all that's past is prologue...

I've had a lot of messages from out-of-Minnesota friends asking "What can I do to help?" Others, even here, are feeling like they don't know how to start making a difference on this. And the truth is, though thousands of Minnesotans are forming patrols around schools and daycares to protect our kids, or volunteering at immigrant-owner restaurants to be door people, or delivering groceries to those in need, there's plenty more that you can do that takes relatively little time. So here are my top tips: If you want to advocate, download the 5 Calls app. It's an easy way to reach out to your elected leaders (you know, the ones that are supposed to carry forward the will of the people). You can easily connect to your legislators any time of the day or night, and they provide a sample script in case you are calling before coffee and can't put your thoughts together. 5 Calls handles all sorts of topics, but right now it's mainly about ICE-related issues. If...

The MSHSL Competitive One-Acts are A Thing that did not exist when I was in high school. Every January, schools compete with 35-minute-or-less pieces with a whole set of rules about no food on stage, no curtain calls, no photos, etc., that somehow get ranked and scored and maybe make it to State. SPA sends one production to completion each year, plus does two student-directed pieces for fun and a general audience; Beatrix has been cast in the competition piece every year except her first year, when she was doing a professional show at that time. In general, they do well, though it's been awhile since they went to State. This year was different than usual. The long-time theater teacher, Seves, is still out on medical leave, so the amazing Jon Ferguson, who directed them in the fall, stayed on for the one-acts. He replaced the previously-announced piece ( Under Milkwood ), with a devised piece including newly-composed music that the kids would all write and create together (this usua...

I want you to know what Minnesota is usually like in January. Sure, it's cold, and snowy — so we take advantage of it. We're visiting the Art Shanties on local lakes. We're at the snow sculptures in Stillwater and the ice sculptures at the Minneapolis Institute of the Arts. We're enjoying the Winter Carnival events. We're at the Great Northern Festival. We're doing beer pokes. We're inside seeing the plays that open after Christmas, or seeing the Spirit Award movies through FilmNorth at the Walker (the only place in the country where they still run all on the big screen). We're eating out, maybe even in igloos or at ice bars. Maybe there are pop-up events like the ice portal. We're snuggled by fireplaces, maybe with a hot toddy. We're visiting a community sauna and jumping through a hole in the ice. We're at the Ice Castles. We're dogsledding, or skiing. We're at the state One-Act competitions for high schools, or the winter basketbal...

Over the years, you have hear us wax rhapsodic about Yoga and a Pint. How awesome the teacher is, what a great community of people is there, how a beer after yoga is awesome — blah blah blah blah blah. You're probably sick of hearing about it. Here we are in a snowstorm just a few weeks ago. Since then, a lot has changed. On January 10, several of us witnessed an abduction in the parking lot as we were arriving for class. Yesterday, Alex Pretti was murdered just before class begin, and we all heard the news reports as we were arriving. In between, Viv has been running a donation drive for The Advocate for Human Rights, and even her children made hand-drawn buttons to raise money for the cause. We've been together trying to make sense of everything going on. We've had rage-filled core workouts. We've cried in child's pose, perhaps more often than I would like to admit. Viv's playlists have been on point. We've sat with our beers afterwards and tried to make s...

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...