[Editor’s note: Recognizing this began as a site to cover Cardinal athletics, it has sadly regressed to include such as vacation trips, wining and dining, music, plays, and . . . books. All things that hold at least partial interest for me (without whom you would not be bothered by this). And occasionally we venture back into the fog of time. This time, because of recent delvement (OK, a Sarah Palin-like created word – just adding to the language a’ la Mark Twain) into authors Kurt Vonnegut and Jess Lourey, we venture all the way back to April 16, 2010, and our encounter with Anna Quindlen (as reported at the time).]
There are very few things that will inspire me to make a day trip to the big cities – especially on the same day when Dan Mahar is performing at SAWA! But yesterday was such a day. Anna Quindlen was having a book signing at the Wayzata Community Church. She has been my favorite columnist for a long time – I wore a black arm band for weeks after she gave up her last page column in Newsweek to become a full-time novelist.
She was there to promote her new novel, Every Last One, before a packed house. She was very entertaining, as usual. During the Q&A, I asked her what the reaction was to her statement in Newsweek [April 14, 2008] – “there is only one reason to go to war . . . it is that you have a cause so great that it justifies asking people to sacrifice their children.” She said just the usual – the same people who have been calling her a Commie for 30 years, called her a Commie and told her to go back to where she came from. To which she would query, the suburbs of Philadelphia?
When Newsweek carried a Quindlen column, I would read the entire magazine – except for her. I wanted to read her separately, later – like waiting to eat a good steak.
Ruthie requested she sign the book to “her biggest fan.” She smiled and thanked me. 🙂 [A high school classmate said I looked like I was blushing?]
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About tomobert63
The Journey Begins
Thanks for joining me! This is the follow-up to the original, “alexandriacardinals.wordpress.com,” which overwhelmed the system’s ability to handle it any more. Thus, this is “Part 2.” As the original was initially described:
10-26-07-4
“It all began in a 5,000 watt radio station in Fresno, California” . . . wait a minute, that was Ted Baxter on the Mary Tyler Moore Show! Let’s see . . . oh yeah, it all began in 2003 when retirees, i.e., old people, in Alexandria, Minnesota, who had no desire to become snow birds, went looking for mid-winter entertainment here in the frozen tundra of West Central Minnesota. We discovered girls’ high school hockey, fell in love immediately, and it remains our favorite spectator sport to this day. Initially, and for several years, reports on these games were e-mailed to those who were actually snowbirds but wanted to keep abreast of things “back home.” It was ultimately decided a blog would be more efficient, and it evolved into a personal diary of many things that attracts tens of readers on occasion. It remains a source of personal mental therapy and has yet to elicit any lawsuits.
~ The Editor, May 9, 2014
p.s. The photo border around the blog is the Cardinal girls’ hockey team after just beating Breck for the state championship in 2008. It’s of the all-tournament team. The visible Breck player on the left is Milica McMillen, then an 8th-grader – she is now an All-American for the Gophers. The Roseau player in the stocking cap I believe is Mary Loken, who went on to play for UND; and the Cardinal player on the right, No. 3, is Abby Williams, the player we blame most for making us girls’ hockey fans who went on to play for Bemidji State.
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Photos contained herein are available for personal use. All you have to do is double click on any of the photos and they will become full screen size. You can then save them into your personal “My Pictures” file. They make lovely parting or hostess gifts, or holiday gifts for such as Uncle Ernie who wants to see how his grand niece is doing on the hockey team. If any are sold for personal profit, however, to, for example, the Audubon Society, National Geographic, Sven’s Home Workshop Monthly, Curling By The Numbers, or the World Wrestling Federation, I only request that you make a donation to the charitable organization of your choice. You have two hours and fifteen minutes. Pencils ready? Begin!
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[Editor’s note: Recognizing this began as a site to cover Cardinal athletics, it has sadly regressed to include such as vacation trips, wining and dining, music, plays, and . . . books. All things that hold at least partial interest for me (without whom you would not be bothered by this). And occasionally we venture back into the fog of time. This time, because of recent delvement (OK, a Sarah Palin-like created word – just adding to the language a’ la Mark Twain) into authors Kurt Vonnegut and Jess Lourey, we venture all the way back to April 16, 2010, and our encounter with Anna Quindlen (as reported at the time).]
alexandriacardinals 