all that's past is prologue...

Wow, a lot has happened in the Twin Cities since my last post and it isn't very hopeful, so I'll stick to last week's work trip to Milwaukee! I very rarely go on work trips; plus, for this one, Patrick tagged along while Beatrix and Ximena stayed home to (wo)man the fort (another thing that almost never happens), so it was notable. We got a late start to Milwaukee because we wanted to wait until the student march to the capitol that Beatrix was part of was over. But that just meant we got to stop in the impossibly Hallmark-esque town of Lake Mills, WI to have dinner and a beer at Sunshine Brewing , and got checked in to our Milwaukee hotel with enough time to run to Leon's for a frozen custard. The next day was long, as I walked through multiple historic buildings — the job is with a historic insurance appraiser, so my task is to go through and evaluate and take pictures of significant historic aspects. In this case it means I got to explore six very distinctive buildin...

It was great to attend Mayor Her's inauguration today with Ximena and Patrick! I knew I would be choked up. I'm so proud of Kaohly Her, and the campaign she ran. But it really hit me when the colors were presented, and the guy with the bagpipe led folks in, but at the end of the line was a group of Hmong veterans. And it struck me visually, instead of just intellectually, how much people originally from other countries have given so this country could succeed, and how poorly we have repaid them. And then Mouks hit it out of the damn park with a poem she wrote for the event, presented with Tish Jones and Maria Isa, that was so full of love for the city. And there were speeches and benedictions and all that, and then the oath of office (more tears, as her whole family was up there with her), and then Kaohly gave a powerful address surrounded by a group of awesome female trailblazers. And the three points she made were so incredibly telling: - Starting with protecting our city fro...