Monday September 14, 2009 Radio: interview with the new president of Minneapolis College of Art and Design. At least while I was listening, two of his assumptions weren't questioned by the interviewer or by people who called or emailed in.

First: Design is best taught under a system developed for teaching people who don't work with their hands -- or, in most cases, with their eyes.

Second: Designers are visual thinkers. It's one of those obvious things which might not be true. There are professional photographers who don't think visually.

***To Southwest Senior Center, to access Internet.

***In the evening, my neighborhood organization (SENA) had its annual meeting at Lake Hiawatha Park Rec Center.

On the way there, I stopped in at Sibley Park and picked up the South Central parks schedule.

I passed a former hardware store which is becoming Angry Catfish Bicycle and Coffee Bar. Offhand, I'd class that business name as "twee punk."

The SENA Annual Meeting began with an Ice Cream Social. Ice cream, popcorn, and cookies had been provided by local businesses. (In more prosperous times, there were more donations of food.)

There was a vote on whether to transfer money out of various orphan accounts (left over from completed projects, or set aside for projects not undertaken or preempted by the city government) to use in running the organization. There was a sheet of paper with "Yes" and "No" spaces. People entitled to vote were each given a blue stick-on dot to place in the appropriate space. It's a kind of election I hadn't encountered before. (When I left, there were zero "no" votes.)

The meeting proper began with introduction of public officials, representatives of public officials not present, candidates for office, and those board members present. Mixed in with this was reports on various activities of SENA, officials, the Minneapolis PD Crime Specialists whose beats included the Standish and Ericsson neighborhoods, and some concerned-citizen groups.

With questions from the audience and answers, this went noticeably past the intended time.

After that, elections. NRP electors (that is, people who elect board members for the organization which gives out money to neighborhood organizations) and alternates were chosen. There was one candidate for elector from each neighborhood, and one candidate for alternate from one neighborhood.

Then, election of SENA board members. Two candidates needed; two people nominated themselves and were seconded.

The meeting ended only about five minutes late.

A sign of the times, in city council member Gary Schiff's newsletter: "During the next year, a task force of community reps will guide recommendations to strengthen farmers markets; community, school, and backyard gardens; as well as small enterprise urban agriculture." Minneapolis pols didn't use to care so much about small vegetable gardens. And not so long ago, commercial urban agriculture wouldn't have been considered at all.