Secrets of the City

Scott Seekins, all the way.

NICE!! There were years there that whenever I saw Scott Seekins, I pointed him out to my friends as D.J. Jesus Juice. I don’t know who misidentified him to me to begin with…but I fear there may be a large contingency of late twentysomethings who think the same thing.

My favorite neighbor is the guy who tools around Northeast with the FREE RIDES sign on the front of his bike. I’ve made several attempts to track him down for a potential MNStories video, but manage only to see him when I’m sans camcorder.

My least favorite neighbor is the guy who stands outside his house on Pilot Knob Road in Eagan, jumping up and down, with a sign that reads “Abortion Is Murder.” He also has a couple billboards on his lawn with similiar messages. (Unless you work out there, that’s pretty esoteric. But if you do, you know instantly who I’m talking about.)

There’s this mid-thirties (?) blonde blind guy that boards the soutbound 10 bus at Spring Street who I also frequently happen to see at the West Bank. Been meaning to get his name…

I once saw Mr. Seekins fishing on the northwest side of Calhoun in full uniform. Biking around the lakes a few times a week all spring, summer and fall for the last 5 years, you see the same people all the time mixed in with random others. There’s the swinging arm guy, an older really tan shirtless guy who really knows how to swing his arms while he’s walking. There’s another older guy who jogs in regular street clothes. There’s one tall skinny youngish androgynous person always walking on the dirt path next to the bike path.

I’m fond of the dude who rides up and down hennepin ave in uptown with his headphones on while doing this crazy bouncy-swervy thing on his bike.

also, the homeless guy who pushes the shopping cart around while balancing a full water bottle atop his head. i usually see him around loring park.

and one more to add to the last post about calhoun people: accordian guy (gotta love him!) with the long hair who hangs out at the bottom of the stairs near 31st.

There’s what’s-his-name who’s always at the Kitty Kat with the afro and fu manchu and feather in the hair. Always bare chested, no matter if it’s January or July. And I’ve seen him for the last 10 years around town.

I think the afro dude is named Bill. I met him once through a friend who worked at Chang O’Hara’s, when he was a regular there. I’ve also seen him frequent the Kitty Cat Klub (yes, it’s spelled that way, IIRC) and the Dinkytowner. I thought he’d recognize me after we’d met (I had an afro at the time, too), but no dice — he’s all around the town and too busy to recognize from a chance drunken encounter.

Close seconds:
* Scott Seekins
* that crispy brown, golden-maned Fabio wannabe (often spread out on the eastern side of Calhoun, or hitting on young girls working at Uptown stores, so they can’t just walk away)
* the headphones guy at Rudolph’s
* The long haired blonde guy who works at Flanders Bros.

I guess those guys with “pretty” hair just make me wonder what makes them tick.

I totally know —’s swinging-arm-guy and mila’s homeless-shopping-cart-water-bottle-balancing-guy!

I can usually hear the s.a.g. before I see him…when he’s working it hardcore, he lets out really loud groans every time he exhales. And I’ve watched h.s.c.w.b.b.g. hold up two lanes of traffic on the Hennepin/Lyndale intersection on the oft occassions that he decides to walk his shopping cart down the middle of the street.

Funny how sometimes people completely leave our consciousness until they’re identified by others.

Oh yes, and the older Asian man I see on the Greenway, somewhere between Belt Line and France.

My wife says she once saw Seekins attempting to cast a fly fishing rod at Lake Calhoun. She said he was “kinda shaky.”

There’s one older guy I’ve seen since I moved to Minneapolis. Short hair, wear earphones attached to a radio. He’s either drinking water from a Dixie cup at the Dunn Brothers on Hennipen and 34th or wandering around Calhoun Square.

There’s another Calhoun Square denizen who has very distinguised white beard, and dressed rather well. He almost looked like a retired college professor until one day I saw him digging through the garbage.

There’s this little old man in a scooter who a couple times a week comes and parks himself in front of Galtier Plaza’s up escalator that leads to the third floor. He falls asleep there.

Another favorite is this blind man who somehow manages to run through the skyway.

I’d have to say one of the most amusing though, is the guy my co-workers have dubbed “Shirtless” because he would never wear a shirt, wore ratty pajama pants, and usually nothing on his feet. He lives in one of Galtier Plaza’s apartment towers, and treats the entire building as his home, coming down into the retail portion without a shirt on. He’d stop by our place occasionally. I heard he got in trouble with the management for not wearing appropriate clothing and was caught while not wearing any shoes in the Food Court. I once saw him biking through the skyways on his little bike.

Ah, the people you see in the skyways.

As a city bus driver, this is my life. Of course, I actually do get to interact with many of the people I see around- I have to admit that I was pretty excited when Scott Seekins rode my bus the first time- and that’s what I love about my job, but there are a whole lot of people who I see frequently who never step foot on my bus.

The latest person I’ve been wondering about is a woman (I think) who I’ve seen on 3rd Avenue near the MIA and on Lake Street just east of Uptown (as defined by the Uptown Association- I know we don’t want to go there again…). She has kind of an unusual gait and always wears red. In the summer she wore shorts and brown knee-high stockings; when I saw her today, she was in a red hat, coat and pants.

Hey Rex, I can’t stand that guy out in Eagan. Thank god I no longer see him outside waving his signs, it was really ruining my drive home. I wonder if instead of yelling about abortion, he’s moved down to Yankee Doodle to hold a “honk for peace” sign.

I quite love this thread.

There’s a woman who wears red outfits all the time and talks to herself and walks all around the Whittier area.

There’s this duo, an 40ish old guy and an older woman (couldn’t say if it’s his mother) who frequent arts events where they have free food, ie: art openings, theater openings. I have no idea who they are or what they do, but they do manage to get around town and stack their plates pretty high.

There’s a guy who is constantly walking (I have never once seen him standing still or sitting) around downtown/Uptown/Loring Park who I have come to call My Homeless Guy because I literally see him almost every day, but not necessarily at the same time or in the same place. I’ve been tempted to stop and talk to him, as we are clearly cosmically linked. Some of you must know who he is– he’s really skinny, probably 55-60 years old, with long-ish shaggy grey hair. In the summer he wore a maroon t-shirt, shorts, and black shoes. Always, always walking.

Also there’s a guy who lives in my building and rides my bus every day who I have nicknamed Mopey Smokey because he looks kind of sad and is always smoking.

Oh, I see that cic just posted info about Lady in Red, too. Funny!!!

Several folks have the same Sunday routines as I do, going to the same cafe for a cup of coffee and breakfast and some reading, and then to the same gym.

I’d also throw out an honarable mention for the familiar faces that I see at shows every once and awhile.

The Rat, are you talking about that guy with the shortish, dark hair who hangs around Calhoun Square, often munching on a Jimmy John’s sandwich and mumbling to himself?

My favorite denim maverick, Jean Jacket Jim, who used to lurk around the U.

And don’t forget the blonde woman in Edina who lives in the multi-colored house on Xerxes and runs around town with a briefcase that reads “Art Inside.” She’s often seen in the springtime, standing on a street corner in Edina or southwest Mpls. looking like an overly made-up Gilda Radner in a wig, wearing a creeping-to-her-crotch miniskirt, and muttering sweet nothings to herself. She’s incredibly kind, too.

All the guys and girls I see on the 114 and the Uptown YWCA. Also all the guys and girls I see who get on and off the various buses that stop at 4th and Hennepin every morning. Yo peeps!

I agree, Rex, this is excellent.

The one guy I wonder about the most is the young guy that wears nice form-fitting, colorful suits — like purple or white — and carries around a brief case. He has short, almost crew cut dark hair. I see him riding various buses around town, often around the U.

“Lady in red”/Edina miniskirt woman is probably Mari Newman. When I used to live in SW Mpls, I’d see her at least twice a day–either at Dunn Bros. or various bus stops.

“are you talking about that guy with the shortish, dark hair who hangs around Calhoun Square, often munching on a Jimmy John’s sandwich and mumbling to himself?’

Never witnessed him eating Jimmy John’s or mumbling to himself. Coffee at Starbucks? — maybe.

His radio was the constant defining feature.

My personal favorite is the woman who walks her rabbit in my neighborhood. Nothing quite like looking out your window to see a little old lady and her lop-eared bunny tromping through the slush.

not to continue on the summertime calhoun thing too much…but i can’t help smiling when i see the Rollerskate-Dancing Guy.

(also, always see that really tan swinging arms guy)

I love reading these…it’s like the “I Saw You” ads, only not tacky.

There’s an older 70-something woman who frequently rides the bus between Uptown and downtown who has shoulder-length grey hair and always wears the same fluffy, white tracksuit-like ensemble (or whatever it is). She tends to wear a considerable amount of red lipstick.

Hey now, there’s nothing wrong with being obsessed with I SAW YOU posts.

Lady in Red is not Mari Newman — just to clarify.

I can’t believe nobody mentioned “really tall bike guy”. His bike seat must be 7 feet off the ground. He is very tan and a very thick braid that hangs down his back. Usually wears a red bandanna too. How does that dude get on that bike?

There’s a guy who shows up at the grocery store on his motorcycle, shaved head with ‘do rag and big hoop earring. I call him pirate man. Turns out he lives in my neighborhood with his mother!

Thanks for reminding me of the backwards dancing roller skate guy. I can’t wait for summer.

NO – the woman in red is Crazy Mari. Or so we named her when I worked at that very Dunn Bros on 50th & Xerxes. I actually ended up liking her quite a bit.

whoops, i had a feeling the “lady in red” and mari were two different people. although mari does wear red on occassion, and there’s a slight resemblance. isn’t the “lady” in red actually a dude?

Yes, “Lady in Red” in Whittier and “Crazy Mari” Newman in Southwest Mpls are two completely different people. “Lady in Red” appears to be a woman — sort of an elfin, boyish-looking woman in her late 50s or 60s, but for sure a female. Does it really matter?

Does it really matter?

uh, no. just making an observation.

I saw the tall bike guy riding down Central about a week ago, does he live up there?

How about the guy that drives around downtown in his station wagon with an ad for his Ski Chute on the side (whatever that is). He also has one of those crazy tall bikes, usually strapped to the back.

I haven’t seen him in a while since I don’t work downtown any longer, but I did see him while waiting outside the Target center last fall.

Spaceman,
I know the guy you’r talking about with the colored suits. I’ve seen him on the 50, 16, 114 (and when it used to be the 52) and the 6. I see him quite a bit at the Uptown YWCA where he alwasy wears dark shorts and a white t-shirt and reads the paper while he bikes or uses the elliptical machine.

I also know that he doesn’t use email.

Yep, Kevin, those are the buses . . . I’m disappointed to learn that he doesn’t wear one of those suits while working out. I’m curious how you know about the email thing, unless . . . you are . . . him!?!

He was sitting behind me one night talking about it with some guy he knows.

he’s really skinny, probably 55-60 years old, with long-ish shaggy grey hair. I’ve nick-named him Lloyd.

And fond of the Target Sluts in the skyway too, they make me feel safe.

I’m surprised nobody has mentioned the Marker Man. The guy who carries around a tangled mess of sticks and rope and for $1 you can sign his coat, gloves or stick using his Sharpie. I havent seen him in a while but I remember him being in Dinkytown a lot and riding the 6 bus towards Uptown.

Are you people starting to make up your own local superheros now?

I can’t believe nobody mentioned “really tall bike guy”. His bike seat must be 7 feet off the ground. He is very tan and a very thick braid that hangs down his back. Usually wears a red bandanna too. How does that dude get on that bike?

There’s a whole society of tall bike people. A couple years ago I was Loring Park’s summer movie night and a troop of at least 30 people all on those double-framed bikes rode through.

The Marker Man is mostly downtown now. I’ve seen him around First Ave. recently. And, yes, “Crazy Mari” is transexual. And I don’t think she’s the lady in red everyone keeps talking about.

Mothers, Don’t Let You Babies Grow Up to Be Bike Gang.

What about the short, paunchy, raspy voiced woman who bums cigarettes at 27th and Lyndale and has lifetime free water privileges at Bob’s? I’m sure that when I quit smoking, it will be because her voice scares the hell out of me.

I really miss riding the bus. You see the same people three, four times a week, and they do become little parts of your life. I remember there was a mom on the 4 or 6 bus with a little kid she brought into day care every day. She always had a bag of candy for him. Over the course of a couple of years, I watched the kid grow up. Strange.

The one guy I wonder about the most is the young guy that wears nice form-fitting, colorful suits — like purple or white — and carries around a brief case. He has short, almost crew cut dark hair. I see him riding various buses around town, often around the U.

If I’m not mistaken, he’s an attorney.

How about the guy that drives around downtown in his station wagon with an ad for his Ski Chute on the side (whatever that is). He also has one of those crazy tall bikes, usually strapped to the back.

The Skyway News ran a brief article on him, which MNSpeak linked to under the headline “Profile of another downtown weirdo.”

I saw the colored suit guy today. He wore an orange suit with white pinstripes and black shoes. While on the bus he dialed an 800 number for an ISP, got no one and hung up. He debussed at Oak and Washington.

…and the stalker in Kevin is born.

I dare any of you to see me!

St. Paul, why do you not represent? Hear are the two I know every st. paulite knows. the guy on the bike that has a canopy over it and covered in reflective tape. He drives his bike like a car including faking shifting and turn signals, he also parrallell parks the thing.

The woman dressed in a tiara and a sash who walks down west 7th st.

YES!! I was just about to cite Ms.Tiara! She’s apparently looking for her sceptor…

a little bit late, but…does anyone around the mac-groveland/merriam park/midway area know the frizzy-haired guy who wears daisy-duke cutoffs, mesh half-shirts and occasionally flip-flops? usually seen walking down snelling?

There is a VERY leathery tanned guy, maybe late forties with Fabio hair who bicycles through Whittier wearing only very skimpy nylon shorts.

I’m surprised nobody mentioned “brightly colored suit” guy’s stylish wraparound shades. He’s like a nerdy terminator in a pimp suit.

There is another Henn Ave Dunn Bros. regular who has the strangest haircut I’ve seen in a while. It is sort of a very thin, straight mullet, with almost transparent spiky hair on top, finished with thin wispy bangs that are about an inch long. He is otherwise fairly well attired, so I have to assume that the hairstyle is an intentional statement of some sort.

One of my personal faves is Lyn-Lake’s own old, shirtless, leathery, long white pony-tailed, parking lot roller hockey man. He must put in a solid 40 hour solo roller hockey week.

This thread seems pretty old — is it still active. It’s amazing — I’ve been wondering about a lot of these people for years! Especially the long-haired, shirtless tan guy (I see him at Calhoun a lot and at the Arena Club years ago) and the colorful suit guy (I’d see him get off the bus at 31st and Hennepin all the time).