You asked for it….
What people are saying about Tracy Davis:
“Hauntingly luminous…compelling…
a stunning example of her type.”
-The New York Times Book Review
“Irreverent yet wholesome . . . brazenly funny.”
-TV Guide
“Profoundly disturbing.”
- Lutheran Digest
So here I am, in the delightful town of Northfield, MN with my three daughters (two in college, one in high school). They are the joy of my life, although I don’t know why since they constantly make fun of me.
On the civic front, I’m able to indulge my Machiavellian vision—er, I mean, my sincere commitment to public service—on the Planning Commission for the City of Northfield. They haven’t thrown me out yet, although I’m sure there’s an anti-gadfly petition circulating around somewhere—at least in someone’s head.
I’m co-host of Locally Grown, an issues-oriented discussion blog with a companion radio show/podcast which airs weekly on KYMN 1080 AM and Carleton College’s KRLX 88.1 FM. I also have my own civic blog where I occasionally pontificate and enlighten (depending on my mood, and on one’s own interpretation).
Though I am frequently found at local watering holes along with other Northfielders with no visible means of support, I actually do have a real job. My obsession with oriental rugs and textiles has taken me through several incarnations, first as collector, then as dealer, retailer, and now as a producer and manufacturer. My company is GoodWeave-certified (no child labor), with workshops in India, Nepal, and Pakistan, employing from 30 to 100 people depending upon the time of year. It’s gratifying to work in a creative field with people from all over the world, experimenting with design ideas and coming up with new twists on a very old industry. It’s almost as much fun as describing our work as “a vertically-integrated specialty manufacturing company with expanding core competencies”.
In the past few years I’ve also spent some time volunteering in the textile conservation lab at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. It’s a treat to go behind the velvet ropes and get my hands on some of the MIA’s fabulous ethnographic and textile art. The Midwest isn’t exactly a hotbed of design or orientalia, so I feel like a fish out of water in both profession and avocation, but the Rockwellesque setting in which I’m able to live is worth the trade-off.
My past civic involvement includes serving as a hospice volunteer and on the Board of our local United Way; a stint (no; a six-year sentence) on the City’s Economic Development Authority; and as a founding member of both Northfield Citizens Online and the Northfield Enterprise Center. Northfield is a great place to live, work, and be involved in the community, and I don’t want to take this rare gem for granted.
Somewhere along the road of life I’ve accumulated three cats, a couple of chickens, a cockatiel, husband #2 (whom I like to introduce as “Lance, my current husband”), and three delightful stepchildren, along with a couple of adorable step-grandsons.
In my free time, if I remember correctly, I like to hang out in coffee shops and bookstores, travel, do genealogical research, go fishing, work in my pathetically neglected garden, and amble around the Arb. Between kids, work, and civic obligations, whatever time I can carve out for reading is spent with miscellaneous esoteric non-fiction, history, biography, poetry, and the occasional self-help book.
My other interests include architecture and decorative arts (I’m partial to the Vienna Secessionists), horology, and experimenting with essential plant oils for medicinal and cosmetic use. I have a thing for medieval European history. I enjoy hiking, biking, dancing, and cross-country skiing, and don’t do enough of any of them. My politics tend to have a libertarian flavor but can be somewhat unpredictable. I love old movies and old jazz. I’ve cultivated way too many tastes I can’t afford. I have an ongoing romance with coffee, but prefer the culture of tea. I experimented with communal living in my distant youth. I enjoy being with people, yet cherish my time alone. I dig technology and am very content to live in the 21st century. I think popular culture is sick, and I’m out to find or develop alternatives. I’m a contrarian by nature and gripe about nearly everything. Fortunately, I also have a sparkling sense of humor and refuse to take myself or anything else too seriously. It’s my only truly redeeming quality.
