Microblog

Walked across this hellscape, as I do every time I walk to tutor an adult learner. There’s about 17 traffic lanes at this point where two Interstates run in parallel for three-quarters of a mile. I think of the neighborhoods that were torn apart and destroyed to create this. It’s a relief to be warmly welcomed at the Minneapolis American Indian Center, enjoy a cuppa and a fresh blueberry muffin in the cafe, then settle down to tutor in a nearby, lovely old library.

The U’s Weisman Art Museum was on my walk home, so I popped in to preview new exhibitions that just opened. In the center of this gallery, Vietnamese American artist Tiffany Chung proposes a floating town designed to survive floods. Along the walls, embroidered and drawn maps explore the upheavals of war, displacement, and disaster. I’ll be back for a deeper dive.

Existential angst on stage at the Guthrie tonight; existential choices at the oncologist’s office this morning, with Dwight steady at my side through both. A drug will let us kick the can down the road to the next decision point, pretty much promising a normal life for a few more months. Meanwhile, Didi and Gogo remain trapped by inaction, going nowhere beneath that scrawny tree.

​I can’t go to Japan right now, but Japan can come to me. Lunch today was Japanese fast food: gyoza, Spam musubi, and chicken yakitori. You can find Spam musubi in just about any konbini (convenience store), a popular snack originating in Hawaii.

​A friend and I made up a route as we went on a cycle ride through Nordeast Minneapolis. At Casket Arts, a former factory that once mass-produced caskets and other funeralia (a word I made up), we stopped to check out current sculptures by the artists who work there. In one piece, “Joe’s Auto Parts,” salvaged car doors arranged in a grid, capped by three vintage roof ventilators, become a sculpture.

​We had a lovely Japanese dinner at Misono with my sister-in-law and nephew D, catching up on family news and gossip. Nephew C is now in college, and nephew D will be leaving the nest next year. During the meal, a notification popped up on my phone showing that the report from Friday’s PET scan was available. I ignored it until we got home. It’s not good news, but life is good, and we’ll take this one day at a time.

A day with multiple events that are not medical is an extra good day. This morning we walked over to the Guthrie for a workshop on staging Waiting for Godot (which we’ll see next week), then picked up veggies from the adjacent farmers market. This evening, it’s the Minnesota Orchestra featuring Stravinsky’s The Firebird, paired with projections on Orchestra Hall’s signature acoustical cubes by London-based video designer Tal Rosner.

I’m familiar with the prep for today’s PSMA PET scan. A technician is about to inject the radioactive tracer, which comes in a heavy radiation-shielded syringe. The tracer binds to a specific antigen on the surface of prostate cancer cells, emitting positrons that the scanner converts into a reasonably detailed image. It’s an expensive test, but I didn’t hesitate to ask for it at this point in my journey, and I’m grateful my insurance agrees.

Today is National Punctuation Day, a great day to walk to our local movie theater and meet two friends for the 4:00 p.m. (and only) showing of the documentary “Rebel With a Clause.” (In the UK the period is placed outside the quote.) Nearly every seat was taken by people who presumably care about the Oxford comma, possessive apostrophes, and the difference between “further” and “farther.” Highly recommended!

My cycle ride took me past the annoying Pioneers Monument, which whitewashes our history. The Park Board has finally responded to feedback from many people, including me, that it is offensive and untruthful. They are now deciding the best way to dispose of it. My choice would be reusing the stone. Occasionally, people throw red paint at it, which explains the red residue.

On a walk with a friend, we came across The Bell of Two Friends sculpture, which neither of us had noticed before. It’s a large-scale half-mold replica of an ancient Japanese dōtaku, a clapperless bronze ritual bell from Japan’s Yayoi period 2,000 years ago, based on an original found in Minneapolis’s twin city of Ibaraki, Japan. A hanging cord operates a functional bell, which we both rang for good luck.

Outside, it was grey and chilly. Sure, 50°F isn’t freezing, but it feels cold after our recent stretch of sunny days. Spyhouse Coffee at the downtown Emory Hotel provided a cozy refuge as I sipped my morning cuppa. Located in a repurposed 1906 bank building, the hotel has lovely spaces to kick back and relax.

​We both filled out our ballots, front and back, for the November midterms. Since the US Postal Service can no longer be trusted, we’ll hand-deliver our ballots to a city office this week and check online to confirm they’re officially logged.

On my walk to Seward Co-op to pick up veggies for a lamb braise, I stepped back in time to the counterculture 1970s for a cuppa in this worker-owned vegan cafe. The double-shot Americano with a full crema was near-perfect: $3, cash-only. Angry rock filled the air, though a surprisingly sedate rendering of the British national anthem added an unexpected layer of incongruity.

On Friday mornings, I usually tutor an adult learner at a lovely Carnegie library. I arrived a little early today, so I wandered around admiring the extra details, including this balcony over the entrance. I asked a librarian why there’s no way to reach it, and he explained that the entire entrance had to be rejigged for ADA compliance, including the installation of an elevator that now blocks the route to the balcony. Judging by that low balustrade, that’s probably a good thing.

It had been raining, so I went for a walk downtown expecting to see hundreds of red T-shirts worn by Target Corporation employees flown in for their annual jamboree. Instead, I found workers setting up photo backdrops and staging visual elements across several blocks of Nicollet Mall for a photography conference this weekend. Instagram is going to be buzzing!