OPEN COMMUNITY PARTIES

I keep hearing about new community parties. They’re open, short, inexpensive, often intimate, and sometimes even kid friendly. I’m thrilled, in large part because they kick me out of social ruts I sometimes inhabit. Meet some new people, learn something, and then start one of your own.

2X2/Give & Take

Locus started 2X2 presentations in 2009, pairing people to discuss relationships, collaborations, and overlapping interests. We convene for an hour to chat over beer and wine before sitting down for an hour of presentation and discussion. We require plenty of visuals from presenters, so even if the talking runs aground, there’s still eye candy. We shoot for 3-per-year, with topics last year ranging from Creative Couples (Maren Kloppmann/Mark Wheat) to Local Food (Tracy Singleton/Greg Reynolds) to Public Art (Anna Tahinci/Wing Young Huie). If you crave a more interactive event, take a look at the monthly Give & Take gatherings at Intermedia Arts.

Movie Night

Friends Azin & Steve organize a monthly Saturday night cinema at the Locus Architecture studio. Films are nominated and selected by the membership via email instant-run-off-voting. The idea of membership may be anathema to you, but it sounds more formal than it is. You provide your email address, you’re a member. Potluck dinner/drinks at 6pm, movie at 7:30, cocktail-infused discussion afterwards. Add your name to the list by emailing [email protected]

Pizza Night

Janna & Eric (Eric of Terra Vista Landscape Design) designed and built a pizza oven for their NE Minneapolis back yard, in part to host monthly pizza parties from spring to fall. You bring the toppings and your beverage of choice (say, a six-pack of Bell’s?) they supply the dough. Learn the steering wheel method of stretching dough, how much tomato sauce is too much, how to use the word peel properly, then enjoy your slightly browned creation by the koi pond. Be a good citizen and use the “dough for dough” can on the table.

Thursday Happy Hour/Flamingo

My friend Andra told me about a St. Paul couple who open their doors every other Thursday evening from May through August, “because there are just not enough opportunities nowadays to get together, hang out, and talk with interesting people… Invite other friends – the more the merrier.” No need to RSVP, kids are welcome, bring a favorite drink or appetizer. I’m in! Claire and David run a similar Thursday night series in my neighborhood, Pink Flamingo! The mobile party is hosted by a different family every week. Which house will it be this week, you ask? Let the flamingos in the front yard be your guide.

CONCRETE

One of our clients, a physician and rabid concrete evangelist, sent this to us last week.

I stopped at a stone distributor the other day on my way to a conference. They had never heard of Virginia Slate (a MN stone we’re specifying for the exterior of his house). A sales guy did try to sell me granite though for our countertops. When I told him we are doing concrete, he said, “Why do you want a sidewalk in your kitchen?” Insulted, I told him that granite is so 90s. He then said because the price of granite has come down, it is once again “hot.” I said, if I were choosing between laminate and granite, I would also choose granite if they are at a similar price point.

Needless to say, that was the end of our conversation.

Sidewalk in a St. Paul kitchen

The “sidewalk in your kitchen” line is a gem. It’s insulting and misleading at the same time, just enough to plant the seed of doubt.

I have to come up with a comparable retort when someone gives me the merits of vinyl siding. “Why do you want PVC waste water pipe siding on your house?” is a bit of a mouthful. ” Why do you want to wrap your house with a shower curtain?” isn’t as cutting as the sidewalk jab. We’ll have to keep working on it. Suggestions?