[ Thursday, June 12, 2003 ]
Day 102 to Day 107
Minneapolis, MN. I drive down to the mini-apple last Friday to visit Justin and explore and reminisce. One day I head up to a town called "Milaca" and ride a fun singletrack route around a big swampy river area full of zillions and zillions of mosquitoes.
As some readers have complained about the lack of photographs of mountain biking trails on my travelogue, here's one of the trail in Milaca, above. LUSH.
Moreover, as some readers have complained about the lack of gun references on my travelogue, here's a link to a story on Minnesota's new concealed carry law, which went into effect two weeks ago. All over the Twin Cities, you see signs in stores now - "no guns allowed on the premises."
Justin and his girlfriend Valerie. Justin and I met in law school, became friends, co-participants in the infamous Loring Park carpool, NLG comrades, and it is great to re-connect after not seeing him for several years. He's a civil rights and labor and employment lawyer, and is teaching civil rights law at U of M. Valerie is also practicing law, and simultaneously getting her very kewl jewelry business off the ground.
Speaking of civil rights, Justin reminds me to note the important information that . . . black people love us. That's right - black people love us. If you don't believe me, just read the testimonials.
Justin and Valerie captured here in their natural state, sitting on the patio playing Socratic dialogue with one another in tribute to the good old days at U of M Law School.
Justin: "And don't overlook the significant yet puzzling dicta at footnote 32 in 135 U.S. 457 (1957)!"
Valerie: "Oh, yeah, that's one of my favorites."
Mikita: "Yeah, that's one of my favorites."
Justin: "Yeah, that's one of my favorites. God I miss law school."
After we've reviewed all the dicta we can stand, I finally succeed in dragging Justin away from his casebooks and we go down to Bloomington to do some trail riding by the river bottoms. As pictured above, we run out of trail at one point, and are forced to navigate (by means of a decrepit raft ferry) the treacherous whitewater expanse of a primary tributary of the Missississississippi River. No casualties.
And what trip to Minneapolis would be complete without a cliche tourist photo of the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden?
I spend an afternoon at the neighboring Walker Art Center, and view an exhibition on "design in everyday life." It lacks social context, in my view, and is mediocre overall, but one thing - the transportable home made from a standard shipping container - strikes my fancy. I envision a newer, bigger, bolder, Bad F*cker Highway unfolding on the back of an 18-wheeler. Oh, someday.
Justin and Valerie live in the West Bank, so I have ample opportunity to visit my old hang-out - the Hard Times Cafe. The Hard Times is the neighborhood's 24 hour, or 22 hour, coffee shop, frequented by a great collection of locals, punkesque U of M students, real punks, law students, East Africans, taxi drivers, chess bums, and drunks. While in law school I spent many nights here, often with my friend Chris, arguing politics and playing chess in a valiant attempt to avoid reading footnotes in casebooks. It is one of my great location-inspired memories of my years in Minneapolis. I am relieved to see it still open (despite the city’s ceaseless attempts to shut it down) and nearly entirely unchanged.
I run into my acquaintance and former co-worker Petrina, whom I haven't seen for a decade, and go to brunch at the funky West African restaurant she runs - Asase Yaa - in the Wedge. I see Paul from Espresso 22 while standing outside North Country Co-op. Coincidence and synchronicity abound.
Tributes to and remembrances of Paul Wellstone abound around town. Senator Wellstone was a great leader in the Senate, and one of the few Democrats on the national level that had any guts. Sadly, he died last year when his plane went down as a result of
I love Minneapolis, and am overwhelmed with nostalgia at various times through the weekend. Good. Thanks for a great visit J and V.
Check your browser next week for the next installment of Homeland Drifter, a tour of the arcana and esoteric customs of Lutheran church basements throughout the Midwest! Love to the Homelanders!
Soundtrack:Billy Squire, Boston, Whitesnake, Men at Work, Rush . . . How many classic rock stations can stay in business in a state with 680,000 people?
Reading List: Introducing Cultural Studies, by Ziauddin Sardar and Borin Van Loon [6/12/2003]
PAY ATTENTION BLACK ROCK CITY
