Category: columns

  • COLUMN: Apocalypse Then: Meet the top words of 2012

    COLUMN: Apocalypse Then: Meet the top words of 2012

    This is my Sunday column for the Dec. 30, 2012 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. The complete list of top words from the Global Language Monitor may be found here. Apocalypse Then: Meet the top words of 2012By Aaron J. Brown Some say 2012 has been a rough year, but consider this. I used…

  • COLUMN: So this is Christmas

    COLUMN: So this is Christmas

    This is my Sunday column for the Dec. 23, 2012 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. Merry Christmas and/or Happy New Year to all! So this is ChristmasBy Aaron J. Brown You know that Christmas can be all kinds of trouble when you get an e-mail from the Human Resources department at work telling you…

  • COLUMN: The gift of skills

    COLUMN: The gift of skills

    This is my Sunday column for the Dec. 16, 2012 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. A version of this piece aired Dec. 8 on Northern Community Radio’s “Between You and Me.” The gift of skills By Aaron J. Brown Life in northern Minnesota isn’t easy. You have to identify trees, drive through snow and…

  • COLUMN: Hay! What? Hay bales (that’s the joke)

    COLUMN: Hay! What? Hay bales (that’s the joke)

    This is my Sunday column for the Dec. 9, 2012 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. I previewed this column earlier in the week, complete with the 1998 Cherry High School class picture, in which my class posed in a hay field with hay bales. Also, I am wearing white pants. Hay! What? Hay bales!…

  • COLUMN: Today’s labor battles found in retail aisles

    COLUMN: Today’s labor battles found in retail aisles

    This is my Sunday column for the Dec. 2, 2012 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. Today’s labor battles found in retail aisles By Aaron J. Brown Nothing sets the table for an interesting period in history like a failed strike. There was much-ballyhooed strike over Thanksgiving weekend surrounding employees at Wal-Mart. Garnering great attention,…

  • COLUMN: Atop hill of slime, a clear view of northern political landscape

    COLUMN: Atop hill of slime, a clear view of northern political landscape

    This is my Sunday column for the Nov. 25, 2012 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. This piece is based on some analysis I did for the blog last week. Atop hill of slime, a clear view of northern political landscapeBy Aaron J. Brown As you know by now, Rep.-elect Rick Nolan (D-MN8) ousted Rep.…

  • COLUMN: ‘Better Venison,’ with Wolfgang Buck

    COLUMN: ‘Better Venison,’ with Wolfgang Buck

    This is my Sunday column for the Nov. 18, 2012 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. A fully-realized performance of this piece aired on Northern Community Radio’s “Between You and Me” yesterday. ‘Better Venison,’ with Wolfgang BuckBy Aaron J. Brown With deer hunting rifle season wrapping up this weekend, people across northern Minnesota are left…

  • COLUMN: Piecing together our past

    COLUMN: Piecing together our past

    This is my Sunday column for the Nov. 11, 2012 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. A version of this piece aired yesterday on KAXE’s “Between You and Me.” Piecing together our pastBy Aaron J. Brown Memory reconstructs the past, rather than replicating it. There’s just no way around memory’s fundamental flaws; in fact, this…

  • COLUMN: Wisdom to the victors, comfort to the defeated

    COLUMN: Wisdom to the victors, comfort to the defeated

    This is my Sunday column for the Nov. 4, 2012 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. Wisdom to the victors, comfort to the defeatedBy Aaron J. Brown As the old saying goes, “Don’t vote, you’ll only encourage them.” Well, OK. You should vote. It’s more than just a civic duty. Important issues are at stake…

  • COLUMN: Love, like iron, stands up to pressure and time

    COLUMN: Love, like iron, stands up to pressure and time

    This is my Sunday column for the Sunday, Oct. 28, 2012 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. A version of this piece aired last week on KAXE’s “Between You and Me.” You may access the audio version here. Love, like iron, stands up to pressure and timeBy Aaron J. Brown The story of the Iron…

  • COLUMN: Separating the sacred from the sugar water

    COLUMN: Separating the sacred from the sugar water

    This is my Sunday column for the Oct. 21, 2012 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. I’m also sharing some “online exclusive” pictures from my trip to Atlanta earlier this month. Separating the sacred from the sugar waterBy Aaron J. Brown We recently traveled to Atlanta, Georgia for a blogging conference my wife attended. I…

  • COLUMN: The Swedish Connection

    COLUMN: The Swedish Connection

    This is my Sunday column for the Oct. 14, 2012 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. The Swedish ConnectionBy Aaron J. Brown In reviewing my family history files I always thought the Swedish villages where my great-grandmother’s family is from seemed more like a random collection of letters that have no meaning. Recently I met…

  • COLUMN: No sense in do-overs, only do

    COLUMN: No sense in do-overs, only do

    This is my Sunday column for the Oct. 7, 2012 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. A version of this piece aired on KAXE’s Between You and Me last April. No sense in do-overs, only doBy Aaron J. Brown One day my parents brought my kids sisters and I to the Como Zoo in St.…

  • COLUMN: New game, no rules

    COLUMN: New game, no rules

    This is my Sunday column for the Sept. 30, 2012 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. A version of this piece aired Saturday on “Between You and Me” on KAXE/KBXE Northern Community Radio. New game, no rulesBy Aaron J. Brown One spring morning a few years ago the residents of the Brooklyn neighborhood in Hibbing…

  • COLUMN: Autumn news from the North Country

    COLUMN: Autumn news from the North Country

    This is my Sunday column for the Sept. 23, 2012 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. A version of this piece aired on “Between You and Me” this weekend on 91.7 KAXE. Autumn news from the North CountryBy Aaron J. Brown There’s a chipmunk near where I wait for my boys to get off the…