Questions for Today

1. Has Minnesota always been a magnet for the bizarre and the tragic (take your pick) and I just never noticed until now?
2. Should one think twice about using the restrooms at MSP? (By the way: even if it doesn't get you arrested, a wide stance is apparently bad for you.) Updated Monday night: This whole incident continues to bother me (to vastly oversimplify, I don't know who to root for or against) and I suggest reading this NYT op-ed, America’s Toe-Tapping Menace, (registration may be required).
3. Can Garrison Keillor make the phone book sound good?
4. Might Capogiro open an Upper Midwestern retail location?
5. Should the postal service be able to change the state for your mailing address?
6. Could sushi from Target satisfy my sushi cravings? Dare I find out?
7. Will I have to accept that it is just plain odd of me to order an extra shot of espresso in nearly every coffee drink I buy and that therefore people will draw attention to it in funny ways (such as "redeye" or "moose shot")?

Sunday Notes & Links

• My soundtrack for the ride home (not including several chapters of The World is Flat) was the musical happiness of Philly's The Lowlands, thanks to Jay. There's nothing better for a 20-hour drive to the middle of America. They've posted a few songs on their MySpace page -- hey, take a listen, and if you like what you hear, pick up their full-length debut album on September 2. It even has a song about Indiana :-)
• Catch up on Darren's few minutes of fame for doing his part to make sure Philadelphia doesn't muddle along with a ho-hum future.
• Sad news for all of us: no, I am not a Powerball multimillionaire.

T-5 Days to the Minnesota State Fair

As we plan our trip to the Minnesota State Fair, we discovered FairWaves, the podcast of the fair, produced by Minnesota Public Radio. I felt this could not pass without drawing attention to it.

Also, we note the music line-up: Goo-Goo Dolls, Fountains of Wayne (for free!), a live show of Prairie Home Companion (of course) and, to top it all off, Def Leppard with special guests Styx and Foreigner.

Random Observations

No clear winner yet for the lumberjack. And I realize I forgot an entrant: Nick Chopper! In the meantime, some quick hits on life in Rochester so far:

Hail: The White Combine. Since we've moved here we have witnessed three freaky thunderstorms including two with (yup, really) hail. Someone described hail to Hal as the "white combine" because it flattens crops. I most certainly can believe it, given the severity with which it pounded our apartment a few nights ago.

Talk About the Weather. And a related point: Minnesotans love to hear about (and talk about) the weather. MPR offers a weekly podcast where Cathy Wurzer, the MPR morning anchor, explores the weather. Yesterday, she noted on-air she had just been reading National Weather Service weather observer reports about the latest hailstorms.

Organic Grocery SuperTarget? From the day Airway closed up shop and replaced their avocado-esque 70s logo with the beloved Target bullseye, my love for the place has been a special one (although my first love, the Richmond Target, has been closed for more than a year). Moving here, though, I have discovered the extraordinary SuperTarget: not only does the store have affordable stylish furniture and decorations, it has a full-service grocery story with a house organic brand, Archer Farms.

Farm Fresh Continues. The farmers' market continues to amaze: plums, peppers, cheese, beef, chickens, carrots, broccoli, bread ... it's all been wonderful, except maybe for the half a chicken that refused to thaw.

Walkable, If You Force The Issue. I walked to the nearest Caribou Coffee last Friday: it is possible. Total round-trip time was 45 minutes. It will be nice to have a car here.

Poll: What Should I Name the Lumberjack?

It's been anything but a silly week, but I'm forging ahead with this naming thing.

p.s. updated to note that the word I wanted was "forging" and not "foraging."

Safe at Home

And surprisingly news-unaware: My sister Tracie called us while we were eating dinner to tell us about the collapse. We're watching TV now and thinking about the people on the bridge and the people responding to them.

Minneapolis Star-Tribune: I-35W Bridge Collapses

Update: Let the record reflect that my sister Tracie called me after my brother Randy, in Florida, called her. Thanks for checking in!

Lumberjack Needs a Name

Before I left, the Web Team gave me gifts to help acculturate me to my new situation:
* How to Talk Minnesotan (seems to be working, by the way: I went to dinner last night in the Twin Cities and people remarked, oh, there's no way you've only been in Minnesota for 10 days).
* Much regionally inspired forms of chocolate (all gone, thank you)
* Ole & Lena fortune cookies with pretty good jokes in them (look for them on the blog soon)
* Spices (to bring more oomph to the inevitable hotdish)
* A Grow-A-Head so I can cultivate a conversational partner during the day
* and last but not least, the lumberjack pictured above.

As mentioned, the lumberjack needs a name. Got a suggestion? Leave it in the comments (I've turned moderation off to make this go more smoothly). I'll post the winner once Hal and I arbitrarily pick one.