The daily digest of Twin Cities culture | Secrets of the City

Well, I don't know if she's there or not anymore, but there was an old crazy lady on 24th and Pillsbury that scared the bejeebus out of me.

She had huge crazy hair and would grow her nails to the point where they curled.

She'd walk up on parking cars and tap those nails on the glass while asking for change.

Tay Zonday

Cane Man from Lyndale and Lake. Here he is busting into a Neutrino Video Project scene.

Does crazy just mean any guy who might have asked me if I could please spare some change for two years at various spots along Hennepin?

http://www.nmha.org/go/information/get-info

I met my new favorite crazy last night at the self-service package mailing machine at the SLP post office. She told me how depressed she was because her mother gave her up for adoption, and don't I know what it's like when your mother gives you up for adoption, then asked me for twenty bucks. When I refused, she whined, "why are you so f-ing mean?"

Then she asked me for five dollars.

I stlil said no.

sign my jacket guy is so late nineties. my all time fave is the Bible Thumper by the Victoria Secret in uptown who relocated to Franklin after bra's started to appear behind her.

She does this thing where every time she say's the phrase "he is CALLING you Hooome" she glare's longingly at the sun.

*sigh*

lmao

....I'd feel better about this if we were celebrating local characters (for lack of a better word) rather than making light of the mentally ill....

Has there ever been a mnspeak discussion of the standup bike guy who rides up and down Nicollet Mall? I think the Downtown Journal interviewed him a few years ago, but I can't find the article.

We've discussed, Bill Grimes, the dude with the feather in his afro before. Also Scott Seekins, who I saw rocking the cream-colored suit at Barbette on Mom's Day. It's nice to see people like them out there doing their own thing, IMHO.

does anyone know dan berg? aka baddanno?

also is afro bill aka the dinkytown dude who always has books and drinks coffee at the kitty cat klub?

Nice work, Some Guy.

Alright here goes....My fave crazy is in fact fairly normal I believe. He sits on the corner of W. 78th and cahill in edina waiting for a ride I believe. He has long hair and always wears blue(work uniform?) sometimes he rides a bike down w. 78th but usually just sits on the corner waiting for a ride....I call him Hesher Man cause he listens to headphones and there has to be some crazy metal playing on that walkman.

Also I like the guy in uptown who wears the crazy colored suits (green, purple, maroon) from the eighties and carries a briefcase always.

Haha, I definitely recognize bright colored suit guy, and I ran into sign my coat guy on Mother's Day. I love all the local characters. Especially when you're used to seeing them, say, on campus and then you spot 'em in Uptown shortly thereafter.

Oh, you CRAZY mnspeakers and your uptight political correctness!

It's happy hour. Relax.

That old man at the park near Galooney's... the walking dude... his name is Jim. He's a nice guy when you catch him on a good day.

I would give anything for a more "exciting" mental illness. The problem with me is that I have full insight into how I'm fucking my life up, but I'll keep doing dumb shit anyway. Nobody thinks, "Oh, how eccentric and crazy!" when I'm at the grocery store in my pajamas buying pudding after having not showered for days with my hair in a messy bun. Or maybe they do.

I would not give more for an exciting mental illness. I'd give anything not to have one though.

Yeah, if I could be normal I would, but if I couldn't, I'd rather just be much further "gone." (Though I've been in-patient with people who've got it much worse than me, and it made me realize how lucky I actually was.)

I met a great crazy at one of my previous jobs, as a newspaper reporter.

She walked in on a Saturday afternoon (a day notorious for calls and visits by nutcases, she wasn't the first) saying she was the end time prophet Moses, who was about to divorce her husband, the end-time prophet Eiijah. I might have those turned around.

I listened for about 20 minutes to quite a harangue. Told her I'd take it up with the editors.

Couple months later, I see her again. Except now, she's gotten a job as a telemarketer in the Circulation Department.

She walked by with the head of circulation. She looked at me. I looked at her.

I thought to myself: Should I tell the head of circulation about our Saturday conversation.

Naaah......!

Who's your favorite local crazy?

every girl i've ever dated.

I moved a few years ago, but when I lived around Lake Hiawatha, there was an elderly woman who walked in the street -- well, not in the street per se, more like on the edge of the street, next to the gutter but not quite all the way to the curb. She wore a scarf over her head and a full-length fur coat, 365 days a year. And if you made the mistake of pointing out that the sidewalk would be safer, you'd get an earful.

Still, I'd love to be out walking every day at her age -- the fur coat and the in-the-street part just made her seem a bit eccentric. Anybody know if she's still on the scene?

I don't think Jim is crazy, either. I've always thought of him as some time traveler observing our society from an inconspicuous disposition. Sometimes I even thought of him as some sort of full-body vapor apparition because he seems to exist untouched by society.

I live on Jim's daily route. I see him walking past my living room window nearly every single day... back and forth... back and forth... always with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. I've heard him talking to himself on more than one occasion, but I can't judge that as I also tend to do that at times. I've never spoken to him.

My favorite eccentric skyway denizen is someone I've come to know as "giant, tight clothes wearing, fast walking, mullet and sunglasses guy"

I first noticed him about a year ago int he IDS center and was so mesmerized that I did an immediate u-turn to follow him and enjoy the reactions of others in the skyway.

Please, please someone else tell me that they get a kick out of this guy - here's how to recognize him.

1. GIANT - the dud is big - probably 6'6" - 260 lbs

2. TIGHT CLOTHES - His jeans are about as you can get them without risking severe male mooseknuckle. The pants are hiked extremely high and are cinched at the waist. He's usually wearing a tight white shirt that strains uncomfortably to contain his admittedly large biceps.

3. FAST WALKING - man, trailing this guy inconspicuously is a real chore. He's big to start with, but on top of that he takes awkwardly GIANT steps too. I thought about putting on some rollerblades and trying to clip a rope to his belt loop so he could just pull me along.

4. MULLET AND SUNGLASSES - Yes, he also has an orangish bleached mullet and wears what I believe to be Top Gun style Aviator glasses.

Anyone else know who I'm talking about???

must...follow, I totally know who you are talking about. I started seeing him in the skyway this past winter, usually Gaviidae or Wells Fargo. Dude struts with major authority. Your description is spot on.

All I've got is crazy Mary AKA scary Mary at 50th and Penn or thereabouts.

jtd and teucer - thanks for making my day.

That Brock Sampson picture is almost spot on - bwaaaa.

A couple of tweaks ought to do it....yep, here we go:

My favorite other skyway haunt is the guy with extreme eyebrows. He's a little chubby, beard, wearing a 3 piece suit usually - nothing exceptional about him until your gaze settles on his...OMG LOOK AT THAT DUDE'S EYEBROWS...seriously dude...WTF! In what I can only imagine is a morning ritual involving womens hair rollers and a small vat of mustache wax, this guy has crafted his 1 1/2 inch eyebrow hairs into a forehead protecting quaff resembling something from a topiary garden. I swear that they even appeared to be feathered on one occasion.