It’s nearly impossible for me to look at the above photo and not tear up. It was taken on Thanksgiving, and features two dudes I love dearly — my dad and our family cat, Max. I’ve seen the two of them embracing like that countless times over the years. These days, however, the circumstances are unique. […]
— I’m suspending my hiatus from blogging to post a little 2015-16 Minnesota Timberwolves preview column I put together for Howlin’ T-Wolf, a blog I’ll be contributing to this season. Hope you enjoy it! — The Minnesota Timberwolves haven’t made the playoffs in 11 years. Let’s get the negativity out of the way: that streak — by far […]
Having a sick family member is a psychological tug of war, for lack of a better way of putting it. As my dad enters his third week in the hospital, I obviously feel a lot of sadness for him, my mom, family and friends… even my dad’s cats. It breaks my heart to think about […]
Part of the controversy surrounding the Black Lives Matter movement here in the Twin Cities involves where the loosely organized group has decided to demonstrate — at family-friendly places of commerce like the Mall of America and, last Saturday, at the State Fair. But something that shouldn’t be particularly controversial is that if you’re white, it isn’t […]
I have many fond memories of the Block E Applebee’s, but not for the reasons you’d probably expect — you know, like the food being decent. Hanging there after attending Timberwolves games at the nearby Target Center was always a trip. The employee turnover was incredible — it seemed like there was a completely new […]
Like many Reagan babies, I grew up believing in training, saying my prayers, and eating my vitamins. After all, that’s what Hulk Hogan preached, and at that time he was one of the most influential personalities in American culture. Hogan was perhaps the ultimate hero of my childhood, defending women against abusive boyfriends, my country […]
Sometimes, we fail to notice the subtle ways in which we’re privileged. So it was for me last week when I wondered aloud to a friend about why Nicollet Mall’s attractive granite pavers are going to be torn out as part of the just-underway redesign of downtown Minneapolis’s signature pedestrian/bus/taxi corridor. Read also: Why This Mpls Resident […]
I noticed something odd while enjoying a glorious day at the family cabin on Round Lake over the holiday weekend — there appeared to be a group of people sitting on a picnic table right in the middle of the damn lake. Since I wasn’t on any hallucinogen stronger than High Life, I figured there […]
My first foray into online dating came back in the fall of 2010, when I was working for the daily newspaper in Faribault, Minnesota. After I complained to a friend about how spending so much time in the small southern Minnesota town had resulted in me basically retiring from romance, he suggested I check out […]
It’s NBA Draft night tonight, and for the first time ever, the Timberwolves have the top overall pick. The widely shared expectation is they’ll use it on toolsy big man Karl-Anthony Towns. That’s pretty exciting, and I don’t want to go out of my way to be a buzzkill, but fact of the matter is […]