So you have run out of videos to watch, books to read, friends to text and new recipes to cook. May I suggest discovering the ukulele? Learning how to play this simple stringed instrument may make the corona lockdown all seem worthwhile. You can actually learn the necessary chords and play your first song within 30 minutes. Yep, I'm not kidding. What makes the uke so … [Read more...]
Assistance League Boutique
As thrift stores go, the Assistance League boutique on 2090 E 3300 S has class. Items range from designer wedding dresses to signed artwork. Then there are the clerks—ladies whose sole purpose is to help customers. Classy stuff and classy clerks supporting a class act—the Assistance League of Salt Lake City. Most people only know about the store. But its proceeds support an … [Read more...]
Street Tai Chi Helping Homeless in Salt Lake City
First comes the coffee. Next comes the quiet. Then comes the tai chi. It is a combination that could change the world. Three times a week, a group of about 40 houseless people gather in the plaza of the Salt Lake City library. Houseless perhaps, but not homeless, because this tai chi community has been their home for the past three years. Men and women socialize and then set … [Read more...]
Here Comes Santa Claus
Being Santa Claus at Christmas means more than renting a red suit. It is a calling that transforms a person. Each Ho, Ho, Ho nurtures a spark that will twinkle the eye and warm the heart. Ed Keller knows this spark. He has been Santa Claus for the past 50 years, starting out in Helper and most recently journeying down from the North Pole to take up residence at the Santa … [Read more...]
Estate Sales Sell it All
All in the Family "Let's price this at twenty."Twenty it is because Sue Molitoris knows her stuff. Lots of stuff. Beaucoup stuff. Stuff. Stuff. Stuff. Sue owns All in the Family, an estate sale firm that oversees 95 estate sales a year in the Salt Lake area. An estate sale is more than a garage sale. It is the department store of one's life. On a recent weekend, Sue oversaw … [Read more...]
Artist Chris Bodily’s Expectations Surpassed in Successful Crowdfunded Graphic Novel Campaign
Ogden artist Chris Bodily is an illustrator whose cartoon drawings, including covers for Utah Stories, magazine have both a whimsical and realistic portrayal that defines his style. But wait, there's more! For the past three years, he has been working on a multi-volume graphic novel titled Black Lantern. It follows a group of paranormal investigators including a talking … [Read more...]
Z is for Zucchini
Zucchinis—Oh my! It is the end of summer, the time for gardeners to meditate on one of life's most perplexing questions—what do I do with all these zucchinis? It seems miraculous that one seed planted in the spring can produce a gazillion vegetables. Seed companies create this quandary when they put a dozen zucchini seeds in a pack. "If I have a dozen, I guess I should … [Read more...]
The Spy Who Loved Him: The Remaining Questions Behind Patrick Byrne’s Resignation from Overstock.com
Shades of Ian Fleming... Just as the author of the James Bond novels had his hero involved with a Russian agent in the Spy Who Loved Me, the recent resignation of CEO Patrick Byrne from Utah-based Overstock.com has all the intrigue of a spy novel. Byrne's story involves the Russian woman Maria Butina who is serving 18 months in federal prison on a technicality related to … [Read more...]
Swedetown
Welcome to Swedetown Salt Lake City, Utah—Swedetown is several thousand miles from Stockholm, and in many ways, it is also a couple thousand miles from downtown Salt Lake. If you haven't heard of it, don't be surprised. It is truly a hidden part of Utah. It is a several block section around Hot Springs Road and 1500 N. Still can't place it? Try thinking about the oil … [Read more...]
Is hemp the new cash crop?
Moab farmer going to pot Hemp in Moab? "I've been beating weeds down for years so I figured I might as well let them grow." Will Fryer, owner of Castle Creek Winery in Moab, isn't just talking about morning glories or goat head thorns. He is talking about weed with a capital W, otherwise known as hemp. Once a staple used in the manufacture of sailing ship rigging and … [Read more...]