Rapp Strategies Rundown – May
What we’re reading, listening to and thinking about this month.
Todd R.: As TV continues to run circles around most movies, we are enjoying Mare of Easttown, the close of Season 2 of City on a Hill and our guilty pleasure, Big Sky. But most nights are filled with NHL Playoffs and the barbecue season – as long as the Wild and Bruins are still alive, every night is a feast! Started reading Carol Leonnig’s new book Zero Fail, an inside look at the Secret Service. But most of my early morning reading is The Athletic, the web-based sports newspaper which offers a daily sports section for 47 different cities – it is becoming a combination of Sports Illustrated and Sporting News in their heydays.
Alyssa: The highlights of May were watching my oldest daughter’s final high school orchestra concert and all her other “final” events as she winds toward graduation next month. We also got out to a little place in our neighborhood to watch some live music for the first time in a long, long time – definitely looking forward to doing more of that this summer! I’m reading a couple of good books right now too: You’re Invited: The Art and Science of Cultivating Influence by Jon Levy and Maverick: A Biography of Thomas Sowell by Jason Riley.
Rich: The month of May was a time of returning to some normalcy as the pandemic subsides and vaccinations expand. Kari and I visited our daughter Emma, and her boyfriend, Andy, in Vail. We also visited our friends, Jac and Mary Sperling, who spend the warm months at their home in Vail.
This past weekend, our entire family was together for the first time since Christmas, 2019. Emma and Andy drove to Minneapolis, and they will be here for a couple of weeks before they relocate to New York. David and Ashley came from New York for the family reunion weekend. We had a spectacularly fun weekend and felt so grateful to finally be all together again.
May was also a busy month for me as I have been actively involved in the upcoming elections in Minneapolis. Given the trauma of the past year, the city needs government leadership more than any time I can remember. I am going to do what I can to help achieve that goal.
Todd S.: I always enjoy a good zombie movie, so I was more than ready to see Zach Snyder’s Army of the Dead last week. Alas, I think it was the second glass of wine rather than anything happening on screen that got me to the end credits. Some fun visual effects aside, the movie was a mess. Beyond that, I spent some time helping coach my 8-year-old son’s flag football team to a winless record, elevating my Minecraft game with my 10-year-old dude and working with my wife to plan a road trip to South Dakota later this summer.
Sarah: It is wedding month! I am writing this just a few days out and I’m a mix of anxious, excited, and stressed out. Looking forward to our wedding day immediately followed by a honeymoon to Croatia. While working on wedding details, I managed to watch the new Handmaid’s Tale episodes and listen to a few of my favorite podcasts – the Popcast with Knox and Jamie, Comments by Celebs, Stuff You Missed in History Class and My Favorite Murder. In “Sarah now lives on a farm” news: Right after I got everything in the garden we got a few days of much-needed rain. I even harvested my first crop of lettuce and kale. My new favorite evening activity is to take a walk around the garden and watch the sunset. Oh! And we got pigs!
Anna: May was full of highlights, including a visit to Minnesota to see family, friends and of course, my boss, Todd Rapp. My trip necessitated about ten stops at Caribou Coffee, which (gasp) doesn’t operate in Alabama. My husband and I bought a grill, and so far, we’ve feasted on steak, hamburgers, sausages and venison burgers. I caught up on some reading: first up was The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin, then Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko, and then my favorite of the month – And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer by Fredrik Backman, a brief but deeply touching tale of an older gentleman grappling with dementia. Having lost a loved one to Alzheimer’s, this story hit home for me. I also dusted off my bike for the first ride of the season in our very hilly neighborhood.
Cullen: May was the first stretch in over a year where things felt close to normal. I attended my first Twins game since the pandemic hit, enjoyed drinks on the roof at Brit’s Pub, tried some new brews at Steel Toe Brewing, and caught up with friends at the Union Terrace – all outdoors, and all maskless. Bodes well for an all-systems-go summer! I also moved into a new apartment in St. Louis Park with a longtime friend, where we have already had a blast exploring our new neighborhood and becoming familiar with the wonders of Ikea. When I wasn’t moving or being outdoors, I read Goodbye, Again by Jonny Sun, watched another season of Peaky Blinders, and unashamedly enjoyed Olivia Rodrigo’s debut album Sour.
Jessica: I started off my May with a road trip to Des Moines, IA for Mother’s Day weekend to see my fully vaccinated family for the first time since Christmas! Besides that road trip, I spent most of my May outdoors. I visited Wisconsin to go kayaking, continued to run daily as I train for a 10K and explored new dog parks with my roommate’s dog. My roommates and I also checked out Nellie’s Ice Cream, which just opened a few blocks away from us in St. Paul. I have a feeling their ice cream sandwiches are going to become my new favorite summer treat. I would definitely recommend trying them out. Now that I’m fully vaccinated, my new summer goal is to try as many breweries in the Twin Cities as I can. A tough challenge, but we’ll see what I can do.
