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Irene Hixon Whitney Bridge.  Below me sixteen lanes of traffic roar. I’m standing on the Irene Hixon Whitney Bridge, one of many Minneapolis bridges I cannot cross in a car. The bridge takes me between two parks: Minneapolis Sculpture Garden and Loring Park. Loring Park. In Loring Park, the zig-zag approach to this old bridge tells… Continue reading Urban Bike: Car-Free Minneapolis Bridges

The typical household pays north of $20,000 over ten years in landline, long distance, and mobile phone fees. In our household, we pay almost nothing for these services. There is a long history behind free telephone service. In the 1960’s and 70’s, phreaking was the art of hacking the public phone system using tone generators called blue… Continue reading Freakin’ Cheap: Free Telecom

I was helping “Maria” to apply online for a job. She had a good job history, she was eager and presentable. Maria was just the kind of person I would want to serve me in the low-wage position she was seeking. There were just a couple problems that prevented her from completing the form: she… Continue reading The “Worthy” Poor

My 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016 journeys to Kagoshima Prefecture, southern Japan. I’ve arrived in Kagoshima Prefecture on some of the newest transportation on the planet. Arrrive… Benefit: A Good Place to Stay: …by Boeing 787 Dreamliner Quick A hotel on the edge of Kirishima-Kinkowan National Park. (Hourly direct buses from the airport.) This is… Continue reading My Kagoshima: Arriving

The deep sleep during the overnight long-haul across the ocean. The pause between flights when I photograph a Heineken. I email the picture to a friend who is in a different place, a different time. I remind him of this place, this time of day, this beer, three years earlier when he and I were… Continue reading Scenes from a Day in 2010

Oh, the things I wish I’d known when I was young. Take the ingredients for a basic bake pictured at the top of this post. They look simple enough but for me they represent small lessons learned over decades. Mise en Place I enjoy the calmness of preparing and laying out all the ingredients for… Continue reading Zen and the Art of Casserole Assembly

I’m filled with questions when I look at a map of a place I have never visited. How do I chunk up a manageable journey through this place? How do I get there? Which areas do I visit? Where are the hiking trails? Where are the trailheads? How do I get around? How do I… Continue reading My Kagoshima: Chunking the Map

Earlier this month, I found myself airside at Japan’s Fukuoka Airport. 13 minutes earlier I was boarding the subway downtown. In those 13 minutes I rode the train two stations to the airport, walked up two levels to Departures, and cleared Security. I had almost an hour before boarding the plane, plenty time for a… Continue reading Streamlining Flying