Thursday.

Went downtown to shoot a video for the Strib today; usual fun. Not at first, though; we just weren’t feeling it, as the kids say, and I got into a small contretemps with a scrap-metal artist over whether military service was required to have an opinion on military operatons. (Don’t ask, it’s as tiresome as it sounds.) Things picked up when we discovered a poet leaning against a lamppost offering to read a self-generated poem for a penny. I asked him about his pricing structure, the impact of corn futures on poetry, and was heartened to learn that you can still get a poem for a penny. So I gave him a dollar and asked for one hundred. He obliged.

The video will be up at startirbune.com next Monday. We also covered the Queen of the Lakes competition, and I interviewed a gaggle of candidates for Miss LeSeur. Were they aware that the winner was sacrificed to the Jolly Green Giant statue at midnight by robed men in a hushed ceremony whose twisted roots were lost in history? They were not, for the most part, but I suppose that’s how they keep the pageant going. All in all, much fun; I love my job.

Well, let’s just pretend that this is much longer than it is, okay? Here’s a guy playing a saw to make me feel better. Saw this – hah hah, joke – downtown today, and used the out-of-focus-movie-function on my camera.

Another shot from downtown, showing the lovely flowers and a new condo in the distance:

It’s a beautiful place. It’s such a beautiful place. May it always be so.

Lance Lawson Thursday over at buzz.mn; see you there.

Oh, crap - forgot to upload the motel update. Jeez. Well, hold on, it's only 1 AM . . .

Okay, it's there. Start here and go until the interface changes. Many motels, a few new ones, and some embedded google-street-view maps for that ever-popular then-and-now effect. Hyphens? Why yes, I buy them in bulk. Why do you ask?