Tales of a Shoebox Princess

Casinos. The layouts are purposely confusing. They are dark, which, OK, I don't mind so much, but there are no windows to the outside. The ones in Minnesota allow smoking indoors. Jim and I remember an age where smoking was allowed indoors everywhere, but we are so used to the "new" laws that smoking indoors, with all its attendant consequences (smoky greasy air that burns the eyes, piercing smell that latches onto any surface and won't let go, ashtrays--both empty and disgustingly full--knobs of people standing around doing nothing BUT smoking) (screed over), is a perplexing novelty. Worst of all are the slot machines. Used to be they rang and jingled and spit money occasionally, but the patrons were still, to me, zombies. They sat there and stared at the machine, feeding it coins, and not talking to anyone. It just does not look fun to me. Now of course there are no coins involved, just plastic or account numbers. There is no arm to pull, just buttons to push or scr...

So close on the heels of the visit to Glensheen mansion last moth, Jim and I toured the James J Hill house in St. Paul on Saturday. This tour was the start of our anniversary celebration. We've been married 29 years and we're aiming for more! The James J Hill house was laid out just like the Glensheen, only bigger. Everything was so dark! For having a lot of windows (both inside and out, yes, inside windows, like the foot level windows in the interior of a stairwell) it was DARK. I guess they do keep it slightly dark to protect the furnishings, but the hall was paneled in dark wood and made it even gloomier. Good thing my new phone camera likes a challenge. Mantel detail. I loved the marching cherubs. They created depth or time or whatever by having the line gradually fade back to nearly flat. heat register. I wish mine were this fancy! THE BEST PART OF THE WHOLE HOUSE I love the pull marked "Blower Signal." It's there so that you can signal t...