Minneapolis, Minnesota - 1994/1995
I met my girlfriend in the Wintertime of 1994 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was the heart of wintertime. I grew up in Michigan, but was quite surprised to find Minneapolis significantly colder than Michigan. First off, I'd never had it be so cold that I couldn't start my car. The first time this happened, I called my workplace, and they readily understood. Even though Minnesota looks like it would be similar weather to Michigan, it turns out its always about 10-15 degrees colder. I watched the weather patterns, and there is an arctic stream that swoops down from Canada, sweeps into North Dakota and Minnesota, and then lifts back up in Wisconsin, completely bypassing Michigan. Don't get my wrong though, its still COLD in Michigan!! But I just found it shocking that Minnesota was significantly colder.
One of the most interesting things about the city of Minneapolis is there a network of skyways. They are generally a story or two above the traffic, and they interconnect nearly all of the buildings/skyscrapers downtown. I found I could get just about anywhere you could imagine by crossing the warmth of the skyways crisscrossing well above the streets below. Being down below, was immensily cold and waiting for traffic to cross wasn't easy in the arctic-like cold.
Summertimes in Minneapolis were also quite interesting. For one, its the State of a 1000 lakes. There are lakes everywhere, even throughout Minneapolis. I found Minneapolis to also be one of the most progressive cities in the States. I had a friend who was studying Sociology in Missouri, and she often remarked at how progressive and amazing Minnesota politics were, right up there with San Francisco. Living in Minneapolis, I could feel this as well.
I started my life in Minneapolis attending a guitar school. It had always been a lifetime dream of my youth to play guitar and be a musician. The dreams of youth. I have to say though that I never quite got the hang of it. I attended school perhaps 40-50 hours a week.. but I also needed to work to pay rent as well as maintain a relationship. I attended the school for 10 weeks (it was suppose to be a year). But after the first 10-week semester ended, I ended up dropping out. For whatever reason, I had the desire to play the guitar, but lacked the ability. Dexterity in my fingers were fine, in fact, I'd practiced guitar on my own since I was 18 years old. But, unfortunately, I never had the ear for playing music. I was able to practice chords and patterns, but completely unable to apply it to the guitar, or listen to anything and pick it up to play. Anyhow, a good experience overall.
After that stint, I went through various parttime jobs, and finally found a good fulltime job at the University of Minnesota Gastroenterology Department. I ended up working in the office taking notes phone messages, ordering supplies, and just general office work. The job wasn't great, $9/hour, but I was quite happy about it at the time, and stayed there for a little over a year at that same job.
What else can I say about Minneapolis? One of the best things about living there is the legacy of music throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Prince, the Replacements, Husker Du, etc. Tons of alternative 1980s bands well before the 1990s Seattle scene turned it all into grunge. LIve music clubs were a huge impact on the locals though, the best club being "First Avenue" located downtown which was where guys like Prince made his start. There were always alternative acts playing here in a very small and cool club. Probably one of the best clubs I've ever been to in my life - and this I'm speaking years nearly 10 years later in 2003 after having lived in New York City, San Francisco, and seeing many of the other American cities.
Okay, back to MInneapolis in 1994-1995. The City of Minneapolis pretty much has everything you could possibly want in a city. Just the perfect size, great people, great activities, great everything. The only downpoint to Minnesota was the horribly brutal winters and the hot humid tornado-filled summers. I think there were only about 3-4 good months in Minneapolis during the extremely short Springs and Falls. The Winters alone were a good 6 months though. After about a year and a half in Minneapolis, my girlfriend and I went to Portland Oregon to join my friend Chris who was still parking cars.
You can email me at:
Wintermoon2@yahoo.com