Conner's Blog

This is my second holiday season in Minneapolis.  Last year I did a poor job of experiencing what the Twin Cities has to offer in the holiday spirit department.  I’m hoping to remedy that somewhat this year.  Some things I want to do.

• Attend Hollidazzle.  I’m not that into parades, but I think I need to attend an event that has been a part of Minnesota for so long.
• Attend at least one holiday themed stage production.  I’m not sure which one at this point.  A Christmas Carol seems to be popular.
• See the lights around Lake Phalen.  This is a new event, but looks fun and it’s for charity so I want to check it out. Via Metblogs
• The Grand Meander – I hadn’t heard about it until this year, but it looks fun.
• Holiday Traditions at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts – Looks like a relaxing and fun exhibit.
• Macy’s Santaland – I may not be a kid anymore, but who isn’t a kid at heart during Christmas.
• Drive around looking at lights – This isn’t an event, but my family used to to this every Christmas.  I’m guessing some of the homes in the Lowry Hill and the chain of lakes area would be amazing.

Any other suggestions?

I always thought working at the mall on Halloween could be fun. It was, at least for the first 2 hours, but after that, wow you just wished it would stop. We handed out over 1000 pieces of candy, and we started late, and stopped early. Handing out candy was a blast though, considering the last few years I have been home for Halloween, and have not really had any trick-or-treaters. This year, I was able to see all the kids in their costumes, and it was neat.

As a salesperson though it was somewhat maddening, we had by far the most people I have seen in the mall during any period, and not one of them was actually there to shop. It makes you wonder about the place of malls in our society, they are more a place to gather than a place to shop sometimes, which makes the fact that they are slowly dying out in some cities not too surprising.

I made a partial list of the costumes that I saw today. Some of them were neat, I would say I saw the most of Spiderman, Batman, and pirates. Those with a * by them were adults, but were noteworthy enough I decided they had to be included. Kids were wearing everything else.

(Spelling and grammar in costume list known to be horrible)

Little Bo Peep, A pirate, dragon, witch, princess, batman, knight, incrediboy, superman, minny, Dale Earnhart, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Pooh, moneyboy(at least that’s what I think he was), bunny, fairy, carebear, penguin, ninja, clown, dinosaur, cheerleader, dalmation, a box of popcorn, thomas the train, chick, tigger, ghost, ER Doctor, darth vader, woverine(from X-men,), frog, kitty, devil, grim reaper, mr. fantastic, motocross, writer, pumpkin, angel/devil, skeleton, spiderman, pocahontas, teenage mutant ninja turtle, elmo, big bird, luke skywalker, Jawa*, robin, vikings cheerleader, rock star, ketchup, man with the yellow hat* and curious george(though I didn’t actually see this one), tinkerbell, dragonball Z character, little red riding hood, hippy, ladybug, teletubby, skeletor, hawaiian hula girl, scooby-do, giraffe, bumble bee, bride, dallas cowboy’s cheerleader, fireman, policeman, lion, tiger, gandalf*, baby sitter*, vampire, fighting sioux hockey player, skunk, bear, stormtrooper.