Original anecdotes, commentary, rumination, and occasional pontification.
JULY 14, 2019 – Here are three more “relics of the past.” THE GRINCH. A memo from the department head at my second law firm to all eight department associates, chastising us for being lazy, stupid, and otherwise deficient. The withering diatribe concluded with this: Each of you should reflect on what your career goals …
JULY 13, 2019 – As an early post disclosed, in October 1981 I took a ride on the railroad—the Trans-Siberian—both ways. During the journeys, I drank lots of tea dispensed from the samovar at the end of the carriage. The attendant poured the tea into a tea glass in a commemorative (70 years of Communism), …
JULY 12, 2019 – Recently I moved my offices from the Flour Exchange Building to the TriTech Center, two blocks closer to the center of downtown Minneapolis. What prompted the move was a big rent hike. The new space is fresh, “high-tech,” splashy, and appealing, especially to hipsters . . . like me. It even …
JULY 6, 2019 – Last week I moved my office from the historic Flour Exchange Building to high-tech space down the street in downtown Minneapolis. The move was prompted by a rent hike at the old place and my realization that with the wholesale digitalization of my practice, my office—with space-hogging furniture plus cabinets filled …
JUNE 15, 2019 – It was June 1974. A high school friend who was well aware of my (then) political aspirations had recruited me to sell books door-to-door with a company he’d joined the previous summer. “It’ll be great experience for when you run for office,” he said, “’cause to get elected, you’re gonna have …
JUNE 5, 2019 – One day at Franklin Elementary, where I was a third-grader, the teachers handed out flyers for the Shrine Circus. If you wanted to go, all you had to do was have your parents fill out the form at the bottom of the flyer and pay the dollar to cover the ticket …
MAY 27, 2019 – I come from a family of violinists. Grandpa Nilsson (1891 – 1973) started it all. In Minneapolis in the early 1900s, he played in the pit for silent movies. Later, he established a music school, and at its zenith, he had over 60 weekly violin students. Later still, along came my …
MAY 24, 2019 – The recent flooding in mid-America reminds me of the time when floodwaters inundated my family’s neighborhood. We lived across the street from the Mississippi in Anoka, Minnesota. In March ’65 (I was in fifth grade), the river rose to threaten many homes along our street. One Saturday morning the doorbell rang …