Ramblin' On
Why is Minnesota called The Gopher State? In 29 years, I've yet to see a gopher. Where are all the gophers? Why do we need an animal nickname, anyway? Can't we just be happy with Land of 10,000 Lakes (it's actually more like 15,000, so maybe we should change that, too) or L'Etoile du Nord ("Star of the North")? The latter is printed on our state flag, for Pete's sake.
And, come to think of it, I've seen our state bird, the Common Loon, just once in my life. Meanwhile, I dodge Mallard Ducks and Canada Geese on the roads every day because there are so damn many of them around.
Alright, sorry, I'm done.
Two new local blogs this week:
- The Strib's Holifrazzle - Daily tips on dealing with the stress of the season.
- The Minneapoline - A street fashion photo blog, in the style of Sartorialist.
I was reading through the comments on The Minneapoline and I ended up finding this photo of Simon, Marina, and me over at MPLSART:
That's my favorite Pucci!
Didn't we just have this gopher discussion last Friday?
Posted by: Marchelle | November 14, 2006 at 10:39 PM
gophers.. internet nerd protocol.. whoa. look at that photo!
Posted by: jaime O'Bradovich | November 15, 2006 at 12:07 AM
Face it, Alexis, you're a city girl. If you want to see gophers and loons, you need to get out-state a bit more often.
There are no loons on Lake & Hennepin.
Well... not the bird kind, anyway.
Mad props for knowing our state motto. Just another example of why you're my favorite local blogger.
Posted by: Dave | November 15, 2006 at 12:23 AM
For the record, I grew up on a farm in North Branch and I currently live in Northeast!
Posted by: Alexis | November 15, 2006 at 03:32 AM
You must have at least *heard* a loon back in the day then, haven't you???
I mean, North Branch is not quite Ely, especially these days with that big outlet mall and stuff, but it's still a pretty woodsy little town.
Posted by: Dave | November 15, 2006 at 08:01 AM
I can vouch that North Branch is not great Loon territory (at least not the bird. I had a 10 acre hobby farm there for 3 years and my ex-wife is from there..I rest my case). FYI, every once and a while, you will see a loon on Lake Calhoun or Harriet. Oh, and there are no Pucci stores in North Brach...LMAO!
Posted by: Matthew H | November 15, 2006 at 09:53 AM
Aaargh, I hate that photo (although you look great...I don't know what took you five months to find it).
The Minneapoline is strangely similar to Fashion Skool, which flared up this summer and then vanished.
Posted by: Simon | November 15, 2006 at 05:46 PM
Ahhh, I see that you are back to showing your Pucci on the internet.
Posted by: geoff | November 15, 2006 at 08:42 PM
oh, I remember this photo. the photographer thought we were some kind of a committee..
Posted by: Marina | November 15, 2006 at 08:58 PM
The Dressed in Black Committee.
Posted by: Alexis | November 15, 2006 at 10:02 PM
I can't wear black lately, because I recently got a shiba inu puppy (pics in my MySpace blog), and she's shedding her undercoat right now (something they do twice a year).
So it's either go through miles and miles of roll-tape over the next week or two, or else just wear lighter colors for a while.
Posted by: Dave | November 16, 2006 at 06:33 AM
No one really sees the gophers, they just see the piles of dirt from their tunneling.
Posted by: MOM | November 17, 2006 at 08:52 AM