Posts tagged ‘i heart minneapolis’

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July 10, 2010

Fold & Staple

I remember back in the early nineties, when I was a teenager and reading Sassy magazine, that everyone my age (and slightly older) made zines. Armed with glue sticks,  Polaroid cameras, and Xerox machines, zine editors compiled music reviews, essays, poems and pictures and crafted homemade issues.  I was never quite cool enough to make a zine (even though I really wanted to) but I certainly sent my fair share of self-addressed stamped envelopes out to people who did.

I don’t know if the zine publishing community continued all this time and I just fell away from the interest or if there is a recent resurgence of zine-making.  Whatever the case, I am so glad that I’ve rediscovered this publishing niche. Today, Aaron and I went to Steven Square Center for the Arts for the 2010 Twin Cities Zinefest.

The SSCA’s gallery space was crammed with tables showcasing mostly local zine publishers, micropresses, comic book artists, and book artists. As I traveled from table to table, perusing the gorgeously handmade booklets and cards, it took all of my personal power not to buy something from every exhibitor.  Instead, I settled on two issues of “Certain People I Don’t Know: Profiles of Metro Transit Friends” from Terrible Comics by a Terrible Person. (They aren’t terrible; they are awesome and funny.) I also bought four issues of The Burn Book by Action Athena artist Athena Currier.  I could have (should have) bought more.

Visiting Zinefest this year gave me the urge to do two things:

  1. Join Steven Square Center for the Arts.
  2. Grab a pair of scissors and some poems and craft up a zine of my own.

Both of these are now in the realm of possibility.

Posted in Art, Creative Community, Inspiration | 2 Comments »

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July 30, 2009

Living in Minneapolis Without Faces

cemetery in malvern

“Cemetery in Malvern” by Douglas Shaver, used via Read Write Poem

Living in Minneapolis Without Faces

You know night lasts for months here.
Even without eyes, you see

 blue twilight extending for days before
you plunge into darkness. The trick 

is to find, before first frost, a person
you don’t mind sitting with, in the dark. 

You will spend weeks exploring each other’s
faces, tracing fingertips across 

the smooth expanse of skin where
mouths, noses, and eyebrows used to be.

 It gets so cold here, extremities freeze.
Fingers numb, even as they continue

 to touch, probe, scratch.  Spending time
pressing the same slate of skin, you will

 forget the tender pressures, the kindness of early winter.
What else is there to do? You will draw blood,

 just as the ice on the lake cracks and splits. 
You will ask how your hands got so sticky.

 After this happens, remember you weren’t always
so anonymous. Once, you didn’t feel so cold.

 

This poem is part of the Read Write Image prompt, over at Read Write Poem.  I tried writing this poem for the previous week’s prompt, and just couldn’t hack it. I’m glad that this picture, with the blurred faces, helped me to find the central image. 

Check out everyone else’s results!

Posted in Drafts, Poetry, Read Write Poem | 49 Comments »

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July 28, 2009

Oh, Happy Day!

I just learned that my favorite food critic, Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl, is coming out with a new book.  (And she has a blog. Even better!) Grumdahl, formerly of the City Pages and currently of Minnesota Monthly, will be releasing Drink This: Wine Made Simple in November. 

November!  At least I have something to look forward to this winter.  In the meantime, here are three of my favorite Dara articles ever:

The Doughnut Gatherer

Intoxicating

Raising Cane

Posted in Books, Food | Comments Off

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July 18, 2009

Playing Tourist

It’s always fun to have out of town guests, because I get to play tourist in my own neck of the woods. This weekend, my father is visiting from Palm Springs. (Here are some tourist shots of my visit to his ‘hood, back in December.)  When we have visitors, my husband and I get to remember all the reasons why we love Minnesota and Minneapolis. We do things that we hardly ever get to do and get reacquainted with our little slice of the world.  Of course, I brought my camera along and got to capture some of what we saw.

thursday tourist 1

View of the Minneapolis skyline, through a lattice work panel at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Thursday

thursday tourist 2

Slice of the sky, Minneapolis Institute of Arts outdoor gazebo, Thursday

friday tourist 2

Whirley Pops, inside Tremblay’s Sweet Shop, Stillwater, MN, Friday

friday tourist 5

Self portrait outside of Tremblay’s Sweet Shop, Friday

friday tourist 4

Door outside of Ruby Begonia’s, Stillwater, Friday

friday tourist

Cup of hot chocolate from Luna Rosa Espresso Bar, Stillwater, Friday

On Friday, we took the Joseph Wolf Brewery Cave Tour, which was a fun way to learn the history of Stillwater.  However, it was only 58 outside and then a chilly 51 inside the caves. So after the tour, I needed a warm cup of cocoa. In July. (It is Minnesota, after all).  The lovely barista took her time drawing this happy sun in my cocoa, and when she handed it to me she said, “I hope this brings some sunshine into your day.”  Of course, it did. 

friday tourist 3

Portrait of my husband (back turned) and father (yellow hat), in front of  a bookstore in Stillwater, Friday

When walking around with my dad, I got to see my inherited shutterbug instincts in action.  Every time I was about to take a picture of something, my dad would already be taking a picture with his camera. We both got some nice shots and had a really good time playing around.  My husband, camera-less as he was, very patiently waited while we both snapped away.

I anticipate that more pictures will come as we continue to tour our fair city, cameras at the ready.

Posted in Paying Attention, Photography, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

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