Hi Darling Ones,

Happy Kamala Harris picked Tim Walz for VP Day for all those who celebrate.

My body is having a really hard time accepting this feeling of optimism. My inherent cynicism is rejecting it like a bad organ transplant.

I’m not a big fan of identifying with groups. I wasn’t much for school spirit and I have zero percent patriotism in my body. However, the two things I belong to that I really dig and have shaped my personality are: GenX and Minnesota.

It wasn’t until I spent five years in Wisconsin that I realized I had such a strong streak of Minnesota pride. Minnesotans and Wisconsinites have a constant battle over which state is best. And in the early aughts I was always doing battle with coastal elite who loved calling Minnesota provincial, backwards, and fly-over country.

They’re all wrong. Minnesota rules! Here’s a few reasons why.

Duck, Duck, Grey Duck
The rest of the country plays a boring, unimaginative Duck, Duck, Goose. Minnesota children practice their colors and the powers of trickery playing Duck, Duck, Grey Duck. Nothing feels better than psyching someone out with a well-placed “Grrrrrreeen duck.”

Hot Dish
Cream of Soup + Vegetables + Protein = BOOM, dinner.

Old Dutch Potato Chips
The best accompaniment to hot dish.

MN State Fair
I love what Minnesotan singer and writer Dessa said this morning, “It’s like Coachella except carbs instead of ecstasy.”

Music
The Replacements, Prince, Bob Dylan, Hüsker Duluth, Soul Asylum, The Jets, Babes in Toyland, Bully (if we can claim Dylan we get Alicia Bognanno too. First Ave.

Writers
Louise Erdrich, Charles M. Schulz, Kate DiCamillo, F. Scott Fitzgerald, David Carr, August Wilson. The Loft Literary Center. A ton of grants for writers.

Amenities
Beautiful libraries, abortion rights, gun background checks, free lunches for school kids, 10,000 lakes, a legal refuge for trans people, legal weed, money for education, and good insurance for poor people (of which I am a beneficiary).

I could go on and on and on — Walnut Motherfucking Grove, MN High School Hockey, our soon-to-be new Governor Peggy Flanagan, the first female Native American governor, the Coen Brothers, Paul Wellstone, Post-Its, Jucy Lucys — but my eyes are getting tired and I have a neurology appointment tomorrow to think about.

Enjoy the optimism while it lasts!

Happily yours,
Jodi