This Week in Saint Paul: Monday, February 3–Sunday, February 9, 2014
February 3, 2014
On Tuesday, Minnesota holds its precinct caucuses. I know that we have spent a good deal of time cultivating a hefty measure of cynicism about politics. It's been stewing for a long time, and out of that big pot, more beef is served every day. Caucuses are a place where you can trade that tired dish for a potluck with your neighbors. Pick your party, ideas, and thoughts to share. I could give you a couple dozen reasons to go, but a big one we should remember is the fact that communities need both artists and art, and need people who recognize how important art is to communities. That's you—and your friends and family.
Hans Weyandt, co-owner of Micawber’s, ends the chapter titled ‘bookseller’
February 1, 2014
Hans Weyandt—who has co-owned Micawber’s with Tom Bielenberg since 2003— is quitting the book business to stay home and care for his three sons as his wife, a pediatric nurse practitioner at Children’s Hospitals and Clinics, takes on a new position. The father of boys ages 6, soon-to-be-4 and 16 months, Weyandt said he’s had many men—especially older men—say they wish they would have done what he is about to do. And despite the prospect of spending more time with dad, Weyandt’s eldest, Elliott, isn’t happy that he will no longer be allowed to roam the stacks at Micawber’s—a place that’s been a part of his life from the beginning—and take a book home with him at whim.
Art by Bob Muschewske
True Myth
By Heid E. Erdrich ● February 1, 2014
Tell a child she is composed of parts (her Ojibway quarters, her German half-heart) she’ll find the existence of harpies easy to swallow. Storybook children never come close to her mix, but manticores make great uncles...
Brave New Voices Youth Poetry Slam Festival: Six young people wanted to represent Minnesota!
January 31, 2014
The Be Heard MN Youth Poetry Slam Series, presented by TruArtSpeaks, is a series of poetry slams held throughout the Twin Cities from February 7th to March 29th, 2013. The series will identify six young people between the ages of 13-19 to represent MN in the international BRAVE NEW VOICES Youth Poetry Slam Festival (BNV) summer 2014!
February 6, 2014 – Soul Sounds Open Mic with Lydia Hoglund and Writing Workshop
January 31, 2014
Lydia Hoglund is the lead singer of Bomba de Luz, and the collaborator of many hip hop acts around the Twin Cities in Minnesota. Any kind of music she can try, she tries. Though Lydia is currently gearing up to hit the road with Rhymesayers’ hip-hop giants Atmosphere, Toki Wright, and Dem Atlas this February, Bomba De Luz is at work on its third album, set to be released in June of 2014.
This Week in Saint Paul: Monday, January 27–Sunday, February 2, 2014
January 27, 2014
A little more than a week ago, I attended a press conference on the Central Corridor in Frogtown that announced the Victoria Theater Arts Initiative, a new project that will launch an array of arts events and programs for Saint Paul. It was great to be out, amongst friends, even though most of the people there were folks I'd never seen before. It made me realize that getting out, even during a winter that has already been too long, makes the short days and low temperatures much easier to bear.
Empty Promise
January 27, 2014
The world is filled with empty promises. It’s like when you tell a person you love them, and they say it back, but after that y’all never speak again...
Five Things to Love about Saint Paul from Someone Who Moved Here from Somewhere Else
January 23, 2014
John Moe is the host of Wits, a national public radio show based in Saint Paul. Noted for skimming “the cream off a few decades of local and national indie scenes,” the show features writers, comedians, and musicians. John has brought such guests as Fred Willard, Rosanne Cash, Martha Wainwright, and Julia Sweeney to the historic Fitzgerald Theater. A widely published author as well as a reporter, he lives in Saint Paul with his family.
This Week in Saint Paul: Monday, January 20–Sunday, January 26, 2014
January 20, 2014
In the summer of 1955, 14-year-old Emmett Till took the bus from Chicago to Mississippi to visit relatives. He never returned and his murder became a focal point that highlighted the culture of terror under which African Americans had lived for four centuries. The awareness that followed this event made clear that the work of Martin Luther King, Jr. was about much more than getting a preferred seat on a bus. This is not just history: these experiences are recounted in the stories of our neighbors—both those who lived in the previous century and those who still live with racism today. The theatrical visions presented for four decades by Saint Paul's Penumbra Theatre can be seen as ripples that still spread outward from the original splash of King's “I Have A Dream” speech.
The Drive
January 19, 2014
Not wanting to alarm my husband and infant son, in case they’ve fallen back asleep, I don’t call. I don’t even text. But I do take a picture with my camera-phone, because I need proof that I’ve done it, that I’m actually here: sitting in a 2005 Toyota Matrix, outside the Saint Anthony Park Library. This is incredible.
Small Comfort
January 15, 2014
I remember hearing Kurt Vonnegut, who was speaking in Saint Paul, say that when the aliens arrived on a desolated earth, we should leave them a message, carved in the walls of the Grand Canyon...
In Praise of Aging
January 13, 2014
In praise of buses rattling through the streets In praise of passengers jostling for a seat In praise of a transfer I didn’t need to buy In praise of snow falling from the sky, and my down coat Bought secondhand but warm...