Peter Steward Scholtes
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petescholtes.bsky.social
Peter Steward Scholtes
@petescholtes.bsky.social
950 followers 1.4K following 540 posts
I’ve written and taught. Profile photos from Sapsucker Farms Yellow Belly Cidery, Mora, Minnesota, USA, 2022. He/him.
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petescholtes.bsky.social
A protester with a Wu Tang Clan flag (“because they’re for the children”) blasted Black Sabbath and James Brown at an anti-kidnapping protest at ICE headquarters early Wednesday morning in St. Paul.
Man in toothy, blank-eyed horror mask waving Wu Tang Clan flag in front of group of peaceful protesters on easement near light rails station with red, white, and blue sign reading “Restore rule of law” in the distance.
November 20, 2025 at 6:10 AM
petescholtes.bsky.social
Had a great time at this — and @jakerudh.bsky.social’s set was a treat!
Me and Jenny smiling in coats outside Parkway Theater in Minneapolis, with John Waters and Jake Rudh on marquee in back, at night, with showtime of 7 p.m.
November 3, 2025 at 1:03 PM
petescholtes.bsky.social
Happy Halloween!
Smiling, glowing Jack-o-lantern in carved red pumpkins giving off steam on paint-pealed front step next to furry tarantula toy.
October 31, 2025 at 11:53 PM
petescholtes.bsky.social
New New Words open-mic Sunday at 5:30 in Minneapolis — come make some!
Photo of poster on bulletin board by Kevin Dewey, 2025: "OPEN MIC! NEW WORDS: A LITERARY, COMEDY, AND VARIETY OPEN MIC / BLACK FOREST INN 26th St. and Nicollet Ave. 5:30 pm on the fourth Sunday of every month. 2025 Dates: October 26th, November 23rd, December 28th. Come do stand-up or read poetry. Bring a friend and do a skit — or tell a story. Do what you want to do — it's your stage. Message newwordsopenmic on Instagram to sign up in advance — or sign up after 5pm."
October 25, 2025 at 9:37 PM
petescholtes.bsky.social
Preparation for @stereolabgroop.bsky.social @first-avenue.com — la resistance!
‘Resistance, Rebellion, and Death’ by Albert Camus, translated by Justin O’Brien, a 1961 book held in sun by window overlooking blanket flowers, and nuzzled by shorthaired black and gray striped kitten.
October 11, 2025 at 5:00 PM
petescholtes.bsky.social
If you've never considered adopting 2 or 3 kittens, I met 9 sweet ones yesterday who've been rescued and are looking for forever homes in Minnesota — sharing the Facebook link here! In the third photo, the 6 sibs are wrestling in pairs — this could be your life! www.facebook.com/share/p/1B2P...
Three kittens cuddling and looking at the camera in a scratching bowl.
October 5, 2025 at 7:12 PM
petescholtes.bsky.social
New New Words Sunday! Make this the kind of world where what you love happens!
Poster graphic: “Open mic! New Words: a comedy, literary, and variety open mic at the Black Forest Inn. Sunday, September 28th, 5:30 in the banquet hall. Come do stand-up — or read poetry. Bring a friend and do a skit — or tell a story. Do what you want to do — it’s your stage. Message newwordsopenmic on instagram to sign up in advance or sign up in person after 5 pm. 2025 calendar: The fourth Sunday of every month. October 26th, November 23rd, December 28th.
September 25, 2025 at 10:49 AM
petescholtes.bsky.social
This weekend’s ’O Brother, Where Art Thou?’ episode of ‘Blank Check’ happily coincided with the Laughing Waters bluegrass festival on Labor Day at Minnehaha Falls — a reminder that the scene is still alive and pickin’ a quarter century after the fluke hit soundtrack of all fluke hit soundtracks!
Four children and two dancers look on as a circle of lock-armed clog dancers twirl each other around, some with their feet in the air, and the Wild Goose Chase bluegrass band plays at the pavilion at Minnehaha Falls. Me, Jenny, and our smiling in front of the falls.
September 3, 2025 at 12:28 AM
petescholtes.bsky.social
Marched with Minneapolis neighbors today for gun reform!
Green and blue ribbons on a tree along the march route today, put up in support of the Annunciation community impacted by the mass shooting. Families with children and dogs march for gun reform around Lake Harriet ahead of us. Written on one person’s calves: “Fuck” and “Guns.” Chalk drawings and writing at Lake Harriet bandshell: “Love wins.”
September 1, 2025 at 11:41 PM
petescholtes.bsky.social
Poster from Minneapolis: “We rise again. Labor Day march at noon. Harriet Bandshell to Annunciation. Join us for a day of unity. A day of community. A day of hope. Together, we stand against gun violence and demand real reform. Join us as we rise again.”
Poster from Minneapolis: “We rise again. Labor Day march at noon. Harriet Bandshell to Annunciation. Join us for a day of unity. A day of community. A day of hope. Together, we stand against gun violence and demand real reform. Join us as we rise again.”
August 30, 2025 at 12:54 PM
petescholtes.bsky.social
New ‘New Words’ open mic Sunday in Minneapolis!
Poster photographed by Kevin Dewey: “New Words: a literary, comedy and variety open mic night at the Black Forest Inn - 1 E 26th St. and Nicollet, 5:30 p.m. Sunday, August 24th, in the banquet hall AND the fourth Sunday of every month. Come do stand-up — or read poetry! Bring a friend and do a skit — or tell a story. Do what you want to do — it’s your stage. Message newwordsopenmic on instagram to sign up in advance or sign up in person after 5 pm.
August 23, 2025 at 2:06 PM
petescholtes.bsky.social
Time for chores and three hours of @blankcheck.bsky.social on 1996’s ‘Fargo’! (Photo from 2019 anti-Trump protest in Minneapolis, by my friend Chris Valenty.)
Anti-Trump protest sign at a bar table in downtown Minneapolis in 2019, the night of the president’s visit to the Target Center, sign showing still of Frances McDormand looking somber from the 1996 movie ‘Fargo’ and the handwritten line: “And for what? For a little bit of money. There’s more to life than a little money, you know.”
August 22, 2025 at 12:23 AM
petescholtes.bsky.social
Loved our July 4 weekend in Winona with these humans and dog — love to you all in Milwaukee!
Me and family members smiling in selfie in front of a farmhouse yard. Bearded brother sitting with smiling mom. Bearded brother standing with dog looking up at him lovingly. Me and Mom against Winona landscape, smiling, with silvery clouds.
August 9, 2025 at 12:04 PM
petescholtes.bsky.social
Verified:
Screen capture showing congressional website with Article I ending at Section 8, leaving out 9 and 10.
August 6, 2025 at 3:51 PM
petescholtes.bsky.social
Had a magical time with family at the latest Circus Juventas show in St. Paul, one of the wonders of this city — catch ‘Lumiere’ through August 10!
Me and family smiling in crowd at the circus, including my cousin Chimgee Haltarhuu, a coach there! Circus performer balances inside a giant spinning metal hula hoop, flanked by others balancing on top of giant metal wheels! Acrobats hang from circus ceiling by their legs entwined with sheets!
August 4, 2025 at 2:34 PM
petescholtes.bsky.social
New new words Sunday! Freedom — use it or lose it!
Poster for Minneapolis event: “New Words: a literary, comedy, and variety open mic night at the Black Forest Inn, 1 East 26th St. and Nicollet, 5:30 in the banquet hall, Sunday July 27th. Read, do standup, or magic. Juggle. Dance. Sing. Do. Your. Thing! Message newwordsopenmic on instagram to sign up in advance - or sign up after 5pm”
July 27, 2025 at 12:12 AM
petescholtes.bsky.social
@hcnoel.bsky.social‘s rendering of @jamesgunn.bsky.social’s ‘Superman’ (2025), which was such a jolt of joy.
July 24, 2025 at 5:34 AM
petescholtes.bsky.social
Stood with people who love family and hate kidnapping yesterday!
Signs at Minneapolis march down Minnehaha against the supreme court’s ruling against universal injunctions protecting birthright citizenship: “No more deportations”; “I like my ice crushed”; “Silence = violence”; “Overturn SCOTUS ban on universal injunctions.” People marching with bicycles, baby strollers, rolling water stations, ‘Handmaid’s Tale’ costumes, and Palestinian flag. Signs at Minneapolis protest against the supreme court’s ruling against universal injunctions protecting birthright citizenship: “Born in the USA = citizen”; “Hands off workers, students, immigrants”; and mine: “You can’t disappear us unless you close your eyes.” Group on sidewalk in Lake Street, Minneapolis.
July 1, 2025 at 1:25 PM
petescholtes.bsky.social
Had a joyous time last Sunday at the New Words open mic at the Black Forest — thank you, Elliot, for making this space, and to all the performers (not all pictured)!
Jenny laughing as Kevin scratches his chin skeptically. Jed, Sarah, me, and Jenny, sitting and smiling for, I think, Kevin at the Black Forest, under a vined canopy. Jed told of growing oak trees in his fridge. Elliot hosts after nearly being allayed by an allergic reaction. He crowd-sourced 6 more ways to leave your lover. A speaker told amazing stories of what might be your body’s fate after you’re done with it.
July 1, 2025 at 3:15 AM
petescholtes.bsky.social
VIAL sent the kids gently slamming at a free show at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts Thursday, with good humor and good anger! Happy Pride!
Drummer of VIAL smiles at bassist as guitarist sings, and crowd boogies. Bassist and guitarist smile at each other in silhouette against a window at the MIA as people clap. VIAL, a guitar-bass-drum trio, play a large curved-ceiling room at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts with a crowd of mostly young, female-presenting people dancing and singing along. Crowd runs in circles around bassist on carpeted floor, picking each other up as they stumble.
June 27, 2025 at 2:28 PM
petescholtes.bsky.social
"The smartest thing to do is to build a wall around Manhattan."
Facebook post from radio host Todd Starnes: BULLETIN: Zohran Mamdani, a Muslim socialist who came to the US 7 years ago from Uganda, won tonight's Democrat primary and is one step closer to being the next mayor of New York City. Andrew Cuomo conceded - but said he might stage a third-party run in the Fall. Mamdani is pro-Palestinian and vowed to have Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrested if he set foot in the Big Apple. He also wants to completely defund the NYPD and create government-owned supermarkets. One Republican lawmaker said it would be vital for President Trump to provide financial assistance when the city collapses under the rule of a Muslim socialist. But I completely disagree. New York City voters chose a radical Muslim socialist. They must live with their consequences. Not a single penny of taxpayer money should be used to bail out the city. Not a penny. The smartest thing to do is to build a wall around Manhattan. The future of NYC is grim. I predict a mass exodus from Wall Street.
June 25, 2025 at 4:59 AM
petescholtes.bsky.social
More pictures!
Me and my friend John, him holding a U.S. flag, with thousands of others protesting in St. Paul. Me with my friend Wendy, of the Brass Solidarity band in St. Paul. Woman dressed as Statue of Liberty with sign: “Lady Liberty weeps.” Woman with sign, “Speak up for people with disabilities.”
June 14, 2025 at 10:11 PM
petescholtes.bsky.social
Stood with people who love kindness and hate dictatorship today!
Woman holds sign saying “We are not afraid,” and smiles, at the state capitol in St. Paul. She was the one who told us about the assassinations today, and Jenny and I thanked her and cried. Jenny and me with tens of thousands in a sea of U.S. flags at the “no kings” protest in St. Paul, U.S. smiling at the corner where the march route turned. Woman smiles with “Nope” sign, the E drawn to look like a crown. Signs: “Make America kind again,” and “Queens not kings.”
June 14, 2025 at 9:25 PM
petescholtes.bsky.social
Happy Pride! Celebrating with this amazing book by @jonsavage.bsky.social!
I took this photo of the 2024 hardcover copy of Jon Savage’s ‘The Secret Public,’ with the subtitle ‘How music moved queer culture from the margins to the mainstream,’ and with the sleeve note under the author’s name: “Author of ‘England’s Dreaming.”’ The main image on the cover is of a twentysomething Little Richard brushing his hair, apparently in a car, shirtless and pompadoured, in the center of a rectangular framing photo collage by Evan Gaffney that includes images of Grace Jones, Dusty Springfield, David Bowie, Liberace, and Elvis Presley, both elements overlapped by a ‘Gay is good’ button. I’m holding the book on the breezeway with Kai, a five-year-old white and gray cat, nuzzling it on a windowsill, against a screened outside of green and flowers and a heat pump. Orange bookmark from the Irreverent Bookworm in Minneapolis is peaking out the top of the book, which I resleeved for the picture so the black bottom is showing. Jenny gave me the book as a gift over the holidays, and I’ve treasured my slow progress through it as a relief from “everything.”
June 1, 2025 at 12:57 PM
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Remembering Jerry and other fallen veterans.
Gravestone at Fort Snelling National Cemetery of Gerald Woods, believed husband, father, and grandpa, with tiny U.S. flag donated by volunteers and flowers we brought.
May 26, 2025 at 8:54 PM