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‘Fantasy furniture’ is whimsical and unusual

Lifestyle Columns

“Fantasy furniture” usually refers to postmodern pieces with whimsical shapes and unusual colors made from unexpected materials. Like many furniture styles, it’s older than you might expect. Furniture has been made in fanciful shapes for hundreds of years; with animals being a favorite element. While the name “fantasy furniture” may imply mythical animals like dragons or griffins -- and you can certainly see them in furniture and decorative arts -- representations of real-life animals count, too. Black Forest furniture with elements carved to look like realistic bears are ...

‘Past Lives,’ ‘May December’ and ‘American Fiction’ lead Spirit Award nominations

Lifestyle Columns

Celine Song’s “Past Lives,”Todd Haynes’ “May December” and Cord Jefferson’s “American Fiction” got a leading five nominations, including best feature, from the Film Independent Spirit Awards. Natalie Morales and Joel Kim Booster announced the nominees Tuesday on a YouTube livestream. Song’s quietly romantic film, starring Greta Lee and Teo Yoo as childhood friends who reconnect later in life, earned nominations for her direction, script and for both actors. “May December,” about an actress preparing to play a Mary Kay Letourneau-like role got nods for Natalie ...

Holiday traditions

Lifestyle Columns

The holiday season is upon us! It is a season of honoring traditions with family and friends. A few of my fellow staff members shared some of their holiday traditions with me. LeRoy’s holiday traditions span the whole month of December. “A few from our family: each of the children prepare a gift for one of their siblings - selected in advance so they can be thoughtful about it. They get very excited seeing their gift being given. We do secret Santa with treats to neighbors and friends. We plan a different event each day in December leading up to Christmas that involves a game, ...

Lifting a business to new levels

Lifestyle Feature

For more than a quarter century, Lafayette Lift Trucks has sold and serviced fork lift trucks in Southern Minnesota. Business owner Ben Anderson said his father Bob worked for Forklifts of Minnesota in Bloomington for 12 years before deciding to buy a farm house near Lafayette. Bob Anderson ...

Recent Reads

Lifestyle Columns

I hope that you’ll have a bit of time to relax and read during the upcoming holiday rush. Here are a few novels that I’ve read and enjoyed recently in case you need some ideas. A blonde woman wakes up in the middle of a snowy sidewalk in Paris, her head throbbing. A man with a gun runs up to her, calls her Alex, and whisks her down a side alley, leaving gunshots and black SUVs behind. It seems she’s woken up in the middle of a spy movie, except she can’t remember how she got there, let alone her name. All she knows is that the man with the gun – a very handsome man – seems ...

Puffy lamp brings beauty with the lights off

Lifestyle Feature

As we go deeper into December, the nights get longer and the days darker. It’s no wonder so many holiday traditions involve lights, from the Hanukkah menorah to strings of Christmas tree lights to Kwanzaa candles. In the early 20th century, everyday lights could look festive, too. Incandescent light bulbs were invented in 1879. While they took some time to replace familiar light sources like candles and oil lamps, designers quickly realized their potential. Amplifying the light and protecting the flame were no longer the highest priorities for lighting design. In fact, electric ...