Who says you can't go home?

I've been back in Minnesota for the past three glorious days. Today is my last day at home and boy, I don't want to leave. It has nothing to do with not liking New Jersey/Philly. I had my reasons for moving there and they still apply.

I've had a whirlwind stay of going out to meet friends and a few quiet times at home, though not quite enough of the latter. In fact, I have to leave in a little bit again, but I wanted to do a quick update. Maybe I shouldn't have wasted the good title for this short brief, but so it goes!

Minneapolis bridge collapse: a former commuter's thoughts

Picture by Poppyseed Bandit via Flickr and Creative Commons.

I have yet to be part of the crowds on the Stone Arch Bridge or in the Guthrie lobby, checking out the loss of the 35W bridge from the northeast suburbs into Minneapolis. In fact, by the time I get there, most people will have accepted the bridge loss and use the other bridges for what they were meant for: walking, driving, biking, etc. I alone will be standing and looking at what used to be the bridge I used to cross twice daily, sometimes more.

Like many people are saying and writing, it was never a favorite bridge; you'd have to think of a bridge first to call it a favorite. I was more wont to say the Hennepin Avenue bridge, with its lighted spans, or the Stone Arch bridge, with its history as the railroad trestle that built this town. Never the 35W bridge. It was just a utilitarian bridge, flat, with short concrete barriers on the end. I actually forgot it was a bridge over a river most of the time, I was too busy trying to merge into the exit-only lane for Washington Avenue.

But now, in retrospect, we, and I, miss the bridge. My brother calls it "the bridge to fun" because it led towards downtown and the local music shows that sustained us both through high school and college. I can't contemplate what my commute would be like now without that handy bridge to take me across the river.

I never was really one to be scared of bridges. The other day when I was crossing the South Street bridge in Philadelphia, I felt scared. (Not the Ben Franklin from Jersey into Philly, though. Perhaps the spans flying above my head reassured me.) That bridge has been scheduled for demolition since the late 90s, and still my friends commute over the thing daily.

I've never been scared of natural disasters or terrorist attacks, saying I am far more likely to get in a car accident or die of a heart attack then have something like that happen to me. But after hearing so many "I almost was on the bridge stories," including from my own mother, a little drop of that fear is now in my bloodstream.

I'm anxiously reading news from my local papers. While I was in Miami, I was stuck watching the national coverage, but I was so glad it was being covered and I wasn't missing out on anything. I still highly recommend the Star Tribune's coverage.

Here are a few interesting links I've del.icio.us'd in the past few days:
Cell-phone providers not equipped for disasters
An unlovely bridge, missing and missed
Link to Roadguy blog, talking about how Mapquest and Google have already updated their maps.
And, of course, the video of the bridge collapsing, which I've actually linked from my current newspapers videos, via KARE-11 in the Twin Cities. I can't stop watching it.

When news hits close to home

Just a quick update to let everyone know that all in my family are safe and accounted for and the few friends I have talked with are okay. My mom was on Washington Avenue, about to turn onto the bridge; had she been less than 5 minutes earlier, she would've been on the bridge.

I am thankful that she is okay and just hoping that everyone else is safe and thinking about those who were involved. That was my commuter bridge--I took that everyday to work. Heck, had I still been at the Strib, there would be a good chance I would've been on that bridge yesterday/

Here in Miami we are all freaking out a bit, the Minnesota people clanned together at a reception last night, anxiously trying to use our cell phones to get an update, any update. Of course cell lines were busy.

Thanks for all your concern, I really really appreciate. I was shaken up last night thinking how close my mom was to there and that sort of made me take off my newshound mask and really get scared.

Star Tribune's excellent coverage.

Lazy summer days

The days really are flying by, I can't believe its June and I can't believe its been almost a week since I updated! I honestly felt like it wasn't that long ago. It looks like I've fallen into a weekly schedule of updating, despite having a mental backlog of posts.

I blame it on the lovely days we've had lately. I have no desire to sit in front of my computer. Even first thing in the morning, when I am gross and unwashed, I go outside on the front porch with a mug of tea and something to read. It's really amazing. I love where I live, for reals. The sky has been a beautiful blue with just enough fluffy, white clouds to bring out the absolute blueness of the sky.

Today I went to the dollar store and bought a beach mat, some beach shoes and a beach umbrella. I work nights now, leaving me free to go to--you guessed it--the beach in the morning. I'm very excited to learn the fine art of "laying out." I heard about it on "Laguna Beach," which I probably shouldn't admit I watch since I am over the age of 18, but I need a little junk food too!
From what I surmise from the show, this means tanning for most people, but since I'm already a burnt sienna color, I'll be using the umbrella and sunscreen to help me enjoy the outdoors minus the extra pigmentation.

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Its also been a weekend of a taste of home. One of my high school friends and her husband came down for the day on Saturday. We lazed around and grilled, then headed to the Barnegat Lighthouse. We also went through old high school pictures, teehee.
Then Monday my friend Chao, who still lives in Minneapolis, came to visit. I took Tuesday off to show him around the island, including, yes of course, the lighthouse. Back home in Minneapolis, we used to take most visitors to see some of the Lock and Dams along the Mississippi, but most people were more interested in the Mall of America.

This weekend was one of those times I was really glad the meteorologist was wrong. It was predicted to be heavy, heavy rains all day Tuesday. The rains came...but not until Tuesday night when we were already asleep. And by the time we woke up, they were already gone, replaced with that same blue sky and white fluffy clouds. Amazing.

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I made Chao into my little model...and he did the same for me. We had a lot of fun playing around with different techniques on our cameras. One of my favorite shots I did is on his camera, but I'll share it with you next time.

Lazy days in the lighthouse


Long way down (I know I keep taking pictures like this, but I love how it looks!)


Framed.


Portrait of the two of us. Can you find me?


Impending storm


This is Obadaiah Seagull. I call all seagulls Obadaiah after a book I read in 2nd grade.

More serious stuff

This doesn't quite relate to my experiences on the Jersey Shore, but it does have to do a lot with me.

News has come out about which Star Tribune staffers accepted a buyout. This is the paper I used to work at, I also interned there and grew up reading it, so its part of home to me.

The list is good. Good in the sense of the people on the list were good. But its sad they are leaving the Strib. There is a lot of great institutional knowledge there plus a lot of great personalities. Some really valuable contributors to the paper, I think.

Over at mnspeak, they keep talking about cutting fat, blah blah blah. Yeah, the Strib newsroom may have some fat, but some of the people on this list is cutting out prime rib. (Note to self: you are terrible at analogies involving meat.) People are going as far as to say who they'd like cut. Well, if you know them enough to want them cut, then they are contributing!

Someone there made a good point though: when corporations cut fat, they replace it with good meat. But in the current industry, when newspapers cut fat, they replace it with nothing. That is sad and a sad fact of life.

I wish my former colleagues at the Strib the best and I have best wishes for those who accepted the buyouts. Whether they are retiring, going back to school, headed to another paper or changing fields, I know they will be great at what they choose to do.

Something in the water...

Is there something in (or maybe not in?) the water down here?

Perhaps the Jersey Shore is not experiencing dumped chemicals in their water like some Minnesota surburbs are concerned about now, but somedays I think the water is a formerly from a toxic waste dump. And by that I mean, it was heavily treated with chlorine so we could drink it.

I like being in a pool, so how bad could it be brushing my teeth with poolwater. Plus, poolwater is great cause you never notice when someone pees in the pool. Of course, there is the problem of too much chlorine and then everyone looks like they are part of Ben Stein's Visine commercials.

The real problem is my face has exploded like a teen working at McDonalds. You know, like the Pimply-faced teenager from The Simpsons? I expect my voice to break soon as I try to ask a guy out on a date or something.

I attacked my face with the usual dermatological gusto: exfoliating with sandpaper, applying harsh chemicals to my face, eating nothing but spinach and moisturizing with lotions enhanced with apparently wonderful organic extracts, like essence of yak fur or something.

All that seemed to keep my teenage shame from growing, but did not improve it.

But I found the fountain of youth! It is the Minnesota water system. In just four days, you too can have clearer skin, just like Jessica Simpson Kelly Clarkson Puff P. Did that rap guy Jesse Ventura and Norm Coleman.

Since no company is bottling this June Water, I guess my only option is to start pretending I'm a celebrity and wash my face with Evian water...or, maybe just Britta filter water.

home on the prairie

Sorry I've been absent this week. I am at home in Minnesota, enjoying the warm weather, lots of snow, but mostly my family and friends. And food. We went to an amazing wedding last night, had a lovely, lovely time. It was nice because it was back at my alma mater, in fact in the alumni center. It was my first time being an alumni there...though I don't think my college thinks of me as one of the "alumni" in "alumni center"--that is reserved for alumnis with $$, which I don't have.

Anyway, hopefully today I will go play in the snow. But at the very least, I will be enjoying some CHIPOTLE. and then some awesome dessert at 2021. I already had a nice dinner at 112 eatery in Minneapolis and lunch at Noodles.

Okay, now I'm going to go sledding now! And throw snowballs, etc. Watch out!

Why would anyone steal a 10,000-year-old egg??

In a true measure of how little I do, I have been obsessed with playing video games lately. I've actually put down the Karaoke Revolution microphone in favor of something more old school: educational games on my Apple IIe emulator. I beat Carmen Sandiego (above) yesterday and am working on Oregon Trail. I remember how hard it was to beat Oregon Trail, especially since you only had one period to do so. On computer lab days, I used to plot how I could quickly start up the game, saving the precious minutes that I could use to win the game. I think I only did so a few times...perhaps I wasn't meant to be a pioneer!

By the way, a bunch of people have mocked me for remembering a game called Spellavator, saying it didn't exist. Well, Wikipedia has proved me wrong! Mock no more. Perhaps I remember more of these games since I did go to school in Minnesota and they were made byMECC--the Minnesota Education Computer Consortium. Pretty cool to know we were so progressive in computer education! (by the way, I'm pretty sure that video shows kids playing LogoWriter. That was a cool game.)

By the way, what was up with Odell Down Under? I thought it was the most boring game ever, and I only ever tried to play it when I couldn't get a computer that had Oregon Trail or Amazon Trail. Fish eats fish, osprey eats fish, blah blah blah.

Did anyone EVER finish Amazon Trail? What were your favorite computer lab games?