Making the best of things

My youngest picked some currants from our bush and is eating them and calling them caviar 😂

Both totally unnecessary and extremely funny that the Guardian has an interactive graphic for you to change the color of the US flag's blue to the color of the Reflecting Pool from 8 to 19 June and counting

Love that the Black National Anthem was sung tonight at the Saints Game. Can we just do this every time? #lifteveryvoiceandsing

Spending my Friday hanging out in a bathroom entrance at a Saints game waiting for this storm to pass. And of course they are playing the Storm Chasers 🌧️

Of course they did! 🤣 Jfc at least pull over, you're gonna die like this one day.

Yikes. Never seen hail like that before. Watch and man-hands for scale

I listened to the press conference so you don’t have to: - 15 defendants, all from the Twin Cities. 13 currently in custody - Direct Action MN mentioned - quotes and video from people fedposting on Instagram - lots of very obvious lies, local reporters were skeptical and they cut the Q&A off

You don't have to answer the door for the Feds. Do not voluntarily talk to the Feds. If they have a warrant signed by an actual judge, then they can do precisely what the warrant says. But DO NOT TALK TO THE FEDS. Do not answer the door. If you're arrested, your only words are "I want a lawyer."

Glitter chalk seems like a fun idea until we had all that rain, and now glitter is getting tracked into the house.

We biked to Boom Island this morning to see the Saype grass mural. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a place to view it from above, and from close up you couldn’t really see much. It’s still a really cool project, though, and I’m in awe of the brilliance of artists who can create things like this.

Saw another one

Just saw a Waymo driving in Minneapolis. It had a person driver.

Heads up Minneapolis folks who may be thinking of going for a swim or a paddle at Lake Nokomis - there's a blue green algae advisory that can be especially risky for kids and pets. I also am once again asserting that the chain of lakes area would benefit from more rewilding and less golf course.

Today, you might see a TV ad starring something that... kind of looks like me. My opponent's super PAC is using an AI deepfake of me to mislead voters. They can't win with the truth - so they're resorting to lies. It's disgusting. Minnesotans deserve better.

There is increased ICE activity this week, with brazen confirmed kidnappings and law enforcement complicity with traffic stops and people being asked for their papers during these stops. If you've been busy with other things, it's time to start patrolling again.

MUST WATCH: DFL Chair @richardcarlbom.bsky.social condemns MNGOP moment of silence for Derek Chauvin. "Shame on them"

People have been asking me if I know of a resource like StandWithMinnesota for New Jersey, and I haven't found something comprehensive. So, for the moment, I have put together all the links to NJ orgs, crowdfunding links, events, and stuck them on a page of SWM. standwithminnesota.org/jersey

bsky.app/profile/hele... Bingo 🤣🤣🤣

that, my friends, is how you bust a move

Subscribing to and reading Racket is like a cheat code to meeting cool people in the Twin Cities and finding cool things to do. If you are new to the area, or are in a moment of transition in your life, truly can't recommend it enough.

BREAKING: brian o'hara has resigned as the chief of the minneapolis police department o'hara was due to face the city council next month for a confirmation hearing to reappoint him, the same process community safety commissioner toddrick barnette has now failed twice

AOC: This is what drinking water in Georgia looks like after Meta began data center construction in the community.

racket currently has exactly 5,161 paying members. that is... genuinely amazing to me. we support ourselves and pay a host of local contributors with this thing we created almost five years ago. if you've ever wanted to join us, this is a great time to sign up. we couldn't do it without yr support.

Shelisa Demuth > her mom

Manos: The Hands of Fate

As a lifelong MST3K/RiffTrax viewer, I can't really answer because there are SOOOOOOO many! 😵‍💫

Didn't expect to get emotional watching a neighbor mow his lawn, but just a few months ago I watched with my heart in my throat as ICE surround his house. They only backed off because our neighborhood showed up in full force. Now there he is, out in the sun, completely in the open, unafraid 🥹

If you have time this weekend, be sure to swing by 2411 Pillsbury Avenue in South Minneapolis. The tulips are wide open, they won't be there for much longer.

Are you down to clown?

Minneapolis celebrates spring with a parade of giant handmade socialist puppets and a festival where people row the sun across the lake. This year's Mayday festival was today, and I'm going to try to share some photos and videos (many taken by others) to try to explain it for my non-local friends.

never has minneapolis needed to celebrate the sun coming more than at the end of winter 2026. ICE are not gone completely, but we still won, and it was incredibly cathartic to see this ceremony at mayday about protecting our neighbors, grounding why we did this work. i love this city

one thing I love about May Day weekend in Minneapolis is how everyone greets each other with HAPPY MAYDAY! and people respond HAPPY MAYDAY! all weekend everyone 🌻

Unfazable Minneapolis

After a long, hard, icey winter, this year's Minneapolis May Day Parade is a massive celebration. Though our fair city is no longer served by passenger trains, we do have the absolutely unique Southside Battle Train.

This is Minneapolis:

Minneapolis is a beautiful place filled with beautiful people.

amazing piece by @jearica.bsky.social

POSSUM BIKE

A real estate friend said so many people want to move to Minnesota. I bet the transplant influx will be huge this year.

Yep, here is my recording of it

I do think hearing the Brass Solidarity Band play "Lovely Day" on a beautiful Minneapolis spring day healed me a little

Mayday photo dump Bikes 1/many

Nothing has ever been more For Me than the National Association of Letter Carriers marching in the Mayday parade with anti-war banners

I love the T-Rex giving birth! I thought for a second, hmmm, I’m no paleontologist but wouldn’t she be laying an egg, not birthing a baby T-Rex…and then I thought, HAPPY MAY DAY!

Some more May Day Parade

best day of the year 💛

Mayday slaps as usual

The first photo. Man. (This neighborhood has had a LOT of ICE activity and resistance. Parade route is also very close to the spots where Renee Good and George Floyd were murdered.)

I definitely enjoyed chanting “egg egg egg” with the beloved community