Jan 10th, 2011 Lowertown Reading Jam: May Lee-Yang presents works in progress by multidisciplinary artists
January 10, 2011
The Saint Paul Almanac continues its year-round literary celebration of Minnesota’s capital city with the acclaimed Lowertown Reading Jams. The January presentation of the eclectic series, curated by May Lee-Yang, offers an intimate look at works in progress by multidisciplinary artists. The Reading Jam will be presented on Monday, January 10, 2011 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Black Dog Café, 308 Prince Street in Saint Paul.
Saint Paul Almanac seeks stories for sixth edition from YOU!
January 8, 2011
The process of creating a new Saint Paul Almanac each year is an epic community journey that begins with a simple call like this one—to writers and aspiring writers everywhere—to submit essays, poems, reviews, recipes, and short stories about Minnesota's capital city, Saint Paul. Each year, the call is heard by literary giants, everyday residents, kids, grandparents, journalists, new Americans, lovers of Saint Paul who now live in other corners of the world...and the submissions start pouring in. As pens dart across paper and fingers clatter on keyboards in corner cafes here and around the world, the Almanac gets to work with a team of 21 community editors of diverse backgrounds that include 4 professional editors/writers. Seven of the 21 community editors are high school students.
Crosby Lake: The Wilderness in the City
January 6, 2011
Growing up in the West Seventh Street area of Saint Paul in the 1950s and 60s, in a family with no car, could have limited my adventure horizons, except that tucked away just out of sight, near its west end, lay Crosby Lake—and I was lucky enough to discover it in my teens, when any wildness oasis in the heart of Saint Paul seemed as rich in natural wonders as any of the great national parks out west!
The East Side—A Story of Tradition and Change
January 6, 2011
Follow the sounds of childhood laughter up and over the snowbanks and into Margaret Playground on the East Side. It is 1937, and as you near the hockey rink, you can see a small mob of adolescent boys and girls huddled together or sliding on the ice. They are joining the hockey goals into a small cage. Inside, giggling along with the others, are my grandmother and grandfather.
Letter From United
January 6, 2011
Of course I heard voices in the night, saw visions, felt the presence of dying, that white, fringed place. Shallow breath, narrow entrance— the door to death opened. Then came steroids and their lack of inhibition. There was terror. I admit it.
New Year
By Donna Isaac ● January 2, 2011
On the south shoreline of the Mississippi in Saint Paul one black eagle breaks the tree line...
Pig’s Eye Post Holiday Edition
December 24, 2010
Welcome to the tenth edition of the Saint Paul Almanac's blog, the Pig's Eye Post! This will be our last blog post for 2010. We'll keep this Pig's Eye Post short so you can get on with darting to the kitchen to baste your Christmas Turkey or Kwanzaa Ham! If you're in-between working out how to get the rubber part of the baster sealed better around the plastic nozzle so it actually works properly, do check out our holiday-themed new Almanac writing and browse our Calendar for ideas of things to do during the holiday season!
The Como Lake Community Christmas Tree
December 24, 2010
Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, something magical happens at Como Lake. Just off the side of the walking path stands a huge pine tree, and one by one, Christmas tree ornaments begin to appear on the branches. These are not the expensive, trendy decorations that you see for sale in matched, color-coordinated sets. No, some of these are the ragtag older ones used for years at grandma’s house.
Revolt at the Midway Discount Shopping Mall
By Richard Broderick ● December 24, 2010
The department’s floor personnel—Bobbi, Tess, Shaun, Alice, and the stock boy, Luis—received word in that week’s pay envelope, but rumors had been circulating for some time that the store was closing. It was, after all, impossible to ignore how the shelves were not being restocked. “No mas,” Luis would shrug, his palms turned upward, when one of the sales associates asked why a particular item—like those fleece-lined shoe inserts the old ladies liked so much—hadn’t been replenished. “A little shipping problem,” Mr. Beechner, the head buyer, had assured Alice, the oldest among them, when she’d worked up the nerve to ask. “Central’s working on it,” he said, then marched off in a rush. He was always in a rush.
Christmas is One of the Best Holidays
December 24, 2010
Christmas is one of my favorite holidays—there are a lot of differences between Christmas in America and in my country, Sierra Leone. In America, all they do is exchange gifts and go to work, but in Sierra Leone people will start celebrating a week before Christmas. On Christmas Eve, people will do lots of grocery shopping and buy lots of meats and chicken because they like to cook fresh food in the morning. On the day of Christmas, all you can smell is the good smell of different aromas—yum, yum.
Search for a Home for the UGM Sign
December 17, 2010
I was fascinated by everything about the mission—I tutored boys there in the 1970s—and I fell in love with that sign. I saw the north side of it whenever I drove into town from my home in Roseville. When I learned in 1981 that the mission had found a new home and the building at Seventh and Wacouta was to be razed, I called the salvage company and asked if I could have the sign. The owner said, “Okay, if you move it.”
Saint Paul Hotel
December 17, 2010
It’s 5:15 p.m. in the entryway of the old Saint Paul Hotel. It’s early winter, cold, and snowing. The lights across the street in Rice Park twinkle with the frost and people are rushing in to get warm and have the early evening cocktail at the famous bar where F. Scott Fitzgerald mulled over thoughts of The Great Gatsby. I just talked to the overworked, borderline frantic, new valet-parking operator, and he told me, “It will take a few minutes to get your car, we’re really busy.”