Microblog

Dwight brought these home from the farmers market yesterday: African eggplants, grown by farmers originally from West Africa. While cubing them, skin on, I noticed their internal structure was a little different from a conventional eggplant, but decided to go with my original plan: microwave for six minutes at 60% (as I usually do with eggplant), then saute in a pan before adding them to a slow braise. Dwight gave the final result a thumbs up.

As I rode my bike on a random ride, I turned onto roads I don’t remember ever traveling. At the edge of a rail yard, empty railcars faced off against piles of container trailers and containers. In the distance, the towers of Minneapolis competed with an abandoned grain elevator.

After giving up on finding a local or national Antifa office, I cycled in search of something tangible about the anti-fascist cause. Flags were at full staff at Sheridan Memorial Park when I paused at this sign commemorating American anti-fascist fighters of World War II. I appreciate how this park honors ordinary, working-class people, like Howard Weller (mask, complete with oxygen tubes) from Northeast Minneapolis, without glorifying war.

Measured the reverberation in our main room: double the optimal time for clear conversation. This echo problem clashes with our preference for minimal furniture and hardwood floors. My suggestion of a huge stuffed Gund elephant, like one I once saw at a Hokkaido airport, did not convince Dwight, so we’ll keep searching for more understated solutions to mitigate the echo.

Cycled upriver with Dwight and a friend visiting from the UK to Anoka, a four-hour trip that included a stop at a fine bakery and another stop to admire an extraordinary Halloween yard display. In Anoka, after beer and snacking on appropriately unhealthy starters, we took the Northstar Line back to Minneapolis. We’ll all sleep well tonight.

At Day Block Brewery, glimpsed into the work world of 2025 while catching up with three lovely people I worked with 15 years ago, who are still working. We laughed heartily about times both past and present.

This morning, flags were still at half-staff outside the American Red Cross building near our home, a tribute to the children killed in a recent school shooting. Meanwhile, the president has ordered flags at half-staff at federal buildings for a man who believed that gun deaths are a price we must accept for the Second Amendment. (The light and dark blue flag is the Minnesota state flag.)

Simple Sunday, last gasp of summer, grilled chicken thighs for dinner.

The road was sandy and rutted under increasingly tangled concrete overpasses. I pushed my bike until the place’s hostility became too much, and I turned back.

I didn’t have much time between appointments, so I popped into Rose Street Patisserie for a quick lunch. I preceded this “rich chocolate mousse layered with ganache and flourless chocolate cake atop a chocolate hazelnut crumble” with one of their super-tasty and flakey spinach and feta croissants. Yes, that’s gold leaf.

​Spent my morning in a safe place, a classroom, where I get to practice kindness, patience, and respect. On the notice boards, instructions are posted that attempt to empower us in the face of external threats.

​I was in the neighborhood of our nearest Asian supermarket, so I popped in for some Japanese guilty pleasures: dark chocolate and orange Kit Kats, curry cubes (great for transforming leftover veggies into a tasty lunch), and a rice cracker mix. At the exit, the claw cranes, ubiquitous in Japan, were thoughtfully arranged so that even the youngest could experience disappointment.

Got a preview of Chroma Zone Mural & Art Festival later this month in an industrial area of St. Paul. Over the years, more than 80 murals have been painted on industrial buildings in the neighborhood, and it’s surprisingly free of graffiti. This year’s festival includes this new mural, “Pitzik’ Q’ij: Court of the Sun” by local artist Cadex Herrera. His mural depicting George Floyd against a massive sunflower is recognized worldwide.

Cycled with a friend visiting from the UK. Decided the route didn’t need to be pretty all the way, so we included some industrial areas. This GAF roofing shingle plant fit the bill, especially since the asphalt fumes seemed… robust.

On our Sunday morning walk, an overnight multi-alarm fire had done a number on the air quality. Here we’re standing on the 10th Avenue Bridge looking across the river towards the East Bank Campus of the University. Normally we’d cross by the truss bridge, Northern Pacific Bridge Number 9, but it’s closed for repairs.

Built a dashboard to compare humidity and temperature in the closet beside our front door to another room. It also displays outside conditions and the status of the closet’s vent fan, providing the data needed to optimize its run times.