Organic Blue Agave Nectar

A few weeks ago, I worked on a story about fair trade sugar. In researching that story, I spoke with one of the founders of Wholesome Sweeteners, a company that imports and sells fair trade sweeteners in the U.S.

Wholesome Sweeteners sells nine different types of fair trade sugar, but it also markets fair trade honey from Mexico and fair trade blue agave nectar, also from Mexico.

The blue agave nectar is harvested from the blue agave plant, which is also used to make tequila.

The nectar is sweet, sweeter than sugar, so you use less of it, and it has a low Glycemic index, which means that it breaks down slowly in your body, which means you don't experience a "sugar high."

I'm now obsessed with blue agave nectar. I have a bottle that I've been trying out on everything -- in coffee, on grapefruit, etc.

I recommend it!

Neighborhood Block Parties

The timing of this feels like a joke.

This month, a local magazine is featuring a story I wrote about neighborhood block parties, an activity that usually takes place (at least in this neck of the woods) when the weather outside is nice.

And yet, in the past week, just as the article was unveiled, it has snowed here -- TWICE!

Ah well. If you'd like to get a jump start on planning next year's block party, you can get ideas from my story: Neighborhood Block Party

Wine Tours in Hungary

Ask me where you should go for a really great glass of wine and Hungary probably wouldn't be the first country out of my mouth.

But maybe I should rethink that.

According to Jamison Bachrach, owner of Wandering Puffin, a travel provider specializing in Eastern Europe, Hungary is a wine-lovers paradise.

Check out his suggested nine-day food and wine travel itinerary for Hungary.

Plantation Homes in St. Francisville, Louisiana

GoNomad recently published a story I wrote about a touring plantation homes in Louisiana.

I stayed in a small town called St. Francisville. It was a quiet place dripping in Spanish moss and oozing in Southern charm.

John James Audubon, the famous bird watcher, spent a part of his life living in this neck of the woods. And befitting his legacy (maybe?), I encountered a turkey there!

If you're interested in the story, you can read it here:

St. Francisville, Louisiana: Plantation Homes, Spanish Moss and Southern Hospitality

If you'd like to read some of my blog entries from this trip, you can do that here:

Louisiana Blog Entires

High School Students & Summer Study Abroad

Last week I interviewed some high school kids from the Twin Cities who spent part of their summer doing a science experiment in Costa Rica.

They were there studying leaf-cutter ants. But they also got a hands-on experience when it came to encountering a developing nation. They spent 10 days in a rural environment where roads were dirt, phones were scarce and Internet was nonexistent. Yet they would all go back and do it all over again.

In preparing for the article, I spoke with their chaperon and program administrator, who also happens to be a guidance counselor at their school.

She said today's kids can't wait until they are juniors in college before they have a study abroad experience. Colleges and universities are looking for incoming students who are already able to think beyond their communities.

As to why parents of high school students should look into abroad experiences for their kids, the counselor said: "Globalization is happening everywhere and now these kids are a part of it."

If you'd like to read the final article, here it is:

Travels Abroad Expand Horizons

Anthony Bourdain in Cabo Polonio, Uruguay

Anthony Bourdain is following in my footsteps!

Hubby and I have taken to watching the show, "No Reservations," on the Travel Channel. We have our DVR set to record them all -- new episodes, old episodes -- we have such a backlog!

The other night we sat down, scrolled through the choices and saw there was an episode in Uruguay. We pushed play and what do you know?!?!?! Anthony Bourdain went to Cabo Polonio and met Raul!

I too met Raul! I mentioned Raul in an article I wrote about Cabo Polonio. I'm glad to know he's still there doing his thing.

Watch the No Reservations Cabo Polonio segment here. It's kicks off right away in Cabo Polonio.

It's Still Me Wig Studio

I met a fascinating woman the other week.

Her name is Jan Strassburg. She survived breast cancer and then went on to open a wig studio so that she can help other women who are suffering from hair loss regain some dignity during their own battle with disease.

Her wig studio is called It's Still Me -- words she heard herself say to her step-daughters the first time they saw her wearing a wig.

If you'd like to learn a little bit more about the wig business, you can check out my article here:

Nurturing Growth


Photo by Mark Tockman

Painted Turtle Chocolatier -- Yummy!

A new chocolate shop opened up in town.

The sweet shop, called The Painted Turtle Chocolatier, sells these really unbelievably delicious chocolate covered potato chips.

I know about the potato chips because I was at the store and sampled a few too many of them!

I was there interviewing the store's owner, Patty Godfrey, about the shop. My article about her and her chocolate was published this month.

If you're interested, you can see it here:

Sweet Stop

Photo (c) Plymouth Magazine

Where to Spa in Las Vegas

There's more to Vegas than black jack, all-night buffets and risque showgirls.

There are also spas -- glorious, relaxing, totally self-indulgent spas.

And lucky me, I got to live the utter bliss of a Vegas spa this spring when I visited the city.

My article about the experience was recently published on GoNomad.

If you'd like to check it out, here's a link:

Las Vegas Spas: Why Gamble When You Can Relax?

You can also read my blog posts about the trip:

Las Vegas Blog Posts

Haiku By Two in MN Women's Press

I wrote a piece that was published in this month's issue of the Minnesota Women's Press about my poetry web site, Haiku By Two.

It is for the regular department, Book Shelf, in which a reader shares her fascination with a particular subject and a list of five books written by women on the topic.

The piece I wrote explains the origin of Haiku By Two, offers a collection of haiku titles and shares a couple haiku.

Read the article by following this link:

How to Haiku

Lundstrum Center for the Performing Arts

A few months back I interviewed the Casserly sisters. Well...not all of them. Just three of the five. And there's actually a Casserly brother, too.

The Casserly siblings run a nonprofit performing arts center in Minneapolis for local youth.

Their story is pretty cool. They inherited the center -- The Lundstrum Center for the Performing Arts -- from Dorothy Lundstrum, the woman who started it back in the 1920s.

She was of no blood relation to them, but considered the Casserly siblings to be her "star" pupils. Since she never married herself, she willed the center to them when she died.

If you'd like to learn more about it you can read my finished article about there here:

Sisters Everywhere

Photo -- by Amber Procaccini

Walleye Fishing on Leech Lake

Last month, Hubby and I took a road trip up to Walker, Minnesota with the intention of going fishing.

The city of Walker sits on Leech Lake, a massive lake in northern Minnesota. The fishing here was supposed to be amazing. Our goal was to catch walleye.

Hubby likes to fish and as a Minnesota girl, I grew up fishing. I even know how to fillet a fish!

It's been years, though, since I've either fished or filleted a fish. And truthfully, I'm not so sure I could stomach cleaning a fish anymore.

So. Did we go fishing? Did we catch anything? Did I reconnect with my fishing roots enough to warrant the purchase of this pink "Mrs. Walleye" fishing pole?

You'll have to read my story on GoNomad to find out. Here it is:

Finding My Inner Fisherwoman

Or read my blog posts from our trip there:

Leech Lake Blog Posts

Salmon Fishing on Lake Michigan

A few months back I interviewed a man name Don Oberg.

Oberg runs a charter fishing service called Leprechaun Fishing. His fishing business is based out of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin even though he makes a home in a Minneapolis suburb.

I'd never given much thought to the idea of chartering a fishing captain to take me fishing on one of the Great Lakes. However, Leprechaun Don (as his mates call him) was so enthusiastic about fishing lake Michigan that perhaps I'll have to hire his services one of these days.

Until then, though, I was happy to see my story made the cover of Maple Grove Magazine. I'm really digging the cover shot, which was taken by Marshall Long.

If you're interested, here is the story:

Lucky Catch

Art Bras Raise Money for Cancer

It's back to the office grind for me, which means catching up on emails and paperwork.

This article of mine was published recently. It's about a art contest that accepted submissions of decorated bras.

The bras are on display through next week in downtown Excelsior (a suburb here in the Twin Cities) and are helping to raise money for cancer research.

If you'd like to learn more about it, you can always check out my article:

Artful Bras Help Draw a Crowd

Photo by Mark Trockman.

Haunting Tunes of Nirmala Rajasekar

A few months back, I had the pleasure of interviewing Nirmala Rajasekar. She's an internationally touring musician, who happens to live in the Twin Cities area.

She plays the veena, which is a classical Indian instrument. In our interview, she told me the veena is as old as India.

My article about her was recently published. You can check it out here:

Venerable Veena

If you've never seen or heard a veena before, take a gander at this YouTube video of Nirmala playing her instrument.

Set Me Free

Last week I wrote a story about a creative writing group that meets in a corrections facility.

The members are all women serving time. Writing, for them, is a productive outlet for the many emotions and life experiences they often have a hard time giving voice to.

Just this spring, a book of their poems was published in a collection called Set Me Free.

It can be checked out at any of the Hennepin County Libraries.

To read the article, go here:

Women Set Free by Words

Photo by Hennepin County Library

Mui Ne Photo Gallery

GoNomad recently posted a photo gallery/article I wrote about my stay along the South China Sea in a town called Mui Ne in Vietnam.

Check it out!

Mui Ne, Vietnam: A Photo Gallery

The Art of Chicken Husbandry

This story was published this week. It's about an area working/educational farm that is offering a class on how to raise chickens in your backyard.

Did you know that you could raise chickens in your backyard? In the city?

I didn't, but now I do.

I don't think, though, that it's a hobby I'll take on.

For now, my two dogs are enough!

But if you want to investigate the idea, take a look at my story:

The Art of Chicken Husbandry

Photo by Mark Trockman

Day in Life of Co-op Buyer

I had a fun time writing this article.

It's a piece focused on the theme "a day in a life of".

I interviewed a woman who is a buyer for a co-op grocery store.

After talking with her, I was a bit overwhelmed. And I thought I had a lot of things to juggle.

Read the article:

A Day in the Life of a Co-op Buyer

Photo (c) The Mix

Shuang Cheng Walleye

Hubby's favorite place to eat in all of Minneapolis is a Chinese spot called Shuang Cheng.

It's kind of a hole-in-the-wall place. It's not really a dive, but it's certainly not swanky. It is, however, really really really good food.

The restaurant is in Dinky Town, a small retail neighborhood on the University of Minnesota campus.

One of my favorite things to eat there is the walleye with black bean sauce.

If you're not familiar with a "walleye" it's just about the best fresh water fish ever. Minnesotans love their walleye and now that fishing season is officially here, walleye fever is in full swing.

A recent article I wrote for a local publication was little more than a list of walleye recipes.

And in one month, I will be taking a trip to northern Minnesota to try my own hand at walleye fishing. I'll write about it all, of course, for GoNomad.

But even if I manage to snag a big one, I don't think I'll be able to bring it home and deep fry it whole like they do at Shuang Cheng.

Che Spotting on World Hum

Big News!!!

Che Spotting is the feature story on World Hum today!

This is so very exciting! I've been a World Hum reader since its early days, back before it was bought by The Travel Channel.

I can't hardly believe that my new web site, Che Spotting, made front page news! Or front page, online travel news!

Read the article here:

Che Spotting Interview on World Hum

The Fairy's Garden

Now that the snow is gone, I'm looking at my yard and thinking it needs some help.

Landscaping. Flower pots. A space for some tomato plants would be nice.

Maybe I should also clear a spot for a "Fairy Garden."

What's a Fairy Garden?

It's a miniature garden complete with tiny houses, tiny pathways, tiny shrubs and tiny fountains populated by tiny gnomes, tiny bunnies and tiny fairies.

A Fairy Garden is necessary, I've learned, in order to keep pesky fairies from messing up your life -- or at least that's what Kathryn Swenson told me.

Swenson started a company called The Fairy Garden that makes all the fairy accessories you might need to create a Fairy Garden in your own backyard.

My article about her was recently released. If you'd like to read it, check out Fairy Tales.

Or you could visit her web site, The Fairy Garden.

Cabo Polonio Revisited

A while back, I got an email from a guy who had read an article of mine on GoNomad.

It was my story about my trip to Cabo Polonio, Uruguay.

The reader was contemplating heading there himself. While I had arrived there by bus, he wanted to know if I thought renting a car and driving there would be a doable option.

I told him yes, and we exchanged a few more notes about traveling in Uruguay, Cabo Polonio itself and beautiful, beautiful Buenos Aires just to the south.

Well, today I got another email from him. He made the trip to Cabo Polonio. He did rent a car and drive. The whole thing went off without a hitch.

And he also sent me a link to some of his photos. This one, in particular, touched me.

I took a picture of that exact same boat -- "La Nena" -- pulled up on the sand in the exact same spot!

Good to know the boat's still there and my work and words were able to direct yet another traveler to a great and totally unique place.

Shelter for Life

One of the things I like most about my work as a freelance writer is that the job itself is constantly expanding my horizons.

Every time I sit down to interview someone for an upcoming article, I learn something new.

The other thing that happens is that I develop a supreme respect for the person with whom I'm speaking.

People are so cool and if you give them the time and space to open up, and you listen -- this being the most important I think -- they will tell you things that are amazing.

I met Rand Olson back in January when I interviewed him about the nonprofit he runs called Shelter for Life, which builds homes, schools, sewage systems, water pumps and more in some of the most impoverished, desolate and destroyed parts of the world.

For days afterward, I was in awe. This man had done so many interesting things, seen such fascinating parts of the world, knew so much about so many wide-ranging subjects that I had a hard time wrapping my arms around his life.

My article about Shelter for Life was just released the other day. You can see it here:

Doing Good Across the Globe

Meeting Fran Drescher

Last week I went to hear Fran Drescher speak.

Not only that, but I also got to shake her hand and say hello. Oh, and get my picture snapped with her.

She was in Minneapolis as part of the Smart Talk lecture series and her message, basically, was be optimistic and take chances.

I got my picture taken with her exactly because I had taken a chance.

Back in January, when I was at the first of the Smart Talk series events, I saw a call out in the program that said the organization was looking for "artists" who might be interested in working with Smart Talk.

Hey - I thought - isn't a writer an ar-TEEST?

I took a chance and sent an email to the address listed, said I was a writer and a blogger, included some links to my work and ... well, I managed to get myself and a friend backstage to meet The Nanny.

Smart Talk and I haven't quite figured out where exactly our relationship is going, but...

But now they me. I know them. And I got to meet Fran Drescher.

Sports On A Stick Isn't Fooling

It might be April Fools Day, but I've got a web site to share that's seriously funny - no joke!

It's called Sports on a Stick.

It's all sports news and it's all satire.

If you're a fan of The Onion, you're sure to find something that will tickle your funny bone at Sports on a Stick.

I had the privilege of interviewing the guys who started it. Ben Malmo and Sam Testa happened to grow up in my neck of the woods and continue to live in the Twin Cities today.

They were a fun pair to work with -- all jabs and giggles. They certainly enjoy what they're doing, which is reflected in their site.

If you're in need a sports-related smile, check it out.

Miss Minnesota USA

Last week, I interviewed a young woman named
Erica Nego.

She is the reigning Miss Minnesota USA.

Over the weekend, her family and friends held a send-off party for her as she heads to Las Vegas this week to compete in the Miss USA pageant.

I've never made a habit of watching the national pageants. However, this year, I think I'll tune in.

It's not until April 19, but Ms. Nego made an impression on me.

She is smart, quick, well-read and articulate.

If you're interested, here's my article about her:

Reflections of a pageant pro

Dicky Coupling and Monkey Butt

Speaking of pictures from the auction of my grandfather's junk yard business ...

I found this one sent to me by my uncle, Michael Westhoff, who is a freelance photographer.

I remember when we found this can, buried beneath a heap o' junk. We giggled and giggled and giggled some more.

What in the world was Dickey Lubricant Compound for Dickey Coupling?

This picture reminded me straight away of another one shot by yet another freelance photographer, Mark Trockman, a man that I work with to cover assignments for a local newspaper.

The other week, while touring a newly-opened tool store in my neck of the woods, Mark snapped this picture of a product called Anti Monkey Butt with me in the background laughing.

You've got appreciate the wonders of modern marketing. Still though, I'm not really sure I know what Dicky Lubricant or Anti Monkey Butt do ...



Photos (c) Michael Westhoff and Mark Trockman

I Heart Tiger Balm

Too much time at the keyboard.

Tiger Balm is my new best friend.

Well, not exactly "new". I've been a fan since Hubby introduced me roughly six years ago.

It soothes my aching neck, my sore shoulders, all hunched up and over from typing, typing, typing.

This picture was taken at the Tiger Balm source: Thailand.

Tipping Points and 4-Hour Work Weeks

I'm a big reader. Usually, though, I like to loose myself in historical novels or travel memoirs.

My most recent past two reads, however, don't fit either of these categories.

They have, instead, given me lots to think about and set my brain to spinning.

I finished the Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell.

Then I promptly moved on to Four-Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferris.

Both are shelved in the "business" section of a bookstore, and while I see how each of them is indeed a "business" book, I'd also say that each is a "lifestyle" book. Each one offers a bold, daring, new way to approach the world.

Now, if only I could figure out how to spark a tipping point in my life that would allow me and hubby to live well without working ourselves to death.

And I also can't stop wondering what I am ... a connector? a maven? a salesman?

If you're read the Tipping Point, then you know of what I speak.

I'm definitely not the salesman, but perhaps I am a little bit of a maven?

Local Women Impress

I feel like I've been interviewing and writing about a lot of women lately.

Last week I interviewed a young woman named Kat Cummin who is a senior at Notre Dame University.

She designed these funky, cube-shaped spice jars for college credit and ended up earning second place in a housewares design competition.

My article about her can be read here:

Providence Grad Spices Things Up

I also got to interview the newest director of the massive Hennepin County Library System, which is the county the city of Minneapolis and its heavily populated western suburbs are in.

Her name is Lois Thompson and despite the fact that she had just accepted a huge job promotion, she was funny and open and engaging to talk with.

My article about her can be read here:

Hennepin County Picks Homegrown Talent To Lead Libraries

A while back I visited the Midtown Global Market in Minneapolis. It's a huge space where small business owners, many of them immigrants, have leased booth space and are operating in a big, indoor, open-air sort of market.

I was there to interview women business owners. My story about them came out this month, too. It can be read here:

Mercado Mentality

Another local woman I recently met and wrote about was Nancy Donahue. She founded a nonprofit called Birthday Buddies.

It's like Toys for Tots, but for birthdays. She collects donated toys and gives them to needy kids to help them celebrate their birthdays.

A portion of that story can be seen here:

Birthday Bashes

Toying with Northern Tools

The life of a freelance writer isn't always exciting.

I spend a lot of time on the phone, even more time online and entire chunks of time hammering away on a keyboard. All of this translates into a lot of alone time.

When I get the chance to get out of the house, I generally jump at it.

Last week, on assignment for a local paper, I packed up my yellow tablet and headed to a tool store. It had just opened for business and I was to write a "business feature" on it.

Now, I'm not really a tool sort of gal. I usually defer any tool-required activities to my hubby. But I had a good time at the newest Northern Tool + Equipment store.

Not only was I given a tour of the store by an enthusiastic merchandising man, I also got to hang out with Mark Trockman, a freelance photographer.

I've worked with Mark on many, many assignments for this particular paper. While I generally think of myself as someone who works alone, it's always fun to arrive on site for an interview and find Mark there.

When he starts climbing on things and setting up shots, I like the fact that I recognize what he's doing and that none of it surprises me. It makes me realize that I don't always work alone.

My "tool story" came out today. Should you be interested, you can find it here:

Minnetonka Store Lets You Try Before You Buy

Photo (c) Mark Trockman

Business Galore

What was I thinking? Maybe I wasn't.

I've been doing so much freelancing work lately that I'd nearly run out of business cards. I was down to only three! Yikes! Not good.

I hurried to order more and was obviously lured by the tiny price differential between 500 and 1000 cards.

I went for the larger number and the box arrived today.

Gee Whiz! Look at all these business cards!

I'd better get busy!

Phone Calls from my Congressman

It was eight o'clock in the morning. My computer was not yet on. I hadn't even finished my first cup of coffee. Already, though, my phone was ringing.

Hello? I picked it up.

"Kelly," said a voice. "This is Jim Ramstad."

"Mr. Ramstad," I choked, grabbing the closest pen and paper I could find, my brain snapping to attention. My Congressman was calling me!

Well, he wasn't really my Congressman anymore. He gave up his seat this past election cycle, but he'd served a long time -- 9 terms in the U.S. House, or in other words, 18 years, which is exactly half of my life. Of course I knew who he was. And he was calling me.

His call wasn't that unexpected. After all, I had been assigned to write an article about him and his new-found retirement by a local newspaper. Still, an interview had not been finalized so it was a surprise to hear him on my phone.

But I pulled through, even without that first full cup of coffee.

And Mr. Ramstad is pulling through his retirement by refusing to retire. Wanna know what he's up to?

Check out my article:

My Goal is to Inspire Students

Che Spotted at Midtown Global Market

Mirinda Miricle at Midtown Global Market

I doubt there are words to describe just how excited I am, but...being the dedicated writer that I am, I will try.

Yesterday I headed to the Midtown Global Market in South Minneapolis. The market is inside an old, renovated Sears complex. It was set up to have a "mercado" atmosphere. Small business owners, many of them immigrants, lease booth space in the market and set up shop.

The thinking behind this was that a market stall would be cheaper to rent than a brick and mortar store thus giving more first-time business owners a crack at the American Dream.

Plus, since the market is located in a large immigrant-based community, would also be a more familiar business model for potential vendors.

It's a place I've been to before. It's fun to poke around in the stalls and soak up the international vibe. Yesterday I was there on a story assignment. I was to interview a group of women business owners stationed in the market.

Interviews securely done, a free afternoon stretched before me and I decided to stick around and shop. I wandered into a Mexican grocery and that's when it happened. I found Mirinda!

My eyeballs nearly popped out of my head! I couldn't believe it! MIRINDA!

This sweet orange pop is made by Pepsi Co. and the first time I ever had it was in Mexico City. It was October 2005, the second day of a six-month around-the-world trip that I took with my newly-wed husband, and from the moment it touched our lips, both of us were in heaven.

We became fast fans, always preferring it over Fanta. We drank our way through Mexico, Uruguay and Argentina on Mirinda. The brand disappeared in Chile, only to reappear in Thailand. It was also abundant in Vietnam, where a Mirinda root beer line was unveiled as well.

Mirinda was one of the things Hubby and I both missed upon our return home. We'd developed quite a Mirinda addiction and none of the other orange pops on the market compared. We knew. We tried them all.

But now I'd found it! I'd found Mirinda! I bought a bottle (I restrained myself to just one) and it was all I could do to stop myself from running to my car, starting it up and driving right home. I was so excited. I didn't even waste my breath on a cell phone call. Hubby would just have to see this to believe it!

Unfortunately, we had plans last night, otherwise we would have cracked that 2-liter bottle and downed it all. Luckily, there is nothing on our agenda tonight...nothing except a Mirinda taste test.


Photos -
Mexican-imported Mirinda in Minneapolis! Joy!
Mirinda in Bangkok.
Mirinda in Vietnam.

More Than Sweet Young Things

Today I had a couple of articles released. Both are about these cool, hip, smart, young chicks that live in the Twin Cities metro area.

The first is about an area seventh grader named Shruthi Rajasekar who just won a song-writing competition.

Plus, she also just won her first starring role in a big production at the Children's Theater. Here's that piece:

Bittersweet Movement

Next, this article is about an all-girl, teen rock band called Half Demon Doll.

They recently won a rock and roll contest in New York City. Soon, they will be featured in Teen Vogue promoting their upcoming album. Here is that article:

Grrrls Who Rock

Help for Teens Alone

In Minnesota, when the temperature drops below zero and the wind chill kicks in, the local news channels start airing segments about overcrowding in area homeless shelters.

Last week, when I was working on a story about homeless teens, I didn't know my story would be competing with every news show in town once it was published.

Hopefully, though, the article's message can cut through all the others:

Shedding light on teen struggles

Haiku By Two

I'm so excited!

Everyone simply must, must, must
go and check out my new web site,

Haiku By Two.

My friend Alison and I worked all autumn long to
brainstorm, write and craft the whole thing.

Every single day, for the entire year,
one of us will post a new haiku on the site.

We are alternating turns. Alison. Kelly. Alison.

The project is a way for the two of us,
who met in Buenos Aires teaching English,
to stay in touch.

Strange Ways of the Web

The World Wide Web works in mysterious ways. Consider this string of events:

In August 2008 I received an email from a woman named Laura Bookser. She is a writer in San Diego whose books give teen moms motivation and skills to continue pursing high school diplomas and higher degrees.

Her email contained an tone of astonishment. After researching two different trips online, one to Ensenada, Mexico and another to Uruguay, she realized that two of the articles she'd referenced the most were written by the same person ... me!

She found my web site, learned that I was a freelance writer, discovered that I lived in Minnesota and became convinced she needed to contact me because she was planning a trip to Minnesota.

She was going to be speaking at a Twin Cities school about teen parenting and wondered if I could help drum up some press coverage for the event.

While I never did get anything published about her event, the information she gave me eventually lead to an article assignment.

That article, a profile of a Minnesota teacher who is passionate about educating teen moms, was published this week.

It can be seen here:

Safe haven for young moms

And of course, none of this would have ever happened if not for GoNomad.

GoNomad posted both of the travel articles that the San Diego author had found.

Curious about them? Here they are:

Visiting Ensenada: A Bus Trip To Mexico's Wine Country

Cabo Polonio, Uruguay: In Search of the Fabled Ombu Tree

Photo:
A cathedral in Ensenada, Mexico.

Fair Trade Rice from Thailand

Back before Thanksgiving, I interviewed a man named Mathieu Senard.

Senard, who is French, now lives in San Francisco and is the CEO of a company called Alter Eco, which imports fair trade foods from all around the world to the U.S.

Our conversation focused specifically on the varieties of rice his company sells, which is grown in Thailand.

Alter Eco works with two different cooperatives in Thailand to produce one variety of white jasmine rice, two different red rices and a purple rice.

Long before I spoke with Senard, I'd always wondered why jasmine rice was called "jasmine." I'd never asked anyone, though, thinking it was just a name.

However, Senard cleared that all up for me. He told me that jasmine rice is actually native to Thailand and that the original grain, the heirloom grain, smells like jasmine when cooked. It is this heirloom grain that his cooperatives produce.

The fact that most of the jasmine rice sold today smells nothing like jasmine is, as far as I'm concerned, proof of just how far-removed from its roots and how mass-produced it has become.

I haven't tried the box of Alter Eco white jasmine rice sitting in my kitchen cupboard yet, so I don't know just how much like jasmine it smells.

But now that my article with Senard has been published, I'm reminded it is there waiting for me to cook it up and give it a sniff.

If you're interested in reading all about Alter Eco rice, you can go here:

Alter Eco rice builds healthy communities one bag of rice at a time.

Ion Foot Cleanse at Healthy Measures Spa

My feet feel light, airy and fresh.

They feel as though they've been vigorously rubbed with an exfoliating peppermint scrub.

But they haven't. Instead, they just spent 30 minutes soaking in an Ion Cleanse.

Yesterday, I called up the Healthy Measures Spa and Wellness Center to gather information for a story I'm writing.

The owner, Sharon, invited me to stop by for an Ion Foot Cleanse.

I'm not one to pass up a spa treatment, especially an unusual spa treatment, so of course I took her up on her offer.

Sharon and I chatted about wellness and holistic health as my feet soaked away in this Ion Cleansing bath.

Even though the water started out clean and clear, in half and hour, the water had turned a disgusting puke-colored orangish brown with a white film floating on top. Gross!

Even grosser was the thought that all that gunk was toxins that had been lurking in my joints, lymph nodes and liver. Ugh.

If I were ardently seeking a path to greater holistic wellness, a series of 12 Ion Foot Cleansing sessions might actually be a treatment plan in which I would enlist.

It was noninvasive and pleasant, so long as I didn't spend too much time inspecting the color of my water.

But do I feel any better?

Actually, yes. Three hours have passed since I dried my toes and drove back home, and yet my feet are tingling still. They do feel clean and pampered and massaged and ... well, different.

Trying Hard to Stay Up to Speed

Hectic times here in freelancing land.

A local paper has kept me busy with an assignment each week for the past five weeks. Plus there are other articles I've been working on that haven't yet been released.

Lately my head is spinning with the stories of other people, so much so that they are crowding out my own tales I have to tell. I haven't had much time or space to focus on my own writing, which tends to leave me irritable and anxious.

Someday, I keep on thinking, someday I will start saying "no" to all these assignments and just focus on my own stuff. I've been saying this, though, for several years.

It's the familiar push and pull of the freelancing life ... taking every story when it comes up for fear that the pipeline will slow and then stop and then I'll be out of luck. After all, one must have some money coming in.

At any rate, for those who are interested, here are some links to my recent stuff:

Learning to Sell

Kids Debate the Candidates

Bushaway's Birthday

Fund-raising Fair Trade Style

Perfect Scores

Rolf Potts Talks

Today, GoNomad posted my Q & A with travel writer Rolf Potts.

Potts swept through the Twin Cities a couple weekends ago in support of his new book, Marco Polo Didn't Go There.

I'm having a grand time reading the essays in the book. It's some mighty fine writing.

Of course, I know you're all just dying to go read the article, Rolf Potts Talks.

Putting a Cork In It

One of the things I like most about being a freelance writer is that my assignments put me in contact with cool people who are doing cool things.

Yesterday I met Andy and Dan, two men who've set up shop in St. Paul. Their business is called Vine Park Brewing Company.

When you go there, they help you make your own beer and wine. They supply all the equipment, know how and fermenting space. You supply the elbow grease.

When I called to set up my interview, they invited me over to check out the joint and join them in making of some wine. I agreed, figuring I'd just sort of observe and take notes.

Instead, they tied an apron around my waist and put me to work stuffing corks into freshly filled bottles of wine! When I finally looked up from all my corking, two hours had passed!

I wasn't complaining, however. Now I know exactly how a cork is squeezed into a bottle top, which is something I'd always sort of vaguely wondered about.

I even got to bring a few of those Kelly-corked bottles home. But I'm not supposed to drink them yet.

Even those this Zinfandel had already fermented away for six weeks on a back room shelf at Vine Park, it still needs another nine months or so to age.

I hope I corked those bottles tight! It won't be until June 2009 that I pop their tops.

Tripping to Donaldsonville, LA

GoNomad recently posted an article I wrote about the town of Donaldsonville, Louisiana.

I visited Donaldsonville in June and am still dreaming about the white chocolate bread pudding I ate there.

Here is an excerpt from the story:

Going to visit Donaldsonville is a lot like going to visit your grandparents.

It takes effort on your part to motivate and get yourself there, and once you arrive, you might very well look around and wonder why you made the drive. The town’s appearance is tattered and at first glance it’s not immediately obvious what there is to do.

But if you stick around, and if you are willing to listen, you will be drawn in. And when it comes time to leave, you’ll be surprised to find that there is a part of you resisting, a part of you that wants to linger, a part of you that knows there are more stories yet to hear, old stories, stories you didn’t think mattered to your fast-paced, contemporary life, stories you didn’t think had any power to pull you in. But it turns out that they do.

Blogging Brain Gone Bad

"Blogging is easy. Writing is hard."

~Jennifer Shreve

I came across this little quote in a book called Not Quite What I Was Planning. Its pages are filled with six-word quips about life and death and everything in between. Six words were all any of the writers were allowed.

I've blogged about my fascination with this book in the past, so I don't intend to sing its praises for too long here. Instead, I've decided to write about this particular quote, this "blogging is easy, writing is hard" idea. It is an idea I used to believe, but now I'm not so sure.

It used to be that blogging was so much easier than writing. Blogging was off the top of my head, as compared to "writing," which took forethought and persistence.

Blogging was also a chance to exercise my "visual" tendencies. I've always considered myself a visual learner and I like to play around with photography and layout design, a thrill that is rarely afforded to me as a freelance writer. I just turn in the words; someone else gets to illustrate my article. Not so with blogging. It's my blog and therefore my "vision."

But lately, I'm having trouble doing much writing or blogging. Frankly, I'm having trouble doing anything that feels ultra productive or professional. I've passed my days putting pictures in photo albums, walking my dogs, reading books, drinking beer on the porch, lazing around.

It's been a beautiful July in Minnesota. The sky is the most perfect shade of blue. The trees are the most perfect shade of green. The sun is the most perfect warming light. It is exactly the July I always remember July being when I was a little girl and it is because of this, perhaps, that I have reverted to girlhood ways. School is out and my brain is on vacation.

oneGirloneRide

I could tell, from my very first phone conversation with Kerry Madgett, that the article I was assigned to write about her and her daughter, E'leese, was going to be fun.

Kerry talked a mile a minute. She had to in order to keep up with the big ideas that were rolling around in her daughter's head.

Her daughter - E'leese - a 12 year-old recently graduated from 6th grade, is on a mission. She is planning to ride her Arabian horse in a loop through the state of Minnesota, raising money along the way, so that she can buy a 3,000-acre ranch and turn it into a vacation resort in rural Minnesota for soldiers and their families to use for free.

She is calling her quest oneGirloneRide and is blogging about her trip along the way.

While most parents might laugh off an idea such as this, E'leese's mom decided to support her daughter 200 percent, which meant quitting her job to become the PR manager for the endeavor, employing a lawyer to help incorporate the plan into a legal nonprofit, and accompany her daughter (who is only 12 after all) throughout the summer.

They are an amazing duo. Or trio if you count the horse. Or foursome if you count the dog, who is also going along.

Their journey starts on June 7, but it won't end until August 31.

If you'd like to learn more about their ride, or learn how to contribute funds, you can always check out my article on the subject:

On the Trail to Helping Veterans.

I Made the Huffington Post!

An essay I wrote made it to The Huffington Post!

I wrote the essay and submitted it for publication through a women's networking group that I am a part of called Ladies Who Launch.

Even though I submitted the work about a month ago, I had no idea whether it would be chosen or not. I was told to "wait and see."

But now, I'm so excited to see my work on such a well-read and well-regarded site!

The essay is called My Travel, My God.

Here is an except. But of course, I think you should all go and read the whole thing!

There is a common misperception about travel junkies. It is often said that we travel to "find" ourselves. We do not. Or at least, I do not. I do, however, go looking for something when I travel. I go looking for God.

This revelation will shock some people in my life. I'm not a particularly religious girl. I tend to purse my lips tight when the subject comes up. I don't quote the Bible, and I don't attend regular church. Instead, for me, travel is church. Let me explain.

Going Greyhound to Mexico

Today, GoNomad posted a story I wrote about taking the Greyhound to Mexico.

Yes, that's right. I crossed the border on a bus.

Our end point was a pretty little town called Ensenada that is the heart of Mexico's wine country. It's just two hours south of San Diego on the Baja's Pacific coast.

While there, we toured a bodega, sipped some vino, downed a margarita, nibbled hot churros, and stumbled into a room where Al Capone was rumored to have played a hand of poker or two.

If you'd like to read all about it, go here:

Visiting Ensenada: A Bus Trip to Mexico's Wine Country

Also posted this week is an essay I wrote and published a few years back in the local paper. The link has been archived and hidden behind passwords, which means nobody is ever able to find it. So instead, I found it a new and approachable home.


Wanderlust and Lipstick is a web site that encourages women to get out there and travel. The site's author, Beth Whitman, actually posted two of my older travel tales.

First, What we Leave Behind, is about an encounter I had with a man on the streets of Havana.

The other, On Guard Against Giardia, is about getting sick in Guatemala.

Quotable Me

A new travel guide was released this month titled Best Girlfriend Getaways Worldwide.

It's the follow up to a title that came out last year: 50 Best Girlfriend Getaways in North America. Both books were written by Marybeth Bond.

But the exciting thing is that this second book, the newest one, the worldwide one, quotes me. Yes, me.

I interviewed Marybeth Bond for an article published on GoNomad about women and travel, and in the course of our conversation she said, "Can I interview you?"

Of course! As a writer, it's not often that I find myself on the answering side of a question. Usually, I am the asker.

Two quotes by moi made the final cut in the chapter about studying abroad. I said...

"As a teacher, I had summers off, so I have studied history, creative writing, music, dance and languages in Rome, Prague and Havana. I did the program in Rome through Loyola University in Chicago and the one in Prague was through West Michigan University. Educational programs give you a reason to dig into a culture, put down roots, and discover a place at a slower pace. I also liked the safety and social aspects of living in a dorm with other students."

"I wanted to improve my Spanish, but I didn't know how to find a good, affordable Spanish study program. Limiting my search to Guatemala, I did an internet search for 'Spanish language school, Guatemala' and reviewed the web sites I found. I wrote to the schools, asking for a list of references. Then I emailed past students. I asked about the schools and the host families. They were very honest with me. After all, if you've had a fabulous travel experience, you love to talk about it, and if you've had a bad experience, you want to warn others. I learned which schools to avoid. My advice is to email for references."

New Articles Up

GoNomad posted a new story by yours truly yesterday.

It is called Pack Your Lipstick and is about four travel guidebooks published in the last year that all offer travel advice strictly for women.

I interviewed the author of each guide in order to write the story. It was inspiring and energizing to have four enlightening conversations about women and travel with women who think about travel as much as I do.

Also out this week is a story I wrote about four teens at a local high school who won the championship title at the state cooking competition. They go to San Diego this week to complete against 30 other teams in the national cooking competition.

Imagine that -- a high school cooking team! There was no such thing when I was in school. And even better - I was so impressed that out of this culinary team of four, only one was a girl.

Let's hear it for men in the kitchen!

Chef photo by Mark Trockman.

Ho Chi Not Hoochi

I spent the day at an area middle school giving a photography slide show presentation on Vietnam to 8th grade world geography students.

Even though I used to be a full-time middle school teacher myself, I forget how gruelling it can be to stand in front of five different twitchy, 30-people crowds and do your deal over and over and over again.

It's hard work being a teacher and even though I mastered the art of voice projection during my own years in the classroom, my vocal chords have forgotten all about being worked for hours on end!

The funniest moment of the day came while I was talking about the fact that Vietnam's biggest city has two names: Saigon and Ho Chi Minh City.

One smart aleck boy on the fringes of the darkened room smiled as only an 8th grade boy can do and said, "Hoochi."

But he didn't whisper softly enough. I heard him (teacher ears come in handy).

"Not Hoochi!" I said loud and proud to a chorus of laughter. "Ho. Chi."

That's one group of kids that won't forget the name of Vietnam's biggest city.

Photo: An alter to Ho Chi Minh himself at the Cu-Chi Tunnels.

Teaching Travel Writing

I spent Saturday talking about travel writing at a local writer's festival, which was hosted by the Bloomington Center for the Arts, an area arts organization.

I taught two classes back-to-back. In the first, I spoke to about 20 people. The second class was a smaller group, just seven attendees.

It was energizing to talk about something I love to interested listeners.

And I was reminded that I'm teaching another travel writing class in the upcoming months -- this one, however, just for kids.

In July I'm teaching a week-long travel writing class in the Youth Summer Program at the Loft, the nation's largest literary center, which is located right here in the Twin Cities.

Thanks to Steve Peterson for the photo!

Of Clippings and Travel

I'm a clipper.

It started with my mom. She's a clipper, too. I'm forever getting envelopes in the mail filled with newspaper stories or magazine text she thinks I would find of interest.

The other week, for example, she mailed me an obituary for a dog that she spotted in her local paper.

Before that, she mailed me a slim little column about a workshop being offered in her area on "How to Communicate with your Dog." (note reoccurring dog theme)

I inherited this clipping gene. It's a trait that has only been made worse by my work as a freelance writer.

In part, my ability to make money from writing depends on my ability to narrow in on interesting little tidbits that I think I could turn into larger stories and sell.

I am forever tearing chunks of text out of every publication that comes my way. The clippings pile up and turn into mounds that irritate my hubby who finds it taxing to live amongst my "papers," which I am physically unable to contain to just one room of the house.


My travel lust has only exasperated the situation as I rip out stories on places I think I'd like to go. I have a file drawer full of articles, essays, restaurant recommendations, off-the-beaten path finds and other odds and ends about places here and places there.

Luckily, I've got a couple of good girlfriends who are also chronic clippers.

Even better, they are friends that share my wanderlust. This means that most of the clippings they send me are about far-off locals to which we've usually traveled together. I return the favor. In this way, our trips and memories of distant places stay alive.

My most recent clippings-for-friends have both involved Guatemala, a country to which I traveled years ago. These two are bound for my travel buddy Michelle.

The first is about an overcrowded Guatemalan bus (chicken bus no doubt) that went off the road, rolled down a mountain side and killed many.

The second is about four travelers kidnapped by farmers in the Rio Dulce area.

Michelle and I rode those overcrowded Guatemala chicken busses. We stared out over the edges of steep, thin roads praying praying praying the driver kept us all on the blacktop.

And we boated it through Rio Dulce, too.

I re-read these clippings now and I think, "Were we stupid? Insane? Reckless? We were just dumb lucky? How did we ever make it out of Guatemala alive?"

It's a good thing these clippings aren't headed to my mom. I'd never get out of the country again.

Photo: That would be Michelle in the back of a pick up truck with a Guatemalan chicken bus coming up behind.

Tuesday Memoir Fun

I agreed to teach a "how to write your memoirs" class for a group of area seniors. When I said yes to the plan, I wasn't quite sure what I was getting myself into; I'd never taught a memoir-writing class before.

But the four weeks of class flew by and this morning I bid farewell to my dedicated group of writers.

I pulled readings from Michael Ondaaatje's memoir called Running in the Family, in which he travels to Sri Lanka to research his family roots. Yet I also brought in a variety of other writing prompts.

I even found a way to work the six-word memoir idea into class, plus, I agreed to instruct the class a second time later this spring.

Minne-Apple No More

GoNomad recently posted another one of my stories:

Minne-Apple No More: Minneapolis Steps into the Spotlight.

Max had asked me long ago to pen a guide to Minneapolis. Finally, finally, I got around to doing it. What I came up with was a list of arty activities to do in the city.

Anyone thinking Minneapolis is fly-over country, should follow the link, scroll through the theater, museum and music listings and change their mind.

The Blogging Rat

This is Ratson Rat. He keeps a blog.

He's a funny little rat. A bit obnoxious. A lot sarcastic.

He blogs so that school kids here in the Minneapolis metro area can go to the computer lab, hop online and spend 30 minutes learning how to interact in an Internet way.

In his most recent post, Ratson Rat wrote about his attempt to become a vegetarian. So far, only 2 kids have posted comments about his veggie transformation, but if this post is anything like all his other posts, Ratson Rat can expect upwards of 70 comments.

He doesn't just blog for fun. His creator, Lynn Jonell, wrote a middle-grade novel called Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat. Ratson Rat is the star of the book. By taking his act online, author Jonell is introducing her enthusiastic young readers to a virtual arena.

Jonell is from the Minneapolis area and thus far only a handful of nearby schools are participating in the blog. But a school in Ohio recently signed on and Jonell is hoping the rat blog will catch on in other states, too.

Want to see what a rat blog looks like? Take a peek.

Want to read more about the project? Read my article.

Photo © Lynn Jonell

Up To My Eyeballs in Local Authors

I had no idea my little neck of the woods was such a hot bed of children's authors. In the past five days I've had three encounters with visionary, passionate and creative people all penning great books for kids.

There is Lynne Jonell, author of Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat. She is blogging - in rat voice - with local kids. It's a cool way to get kids into a computer lab and interacting with others online in a controlled, educational environment.

And then there is JoAnn Pastel and Kakie Fitzsimmons, two moms who were so frustrated with the lack of racially diverse images in their sons' picture books that they conceived an entire line of children's books and products featuring a rainbow of characters.

The product line, called Bur Bur and Friends showcases people with a variety of skin tones all interacting together.

And I also met with Timothy Culbert and Rebecca Kajander, a doctor-nurse team with years of pediatric experience under their belts.

They've spent their careers specializing in alternative techniques to help kids with behavioral and emotions issues.

Now, they've pulled together their best practices to publish a series of books called Be the Boss of Your Body.

The books teach kids that they are capable of emitting control over their own bodies, and thus capable of controlling their own health.

Photo cover art for ...

Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat
Bur Bur's Boating ABC's
Be the Boss of Your Stress

Updating the Resume

It's always a thrill to see the final layout and printing of a story I've written. As a freelancer writer, it's my job to simply turn in the text. I don't get to participate in the design process. All that work takes place in house at the newspaper or magazine.

For magazines, my lead-time is usually pretty big. For example, I wrote my story about how to plan a wedding in a Minnesota winery back in July 2007, but it didn't appear on the stands until January 2008. By that point, I've kinda forgotten what I wrote about way back yonder.

It's strange to sit down with something I wrote so long ago and revisit it. It's a practice in delayed gratification. It's entirely different from keeping a blog. A blog is so instant. Write it. Post it. Done.

This past month landed three magazines in my mailbox that featured stories I'd written. None of them appear online, except for the portions I've now excerpted on my site to keep my online resume up-to-date.

From Minnesota Bride:
Toasting to Love: Minnesota wineries offer charming event spaces for pre-wedding festivities and the big "I do"

From Lake Minnetonka Living:
Family + Football: For only area clan, football is a family affair

From Plymouth Magazine:
The Long Way Home: 12 men run 208 miles across 2 states

Photos: cover art from Minnesota Bride, Lake Minnetonka Living and Plymouth Magazine

Future Looks Bright With These Kids In Charge

This morning saw the publication of an article I wrote last week about the debate team from an area high school.

Man, were these kids impressive. They were smart, quick, witty, motivated and outgoing. These are exactly the kinds of kids I want to run our country some day.

Their topics for debate at the state tournament?

Would the United States be acting justly if it used military force to prevent another nation from acquiring nuclear weapons?

And

Should the United States substantially increase its public health assistance to Sub-Sahara Africa?

Photo © Lakeshore Weekly News

Busy, Busy, Busy

These past couple days have kept me busy, busy, busy. When people find out that I am a freelance writer, they always ask me how many hours a day I write. I think they have a romantic vision of me studiously pounding away on the keys hour after hour, day after day, week after week, and so on.

That's not how it works.

Before I can write an article, I have to talk to people. And for the past three days, that's what I've been doing ... talking to people. I spend more time talking to people than I do actually writing.

Gathering information is what it's about. I have to anticipate all the questions my editors will ask and figure out which answers I still need. I've got a lot of little factoids rolling around in my head right now. Unfortunately, they aren't all on the same topic. Multi-tasking is the name of my game.

Seeing as how I've got to extract information from lots of different people, I've learned how to ask the right questions, but I've also learned to be a good listener. I'm always amazed at how openly total strangers will talk to me if I smile, nod my head, ask questions and respond appropriately.

In the past few days, I've toured a house that was completely remodeled to be the epitome of green, hung out with a bunch of kids from the local high school debate team and had a phone conversation with an author from Seattle about women and travel.

Each of these encounters was totally engaging in a different way. I must say, however, that I wish I had half the energy of those high school kids.

*Photos
-Live Green Live Smart House Before
-Live Green Live Smart House After
-Cover art for Wanderlust and Lipstick

Good Friday

It was a good Friday in Kelly's freelancing land.

GoNomad published another of my articles, a compilation of 10 book reviews featuring titles all penned by women travelers. It's called Girls on the Go.

Plus, I got word from the education department at the Loft (a local literary center), that all four of the course proposals I submitted for its summer youth programming were accepted.

Besides an SAT grammar and essay prep, I'll also be offering a class on travel writing for kids and a workshop on keeping a family travel journal for parents.

And I was also contacted by two area community education programs to offer courses in upcoming sessions.

All that, and I finally finished an article I've been working on for what feels like forever. Yippie. Time to log off and do something non-computer related!

Zenn and the Art of Zero Emissions

Back in November, I got to drive an electric car. It was a test run to help me write an article that was published this week.

Zenn and the Art of Zero Emissions just appeared online.

Here's an excerpt:

It’s a thrill to drive such a cute, zippy, little machine that turns heads and makes you the center of attention. “It’s like a puppy,” Kobs joked. “Take it out, and you’re guaranteed instant social success.”

Photo by Paula Keller

Remembering Your Roam

My article, Remember Your Roam: Tips and Techniques to Bring Your Travel Journal Alive was recently posed on GoNomad.

It lists 25 writing prompts to help any traveler (even a reluctant writer) keep a diary on the road.

My favorite tip? #21

Write a haiku. Remember the rules? Three lines of counted syllables: 5,7,5. Traditionally, a haiku is supposed to be about nature, but I’ve use the format throughout my travel diaries. Here’s a haiku from my Roam journal:

Sticky table top
Hot waiter winks and I will
Forgive anything

Photo
* My attempt to recreate a green house in a Buenos Aires park.

The Write Place

Last week I spent some time at an area high school interviewing two teachers and a student about that district's new Writing Center.

The Writing Center provides free writing help to any student or teacher in the building. The educator in me thought the center a brilliant idea.

The writing teachers hope to bring in a variety of professionals over the course of the year to talk to students about writing in the wider world. The freelance writer in me immediately pitched myself as a possible guest speaker. I hope they call me on my offer.

At any rate, the resulting article appeared this week.

I keep a running list of my recently published articles on my my homepage if anyone out there is so inclined. I try to keep it fairly up to date.

Photo © Lakeshore Weekly News

Of Superbowl Rings and Gratitude

I'm not much of a football fan. Oh, who am I kidding? I'm not a football fan at all. But last night, I got to hold a Superbowl ring in my own two hands and I must say, that was pretty cool.

I interviewed Jim Fahnhorst. He's a Minnesota boy who grew up to play for the San Francisco 49ers. He joined the team in 1984 and stayed there for the next seven years, taking part in three Superbowl wins along the way: 1984, 1988 and 1989.

After retiring from the game, he moved back to Minnesota with his wife and kids. It was my job to interview the clan for a local publication. After the interview and picture taking were done, the Fahnhorsts broke out some beers and invited the photographer and I to stick around for a bit. That's when I got the chance to slip on the ring.

As the circle swapped travel tales and stories of the good ol' days growing up Minnesotan, I toyed with the ring and the idea of asking the photographer to break out his camera and take a shot of it on my hand. But I didn't. I didn't want to disturb the flow of conversation and it was one of those moments I decided was better experienced and remembered than made obnoxious by the snapping of a flash.

Before the evening was through and the photographer and I were out the door, the wife had run downstairs and brought up two decorative ceramic bowls she'd painted herself. "Here," she said, "I want you each to take one. Happy holidays."

As I accepted the bowl, I felt a rush of appreciation and thanks. Lately, I've been kind of down-in-the-dumps about my job. I've written so many articles this year that I was starting to feel burned out. The interviews I've conducted recently have felt routine, not fun.

But last night I remembered why I ever wanted to be a freelance writer to begin with: I get to be impressed by people.

I get to meet total strangers, hear their life stories and come face to face with their openness, their kindness, their humanity. It's a reminder of something travel taught me: People are good and we are all, at heart, the same.

Kindness and Compassion, Dutch Style

I've been working on this article about an American soldier who was killed in action. He died in Germany in 1945 on the front lines of World War II.

The article I'm assigned to write isn't all that long and it's pretty tightly focused. I can't use even half the information I've gathered about him. I've interviewed his sister, daughter and wife. All of whom were so happy to speak about their lost loved one that I didn't have the heart to break them off when I had the information I needed. I let them talk and I learned something that touched my heart.

There is an American cemetery outside the village of Margraten, which is in the Netherlands, where 8,301 American soldiers are buried. Because the soldiers were buried on foreign soil and their families couldn't be there to tend the graves, ordinary Dutch citizens adopted them.

It was a system that sounds much like the adopt-a-child programs that you see advertised on TV. The Dutch families were assigned an American grave and a pen-pal exchange was set up. The Dutch visited the graves on a regular basis, brought fresh flowers, took photos of the markers and mailed letters and pictures back to the American families, who then wrote back, and so on.

The sister, daughter and wife of the fallen American soldier I spoke to couldn't say enough good things about the Dutch family that adopted the man who was their brother/father/husband. Their correspondence lasted for years and from the way they spoke about the experience, I could tell the relationship had affected them deeply.

The American family has never been to Europe, never met their assigned Dutch family. And yet.

And yet they are filled with gratitude and wonderment, even still after all these years, for the kindness and compassion paid to them by strangers.

Sustainable Shea Butter

A couple months ago, I interviewed a man named Olowo-n’djo Tchala. Olowo-n'djo was born and raised in Togo, a west African nation. He lives in Washington state now and runs a nonprofit organization called Alaffia.

Alaffia imports unrefined shea butter from Togo to the United States. Here in the U.S, the unrefined shea is made into beauty products.

Alaffia returns its revenue to Togo and the community that makes the shea butter. As the son of a shea-butter-producer, Olowo-n'djo grew up watching his mom work long, long, long hours for little, little, little pay.

For example, Olowo-n'djo told me that it takes about 20 hours to make 1 kilogram of shea butter. That 1 kilogram earns just $1 on the traditional global market. Of course, Alaffia is trying to change that.

If you're interested, you can always pop on over and read my article about sustainable shea butter practices.

* photos © Alaffia

Georgia vs. Frida in Minneaplis

Every once in a while, being a freelance-writer comes in handy. Yesterday was one of those days.

I was invited on an art tour by Meet Minneapolis, the city's revamped tourism board. The Twin Cities are gearing up for a big tourism push as the Republican National Convention is coming to town next fall.

The redesign of all the official tourism materials is just one of many steps the city is taking to help promote the area before it will be so prominently on display to the nation. Somehow my name ended up on the communication department's list of freelance travel writers. I wasn't about to complain.

The morning started at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, one of my favorite places in the city. The massive permanent collection is open free to the public, and I've always liked to wander the halls, seeking my old favorites and waiting for new pieces to catch my eyes.

But on this day I was entering the featured exhibit for free - with a docent - before the doors even opened to the public. I was so excited.

The featured exhibit from now until January 6 is a collection of works by Georgia O'Keeffe. The exhibit starts with a charcoal drawing from her very first show and ends with a charcoal drawing made at the end of her life. The two are oddly similar. Eerily so. It makes the exhibit feel like it completes a full circle. It also makes it seem as if Georgia O'Keeffe herself struggled, or was obsessed with, reoccurring ideas/images throughout her life.

I was drawn to this painting, one from a series of images she made with pelvic bones in her beloved New Mexico. I so liked this one because as soon as I saw it, it reminded me of this picture I shot on the Perito Moreno Glacier in Argentine Patagonia.

After having our Georgia fill, the group of freelancers was loaded into a van and shuttled to the Walker Art Center for a tour of that museum's current featured show: Frida Kahlo.

I have a sort of love-hate relationship with the Walker. I love its funky, boxy, outer shell. I love the very idea that this museum is able to exist in my hometown. The Walker is an ultra modern art museum. Everything in its permanent collection was produced after 1945. Sometimes, when I go there, I look at the installations and think, "What the hell is that?" This ain't no stuffy museum. I've seen things here that make me blush.

This past year, the Walker has knocked itself out to bring some big name shows to town. Over the summer, a Picasso exhibit took over the joint. Now, Frida Kahlo has moved in. She'll be there through January 20, 2008.

Unfortunately, the Walker was already open and the Frida exhibit was already packed (yes, packed on a Thursday morning) when we got there at 10 am. Being a novice Frida connoisseur, I was shocked to see the walls were filled with serious pieces, I mean big-time, famous Frida paintings. The Two Fridas. A Few Small Nips. The Henry Ford Hospital. At least five of the paintings were on loan from a museum in Mexico City's Chapultepec Park, a museum I visited when I was there. Also on display is a huge collection of personal family photographs of Frida and Diego.

After a nice lunch, my media tour was done. I will certainly be heading back to the Walker to take in the Frida exhibit at my leisure. Although, now I just have to figure out when to get there so I can have the art to myself....

* Minneapolis Montage, Meet Minneapolis
* Geogria O'Keeffe, Pelvis Series, 1947
* Walker Magazine cover, Nov/Dec 2007