Podcasts about minnetonka

rWotD Episode 3111: Minnesota's 3rd congressional district Welcome to random Wiki of the Day, your journey through Wikipedia's vast and varied content, one random article at a time.The random article for Sunday, 9 November 2025, is Minnesota's 3rd congressional district.Minnesota's 3rd congressional district encompasses the suburbs of Hennepin and Anoka counties to the west, south, and north of Minneapolis. The district, which is mostly suburban in character, includes a few farming communities on its far western edge and also inner-ring suburban areas on its eastern edge. The district includes the blue collar cities of Brooklyn Park and Coon Rapids to the north-east, middle-income Bloomington to the south, and higher-income Eden Prairie, Edina, Hopkins, Maple Grove, Plymouth, Minnetonka, and Wayzata to the west. Democrat Kelly Morrison currently represents the district in the U. S. House of Representatives, after being elected in 2024.The 3rd congressional district has the highest median household income out of Minnesota's congressional districts, with a median household income of $100,867, compared to the state average of $74,593. In 2020, 12 percent of residents of the 3rd congressional district were immigrants; the largest countries of origin were India, Mexico, Laos, Liberia, and Vietnam. The largest immigrant populations in the district are concentrated in Brooklyn Park, one of the most ethnically diverse cities in Minnesota, as well as in Eden Prairie and Bloomington.The 2024 election was between Republican Tad Jude and Democrat Kelly Morrison. It was described as "decidedly low-keyed", notable for a lack of attack ads or advertising in general.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:43 UTC on Sunday, 9 November 2025.For the full current version of the article, see Minnesota's 3rd congressional district on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm standard Kendra.

Welcome to our One Hundred and Fifty First episode!Our podcast is dedicated to all things board games, RPGs, CGs and more.Pour your favourite beverage, pull up a comfy chair 'cuz we are ready to roll.In this week's episode, we talk about something special!-----Dice Masters Event:Saturday November 1 at Games by James in the Ridgedale Mall in Minnetonka.  Dice Masters event to benefit Extra Life.  They will be drafting hand packed draft picks from the sets.  Each of these will be single game drafts – we draft, we play a random opponent and then we draft again! Four awesome playmats to be won!-----Until next time, on a Double Double ‘n Dice!--------------The following music was used for this media project:Music: Lobby Time by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://www.chosic.com/download-audio/29284/Music: Rise Of Legends, produced by Sascha EndeLink: https://ende.app/en/song/12192-rise-of-legendsLicense: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)Music: Ok Blue Jays Song w/LyricsLink: https://youtu.be/qag6w_Tp50A?si=Y4cdAGX8Cd6p6YT2Send us a textContact us: tripledpodcast@dm-north.comCheck us out on www.dm-north.comSupport us at ko-fi.com/dmnorthtvJoin the dmNorthTV DiscordNeed a dice bag? Contact Jocelyn and/or visit JoceStitch Etsy store

Have you ever watched a football game so bad you started thinking about race relations of the 1930s and invasive medical procedures to cope? If so, you might be a Falcons fan. Or a Vikings fan. And while we're on the subject of much-needed change, Minnetonka's getting a new mayor in two weeks. One candidate, Ellen Cousins, joins us today to talk about what she'd bring to the city.On the show:TomKathrynAndyCostaki EconompoulosKristyn BurttEllen CousinsTopics covered:Jesse Owens vs. Adolf HitlerBone marrow transplantLithium ion battery safetyMinnetonka mayoral raceSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Cabin Cousins: Part 6 Saying Goodbye; for now. Based on a post by NewMountain80, in 6 parts. Listen to the Podcast at Connections. Chapter Twenty. On the drive home, I felt good, like really good. I felt like things were actually going to start changing for the better. Reveling in this feeling, I made a spur-of-the-moment decision. I stopped my car in a random parking lot and pulled out my phone. One of the guys that I used to work with, Carl, liked to go to this little bar in Superior to hang out with friends and have a few drinks. There was a whole group of guys from work that would go regularly, but Carl was the only one who never stopped asking. For one reason or another, I never took him up on it, and I haven't seen any of them since I stopped being able to go to work. He answered after a few rings. "Hi, it's Charles, from work." "Charles? Hey buddy! How are you doing?" He sounded happy to hear from me. "Oh, I've been hanging in there. How's the store since I left?" At the time of the accident, I was the yard manager at the same store I had worked at since I moved to Duluth. It didn't pay a lot of money, but it was enough to get by, and I liked the job. I still felt bad about how I left. As the years went on and my depression spiraled downwards, it had become too hard to mask. My job performance was terrible, and people began to ask questions I didn't want to face the answers to. One day I scheduled myself to take all my vacation days, and then with that in the system, I put in my two weeks' notice. I never went back. "They made me assistant store manager if you'll believe that," Carl said. "Still a lot of the same faces around here. All the young kids come and go. You know how it is." "Yeah." I chuckled. In a store like that, you could count on about half of the employees to be lifers. They'd never leave. The other half seemed to be a completely different mix of people every couple of months. "So, what's up?" Carl asked. I could hear the store's advertising jingle blaring over the loudspeakers in the background. "Do you and the guys still go to that bar in Superior?" There it was. I said it. Now if he says yes, I'll have to ask if I can go, and then I'll have to go. "Yeah! But it's usually just me and Matt. Brian got married, and his wife has him on a short leash. Joe goes to AA. The other guys, just kinda stopped going for one reason or another. Tonight is the night we usually go." "Mind if I come with?" I asked. "Of course, man! We're going to leave here at about six." "Cool, I'll see you there." "Looking forward to it. It'll be good to see you again." And now the awkwardness of ending a phone call. I've heard that it's a Midwestern thing, but everyone seems to do it better than I do. "Okay, bye." "Bye." I went home, set out some clean clothes, and got in the shower. Sometimes I forget how good it feels to be clean. But then, I knew exactly why it was often too hard to motivate myself to get into the shower. The shower brought memories of Melissa and the possibility of pain. I stood still, letting the near-scalding water cascade over me. The fruity scent of the same brand of body wash Melissa had during our first shower together was strong, and I remembered. I closed my eyes and started my breathing exercise with a deep slow inhale. Melissa's hands scrubbed my lower back and slid down to squeeze my ass. Breathe out, the pain and hurt waft away like steam in the shower. My fingers follow the lines of her muscles and up her inner thigh, she looks at me with serene contentment. Breathe in. She turns, arches her back, and sighs as I enter her from behind. Breathe out, the pain is gone, and there is only joy. She moans as my soapy hands cup her firm tits, holding her tight against me as we make love. Breathe in. I gasp and hold my breath as we both climax. Breathe out. I catch my breath and look down, my hand was still grasping my quickly softening manhood, and the oozing result of my orgasm was slowly washed into the drain. I finished cleaning up, turned the water off, and stepped out of the shower. I looked at myself in the mirror as I toweled dry. It had been quite a while since I had exercised, or gone to the gym, but I still had a good amount of muscle on me. Granted, a bit more flab than I liked, especially on my belly, but overall I still liked the way I looked. Melissa liked the way I looked too. I patted my belly, and there was a slight jiggle. I really should work out again, I thought. When was the last time I went for a run? I couldn't remember. My eyes strayed from my body to my face. I was still slightly pink from the hot water. I studied the slight age lines beginning to appear around my eyes and noticed that I seemed to have a larger forehead than I used to. When did I start losing my hair? I put my hands on the edge of the sink and leaned close to the mirror. It's a strange thing, looking yourself in the eyes. Despite how good I felt at the moment, all I could see was the pain deep inside. I knew it hadn't always been there, and obviously, I knew when it started. What bothered me was, I couldn't remember what it was like to not have this pain. I could remember every little detail about Melissa, her face, her body, the conversations we had, the things we did together, everything. But if I focus on just me... I can remember being a skinny awkward teenager falling in love and beginning a perfect life, then this, an aging man being crushed by the weight of a tragedy. Every memory between, of what it was to be me, was just gone. Lost to the gray. At the same time, I knew that this person staring back at me in the mirror wasn't me. Once, I was happy. Once I was me, whoever that was. Would I ever get me back, or did I just have to come to grips with the fact that I was now a completely different person? In heavy contemplation, I got dressed. I put on a faded Iron Maiden concert tee, a token from the time Melissa and I had driven to Sioux Falls, South Dakota to see them perform, and some blue jeans that seemed tighter around the waist than I remembered. I checked my bank balance and determined that If I was going to have drinks at the bar with Carl, I had better eat at home beforehand. I had a cup of ramen noodles, and cut slices off of a brick of cheddar cheese, as I wasted time watching random crap on YouTube. Finally, it was five thirty and time to go. Well really, I didn't need to hurry, as it was only a five-minute drive across the bridge to Superior, but there was no way I was going to be late. I parked behind the bar and didn't see any vehicles I recognized. I listened to the radio for a little while, then at ten to six, I got out of the car. The hard part is done. I'm here. I walked in and scanned the place for Carl. I know he had said he was leaving work at six, but I didn't want to miss him by mistake if he was early for some reason. Not seeing him or anyone else I knew, I took a seat at the end of the bar. The place wasn't very busy at all, with maybe a dozen people spread out throughout the whole place. A red-haired waitress came and took my order for a Grainbelt beer, and I watched her go to the cooler to get the bottle. She was cute, if a little thick around the middle, and when she handed me the beer, she flashed me the smile of experienced waitresses everywhere. The kind of smile that says, "I'll be sweet, and yes, maybe even flirt with you a little, but this is my job and you better not take it as more than a professional courtesy". I respected that. Good bartenders were hard to come by, and this one seemed proficient so far. I sipped my beer, and surreptitiously watched the other patrons. There was the same general mix of people you see in bars like this on a Tuesday evening. A few older couples, quietly enjoying dinner and a glass of wine, a fifty-year-old high school prom queen and her steroid-pumped boyfriend, slamming cheap beer, faces wind burned from riding a Harley all day, a table of college frat boy types laughing too loudly at offensive jokes, you know the kind of place. I faced the bar again, and in the mirror, I could see that one person was sitting alone at the table right behind me. She was facing away from me and seemed engrossed in something on her phone. She was wearing a maroon sweatshirt and had bushy dark brown hair that immediately reminded me of a young Hermione Granger. I watched her in the mirror, not being a creep, just out of curiosity and that I had nothing else to do while I waited for Carl. She never turned or sat up straight, just stayed on her phone, occasionally typing furiously. After a while, I looked at the time on my phone. It was twenty after six, Carl should have been here already. I ordered another beer from Cassie, the bartender, and gave him ten more minutes. I called Carl, and it took four or five rings for him to pick up. "Hey dude," Carl said right away. "I am so sorry. I have a big issue I've got to manage here." I could hear people talking loudly in the background and the beep of a forklift. "Hey," I said. "What's up?" "One of the kids knocked over a shelving unit in the garden center, and they all collapsed like dominoes. It's a big fucking mess." There was a scuffing noise as he held his phone aside and yelled at someone. "Don't bother saving that stuff, it's all junk now. Scan it, then throw it in the dumpster!" His voice became clear again. "I don't remember being this stupid when I was that age, do you?" "No, not really. So, are you going to be late or..." I asked, starting to feel a little dumb for getting my hopes up for a fun evening with old friends. "Sorry, man, this is going to be an all-nighter." "Oh, okay," I said, feeling like I just got punched in the gut. "Take a rain check for next week? The first round is on me." "Yeah, that's okay. Next week it is." I couldn't believe it. I got myself so excited to do normal people things with normal people, and this happened. I don't know why I bothered. "Alright man, gotta go." Before Carl ended the call, I could hear him start to yell. "Careful! If you knock that over too, I'm gonna" As I stared at my phone, not knowing what I should think or do, I heard a voice to my right. It was the woman with the brown hair. "You get stood up too?" I glanced at her. She was standing at the bar a few spots down from me, waving her empty glass at the bartender. "Huh? Yeah." "Sorry for eavesdropping. So what was her excuse?" In the corner of my eye, I could see the waitress return with a full glass. The girl took a drink right away. It was something creamy, Bailey's maybe. "Problems at work." I didn't mention that the 'her' was a 'him'. As secure enough in my sexuality as I was, straight guys just didn't say things that could give a woman mixed signals. "Typical." She took another long pull off her drink. "This is the third date in a row that has left me sitting. I take the time to get ready and then sit here waiting. I've got homework I could be doing." She sighed. "I don't know why I bothered." "Right." Her last words had struck a chord with my thoughts, and I turned to face her. Our eyes met, and the world stopped. We stared at each other, each of us with furrowing brows. My heart began to race, and I felt like I just got a shot of adrenaline. Slowly, she set down her drink, and I set down my phone, but our eyes remained locked. Eventually, she whispered. "I know you..." My throat was dry, and I struggled to get enough air to respond. "I don't think we've met..." She was pretty, and younger than I had expected. There was something strikingly familiar about her, but I knew I had never met this person before, and probably hadn't ever seen her. Her maroon sweatshirt had the big yellow UMD (University of Minnesota, Duluth) logo on it. There was something in her eyes, her icy blue eyes, that told me that I knew this person. "Who are you?" She whispered. The confusion on her face gave way to a look of fear. "Charles," I said woodenly, trying to make some sense of what was happening. This wasn't like the times you see someone in a crowd that looks like someone you know. I knew this person, have always known this person, and yet, nothing about her was familiar. "What is going on?" She asked, glancing at the bartender who was eyeing both of us in turn with raised eyebrows. "You're real? You're really real?" Her look of fear gave way to panic. "I've got to get out of here. This can't be happening." She slowly backed away from me, then turned and fled towards the door. I scrambled to put some cash on the bar for my beer, then followed after her. When I got outside, she was standing near a car with her head in her hands. She looked up at my approach. "Don't come any closer." She warned me. "What's going on?" I asked. "How do you know me? How do I know you?" "You know who I am?" She asked, hand on her car door, ready to flee. "When I saw you, I felt like I've known you my entire life, but I've never seen you before." I shook my head, more confused than ever in my forty-two years. "Well, I know you, Charles Larson." "How do you know my last name?" I asked, taken aback. I was pretty sure I hadn't said it at all earlier. "If you're really you, then I know everything about you." Her fear was transforming into anger, and she was almost shouting now. "How?" "Because I dream about you every night! My first memories are dreams about you! I close my eyes, and I see your face! I see your life! Every day, every night!" She was holding her head again and had started pacing side to side next to her car. "Oh my God. All these years, all the therapy, all the drugs to get you out of my head, and I find you sitting in a dive bar. This can't be real." My car was parked next to hers, and she watched me wearily as I slowly walked over and sat on the hood. "If you're really Charles Larson, tell me about yourself." She was looking at me like she was seeing a ghost. "I grew up in Minnetonka..." I was confused to the point of being numb, so I just started talking. I told her about my family, where I went to school, everything up to just before I fell in love with Melissa. Her face was pale, but she had stopped pacing and was just staring at me. "What was her name?" I looked at her sharply, surprised by the question. "Your second cousin, the one you married." Shocked, I replied. "Melissa." She took a tentative step towards me. "The two of you lived in a tiny apartment off of Grand Ave." She stepped closer. "You lived there together for fifteen years until..." She was right next to me now, and she picked up my right hand, turning it over to see the backside. She traced a finger down the scar that ran lengthwise behind my index finger. "Someone at your work dropped a piece of metal gutter, and the end sliced your hand open. It bled and bled, and you had to go get it stitched up." "How do you know these things?" I asked with something I could only describe as awe. "Because I saw it happen. I was there, in my dreams." "I feel that we are connected somehow, but, I don't even know who you are." She shifted her hands and grasped mine in a handshake. She looked at me with a shy smile. "I'm Kate Winters, and I've been waiting to meet you my whole life." Chapter Twenty-one. "You're older than I thought you would be." Kate was eyeing me from across the table. We had gone back into the bar and had taken a booth near the back. The frat boys were gone, and there was no one else nearby. "How old do you think I should be?" I asked, head still spinning. "When I was growing up, every dream was different. The time wasn't the same, the days weren't one-for-one. You were getting older faster than I was. For the last couple of years though, I've had the same dream. It's the same scene every night." She looked at me with empathy, expecting that I wasn't going to like what she was saying. "You were thirty-three, and it was nine years ago." A wave of non-specific dread washed over me. "What scene, What dream are you having over and over?" I already knew what she was going to say, and I didn't want to hear it. Kate closed her eyes. "We are in your truck, we had just been at the movie theater. You were telling me how you never liked Matt Damon, but in this movie, he was pretty good. Then,” "Stop," I said, probably a little too forcibly. "I'm sorry." Her eyes were glistening with tears. We sat in silence for a long time, each wrestling with our thoughts. Finally, I asked. "You said I was speaking to you?" She sniffed and nodded. "When the two of you were apart, it was kind of a third-person view, like watching a movie. But whenever you were with her, I saw you through her eyes. I felt what she felt, I thought what she thought. I think,” She looked at me apprehensively. "When the dreams started, it was the summer she figured out that she loved you. I was five and didn't really understand what I was seeing. I started using bigger words, and acting like I was thirteen because you two were thirteen." My thoughts swirled like a hurricane around that night nine years ago. There was the crash, and my truck crumpled up like a beer can. I was dazed, and there was glass in my eyes. I struggled to reach Melissa. The door had crumpled in and crushed her into the seat, into the tight space between what had been the dashboard and the back of the cab. Her eyes opened as I touched her cheek. She tried to speak, but no noise came out. Her mouth kept moving until suddenly she went still. Her heart stopped, and the spark of life left her eyes. My love, my life, was gone. Tears were streaming down my face, but somehow I had the composure to speak. "If you thought what she thought, did she blame me?" One thing that I had thought I had come to a resolution on, was the thought that the accident was my fault, that; had I not been looking at her at that moment, I might have been able to avoid the other car. Kate was crying too. "Of course not. You know what she was trying to say?" She reached across the table and held my hands tight in hers. "She was saying "I love you" over and over. She knew she was dying, and her only thought was that you would be alone." Still holding Kate's hands, I buried my face into my arm and cried hard, shuddering with every sob. I don't know how long I cried. At some point, I heard the waitress come by, and Kate whispered "We're okay." I felt Kate start running a hand through my hair, massaging my head. Exactly how Melissa used to. It felt good, but it also felt wrong. It wasn't Melissa's hand, It was Kate's. She was some random college girl I had never met, and I was plenty old enough to be her father. At the same time though, some part of me, deep down, was screaming that this was Melissa. I raised my head from my arm and looked at Kate. I felt no apprehension or shame in meeting her eyes, eyes that were so much like Melissa's. I studied them intently. They weren't just similar, they were identical. The patterns of blue were the same, and there was even that tiny green speck in the iris of her right eye. No one but me had ever noticed it. As insane as it sounds, I swear that I could feel Melissa's soul staring back at me through Kate's eyes. "So, what now?" I asked. "Maybe we should go somewhere more private and figure this out," Kate replied, her eyes moving to the people walking into the bar. "I still live in the same place." I couldn't believe that I had just said that. Did I just ask this girl to come home with me? Yes. She may be half my age, but there was something supernatural to the way I was drawn to her. She was not Melissa, I knew that, but in some intangible way, she very much was. Kate led the way, and I followed her back to my apartment. For some inexplicable reason, I thought of the day Melissa sat next to me on the rocks, and tearfully explained her past. The words I had spoken to her came into my mind as clearly as I had just said them. "None of what happened was your fault. You deserve to be happy. You deserve to be loved. I love you, I will always love you. Nothing in the past, present, or future will stop me from loving you until the end of time, and when we're both gone from this world, I'll find you in the next and keep loving you!" Is there such a thing as reincarnation? But no, Kate was in her early twenties, and Melissa died only nine years ago. The words continued to echo in my mind, and I realized that at some point it had stopped being my voice that was speaking. It was Melissa's. I bumped the door shut with my back and watched Kate as she surveyed my apartment. It occurred to me that not a lot had changed about the place in the last nine years, since the last time Kate would have seen it in her dreams. The couch was faded and threadbare, but comfortable, and the decorations were pretty much how Melissa had left them. The biggest difference, I noticed with some shame, was the general disorder of the place. Dirty dishes sat in a pile on the counter near the sink, and empty food containers covered the rest of the flat surfaces in the kitchenette. A pile of dirty clothes partially blocked the narrow hallway. Kate turned slowly, taking it all in. She stopped, facing me. "It looks exactly how I remember." I studied her face. I didn't know what to say, so I said nothing. She pointed at a picture on the wall beside the door. "I remember when that was taken. We, You went to a big concert in Wisconsin..." I could see at her collar, that she was wearing a tee shirt under her sweatshirt. "Take off your sweatshirt." I should have realized the creepy way in which that could be taken, but I wasn't thinking like that. I wanted to see her, to see if my eyes could help solve the mystery that had so thoroughly confused my heart and mind. A small part of me was surprised ,as Kate complied without hesitation. When she pulled the sweatshirt off, the bottom of her tee shirt was pulled up enough for me to get a glimpse of her flat belly. Her clothes were tight-fitting, and my eyes roamed her body. She was the same height as Melissa, had the same overall shape to her frame, and seemed to be in very good shape. She wasn't as muscular as Melissa had been, but then again, Melissa never had to try as hard as others to build muscle mass. Kate was watching me study her. She didn't look afraid or apprehensive at all. Rather, what came across to me was a sense of absolute trust. Melissa had looked at me like that, like she would put her life in my hands without hesitation, safe in the knowledge that I would never willingly hurt her. Her hair was very different, in color and style, and her skin was pale, like she didn't spend a lot of time outside. I stepped closer and tentatively raised a hand to her face. She didn't flinch or pull away. My hand cupped her cheek, and she closed her eyes, pressing her face into my gentle touch. Her features were softened by youth, but the shape of her face, the structure of her bones, was eerily familiar. "You do look like her," I said softly. "Sometimes when I look in the mirror, I see her face looking back at me." I felt her hands on my waist as she stepped close. Our faces were inches apart. "This must be difficult for you," She whispered. "I've lived with this my whole life. I've had time to deal with it." Seemingly of their own accord, my arms wrapped around her in a hug. She pressed herself against me, and I could feel that her heart was beating as rapidly as mine. "Through the years, I began to love being her." My face nestled against her neck, fitting perfectly. I breathed in deep. Her scent, my God, it was her scent! "I began to love you," She whispered into my ear. "I love you the way she loved you." My thoughts were muddled; like I had been drinking all day and her words were hypnotizing. The rational part of my mind, dazzled as it was; still held to the fact that this was not Melissa. The rest of me wanted her to be Melissa, needed her to be. "I'm so alone." My words fell out of my mouth like a sob. "You don't have to be alone," She said soothingly. "You deserve to be loved." I brought my head up and looked into her eyes, Melissa's eyes. Why had she used those specific words, those words that had floated into my mind not ten minutes ago? They were my words, and it seemed as though Melissa was speaking them. "Do I?" I asked. "Everyone deserves to be loved, but you especially." I thought of the stranger I saw when I looked in the mirror. "You haven't seen me since the accident. I'm not the same person I was before. I don't know who I am, but it's not the Charles you knew." She cupped my face in her hands. Her eyes seemed to penetrate my very soul, reading the truth that had been obscured from me for so long. "I see you, Charles. You are kind and gentle, caring and considerate, fiercely loyal and honorable. You are truthful and funny, wise and brave. Most of all, you are loving. You would selflessly give the last of yourself if the one you loved needed it." The way Kate was looking at me, the love and knowing in her eyes, made something click in my mind. Bubbling up from the depths, came feelings I thought were gone forever. I remembered the way my heart fluttered when Melissa smiled at me, even after fifteen years of marriage. I remembered how it felt to fully give myself to her, and how my greatest pleasure was seeing the pleasure I gave to her. I remembered the sense of unity, the self and the other made whole. I remembered love, pure and bright, untainted by the weight of the world. Melissa and I had given ourselves to each other and became something greater, one being in all ways, body, heart, mind, and soul. That is who I was, who I am, and who I will forever be. Now standing here with this woman in my arms, I felt that connection again. I felt the bond we had forged, stronger than the foundations of the Earth, stronger than the very fabric of space and time. Though I hadn't seen it for years, it had not dissolved, had not forsaken me. What were a few years compared to that kind of power? "Are you my Melissa?" A faint sense of doubt passed through her eyes. "I don't know. Yes? No? Neither?" She looked away from my eyes, confusion, and memory clouding her face. "Have you ever read about schizophrenics? My mother thought I was one because when I started writing in diaries, I didn't have just one. I had three, one for me, one for Melissa, and one for you. I wrote down everything, all your conversations, and all your emotions. It was mostly just you at this point, with a few precious dreams of your weekends at the cabin with Melissa. Mom brought me to more doctors than I can remember, and they all said that I wasn't schizophrenic, as I didn't have trouble being myself. Apart from my dreams, I was a normal, healthy little girl. They read my journals, determined that I was suffering from an advanced form of multiple personality disorder, and medicated me accordingly. They were stumped though, how a little girl could write with such detail and realism." She looked down and fidgeted with the hem of her shirt. I watched how her fingers moved and the posture of her body. She moved like Melissa. "The drugs they gave me didn't do anything but make me feel like shit all the time. I didn't know where my dreams were coming from, but I had to believe that nothing was wrong with me because they felt so right. I enjoyed them and saw them as a gift or a blessing. As strange as it may seem, you were my best friend, and I went to sleep happy every night." She stopped fidgeting and looked at me. "When I was thirteen, I had a dream about that most special weekend at the cabin. It was several dreams actually. I experienced every single moment. I felt the bond Melissa made with you, and not just while I was dreaming. The following days, I buzzed with giddy excitement and cried from the sheer joy of it. It was then that I knew without a shred of doubt, that I wasn't ill." She said this last word with derision. "Nothing that felt that right and pure could be sickness. I stopped taking the medication that day. My waking mind cleared, and I knew joy like I hadn't imagined possible." She sighed. "I never knew for sure if what I experienced in my dreams was happening to real people, or if it was all just for me alone, and I didn't want to find out." She placed my hand on her chest and I could feel her heart pounding. "What I do know, is that as time went on and I grew older, I became more like Melissa. Her personality and insecurities, likes and dislikes, her thoughts and dreams, all merged with my own. When I was old enough to start dating, I went out with a lot of guys. It never worked out, and rarely even got close to physical intimacy, because none of them were you." Her chest was heaving as her heart beat even faster. "I couldn't find love, because I was already in love. I don't know if I am Melissa. I wasn't born as her, so maybe I'm not. But in every way that truly matters, I think that I am her." I read her eyes with the ease that I had been able to read Melissa's. Her love for me was evident, as was her passion and desire. No one but Melissa had ever looked at me the way she was now. Like Melissa's had, Kate's eyes also held insecurity, self-consciousness, and hurt. Kate said that she had dreamed about the accident for years now. Seeing it, feeling it play out over and over. The pain of my recollection of it was pushed aside by an immense surge of empathy and compassion. I only had to live through it once. I couldn't imagine having it waiting for me every night, to see and feel it in perfect clarity, untarnished by the fog of memory. My hand slid from her heart, and she shuddered involuntarily as it settled gently on the side of her neck, just below her jawline. At that moment, I didn't see Kate. I saw the girl I had fallen hopelessly in love with so many years ago, and the woman I had married. I saw my warrior queen, fierce and confident, but at the same time so gentle and insecure. I saw her soul, eternally bound to mine. I saw Melissa's inexhaustible sexual desire for me, roaring hot as a blast furnace, as mine did for her. I tilted her face up and kissed her. She moaned softly, as her lips opened and our tongues met. The kissing was slow and gentle, neither of us wanting to scare the other with our need for intimacy. We both gasped as our mouths parted. She held my face, and her touch, despite my three-day-old stubble, was soft and familiar. "Maybe we shouldn't,” She held a finger to my lips. "I need you and you need me," She whispered. Slowly, she pulled her tee shirt over her head and dropped it to the floor. Eyes locked with mine, she unzipped her pants, shimmied, and kicked them away when they fell to her ankles. She wore a matching set of light blue panties and a bra. They were pretty, lacy things that accentuated her toned body in a way that screamed sensuality. Without another word, she took my hand in hers and led me to my bed. Later, I watched Kate sleep peacefully in my arms. I reached to the bedside table, and turned out the light, plunging the room into total darkness. I turned back to Kate, who I could see in my mind's eye with crystal clarity. This girl, this woman, who was at the same time achingly familiar and disturbingly foreign, had arrived in my life at the head of a rampaging horde of swirling thoughts. Was it possible that Melissa's soul had somehow made its way to Kate, and led her to me? Amid our passion, as years of longing and desire burst forth from both of us, it felt like I was with Melissa, in every way I could perceive. She moved and kissed like her, smelled and tasted like her. She felt like her, outside and in, and even moaned and cried out like her. I felt like I could give in and accept it. I could acknowledge that this was, in fact, Melissa. We could continue our life together as if the real Melissa had never died. We could be happy, and grow old hand in hand. It was so tempting to lose myself to the idea. My heart ached for it. But something wasn't right. The whole idea seemed unnatural as if it had been manipulated by a higher power whose intent could not be known. This doubt had the feel of truth, jagged and persistent. I knew that I couldn't ignore it, that it would be an eternal festering mote, no matter how sweet a fantasy my life would seem. There was a riddle here that needed to be solved, that demanded to be solved. Above all the confusion and jumbled emotions, there was an overarching feeling that there was an answer just beyond my grasp. I knew that if I could reach it and see just a glimpse of what was beyond, if only for a split second, I would know the truth. I lay there in the dark, willing with every fiber of my being for the universe to give me an answer. The darkness seemed to acquiesce to my silent pleading. I fell through the dark, free of my bed, free of the Earth and reality, into a cozy warm sleeping bag. I spoke to Melissa as night became morning. "You know me better than anyone. Being with you makes me feel complete, in a way I didn't know was possible. I am yours, in all ways, forever." Bright as a star, the light of love flashed in her eyes, bathing all existence with its brilliance. "Hold on to that moment, use it as a refuge." Sandy blonde hair glowed like golden fire in an autumn sunbeam. "You're real," Melissa said as we embraced outside her apartment. We evaporated into smoke, wafting on a lazy breeze through the pines, and condensed again, lying in Melissa's bed. "Have you been that lonely?" I asked. "For as long as I can remember" Melissa flung herself into my arms. "Am I okay? Charles, this is a dream come true!" A small glass bottle was held out for me to smell. I leaned close and howled as I was sucked into the bottle, down, down, down, into the swirling, bubbling liquid. "We remember scents much better than we think we do. Sometimes all we need is a little hint, and it's brought right to the front. Scents are all connected in our minds, and are rooted deep down at the very foundation of memory." My howl became the biting wind, as cold as the water crashing its way through the rocks. The grayness of the sky seemed to leach all color and emotion from the world. "None of what happened was your fault. You deserve to be happy. You deserve to be loved. I love you, I will always love you." The wind rose, howling becoming screeching, becoming screaming, as tires slid, glass broke, and metal crumpled. "I love you. I love you. I love you..." A sudden silence as the flying glass became a sea of stars. "Nothing in the past, present, or future will stop me from loving you until the end of time..." The endless expanse of the cosmos loomed, comforting in its infinite possibility. "...and when we're both gone from this world, I'll find you in the next and keep loving you!" I stood alone in a bright sunlit clearing, within a cathedral of Red Pines. Above, a billion, billion suns twinkled in the vast dark. My mother hugged me. "Oh, Charles. Love is so precious. It doesn't matter where you find it, but when you do, you hold on with both hands and never let go." Mother became Melissa, whispering my words back to me. "I'll find you in the next and keep loving you." Our sacred pine grove faded as her whisper echoed through infinity. "I'll find you in the next, in the next, in the next..." I floated alone. The self, the other, and the one were all gone. Joy and sadness were words without meaning. Light and dark had no definition. Space had no direction. Time held no sway. Based on a post by NewMountain80, in 2 parts, for Literotica.

Cabin Cousins: Part 6 Saying Goodbye; for now. Based on a post by NewMountain80, in 6 parts. Listen to the Podcast at Connections. Chapter Twenty. On the drive home, I felt good, like really good. I felt like things were actually going to start changing for the better. Reveling in this feeling, I made a spur-of-the-moment decision. I stopped my car in a random parking lot and pulled out my phone. One of the guys that I used to work with, Carl, liked to go to this little bar in Superior to hang out with friends and have a few drinks. There was a whole group of guys from work that would go regularly, but Carl was the only one who never stopped asking. For one reason or another, I never took him up on it, and I haven't seen any of them since I stopped being able to go to work. He answered after a few rings. "Hi, it's Charles, from work." "Charles? Hey buddy! How are you doing?" He sounded happy to hear from me. "Oh, I've been hanging in there. How's the store since I left?" At the time of the accident, I was the yard manager at the same store I had worked at since I moved to Duluth. It didn't pay a lot of money, but it was enough to get by, and I liked the job. I still felt bad about how I left. As the years went on and my depression spiraled downwards, it had become too hard to mask. My job performance was terrible, and people began to ask questions I didn't want to face the answers to. One day I scheduled myself to take all my vacation days, and then with that in the system, I put in my two weeks' notice. I never went back. "They made me assistant store manager if you'll believe that," Carl said. "Still a lot of the same faces around here. All the young kids come and go. You know how it is." "Yeah." I chuckled. In a store like that, you could count on about half of the employees to be lifers. They'd never leave. The other half seemed to be a completely different mix of people every couple of months. "So, what's up?" Carl asked. I could hear the store's advertising jingle blaring over the loudspeakers in the background. "Do you and the guys still go to that bar in Superior?" There it was. I said it. Now if he says yes, I'll have to ask if I can go, and then I'll have to go. "Yeah! But it's usually just me and Matt. Brian got married, and his wife has him on a short leash. Joe goes to AA. The other guys, just kinda stopped going for one reason or another. Tonight is the night we usually go." "Mind if I come with?" I asked. "Of course, man! We're going to leave here at about six." "Cool, I'll see you there." "Looking forward to it. It'll be good to see you again." And now the awkwardness of ending a phone call. I've heard that it's a Midwestern thing, but everyone seems to do it better than I do. "Okay, bye." "Bye." I went home, set out some clean clothes, and got in the shower. Sometimes I forget how good it feels to be clean. But then, I knew exactly why it was often too hard to motivate myself to get into the shower. The shower brought memories of Melissa and the possibility of pain. I stood still, letting the near-scalding water cascade over me. The fruity scent of the same brand of body wash Melissa had during our first shower together was strong, and I remembered. I closed my eyes and started my breathing exercise with a deep slow inhale. Melissa's hands scrubbed my lower back and slid down to squeeze my ass. Breathe out, the pain and hurt waft away like steam in the shower. My fingers follow the lines of her muscles and up her inner thigh, she looks at me with serene contentment. Breathe in. She turns, arches her back, and sighs as I enter her from behind. Breathe out, the pain is gone, and there is only joy. She moans as my soapy hands cup her firm tits, holding her tight against me as we make love. Breathe in. I gasp and hold my breath as we both climax. Breathe out. I catch my breath and look down, my hand was still grasping my quickly softening manhood, and the oozing result of my orgasm was slowly washed into the drain. I finished cleaning up, turned the water off, and stepped out of the shower. I looked at myself in the mirror as I toweled dry. It had been quite a while since I had exercised, or gone to the gym, but I still had a good amount of muscle on me. Granted, a bit more flab than I liked, especially on my belly, but overall I still liked the way I looked. Melissa liked the way I looked too. I patted my belly, and there was a slight jiggle. I really should work out again, I thought. When was the last time I went for a run? I couldn't remember. My eyes strayed from my body to my face. I was still slightly pink from the hot water. I studied the slight age lines beginning to appear around my eyes and noticed that I seemed to have a larger forehead than I used to. When did I start losing my hair? I put my hands on the edge of the sink and leaned close to the mirror. It's a strange thing, looking yourself in the eyes. Despite how good I felt at the moment, all I could see was the pain deep inside. I knew it hadn't always been there, and obviously, I knew when it started. What bothered me was, I couldn't remember what it was like to not have this pain. I could remember every little detail about Melissa, her face, her body, the conversations we had, the things we did together, everything. But if I focus on just me... I can remember being a skinny awkward teenager falling in love and beginning a perfect life, then this, an aging man being crushed by the weight of a tragedy. Every memory between, of what it was to be me, was just gone. Lost to the gray. At the same time, I knew that this person staring back at me in the mirror wasn't me. Once, I was happy. Once I was me, whoever that was. Would I ever get me back, or did I just have to come to grips with the fact that I was now a completely different person? In heavy contemplation, I got dressed. I put on a faded Iron Maiden concert tee, a token from the time Melissa and I had driven to Sioux Falls, South Dakota to see them perform, and some blue jeans that seemed tighter around the waist than I remembered. I checked my bank balance and determined that If I was going to have drinks at the bar with Carl, I had better eat at home beforehand. I had a cup of ramen noodles, and cut slices off of a brick of cheddar cheese, as I wasted time watching random crap on YouTube. Finally, it was five thirty and time to go. Well really, I didn't need to hurry, as it was only a five-minute drive across the bridge to Superior, but there was no way I was going to be late. I parked behind the bar and didn't see any vehicles I recognized. I listened to the radio for a little while, then at ten to six, I got out of the car. The hard part is done. I'm here. I walked in and scanned the place for Carl. I know he had said he was leaving work at six, but I didn't want to miss him by mistake if he was early for some reason. Not seeing him or anyone else I knew, I took a seat at the end of the bar. The place wasn't very busy at all, with maybe a dozen people spread out throughout the whole place. A red-haired waitress came and took my order for a Grainbelt beer, and I watched her go to the cooler to get the bottle. She was cute, if a little thick around the middle, and when she handed me the beer, she flashed me the smile of experienced waitresses everywhere. The kind of smile that says, "I'll be sweet, and yes, maybe even flirt with you a little, but this is my job and you better not take it as more than a professional courtesy". I respected that. Good bartenders were hard to come by, and this one seemed proficient so far. I sipped my beer, and surreptitiously watched the other patrons. There was the same general mix of people you see in bars like this on a Tuesday evening. A few older couples, quietly enjoying dinner and a glass of wine, a fifty-year-old high school prom queen and her steroid-pumped boyfriend, slamming cheap beer, faces wind burned from riding a Harley all day, a table of college frat boy types laughing too loudly at offensive jokes, you know the kind of place. I faced the bar again, and in the mirror, I could see that one person was sitting alone at the table right behind me. She was facing away from me and seemed engrossed in something on her phone. She was wearing a maroon sweatshirt and had bushy dark brown hair that immediately reminded me of a young Hermione Granger. I watched her in the mirror, not being a creep, just out of curiosity and that I had nothing else to do while I waited for Carl. She never turned or sat up straight, just stayed on her phone, occasionally typing furiously. After a while, I looked at the time on my phone. It was twenty after six, Carl should have been here already. I ordered another beer from Cassie, the bartender, and gave him ten more minutes. I called Carl, and it took four or five rings for him to pick up. "Hey dude," Carl said right away. "I am so sorry. I have a big issue I've got to manage here." I could hear people talking loudly in the background and the beep of a forklift. "Hey," I said. "What's up?" "One of the kids knocked over a shelving unit in the garden center, and they all collapsed like dominoes. It's a big fucking mess." There was a scuffing noise as he held his phone aside and yelled at someone. "Don't bother saving that stuff, it's all junk now. Scan it, then throw it in the dumpster!" His voice became clear again. "I don't remember being this stupid when I was that age, do you?" "No, not really. So, are you going to be late or..." I asked, starting to feel a little dumb for getting my hopes up for a fun evening with old friends. "Sorry, man, this is going to be an all-nighter." "Oh, okay," I said, feeling like I just got punched in the gut. "Take a rain check for next week? The first round is on me." "Yeah, that's okay. Next week it is." I couldn't believe it. I got myself so excited to do normal people things with normal people, and this happened. I don't know why I bothered. "Alright man, gotta go." Before Carl ended the call, I could hear him start to yell. "Careful! If you knock that over too, I'm gonna" As I stared at my phone, not knowing what I should think or do, I heard a voice to my right. It was the woman with the brown hair. "You get stood up too?" I glanced at her. She was standing at the bar a few spots down from me, waving her empty glass at the bartender. "Huh? Yeah." "Sorry for eavesdropping. So what was her excuse?" In the corner of my eye, I could see the waitress return with a full glass. The girl took a drink right away. It was something creamy, Bailey's maybe. "Problems at work." I didn't mention that the 'her' was a 'him'. As secure enough in my sexuality as I was, straight guys just didn't say things that could give a woman mixed signals. "Typical." She took another long pull off her drink. "This is the third date in a row that has left me sitting. I take the time to get ready and then sit here waiting. I've got homework I could be doing." She sighed. "I don't know why I bothered." "Right." Her last words had struck a chord with my thoughts, and I turned to face her. Our eyes met, and the world stopped. We stared at each other, each of us with furrowing brows. My heart began to race, and I felt like I just got a shot of adrenaline. Slowly, she set down her drink, and I set down my phone, but our eyes remained locked. Eventually, she whispered. "I know you..." My throat was dry, and I struggled to get enough air to respond. "I don't think we've met..." She was pretty, and younger than I had expected. There was something strikingly familiar about her, but I knew I had never met this person before, and probably hadn't ever seen her. Her maroon sweatshirt had the big yellow UMD (University of Minnesota, Duluth) logo on it. There was something in her eyes, her icy blue eyes, that told me that I knew this person. "Who are you?" She whispered. The confusion on her face gave way to a look of fear. "Charles," I said woodenly, trying to make some sense of what was happening. This wasn't like the times you see someone in a crowd that looks like someone you know. I knew this person, have always known this person, and yet, nothing about her was familiar. "What is going on?" She asked, glancing at the bartender who was eyeing both of us in turn with raised eyebrows. "You're real? You're really real?" Her look of fear gave way to panic. "I've got to get out of here. This can't be happening." She slowly backed away from me, then turned and fled towards the door. I scrambled to put some cash on the bar for my beer, then followed after her. When I got outside, she was standing near a car with her head in her hands. She looked up at my approach. "Don't come any closer." She warned me. "What's going on?" I asked. "How do you know me? How do I know you?" "You know who I am?" She asked, hand on her car door, ready to flee. "When I saw you, I felt like I've known you my entire life, but I've never seen you before." I shook my head, more confused than ever in my forty-two years. "Well, I know you, Charles Larson." "How do you know my last name?" I asked, taken aback. I was pretty sure I hadn't said it at all earlier. "If you're really you, then I know everything about you." Her fear was transforming into anger, and she was almost shouting now. "How?" "Because I dream about you every night! My first memories are dreams about you! I close my eyes, and I see your face! I see your life! Every day, every night!" She was holding her head again and had started pacing side to side next to her car. "Oh my God. All these years, all the therapy, all the drugs to get you out of my head, and I find you sitting in a dive bar. This can't be real." My car was parked next to hers, and she watched me wearily as I slowly walked over and sat on the hood. "If you're really Charles Larson, tell me about yourself." She was looking at me like she was seeing a ghost. "I grew up in Minnetonka..." I was confused to the point of being numb, so I just started talking. I told her about my family, where I went to school, everything up to just before I fell in love with Melissa. Her face was pale, but she had stopped pacing and was just staring at me. "What was her name?" I looked at her sharply, surprised by the question. "Your second cousin, the one you married." Shocked, I replied. "Melissa." She took a tentative step towards me. "The two of you lived in a tiny apartment off of Grand Ave." She stepped closer. "You lived there together for fifteen years until..." She was right next to me now, and she picked up my right hand, turning it over to see the backside. She traced a finger down the scar that ran lengthwise behind my index finger. "Someone at your work dropped a piece of metal gutter, and the end sliced your hand open. It bled and bled, and you had to go get it stitched up." "How do you know these things?" I asked with something I could only describe as awe. "Because I saw it happen. I was there, in my dreams." "I feel that we are connected somehow, but, I don't even know who you are." She shifted her hands and grasped mine in a handshake. She looked at me with a shy smile. "I'm Kate Winters, and I've been waiting to meet you my whole life." Chapter Twenty-one. "You're older than I thought you would be." Kate was eyeing me from across the table. We had gone back into the bar and had taken a booth near the back. The frat boys were gone, and there was no one else nearby. "How old do you think I should be?" I asked, head still spinning. "When I was growing up, every dream was different. The time wasn't the same, the days weren't one-for-one. You were getting older faster than I was. For the last couple of years though, I've had the same dream. It's the same scene every night." She looked at me with empathy, expecting that I wasn't going to like what she was saying. "You were thirty-three, and it was nine years ago." A wave of non-specific dread washed over me. "What scene, What dream are you having over and over?" I already knew what she was going to say, and I didn't want to hear it. Kate closed her eyes. "We are in your truck, we had just been at the movie theater. You were telling me how you never liked Matt Damon, but in this movie, he was pretty good. Then,” "Stop," I said, probably a little too forcibly. "I'm sorry." Her eyes were glistening with tears. We sat in silence for a long time, each wrestling with our thoughts. Finally, I asked. "You said I was speaking to you?" She sniffed and nodded. "When the two of you were apart, it was kind of a third-person view, like watching a movie. But whenever you were with her, I saw you through her eyes. I felt what she felt, I thought what she thought. I think,” She looked at me apprehensively. "When the dreams started, it was the summer she figured out that she loved you. I was five and didn't really understand what I was seeing. I started using bigger words, and acting like I was thirteen because you two were thirteen." My thoughts swirled like a hurricane around that night nine years ago. There was the crash, and my truck crumpled up like a beer can. I was dazed, and there was glass in my eyes. I struggled to reach Melissa. The door had crumpled in and crushed her into the seat, into the tight space between what had been the dashboard and the back of the cab. Her eyes opened as I touched her cheek. She tried to speak, but no noise came out. Her mouth kept moving until suddenly she went still. Her heart stopped, and the spark of life left her eyes. My love, my life, was gone. Tears were streaming down my face, but somehow I had the composure to speak. "If you thought what she thought, did she blame me?" One thing that I had thought I had come to a resolution on, was the thought that the accident was my fault, that; had I not been looking at her at that moment, I might have been able to avoid the other car. Kate was crying too. "Of course not. You know what she was trying to say?" She reached across the table and held my hands tight in hers. "She was saying "I love you" over and over. She knew she was dying, and her only thought was that you would be alone." Still holding Kate's hands, I buried my face into my arm and cried hard, shuddering with every sob. I don't know how long I cried. At some point, I heard the waitress come by, and Kate whispered "We're okay." I felt Kate start running a hand through my hair, massaging my head. Exactly how Melissa used to. It felt good, but it also felt wrong. It wasn't Melissa's hand, It was Kate's. She was some random college girl I had never met, and I was plenty old enough to be her father. At the same time though, some part of me, deep down, was screaming that this was Melissa. I raised my head from my arm and looked at Kate. I felt no apprehension or shame in meeting her eyes, eyes that were so much like Melissa's. I studied them intently. They weren't just similar, they were identical. The patterns of blue were the same, and there was even that tiny green speck in the iris of her right eye. No one but me had ever noticed it. As insane as it sounds, I swear that I could feel Melissa's soul staring back at me through Kate's eyes. "So, what now?" I asked. "Maybe we should go somewhere more private and figure this out," Kate replied, her eyes moving to the people walking into the bar. "I still live in the same place." I couldn't believe that I had just said that. Did I just ask this girl to come home with me? Yes. She may be half my age, but there was something supernatural to the way I was drawn to her. She was not Melissa, I knew that, but in some intangible way, she very much was. Kate led the way, and I followed her back to my apartment. For some inexplicable reason, I thought of the day Melissa sat next to me on the rocks, and tearfully explained her past. The words I had spoken to her came into my mind as clearly as I had just said them. "None of what happened was your fault. You deserve to be happy. You deserve to be loved. I love you, I will always love you. Nothing in the past, present, or future will stop me from loving you until the end of time, and when we're both gone from this world, I'll find you in the next and keep loving you!" Is there such a thing as reincarnation? But no, Kate was in her early twenties, and Melissa died only nine years ago. The words continued to echo in my mind, and I realized that at some point it had stopped being my voice that was speaking. It was Melissa's. I bumped the door shut with my back and watched Kate as she surveyed my apartment. It occurred to me that not a lot had changed about the place in the last nine years, since the last time Kate would have seen it in her dreams. The couch was faded and threadbare, but comfortable, and the decorations were pretty much how Melissa had left them. The biggest difference, I noticed with some shame, was the general disorder of the place. Dirty dishes sat in a pile on the counter near the sink, and empty food containers covered the rest of the flat surfaces in the kitchenette. A pile of dirty clothes partially blocked the narrow hallway. Kate turned slowly, taking it all in. She stopped, facing me. "It looks exactly how I remember." I studied her face. I didn't know what to say, so I said nothing. She pointed at a picture on the wall beside the door. "I remember when that was taken. We, You went to a big concert in Wisconsin..." I could see at her collar, that she was wearing a tee shirt under her sweatshirt. "Take off your sweatshirt." I should have realized the creepy way in which that could be taken, but I wasn't thinking like that. I wanted to see her, to see if my eyes could help solve the mystery that had so thoroughly confused my heart and mind. A small part of me was surprised ,as Kate complied without hesitation. When she pulled the sweatshirt off, the bottom of her tee shirt was pulled up enough for me to get a glimpse of her flat belly. Her clothes were tight-fitting, and my eyes roamed her body. She was the same height as Melissa, had the same overall shape to her frame, and seemed to be in very good shape. She wasn't as muscular as Melissa had been, but then again, Melissa never had to try as hard as others to build muscle mass. Kate was watching me study her. She didn't look afraid or apprehensive at all. Rather, what came across to me was a sense of absolute trust. Melissa had looked at me like that, like she would put her life in my hands without hesitation, safe in the knowledge that I would never willingly hurt her. Her hair was very different, in color and style, and her skin was pale, like she didn't spend a lot of time outside. I stepped closer and tentatively raised a hand to her face. She didn't flinch or pull away. My hand cupped her cheek, and she closed her eyes, pressing her face into my gentle touch. Her features were softened by youth, but the shape of her face, the structure of her bones, was eerily familiar. "You do look like her," I said softly. "Sometimes when I look in the mirror, I see her face looking back at me." I felt her hands on my waist as she stepped close. Our faces were inches apart. "This must be difficult for you," She whispered. "I've lived with this my whole life. I've had time to deal with it." Seemingly of their own accord, my arms wrapped around her in a hug. She pressed herself against me, and I could feel that her heart was beating as rapidly as mine. "Through the years, I began to love being her." My face nestled against her neck, fitting perfectly. I breathed in deep. Her scent, my God, it was her scent! "I began to love you," She whispered into my ear. "I love you the way she loved you." My thoughts were muddled; like I had been drinking all day and her words were hypnotizing. The rational part of my mind, dazzled as it was; still held to the fact that this was not Melissa. The rest of me wanted her to be Melissa, needed her to be. "I'm so alone." My words fell out of my mouth like a sob. "You don't have to be alone," She said soothingly. "You deserve to be loved." I brought my head up and looked into her eyes, Melissa's eyes. Why had she used those specific words, those words that had floated into my mind not ten minutes ago? They were my words, and it seemed as though Melissa was speaking them. "Do I?" I asked. "Everyone deserves to be loved, but you especially." I thought of the stranger I saw when I looked in the mirror. "You haven't seen me since the accident. I'm not the same person I was before. I don't know who I am, but it's not the Charles you knew." She cupped my face in her hands. Her eyes seemed to penetrate my very soul, reading the truth that had been obscured from me for so long. "I see you, Charles. You are kind and gentle, caring and considerate, fiercely loyal and honorable. You are truthful and funny, wise and brave. Most of all, you are loving. You would selflessly give the last of yourself if the one you loved needed it." The way Kate was looking at me, the love and knowing in her eyes, made something click in my mind. Bubbling up from the depths, came feelings I thought were gone forever. I remembered the way my heart fluttered when Melissa smiled at me, even after fifteen years of marriage. I remembered how it felt to fully give myself to her, and how my greatest pleasure was seeing the pleasure I gave to her. I remembered the sense of unity, the self and the other made whole. I remembered love, pure and bright, untainted by the weight of the world. Melissa and I had given ourselves to each other and became something greater, one being in all ways, body, heart, mind, and soul. That is who I was, who I am, and who I will forever be. Now standing here with this woman in my arms, I felt that connection again. I felt the bond we had forged, stronger than the foundations of the Earth, stronger than the very fabric of space and time. Though I hadn't seen it for years, it had not dissolved, had not forsaken me. What were a few years compared to that kind of power? "Are you my Melissa?" A faint sense of doubt passed through her eyes. "I don't know. Yes? No? Neither?" She looked away from my eyes, confusion, and memory clouding her face. "Have you ever read about schizophrenics? My mother thought I was one because when I started writing in diaries, I didn't have just one. I had three, one for me, one for Melissa, and one for you. I wrote down everything, all your conversations, and all your emotions. It was mostly just you at this point, with a few precious dreams of your weekends at the cabin with Melissa. Mom brought me to more doctors than I can remember, and they all said that I wasn't schizophrenic, as I didn't have trouble being myself. Apart from my dreams, I was a normal, healthy little girl. They read my journals, determined that I was suffering from an advanced form of multiple personality disorder, and medicated me accordingly. They were stumped though, how a little girl could write with such detail and realism." She looked down and fidgeted with the hem of her shirt. I watched how her fingers moved and the posture of her body. She moved like Melissa. "The drugs they gave me didn't do anything but make me feel like shit all the time. I didn't know where my dreams were coming from, but I had to believe that nothing was wrong with me because they felt so right. I enjoyed them and saw them as a gift or a blessing. As strange as it may seem, you were my best friend, and I went to sleep happy every night." She stopped fidgeting and looked at me. "When I was thirteen, I had a dream about that most special weekend at the cabin. It was several dreams actually. I experienced every single moment. I felt the bond Melissa made with you, and not just while I was dreaming. The following days, I buzzed with giddy excitement and cried from the sheer joy of it. It was then that I knew without a shred of doubt, that I wasn't ill." She said this last word with derision. "Nothing that felt that right and pure could be sickness. I stopped taking the medication that day. My waking mind cleared, and I knew joy like I hadn't imagined possible." She sighed. "I never knew for sure if what I experienced in my dreams was happening to real people, or if it was all just for me alone, and I didn't want to find out." She placed my hand on her chest and I could feel her heart pounding. "What I do know, is that as time went on and I grew older, I became more like Melissa. Her personality and insecurities, likes and dislikes, her thoughts and dreams, all merged with my own. When I was old enough to start dating, I went out with a lot of guys. It never worked out, and rarely even got close to physical intimacy, because none of them were you." Her chest was heaving as her heart beat even faster. "I couldn't find love, because I was already in love. I don't know if I am Melissa. I wasn't born as her, so maybe I'm not. But in every way that truly matters, I think that I am her." I read her eyes with the ease that I had been able to read Melissa's. Her love for me was evident, as was her passion and desire. No one but Melissa had ever looked at me the way she was now. Like Melissa's had, Kate's eyes also held insecurity, self-consciousness, and hurt. Kate said that she had dreamed about the accident for years now. Seeing it, feeling it play out over and over. The pain of my recollection of it was pushed aside by an immense surge of empathy and compassion. I only had to live through it once. I couldn't imagine having it waiting for me every night, to see and feel it in perfect clarity, untarnished by the fog of memory. My hand slid from her heart, and she shuddered involuntarily as it settled gently on the side of her neck, just below her jawline. At that moment, I didn't see Kate. I saw the girl I had fallen hopelessly in love with so many years ago, and the woman I had married. I saw my warrior queen, fierce and confident, but at the same time so gentle and insecure. I saw her soul, eternally bound to mine. I saw Melissa's inexhaustible sexual desire for me, roaring hot as a blast furnace, as mine did for her. I tilted her face up and kissed her. She moaned softly, as her lips opened and our tongues met. The kissing was slow and gentle, neither of us wanting to scare the other with our need for intimacy. We both gasped as our mouths parted. She held my face, and her touch, despite my three-day-old stubble, was soft and familiar. "Maybe we shouldn't,” She held a finger to my lips. "I need you and you need me," She whispered. Slowly, she pulled her tee shirt over her head and dropped it to the floor. Eyes locked with mine, she unzipped her pants, shimmied, and kicked them away when they fell to her ankles. She wore a matching set of light blue panties and a bra. They were pretty, lacy things that accentuated her toned body in a way that screamed sensuality. Without another word, she took my hand in hers and led me to my bed. Later, I watched Kate sleep peacefully in my arms. I reached to the bedside table, and turned out the light, plunging the room into total darkness. I turned back to Kate, who I could see in my mind's eye with crystal clarity. This girl, this woman, who was at the same time achingly familiar and disturbingly foreign, had arrived in my life at the head of a rampaging horde of swirling thoughts. Was it possible that Melissa's soul had somehow made its way to Kate, and led her to me? Amid our passion, as years of longing and desire burst forth from both of us, it felt like I was with Melissa, in every way I could perceive. She moved and kissed like her, smelled and tasted like her. She felt like her, outside and in, and even moaned and cried out like her. I felt like I could give in and accept it. I could acknowledge that this was, in fact, Melissa. We could continue our life together as if the real Melissa had never died. We could be happy, and grow old hand in hand. It was so tempting to lose myself to the idea. My heart ached for it. But something wasn't right. The whole idea seemed unnatural as if it had been manipulated by a higher power whose intent could not be known. This doubt had the feel of truth, jagged and persistent. I knew that I couldn't ignore it, that it would be an eternal festering mote, no matter how sweet a fantasy my life would seem. There was a riddle here that needed to be solved, that demanded to be solved. Above all the confusion and jumbled emotions, there was an overarching feeling that there was an answer just beyond my grasp. I knew that if I could reach it and see just a glimpse of what was beyond, if only for a split second, I would know the truth. I lay there in the dark, willing with every fiber of my being for the universe to give me an answer. The darkness seemed to acquiesce to my silent pleading. I fell through the dark, free of my bed, free of the Earth and reality, into a cozy warm sleeping bag. I spoke to Melissa as night became morning. "You know me better than anyone. Being with you makes me feel complete, in a way I didn't know was possible. I am yours, in all ways, forever." Bright as a star, the light of love flashed in her eyes, bathing all existence with its brilliance. "Hold on to that moment, use it as a refuge." Sandy blonde hair glowed like golden fire in an autumn sunbeam. "You're real," Melissa said as we embraced outside her apartment. We evaporated into smoke, wafting on a lazy breeze through the pines, and condensed again, lying in Melissa's bed. "Have you been that lonely?" I asked. "For as long as I can remember" Melissa flung herself into my arms. "Am I okay? Charles, this is a dream come true!" A small glass bottle was held out for me to smell. I leaned close and howled as I was sucked into the bottle, down, down, down, into the swirling, bubbling liquid. "We remember scents much better than we think we do. Sometimes all we need is a little hint, and it's brought right to the front. Scents are all connected in our minds, and are rooted deep down at the very foundation of memory." My howl became the biting wind, as cold as the water crashing its way through the rocks. The grayness of the sky seemed to leach all color and emotion from the world. "None of what happened was your fault. You deserve to be happy. You deserve to be loved. I love you, I will always love you." The wind rose, howling becoming screeching, becoming screaming, as tires slid, glass broke, and metal crumpled. "I love you. I love you. I love you..." A sudden silence as the flying glass became a sea of stars. "Nothing in the past, present, or future will stop me from loving you until the end of time..." The endless expanse of the cosmos loomed, comforting in its infinite possibility. "...and when we're both gone from this world, I'll find you in the next and keep loving you!" I stood alone in a bright sunlit clearing, within a cathedral of Red Pines. Above, a billion, billion suns twinkled in the vast dark. My mother hugged me. "Oh, Charles. Love is so precious. It doesn't matter where you find it, but when you do, you hold on with both hands and never let go." Mother became Melissa, whispering my words back to me. "I'll find you in the next and keep loving you." Our sacred pine grove faded as her whisper echoed through infinity. "I'll find you in the next, in the next, in the next..." I floated alone. The self, the other, and the one were all gone. Joy and sadness were words without meaning. Light and dark had no definition. Space had no direction. Time held no sway. Based on a post by NewMountain80, in 2 parts, for Literotica.

The creator of KPop Demon Hunters says they don't want to make a live-action version, Tiger Woods just had his seventh back surgery and we find out the Soup of the Day!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Gerry sat down with long-time friend Andrew Lipkin to talk about the upcoming charity event in Minnetonka, MN. Mostly, they got all nostalgic about what the formats of the event were like: 2002 Standard, 2007 Standard, and 2010 Standard. More info on the event: https://lodestonegames.com/

Marcia Peck is an award-winning writer and accomplished musician, celebrating over 50 years as a cellist with the Minnesota Orchestra.  Inspired by the rhythms and sounds of music echoed in language, her debut novel, Water Music: A Cape Cod Story, combines all of her passions –music, writing, and Cape Cod. The book has received critical acclaim and has received many book awards, including Literary Titan Gold, National Indie Excellence Award, New England Book Festival Regional Lit Winner, and Feathered Quill Reviewers Choice Award Winner. Additionally, she was a finalist for American Writing Awards, Eric Hoffer Award Grand Prize, Firebird Book Awards, and Wishing Shelf Book Awards. Pacifica book Awards designated it as a “Notable Book” and her book was long-listed by both Historical Fiction Company Book-of-the-Year Award and Somerset Book Awards.  Peck's writing has received awards from New Millenium Writings (First prize for "Memento Mori"), Tamarack Awards (honorable mention for "An Unexpected Cadence"), Lake Superior Writers' Conference (First Prize for "Pride and Humility"), Glimmer Train(finalist for Very Short Fiction Award for "The Flavor of Borscht"),Flash quake (nomination for Pushcart Prize for "Long Distance"), and MnArtists Mini Stories (Winner for "Little Vladimir's Father").  She is the grateful recipient of Artist Fellowships from the Minnesota State Arts Board, Loft-McKnight, and the Jerome Foundation as well as residencies at Hambidge Center in Georgia and Ragdale in Illinois. A cellist with the Minnesota Orchestra for her entire musical career, she is inspired by the rhythms and sounds of music echoed in language. Peck graduated from the legendary Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. She studied with famed Italian cellist Antonio Janigro in Germany for two years. Her articles have appeared in Musical America, Strad Magazine, Strings Magazine, Senza Sordino, the magazine of the Minnesota Orchestra and the op-ed pages of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Her fiction has appeared in Chautauqua Journal, New Millenium Writings, Gemini Magazine, Glimmer Train, 26 Minnesota Writers (Nodine Press), Tribute to Orpheus 2(Kearney Books), and three volumes of Open to Interpretation: Fading Light(Taylor and O'Neill). Her work has been supported by the Minnesota State Arts Board, The Loft Literary Center, and the Jerome Foundation, Ragdale Foundation and Hambidge Center. Peck grew up in New Jersey and summered in Cape Cod. Her love for Cape Cod has been a strong and deep current throughout her life. She and her sisters still return to the house their father built in Orleans. She lives in Minnetonka, Minnesota with her husband and two very naughty dogs For more information, please see: www.marciapeck.com.

Have you ever thought about running at the North Pole? Well we talked to someone who did just that - the ‘World's Coolest Marathon' featured locally a Minnetonka native Shawn O'Grady - Tom Hauser chatted with him about the cool conditions, the terrain he faced during the race!

Have you ever thought about running at the North Pole? Well we talked to someone who did just that - the ‘World's Coolest Marathon' featured locally a Minnetonka native Shawn O'Grady - Tom Hauser chatted with him about the cool conditions, the terrain he faced during the race!

The Minnesota-based footwear brand Minnetonka Moccasin has been around since 1946, but it made its mark in the shoe industry by appropriating Native footwear and designs. Since issuing a public apology in 2021 for decades of profiting from Native culture, the company has been working to reconcile with Native American tribes. Their newest initiative is the Minnetonka Reclamation Collaborative, which brings together Native artists to redesign the company's appropriated designs, create new products and reclaim cultural narratives. It launched at the beginning of the month.For more, MPR News host Nina Moini talks with reconciliation advisor Adrienne Benjamin, who leads the effort and is a member of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe.

This week it's another "Slick Mick's Pix" where we look at some never before seen and rare photos including Verne Gagne's Minnetonka home, the Vachon's, Hennigs, a few with Mick and more!   We have a new one stop shop for AWA Unleashed merch, it's https://www.teepublic.com/user/unleashed-plus

On this episode of A One Pint Stand, I got together with Jess Talley, Lindsay Darling, and Amanda Agamaite at Broken Clock Brewing Cooperative to talk about All Pints North, a craft beer festival put on by the Minnesota Craft Brewers Guild.  Learning about all the different logistical elements that go into putting on a beer festival in Duluth, Minnesota, is an absolute marvel.  Get your tickets to All Pints here.This episode is proudly sponsored by Unmapped Brewing Company.  Unmapped is a community focal point in the Glen Lake neighborhood in Minnetonka, Minnesota.  Their beers are sensational and provide something for every person's taste.  They also have a wide variety of seltzers and THC drinks should you prefer something different.  Their Base Camp Coffee shop also has tremendous coffee drinks for when you just want a nice way to wake up and start your day.If you liked the show and want to support the A One Pint Stand, consider joining our Patreon.  There is some great bonus content that our Patreon supporters enjoy that give a fun peek behind the scenes.

On this episode of A One Pint Stand, I visit Unmapped Brewing in Minnetonka, Minnesota to chat with Co-Owner Derek Allmendinger and Director of Sales Harry Leadbetter.  We talk about Derek's transition from Head Brewer to Co-Owner, how the landscape in craft beer continues to change and what that means for both taproom and distribution sales.  After listening, there will be no question about why the local community surrounding Unmapped Brewing loves and supports them so fiercely.  We also toast Falling Knife Brewing's Tom Berg, a magnificent human who left us far too soon and has left an unfillable void in the craft beer community.  This episode is proudly sponsored by Lupulin Brewing in Big Lake, Minnesota.  Make sure you make plans to go up and help them celebrate their 10th anniversary at the end of the month because they are a fantastic craft brewery.If you liked the show and want to support the A One Pint Stand, consider joining our Patreon.  There is some great bonus content that our Patreon supporters enjoy that give a fun peek behind the scenes.

A man was arrested yesterday after allegedly threatening violence against the United Healthcare corporate campus in Minnetonka.And an oil pipeline that ruptured a week ago in North Dakota is returning to service.Those stories and more in today's evening update from MPR News. Hosted by Emily Reese. Music by Gary Meister.

Jon takes a look at the recent trend of "micro-cheating" in the social media age. Jon tackles the Supreme Court ruling surrounding the hot-topic deportation case; Jon offers his opinions on the latest developments and we hear from President Trump and his cabinet. Jon also recaps the local story about the standoff at UHC in Minnetonka.

Minnetonka police say a person is in custody and there's no ongoing threat to the public, following a large police response to the United Healthcare corporate campus today.Starting tonight, the Minneapolis Police Department is encrypting its radio communications, making them inaccessible to scanner listeners. Those stories and more in today's evening update from MPR News. Hosted by Emily Reese. Music by Gary Meister.

The NAB Show 2025, held from April 5-9 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, showcased a wide array of cutting-edge technical exhibits focused on media, entertainment, and technology innovations. There’s no way that TWiRT could bring you a wide look at the whole show, but we did manage to interview ten broadcast industry insiders in just over an hour, and we present them to you on this episode! From England to Australia, from the Netherlands to Florida, and from Minnetonka to Los Angeles, we’re letting you in on the technical and industry conversations that exemplify our experiences at NAB. Special thanks to Broadcast Bionics for providing a set for TWiRT production, and the bandwidth to send you our show! Guests:Phil Bignell - Broadcast Systems Architect at Broadcast BionicsDavid Smedley - Senior Support Specialist at Aiir.comReinier van Mourik - Chief Technical Officer at Triple Audio, NetherlandsIan Campbell - Strategic Accounts Director at AVC, AustraliaJon Shute - Sales at Broadcasters General Store (BGS)Travis Tibbot - Sales at Broadcasters General Store (BGS)Doug Irwin - Regional Engineering Lead at iHeart Media, Los AngelesJohn Schur - President at Telos Alliance TV Solutions GroupDan McQuillin - Managing Director at Broadcast BionicsRobert Combs - Director Of Engineering - Corporate at Cumulus MediaHost:Kirk Harnack, The Telos Alliance, Delta Radio, Star94.3, South Seas, & Akamai BroadcastingFollow TWiRT on Twitter and on Facebook - and see all the videos on YouTube.TWiRT is brought to you by:Broadcasters General Store, with outstanding service, saving, and support. Online at BGS.cc. Broadcast Bionics - making radio smarter with Bionic Studio, visual radio, and social media tools at Bionic.radio.Aiir, providing PlayoutONE radio automation, and other advanced solutions for audience engagement.Angry Audio and the new Rave analog audio mixing console. The new MaxxKonnect Broadcast U.192 MPX USB Soundcard - The first purpose-built broadcast-quality USB sound card with native MPX output. Subscribe to Audio:iTunesRSSStitcherTuneInSubscribe to Video:iTunesRSSYouTube

The NAB Show 2025, held from April 5-9 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, showcased a wide array of cutting-edge technical exhibits focused on media, entertainment, and technology innovations. There's no way that TWiRT could bring you a wide look at the whole show, but we did manage to interview ten broadcast industry insiders in just over an hour, and we present them to you on this episode! From England to Australia, from the Netherlands to Florida, and from Minnetonka to Los Angeles, we're letting you in on the technical and industry conversations that exemplify our experiences at NAB. Special thanks to Broadcast Bionics for providing a set for TWiRT production, and the bandwidth to send you our show!

Death Penalty Pursued in Killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO The gunman who shot down one of the most powerful healthcare executives in America may now face the death penalty. Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old accused of murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel last December, is now the target of a federal death penalty case. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has formally authorized federal prosecutors to pursue the death sentence—escalating the already high-stakes case into one of the most serious federal prosecutions in recent history. Mangione is currently facing both state and federal charges. The state case, being prosecuted in New York, includes murder and terrorism charges, but those come with a maximum sentence of life in prison—New York doesn't have the death penalty. That's where the federal case steps in. Federal prosecutors have charged Mangione with murder through the use of a firearm, which is a capital-eligible offense. According to Bondi, this wasn't just a murder — it was a public execution. “Luigi Mangione's murder of Brian Thompson — an innocent man and father of two young children — was a premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America,” she said in a statement. She cited the public nature of the killing, the alleged ideological motive, and the potential danger to others nearby as key reasons for pursuing the death penalty. The attack was chilling in its precision. Just before dawn on December 4th, Thompson left his Midtown hotel and began walking toward the Hilton across the street, where UnitedHealthcare was hosting its annual investor conference. He didn't make it far. Authorities say Mangione, wearing a mask and waiting in ambush, approached and opened fire — in the middle of Manhattan, with commuters and conference attendees all around. When investigators later recovered ammunition allegedly used in the shooting, they discovered something disturbing: each bullet was etched with the words “deny,” “defend,” and “depose.” Those phrases aren't random — they've long been used by critics of the insurance industry to describe how claims are delayed, disputed, and dismantled. Prosecutors say the shooting was more than just personal — it was political. Thompson wasn't just any executive. He had spent over two decades at Minnetonka-based UnitedHealthcare, serving as CEO for more than three years. The company covers over 49 million Americans and brought in more than $281 billion in revenue last year. It's the largest provider of Medicare Advantage plans and manages healthcare for both public and private sectors. Thompson was a major figure in a system both relied on and resented by millions. The murder rocked the business world, but the chaos didn't stop there. Back in Maple Grove, Minnesota — where Thompson lived with his wife and two sons — police responded to bomb threats at homes connected to the family within hours of the killing. Authorities believe the threats were hoaxes, but they sent a clear message: this wasn't over. Mangione fled New York after the shooting, kicking off a multi-state manhunt. It ended five days later in Altoona, Pennsylvania, where he was arrested at a McDonald's. Investigators say he was carrying a backpack with a gun matching the murder weapon and a notebook filled with writings critical of the health insurance industry. He was extradited to New York and has remained in custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn ever since. Since his arrest, Mangione has pleaded not guilty to all state charges. He hasn't yet been arraigned on the federal indictment, but he's agreed to a preliminary hearing under the Speedy Trial Act, which is set for April 18. While the legal case plays out, the killing has already sparked political and cultural ripples. In California, a group has launched what's called the "Luigi Mangione Initiative," a campaign aimed at banning so-called “delay, deny, defend” tactics by insurers. The group condemns violence but says the case has brought overdue attention to insurance industry abuses. As for Mangione, he now stands at the center of a rare and highly scrutinized federal death penalty case, one that's still unfolding in real time. #LuigiMangione #BrianThompson #FederalDeathPenalty #HealthcareIndustry Want to listen to ALL of our podcasts AD-FREE? Subscribe through APPLE PODCASTS, and try it for three days free: https://tinyurl.com/ycw626tj Follow Our Other Cases: https://www.truecrimetodaypod.com The latest on The Downfall of Diddy, The Trial of Karen Read, The Murder Of Maddie Soto, Catching the Long Island Serial Killer, Awaiting Admission: BTK's Unconfessed Crimes, Delphi Murders: Inside the Crime, Chad & Lori Daybell, The Murder of Ana Walshe, Alex Murdaugh, Bryan Kohberger, Lucy Letby, Kouri Richins, Malevolent Mormon Mommys, The Menendez Brothers: Quest For Justice, The Murder of Stephen Smith, The Murder of Madeline Kingsbury, The Murder Of Sandra Birchmore, and much more! Listen at https://www.truecrimetodaypod.com

Death Penalty Pursued in Killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO The gunman who shot down one of the most powerful healthcare executives in America may now face the death penalty. Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old accused of murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel last December, is now the target of a federal death penalty case. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has formally authorized federal prosecutors to pursue the death sentence—escalating the already high-stakes case into one of the most serious federal prosecutions in recent history. Mangione is currently facing both state and federal charges. The state case, being prosecuted in New York, includes murder and terrorism charges, but those come with a maximum sentence of life in prison—New York doesn't have the death penalty. That's where the federal case steps in. Federal prosecutors have charged Mangione with murder through the use of a firearm, which is a capital-eligible offense. According to Bondi, this wasn't just a murder — it was a public execution. “Luigi Mangione's murder of Brian Thompson — an innocent man and father of two young children — was a premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America,” she said in a statement. She cited the public nature of the killing, the alleged ideological motive, and the potential danger to others nearby as key reasons for pursuing the death penalty. The attack was chilling in its precision. Just before dawn on December 4th, Thompson left his Midtown hotel and began walking toward the Hilton across the street, where UnitedHealthcare was hosting its annual investor conference. He didn't make it far. Authorities say Mangione, wearing a mask and waiting in ambush, approached and opened fire — in the middle of Manhattan, with commuters and conference attendees all around. When investigators later recovered ammunition allegedly used in the shooting, they discovered something disturbing: each bullet was etched with the words “deny,” “defend,” and “depose.” Those phrases aren't random — they've long been used by critics of the insurance industry to describe how claims are delayed, disputed, and dismantled. Prosecutors say the shooting was more than just personal — it was political. Thompson wasn't just any executive. He had spent over two decades at Minnetonka-based UnitedHealthcare, serving as CEO for more than three years. The company covers over 49 million Americans and brought in more than $281 billion in revenue last year. It's the largest provider of Medicare Advantage plans and manages healthcare for both public and private sectors. Thompson was a major figure in a system both relied on and resented by millions. The murder rocked the business world, but the chaos didn't stop there. Back in Maple Grove, Minnesota — where Thompson lived with his wife and two sons — police responded to bomb threats at homes connected to the family within hours of the killing. Authorities believe the threats were hoaxes, but they sent a clear message: this wasn't over. Mangione fled New York after the shooting, kicking off a multi-state manhunt. It ended five days later in Altoona, Pennsylvania, where he was arrested at a McDonald's. Investigators say he was carrying a backpack with a gun matching the murder weapon and a notebook filled with writings critical of the health insurance industry. He was extradited to New York and has remained in custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn ever since. Since his arrest, Mangione has pleaded not guilty to all state charges. He hasn't yet been arraigned on the federal indictment, but he's agreed to a preliminary hearing under the Speedy Trial Act, which is set for April 18. While the legal case plays out, the killing has already sparked political and cultural ripples. In California, a group has launched what's called the "Luigi Mangione Initiative," a campaign aimed at banning so-called “delay, deny, defend” tactics by insurers. The group condemns violence but says the case has brought overdue attention to insurance industry abuses. As for Mangione, he now stands at the center of a rare and highly scrutinized federal death penalty case, one that's still unfolding in real time. #LuigiMangione #BrianThompson #FederalDeathPenalty #HealthcareIndustry Want to listen to ALL of our podcasts AD-FREE? Subscribe through APPLE PODCASTS, and try it for three days free: https://tinyurl.com/ycw626tj Follow Our Other Cases: https://www.truecrimetodaypod.com The latest on The Downfall of Diddy, The Trial of Karen Read, The Murder Of Maddie Soto, Catching the Long Island Serial Killer, Awaiting Admission: BTK's Unconfessed Crimes, Delphi Murders: Inside the Crime, Chad & Lori Daybell, The Murder of Ana Walshe, Alex Murdaugh, Bryan Kohberger, Lucy Letby, Kouri Richins, Malevolent Mormon Mommys, The Menendez Brothers: Quest For Justice, The Murder of Stephen Smith, The Murder of Madeline Kingsbury, The Murder Of Sandra Birchmore, and much more! Listen at https://www.truecrimetodaypod.com 

The gunman who shot down one of the most powerful healthcare executives in America may now face the death penalty. Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old accused of murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel last December, is now the target of a federal death penalty case. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has formally authorized federal prosecutors to pursue the death sentence—escalating the already high-stakes case into one of the most serious federal prosecutions in recent history. Mangione is currently facing both state and federal charges. The state case, being prosecuted in New York, includes murder and terrorism charges, but those come with a maximum sentence of life in prison—New York doesn't have the death penalty. That's where the federal case steps in. Federal prosecutors have charged Mangione with murder through the use of a firearm, which is a capital-eligible offense. According to Bondi, this wasn't just a murder — it was a public execution. “Luigi Mangione's murder of Brian Thompson — an innocent man and father of two young children — was a premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America,” she said in a statement. She cited the public nature of the killing, the alleged ideological motive, and the potential danger to others nearby as key reasons for pursuing the death penalty. The attack was chilling in its precision. Just before dawn on December 4th, Thompson left his Midtown hotel and began walking toward the Hilton across the street, where UnitedHealthcare was hosting its annual investor conference. He didn't make it far. Authorities say Mangione, wearing a mask and waiting in ambush, approached and opened fire — in the middle of Manhattan, with commuters and conference attendees all around. When investigators later recovered ammunition allegedly used in the shooting, they discovered something disturbing: each bullet was etched with the words “deny,” “defend,” and “depose.” Those phrases aren't random — they've long been used by critics of the insurance industry to describe how claims are delayed, disputed, and dismantled. Prosecutors say the shooting was more than just personal — it was political. Thompson wasn't just any executive. He had spent over two decades at Minnetonka-based UnitedHealthcare, serving as CEO for more than three years. The company covers over 49 million Americans and brought in more than $281 billion in revenue last year. It's the largest provider of Medicare Advantage plans and manages healthcare for both public and private sectors. Thompson was a major figure in a system both relied on and resented by millions. The murder rocked the business world, but the chaos didn't stop there. Back in Maple Grove, Minnesota — where Thompson lived with his wife and two sons — police responded to bomb threats at homes connected to the family within hours of the killing. Authorities believe the threats were hoaxes, but they sent a clear message: this wasn't over. Mangione fled New York after the shooting, kicking off a multi-state manhunt. It ended five days later in Altoona, Pennsylvania, where he was arrested at a McDonald's. Investigators say he was carrying a backpack with a gun matching the murder weapon and a notebook filled with writings critical of the health insurance industry. He was extradited to New York and has remained in custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn ever since. Since his arrest, Mangione has pleaded not guilty to all state charges. He hasn't yet been arraigned on the federal indictment, but he's agreed to a preliminary hearing under the Speedy Trial Act, which is set for April 18. While the legal case plays out, the killing has already sparked political and cultural ripples. In California, a group has launched what's called the "Luigi Mangione Initiative," a campaign aimed at banning so-called “delay, deny, defend” tactics by insurers. The group condemns violence but says the case has brought overdue attention to insurance industry abuses. As for Mangione, he now stands at the center of a rare and highly scrutinized federal death penalty case, one that's still unfolding in real time. #LuigiMangione #BrianThompson #FederalDeathPenalty #HealthcareIndustry Want to listen to ALL of our podcasts AD-FREE? Subscribe through APPLE PODCASTS, and try it for three days free: https://tinyurl.com/ycw626tj Follow Our Other Cases: https://www.truecrimetodaypod.com The latest on The Downfall of Diddy, The Trial of Karen Read, The Murder Of Maddie Soto, Catching the Long Island Serial Killer, Awaiting Admission: BTK's Unconfessed Crimes, Delphi Murders: Inside the Crime, Chad & Lori Daybell, The Murder of Ana Walshe, Alex Murdaugh, Bryan Kohberger, Lucy Letby, Kouri Richins, Malevolent Mormon Mommys, The Menendez Brothers: Quest For Justice, The Murder of Stephen Smith, The Murder of Madeline Kingsbury, The Murder Of Sandra Birchmore, and much more! Listen at https://www.truecrimetodaypod.com 

Marcia Peck was inspired by the rhythms and sounds of music echoed in language; her debut novel, Water Music: A Cape Cod Story, combines all of her passions – music, writing, and Cape Cod.The book has received critical acclaim and has received many book awards, including Literary Titan Gold, National Indie Excellence Award, New England Book Festival Regional Lit Winner, and Feathered Quill Reviewers Choice Award Winner. Additionally, she was a finalist for American Writing Awards, Eric Hoffer Award Grand Prize, Firebird Book Awards, and Wishing Shelf Book Awards. Pacifica Book Awards designated it as a “Notable Book” and her book was long-listed by both Historical Fiction Company Book-of-the-Year Award and Somerset Book Awards.Peck grew up in New Jersey and summered in Cape Cod. Her love for Cape Cod has been a strong and deep current throughout her life. She and her sisters still return to the house their father built in Orleans. She lives in Minnetonka, Minnesota with her husband and two verynaughty dogs For more information, please see: www.marciapeck.com.Give this a listen! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Fire toppled top ranked Minnetonka to advance to the State Tourney this week. Their head coach Randy Koeppl, joined Vineeta on the WCCO Morning News to discuss this magical run and why it means so much to one family. Volunteer Coach Jason Jensen.

Join me in this hands-on herbal kitchen session as I'll be featuring four of my favorite herbs for the pleasure body: Ginger, Damiana, Rose Petals, and Cacao—each chosen for their ability to increase blood flow, awaken the senses, and nourish intimacy. These same methods can be adapted for different herbal needs, so feel free to get creative! Want to follow along? You'll need: powdered herbs, honey, a mixing spoon, a small jar, brandy, and labels. Let's get mixing and explore the magic of herbal aphrodisiacs together! ————  MY ONLINE COURSES

Welcome to the Car Dealership Guy Podcast. In this episode, I'm speaking with Ric Saatzer, General Manager of BMW of Minnetonka where we discuss: How to run a dealership like a $10B Company, How Lean Six Sigma has transformed his business, The role of a GM to build a winning culture of detail, and more secrets of a Lithia Motors General Manager. This episode of the Car Dealership Guy Podcast is brought to you by: 1. Mia - Your 24/7 AI receptionist who speaks like a human, not a robot. No more "press 1" - just natural conversations for sales, service, and support. She handles everything from car shopping to appointment scheduling in multiple languages, while integrating with your systems. Never miss another lead. Learn more @ https://www.mia.inc/ 2. CDG Recruiting - Building on the success of my industry job board, I'm launching CDG Recruiting — a more hands-on, personalized automotive recruiting service. Our team has decades of experience and has successfully placed over 1,000 roles in the automotive industry. So if you're ready to find your next rockstar employee, try CDG Recruiting today by visiting @ https://www.cdgrecruiting.com/ 3. OPENLANE - The world's leading online dealer marketplace for used cars, bringing you exclusive inventory, simple transactions, and better outcomes. Learn more @ https://www.openlane.com/

Mike and Dave chat about the standout players and teams at the Moose Goheen Tournament. Note: at 3:40 Mike states Minnetonka won the Tourney which was meant to be Moorhead. Players Mentioned: Bauer Sullivan, Dean Stevens, Colton Crook, Jake Burmis, Easton Dozark, Joey Cullen, Harrison Betker, Cash Hardie Braeden Eull, Vincent Staloch, Henry Buttweiler, John Gramer, Landon Medlin, Paxon Madill, Mason Schmenauer, Randy Dann, Beck Thoreson, Ethan Wise, Max Butter, Johan Johnston, George Mattson, Even Lyke, Luke Hauser, Carter Nash, Cam Coulter, and Cooper Corona....others

President Joe Biden and other mediators say a ceasefire deal has apparently been reached in Gaza. Locally, some Palestinian Minnesotans are cautiously optimistic about the agreement, noting previous agreements have fallen apart. Minnetonka artist Ragdha Skeik says she was able to speak with her family members in Gaza and Egypt this morning. That story and more in today's evening update from MPR News. Hosted by Emily Reese. Music by Gary Meister.

High School Sports Spotlight-Minnetonka AlpineSkiiing. full 310 Thu, 09 Jan 2025 16:22:35 +0000 bWzsAxsaWGYEKqvmbZ3U0JuCxPVXOiCM news The Morning News with Vineeta Sawkar news High School Sports Spotlight-Minnetonka AlpineSkiiing. Vineeta Sawkar brings you the day's most important and impactful news stories, talks with the news-makers and influencers we need to hear from, and brightens your day with fun anecdotes and stories along the way. Add in the latest weather, traffic, and sports…it's the best way to start the day! 2024 © 2021 Audacy, Inc. News False https://player.amperwavepodcasting.com

Today on the show the awesome Sean Goldsworthy. Goldy has coached both college and high school hockey in this market for over 27 years. Currently, he is the bench boss at Minnetonka where he has produced 2 State Championship teams. Fun stories today that include growing up as the son of a legendary player for the Minnesota North Stars.    Thanks to Minnesota Masonic Charities (https://mnmasoniccharities.org/) & OnX Maps (https://www.onxmaps.com/)

Today on the show the awesome Sean Goldsworthy. Goldy has coached both college and high school hockey in this market for over 27 years. Currently, he is the bench boss at Minnetonka where he has produced 2 State Championship teams. Fun stories today that include growing up as the son of a legendary player for the Minnesota North Stars.    Thanks to Minnesota Masonic Charities (https://mnmasoniccharities.org/) & OnX Maps (https://www.onxmaps.com/)

"I was also made in God's image."   About today's speaker: Tiffany McDonald is ordained in the United Methodist Church. She has served as a University Chaplain, solo pastor, and associate pastor, and is currently appointed to family leave. Tiffany lives in Minnetonka, MN with her husband and two daughters.  She writes at redheadedrev.org _____________________ Join us throughout the Advent season for Divine Feminine, a daily podcast Advent Calendar. How are we changed if we pray, "Our Mother, who art in Heaven," or, "We believe in one God, the Mother Almighty?" If humans are created in God's image, perhaps our understanding of and imagination for God has been too narrow. Every day in Advent, tune in to spend a few minutes with God's femininity – as we prepare for her humanity.  

This episode features Ann C. Lowry, MD, FACS, FASCRS, a colorectal surgeon from Minnetonka, Minnesota, who gave the Abcarian Lecture at Clinical Congress 2024. In her lecture, “Surgery Has Come a Long Way… Where Do We Go from Here?,” Dr. Lowry takes listeners on a journey through time, offering personal and professional perspectives on the past, present, and future of surgery. Talk about the podcast on social media using the hashtag #HouseofSurgery

Ben Bevis joins today's episode with practical tips for helping your kids embrace their God-given identity, gifts, and vision. He'll inspire you to make more memories with your own dad and identify committed mentors for your children. Don't miss Ben's insights on healing generational wounds, modeling adventure, and strengthening your relationship with your kids.   Key Takeaways   Take advantage of opportunities to adventure with your own father while you can.  Intentional fatherhood begins with mending wounds and healing resentment. Help your kids discover their God-given identity, gifts, and vision. You can't launch your kids alone; surround them with committed mentors to speak into their life.  Keep adventuring, both on your own and as a family.   Ben Bevis   Ben Bevis is passionate about helping the Next Generation to live out their faith in Jesus.  He is the founder and Executive Director of Encircled. He is leading a movement to get Mentor Circles (Dads included) around young people across the globe. He loves being active in the outdoors and lives in Minnetonka, Minnesota, with his “fabulous” wife and three “amazing” teenage children.   Key Quotes   22:55 - "When we're grounded in our identity in Christ, we can live more freely as fathers and as husbands and as brothers and sisters. And then as we think about our kids being bombarded by so many different voices at school, in the community, on their devices. We used to always tell our kids before they'd go on the bus, remember, you're a child of the risen King." 29:00 - "The more we can help young people to really think of a vision and goals and then apply that to make an impact in God's kingdom, it's this beautiful process in discovery because you never know what God might be up to in our kids lives. That has been meaningful for me, God, what have You put me on this earth to do? That's what I'm doing with Encircled is the pointed vision for what God put on my heart. I want to model that to my kids and be curious with them about what what God might be up to in their future."   Links from Today's Conversation   Send a Voice Message to DadAwesome Send me the DadAwesome December 2024 Vision Mailing Make a Tax-Deductible Gift FREE Encircled Parenting Resources Become an Encircled Guide [for your child or one that you know] Access Encircled Resources Access the Encircled Personal Journey App  Partner with Encircled   Connect with dadAWESOME   Make a Donation to dadAWESOME Join the dadAWESOME Prayer Team Receive weekly encouragement by texting "dad" to 651-370-8618

A manhunt for the gunman who killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson is now in its second day with newly emerged details that could begin to paint what is still a very fuzzy picture of who shot Thompson — and why.Thompson has worked for the Minnetonka-based insurance company since 2004 and his family lives in Maple Grove. He became the company's CEO three years ago.MPR News reporter Nicole Ki is in New York and joined Minnesota Now with the latest on the investigation. MPR News health reporter Erica Zurek shared more about Thompson's life and career.

Minnesota-based Cargill will lay off about 8,000 employees worldwide this winter, including 475 positions from its Minnetonka headquarters. And Minnesota state investigators say they have retrieved video from the phone of a man killed in a federal operation in 2021. It would be the only video that captures the confrontation between Winston Smith and members of a U.S. Marshals Service task force. Reports that people had seen the video prompted the BCA to do more to crack into the encrypted phone. This is the MPR News afternoon update, hosted by Emily Reese. Theme music by Gary Meister.

It's Prep Bowl week as we preview the big games with coaches Mark Esch of Minnetonka and Drew Potter of Staples-Motley. Plus, Sports columnist Chip Scoggins joins Randy on this week's Shaver's Prep Football Podcast.   Sponsored by TruStone Financial, Your Neighborhood Credit Union. It's true. (https://trustonefinancial.org), Aquarius Home Services (https://aquariushomeservices.com), & Culver's (https://www.culvers.com)

Dylan and Logan discuss Anoka's upset over Lakeville North in the State Football Quarterfinal and preview the upcoming matchup with Minnetonka. On the other side of the bracket, Shakopee and Maple Grove square off in the semi finals. There is a new volleyball champion in the great state of Minnesota after Lakeville South came back to defeat Champlin Park in five sets.

Dylan and Logan are joined by David Lavaque of the Star Tribune to discuss all that came with week seven in Minnesota Prep Football. We also preview the Maple Grove versus Minnetonka showdown this week. Which team had the toughest schedule this year?

In this episode of Speaking to Influence, Dr. Laura Sicola interviews Aundrea Mitchell, president of Customer Contact Services. Aundrea shares her experiences of handling a major error, turning a crisis into trust. Hear how she faced the challenge head-on, communicated transparently, and built trust through teamwork and honesty. It's a testament to the strength of partnership and the importance of owning up to mistakes.

Having a professional hockey playing father and uncle does not guarantee you success in the hockey world. Only hard work, sacrifice and dedication can get you there. Listen in as Mason and Beckett Hendrickson talk about their hockey journeys at this point in their careers. Mason plays in the MIAC with Gustavus Adolphus College and Beckett starts his carerr with the Minnesota Gophers this fall.  Chippewa Valley Ortho and Sport MedicineDedicated and committed to the health care needs of patients in Western Wisconsin since 1954. Riverside Bike and SkateEau Claire's hockey headquarters which is the oldest hockey store in the state of Wisconsin. Rolly's Coach ClubNorthwoods Therapy AssociatesTaking physical therapy to the next levelMarket & JohnsonAdding Value to Everything We DoDisclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.@TheBOSPodwww.thebreakoutsessions.com

This week we feature our most recent guests back because they just took home the dub at the PMTT Late Summer Showdown on Lake Minnetonka!!!! Congrats to Clayton Spiess and Nick Amorose for bring home the big check by boating 3 beautiful muskies on Tonka. We discuss the entire story behind how Clayton and Nick got it done from the lowest of lows to the highest of highs. You won't want to miss this one!The MOT crew then chops it up on the experience Gus and Max had at Tonka and how they managed to capitalize on some bites to secure another top 5 finish in a PMTT qualifier. This long format podcast is jam packed with stories, catches, tips, tactics, pre fishing talk, and tourney fishing strategy of everything that went right and wrong. We hope everyone enjoys this one and have a great Labor Day weekend!!!Tap in!https://sugsfishing.com/Clayton Spiess - Thistle Dew Outdoor AdventuresNick Amorose - Hammer Customs lures"In the ghetto, in the ghettoooooo" - Cartman

The MOT crew hops on to chop it up about a stellar weekend of musky fishing together in the northwoods. Combo of pre August full super moon + great weather systems rolling through made for action packed fishing. All the details are spilled out in this one as well as talking through Tonka PMTT and the recent National Championship Musky Open held in Eagle River. Special guest appearances from Clayton & Nick so grab a cold one and tap in!https://sugsfishing.com/

Join Gregg Thomas as he speaks with Gus Mantey of Northeast Wisconsin.  They discuss summer fishing, tournaments and bait presentations.  www.thornebros.com https://sugsfishing.com https://www.facebook.com/redoctoberbait/ www.llungenlures.com

This fall, some west metro voters will decide which party controls the state senate. Former DFL state senator Ann Johnson Stewart won Tuesday's Democratic primary in Senate District 45, which encompasses many cities around Lake Minnetonka. That means she will face Republican Kathleen Fowke in a special election caused by a game of political musical chairs. Fowke has said there needs to be more balance in state government and Johnson Stewart told MPR News Wednesday morning that she agrees. The race, with its implications for the legislature as a whole, is expected to draw significant spending.MPR News politics reporter Dana Ferguson joined host Cathy Wurzer and politics editor Brian Bakst to break down this race and the standout races for the state house.

Behind Mixly Cocktail Co. is a group of friends. Some met in college, others through work, but they all came together with their shared love of craft cocktails and thought they could offer a complex craft cocktail base that you could make at home. Whether you are making Mocktail or Cocktails, any of Mixly's 7 cocktail varieties or their new Spritz line will transport you to a craft cocktail bar experience at home.Stephanie's Dish Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.EPISODE TRANSCRIPT :Stephanie [00:00:16]:Hello, everybody, and welcome to dishing with Stephanie's dish. This is a Minnesota maker edition, which are always extra special to me because it's how I got started in the podcast space. I'm here with Jonna Rosbach, and she is the founder of Mixley, which is a we'll call it a cocktail concentrate. Is that what you would call it, Johnna? I think Johnna?Johnna [00:00:36]:I think you could. I mean, we still refer to it as a mixer, but it certainly is more concentrated than typically what you find on shelf.Stephanie [00:00:44]:And what it is is this delicious fruit forward mixer that you can mix with mocktails. You can have it in a cocktail. You can have it with sparkling wine. You can just have it with, you know, soda pop, really. If you wanted to have it with 7 Up, it would be equally delicious. What made you think that, like, this was a place in the market that there was a hole that you could fill with this product?Johnna [00:01:12]:So there was a couple things. I think the the first area was, well, we all we started the journey, when we set out to you know, wanting to do our own business, and we love the idea of cocktails. Me and my business partners, we love cocktails, and just kind of the faucet making great cocktail. And then we went to the shelf to see you know, curious what our mixers like these days. Yeah. And we were shocked to see, oh, oh my gosh.Stephanie [00:01:40]:There's bad.Johnna [00:01:41]:Bad. Really bad. Bad ingredients, bad branding, bad flavors, same old flavors. And so we were just really excited. 1, I think just let's clean up the ingredient deck. Like, we all know in every other beverage category, we've evolved. So let's 1, step 1. 2, let's bring exciting flavors, like what you would want to see at a craft, you know, at a great bar, at a you know, getting a craft cocktail.Johnna [00:02:06]:And then I think 3rd, this was I was pregnant at the time. The kind of sober, curious, any movement was just coming. So, like, let's make this versatile. Let's make this for everyone. So whether you're drinking or you're not, you can really make it your way and, you're not no one's having to feel left out, you know, if they're not drinking alcohol.Stephanie [00:02:27]:I think a lot of products too thought that they were gonna deliver on that message, but then kind of few did. Because if you weren't having them with alcohol, some of them didn't have the flavor punch. Others, if you were drinking them strictly as a mocktail, they were a little too much. Like, you guys really seem to hit the right balance. So go through your flavor profile because you've been pretty consistent too.Johnna [00:02:54]:Yeah. It's really about a balanced cocktail. So you're gonna have you know, you want the balance of the sweetness. So obviously, or tartness. Right? So the fruit, whether like the strawberry, pomegranate, you're gonna have some of that tartness. We wanna balance that then with a honey. So we used a honey in our simple syrup base, and that is really just gonna create a more balanced sweetness versus cane sugar can be really intense. And then the benefit to a lot of people do, you know, prefer honey as a sweetener these days over cane sugar and then acid.Johnna [00:03:28]:So, obviously, it's lemon or lime in all of our flavors, and that acidity is, not only part of a great cocktail or can be part of a great cocktail, but also for us, that is what acts as our kinda natural, stabilizer. Right? So we are shelf stable, but because we, you know, lean into some of those, you know, to the using fresh lime and lemon, it allows us to be shelf stable longer without having to add preservatives. So I think right. It's like the sweetness or tartness and then a really good acid. And then we do have a lot of, bring in a lot of, earthy flavors as well. So we have, like, the pineapple basil lime. So we're adding in, you know, the freshness of the babel basil or the mint, cucumbermint lime has that, you know, really, refreshing element. And same thing too, like, one of my favorites we just launched, as part of our spritz line is the elderflower mint.Johnna [00:04:26]:And that again, it's floral. It's refreshing with the mint. It's, yeah. So it's really all about, yeah, that combo to create a nice balanced cocktail.Stephanie [00:04:36]:So I'm talking with cofounder at Mixley, Jonna Rosbach, and you mentioned that you have this spritz line. It is a new we'll call it an extension. Is that fair? And why did you rebrand it and make it somewhat different looking than the traditional mixed line? I was curious what the thought process was there.Johnna [00:04:57]:We were really great summer, you know, sipper. And we felt too that this was not only do we want to, you know, jump into the spritz, scene with our Mixley take, And it was a fun truly, like, Megan, our my business partner who's our designer is just so creative, wanted to have fun and and see, you know, how a kind of different branding would do. But I think it's also just, you know, it's an interesting test for us of how does a a mixer that's for a single a single type of cocktail do versus the versatility message we've had with Mixley where you can make it with rum or tequila or vodka. Like, how does that resonate with consumers when it's, like, really easy? It's a spritz. You mix it with sparkling wine, and there you go. So we wanted to distinguish it a bit, have fun with it, and then also it's just interesting to see, yeah, how it performs.Stephanie [00:05:54]:Can you talk a little bit about that? Because, clearly to me, that seems like people that have a marketing background that are doing sorta AB testing that are really as interested in the brand packaging and the messaging as the actual love of the cocktail itself. So what was your background and your business partner's background getting here? Because it seems sort of packaged goods focused.Johnna [00:06:20]:You are correct. Very much. Yes. So my background is all CPG marketing. Came up through the agency world and then spent, years in in corporate marketing at, you know, 2 different big food, CPG firms. And Megan, my business partner, the same. So, yes, we have that background. Her background's design.Johnna [00:06:41]:My background is more the marketing communication. So some ways, that's very helpful. In some ways, you have to take everything that you learned in your big CPG world and forget that you learned it because it doesn't apply.Stephanie [00:06:53]:Yeah. To yeah. That's really interesting too because I think that's one of the if I'm talking with people that are manufacturing products or talking about products and that's their background, I usually do tell them that. And you also don't have the depth of, staff or even the depth of resources or time. So you have to kinda move a lot faster than people are comfortable with.Johnna [00:07:19]:Yeah. Move faster. And I think even as you think about, like, the marketing tactics, things that we would do, it's like, it's so different when you already have brand awareness and distribution. Yeah. We made a lot of mistakes early on. I was like, oh, that lesson, that thing I thought I did really well. Like, that does not apply to Mixley to what we're doing. SoStephanie [00:07:40]:What's an example of that?Johnna [00:07:44]:I would say, for example okay. Spending on influencers. Right? Everyone wants to spend on influencers. And I'm not to say that's wrong. However, it is a very different game when you don't have, on shelf presence. Also, if you're just gonna do and true if you're truly going to invest in d two c, you have to do it right. So if you're having influencers drive to your website, you really have to be focused. And I think when we launched, we were trying to do too much.Johnna [00:08:12]:We were doing retail and a little d two c. So you're just your spend in a in a tactic like influencer marketing is really not gonna go far in the stage we were at, and that's where we learned to focus and prioritize early on. We launched we went heavy into retail, and that's what we did. So influencers at our stage of the game don't make sense. What makes sense is in store tastings. So that's where if I'm gonna spend a $100, I'm better spending in it on a brand ambassador doing an in store tasting versusStephanie [00:08:41]:an insJohnna [00:08:41]:you know, a a Instagram post.Stephanie [00:08:43]:Yeah. And I think too, maybe you can speak to this. I feel like the influencer world is changing, we're discovering that real influence is hard to come by and isn't always with the person with the 100,000 followers in a marketplace. Like, that maybe those micro influencers and doing an event or something that's different might have actual more influence than the gal that has, you know, 50,000 followers and hold something up, and her pretty smile just for lack of a better way of saying that. But do you know what I'm saying?Johnna [00:09:25]:Yeah. We're all become very savvy. I think we're very now we look at anyone who posts on and, again, it's not it's not putting anyone down, but we do look at that. I think we're all skeptical, or we know now. They're getting paid to say that. That's not you know, it doesn't feel authentic anymore. And I think too I think you're right in where the real influences, and I will say influence in as it relates to purchase for us has been in store tastings, has been, local media. So partners like you and whenever, you know, we get the opportunity to be on local media or do an interview, we see a direct correlation between that and sales.Johnna [00:10:05]:Events are also critical for us, not only in, obviously, you're in front of the consumer, but people word-of-mouth. Like, oh, I saw someone. They just told me to come down here. Like, these are really powerful tools that, you know, maybe to a sophisticated digital marketer, like, they may seem outdated, but they're tried and true. And for us right now, they work.Stephanie [00:10:25]:Well and you and I kind of I mean, originally, I think we met just through the cocktails and packaged goods in Minnesota Makers. But then, you come to the Stone Arch Festival. You come to a lot of these festivals that I program. And I try to explain to these packaged good culinary folks, and a lot of them are local and many Minnesota or Midwest made. You look at those events as an opportunity to sample, to trial, and create brand awareness. So, yes, selling your product there is awesome. And if you can get a return on your investment, that's great. That's what everybody strives for.Stephanie [00:11:03]:But that it's also a big marketing opportunity to get in front of so many people. And we see a lot of people that come to these events with their packages or their items and they don't sample, I'm like, oh, wow. You know, that is, like, you need to sample. Well, we just don't wanna give product away to the looky loos. It's like, well, those looky loos are also purchasers. You have to see them as the consumer that they are even though they're standing there with holding their kid's hand, who's eating a sweaty popsicle, and holding a beer. They still shop too.Johanna [00:11:36]:Mhmm. That's that's that's exactly it. And a lot of these events, you know, one, I I will tell you, like because we have, you know, 7, 8 different flavors. I love when people are like, can I try one of each one? I'm like, please. Yeah. Because then, like, I'm gonna upsell you on my bundle package. No. But I I do think too, like, some of these events, you know, we'll hear, well, you know, I don't wanna carry around glass right now.Johnna [00:11:56]:Do you have a card I can take with you? Like, where can I find you? And I really do believe that these people, they're taking a picture of our booth, that they're taking our card. It was a great interaction. They may not buy us now, but I think we're top of mind. And when they see us, you know, on shelf at France 44, like, hopefully, that's when they purchase. SoStephanie [00:12:14]:I was thinking about you guys recently because it seems natural with the launch of the spritz line that you might consider canned cocktails down the road. Is that something you're thinking about? Or I was even thinking about we're seeing now, like, Tattersall just launched a bunch of cocktails in a I call it a slap bag for lack of a better term. It just says the party girl in me. But the sort of canned, you miss the can, you miss the bottle, and it's just in this plastic thing that has a handle that you can carry around. You can put it on the boat. Are any of those packaging options something you guys might look at down the road or getting into the full canned cocktail?Johnna [00:12:55]:I think so. I think packaging, for sure. You look at other brands, mixer brands like Filthy, and right there in that bag. And it's really great for if you think about expansion into on premise and airlines. So I think for sure, packaging we would look at. In terms of ready to drink cocktails in a can, you know, the market's so saturated right now that I could see it maybe one day we've scaled and we're in thousands of doors, you know, retailers nationwide, and people want to see that from Mixley. But at this point, I think it it would just be too expensive to try to stand out in the noise. But I think that's really smart.Stephanie [00:13:36]:Yeah. I think that's really smart, actually. And, also, there is so many cool packaging options. Like, if you think of the Capri sun size or even if you think of the small canned, not cans, box. Small box like wine. I could just see that being a cool packaging idea for you. And, also, one of the things I love is you do have this rainbow sort of branding. And when you put all of the line together in a packaging item, it really feels like you're getting a lot.Stephanie [00:14:05]:I think you have the is it $45 for your do you call it your pride package?Johnna [00:14:10]:Rainbow package. Yeah. Okay. This month, we'll call it pride.Stephanie [00:14:14]:Yeah. And I always think of it as pride because I haveJohnna [00:14:16]:to beStephanie [00:14:16]:a daughter. So when I hear rainbow, like, I think, oh, okay. Right away. Yep. I thought that was a really clever way to market that because it gave you an opportunity to try all of them. Yeah. So the the jury is probably still out because the, spritz line is new. But so far, are you having fun with it? Does it feel like it was a good risk to take?Johnna [00:14:38]:Yeah. We are. We're having fun with it. We already flew through our 1st batch, like, what we produce, so that's great. Yep. So we're on track to, like, what we projected it to do for us, which is awesome. And, we launched it primarily as, you know, an event in kind of online product. We are in some boot in some shelves here in the Twin Cities, but we just wanted to kinda see again, like, how can we do this as a test and and do a smaller kind of more, you know, smaller launch, and then we'll see from there if it sticks with us for the long term.Stephanie [00:15:11]:I do love the idea of being able to have that on an airline as you're going on a trip. Like, I know Sun Country has had a good relationship with Crooked Water Spirits and our friend Heather Manley. But, like, I could see a spritzy kind of version of that and really covering all those warm weather destinations. And, well, that would be so fun, wouldn't it?Johnna [00:15:34]:Yes. From your lips to God's ears. Right? So, no. I agree. And that certainly I think, we know we can produce in 4 ounce bottles. We have that capability. And so, obviously, glass isn't ideal for our airlines. So back to your, you know, the packaging conversation, that's something that we're looking at and and how do we how do we break into that market? Because I agree.Johnna [00:15:56]:I think we've all been, you know, on a plane and wanting a good cocktail, and your mixers are pretty limited. It's, you know, a Coke, a Sprite, whatever they got, or a bloody, you know, a Bloody Mary. But, yeah.Stephanie [00:16:08]:Alright. So if anybody's listening, because we have a lot of fans, the Sun Country route, that would be great. And you could mix it with, they like to support local female driven companies, so that's exciting. So talk about you mentioned one of the spritzes is sort of an elderflower profile. What's the other one? It's orange. Right?Johnna [00:16:26]:Bitter orange cherry. So that's really, you know, reminiscent of, Aperol spritz. So, yeah. It's, it's, again, it's other it's another well balanced, mixer. And it really is just like this delightful summer sipper. And you can mix it. You don't need to add sparkling wine. You can just add, you know, soda water.Johnna [00:16:47]:Yep. And it still works. So, yeah.Stephanie [00:16:49]:Okay. So let me ask you. Are there any products or, like, packaged goods that you're using or seeing lately that you're just like and doesn't necessarily have to be food. That you're like, oh, I just love this product. It's so clever.Johnna [00:17:09]:Oh, the olive oil. The the, The green bottle? Yes. What is that?Stephanie [00:17:16]:Grossi, is it called?Johnna [00:17:18]:Yes. I mean, the branding, the packaging, the storytelling of the Spanish olive oil, it actually tastes good. Like, it is I'm obsessed, and that's another one too where I thought once I saw it, I go, yes. Another category that has really yet to evolve. And we're in packaging. Right? Like, I'm sure all you know, the olive oil is not all pretty equal equal. But just in terms of the design, I was like, this is so exciting.Stephanie [00:17:46]:And it feels super fresh and, like, you have to try it.Johnna [00:17:51]:Yeah.Stephanie [00:17:51]:Because everybody buys olive oil, but there is something about that product. And I actually haven't purchased it yet because I'm, like, the person who would be like, oh, that's just a marketing gimmick. You can because I'm just like because I'm cooking all the time. Yeah. But I do think it's super clever. And, also, when we look at, you know, who's coming back into the kitchen and learning to cook, It's a lot of millennials and date nights and kind of there's a more fun factor. And I think that olive oil has hit that right on the head. So that's a really good one.Stephanie [00:18:20]:I hadn't thought about that before. In town, are you, like, are you doing anything fun, or do you have any restaurants that you love? Or what do you do for fun?Johnna [00:18:30]:Oh my well, we you know, I will say this. For fun, I've got kiddos. So we're up Minnetonka. Minnetonka. Maynard's is, like, our standard. So if anyone from Maynard's is listening, I've been trying to get, like, Mixley on the menu. I'm like, I would love to enjoy my own mixer while I'm out here. But Sure.Johnna [00:18:47]:I feel like it just feels like that's the summer place out my way. But I did just eatStephanie [00:18:52]:at Starling. Oh, did youJohnna [00:18:53]:love it? I loved it. I mean, the food was great and the cocktails were fabulous. What was so interesting is they had, some, like, cranberry Red Bull based cocktails, which I have not had. Tell about party days, vodka Red Bulls. Yeah. It's been it's been a minute since I've had that. But anyway, it was on their cocktail list and surprisingly, it was really, really quite delicious.Stephanie [00:19:17]:Okay. I might have to check that out because it sounds a little weird. I'm like, okay. I feel alright.Johanna [00:19:24]:Alright. I know. On this beautiful elevated space, we have Red Bull on the menu. I have to try it. So yeah.Stephanie [00:19:30]:I still feel like whenever we get something on the, like, west of Saint Louis Park I live in Golden Valley. So, you know, we're still building out kind of the scene on the west side. And there's always been a good kinda late culture party scene, but and and maybe, like, we don't maybe it's not even fine dining, but just getting something that's a step above the chains feels so welcome and so right on right now.Johanna [00:19:58]:Absolutely. Yeah. Like, I I mean so even like an Excelsior ley line, that's just been such a really nice addition to the Excelsior food scene. You know, I guessStephanie [00:20:09]:Ivy and Hopkins is another one.Johanna [00:20:11]:Pink Ivy and Hopkins. Fabulous. Yeah. Amazing cocktails. And I would say to excellent food, and the value for what you get there is incredible. I love that space. Yeah.Stephanie [00:20:21]:Yeah. I do too. It's fun to see. And I'm excited for, the new, Grocers Table sister restaurant next door. I think that'll be fun.Johanna [00:20:31]:And Yeah. No. Same. That's it. And I just can't believe like, I'm so excited. You know, Lindsay has done so well with Grocer's Table. I'm excited for her to expand. Every time I go in that place, it is just buzzing.Johanna [00:20:43]:So I'm sure she's gonna do a great job, yeah, with the dinner concept.Stephanie [00:20:47]:Yeah. I think so too. Well, it's been super fun to catch up with you. I just I saw the spritz, and I thought, oh, I can't wait to talk to her about about them and why she did it the way she did it and what her thinking is. And I knew you'd have some really insightful thoughts about it. And I'm excited to try it too. I haven't tried it yet, but I promise I will.Johanna [00:21:05]:Okay. Well, I think I can hook you up if you need it. If you need a permit.Stephanie [00:21:09]:Guys soon. So Yes. Alright.Johanna [00:21:10]:Well, thank you, Stephanie. I appreciate it.Stephanie [00:21:12]:It's always fun to have you on. Thanks so much.Johanna [00:21:14]:Yeah. Likewise. Thanks. Bye bye. Bye. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit stephaniehansen.substack.com/subscribe

Behind Mixly Cocktail Co. is a group of friends. Some met in college, others through work, but they all came together with their shared love of craft cocktails and thought they could offer a complex craft cocktail base that you could make at home. Whether you are making Mocktail or Cocktails, any of Mixly's 7 cocktail varieties or their new Spritz line will transport you to a craft cocktail bar experience at home.Stephanie's Dish Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.EPISODE TRANSCRIPT :Stephanie [00:00:16]:Hello, everybody, and welcome to dishing with Stephanie's dish. This is a Minnesota maker edition, which are always extra special to me because it's how I got started in the podcast space. I'm here with Jonna Rosbach, and she is the founder of Mixley, which is a we'll call it a cocktail concentrate. Is that what you would call it, Johnna? I think Johnna?Johnna [00:00:36]:I think you could. I mean, we still refer to it as a mixer, but it certainly is more concentrated than typically what you find on shelf.Stephanie [00:00:44]:And what it is is this delicious fruit forward mixer that you can mix with mocktails. You can have it in a cocktail. You can have it with sparkling wine. You can just have it with, you know, soda pop, really. If you wanted to have it with 7 Up, it would be equally delicious. What made you think that, like, this was a place in the market that there was a hole that you could fill with this product?Johnna [00:01:12]:So there was a couple things. I think the the first area was, well, we all we started the journey, when we set out to you know, wanting to do our own business, and we love the idea of cocktails. Me and my business partners, we love cocktails, and just kind of the faucet making great cocktail. And then we went to the shelf to see you know, curious what our mixers like these days. Yeah. And we were shocked to see, oh, oh my gosh.Stephanie [00:01:40]:There's bad.Johnna [00:01:41]:Bad. Really bad. Bad ingredients, bad branding, bad flavors, same old flavors. And so we were just really excited. 1, I think just let's clean up the ingredient deck. Like, we all know in every other beverage category, we've evolved. So let's 1, step 1. 2, let's bring exciting flavors, like what you would want to see at a craft, you know, at a great bar, at a you know, getting a craft cocktail.Johnna [00:02:06]:And then I think 3rd, this was I was pregnant at the time. The kind of sober, curious, any movement was just coming. So, like, let's make this versatile. Let's make this for everyone. So whether you're drinking or you're not, you can really make it your way and, you're not no one's having to feel left out, you know, if they're not drinking alcohol.Stephanie [00:02:27]:I think a lot of products too thought that they were gonna deliver on that message, but then kind of few did. Because if you weren't having them with alcohol, some of them didn't have the flavor punch. Others, if you were drinking them strictly as a mocktail, they were a little too much. Like, you guys really seem to hit the right balance. So go through your flavor profile because you've been pretty consistent too.Johnna [00:02:54]:Yeah. It's really about a balanced cocktail. So you're gonna have you know, you want the balance of the sweetness. So obviously, or tartness. Right? So the fruit, whether like the strawberry, pomegranate, you're gonna have some of that tartness. We wanna balance that then with a honey. So we used a honey in our simple syrup base, and that is really just gonna create a more balanced sweetness versus cane sugar can be really intense. And then the benefit to a lot of people do, you know, prefer honey as a sweetener these days over cane sugar and then acid.Johnna [00:03:28]:So, obviously, it's lemon or lime in all of our flavors, and that acidity is, not only part of a great cocktail or can be part of a great cocktail, but also for us, that is what acts as our kinda natural, stabilizer. Right? So we are shelf stable, but because we, you know, lean into some of those, you know, to the using fresh lime and lemon, it allows us to be shelf stable longer without having to add preservatives. So I think right. It's like the sweetness or tartness and then a really good acid. And then we do have a lot of, bring in a lot of, earthy flavors as well. So we have, like, the pineapple basil lime. So we're adding in, you know, the freshness of the babel basil or the mint, cucumbermint lime has that, you know, really, refreshing element. And same thing too, like, one of my favorites we just launched, as part of our spritz line is the elderflower mint.Johnna [00:04:26]:And that again, it's floral. It's refreshing with the mint. It's, yeah. So it's really all about, yeah, that combo to create a nice balanced cocktail.Stephanie [00:04:36]:So I'm talking with cofounder at Mixley, Jonna Rosbach, and you mentioned that you have this spritz line. It is a new we'll call it an extension. Is that fair? And why did you rebrand it and make it somewhat different looking than the traditional mixed line? I was curious what the thought process was there.Johnna [00:04:57]:We were really great summer, you know, sipper. And we felt too that this was not only do we want to, you know, jump into the spritz, scene with our Mixley take, And it was a fun truly, like, Megan, our my business partner who's our designer is just so creative, wanted to have fun and and see, you know, how a kind of different branding would do. But I think it's also just, you know, it's an interesting test for us of how does a a mixer that's for a single a single type of cocktail do versus the versatility message we've had with Mixley where you can make it with rum or tequila or vodka. Like, how does that resonate with consumers when it's, like, really easy? It's a spritz. You mix it with sparkling wine, and there you go. So we wanted to distinguish it a bit, have fun with it, and then also it's just interesting to see, yeah, how it performs.Stephanie [00:05:54]:Can you talk a little bit about that? Because, clearly to me, that seems like people that have a marketing background that are doing sorta AB testing that are really as interested in the brand packaging and the messaging as the actual love of the cocktail itself. So what was your background and your business partner's background getting here? Because it seems sort of packaged goods focused.Johnna [00:06:20]:You are correct. Very much. Yes. So my background is all CPG marketing. Came up through the agency world and then spent, years in in corporate marketing at, you know, 2 different big food, CPG firms. And Megan, my business partner, the same. So, yes, we have that background. Her background's design.Johnna [00:06:41]:My background is more the marketing communication. So some ways, that's very helpful. In some ways, you have to take everything that you learned in your big CPG world and forget that you learned it because it doesn't apply.Stephanie [00:06:53]:Yeah. To yeah. That's really interesting too because I think that's one of the if I'm talking with people that are manufacturing products or talking about products and that's their background, I usually do tell them that. And you also don't have the depth of, staff or even the depth of resources or time. So you have to kinda move a lot faster than people are comfortable with.Johnna [00:07:19]:Yeah. Move faster. And I think even as you think about, like, the marketing tactics, things that we would do, it's like, it's so different when you already have brand awareness and distribution. Yeah. We made a lot of mistakes early on. I was like, oh, that lesson, that thing I thought I did really well. Like, that does not apply to Mixley to what we're doing. SoStephanie [00:07:40]:What's an example of that?Johnna [00:07:44]:I would say, for example okay. Spending on influencers. Right? Everyone wants to spend on influencers. And I'm not to say that's wrong. However, it is a very different game when you don't have, on shelf presence. Also, if you're just gonna do and true if you're truly going to invest in d two c, you have to do it right. So if you're having influencers drive to your website, you really have to be focused. And I think when we launched, we were trying to do too much.Johnna [00:08:12]:We were doing retail and a little d two c. So you're just your spend in a in a tactic like influencer marketing is really not gonna go far in the stage we were at, and that's where we learned to focus and prioritize early on. We launched we went heavy into retail, and that's what we did. So influencers at our stage of the game don't make sense. What makes sense is in store tastings. So that's where if I'm gonna spend a $100, I'm better spending in it on a brand ambassador doing an in store tasting versusStephanie [00:08:41]:an insJohnna [00:08:41]:you know, a a Instagram post.Stephanie [00:08:43]:Yeah. And I think too, maybe you can speak to this. I feel like the influencer world is changing, we're discovering that real influence is hard to come by and isn't always with the person with the 100,000 followers in a marketplace. Like, that maybe those micro influencers and doing an event or something that's different might have actual more influence than the gal that has, you know, 50,000 followers and hold something up, and her pretty smile just for lack of a better way of saying that. But do you know what I'm saying?Johnna [00:09:25]:Yeah. We're all become very savvy. I think we're very now we look at anyone who posts on and, again, it's not it's not putting anyone down, but we do look at that. I think we're all skeptical, or we know now. They're getting paid to say that. That's not you know, it doesn't feel authentic anymore. And I think too I think you're right in where the real influences, and I will say influence in as it relates to purchase for us has been in store tastings, has been, local media. So partners like you and whenever, you know, we get the opportunity to be on local media or do an interview, we see a direct correlation between that and sales.Johnna [00:10:05]:Events are also critical for us, not only in, obviously, you're in front of the consumer, but people word-of-mouth. Like, oh, I saw someone. They just told me to come down here. Like, these are really powerful tools that, you know, maybe to a sophisticated digital marketer, like, they may seem outdated, but they're tried and true. And for us right now, they work.Stephanie [00:10:25]:Well and you and I kind of I mean, originally, I think we met just through the cocktails and packaged goods in Minnesota Makers. But then, you come to the Stone Arch Festival. You come to a lot of these festivals that I program. And I try to explain to these packaged good culinary folks, and a lot of them are local and many Minnesota or Midwest made. You look at those events as an opportunity to sample, to trial, and create brand awareness. So, yes, selling your product there is awesome. And if you can get a return on your investment, that's great. That's what everybody strives for.Stephanie [00:11:03]:But that it's also a big marketing opportunity to get in front of so many people. And we see a lot of people that come to these events with their packages or their items and they don't sample, I'm like, oh, wow. You know, that is, like, you need to sample. Well, we just don't wanna give product away to the looky loos. It's like, well, those looky loos are also purchasers. You have to see them as the consumer that they are even though they're standing there with holding their kid's hand, who's eating a sweaty popsicle, and holding a beer. They still shop too.Johanna [00:11:36]:Mhmm. That's that's that's exactly it. And a lot of these events, you know, one, I I will tell you, like because we have, you know, 7, 8 different flavors. I love when people are like, can I try one of each one? I'm like, please. Yeah. Because then, like, I'm gonna upsell you on my bundle package. No. But I I do think too, like, some of these events, you know, we'll hear, well, you know, I don't wanna carry around glass right now.Johnna [00:11:56]:Do you have a card I can take with you? Like, where can I find you? And I really do believe that these people, they're taking a picture of our booth, that they're taking our card. It was a great interaction. They may not buy us now, but I think we're top of mind. And when they see us, you know, on shelf at France 44, like, hopefully, that's when they purchase. SoStephanie [00:12:14]:I was thinking about you guys recently because it seems natural with the launch of the spritz line that you might consider canned cocktails down the road. Is that something you're thinking about? Or I was even thinking about we're seeing now, like, Tattersall just launched a bunch of cocktails in a I call it a slap bag for lack of a better term. It just says the party girl in me. But the sort of canned, you miss the can, you miss the bottle, and it's just in this plastic thing that has a handle that you can carry around. You can put it on the boat. Are any of those packaging options something you guys might look at down the road or getting into the full canned cocktail?Johnna [00:12:55]:I think so. I think packaging, for sure. You look at other brands, mixer brands like Filthy, and right there in that bag. And it's really great for if you think about expansion into on premise and airlines. So I think for sure, packaging we would look at. In terms of ready to drink cocktails in a can, you know, the market's so saturated right now that I could see it maybe one day we've scaled and we're in thousands of doors, you know, retailers nationwide, and people want to see that from Mixley. But at this point, I think it it would just be too expensive to try to stand out in the noise. But I think that's really smart.Stephanie [00:13:36]:Yeah. I think that's really smart, actually. And, also, there is so many cool packaging options. Like, if you think of the Capri sun size or even if you think of the small canned, not cans, box. Small box like wine. I could just see that being a cool packaging idea for you. And, also, one of the things I love is you do have this rainbow sort of branding. And when you put all of the line together in a packaging item, it really feels like you're getting a lot.Stephanie [00:14:05]:I think you have the is it $45 for your do you call it your pride package?Johnna [00:14:10]:Rainbow package. Yeah. Okay. This month, we'll call it pride.Stephanie [00:14:14]:Yeah. And I always think of it as pride because I haveJohnna [00:14:16]:to beStephanie [00:14:16]:a daughter. So when I hear rainbow, like, I think, oh, okay. Right away. Yep. I thought that was a really clever way to market that because it gave you an opportunity to try all of them. Yeah. So the the jury is probably still out because the, spritz line is new. But so far, are you having fun with it? Does it feel like it was a good risk to take?Johnna [00:14:38]:Yeah. We are. We're having fun with it. We already flew through our 1st batch, like, what we produce, so that's great. Yep. So we're on track to, like, what we projected it to do for us, which is awesome. And, we launched it primarily as, you know, an event in kind of online product. We are in some boot in some shelves here in the Twin Cities, but we just wanted to kinda see again, like, how can we do this as a test and and do a smaller kind of more, you know, smaller launch, and then we'll see from there if it sticks with us for the long term.Stephanie [00:15:11]:I do love the idea of being able to have that on an airline as you're going on a trip. Like, I know Sun Country has had a good relationship with Crooked Water Spirits and our friend Heather Manley. But, like, I could see a spritzy kind of version of that and really covering all those warm weather destinations. And, well, that would be so fun, wouldn't it?Johnna [00:15:34]:Yes. From your lips to God's ears. Right? So, no. I agree. And that certainly I think, we know we can produce in 4 ounce bottles. We have that capability. And so, obviously, glass isn't ideal for our airlines. So back to your, you know, the packaging conversation, that's something that we're looking at and and how do we how do we break into that market? Because I agree.Johnna [00:15:56]:I think we've all been, you know, on a plane and wanting a good cocktail, and your mixers are pretty limited. It's, you know, a Coke, a Sprite, whatever they got, or a bloody, you know, a Bloody Mary. But, yeah.Stephanie [00:16:08]:Alright. So if anybody's listening, because we have a lot of fans, the Sun Country route, that would be great. And you could mix it with, they like to support local female driven companies, so that's exciting. So talk about you mentioned one of the spritzes is sort of an elderflower profile. What's the other one? It's orange. Right?Johnna [00:16:26]:Bitter orange cherry. So that's really, you know, reminiscent of, Aperol spritz. So, yeah. It's, it's, again, it's other it's another well balanced, mixer. And it really is just like this delightful summer sipper. And you can mix it. You don't need to add sparkling wine. You can just add, you know, soda water.Johnna [00:16:47]:Yep. And it still works. So, yeah.Stephanie [00:16:49]:Okay. So let me ask you. Are there any products or, like, packaged goods that you're using or seeing lately that you're just like and doesn't necessarily have to be food. That you're like, oh, I just love this product. It's so clever.Johnna [00:17:09]:Oh, the olive oil. The the, The green bottle? Yes. What is that?Stephanie [00:17:16]:Grossi, is it called?Johnna [00:17:18]:Yes. I mean, the branding, the packaging, the storytelling of the Spanish olive oil, it actually tastes good. Like, it is I'm obsessed, and that's another one too where I thought once I saw it, I go, yes. Another category that has really yet to evolve. And we're in packaging. Right? Like, I'm sure all you know, the olive oil is not all pretty equal equal. But just in terms of the design, I was like, this is so exciting.Stephanie [00:17:46]:And it feels super fresh and, like, you have to try it.Johnna [00:17:51]:Yeah.Stephanie [00:17:51]:Because everybody buys olive oil, but there is something about that product. And I actually haven't purchased it yet because I'm, like, the person who would be like, oh, that's just a marketing gimmick. You can because I'm just like because I'm cooking all the time. Yeah. But I do think it's super clever. And, also, when we look at, you know, who's coming back into the kitchen and learning to cook, It's a lot of millennials and date nights and kind of there's a more fun factor. And I think that olive oil has hit that right on the head. So that's a really good one.Stephanie [00:18:20]:I hadn't thought about that before. In town, are you, like, are you doing anything fun, or do you have any restaurants that you love? Or what do you do for fun?Johnna [00:18:30]:Oh my well, we you know, I will say this. For fun, I've got kiddos. So we're up Minnetonka. Minnetonka. Maynard's is, like, our standard. So if anyone from Maynard's is listening, I've been trying to get, like, Mixley on the menu. I'm like, I would love to enjoy my own mixer while I'm out here. But Sure.Johnna [00:18:47]:I feel like it just feels like that's the summer place out my way. But I did just eatStephanie [00:18:52]:at Starling. Oh, did youJohnna [00:18:53]:love it? I loved it. I mean, the food was great and the cocktails were fabulous. What was so interesting is they had, some, like, cranberry Red Bull based cocktails, which I have not had. Tell about party days, vodka Red Bulls. Yeah. It's been it's been a minute since I've had that. But anyway, it was on their cocktail list and surprisingly, it was really, really quite delicious.Stephanie [00:19:17]:Okay. I might have to check that out because it sounds a little weird. I'm like, okay. I feel alright.Johanna [00:19:24]:Alright. I know. On this beautiful elevated space, we have Red Bull on the menu. I have to try it. So yeah.Stephanie [00:19:30]:I still feel like whenever we get something on the, like, west of Saint Louis Park I live in Golden Valley. So, you know, we're still building out kind of the scene on the west side. And there's always been a good kinda late culture party scene, but and and maybe, like, we don't maybe it's not even fine dining, but just getting something that's a step above the chains feels so welcome and so right on right now.Johanna [00:19:58]:Absolutely. Yeah. Like, I I mean so even like an Excelsior ley line, that's just been such a really nice addition to the Excelsior food scene. You know, I guessStephanie [00:20:09]:Ivy and Hopkins is another one.Johanna [00:20:11]:Pink Ivy and Hopkins. Fabulous. Yeah. Amazing cocktails. And I would say to excellent food, and the value for what you get there is incredible. I love that space. Yeah.Stephanie [00:20:21]:Yeah. I do too. It's fun to see. And I'm excited for, the new, Grocers Table sister restaurant next door. I think that'll be fun.Johanna [00:20:31]:And Yeah. No. Same. That's it. And I just can't believe like, I'm so excited. You know, Lindsay has done so well with Grocer's Table. I'm excited for her to expand. Every time I go in that place, it is just buzzing.Johanna [00:20:43]:So I'm sure she's gonna do a great job, yeah, with the dinner concept.Stephanie [00:20:47]:Yeah. I think so too. Well, it's been super fun to catch up with you. I just I saw the spritz, and I thought, oh, I can't wait to talk to her about about them and why she did it the way she did it and what her thinking is. And I knew you'd have some really insightful thoughts about it. And I'm excited to try it too. I haven't tried it yet, but I promise I will.Johanna [00:21:05]:Okay. Well, I think I can hook you up if you need it. If you need a permit.Stephanie [00:21:09]:Guys soon. So Yes. Alright.Johanna [00:21:10]:Well, thank you, Stephanie. I appreciate it.Stephanie [00:21:12]:It's always fun to have you on. Thanks so much.Johanna [00:21:14]:Yeah. Likewise. Thanks. Bye bye. Bye. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit stephaniehansen.substack.com/subscribe

Carrie chats with fellow Minnesotan and 2024 Olympian Matthew Wilkinson! They discuss Matt's journey from growing up in Minnetonka, becoming a 2X Division III champion at Carleton College, finishing his college career at the University of Minnesota as a Big Ten Champ, signing a pro contract with Under Armour Mission Run Dark Sky Distance, his recent achievements including becoming a US Olympian and running a personal best in the 3000m in Paris, and so much more!

Dr. Matt Koester // #FitnessAthleteFriday // www.ptonice.com  In today's episode of the PT on ICE Daily Show, Endurance Athlete faculty member Matt Koester discusses the difference that one degree can make when performing adjusts to a cyclist's bike fit. Take a listen to the episode or check out the full show notes on our blog at www.ptonice.com/blog If you're looking to learn from our Endurance Athlete division, check out our live physical therapy courses or our online physical therapy courses. Check out our entire list of continuing education courses for physical therapy including our physical therapy certifications by checking out our website. Don't forget about all of our FREE eBooks, prebuilt workshops, free CEUs, and other physical therapy continuing education on our Resources tab. EPISODE TRANSCRIPTION INTRODUCTIONHey everybody, Alan here, Chief Operating Officer at ICE. Thanks for listening to the P-10 ICE Daily Show. Before we jump into today's episode, let's give a big shout out to our show sponsor, Jane. in online clinic management software and EMR. The Jane team understands that getting started with new software can be overwhelming, but they want you to know that you're not alone. To ensure the onboarding process goes smoothly, Jane offers free data imports, personalized calls to set up your account, and unlimited phone, email, and chat support. With a transparent monthly subscription, you'll never be locked into a contract with Jane. If you're interested in learning more about Jane, or you want to book a personalized demo, head on over to jane.app.switch. And if you do decide to make the switch, don't forget to use our code ICEPT1MO at sign up to receive a one month free grace period on your new Jane account. MATT KOESTER Okay, we are live on Instagram and live on Facebook. Good morning, everybody. Welcome to another episode of the PT on Ice daily show. I am your host today, Dr. Matthew Keister. I am an elite faculty in the endurance athlete division with a specialty in bike fitting. So today I definitely am excited to step in and have a conversation about one of my favorite aspects of bike fitting. And that is the really nitty gritty small details that we love and we talk about every course and we get really into the weeds on. But I think sometimes to the outsider can be a little confusing. Before I step into that realm, though, I do want to take a second and highlight a few upcoming courses. This weekend, Jason London, my co-faculty, is going to be in Minnetonka, Minnesota. That course is pretty darn full. If there was any spots left to grab, it's probably the last second to do it, and they might not even be available. The next course we've got is in Bellingham, Washington. That is June 1st and 2nd. That course is sold out, and we're currently building out a wait list. We're also working on setting up a second course offering for that in the fall right now, but there's more details to come on that. And then we have another course set up. Next one coming in is July 27th and 28th in Parker, Colorado. That is going to be an awesome course. Just an easy place to get to in Denver. Always good to ride around there and get some time outside in the mountains. So super stoked for that one as well. That's it. That's it for the upcoming courses right now that I wanted to talk through. THE DIFFERENCE OF ONE DEGREE WITH BIKE FITTING Let's get into the title of today. I called it one degree away and I think When we think about like one degree, first of all, the margin of error for that with our measurements is often really, really hard to overcome. It can be incredibly hard to take a look at somebody and say, I'm going to make a one degree change on this and think that that's going to be clinically significant or meaningful to their pain or their experience. It gets a little bit different when we talk about bike fitting, though. When we talk about bike fitting, we're often using a little bit more precise measurements. We're using laser levels. We're using digital electronic levels, things that give us really specific data. And then when we think about the other part of bike fitting, when we make that adjustment to whatever componentry it is on the bike, and I'm going to talk through two specific cases in a moment, but whether it's the pedals or it's the seat, when we go to make adjustments there, that adjustment, while small at the instrument, one, two degrees, has upstream effects or downstream effects that are pretty pronounced when you extrapolate that one degree as it gets further and further away from the axis in which you made the change. So I think sometimes that's the missing piece when we try to have conversations about making a one degree change or a two degree change to something really small. So I mentioned we're gonna go through two different cases and I think the first one is the one that is oftentimes the trickiest when we're actually at the course. We spend a ton of time in the course talking about the art of trying to improve somebody's pedal stroke so that their legs are driving more up and down like pistons and less with dynamic changes or aberrant motions that are in the frontal plane. So knee valgus or going more into abduction. We try to kind of eliminate those things because any power that isn't going straight down the pedals is wasted. So one of the ways that we typically will make a change to get somebody into a better position or consistently riding in a better position is we'll add shims to their shoes. The shim is like, I mean, think about it the way like you would shim anything. It's a, it's a little wedge. It's thicker on one side than it is on the other. And it goes right underneath the shoe or sometimes inside the shoe. We can put that on the medial aspect of the foot. If we want to push that knee out a little bit into more abduction and stop a little, stop some of that abduction or potentially dynamic valgus. We can also, for the individual who rides with their knees pushed out a little bit, We may have to solve other things around the hip and the low back, but for that individual, we can also shim laterally and drive the knee in some to create some stability and drive them into the more neutral up and down position. Every single time that we break out one of these wedges though, they seem like, how could that thing make the change? It is one degree or it's one and a half degrees. And I think that's where things get lost a little bit. It's not the one degree made at the foot that makes the impact. It's what that one degree does when you extrapolate that 12, 18 inches up through somebody's shin bone. When you take it up through all that to the knee, we see some changes. And I grabbed this old-fashioned measuring tool. I had to pull it out of the dirt to get it here. But if we have our goniometer, we have it set up, and I make at the bottom, from a perfect 180, if I make a one degree change and I push that thing over. Down here, that is almost a non-measurable, hard to even see that change happen. But when we get up here towards the top, it's pretty crazy how that one degree change, just in this amount of space, moved us out probably four to five millimeters. Or for those who like freedom units, that's more in the quarter inch range. Many people's tibias are not this length. They'll think even further, take that out even more. All of a sudden now that person whose knee was riding like a half inch or a little bit more outside of what we'd want in a neutral position, as one degree change down here might have a dramatic shift at the knee. So it's really cool when you actually see it. And every time we put it, we put one underneath the client's shoe as fit as ourselves. I think we're constantly amazed. that we put that thing in and we're like, well, we'll see how this goes. And then it's amazing how much different it is and the patient can feel it too. They'll be like, yeah, that feels really good. My foot feels really supported. And you're like, okay, that one degree really did it, did it great. Another really key case for this, there's been research done by Andy Pruitt, who's kind of the godfather of bike fitting. He's done a ton of the leg work for the style of fitting that we do nowadays. When he was early on in his career and he started to really put a lot of content out for this and put a lot of effort and research behind it, he got partnered with Specialized. They're one of the largest bike brands in the country and they wanted him to help create what they considered their body geometry line. The body geometry line was essentially a best attempt to create the best contact points on the bike possible. So that's the cleats, or the feet, so the shoes, the seat, and the handlebars, or like the grips. So they put a ton of effort into their shoes. What they found after just time and time again testing folks, they found that everybody benefited from some level of a medial shim in the shoe. So they were like, over and over and over again, if everybody's benefiting from this and we're getting less adduction and a more piston-like vertical motion, why don't we just build this into the shoes? At this point, they actually do. Specialized, with all of their shoes, the Torch is one of their most, like their flagship and most consistently sold shoes, is baked in with a three degree medial shim to take up some of that flexibility in the foot so that the power we're putting down isn't lost in these aberrant motions, it's more direct into the pedal and it's nice and sturdy. So, that's one of the main changes that came out of the research from Andy Pruitt and Specialized. And I think it just kind of goes to that point of, we know how impactful a degree can be. The person who's dealing with knee pain that is definitely coming from these constant, shifty, aberrant motions, we start to clean that up. We start to get a cleaner picture of what's going on. That all starts with a one degree change. Now, I think the interesting one and the more pronounced version of this is actually at the seat, though. So we're not talking about now adding components or putting new things onto somebody's bike. We are talking about just making an adjustment to tip or tilt the seat. If we bring the nose down, which is a pretty common change for a lot of riders, it makes pretty pronounced changes in low back pain as well as some of the perineal pressures. So you can imagine that if this was the front of my seat and it's tipped up, there's going to create a lot of excess pressure in the perineum. This is a great conversation for any of our pelvic physical therapists to step into because the ramifications of sustained pressure in those areas is definitely in their ballpark and certainly outside of mine, especially if I make the changes and it doesn't quite get what I want. However, when we bring that seat down to try and fix those problems, we want it level or potentially slightly nose down. It's usually like one to two degrees. The reason we want that one to two degrees nose down is because what it allows the person to do is achieve a more relative anterior tilt. They're able to get out of this posteriorly locked lumbar flexion and roll a little bit forward and get into a little bit more favorable position to take stress off the low back when they're riding. This is a space where you go to make your adjustment and you put a electronic level on their seat with a nice level platform on top, and you might make a tiny little adjustment, one degree down. And in that moment, the client is sitting there going like, why did I come in here for this? That was the tiniest little adjustment I've ever seen. And then they hop back on and it's incredible how much better they feel. And the reason for that is the same thing that I already explained at the knee. When we're talking about a one degree change at the axis where you make the change, it has a lot of ramifications upstream. So I'm gonna use my Sangoniometer example. If I look at a one degree change, so let's just say I wanted to get somebody's shoulders more upright, get their back out of some flexion. I make a one degree change nose down. At this point, I've got my quarter inch, maybe a little bit more at this point. Think about somebody's torso being almost double this. and then consider the fact that we might have made a two degree change. I've already got a half inch here. By the time I get to the shoulders, I've probably got a full inch or more change. And that's just a rough estimate, assuming that the person's body was a super rigid straight line. Think about the fact that we have this chain link of vertebrae going up. If you can reduce stress up each one as it goes, you actually can get even more range of motion out of that. So it's pretty profound when you take somebody from a locked out lumbar spine position make a one degree change to something that's sitting right underneath their pelvis. It allows their pelvis to get into a one degree better position, but what it does up the chain is pretty incredible. You'll have somebody immediately go, Oh, that feels so much better. Like I don't feel that pressure underneath my butt anymore. That was really giving me numbness. Oh, I already don't feel that tension on my back. I don't, I feel like I can like get myself upright a little bit. I can get myself into a more neutral position and neutral coming in air quotes there. Cause it's a little bit different. Um, like we're not actually in lumbar spine neutral, but they get closer to it. And that can be the thing, getting out of that fully locked out position, getting into a slightly more neutral position is something that happens with a one degree change. So when we're talking to these folks and we're talking about the adjustments we want to make, it can almost sound really unexciting when we do our wrap up. We're saying, hey Sally, when you came in today, we made some adjustments to the bike. The first one we did is on your shoes, we actually added a shim to them. I put a one degree shim in there. And then when we went to the seat and we made our adjustments, we made a one degree change nose down and we actually slid it forward two millimeters. Those things don't sound really exciting when you say them out loud, but when you start to put together what those things are doing throughout the chain, throughout the whole body, bike fitting ends up becoming one of these things where we can make a very minute change now and have immediate, immediate reductions in pain, immediate improvements in performance, immediate changes in posture and positions and access to those positions. So getting into the nitty gritty, getting into the details, knowing that if you're going to make a one degree change or a two degree change, that it's going to have even bigger effects, talks even more to how important it is that we're accurate with those changes. If you are really, really interested in learning about making those changes, how to keep them accurate, how to make sure that we're not Throwing something else out of whack while we make one adjustment, I highly suggest you join us on the road. The BikeFit course is probably one of the most unorthodox courses in all of ice. It is the most niched down, it's just a bunch of people who love riding bikes and love tooling on bikes. And it's also folks who have absolutely no experience turning wrenches. People who come in who's first time using a torque wrench is in the course and we love that. It's a beautiful thing to have in the clinic and this is one of the main reasons why. It's those tiny adjustments that give us access to positions that we never would have had access to otherwise or would not have been able to fix even if we'd spent a ton of time in rehab when we could have just made the one degree change. Thanks y'all. Appreciate ya. OUTRO Hey, thanks for tuning in to the PT on ICE daily show. If you enjoyed this content, head on over to iTunes and leave us a review, and be sure to check us out on Facebook and Instagram at the Institute of Clinical Excellence. If you're interested in getting plugged into more ice content on a weekly basis while earning CEUs from home, check out our virtual ice online mentorship program at ptonice.com. While you're there, sign up for our Hump Day Hustling newsletter for a free email every Wednesday morning with our top five research articles and social media posts that we think are worth reading. Head over to ptonice.com and scroll to the bottom of the page to sign up.