A smattering of observations

In no particular order:

1. This is the best alumni association name ever. How could we improve the University of Minnesota alumni association name? The Gopher Goners? Moved On Minnesota?

2. I’m so excited for the San Antonio Book Festival happening on April 4th. I wasn’t able to make it to the inaugural Wordplay Festival in Minneapolis last year, but I think the idea of cities celebrating the role that the written word plays in our lives is critical! I’d love to find a space equivalent to Open Book in SA and so far the closest thing I’ve found is Gemini Ink, which I will have to check out!

3. The radio stations in SATX suck. I have lost all credibility in the music department since I’ve adopted KS95 and Cities97 as my primary MN soundtracks, with the occasional JackFM, Kool108, and KDWB thrown in. The Current only when cool kids are in the car. But in SA, there just aren’t equivalent stations – they all traffic in the same 1980s songs. The only time I’m happy is when I catch this gem once or twice/week. The best music station is KSYM which operates out of the community college system and comes in clearer than RadioK ever did and manages to hit the style that made my 1990s heart swoon.

4. Did you know that San Antonio has a Space Needle type structure in its downtown? The Tower of the Americas was built for the 1968 World’s Fair and is 750 feet tall (145 feet taller than the Space Needle.) If you don’t want to fork out money to go to the observation deck, apparently happy hour at the revolving restaurant gives you a similarly good vantage, plus drinks! PS – who ever thought revolving restaurants were a good idea?

5. I think it is wonderful that San Antonio has a deep and unique relationship with the artist Sebastian and is hosting a retrospective of his work throughout the city. More than 100 pieces of his artwork are on display at more than 20 venues around the city – I’m excited to discover them when I’m out and about. I’ve never lived in a place where the connections to another country (Mexico in this case) are so strong- it’s a delightful, immersive experience for me.