Microblog

Another day, another labyrinth dedicated to consumption: Menards, where I traversed acres of aisles hunting for components for a lighting system for our vertical garden. In the process, I acquired an earworm: “Save big money, save big money, when you shop Menards.”

After walking with a friend around the vast Mall of America, popped into IKEA to return a lamp because it’s not dimmable. After meatballs and mash, got lost in a labyrinth of merchandise, feeling oddly guilty for not purchasing a $1.49 Bolmen (toilet brush). Eventually found my way back to the light rail station via the LEGO Store.

The sun was shining, but the wind was biting, so four miles of my walk found me in the Minneapolis Skyways where I rediscovered gems like the lobby of the 1923 Medical Arts Building.

Posted 12 Months of Microposts: 2023. It’s the little details of each day I try to celebrate in my Microposts—our hobbies and interests, home life, physical activity, volunteering, and being with friends and family.

We take our time with the Christmas tree. We’re old-fashioned like that, waiting until Twelfth Night to take it down. So today, we simply laid out the ornaments on a table. They’ll slowly make their way onto the branches over the next couple of days.

Kicked off the decorating with LEGO gingerbread houses designed and built by Dwight. Decorating the tree can wait for another day.

Every Thursday I walk past a tortelleria. Sometimes I stop and watch the tortillas on a conveyor belt moving towards women who package the product. Today I walked in and purchased 36 for $4. The package was so hot, I could barely hold it. Back home, I enjoyed the freshest tortillas, ever.

Settled on black gooseneck lights for our climbing plants. As a prototype, ordered one light from IKEA which arrived today. It’s almost perfect, it’s almost invisible, but it’s not dimmable. The bulb can’t be swapped, so back it goes and the search continues.

Today’s early morning sun highlighted Dwight’s use of grouping, repetition and height on an industrial wheeled pallet.

Icy sidewalks drove me to the skyways, where I walked through interesting spaces, including the Westin in the former Farmers and Mechanics Bank building.

Dwight worked on his second LEGO gingerbread house, a model of the family’s first North Dakota farmhouse (replaced by a house purchased through the Sears Roebuck mail-order catalog). Meanwhile I trained my LEGO gantry crane to locate and move bricks. Tonight we stream Barbie.

Handel’s Messiah at Orchestra Hall from the nosebleed section, aka the gods (UK English). First performed in Dublin in 1742 it still sounds good today, even from the cheap seats.

Our Christmas cactus is living up to its name, with many buds still waiting to open. We won’t assemble the tree for another week, but Dwight is busy creating two or three gingerbread houses using his architectural LEGO.

Sunrise from the number 22H, heading for Lake Street.

Assembled map layers to help figure out a trip to Japan next March. Layers include a 19th Century journey by explorer Isabella Bird, a 17th Century journey by poet Matsuo Basho, an ancient 88-temple pilgrimage, rural train lines liable to be closed, and OLLE hiking trails on Kyushu. More layers to follow.

I ventured behind the blackout curtain on the left to find utter darkness. As I waited for my eyes to adjust, it dawned on me that this was not part of the exhibition. I quickly retreated back into the light, just as a docent approached. A mea culpa was in order.