Microblog

​I always award myself an achievement unlocked if I find a new coffee shop while cycling. My method is to pull over and Google my immediate surroundings. Today, in an industrial area of St. Paul, I came across Port 2050 Coffee hidden inside a large, repurposed industrial building. Some serious art books that I’d normally expect to see in a library were spread out on the community table.

The rain had started as we walked into Orchestra Hall for an afternoon chamber music concert featuring smaller groups from the Minnesota Orchestra. I particularly enjoy how younger members of the orchestra get to show their exceptional talents.

Cycled a loop along mostly rail trails today. The Kenilworth Corridor, shown here, had been closed for several years during the construction of the Green Line light rail. I’ve really missed this connector between two other rail trails. From left to right, there’s a pedestrian path, a two-lane cycle path, the LRT, and just enough room to squeeze in a freight line.

Spotted this mural as I walked through the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood on my way home from a tutoring session at the Franklin Library. In the late 19th century, this neighborhood was home to Scandinavian immigrants; several waves of immigration later, it is now home to a vibrant Somali community. Today, 54% of the population speaks a language other than English at home. Learning English plays a vital role in lifting these families up.

​Washington Avenue is the main drag near our home. On Thursdays, it’s where I pick up coffee at FRGMNT before catching the bus to school. Today, a QR code on a flyer intentionally stuck to the sidewalk caught my attention. I scanned the code and learned the county plans to make this section of road safer, including physically separating the bike lane at the top of the photo from traffic. An interactive map is collecting pinned comments, all of them highly constructive. I give the plan 👍👍.

On the way home from the dentist after a cleaning and an all-clear checkup, I rewarded myself with lunch at Bde Maka Ska (lake). The vegetable curry, fried plantains, and dirty rice nicely suited the steaming hot day. The Park Board recently built this new pavilion after a fire and contracted the catering to a local vendor who specializes in Jamaican cuisine.

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.

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.

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.

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.

“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.

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.

Almost sculptural, giant plastic shrouds enclose the power transmission towers across the river from where we live. Decades of rust are being blasted off, followed by fresh coats of paint. On the bottom left sits the inlet for the 1908 hydroelectric plant, still taking advantage of the natural drop of St. Anthony Falls.

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.

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.

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.