EVENTS DURING THE HOLIDAY SEASON

Welcome to the tenth edition of the Saint Paul Almanac‘s blog, the Pig’s Eye Post! This will be our last blog post for 2010. We’ll resume in the new year. As always with the Almanac, your contributions are very welcome. If there are major events or news taking place that you think we should be paying attention to, please drop us a line.

Christmas 2010: Even Santa has to get his sleigh inspected at the airport! (Photo: SwingShoes.net)

We’ll keep this Pig’s Eye Post short so you can get on with darting to the kitchen to baste your Christmas Turkey or Kwanzaa Ham! If you’re in-between working out how to get the rubber part of the baster sealed better around the plastic nozzle so it actually works properly, do check out our holiday-themed new Almanac writing below.

If you’re looking for things to do with your family or significant other over the next week, definitely browse the Almanac‘s Saint Paul Calendar. There’s open family skating outside the Landmark Center, a ton of great theater and exhibits, downtown jazz and open mike poetry at the Artists’ Quarter, Trampled by Turtles band members at the Turf Club and more…


NEW WRITING FROM TOM HAAS, RICHARD BRODERICK AND SUAD AROUNI

The Como Lake Community Christmas Tree

By Tom Haas
Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, something magical happens at Como Lake. Just off the side of the walking path stands a huge pine tree, and one by one, Christmas tree ornaments begin to appear on the branches. These are not the expensive, trendy decorations that you see for sale in matched, color-coordinated sets. No, some of these are the ragtag older ones used for years at grandma’s house. Read More

Revolt at the Midway Discount Shopping Mall

By Richard Broderick
The department’s floor personnel—Bobbi, Tess, Shaun, Alice, and the stock boy, Luis—received word in that week’s pay envelope, but rumors had been circulating for some time that the store was closing. It was, after all, impossible to ignore how the shelves were not being restocked. “No mas,” Luis would shrug, his palms turned upward, when one of the sales associates asked why a particular item—like those fleece-lined shoe inserts the old ladies liked so much—hadn’t been replenished. “A little shipping problem,” Mr. Beechner, the head buyer, had assured Alice, the oldest among them, when she’d worked up the nerve to ask. “Central’s working on it,” he said, then marched off in a rush. He was always in a rush. Read More

Christmas is One of the Best Holidays

By Suad Arouni
Christmas is one of my favorite holidays—there are a lot of differences between Christmas in America and in my country, Sierra Leone. In America, all they do is exchange gifts and go to work, but in Sierra Leone people will start celebrating a week before Christmas. On Christmas Eve, people will do lots of grocery shopping and buy lots of meats and chicken because they like to cook fresh food in the morning. On the day of Christmas, all you can smell is the good smell of different aromas—yum, yum. Read More


COMING ALMANAC EVENTS IN 2011: LOWERTOWN READING JAMS

The entire 2010–2011 season will be presented at the Black Dog Café, a popular Saint Paul venue for spoken word artists, and a co-sponsor of the series. Check back with us, or join our e-mail list or Twitter feed to be informed of coming events.


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Photo of TSA-rewrapped presents courtesy of Erik & Anna at SwingShoes.net

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