WHAT I LIKE in the Twin Cities

"to find the good where I live and praise it"

ABOVE: 

Independent Filmmakers Project (ifpmn.org);

Cupcake Bakery and Coffee Shop; 

me in a mirror;

 and Claire Steyaert's Antiques, all on University Ave, Saint Paul.

(The Green Line is the coming light rail, now under construction.)

ABOVE: My neighborhood!

Election Day 2012 in Whittier neighborhood, Minneapolis

[See more of my Election Day pictures here: Phillips Whittier 365]

ABOVE: The Bookstore at the Minneapolis Central Library (downtown)
Withdrawn library books and donated used books sell for a buck or two.

ABOVE: More Public Art
Aztec warrior mural, by stencil artist Taylor Lindgren
(29th St. & Blaisdell Ave., Minneapolis)

ABOVE:
Steeple People Thrift Store, at Lyndale & Franklin 
 When I feel bad and sad, like I did yesterday,
sweet, sweet Steeple People lifts my mood, starting with their Free Box, right inside the door. (I'd like to make a sci-fi movie using only its mostly unidentifiable contents.)

At the cash register, gentle lady volunteers commiserate with the damaged and the desperate (I felt a little of both) and pack your bags so that the heavy, clever door-stopper won't break your frilly porcelain fish.

ABOVE: Sunset, seen from inside the titanium-covered Weisman Art Museum,
east bank of the Mississippi River, on the UM Campus

ABOVE:  Rainy day at the Mississippi River, 

photographed from inside the Guthrie Theater

ABOVE: The Twin Cities Marathon

People along the route help out the runners with everything 

from orange slices to live music.

ABOVE: The Thursday Farmers Market 

Nicollet Mall (downtown Minneapolis)

ABOVE: The Bryant Avenue Bike Boulevard 

A 4.5 miles long, north-south route connecting south Minneapolis (from 58th St.) to downtown (Loring Park)

ABOVE: The Pierre Bottineau Branch Library

in the restored historic Grain Belt campus (55 Broadway St. NE)

ABOVE: The Anchor Fish & Chips, "The Real Deal"
(302 13th Ave NE, Minneapolis)
 

 ABOVE: The Tin Fish restaurant

at the Lake Calhoun Pavillion (open spring–fall)

ABOVE: 

The TV comedy Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970–1977) is set in Minneapolis. 

 I don't much like MTM's statue on Nicollet Mall, but I like how people pose with it. I was snapping it when these passersby stepped in and posed for me.

"Who can turn the world on with her smile?
Who can take a nothing day, and suddenly make it all seem worthwhile?
Well it's you girl, and you should know it,
With each glance and every little movement you show it..."

ABOVE : My favorite bookstore: Birchbark Books & Native Arts

2115 West 21st St. (1 block west of Lake of the Isles), Minneapolis, MN 55405

ABOVE: Lake of the Isles

On Rosh Hashanah; fallen apples for a sweet year...

 ABOVE : Uptown Minneapolis YWCA (diptych)

ABOVE: Lakewood Cemetery Triptych

Stainless steel memorial by Gloria Tew; 

"square bar" circle in wrought iron fence; entrance gate

ABOVE: TOP: Puppy Dog Tail, Isles Bun &Coffee

BOTTOM: Coffee Bean Roaster, Dunn Bros.

___________
My Twin Cities are Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota: sister cities separated only, in parts, by the Mississippi River.

all photos by me: share if you want