Lost in Venice
Just walk to the edge. I’ve been lost as a child. It was in an Iowa cornfield. You know, you’re young, you’re playing around with your cousins, running and hiding [...]
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Posted April 03, 2019in Joe's Neighborhood
Posted March 06, 2019in Joe's Neighborhood
A traditional French kiss
What is the difference between somebody we know for a long time and a person who is a new friend? They laugh. And not just with their mouths, like your [...]
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Posted February 06, 2019in Joe's Neighborhood
Welcome to the Shame-A-Palooza
It is with some shame that I acknowledge that I’m a fan of Brené Brown, a shame researcher. I don’t want to be a fan. She is way too popular, [...]
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Posted January 02, 2019in Joe's Neighborhood
Guilty pleasure
Deep-fried delights of love for those with a soul Des Moines certainly offers guilty pleasures. You know, like drinking a craft beer at a movie theater at 10 a.m. on [...]
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Posted December 05, 2018in Joe's Neighborhood
Miffy comes to Des Moines
Pastry is the world’s language. “I try to show flaws because flaws are human.” Tom Sachs, press release 2008, concerning the Miffy Fountain. Henriette Priester is helping me learn Dutch [...]
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Posted October 31, 2018in Joe's Neighborhood
Jim Duncan – 30 years and counting
He’s not your traditional food critic. “The guys running this restaurant are from Hyderabad, India.” Now you just have to wait for it, folks. There’s always more. His mind is [...]
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Posted October 03, 2018in Joe's Neighborhood
If we build it, the bikers will come
There are more bikes than residents in the Netherlands. “Protected bike lanes are different from conventional bike lanes where the bike lanes are placed along the curb and protected from [...]
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Posted September 05, 2018in Joe's Neighborhood
‘A friendly, honest place.’
“My motto is to buy from people you know and as close to home as you can get.” — Lisa Bean Nearly 45 years ago, the Iowa City Coop was [...]
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Posted August 01, 2018in Joe's Neighborhood
The much-needed parade
We all need a reprieve. The summer evening is hot and close. Steam rises up from the damp grass. Only mosquitoes and myself are out. I suspect folks are a [...]
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Posted July 04, 2018in Joe's Neighborhood
Synchronized swimming: art or drowning?
FINA artistic swimming rules. A Ballet Leg is assumed. Maintaining this position, the body is rotated backwards around a lateral axis through the hips to assume a Fishtail Position. The [...]
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