The last day or so has been a pretty nice one. I woke up, packed my things and went to the Minnesota State Fair.
For the uninitiated, the Minnesota state fair is an experience. It DOMINATES discussion of plans during the end of the summer and remains one of the only acceptable reasons to get out of going to some unpleasant function.
e.g. – Why didn’t you go to Grandma’s funeral?
I couldn’t go, that’s the day had I go to the Fair.
This would OF COURSE offend people, because… what kind of idiot only goes to the fair one time during the year?
I’m writing this post on a three year-old MacBook Pro while waiting for the water in my friend’s electric tea kettle to finish boiling so we can have some Organic Fair-Trade Rooiboos tea. We’ve just finished a 15km bike ride to and from her anti-squat flat in Utrect, Netherlands (It’s like Amsterdam, but smaller, less tourists and feels like city where people live) to get coffee at the StayOkay café at the StayOkay youth hostel run by Hostelling International (It’s so obscure that until today it didn’t even have one review on Yelp!) on 20 year-old 3-speed bikes to get a cup of good coffee and get into “the only think like nature you can get around here.”
It’s then that I realize, I might have become a hipster. (truth be told, I considered myself a hipster in college, when that meant something like rockabilly with the bowling shirts, dickies pants and two-toned shoes – back then we called the modern day hipsters either “Bohemian”, “Art Students” or “Homeless People”, I guess I’m saying I was a hipster before it was cool? Or is it back when it was cool?)
Those of you who are familiar with the TV show Parks and Recreation will be familiar with Nick Offerman. He’s the actor who plays Ron Swanson mustachioed misanthrope who grudgingly gives advice and a listening ear while masticating meat.
