Category: Narrative
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Reviving My Love for the NBA
It’s 1997. I’m six. And two nights after Michael Jordan’s improbable “Flu Game,” I watch as Steve Kerr sinks the game-winning shot to give the Chicago Bulls their second-straight NBA title, the team’s fifth in seven years. The Bulls’ league dominance started before I was even born, but I feel a part of it nonetheless.…
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Nerstrand Big Woods State Park + Valley Grove Church
I drove an hour south of St. Paul yesterday to explore a Minnesota state park and take some photos. The sun had raised the temperature to just below freezing: the perfect weather for a hike. Still, I went prepared. Nerstrand-Big Woods State Park is a relatively small natural area (only 1,646 acres). The forest was once…
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A Foggy Morning in Minneapolis
I haven’t posted anything since the election. Frankly, it’s been hard to think of what to write in the wake of the devastating results. Others have put forth some of their best work in response to the election. Masha Gessen’s widely praised piece, Autocracy: Rules for Survival, laid the groundwork for how we adjust to and fight back in this…
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The Threat of High-School Journalism
This story came out of my hometown yesterday: Staff at the Palmer Ridge High School student newspaper expected “significant reaction” when they endorsed Democrat Hillary Clinton for president, but they’ve been surprised by the vitriol they’ve received. “Some of the stuff we’ve seen on Facebook is quite disgusting,” said Evan Ochsner, a Palmer Ridge senior and co-editor-in-chief. “There…
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My Passion is Directionless (and I Think That’s OK)
I had a minor epiphany tonight. A few months ago, I started a blog with some friends. It was essentially a way for us to compile and discuss the stories that we shared with each other on a daily basis anyway. It lasted about four months. Eventually, we all just stopped writing. If you were…
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On Medium: Stories About My Dad
I’ve had this idea for a little while that it would be fun to recount stories my dad told me about his childhood. He lived a pretty reckless young adult life, and now his stories are always a favorite at family gatherings. Yesterday, I finally sat down and wrote a fictionalized version of a story…
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Here come the Minnesota jokes…
Well, this isn’t what Minnesotans wanted to be known for… Hey @ForTheWin — here’s something you don’t see every day! Happened at tonight’s Minnesota United game. pic.twitter.com/DqdqexW1Vz — Ryan Shaver (@RShaverSports) July 21, 2016 Please, Sports Center, don’t put us on your Not Top 10. It’s bad enough that Digg has picked it up.
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Good night, D.B. Cooper
It’s been nearly 45 years since a man known as D.B. Cooper hijacked a plane, exchanged passengers for $200,000 and parachutes, then leapt out of the back of the plane and into mystery. Now the FBI is finally closing the case in order to keep resources from being diverted on a fool’s errand. Peter Holley reports: “Although…
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The Rough Waters of the Conspira Sea Cruise
Anna Merlan has an exceptionally good recap of her time aboard the Ruby Princess, which hosted “the first annual sea cruise for conspiracy theorists.” On the open waters, she came face-to-face with fanatical believers in everything from fairies to mind control; she stood her ground when conference leaders accused her of being a government plant; and she…
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Biking the East Coast
Now this sounds like something I might have to check out: The East Coast Greenway Alliance has been working since 1991 to connect the whole geography of the Atlantic seaboard with protected bike paths. So far, 850 miles of trail have been designated as Greenway. The project is about 31 percent complete, says Dennis Markatos-Soriano, the executive…
Timothy Pate 