power of writing
"When I'm writing, I am trying to find out who I am, who we are, what we're capable of, how we feel, how we lose and stand up, and go on from darkness into darkness" (Maya Angelou). Indeed....
March 19, 2007
Riverview Theater
Usually I see movies in new stadium-seating gigaplexes, but yesterday I saw Happy Feet at an Old School theater, the Riverview. Altough the movie was disappointing --too many adult themes were layered on a kids' story...and they weren't done very well (for example, the "bad" penguins had Mexican accents) -- I enjoyed the overall experience. A medium Coke and a medium popcorn -- with real butter! -- for only $5?! Can't beat that!
March 15, 2007
March Madness
March Madness begins today, but for the first time in years I'm not participating in an office pool, and I did not pay much attention to the 2007 version of bracketology. Maybe next year.
March 05, 2007
February 26, 2007
southern adventures 3
While waiting for my hotel shuttle bus after my cancelled flight yesterday, a minivan pulled up and the driver -- a middle-aged African-American gentleman -- asked, "Anyone going to the Ramada?" After getting no takers he rolled off, and I noticed a small sign on his van: "Driving Miss Daisy Shuttle Service." Say what!? Maybe he should have announced "I'm tryin' to drive you to the store!"
February 14, 2007
February 13, 2007
adventures in 13
This morning I thought that my Triskadekaphobia was in full effect, as after I reprogrammed the garage door opener the whole system died! On attempt #2 thirty minutes later, though, I got things to work. Hopefully I will not have any problems when I get home today....
February 11, 2007
crazy Minnesotans
I've always told my Southern relatives that one becomes a real Minnesotan the first time s/he goes out with an unzipped coat in 20 degree weather following a week or so of sub-zero temps. Today was the first day in the 20s after a two-week cold snap, and lots of people were out without their big coats. I also saw some fool driving a convertable with the top down! In 23-degree weather!! DAMN!!!
February 07, 2007
science and politics
Science magazine's 2006 list of top scientific breakthroughs ranked the solution of a 106 year-old mathematical problem as the #1 achievement, instead of a development in a pressing contemporary issue such as global warming. Was this right? Check out episode 2179 of the "Engines of Our Ingenuity."
January 22, 2007
Black NFL head coaches
I did not watch yesterday's NFL football AFC championship game because I figured that the N.E. Patriots would find a way to beat the Indianapolis Colts, and a quick check of the score at halftime (21-6) seemed to confirm my prediction. Luckily I was wrong, and the Colts will head off to the Super Bowl to face the Chicago Bears! The best part, though, is that for the first time two African-American head coaches will face each other (Tony Dungy for the Colts, Lovie Smith for Da Bears), so history will be made. I'll be pulling slightly for the Colts, so afterwards Colts QB Peyton Manning can come out with some new Mastercard commerials....
January 01, 2007
neighbor's Christmas toy
One of my neighbors, it seems, received an all-terrain vehicle as a Christmas present, as today he was out plowing the sidewalk after an overnight snow. And he was not just plowing his sidewalk, or his sidewalk plus the sidewalk next door, or the sidewalks of 2 or 3 more houses. No, he went up and down both sides of the block (11 or 12 houses total)...twice! Luckily I was just finishing up my sidewalk and driveway when he roared past; I love shovelling snow so if this fool had deprived me of that pleasure it would have been on, baby!
December 14, 2006
end of an era?
Today I was surprised to discover that the vending machine in Appleby Hall doesn't stock Fruitopia any more. Well, technically I should say "Minute Maid," as the name "Fruitopia" was officially dropped in the late 90s, but that's what I'll always call my drink of choice while teaching (the throat gets mighty dry in a 2 hour class!). I hope that it's still available in the supermarkets....
November 27, 2006
flying while Muslim
I've long known about "Driving While Black." Today I've discovered the related term "flying while Muslim" in a story about an airport pray-in.
November 16, 2006
diversity at potbelly
During peak lunch hours Potbelly restaurants usually have local musicians play from the loft above the seating area. Today I was greeted with a first when I got a sandwich in the Dinkytown store: the artist was an African-American gentleman in his late 40s, not the White college-age male artist I've always seen. Nice job, Potbelly! Unfortunately, though, Brotherman played the same modern folk stuff that the White guys play. Oh well; one step at a time....
November 15, 2006
OJ's new book
O. J. Simpson has a forthcoming new book that explores how he "hypothetically" could have killed his wife and her friend. Yikes!
November 02, 2006
Halloween 2006
While we did not have as many trick-or-treaters as last year (when Halloween fell on a weekend, and it was much warmer), 40 or so kids trekked up to our door on Tuesday. An observation: in our 85% White neighorhood, all but 5 were children of color. Interesting....
October 27, 2006
iPod on a string
Today I went downtown for lunch, and saw a 50ish White woman listening to an iPod. The weird thing was this: she had the iPod dangling from a lanyard worn around her neck! While I have to give this middle-aged person some love for having the latest hip gear, she lost cool points for putting it on a string vs. stashing it in her pocket....
October 25, 2006
faulty memories
You ever have a memory that you swear is dead-on accurate but a check of the facts reveals otherwise? For years I've known that my memory of the space shuttle Challenger explosion falls in this category, as it happened in January of 1986, not in January of 1988 as I recall. I still, however, see myself driving from my apartment to class at Ga. Tech when I hear the news, but in January of '86 I was carless and a senior in high school! Today I've discovered a second memory fault: I did not first watch The X-Files during the fall of 1992 as I can so clearly picture (I've just set up my very first TV surround-sound system and was clicking through channels to find something to test it on), as the show did not premiere 'till September 1, 1993. How can this happen to me not once, but twice!?!
October 23, 2006
story reading
One of my favorite activities is reading short stories aloud. Last night I organized an outing where four couples got together to read stories and eat pizza. I read Saki's "The Lumber Room." As this was the first time several of the participants had met, we actually spent more time talking then telling stories. That's cool, though. Next time we'll get through more!
October 12, 2006
school crisis drills
When I was in elementary school we had fire drills once or twice a year. These days schools have "crisis drills" that include "mass casuality units." Damn!
October 09, 2006
still not scary
In the widely reprinted essay (such as in Speak My Name) "Confessions of a Nice Negro, or Why I Shaved My Head," slim and soft-voiced African-American professor Robin D. G. Kelley recounts how his newly bald head scared White people while he was out and about. I shaved my head back in June, but I'm still waiting for that to happen to me. On the contrary, I still get strangers asking me for directions, even when I'm walking around a strange town looking lost myself (well, at least I think I do), as was the case last week while I was visiting Purdue University. Interesting....
September 22, 2006
my pirate name
part of the fidius.org network
September 19, 2006
drive-thru rage
We live in troubled times: some fool shot up a fast food restaurant's drive-thru window.
September 07, 2006
neighborhood kid's survey
Last night a kid from the neighborhood was going door to door doing a survey on pets. The kid's about 9 years old, and I think she lives about halfway down the block from me. I was surprised that she was walking around without a parent or older sibling in this age of Amber Alerts, but Prospect Park is a relatively safe and secluded 'hood. Also, it's cool to see parents encouraging their kids to venture out into unfamiliar territory....
August 29, 2006
biking in a suit
While driving in downtown Minneapolis this morning I saw a guy riding a bike in a gray business suit! That's not all; the bike was an old 10-speed model! Maybe this dude's car broke down this morning and his mountain or road bike is in the shop, so he had to bust out a bike he kept from his childhood? Weird.
August 21, 2006
flirting in traffic
There's a new website that helps singles connect with others while driving. If I were not married I might have given it a try....
August 18, 2006
Potbelly in Dinkytown
My favorite sandwich restaurant franchise -- Potbelly Sandwich Works -- just opened a store (today!) in Dinkytown, a 5 minute walk from my office. Yes!
August 09, 2006
Darwin Awards
I wonder: are children eligible for Darwin Awards? Last night a group of pre-teen boys were riding bikes against traffic on Minneapolis' 4-lane University Avenue (at a very busy stretch)...and one was doing stunts! Craziness....
July 19, 2006
parades
I love parades, but for the second year in a row I might not see any. Tonight is the Torchlight Parade at the Minneapolis Aquatennial, but storms are rolling through the area today, so it may get rained out....
June 29, 2006
the new evening constitutional
When I moved to Minneapolis' Prospect Park neighborhood two years ago I was told that a favorite activity of the predominantly ultra-liberal residents was "the evening constitutional," a walk around the 'hood. Tonight I saw/heard a graying White guy in button-down shirt and khaki pants yapping on his cell phone (through a wireless headset) about a patent application, trailed by a leashed dog and a much younger Asian woman carrying a dog toy. I don't think that this is what the neighborhood's old hippies had in mind....
June 05, 2006
working at the car wash
Last week I got my car washed at a place around the corner from my house. While waiting I looked at a job application. In addition to the standard stuff (address, position applying for, U.S. citizen?) the following four questions appeared: what is $125.31 plus $135.21? what is $135.21 minus $125.31? what is 1036 divided by 4? what is 7 times 9? Huh!!?? If you are a cashier you might have to do some calculations if the register breaks down, but why put that on an initial screening for everyone? Crazy!
May 11, 2006
airplane and airport fun
More airplane fun (courtesy of a comment from Vix about yesterday's post): air toons.
V and I were routed through Charlotte, NC for flights to/from Cancun. On the return trip, WNBA player Tamecka Dixon walked past us while we sweated out a 3-hour delay for the connecting flight to Minneapolis. V gave me a hard time for commenting on Dixon's athletic walk. High-achieving athletes do have a cat-like way of walking, though, don't they!?
May 10, 2006
airplane fun
On the plane ride down to Cancun last week the flight attendant added a little sauce to the usual pre-flight instructions: "Please take out the procedures card and follow along, or pretend to follow along," and "If the person next to you is a child or is acting like a child, please put the mask on them first." I don't know if this was because it was 6:30 in the morning, or if he was trying to atone for being late to the gate (and, thus, delaying departure), but it was a welcome jolt of humor to get the trip started right.
May 09, 2006
the 19th century anthropologist
As part of the Cancun conference V's company brought in 2 motivational speakers. The first guy was cool, especially as he was a Minnesotan so I got all of his references to places/events/customs here. The second person was a complete dud. The program said that a PhD cultural anthropologist would inform us about Mayan culture and history, but he focused mostly on personal encounters and challenges in the field. Even worse, his discussion of present day Maya people could be summed up like this: "These people have nothing, but they are at peace." Where did they dig up this fool!? Doesn't he know that "the noble savage" hasn't been in vogue for, what, 30 or 40 years? After we left that B.S. early, we visited the Mayan ruins at Tulum. Our guide was a Mayan woman who had a nice mixture of knowledge, humor, and people skills; SHE should have been the 2nd motivational speaker! I doubt that a Fortune 500 company would ever hire a local to do a keynote, though, but they can definitely find an anthropologist who lives and thinks in the 21st century, like my home grrrl Bianet Castellanos. I'll have to write a letter to V's company with that suggestion....
April 14, 2006
the dangers of gum popping
Just a few minutes ago a door-to-door salesperson came to my house. She (a pre-teen kid) made the fatal mistake of loudly smacking her gum while one house over. When I looked and saw a kid with a clipboard ringing my neighbor's doorbell I knew my house was next, but luckily I had enough time to get out of sight so I didn't have to answer the door. The last time I did that I got sucked in to buying a subscription to Ebony magazine.
April 12, 2006
Gotan Project
The Gotan Project has just released a new CD, Lunatico, which -- in the words of my music aficionado brother-in-law -- is sick! The website contains a video of my favorite track, "Diferente." The video has too many funhouse-style mirror tricks for my taste, but is worth checking out....
April 10, 2006
zoobuh e-mail
One of my nieces turned 7 today, and as a present I am opening a zoobuh e-mail account for her. She has been writing me from her dad's account for a few months now, so hopefully she'll love having her own. Wow, sending e-mail at 7! Welcome to the 21st century....
February 23, 2006
trademarkin' the N word
Actor Damon Wayans wants to trademark the N word for use on a new line of clothing. Say what?!
February 21, 2006
students smoking pipes
During the drive to work today I saw a male undergrad student light up a pipe. Now while there were not any others around at that moment, this dude has got to be smoking a pipe in an effort to impress people, right?! That is, unless he's the reincarnation of an 80 year-old man....
February 14, 2006
February 10, 2006
Target sales associate (dis)appearances
Why is it that whenever one goes to Target s/he is surrounded by sales associates when shopping for stuff like toothpaste and TP -- items of which you know the exact location! -- but when help is actually needed the only red shirts around are on other customers? That happened to me today when I was trying to get a price on an unmarked nightstand. After wandering around looking for someone for 5 minutes, I went back and picked up the nightstand to take it to one of the price check scanners. What happened when I was halfway there? You guessed it, a Red Shirt appeared, but I finished the check myself...and eventually bought the thing. I should've asked for a discount at checkout....
February 08, 2006
mociology
Wired magazine reports on a new academic area of study: "mociology" is "the study of how people adapt and use wireless technologies, from buying concert tickets to organizing political rallies. The field gets its name from mobile and sociology." Hhhmmm, this has intriguing possibilities....