White paint traced the black lines of the graffiti letters on the concrete of a freeway overpass spanning the Cedar Lake Trail: a failed cover-up. I imagined a subversive city worker performing the cleanup: “F*** you Mitch McConnell” was still visible, white on gray. “Images hiding in plain sight” was my theme for the day. I… Continue reading Journey to the House of Balls
Year: 2017
You Can’t Always Get What You Want
On Monday morning I cycled with my partner, Dwight, on his commute to work. He took the turnoff for work, I continued on to the town of Excelsior on Lake Minnetonka, 18 miles west of our home On Excelsior’s main drag, I noticed the yellow tile shown in the photograph at the top of this… Continue reading You Can’t Always Get What You Want
Framing the Future
Today I came across some of my deceased aunt’s papers: degree certificates and an insurance policy. The policy covered two fur coats and a mink stole, total declared value UK£270 in 1965, circa UK£4,700 (US$6,000) in 2017. She saved the papers for my safekeeping, presumably in perpetuity. I’ll scan, catalog, then shred them. Money. A… Continue reading Framing the Future
My Hike Close to North Korea
April 2017: I set myself the goal to hike on my own as close as possible to North Korea without breaking any laws. The demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas was certainly out of bounds. As was the area immediately to the south of the DMZ where civilian access is strictly controlled. The southern… Continue reading My Hike Close to North Korea
Destination Medicine
The Plummer Library at the Mayo Clinic. This is not a museum: staff and students study here. A couple days ago I took the light rail to the Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport. I walked past destination boards, trying to avert my eyes from the Tokyo/Haneda departure. My destination, Rochester Minnesota, was not on those airport boards.… Continue reading Destination Medicine
Finding Traces of Henry David Thoreau’s 1861 Visit to Minneapolis
Our Lady of Lourdes Church, built 1854-1857, with later additions. In May 1861, Henry David Thoreau visited Minneapolis. He was terminally ill, and would die within a year. I found myself wondering if there are any traces of places or institutions Thoreau would have seen or visited. There is very little contemporaneous documentation about his visit to Minneapolis:… Continue reading Finding Traces of Henry David Thoreau’s 1861 Visit to Minneapolis
How I Tunneled through the Great Firewall of China
For political and commercial reasons, China blocks Internet sites. Services I use daily, like Google, Blogger, Twitter, and the New York Times, simply do not exist on China’s Internet, thanks to the Great Firewall of China. Before my trip to Shanghai in April 2017 I made sure I would have access to all the Internet… Continue reading How I Tunneled through the Great Firewall of China
An Empty Chair
She sits beside an empty chair outside the Japanese consulate in Busan, South Korea. A sad, lonely figure. Until the statue was installed last year, Korean women took turns to sit on a chair for a day beside an empty chair. It’s a dignified scene. There’s fresh flowers, and three engraved panels. One panel lists… Continue reading An Empty Chair
70 Hours on Airline Seats
A thirty-something neighbor once announced he would love to visit Europe, but he would have to wait until he could afford to travel that distance in Business. He appeared to be in good health, so I can only assume he wasn’t particularly interested in the wider world.
I would willingly travel that distance holding on to a subway-style strap if that was the only option.
How I Got to Five Korean National Parks by Mass Transit
In April 2017 I visited five of South Korea’s twenty-two national parks. In this post I document how I got to each park by rail and bus. I had not planned to spend much time in South Korea, but thanks to the authorities in Shanghai, China, I found myself with an extra week in South Korea.… Continue reading How I Got to Five Korean National Parks by Mass Transit