About

You can take the girl out of Minnesota, but you can’t take Minnesota out of the girl.

We Minnesotans are a special lot. Good work ethic. Nature lovers. Politically schizophrenic. Minnesota once elected the most conservative senator in the U.S. Senate and the most liberal one. At the same time. And yes, we’re the state that called Jesse Ventura “governor.” We’re a hearty stock who would rarely ask, “Is it hot enough for ya?” but would often say, “Cold enough, eh?”

When a Minnesotan leaves Minnesota, she never completely acclimates to her new surroundings. They’re always seen through the prism of a buttoned-up Scandinavian with a Lutheran upbringing. And warm boots.

I’m a 46-year-old former newspaper reporter and marketing exec. My two cents are worth about a post a day on a variety of issues, sometimes offered with humor, sometimes wistfulness, sometimes outrage.

This blog is about my everyday life as a former Minnesotan, transplanted into a tiny suburb of Chicago. A news junkie who loves books, I enjoy Major League baseball (I root for the Twins and any team which plays against the Chicago White Sox) and discussions about spirituality, politics and culture. And I love a good recipe, usually accompanied by a bad picture. Like the Farmers’ Almanac, this blog contains “bits of logic, formulas for good cookery, weather prognostications, humor, poetry and odds and ends designed for your enjoyment and edification.”

When I was unemployed last summer, I finally finished the memoir of my first marriage, “The Percussionist’s Wife: A Memoir of Sex, Crime & Betrayal.” Now I’m working on a “prequel” of sorts that I’m classifying as “historical fiction.” To follow news about my books and posts about writing, check out http://mindfulmonica.wordpress.com/

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