Rapp Strategies Rundown – April
What we did, read, watched and thought about this month.
Todd R.: Last week before the Stanley Cup playoffs begin, and both the Wild and my wife’s beloved Bruins are on some pretty good streaks. Knocked off the last season of Killing Eve (B), Designated Survivor (B+) and now working my way through season five of Better Call Saul before hitting the new season. Plus, Barry has started its new season. Somehow, we keep getting dragged into Big Sky, which isn’t really that great but is incredibly watchable. Finally, the new John Sandford novel is out! My conclusion is that my leisure time has changed greatly in the two years of COVID-19.
Rich: April was highlighted by a trip to Scottsdale for golf and a trip to New York to spend the Easter Holiday with Kari’s sister and her spouse, and our two kids (David and Emma) and their significant others. Each trip was a lot of fun and much warmer than the cold, wet April weather in Minnesota.
I have continued to work on public safety issues in my role as a board member of All of Mpls. I am encouraged by recent progress by city officials, including Mayor Frey and the City Council. We all wish things were moving more quickly, but the city is making progress and we are all working to keep that momentum going.
Todd S.: I finally subscribed to Apple TV and have become an official “Ted Lasso” devotee — “As the man once said, the harder you work, the luckier you get.” While I find the show clever and inspiring, I find myself stifling more and more F-bombs throughout the day. I think Roy Kent is having a bad influence.
Sarah: April has been a bummer of a month for weather. My husband hasn’t gotten in the field yet, so we’ve been playing games and watching a lot to keep us distracted. I needed a new light-hearted binge so I started Silicon Valley on HBO Max. We also watched Explorer: The Last Tepui on Disney+ - if you liked Free Solo, this is a far more light-hearted project involving Alex Honnold. I finally indulged John’s desire the watch The Batman, which I think I ended up liking more than him! Beyond consuming a ton of TV, my sister and I took a road trip to Chicago for The Popcast Live, which was a blast. We spent the weekend thrifting, plant shopping and enjoying local coffee shops and wine bars.
Sean: The month of April included heavy ups and downs – driven primarily by the Timberwolves’ playoff performance. While we couldn’t have asked for a better season, the heartbreak in the playoffs was a sobering reminder that they are, in fact, still a Minnesota sports franchise.
Settling into Rapp Strategies this month has been an absolute joy and I am grateful for the warm welcome from the RSI staff, as well as all of our clients.
On the home front, I powered through HBO’s Tokyo Vice, finished A Tribe Called Quest biography, and watched my bank account slowly dwindle away as bills came due for our May wedding.
Anna: It was a month of favorites. Isaac and I enjoyed a romantic meal of char-grilled ribeye at The Rawls, the epitome of Southern fine dining and historic charm. At KBC, we went for the dreamy Frenchie burger (gouda, mushrooms, caramelized onions) and sampled the eye-flutter inducing coconut macarons. I also reread the true story of Corrie ten Boom told in her book The Hiding Place, which details the remarkable courage and faith her family showed hiding Jews in Holland during World War II – and even after they were discovered and sent to concentration camps. An amazing testimony of how the gospel shines in the darkest places. My brother came for a visit, which included a drive through the 350-acre Alabama Safari Park. Besides a mishap with the camels, it was fun to have zebras, llamas, ostriches and Watusi bulls with 8-foot-long horns wandering up to our car windows to be fed. Of course, the best part was hand-feeding the giraffes, which are even cuter than I imagined.
Cullen: The Wild continue to win, the days are (slowly) getting warmer, and fishing opener is right around the corner - needless to say, spirits are high heading into May. I got rolling on the second season of Bridgerton and was overwhelmed with nostalgia and disgust by White Hot: The Rise & Fall of Abercrombie & Fitch. I also found some much needed time to read. The Stranger in the Lifeboat was underwhelming, but The Silent Patient redefined my standards for psychological thrillers.
The rest of my month was spent preparing to relocate to Madison, WI where my girlfriend is pursuing her doctorate in nutritional biochemistry. I’m thrilled to be making the leap to a new city! I’ll miss Minnesota, but I’ll continue to work remotely for Rapp Strategies and plan to make regular visits back to the Twin Cities.
Kaylee: There were two clearly defined parts to my month: the one where I binge watched way too many series (think: Schitt's Creek and People of Earth), and when I suddenly realized that my impending move to Minnesota was now only a couple weeks away. So, in the latter half of the month, nostalgia for my life in Wisconsin hit me and I've tried to soak up the fun parts of living in the country with a bonfire and some star gazing.
Will:I enjoyed watching The Masters earlier this month, although with the recent weather I haven’t been out for my first round of the season yet. I finished another season of The Sopranos, and the end is almost in sight. Now, I’m procrastinating watching more so I still have more left. I’ve been reading the New Yorker and Into the Wild, which is engaging even when you know the ending from the start.
I decided to finally explore a few more podcasts this month. I’m a steady listener of The Daily, and an episodic listener of Pod Save America. I also tried Myths and Legends, a podcast where the hosts tell myths and legends from around the world, and the New Yorker’s politics podcast. Myths and Legends is odd and fun – I first listened to it while camping on the North Shore, so it brings back summer memories.
