First Friday, Minneapolis Style

Our friend told us about a Photo Co-op gallery opening last night, so we went. The new friend  said she loves art galleries and I remarked that it was a great way to shake off corporate America after working all week. Love at first site.  Dan drove into the city to pick me up and I noted that it was odd that of the 3 times he's come downtown for me, all 3 times it's been snowing profusely or intensely icy.  This makes both of us anxious to move to the city, but apartments there are no less than 1k/month and it's more than we want to spend on a place we won't own.

Pre-gallery, we grabbed some dinner at The News Room downtown. Expecting a Kansas City-esque experience, where people in The News Room were drunk and feeling like stabbing other people, I was surprised to find it the opposite. No wristbands, no drunk hipsters. It was a semi-swanky place and the scotch, wine and mixed drink list was longer than the menu, which tells you that you're in the right place after work on Friday. My drinks were mixed pretty well and they didn't use well tequila. It didn't take much this time for me to feel drunk and we drove into the warehouse district in north Minneapolis.

A few years ago at the Leedy-Voulkos gallery, there was an exhibit of photographs of old brick  buildings. It said something like "The abandoned and forgotten spaces in our city illuminate the potential and beauty of the vacant areas around us." I am butchering it, since it was far more eloquent then, but it really made me respect and look at all cities in a completely different way. The manufactured workplace architecture space is cool, but it's way more interesting to see older buildings and what they're used for now. It's way more interesting to look at old neighborhoods and imagine the people inside than to imagine the same cardboard cookie cutter homes that cloud my hometown.  This was how it was for me at the art showing Friday, too. Forgotten old buildings in North Minneapolis housing a photo co-op, producing great art. Love it.

Even though it snowed all afternoon, it was still going strong after dinner, which made parking difficult. But we managed to find a vacant lot. I got out of the car, Looked up, saw a gas station sign that said "gas 3.09" I laughed out loud. I was standing in the middle of heavy snow, surrounded by snowbanks, in an warehouse parking lot and realizing that gas is $3.09 a gallon and really having a great time. The novelty of this much snow hasn't worn off yet.  I swear that Minneapolis isn't as cold as Iowa is, since IA has the most vicious wind that eradicates your coat and skins you to your bones in a heartbeat or two.

The exhibit was a perfect way to scrape off corporate America. The first floor had huge, panoramic terracapes, where the photographer researched what the water table underground would look like and showed photos of what underground NYC looks like with condos on top of it.  The second floor was full of photos of people, buildings and nature. One photo was the world's smallest house with a tent in front of it and another was an old woman visiting a decayed house that she'd grown up in, these are the standouts for me.

This weekend is the 2 year anniversary of my maternal grandmother's passing. It is strange that she died on MLK Jr weekend, since MLK has long been my favorite American and a personal hero. I strive to mix the 2 events by recognizing charity and hoping to fight the war on poverty.