The old Target store on University Avenue in Saint Paul is being torn down, to make way for the parking lot of the new SuperTarget.
So what?
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Category Archives: Urban Life
Life in da big city, and in Saint Paul as well.
Voice
When I came to pick up my son from school, another young boy was having a bad day. He was inconsolable, sobbing loudly in the hall despite the best efforts of the teacher’s aide who took him out. She tried her best to calm him, offering to read or play with him in short, breathy sentences. It was hard to know what was wrong, since he could only respond with one word.
The Jebediah Effect
[ This first appeared in Columbus Day Riot, my blog-before-blogs, in 1999. It still works. ]
The Embiggening of Everything
“A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man” is the quote that stands under the statue of Jebediah Springfield in the center of Springfield Park on “The Simpsons”. Forgetting for a moment that this is just a cartoon TV show, this really is a quote for the ages. For one thing, it seems to make a lot of sense even though it is gibberish. For another, it’s cast in bronze and displayed prominently. Can’t beat that as a lesson for our kids.
Public Realm
The world passes slowly by my front porch. On a heavy spring day there is a steady parade of people who go by, mostly on their way to nowhere but some time outside. Our world designates this the “public realm”, the empire of everyone. And so it is.
Politics, Interest, and Democracy
“Politics” is a dirty word.
A common phrase in our world is that we “need to keep politics out” of a given situation. It seems to come from a noble intent, which is the desire to make rational decisions that are best for everyone. But what is it that we are trying to keep out?
Barataria - The work of Erik Hare 