Building a 15-minute city

For us, aging in place means living in a “15-minute city.” Today I aligned my primary care with that goal and signed up at a clinic just a short walk from our home. My new primary care physician used to be an actor (Juilliard graduate!) at the Guthrie, just across the road from the clinic, before deciding to go to medical school.

Minnesota River ride

Cycled with a friend, starting at the Old Cedar Avenue Bridge, now free of automobiles. An ice warning sign was a great reminder to make the most of the last days of summer. Across the bridge, we followed a lovely new wooded trail along the Minnesota River, then backtracked.

Categorized as Cycle

Seeing pink

Woke up to this view of low clouds, glowing hot pink over the Capella Tower downtown, announcing both a day of light rain and World Breast Cancer Research Day. The color served as a reminder of recent NIH cuts in breast cancer research funding.

Categorized as Resist

All we are is confetti in the wind

Spotted this on our Sunday walk: A tram had just dropped off a wedding party for photos on the Stone Arch Bridge, apparently leaving behind some expired wedding guests. I started imagining ways of incorporating this into the wedding vows: “Till death do us part. All we are is confetti in the wind, ashes to ashes, dust to dust.”

A tasteful little movie

Posted my new YouTube video: Filtering LEGO Stud-Side Up. I thought about calling it Studs on Top, but decided against it to avoid drawing in the wrong crowd. I also skipped the LEGO nerd term SNOT (Studs Not On Top) to keep it family-friendly. Click through to watch.

Categorized as LEGO

A thread to my childhood

While walking to Zen Box Izakaya for dinner, we passed the Guthrie Theater, whose thrust stage towered above us. The 2025–26 season had just been put on display, but we already have season tickets. When I was a teenager in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, my mother and I regularly had season tickets for the People’s Theatre. My need for theater has persisted since.

Categorized as Arts

DEI in action

Took a break from my bike ride at The Trailhead in Theodore Wirth Park. I love the soaring lines of this building. The non-profit Loppet Foundation built then donated the facility to the Minneapolis park system, and is involved in its daily operations, promoting DEI in this diverse part of the city. Inside, I sipped an Americano while watching kids getting ready to ride the mountain bike trails maintained by the Foundation.

By popular demand: repeat runways ride

From the vantage point I discovered at the airport last week, watched planes take off, including this A320. My friend didn’t know about this part of the airport, which is surrounded by runways and reached via tunnels, so we made it our cycle ride today.

Categorized as Cycle

De-beeping a tracker for a bicycle

Wearing a cut-resistant glove, forced open a tracker to remove its speaker (the tiny white and gold circle). The speaker’s beeping is an anti-stalking feature, but I don’t want a bike thief to know they’re being tracked. My plan is to hide the tracker in a cavity behind the reflector, but it doesn’t quite fit. The reflector vendor is going to 3D-print a case with a slightly wider cavity that will fit.

Categorized as Cycle, IT