Last Friday I nearly panicked…when I realized we didn’t yet have tickets for the upcoming Sleater-Kinney show. I’ve been looking forward to it for months, and had even arranged for Grandma to hang out with the little man. As often happens the date kinda snuck up on me. In the back of my mind I kept thinking “I can just walk down to Let it Be on my lunch break some day”. But by the time I thought to call they were already out of tickets. Doh. So I tried to keep my calm as I turned to First Ave’s ticket page. Started calling all the local outlets, closest to my office and my house. Nada. All sold out. Finally I called the fine Pizza Luce. I didn’t even know they sold concert tickets. Apparently I’m not the only one, as they still had plenty of ‘em. In my excitement I bolted out the door, without a coat or umbrella. The first couple of blocks didn’t seem too bad. But as I came closer to my destination I could hardly see through my glasses, and the front of my jeans were soaked through. A totally icky tactile sensation that I could do without. As nifty as the warehouse district is, the area is, unfortunately, not tied into the skyway system. At last I entered the restaurant, and headed straight to the bar. Not to belly-up, but to realize my goal. As the bartender looked for the key to the ticket box, I realized a few patrons were staring at me…likely because I looked like something the cat dragged in. Soaked through, with hair ringing my face in wet, dripping clumps. Whatever. The tickets were handed over to me and I tucked them safely away in my waterproof messenger bag (that had kept a portion of my back dry, at least). But instead of heading directly back to my office, I had one more stop to make. The downtown Minneapolis public library has been closed since August (a temporary location is in operation). There are many reasons why a new building is needed…but I find it sad that the existing building became obsolete after just 41 years. Still, I can’t say I was ever thrilled by the building. There was always something a tad eerie about it. The lighting was always off, giving everything a greenish pallor. And it wasn’t very patron-friendly. I hope they can do better with another go at it. But back to Friday. I went to the old library building to say goodbye. I’d intended to pay my respects before they closed down and moved everything out, but hadn’t gotten around to it. So this was a much more surreal visit. Saying farewell to a nearly empty building. Empty, but for the leftover items being sold off. I nearly thought it would be too sad to document. But not quite. I took a few photos as I made the rounds. The oddest sights, for me, were the shrink-wrapped card catalogs. See for yourself.