My friend and I started our bike ride a bit earlier than usual today to beat the afternoon heat. We paused here after cycling along Victory Memorial Parkway. The parkway and its surrounding area were created after World War I to honor the servicemen and nurses from Hennepin County who lost their lives in the conflict. As we were about to head back, we spotted something we’d never noticed before, partially hidden by the trees: a bronze statue of Abraham Lincoln.
Category: Living
Memorial Day 2026
As we honor those who died defending freedom, I am reminded of when a federal force of 3,000 descended on our city, threatening our liberty and endangering American lives.
On being a dripper sensei
For over 30 years, I’ve installed irrigation drippers almost every spring. This year, I played sensei as I showed the leader of our building’s gardening club how it’s done across half a dozen planters on the pool deck without decapitating the plants. The tubing and dripper heads will vanish as the greenery grows. I plan to keep up the tradition, but it’s good to have a backup.
AI-generated alt text knows best
Recently, I integrated this WordPress website with Google’s AI and started looking for problems it could solve. Today, I used the AI to generate descriptive image alt text for screen readers for visually impaired users. It works well, as this example shows. (In yesterday’s micropost, I actually misidentified the produce, AI got it right!) Once I’m sufficiently comfortable with the system, I’ll set the AI loose on all 9,000+ photos in this site’s image library.
A case of mistaken produce
“Finally, grape tomatoes at the Asian supermarket!” I thought. A closer inspection, however, revealed they were actually kumquats. Tomatoes aren’t really a staple in much of Asian cuisine. On the walk home, I couldn’t think of a single Japanese dish featuring them. Back home, I looked it up and confirmed that tomatoes only started to catch on in Japan in the 20th century.
Learning from veteran interpreters
The first class this morning was interpreting. Two interpreters with decades of experience joined the classroom to answer questions from the adult learners and demonstrate wireless audio equipment used for simultaneous interpreting. The next classes were more familiar to me: writing, then a reading group.
The click of death
Dwight was a little spooked this morning by a random clicking sound. It seemed to stop whenever he moved, leaving him with the distinct feeling that some hidden creature was watching him. AI revealed it was actually the “click of death” caused by a failing capacitor inside this formerly smart ceiling fan control. A replacement ordered online was delivered this evening, and I’ll swap it out in the morning.
Lunch at an Uptown fixture
Cycled a circular loop to Hopkins with a friend visiting from the UK, made possible by sections of the trail reopened after Green Line LRT construction. We stopped for lunch at Bryant Lake Bowl, a long-time Uptown fixture that’s part bowling alley, part theater, and part excellent restaurant. The bibimbap was superb comfort food, perfectly fitting a day that threatened rain but stayed dry for our bike ride.
A journey of water
Continued planning a possible multi-day hike across Greater Tokyo, a metropolis of 37 million. My route follows the Tamagawa Aqueduct, which dates back to 1654 in the feudal era. Spanning roughly 30 miles, I plan to start in the countryside at the Tama River. Though the city has been leveled by fire several times, including twice in the 20th century, I hope that by following the water, I’ll catch glimpses of the past that survived the flames.
Passing on the fiddleheads
Picked up a bunch of this locally grown asparagus at the farmers market this morning. The rhubarb looked good too, but my sister-in-law recently gave us a huge armful from her garden. We’re not too crazy about fiddleheads, though they did look decent. I didn’t see the fungus lurking in the corner: Google Lens is giving conflicting answers on it, so maybe it’s just as well.