Experiences Are Important
Written by Conner on December 18, 2008 | Permalink
Posted in: Thoughts
I grew up in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere. It is one of those places that no matter how hard I try to explain it, no one ever really understands just how small and remote it was. To put it in perspective, you should know that the closest fast food place was a Dairy Queen 20 miles away. The closest McDonalds or Wal-Mart was 80 miles away, and the nearest mall was three hours away. If you needed something from a grocery store after 5pm, you were out of luck. It was a completely different world than most people grow up in. Was it terrible? Not at all, it gave me an appreciation for convenience, and taught me the value of maximizing trips and time. Unfortunately, one lesson I didn’t learn is the value of going out and experiencing the place you live.
In the 15 years that I lived in Westby, I barely experienced anything. Granted I was a dumb high school kid, but there was a museum in a town 20 miles away, which though small and not overly impressive, was something that I should have checked out. There was a site called Writing Rock, which was a rock with pre-Columbus drawings on it. I vaguely remember going to see when I was very young, but never visited when the memory would have stuck. Sitting Bull was captured somewhere near my hometown yet I never bothered to try to visit that site.
I left for college in Grand Forks in 2001 failing to take advantage of my environment. Once again, I failed to experience 90% of what the city had to offer. I never attended the catfish tournament. I didn’t go see some of the best high school hockey in the country, and I only went ice fishing once. Why? I couldn’t tell you, but things are going to change.
This coming February I will have lived in the Minneapolis metro for 2 years. Yet I have hardly experienced anything that the cities have to offer. I’ve been to a Twins game and went to the Frozen Four. But haven’t seen the Timberwolves, the Lynx, the Wild, or the Saints. Let alone experienced the ridiculous amount of culture that is available. This is something that I’ve decided I have to remedy. I will no longer spend my weekends wondering what I could be doing. I’m going to get out and experience the city I live in. Even heading into Minneapolis or St. Paul to try out a new restaurant would be an improvement.
To kick-start my initiative, I plan to post a list of 50+ things that I want to accomplish in 2009 on New Years Day. Along with my post of things I should experience, I’m declaring my New Years resolution to be “Experience my city”. It may not be about improving my health or another generic resolution, but I will not be bored in the city I live in.
I would love your input, what do you think I should try and experience in 2009?
Mac and Tees
Written by Conner on August 23, 2008 | Permalink
Posted in: Product Recommendation
I saw these at the farmers market in Bozeman last week. They had some very clever tee shirts. This was my favorite from the shirts I saw at the farmers market.
The FAQ is worth a read, my favorite line “Every tee is inspected for awesomeness. Each shirt is made with love…lots and lots of love…and rubber gloves.”
Oh, and the last question I can attest to, at least if the girls running the stand at the Farmers Market were the girls who run the business. :)
Mac and Tees
The Garage: A Montana Eating Experience
Written by Conner on August 22, 2008 | Permalink
Posted in: Food
When I was in Montana last week, my family and I went to The Garage in Bozeman, MT. No website, so you will just have to trust me when I say it exists. The Garage is a soup and burger joint located just off main street. 
Apparently it’s usually busy, and on the night we went it wasn’t full but it was busy for a Tuesday. There was plenty of patio seating which made the experience great, unfortunately the sun was directly in my eyes for the first 15 minutes or so, they did have some shade, but the sun was peaking through at first.
The first thing that stood out was the menus. The design itself wasn’t phenomenal, but they came bound to state licenses plates. This is a great touch. Not overwhelming, but unique enough to be remember on a future hungry night.
Their food was pretty good. I had a burger that was topped with spinach, bacon, and swiss cheese. It was excellent, not as good as a Five Guys burger, but still excellent. The best part of the meal was their coleslaw. Normally I’m hesitant to order coleslaw, but decided to take the risk. It was well worth it, the coleslaw was cabbage, red onion, and I believe sesame seeds. The dressing was great, it was oil based and 
really tasty. My brother ordered the fries, and it they were pretty good, but nothing to crow about.
On great thing about Montana is most restaurants have a large beer selection. The Garage was no different, having a good selection of local and national brews to choose from. I opted for a Skinny Dip from the New Belgium brewery in Colorado and it went well with my meal.
Their soup selection appears to be what they are known for locally. Unfortunatly it was a hot day and I opted to skip the soup. They have a soup bar during the winter months and I hope to be able to return in December and give it a try.
This post was tagged with: Food - Marketing - montana - restaurants - reviews
Protected Status Reinstated for Gray Wolves
Written by Conner on July 21, 2008 | Permalink
Posted in: Government
Gray wolves back in protected column - CNN.com.
I’m not sure how I feel about this, on one hand, 2,000 wolves is a very small number, and allowing the possibility of 500 wolves to be killed is 25% of that population, which is a ridiculous number. (note: I haven’t looked at the actual hunting schedule so this could easily be an over estimate).
Of course as someone who grew up in a family who relied on livestock for it’s income, I also understand that ranchers in those areas are going to be affected by this ruling by losing additional livestock.
I guess I fall on the side of the environmentalist more so than the government on this one. If only because seeing a wolf in the wild is honestly one of the most incredible experience you can have. I just hope that people realize that it is decisions like this that can help contribue to rising food costs. It’s a price we all pay, and I feel that is is worth it.
Edit:
Here is a link to a more local story,
Helena Independent Record - Notes that Montana was looking at moving wolves from endangered to in need of management at time of this ruling.
This post was tagged with: environment - food costs - montana
