Today Is Racket’s 2nd Birthday and Our Gift to You Is This Friday Open Thread

Happy birthday to us.

Two years ago today, Racket published its first story: "24 Hours in Uptown," for which the four of us fanned out through Minneapolis's most overdiscussed not-a-neighborhood and noted what we saw, heard, and endured over the course of a day.

There was more to come on August 18, 2021. Em wrote a complaint about Tesla owners and a warning to restaurant customers about how the pandemic had changed dining out. Jay tackled the State Fair's laissez-faire Covid protocols. We ran our first poll: "Who Will Racket Disappoint First?" And we published our first Event Horizon,

We've grown a lot since then. Not staff-wise—there's still just the four of us. But in terms of our readership (you!) and the features we offer, we're no longer the squalling, red-faced infant we once were. We are a squalling, red-faced toddler, thank you very much.

But the open thread isn't about us, it's about you. So here's our open thread prompt for today: How has your life and your world changed since 2021?

Of course, feel free to ignore the prompt and talk about what you want. And if you insist on wishing us a happy birthday, we will accept your good wishes with out characteristic graciousness.

Oh, and I almost forgot until I saw Em's comment below, but we're celebrating our birthday IRL at Fair State Brewing Cooperative in NE Minneapolis on Saturday, August 26. We really hope to see bunches of you there.