Fighting Perceptions

From Pioneer Press:
Backers of the image makeover for Minneapolis and St. Paul say stereotypes of us - often false - need to be combated with facts. Here are a few examples:

Stereotype: It's freezing.

Rebuttal: It's not that much colder than Chicago, and it doesn't have skyways. Plus, our summers are awesome.

Stereotype: There's nothing to do but go to the Mall of America.

Rebuttal: We have museums, stores and recreation, all within the core cities.

Stereotype: There's no economy up there.

Rebuttal: We've got more corporate headquarters than Chicago, and our economy traditionally outstrips the nation's.

Stereotype: You're not very sophisticated.

Rebuttal: We've got colleges and universities everywhere, we're highly educated compared with other metropolitan areas, and Men's Journal named us "smartest" on their list of "50 Best Places to Live."

In May I was camping with some friends in Oregon. I felt myself getting defensive when describing Minneapolis. For as many issues as I've had socially in Minneapolis, I really do love the city and the state. It was funny to see this rundown of rebuttals. I'll have to remember these next time I'm confronted.

Weekly Rundown of Links

Bay Area Links
SF Chronicle: 'Dykes on Bikes' trademark OKd - challenger rebuffed by high court
Appeals court allows S.F. to enforce health care law
San Jose Mercury: Editorial: California's kids deserve better
Group including Stanford, Monterey Bay Aquarium form center to protect oceans
Morgan Hill man cited for three DUIs over holidays now in jail
Oakland Tribune: Rockabilly Revival: Take a trip to the historic 23 Club in Brisbane for a night of Rockabilly fun.
Wikia Search founder: It's terrible
Contra Costa Times: Not staying abstinent

Twin Cities Links
Star Tribune: Larry Etkin: Investing in the arts is investing in our future
Minnesota has healthiest hearts in the nation
Do you live next door to a pot palace?
Pioneer Press: December DWI sweep arrests 3,354
Dakota County / Woman, 19, sentenced for sex ring
Minnesota Education / Magazine: Kids' future looks bright
From MNSpeak WCCO News 4: Man Who Had Sex With Dead Deer Gets More Jail Time

Weekly Rundown of Links

Bay Area Links
Oakland Tribune: UC Berkeley graduate among world's top solvers of Rubik's Cube puzzle
SFGate: S.F. Zoo's history of mismanagement; morale down under new director
The top 10 sex memes of 2007: From convictions to hoaxes, Violet Blue looks at 2007's most-clicked items
Contra Costa Times: County puts cuffs on drunk drivers

Twin Cities Links
Star Tribune: Emily Saunders finds the missing piece of her puzzle
The new face of driving drunk
DWI court succeeds by keeping keen eye on offenders
Diablo Cody 'cracked a door open and everything was Technicolor'
Pioneer Press: Readers share own tales of mouse bladders and rodent terrorism
MPR: Minnesota woman is a champion beaver skinner
'Madness in a bottle' makes a comeback
The Book Standard: Minneapolis Tops List of America's Most Literate Cities
Twin Cities Daily Planet: Top Neo-Nazi group leaves Minneapolis

Weekly Rundown of Links

Bay Area Links
SF Chronicle: Pew survey: Half of us have looked up people we know on Internet
TOUGH ODDS FOR GAMBLING ADDICTS
SJ Mercury: San Jose taking no chances amid rumors of tainted bingo at senior centers
Freezing your icicles off? The cold's all relative
Oakland Tribune: Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums seeks probe of 'threats' to pot sites
Twin Cites Links
Star Tribune: Wisconsin school district makes home drug tests available
Woman, driving drunk, hits cop car making a DWI stop
City Pages: The Year's Best Local Albums
Peer into the Ears of Dan Wilson and Al Franken
The Rake: Let the Good Times Roll

Weekly Rundown of Links

Bay Area Links
Oakland Tribune: Danville artist creating a sculpture monument of human rights leaders
San Francisco Chronicle: Doctoral students turning down UC due to inadequate aid packages
Porn prince wants to build kinky condos in Armory
S.F. leaders hear about Portland's approach to homelessness
San Jose Mercury: Toy guns draw real cops to San Jose Wendy's
Twin Cities Links
Star Tribune: Minnesotan Diablo Cody's 'Juno' knocked up -- and out of the park
Vita.mn: Alexis on the Sexes: Leapin' libidos!
MPR: Minneapolis officers fired on, not hurt
TC Daily Planet: Hard Times re-opens!
MN Monitor: The Biblical Roots of LGBT Oppression

Out and About With Johnny

Yesterday my favorite reader spotted me out on the town. I wish she would have said, Hello. I really am approachable. Don't be scared. I don't bite. I don't even have much of the a bark. Johnny, Maren and I made a quick stop at Spyhouse, on Nicolett, for chai before hitting up The Minneapolis Institute of Arts. We'd all spent too much money since Johnny arrived Wednesday night, so we decided against paying for the Georgia O'Keeffe exhibit.

The Minneapolis Public Library offers free passes to most of the local museums and select other attractions. On Thursday, I had picked up free passes from for the Frida Kahlo exhibit at The Walker. In the last several months, I've seen Picasso and Frida for free thanks to the public library system and The Walker. Finding fun, free-to-low cost outings in the Twin Cities has been a lot of fun. The Minneapolis art scene has been one of my favorite things about the city, also with the Art-a-whirl in my neighborhood just after I moved to Northdeast.

Frida challenged so many stereotypes, at the same type demonstrating her vulnerabilities and narcissistic tendencies for the World to see. I identify with straddling this line. The decision to start writing here came down to me recognizing that yes, my voice does matter. All of of have a voice and it's our duty to express it hoping that others will find truth within our experiences. Truth is not constant. Truth is the perception of one or of the masses and my truth might be yours. Hopefully someone can find truth within these words.

Frida's truth was never better demonstrated than the series of black and white photos. Seeing a 16-year-old Friday wearing her father's best suit. hair slicked back, confident in her appearance and in control of her sexuality was inspiring. We all should aspire to reach that level of confidence of our place in the World.

We headed to the Bad Waitress, another favorite of mine, before going sledding at Buck Hill, in Burnsville. The farther I get away from the Twin Cities the more open the people I meet are to strike up a random conversation. The kid working the tubing area had many questions about California. He quizzed Johnny on Lake Tahoe and me on the professional sports teams I follow. For the record, I've never been an Oakland Raiders fan. I blame Al Davis for many of the problems my Oakland Athletics have had over the years. I grew up a 49er fan, which I'll still proudly claim, despite the 49ers poor performance today again the Vikings.

The tubing attendee never once asked me why I moved here. It was refreshing. We had an honest conversation without ever making the other feel like a foreigner. I miss those random conversations. We concentrated on what we had in common and not what our differences were, while at the same time recognizing that differences do exist.