Recent content from James Lileks
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.…
Article
by James Lileks
Updated April 4, 2021 — 2:00pm
At the time it was built, the Northstar Center embodied the hope of urban vitality.
Article
by James Lileks
Updated April 2, 2021 — 10:38am
Password sharing will be softly discouraged.
Article
by James Lileks
Updated April 2, 2021 — 7:51am
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…
Article
by James Lileks
Updated March 28, 2021 — 2:00pm
Is it Girl Scout Cookie season?
Article
by James Lileks
Updated March 26, 2021 — 8:15am
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…
Article
by James Lileks
Updated March 24, 2021 — 9:00am
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…
Article
by James Lileks
Updated March 21, 2021 — 2:00pm
If it's not one thing, it's another.
Article
by James Lileks
Updated March 19, 2021 — 7:40am
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…
Article
by James Lileks
Updated March 14, 2021 — 2:00pm
The Crystal Court in the IDS Center is getting its first upgrade since 1998.
Article
by James Lileks
Updated March 12, 2021 — 11:07am
What if we never had to change the clocks again?
Article
by James Lileks
Updated March 12, 2021 — 9:14am
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…
Article
by James Lileks
Updated March 7, 2021 — 2:00pm
If it snows, it's normal. If it doesn't, it's normal.
Article
by James Lileks
Updated March 5, 2021 — 8:29am
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…
Article
by James Lileks
Updated February 28, 2021 — 2:00pm
How we can save shopping malls not named "Rosedale."
Article
by James Lileks
Updated February 26, 2021 — 8:17am
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…
Article
by James Lileks
Updated February 21, 2021 — 2:00pm
The nation grapples with another shortage.
Article
by James Lileks
Updated February 19, 2021 — 7:42am
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…
Article
by James Lileks
Updated February 14, 2021 — 2:00pm
Is there such a thing as a happy, grateful cold?
Article
by James Lileks
Updated February 12, 2021 — 8:37am
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…
Article
by James Lileks
Updated February 7, 2021 — 2:00pm
It's not just a matter of money, but a matter of losing one's ability to make a difference.
Article
by James Lileks
Updated February 5, 2021 — 4:45pm
Valentine's Day again? Rinse, repeat.
Article
by James Lileks
Updated February 5, 2021 — 8:01am
Pet owners in the Twin Cities tend toward the classics.
Article
by James Lileks
Updated February 5, 2021 — 7:48am
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…
Article
by James Lileks
Updated January 31, 2021 — 2:00pm
When will someone jab you with a sharp stick?
Article
by James Lileks
Updated January 29, 2021 — 7:56am
Does paper towel size change our usage habits?
Article
by James Lileks
Updated January 24, 2021 — 2:00pm
How not to fall.
Article
by James Lileks
Updated January 22, 2021 — 7:45am
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…
Article
by James Lileks
Updated January 17, 2021 — 2:00pm
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…
Article
by James Lileks
Updated January 15, 2021 — 1:31pm
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…
Article
by James Lileks
Updated January 11, 2021 — 8:40am
They still produce phone books? Why?
Article
by James Lileks
Updated January 8, 2021 — 9:46am
The kooky contest, which started in Scotland, is gaining traction here.
Article
by James Lileks
Updated January 1, 2021 — 8:26am
Follow the clues and earn big bucks — well, buck.
Article
by James Lileks
Updated December 31, 2020 — 5:58pm
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…
Article
by James Lileks
Updated December 31, 2020 — 5:56pm
With TCF sale, another familiar local name passes from the banking scene.
Article
by James Lileks
Updated December 18, 2020 — 9:19am
No one's nostalgic for the Dinkytown McD's. But some of us are nostalgic for who they were when they went there.
Article
by James Lileks
Updated December 18, 2020 — 6:56am
The butterfly effect and you.
Article
by James Lileks
Updated December 11, 2020 — 11:02am
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…
Article
by JAMES LILEKS
Updated December 6, 2020 — 2:00pm
The secret to balanced budgets.
Article
by JAMES LILEKS
Updated December 5, 2020 — 12:35pm
News story: Amazon was casting around for another part of the world to take over, took a look at the pharmacology industry and said:…
Article
by JAMES LILEKS
Updated November 29, 2020 — 2:28pm
Now we need an appointment just to give the state money?
Article
by JAMES LILEKS
Updated November 28, 2020 — 3:52pm
Walter Norton and Clifford Peel left an extensive collection of commercial photography.
Article
by James Lileks
Updated November 27, 2020 — 4:13pm
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…
Article
by James Lileks
Updated November 24, 2020 — 11:52am
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…
Article
by JAMES LILEKS
Updated November 23, 2020 — 9:12am
We're battling decoration inflation.
Article
by JAMES LILEKS
Updated November 21, 2020 — 1:22pm
We may think of dogs and cats as enemies. But wait until you witness a dog-raccoon duke-out.
Article
by James Lileks
Updated November 20, 2020 — 9:03am
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…
Article
by JAMES LILEKS
Updated November 15, 2020 — 3:24pm
For these spuds, we give our thanks.
Article
by JAMES LILEKS
Updated November 14, 2020 — 12:27pm
Need to kill some time? Consider getting lost in these illustrative archives.
Article
by James Lileks
Updated November 9, 2020 — 2:44pm
“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…
Article
by JAMES LILEKS
Updated November 8, 2020 — 2:25pm
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…
Article
by JAMES LILEKS
Updated November 7, 2020 — 11:57am
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…
Article
by JAMES LILEKS
Updated November 1, 2020 — 2:59pm
Who has the time to do something about the time?
Article
by JAMES LILEKS
Updated October 31, 2020 — 12:11pm
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…
Article
by JAMES LILEKS
Updated October 25, 2020 — 3:28pm
At least it kept the riffraff out.
Article
by JAMES LILEKS
Updated October 23, 2020 — 7:53am
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…
Article
by JAMES LILEKS
Updated October 18, 2020 — 2:00pm
A new vision for the city: Less is less.
Article
by JAMES LILEKS
Updated October 16, 2020 — 8:03am
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…
Article
by JAMES LILEKS
Updated October 11, 2020 — 2:33pm
The unsettled air of 2020 has turned us into a society of miscreants.
Article
by JAMES LILEKS
Updated October 9, 2020 — 10:17am
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…
Article
by JAMES LILEKS
Updated October 4, 2020 — 2:00pm
Vote in person? It's perfectly safe.
Article
by JAMES LILEKS
Updated October 2, 2020 — 8:22am
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…
Article
by JAMES LILEKS
Updated September 27, 2020 — 2:00pm
Ed Baker's drawings and models of past projects give us a glimpse of what might have been.
Article
by James Lileks
Updated September 25, 2020 — 3:48pm
Too late for peak leaves? They'll come to us.
Article
by JAMES LILEKS
Updated September 25, 2020 — 8:21am
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…
Article
by JAMES LILEKS
Updated September 20, 2020 — 2:21pm
Driving down Nostalgia Lane in a crimson chariot.
Article
by JAMES LILEKS
Updated September 19, 2020 — 12:09pm
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…
Article
by James Lileks
Updated September 15, 2020 — 8:31am
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…
Article
by JAMES LILEKS
Updated September 13, 2020 — 2:00pm
There are plenty of apps that keep you apprised of crime. But they may offer more information than you bargained for.
Article
by JAMES LILEKS
Updated September 12, 2020 — 12:16pm
If you can't type it, you are it.
Article
by James Lileks
Updated September 8, 2020 — 2:01pm
When the Fair's epicenter for food is packed with people, you never notice this funny feature.
Article
by James Lileks
Updated September 6, 2020 — 5:59pm
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…
Article
by JAMES LILEKS
Updated September 6, 2020 — 3:58pm
A peek behind the scenes, including the barracks.
Article
by James Lileks
Updated September 5, 2020 — 2:07pm
All the things we can do next year.
Article
by JAMES LILEKS
Updated September 5, 2020 — 11:02am
Counting columns and reminiscing about what happens at the Grandstand.
Article
by James Lileks
Updated September 3, 2020 — 2:22pm