24 October 2011

Up close and personal with a famous author -- does being in the audience count as up close?


What I have always loved about the city is the opportunities to see amazing theatrical performances, hear live music and listen to talented authors. We certainly got talent in Cambridge, but there’s a lot more of it in the Twin Cities.

Recently I had the opportunity to hear Leslie Marmon Silko speak, the author who wrote “Ceremony,” which has sold 1 million copies. (I want to write a book that popular some day!) She read the audience at the Central Library in downtown Minneapolis excerpts from her newly released memoir, “The Turquoise Ledge.” 

Silko told the packed room that she agreed to write a memoir before realizing what the genre had become. After doing some research she decided to do things differently. “It looked like the genre needed help,” she remarked. So she made her memoir into an article of history. It has lots of rattlesnakes and few humans. “I was a bit tired of humans at the time,” she admitted.

She realized that one of the most disturbing things in writing about your own life is learning “the bald facts” about one’s own family. That’s why she typically writes fiction.

Silko reminisced about how some called her book, “Almanac of the Dead,” prophetic after the Zapistas revolted just as she’d written years earlier. She was interviewed by her local television station. “As if I knew anything. I’m just a novelist,” she stated.


06 October 2011

Join fight for Chloe


Chloe is an amazing little girl who died last year of MLD. I wrote a story about her and her family for the Longfellow/Nokomis Messenger. On Saturday, Oct. 8 there will be a benefit for her. This is an amazing family who could use your support. Attend the 5K/Coffee Stroll around Lake Nokomis; registration starts at 8 a.m. and the race/walk starts at 9 a.m. More details can be found at ChloesFight.org.  


100% of the proceeds will go to the MLD foundation and will be dedicated to research conducted by Dr Paul Orchard from the Inherited Metabolic and Storage Disease Bone Marrow Transplantation Program at the University of Minnesota and research conducted by Brains4Brain at the European Task Force on Brain and Neurodegenerative Lysomal Storage Diseases. Taking part in “Chloe’s Fight” race is your opportunity to do something meaningful while having a lot of fun.


Read my story here: http://stories-i-tell.blogspot.com/2011/10/join-fight-for-chloe.html

05 October 2011

My first year as city girl

I have been a Minneapolis resident for one full year.


This is one of bridges I love best in Minneapolis. It provides a way for those on the Greenway to travel safely across Hiawatha Avenue.

I still haven’t eaten at all of the restaurants within a 10-block radius. Back home, I had not only eaten at all the restaurants in town, but I’d worked at half of them. I don’t have a favorite grocery store, although I’m narrowing my choices down. Sadly, there isn’t a natural foods co-op closer than 15 minutes away, but many of the groceries stores have a good selection of organic foods. (And I don’t think I should drive more than five minutes for anything.)

I’m learning new routes to avoid the traffic jams. I picked this house because of it’s proximity to a major street, Hiawatha Ave., but now I avoid that road at all costs. Driving on Hiawatha Avenue is a sure way to get me boiling mad and frustrated. It’s all about waiting for traffic. That’s the reason why I didn’t move to the suburbs; the wait at lights can be 7 to 10 minutes. And so I take Cedar. It’s narrower, but the lights change quick.

I’m not a city girl by any means, but I’m figuring out how to survive down here.

HERE ARE THE IMPORTANT LESSONS I’VE LEARNED SO THIS COUNTRY GIRL CAN SURVIVE:
•Just stay home between 3 and 7 p.m. The roads are clogged and getting around is a lesson in frustration. So, I save myself the hassle and stay home.
• Even though the distance isn’t far on a map doesn’t mean you’ll get there in five minutes. Nope. Better plan on 10 or 15 or 20 — 30 during rush hour or if there’s construction. There are lots of stoplights, cars and people. I used to be envious of city folks because everything was just 20 minutes away. That was when I had one store to buy clothes at in my hometown. But now I realize that EVERYTHING is 20 minutes away — whether I’m heading for a surburb and just going down the street.
• Use GPS. Always. Now, I’ve always been the kind of girl who couldn’t get lost. I never lost North. But down here... I’m lost. A lot. Exits curve off in a different direction. Buildings are tall. I’m coming from the south rather than the north, so exits are different. I can’t count on the route being the same that I was used to. And so I plug my destination in my phone’s GPS unit every time. Then, if I don’t need it I can congratulate myself. And when I do (which is usually, though it’s getting to be less and less), I can make it where I’m heading - instead of drving round and round.
• Driving takes a lot of concentration. A lot. I’ve always prided myself on being a good driver. No accidents on my record. Just the occassional speeding ticket. But down here there is SO MUCH to look out for. Other cars with driver’s who don’t know what they’re doing. Pedestrians. Bicyclists. Mopeds. Trains. Stop lights that hard to see because they aren’t above the lanes but just on the side of the road. Construction workers. Buses that stop frequently.
• Watch out for the bicylists. They think they own the road and that you shouldn’t be driving a gas-hogging vehicle. Because of that, they won’t watch out for you. I’m pretty sure you don’t want to hit a bicylist.  I sure don’t.

01 October 2011

Get wet - indoor water parks 2 of 2

If you’re like me, you’re mourning the hot weather and want to get back in the water. Tis the season for indoor water parks. There are plenty around.

As a mother of a toddler, I know the things I look for in a water park are specific to my daughter’s age. I want her to be able to splash around without getting too close to really deep water. She likes slides that aren’t too big. Right now one that is about four feet off the ground means we are both happy. I don’t like slides that are covered because I can’t go down it with her.

The first indoor waterpark I took my daughter to in Brooklyn Center (Grand Rios at the Ramada) has been shut down after someone drowned on one of the big slides. This would be a good place to remind folks that if you don’t know how to swim, a waterpark might not be the best place for you. Consider swim lessons first, and use lifejackets and close supervision for the small ones. (The best lifejacket out there is a puddlejumper for kids. Gives them so much confidence.)

Last winter, we swam several times at Lifetime Fitness pools. Most of them are pretty basic (the St. Louis Park one has a saltwater pool!), but they serve the purpose of getting wet and exercising a bit. Plus, when you get out, you can head straight to the hot tub. Ah. So relaxing. Maybe I should be writing a list of best hot tubs...

Here are two indoor waterparks I recommend:


For more information, browse http://www.ci.maple-grove.mn.us/content/149/305/default.aspx
• Maple Grove Community Center, The Grove Cove
This pool with fun features is shared with the adjacent Lifetime Fitness. There are several areas: a lap pool that’s seperate from the others, and another that starts with zero entry and eventually becomes a deep pool. A waterslide empties into that area. I’ve hard that the outside pool is fun in the summer, but alas, we didn’t make it there this year. (Summers are just too short!)


This is pretty much all the little girls had to play on.


The place definitely LOOKS cool!

I loved the decor. The hotel rooms were great. Nothing ugly here.

• Chaos Water Park, Eau Claire, Wis.
Looking for an overnight trip? Eau Claire only an hour or so from the Twin Cities; it’s just far enough that you’ll feel like you’re leaving town but you won’t have to hear too many “Are we there yets?!” I have to confess I was more enamoured of the hotel rooms than the water park. They are just so cool! It’s a brand new hotel and it’s very stylish without being overdone. (But they don’t have mini-fridges in the rooms. Bummer.) There are numerous room/waterpark packages, but mostly just for families of four. It didn’t do my family of three much good. I thought the waterpark area could have been better designed. There was very little for the ones under three to do. I’m not a fan of covered slides because I can’t go down them with my kid, and that’s all they had. They have three big slides — which were tons of fun for the older kids and adults. We were on the lazy river a lot. And that was about it. You won’t want to stay longer than one night, but you’re sure to enjoy yourself.

This is what the way home looks like.
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