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On our Sunday morning walk, Downtown was lost in a mist that had set in for the day. The Hennepin Avenue Bridge was barely visible from this vantage point on the Plymouth Avenue Bridge.

Posted Unwinding the Mystery of Strandbeests. Dutch kinetic sculpture artist Theo Jansen’s wind-powered strandbeests are the inspiration for my next LEGO project.

Walked down the alley behind the former Pillsbury A Mill. Completed in 1881, it was once the largest flour mill in the world. The reinforcements visible on the right were added to address the vibrations from the milling machines, which threatened to shake the structure apart. Today, the building has been transformed into a community of residential artists’ lofts.

Walking along, I came across a former inauthentic Japanese structure and restaurant, now reskinned and reinvented as a drag cabaret and 24-hour diner. The metamorphosis sparked a question in my mind as I continued my walk: what would my drag name be?

At the Walker Art Center today: “Multiple Realities: Experimental Art in the Eastern Bloc, 1960s–1980s,” artists who pushed boundaries under communism. The threats faced by our current system share unsettling parallels, whether it’s the targeting of sexual minorities, the suppression of inconvenient historical truths, “alternative facts,” or attempts to control access to information.

While walking with a friend across Stone Arch Bridge, we paused to watch workers maneuvering themselves on an articulated boom. They were about to measure individual stones that need replacement. Previously, I’ve seen a drone being used for inspections.

On my walk, turned into Lunds and Byerlys where three treats called my name: Spam (a Musubi must-have, but best not to dwell on the ingredient list), pickled herring, and English marmalade with just two ingredients—Seville oranges and sugar.

Woke up this mornin’, expecting a day of hygge as the cold spell winds down. Then friends on the mend from COVID passed on tickets to us for blues artist Keb’ Mo’ at the Dakota Jazz Club. This eight-time Grammy award winner was new to us but not to the sold-out audience.

Bitterly cold outside, Dwight baking banana bread and cornbread, me curled up with a murder mystery novel set in Osaka.

The LEGO gantry crane is no more; all its constituent parts are now carefully stowed, awaiting the takeoff of a yet-to-be-determined new project.

A bicycle commuter seemed unfazed it was 2°F (-17°C) as I waited for the bus this morning.

Finished editing a two-minute video about my LEGO MINDSTORMS autonomous gantry crane. Click through to view it on YouTube.

Another subzero day. Rode the exercise bike to nowhere while watching my soapie, and shot video of my LEGO gantry crane prior to dismantling it. With the camera running, the crane sometimes took this as an opportunity to act up.

Nodded to the hostess as I sat at The News Room bar where Dwight would join me after his Y laps. Surly Furious in hand, I noticed the hostess hadn’t budged. Ah, a mermaid, should’ve worn glasses. Lunch, then down to the heated garage and home.

 “Burn the House Down,” a Japanese revenge thriller series (with subtitles), fueled my pedal strokes on the exercise bike to nowhere as steam continued to rise off Saint Anthony Falls, a sure sign it’s best to stay indoors.

With windchills in negative territory, it’s a day for staying in. While Dwight planned rehanging pictures, I went downstairs for a workout. On the way back up, I shared the elevator with a family laden with groceries. Their little girl announced that the drinking straw she was waving was a magic wand. When I asked her about it, she declared it could turn a person into a fairy.