Recent content from James Lileks
Lileks: Do all husbands have a genetic shopping deficiency?
Guests were due in an hour for brunch. My wife was doing kitchen things. You know, sautéing, reducing, clarifying, crisping, probably broasting, whatever that is.…
Lileks: Will we ever get over our pandemic cleaning fetish?
The pandemic has taught us to assume the worst.
Lileks: Remember restaurants? A refresher course
Washington Post headline: "Help, I've gone feral! After a year away from restaurants, I need a refresher course."Oh, come on. It's like riding a bike.…
Northstar Center, once building of the future, is emblem of Minneapolis' past
At the time it was built, the Northstar Center embodied the hope of urban vitality.
Lileks: Time for the tree-reapers again
You hate to see it: The green band of paint around a tree trunk. You cycle quickly through the stages of grief: No! Looks fine…
The dashed dreams of the Sheridan Hotel in 1920s downtown Minneapolis
Marquette Avenue and S. 11th Street. They dreamed big in the '20s, but their visions exceeded the depth of their pocketbooks. The envisioned Sheridan was…
Lileks: Winning the extended-warranty game
The Amazon reviews were almost unanimous: One star. Total junk. Don't buy.Naturally, I clicked "Add to my cart." And then I clicked the one button…
Lileks: 'Fork-split' and other lies
English muffins often split into two unequal parts, and then fall apart in the process. Don't you hate that with an unreasonable, all-consuming fury?Rejoice. There…
Crystal Court, the heart of Minneapolis for almost 50 years, gets some TLC
The Crystal Court in the IDS Center is getting its first upgrade since 1998.
Lileks: If we save some daylight, will it earn interest?
What if we never had to change the clocks again?
Lileks: Deep Nostalgia uses artificial intelligence to bring Grandma's photo to life
Have you brought a dead relative back to life recently?I've revived a half-dozen in the past few days, with varying degrees of success. Grandma was…
Lileks: In Minnesota, March Madness refers to weather, not basketball
If it snows, it's normal. If it doesn't, it's normal.
Lileks: On the weary feeling you have to have an opinion on Post Office trucks
If I can be honest, it's time to talk about what's wrong with some of you people, and what's wrong with me. But first we…
Lileks: Who's crying for the Face With Tears of Joy?
I regret to inform you that the Face With Tears of Joy emoji is over. It is not cool anymore. It is actually hated.This is…
Lileks: If there's no office, can we dump office jargon?
Every profession has its own particular jargon. In the military, it's cumbersome, technical and oddly evasive: a smoke bomb is a "kinetically deployed obfuscatory visual-hindrance…
Lileks: What if a furniture assembly project ...was easy?
Ikea, which is Swedish for "three screws left over," has announced that it no longer will put out a catalog. What's the point of felling…
Eagan man downplays his disability. He just wants to work.
It's not just a matter of money, but a matter of losing one's ability to make a difference.
Lileks: A permanently pressing question: What to get for Valentine's Day?
Valentine's Day again? Rinse, repeat.
What are the top dog names in the Twin Cities?
Pet owners in the Twin Cities tend toward the classics.
Lileks: Do we really need a new social media platform?
First, the good news: There's a new social media platform!Now, the bad news: There's a new social media platform!It's called MeWe, which could be the…
Lileks: Knowing the vaccine timing would be a real shot in the arm
When will someone jab you with a sharp stick?
Lileks: Shippers' tracking numbers track our frustration
My wife was on the phone. She had the posture of a floor lamp, which indicated both concentration and irritation."NO," she said. She paused. "NO.""Are…
Lileks: Out: fines. In: gentle shaming
The Hennepin County Library System has announced that it no longer will charge fees for overdue books. You know this has the Grumpy-American community duly…
Lileks: Turning to Martha Stewart for the latest spin on science news
This is good news or bad, depending on your view: The Earth is spinning faster than ever, and that means the days are shorter. Have…
You can name a Minnesota snowplow
The kooky contest, which started in Scotland, is gaining traction here.
Lileks: Can you find the nonexistent hidden prize?
Follow the clues and earn big bucks — well, buck.
Lileks: The last story of the bad year? Killer ceiling-fan blades
It will be nice when we hear that honeybees are plentiful and monarch butterflies are returning in record numbers, and the evenings are full of…
Lileks: Another local name, kaput
With TCF sale, another familiar local name passes from the banking scene.
The Dinkytown McDonald's has closed: Remembering the U of M's golden arches
No one's nostalgic for the Dinkytown McD's. But some of us are nostalgic for who they were when they went there.
Lileks: Never Trust The Amazon Reviews
Did you miss Cyber Monday? It's the only thing anyone calls "Cyber" anymore. In the '90s, they slapped "cyber" on anything to give it a…
Lileks: The neighborhood drugstore might be next to go
News story: Amazon was casting around for another part of the world to take over, took a look at the pharmacology industry and said:…
Lileks: Keeping tabs on the new rules for license plates
Now we need an appointment just to give the state money?
Vast photo archive of the Twin Cities lets you compare then and now
Walter Norton and Clifford Peel left an extensive collection of commercial photography.
The story behind a downtown Minneapolis building that never reached its potential
The Wesley Temple building (West Grant Street, between S. 1st and 2nd avenues), built by the adjacent church with the same name, was finished in 1928…
LIleks: Blame not bars, but loud ones
I’m not an epidemiologist, unlike everyone else on the internet who reads a brief description of a scholarly article whose title reaffirmed what they…
Ever seen your dog mix it up with a raccoon? I did, and it isn't pretty
We may think of dogs and cats as enemies. But wait until you witness a dog-raccoon duke-out.
Lileks: Ready for lean-back French-style TV?
It’s fun to consider phrases or conversations that would’ve made no sense last year. For example: “The governor is supposed to speak this afternoon. Do…
Online archives let you explore America's attic – from comedy and radio to newspapers of yore
Need to kill some time? Consider getting lost in these illustrative archives.
Lileks: Finally surrendering to the infomercial
“Let’s go shopping!” someone says. One type of person says “yes!” The other asks a sensible question: “For what?” “I don’t know. That’s not the…
Lileks: Uptown Minneapolis is Schrodinger's neighborhood
Is Uptown dead? Yes, of course. It’s always dead. Everyone who moves to Uptown is informed by a grizzled veteran who’s lived there since 2018…
Lileks: When your fridge says no
I’m afraid I have to issue a correction, because I lied. It goes like this: “In a recent column, the short guy who ceased to…
Lileks: Ho ho, hey hey, Daylight Saving Time has got to stay
Who has the time to do something about the time?
Lileks: What killed Tab? COVID, of course
You might have heard that Tab’s been discontinued. Possible reactions: “What is Tab?” It’s a soft drink — or pop, as we say up here…
Lileks: Calling a different kind of lid
I'm about to discuss something about which I know absolutely nothing but nevertheless have opinions. That seems to be all the rage these days.A few…
Lileks: Doing battle with home insecurity systems
We had a prowler last week. According to my neighborhood watch groups and security apps, it was only a matter of time. If you look…
Lileks: A sign of the times – scoffing at red lights
The unsettled air of 2020 has turned us into a society of miscreants.
Lileks: After cutting the cord, the cookies go missing
As a public service, I have been detailing my attempt to "cut the cord" and get the idiot-box bill below the weekly grocery bill for…
Lileks: Rudolph can't save you now
We can all agree that packing people into small rooms and scaring them so they scream and emit fine mists of personal fluids is probably…
Archives of an architecture firm reveal a Minneapolis that was never built
Ed Baker's drawings and models of past projects give us a glimpse of what might have been.
Lileks: I come not to praise vinyl but to scratch it
News story: Sales of vinyl records have overtaken CDs. You think: They’ve sold 11 records this year, and only 10 CDs? No. About $232 million…
What happened to Old Main, the former heart of the University of Minnesota campus?
It’s a rare part of the city that’s been untouched by time, but this place is still around: the University of Minnesota’s campus before the…
LILEKS: Oh, right, that other virus
Saw a sign the other day that made me think: Ohhhh, right. That thing. Are you kidding me? Of all years, are you kidding me?It…
Lileks: Crime-fighting apps deliver on paranoia, but little else
There are plenty of apps that keep you apprised of crime. But they may offer more information than you bargained for.
Flavors of the Food Building
When the Fair's epicenter for food is packed with people, you never notice this funny feature.
Lileks: It isn't always nice work even if you can get it
A Labor Day axiom: “Do what you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life.” Says the man who loves to spend his…
James Lileks explains why the 4-H building is so tall
A peek behind the scenes, including the barracks.
