Memories of Russia with a Dentist in Frogtown
2010
Dr. Sobkoviak of Frogtown, our dentist, stood looking out the window of his office at Western and University and saw Russia. As he changed the point of the drill, looking straight through Old Home Dairy across the street into the Kremlin, he warned me about Nikita Krushchev. He was slow and thorough, stopping to polish his glasses in front of that window. In his starched white tunic, he was a true professional.
On the Mythical Sighting of Chow Yun Fat in St. Paul
2010
She was working first shift at Taco Bell when out of Hong Kong and the two-fisted guns and that scene in the kitchen where he rolled through flour for dumplings and rose white faced as the angel of death...
A Minnesota Nice Story: The Area Reporter
2010
For well over a year I drove around Ottertail County, poking around in its little towns, stopping whenever something caught my eye, asking “why?” a lot, and “who should I talk to?” It would be easy to make light of what I did under the title “area reporter,” just because the towns are small, relatively few people are affected by their decisions, and most of the world barely knows where Minnesota is, much less Ashby, Erhard, Henning or Dent. But that would be missing the point.
In a City Classroom
2010
I learned a few sparse details about the tragedy of September 11 at Lutsen’s Bar on Lake Superior. I waited in the lounge for my turn to use the pay phone and watched as the television silently showed strangers holding hands and jumping from the burning towers. I felt like I was returning to a changed world. My friend Jane Sevald was also entering a whole new world. At age forty-five, she was taking on her high school classroom teaching English and writing at Como High School to students from Ethiopia, Somalia, Laos and Iraq.
Minnesota Nice story competition; Truly Super Upcoming Events; Writing from Louis DiSanto, Andy Remke, and Janaly Farias
2010
This is our fourth edition of the Pig's Eye Post. Last week, we told you we were looking for your best "Minnesota Nice story." And it's been a busy week. Not only did the President visit our city, we also received a stunning entry from Louis DiSanto. Don't let Louis' "Yes We Already Have" attitude put you off because we're still accepting entries. Coming Almanac events include Polly’s Coffee Cove (Oct 26th), the Mad Hatter Coffee Cafe and Teahouse (Nov 13th), and Common Good Books (Nov 15th).
A Minnesota Nice Story: The Lost Wallet
2010
The only time I ever lost my wallet was at a Twins game in 1972. When I discovered my back pocket was empty, I remember my brother Tom and I running across the parking lot and crawling under a half-open service door to get back into Met Stadium. As we walked through the bowels of that venerable sports palace looking for help, my stomach was in knots thinking about losing over sixty dollars, my driver's license, credit card and student discount card for Burger King. Suddenly, we spotted a burly figure coming towards us. Was this my angel of mercy?
Clues to lost royal complex unearthed by LRT excavation crew
2010
Workers performing advance utility relocation work in preparation for light rail construction in Lowertown have stumbled across what local authorities believe may be a long lost royal complex that is likely the final resting place of Boreas the Brrrave. It is not unusual for the refuse of bygone eras to turn up during large scale excavations such as that which has been taking place in Lowertown this past summer. Similar work on the Hiawatha Line in Minneapolis uncovered scores of bottles, household items and more than a few horseshoes. The quality, variety, and sheer volume of items discovered beneath 4th street have, however, prompted calls for a halt to further work on the project - if only temporarily.
A Kilometer of Cheese
2010
I will never forget the first time I entered a Mexican store as an eight-year-old and tried to buy something. It was after I had emigrated from the United States to Mexico. I had trouble with ordinary words, like asking to use the bathroom. I had to tell one of my older sisters to do it for me, because they knew more Spanish than I did. One day, my dad sent me to the store to buy leche (milk). I had a very puzzled expression, so my sister slapped me across the head and said, “It’s milk, you retard.” “Well, sorry, miss know-it-all!” I answered her back while rubbing my head. As it turned out, my sister went for the milk.
Upcoming Almanac readings; R.I.P. Eyedea; Giant Halloween puppets; New poetry and writing; and…a bed spring fire escape?
2010
Well, we're back, with more events and literature from the capital of Minnesota Nice, Saint Paul. The Almanac is looking for your best "Minnesota Nice story". We'll send the winner either a copy of the 2011 Almanac and/or a T-shirt and we'll send the runner-up whatever the winner didn't want. The Saint Paul Almanac's Celebration through Stories readings are ongoing until early December in coffee shops around the city. And more, in the third edition of our blog.
I Am
2010
I am a Hmong boy who lives to eat rice. I wonder how much rice can feed the world. I hear the sound of Mama packing the rice from the “vab” I see the steam from the freshly cooked rice that makes my mouth water...
From Lefse to FuFu: A World of Camaraderie in the Kitchen at Lyngblomsten
2010
Vladimir from the Ukraine had a big heart and would help the girls from the dish room take the garbage out. Eleanor, who worked until she was eighty-five years old, was the baker and backup kitchen supervisor who would treat everyone on the tray line to a dinner roll, dessert bar, or piece of cake. Sandy from Liberia was the comic relief in the kitchen.
The Fish Hatchery
2010
The bluffs near Shepard Road were steep, nearly Worn away, over time, by the flooded Sweep of the river. Minnow pools survived Those years, there by the edge of the city Near the cliffs...