• Goodbye, Franklin & Nicollet Liquor. I will never forget the vacant lot and sketchy gas station that once accompanied your intersection before the condos moved in. I look back fondly on the time a guy tried to steal a case of Miller High Life out of my hands when Justin and I made a booze run. You have always been reliable, available to provide the source and solution to so many of life’s problems.
• Goodbye, Acadia Cafe. Though you moved out of the neighborhood a month ahead of us, I will still remember how we first met. I decided bypass my usual Spyhouse coffee to try out a new place. On my way to your establishment, I was robbed at gunpoint. Your staff did let me use your phone, even providing a cup of coffee for comfort. Since then, you have provided wonderful beer, sandwiches, music, wi-fi, and BarCamp gatherings. You will be missed.
• Goodbye Wedge Co-op. Though Sarah and I will always return as members, we’ll probably be visiting other co-ops in our new area (or participating in a CSA).
• Goodbye, Red Dragon. Sarah and I met at your fine establishment on Saint Patrick’s day, just before the smoking ban. I’ll never forget the time a guy threw up on us. While you did clean up our table, nobody replaced our puked-in drinks. Man, we have had some good times there though, like the time I drank 2 Wonderous Punches, a Red Dragon, and a Pina Colata in one sitting. I won’t be drinking like that again, but we’ll still be back.
• Goodbye, CC Club. I remember the time a naked man flashed everyone on the outdoor patio. If I had a quarter for every time somebody asked me “Hey, are you related to the Wenzel at the CC club?”, I’d have laundry money for a year. For the record, I don’t think I am.
• Goodbye Franklin & Lyndale bus stop. I’ll never forget some of the regular folks. The guy in the Vikings jacket who never wears a hat, even on the coldest days. I’ll never understand how you do that, but I commend you for it.
• Goodbye 24th & Pleasant bus stop. The 17 was never on time, ever. I have accepted this knowing that this bus route always provides strange and interesting company.
• Goodbye Leaning Tower. I will carry your greasy pizza and beer in my arteries for many years.
• Goodbye Hum’s Liquor. You were a trusted friend, always playing just the right classic rock and noisy music on days that I needed it. You also sell Red Stripe 12-packs at a price competitive to others. Thanks.
• Goodbye Spyhouse. I still remember when your food tasted like cigarette smoke before the smoking ban. You were my office away from home during my MCAD days though. I haven’t visited you much since the Bad Waitress opened, but you still have my respect.
• Goodbye Bad Waitress. You provided comfy booths and wi-fi, even when I camped out there for 6 hours at a time. You were also the only place I could get a chocolate shake at 11pm on a lonely night.
• Goodbye Critical Mass. You always included Franklin Avenue on your bike parades. Thanks for thinking of us. I never approved of the lunkheads who rode in the wrong direction or started fights with cars on Franklin & Lyndale, though I appreciate the concept.
• Goodbye Pleasant Avenue. I have lived in several homes on this stretch. Over time, I found myself biking Pillsbury Avenue on late nights.
• Goodbye Jasmine Deli. You get a huge hug.
• Goodbye, hipsters on Lyndale Avenue. I never liked you. I look forward to measuring you up the future.

http://www.twothousandate.blogspot.com/

http://passportstation.blogspot.com/

http://robinsonlake.blogspot.com/

All of these bloggers are smart and amazing people and have my full blogging support. :-)

As Paul and I are sending in our change of address forms, choosing paint, discussing patio furniture, and packing up what to some would be an excessive amount of books… we have yet to discuss this very important change. We can’t exactly be reporting to the blog Living in 55404 anymore!
My talented brother, Scott, (well, they are both quite talented actually- well, really all of us siblings are) came up with the idea to have a blog naming contest. He’s in marketing.

While I don’t know about a contest, any suggestions would be most welcomed for consideration.

Here are the suggestions (from Scott) so far:

-Heaven in the 55417
-Plainview Doesn’t Even Have a 36th Avenue!
-Life on the Six-Squared.
-Capricious Comments

We will be living right off of Minnehaha Parkway, near the falls in 55417. While we don’t need to name the blog after location, it would fit rightly with the precedent set by Living in 55404.

So, if you have any ideas, leave a comment. Maybe then I’ll post all the ideas and people can vote by comment. Maybe I’m overestimating our readership. Maybe I’m also inadvertently turning this into a contest. As always, Scott wins. That’s what older brothers are for, I guess.

I used to be quite the mix tape maker. “These are the voices that sing my song.” or some cheesy shit… was a Christmas or spring gift sometime around 2000. If any of you loyal blog readers still have it, let me know! Whoever made Tom Waits and L7, I can’t quite place that one… was it Brian? Richel?
“desire- love- hurt” “Will Oldham for Sarah, winter, 2003″ “Happy 21st Sarah” “The Gay Parade” “Songs for Sarah to Skate to” “All Your Rockin’ Favorites” “Tekky Mix” “2 Great Belle and Sebastion Albums” “Lovely mix to Sarah” “Sarah’s Tape” “Oceans and Buildings” and of course… “The World’s Best Driving Mix”… just to name a few.
Hand written song lists, butterfly stickers, glue stick magazine cut outs, Joni Mitchell, Sleater Kinney, Liz Phair, and so much more. The mixes that got played over and over and the mixes from some special boys, causing me to get a little sentimental and warm inside. Some of those songs that I found myself rewinding over and over and over again. The hours spent finding just the right song during the creation of a perfect mix…. Anyway, I’m feeling a little John Cusack in High Fidelity…

Thanks to all who have shared the music that has shaped my life!

You can type in any city in the country and examine cost of living and a person (or family) would need to make to just make ends meet. It’s far above the federal poverty line of $20,000 for two adults and two children.
You can also scroll down and find out how various jobs pay in different areas. Interestingly, in urban areas social services pays below the living wage. However, in most rural ares it pays above the living wage.

Check it out!

I moved to Minneapolis escaping small town life in Menomonie Wisconsin. I had given Menomonie five months of my life and it just didn’t feel like the right experience for me. I had been working at the Acoustic Cafe, a little sandwich shop/ music spot. A girl who worked there had been talking about moving to the Twin Cities. So, we decided to move together, despite hardly knowing each other.
We found an apartment on 39th and Chicago, right next to the church, across the street from the park. It was a beautiful two bedroom in a standard South Minneapolis four plex. That was living in 55407.

I got my first job, in Minneapolis, at Dunn Bros over on 34th and Hennepin in 55408. My life shifted west and when my 39th and Chicago lease was up, I moved on over to 55405.

I moved to a duplex on 25th and Dupont. It was a cute yellow house with a creepy landlord, Roger, who lived down the block. I moved in again with strangers, M & C. M was a naive cello player who was pretty much of socially clueless. C was even more socially awkward and could only walk in straight lines. C had just recently returned from the Peace Corp in Romania. He had some sort of freak out and one day we woke up to find him moving out, back to home in Montana.

In desperate need of a roommate, I called another friend who had left town fairly suddenly, Brian, to see if he wanted to return. Fortunately he did and the roommate search was that easy. That was a fun winter into spring, living in a neighborhood flooded with friends.

One sunny day, Brian caught a glimpse of the upstairs apartment. Gorgeous exposed woodwork, ornate detailing, it felt almost too beautiful for our barely 21 year old selves. We worked out a deal where we could move up there just for the summer. We got Hans and Brendan to move in with us. Brendan took the tiny room, barely a closet. I got the back room farthest from the noise, Hans by the living room and Brian in the porch. Soon, Hans was never there, he went on tour with the Brown Flamingos. It made things a little less crowded.

This was the summer I started my internship at The Bridge, 22nd and Emerson, 55405. It was great, walking distance from this amazing apartment of summer trouble. I worked at Dunn Bros and spent the rest of my time at The Bridge.

After enough was enough living with three boys, Julie and I decided to get a place together. We found this little tree-house-type apartment (small, boxy, third floor). It was a block over from the Dupont place, on 25th and Emerson.

At this point, I got hired on at The Bridge and soon after I quit working at Dunn Bros. It was that December I graduated from college. December, 2001. I started working quite a bit at The Bridge and I picked up a second job at The Wedge co-op, cutting cheese. At this point, my entire life was in the tiny area of 55405. It was great, I walked or biked most everywhere and I was excited about all the possibilities of the world.

Amelia returned home from Italy and Julie and I were fed up with our slumlord tree-house-type apartment. (See recent City Pages article) So, we moved to a duplex over on 28th Street in 55408. We lived there for two years. It was probably one of the greatest times of my early twenties. We had dinners together, late night tea or beer sessions with friends. Lots of friends were always around. We had a nice big kitchen and a back stoop that was a constant in the nice months.

Not long after moving to 28th street, I moved my life east to a new job at Freeport West in 55404. I had had enough of the crazy shifts that working in a shelter provided. I started working at Freeport with families involved in child protection. About nine months later they lost funding and I took a job, also with Freeport, working with homeless youth. I still work in this program to this day.

After two years of living together on 28th street, we ended up splitting ways. I moved over to a great and affordable one bedroom back in 55407 on 41st and Chicago. It was around this time that I met Paul at the Red Dragon over in 55405.

The one bedroom apartment was only affordable for one year because it was a move in special. So, when the rent went up, I moved out. I moved into a house in 55408 on 31st street. There I lived with Julie, Steve, and Ben. Ben moved out shortly after and Kelsey ended up moving in.

We enjoyed many meals and drinks on the front porch of this house. We also navigated the use of one bathroom for four people + friends or significant others quite well! After the lease was up, the owners of this house decided to move home. We all went our separate ways again.

Paul and I moved into our sort of oversized apartment living in 55404. If we stuck it out, we would be here two years this summer. However, we are moving on and out of the 5540s… We found a house in 55417! We close on the 29th and after March 8th, you will mostly be able to find us here:

So, we are leaving our little world here in the 5540s. Living in a neighborhood with so many friends right nearby has been one of the richest experiences of my life. Many thanks to the years spent here and all the great people who have made it so much fun! Please come visit us down in 55417. We are right of the 46th street stop on the light rail. Bring your paintbrush. :-)

I find in the winter I am craving hearty foods with lots of broth and warmth. I also eat a lot of oranges in the winter, probably to protect against all the germs, colds, and flu. I haven’t gotten really sick at all this winter (knock on wood). It’s kind of amazing since I’ve been so stressed out. However, I’ve been eating lots of spinach!

This recipe include spinach and other good for you items. I am calling them Winter Enchiladas just because it was so cold when I made them for Paul and I a couple of nights ago.

Winter Enchiladas

6 whole wheat tortilas

1 can black refried beans

1 can of corn

2 handfuls of fresh spinach chopped
1 can of enchilada sauce

1 cup shredded pepper jack cheese

1/2 white onion

2 cloves of garlic

cumin

cayenne pepper

sea salt & fresh ground pepper

1 ripe avocado

Pre-heat the oven to 350°.

Chop the garlic and onion into small pieces. Saute in a small skillet until the onion is almost clear.

In a large bowl mix the refried beans, corn, and spinach. Add a 1/8 teaspoon of cumin and cayenne pepper to taste (I just did a pinch). Salt and pepper to taste. Mix together with onion and garlic.

Divide the bean mixture evenly in the tortillas folding the sides over. Place each tortilla into an 11 by 7 baking pan. I accidentally forgot to grease my pan and I didn’t have a problem.

Cover the tortillas with the enchilada sauce and top with cheese.

Bake for 20 minutes and serve with chopped avocado on top!

Mmmmm….

I only made half the recipe since it was just Paul and I. That was plenty of food for two people. Six enchiladas could easily feed four happy eaters.

Stay warm!

Paul by our Christmas tree in his new- so- very MPR glasses. Don’t mind the cheesey effects. I was having fun playing around in iphoto. :-)

I’m having a hard time remembering what I did with my time before school. I am amazed at how quickly I fell into a guilt free laziness!

I really haven’t had too much trouble filling up my time. I’ve been catching up with friends, hosting some get togethers, hanging out with Paul, watching a TON of movies, and braiding this rug. It is a four braid rug made out of old sheets and fabric. I am not finished, but here is my progress.

I still have quite a ways to go. I’d like to end it with a dark blue and brown. I also want it to get pretty big.

Since braiding isn’t the most exciting thing in the world, I have been watching a lot of movies while making this rug. Spider-man, Sideways, Boondocks Season 1, lots of Northern Exposure and Big Love, Frida, Pirates of the Carribean, The Nanny Diaries, Six Degrees of Separation, Waynes World, and The Incredibles, just to name a few. I will definitely admit my taste in movies this week has been pretty brainless. Of course, that’s exactly what I wanted!

Along with rug braiding movies, I saw two movies in the theater; The Golden Compass and Juno. Both were fantastic. My guess is if you haven’t read any of Phillip Pullman’s beautiful and intelligent trilogy, His Dark Materials Series, you probably won’t enjoy The Golden Compass as much as I did. Even though the effects were a bit cheesey, I still really enjoyed seeing this story on the big screen. I can’t wait for the next two movies!

Juno was amazing. I laughed and cried. Well, I practically bawled at the end, probably because of my family’s experience with adoption. However you would have to be pretty much heartless to not feel some sentiment for the adorable, quick witted, and sufficiently awkward characters in this movie. Besides, it’s kind of embarrassing to start sobbing in the movie theater. I think the last time I cried nearly that hard was when we saw that movie about health insurance. Anyway, the soundtrack is great- staring mainly one of my favorites, Kimya Dawson, her songs are perfectly cute and fitting. The movie is set in Minnesota although it was filmed in Canada. It’s still fun to hear familiar names like Mankato, Stillwater, and my favorite St. Cloud is referred to as being “East of Jesus”. Go see it.

My new years resolution is to stay in better touch with family. So, anybody reading this who is related to me- look forward to more phone calls, e-mails, and maybe even visits! :-)