Quiche Moraine

I had turned 13 years old the week before I started working there, and that was a summer job that would turn into a volunteer position and eventually a year-round job. During this time, as was the case before and since, music was not really especially important to me, and I continued to have a very passive relationship with that particular fine art. But there were individuals who influenced my tastes. New people, whom you have yet to meet.

Feminism edition: Blame placed everywhere but on Chris Brown, that “special” time for murder, Juárez is a deadly town for women, Afghan law legalizing rape signed into law, Obama responds to Afghan law, “late-term” abortion doctor acquitted, women/minority Ph.D.s in science and engineering, inequalities in health insurance, differences between boys and girls “fixed” on the page, and women’s soccer trying again for financial success.

I don’t know whether you’ve noticed, but the world has changed since the days of the Revolutionary War. Most of these changes are improvements, such as the availability of clean, safe water and the ability to communicate nearly globally nearly instantly. Some changes, like a globalized food chain, are more a matter of cost improvements. Whatever the reason for the changes, they’ve come, and dragging behind them have come the changes in our infrastructure to support them.

In addition to the friends I already knew, I met some new people. I can’t give their real names, and you will soon find out why. One of them was “Tim,” and the other was “Mark.” Mark and I became friends just sitting next to each other in poli sci class on the first day. Mark introduced me to Tim.

Minnesota edition: A retrospective of the Coleman-Franken election and recount for those who’ve lost track, Fox & Friends spreads misinformation about the recount, the order for delivery of ballots to be appraised and counted, Coleman vows another appeal, analysis of why it’s worth it to Coleman to look like a sore loser, O’Reilly boycotts Minnesota for voting for Franken, the costs of even a successful fight against flooding, and the RNC8 prosecution will test an unused state conspiracy law.

Art and oddities edition: art as social commentary, cassette-tape portraiture, Frans Lanting, the morning-after burrito, inside the Peeps factory, Archie Green, Amy Bennet, Minneapolis’s street cellist.

So after all that, and everything else that’s been said, what’s left to talk about? Maybe the fact that every single time a discussion like this occurs, someone wants to know when compliments are appropriate. Sure, the temptation is there to dismiss the questions as distractions from the discussion at hand, but it is a real question for many people. Some of those comments are honest cris de coeur. And the conflicting responses, plus the occasional “never outside a relationship” aren’t helpful.

We needed to talk, to spend some time alone and in a fairly quiet, undisturbed location so we could discuss a mutual friend who had gotten into some very serious trouble. We needed to find out where we each were on the issue, about our respective mutual states; we needed to compare notes and remember details covering several years of time; we needed to talk about what had to happen next. And given our schedules, we needed to eat. Which is fortunate, because it was time for me to write another restaurant review.