The WhereProject

Hometown

  • River Ice

    River Ice

    in ,

    My dad sent me these pictures he took a couple weeks ago at the edge of the Red River in Fargo. This "ice artistry" was sculpted by freezing temperatures at the waters crest and and then carefully installed in a gallery of trees as the water slowly receded. Wish I could have been there while…

  • Everydot

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    Thanks to Numenius, I ran across the photoblog Everydot from my part of the world: Every dot on the map interests me, especially the little tiny ones. Some “towns” are no more than an intersection, possibly with a store or a town hall. A few towns seem to be gone without a trace, though sometimes…

  • Fargo Chosen as "Perfect Terrain" for World Record Unicycle Attempt

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    In case I didn’t have enough reasons to be proud of my home town, I discovered that Zach Warren will be conducting his second attempt to break the World Record for "The Most Miles on a Unicycle in One Hour" in Fargo this August. "Why Fargo, North Dakota?" you may ask. Zach’s response: It’s Flat!…

  • Power to the "brave wheat farmers of North Dakota"

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    From Orion Magazine: FOOD FIGHT: A Revolt in the Breadbasket of Democracy by Ted Nace"Monsanto already controls 91% of the GM seed market worldwide — corn, rice, soy beans — and have now set their sights on taking over America’s wheat.But the brave wheat farmers of North Dakota have other plans. So far, and against…

  • My “weird tuna trash”

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    Growing up North Dakota, I was raised on hotdish.  If you’re new to hotdishes, this excerpt from How to Talk Minnesotan: A Visitor’s Guide, might help introduce you to its cultural significance: On your visit to Minnesota, you will sooner or later come face to face with Minnesota’s most popular native food, hotdish.  It can…

  • What part of Uff Da don't you understand?

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    You know you’re in Cambridge/Somerville when you overhear a guy saying loadly into his cellphone,"I mean, what part of ‘englightened self-interest" don’t they understand.’" When I was back in Fargo a couple weeks ago, my dad greeted me at the door wearing a shirt that said, "What part of ‘Uff Da’ don’t you understand." It…

  • An Evening with Tom Brosseau, North Dakota Troubadour

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    I almost didn’t make it out to hear Tom Brosseau play at Club Passim tonight. Elaine emailed me from CA a couple of days ago, urging me to go, but when I got home from work the humidity wrestled me to the ground and pinned me. The power was out when I walked in the…

  • Christmas Eve, with Ukukele and Harmonica

    Christmas Eve, with Ukukele and Harmonica

    in

    Its Christmas Eve here in Fargo and the evening is winding down. Since my brothers and their families are with the in-laws this year, it’s just mom, dad, and I. Earlier we had a few other folks over after church to share a Scandinavian meal of Swedish meatballs, potatoes, potato sausage, and lefsa, with rice…

  • Thanksgiving in Fargo

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    I’m back in the mellow haze of Thanksgiving, that good tryptophan groove that starts after the dinner and then just gets better after the late evening round of turkey-stuffing-potatoes-gravy. This food-induced trip is part of an actually trip back to Fargo, where I’m spending a couple of days with mom, dad, and my oldest brother’s…

  • Fargo: A Profile through Postcards

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    Robert alterted me to this Fargo site created by James Lileks, a Minneapolis Star-Tribune columnist born in Fargo. The way he weaves his written reflections together with historic postcards is an excellent example of online place-based writing, and I think I’ll show it to my students next sememster as they’re writing their essay on where…