On a Downtown walk with friends stopped at Gray Fox Cafe for refreshments. Their cappuccinos looked pretty fine, it almost seemed a shame to drink them.
Category: In This Together
Shocking Discovery
Spotted this on my North Loop walk. A cover had been bent off an electric meter box, exposing live busbars behind the meter. The meter was running, so I knew this was a shock hazard, especially for a curious child. I called 311 and reached a live person who assured me they would dispatch someone to fix this.
Future-Proof Parking
Today, I spotted a new electrical box on the wall behind our two parking spots for a future EV. Along with almost half of our building’s residents we opted to pay to have the wiring installed. This was expensive with long cable runs to connect each charger to control equipment in a distant room, so I’m impressed by the number of neighbors who participated.
Multiple Realities
At the Walker Art Center today: “Multiple Realities: Experimental Art in the Eastern Bloc, 1960s–1980s,” artists who pushed boundaries under communism. The threats faced by our current system share unsettling parallels, whether it’s the targeting of sexual minorities, the suppression of inconvenient historical truths, “alternative facts,” or attempts to control access to information.
Deciphering Metaphors
Thursdays are my ELL (English Language Learning) days. I support three classes: Intermediate, Advanced, and Writing For Advanced Learners. This week, metaphors were the main attraction. The Intermediate class delved into powerful lines from MLK’s speeches, like the “same boat” analogy. Later, in the Writing class we explored Frost’s “Road Less Traveled.”
Getting a Head Start on 2024
Took two online classes as part of a continuing education requirement. Previously I’d completed some English Language teaching classes, but today I took required general classes on teaching adults.
Christmas Goodies
Grateful for friends and their decadent homemade treats from here in Minnesota and England (that wonderful Christmas cake). Not shown: the best homemade lefse (all gone).
Santa’s Been to the ATM
Carefully curated Christmas presents for our teenage nephews were about to be tastefully packaged in envelopes. Our entire Christmas gift shopping.
A Merry Countdown.
My thoughtful sister-in-law has gifted us an early Christmas present: an advent calendar filled with 24 miniature wine bottles, all different. Each day we’ll open a new door to reveal another liquid delight.
The Unspoken Rules of Adjective Order
An adjective order exercise was in the lesson plan today. There are many nuances in the English language that we are never taught explicitly, we just learn them through trial and error: correct adjective order is one of them. For non-native speakers, it needs to be taught explicitly.