Swing Town

Miss Z is such a great photographer, huh?


Swing Town
Originally uploaded by velo_city

I know what you're thinking, is it 1998 or something? (I'm not dumb, I know people were swing dancing long before then...like, 1996 at least! badum bum)

Kentucky Derby takes me back to my Bootheel youth of listening to Dad go on and on about how he touched Secretariat once and getting super dressed up for church, ... among other things (fried okra and driftwood come to mind).

I remember - I had this great big peach hat and my sister had the same one for one of our Easter outfits that my mom sewed and embroidered with our monograms and everything...I was SO disappointed that Easter wasn't as "dressy" here when I moved! I was truly culture shocked in many ways when I moved (as much as a 2nd grader could be), but man, I think the slobbification north of the mason dixon line hit me hardest, and I've been rebelling ever since. I am a rebel!

I keep on saying I should maybe talk a bit more about my pre-2nd grade non-st. louis life (including my initial paralyzing fear of escalators, another St. Louis first for me), but y'all can just infer what you like, alright?

I owe ya

Again with the being very busy!

Much to relate, pictures and high-heeled adventures to share. I had the most fun ever this weekend! A very lovely St. Louis weekend.

This blog will just have to wait a couple days, though!

I write about beer!

I am so proud.

Just some of the wonders (I mean that in the humblest way possible) can be found here.

Busy week this week with a busy weekend ahead w/ rehearsal, cinco de mayo and the kentucky derby. woo!

(Grocery) list

I just got back from Schnucks.
I was listening to "baby all the time" (a song I downloaded just b/c it was written in the 40's by an alumni of Mask and Wig, an all-male comedy group of which I was quite the fan in college) and it was just making me oh so sentimental. Probably because I've been reading all this Belz poetry stuff. I love it! It's so awesomely sappy but totally not at all. It's what I would write if I were a poet, and I'm not. But oh, if I were! Lucky for me, Mr. Belz has me covered. I am so bummed that he is moving away, and I don't even know the guy.*

In the interest of keeping up with life and stuff, this has been a week of robust kookiness.

List of the week:

• Earth day with Molly, the sportsprint girl and tshirt/sticker co-conspirator
• met the Trailnet guy, who is such a cool guy! You may remember him as "some guy named Phil" who got the gang to go on the *Friendly* Bike Club, that is having a "prom" next month, crazy
  
• Saw Urinetown at WashU
• presented with Britany, my mentee at urban future about "the importance of high school preparation for teens." Brittany rules.
  
• found out someone I knew not-too-but-somewhat-distantly was shot and killed
  

• immediately became SUPER worried that everyone I know&love could get shot at anytime
• I think I may still be a little worried about that still/forever, so whatever
• yuck.
  

• Mayor Swoboda is OK! He can talk and everything! what a blessing.
  
• have been slowly admitting to loved ones that I'm in High Fidelity, the musical

• and that I have a blog about it (nerd alert) but so do a lot of others! (but come see me!)

• Got an internship and am workin' hard at it (it feels so great! challenging and fun work, too. Is this heaven? no, its maplewood!)
• wrote a lot about beer
• listened to mostly Alicia Keys, daptone jukebox and cartalk
• twittered a lot
  
• got QUOTED in the RFT! I almost forgot that. I have buried the lead!
• got intouch with the Foam on Cherokee guy, finally

• beginning to talk about coworking with others is awesome

• couldn't find Snowflake - AGAIN. Very embarrassing loss of direction abilities
• rediscovered that the Vital Voice is sortof an awesome newspaper

• - like a JV rft, but in the best way imaginable. In the way that they can cover things that wouldn't be glitzy enough for the RFT, but that I want to know about! i.e. I found out that Spruill's still exists! Though I will probably never ever go b/c I basically can't.
  

• Found out that Randall's has pastis
• went dancing at Casa Loma...it was super packed and a v. good time. yay swing dancing. I'm comin on 10 years I've been going to that place...whoa.
  
• raspberry hefeweisen! (schlafly brewers have a blog??!)
  
• encouraged one of my best friends to move away and get married (it's insane that it would come to that)
• went to a baseball game and stayed the WHOLE time!
• hi celia! do you guys know celia? she is so cool AND she reads the MVG!
  
• talked a lot about arm-touching and its significance
  
• The Hat Mart appeared in the Kirkwood-Webster times! eerie.
• The feature article in this week's Sauce is awesome (but not online?). I heart this Edwardsville couple. Their quote about how anyone can pick up the equity on their house and move somewhere cool, but that they'd rather try staying an making Edwardsville cool really rang true to me in a lot of ways.
• found the perfect shoe
• had a really good cheeseburger at tiffany's
  
• ugh, can that be it, please?

I understand now why I like to spread out the posts.
I'm sure there's more I'll remember later, and hopefully I'll have the sense to post as it happens/occurs to me instead of in a ridiculous list! To everything there is a season.

Grocery list:
4 ramen 10-packs
2 yogurts
hawaiian bread
swiss cheese
2 boxes of instant oatmeal
(would've been pastis, but no surprise, Schnucks doesn't have it)


*full disclosure, I think I saw someone that looked like the sketch-portrait on his blog get off a bus on South Grand once. Is that weird?, I think it might be. Oh well!

Hectic

Life is an exciting thing.

I've got a lot on my plate as of 2 days ago, and I want to write about a lot of things for you kids (and for me -- seems like this time is one I'll want to remember and tell the grandkids about it, etc...). Gimme some time, and I'll be around. Got some lists to knock out. But y'all know you can find me on twitter/tumblr anyway if you're like, dying to know if I'm drinking a coffee or admiring Rhianna's keen and adventurous sense of fashion!
I know you are!

Crazy internet. Lord, I cannot imagine what it would've been like if my grandma had been able to Twitter Pearl Harbor, etc... I think my brain just exploded.

Converting to corndog mysticism

>Have you written your postcard for Joe's yet?

Just got off the phone with the riverfront times for an article about the place. Crazy blogs! They'll get you into some mixes, apparently.

Ooooh, Joe's closing makes me so grouchy, I'm sure I rambled on and on about how much respect I have for Joe's and how angry I am about its closure for longer than necessary. Bless that reporters heart. I recall griping about the cabaret license that puts tables in the middle of *my* dance floors, too. Ooo, I do know how to digress!

But what better opportunity than to remind you to write your letter about why you like Joe's?

Joe's Cafe c/o Christman Studios
6014 Kingsbury Ave
St. Louis, MO 63112


Can't wait to be interviewed again when the place re-opens, though I DO worry that all the press it may take to get it may open may get it too many visitors who won't be respectful, listen to the music, clean up their trash, and appreciate the neon signitude of it all. That's a better problem than the current situation, I guess, where no one can go, respectful or no.

Here's the code that's apparently causing the trouble.
14.01.060 C.O.L. license.

A "C.O.L. license" shall permit the consumption of intoxicating liquor and nonintoxicating beer between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 1:30 a.m. Tuesday through Saturday and between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 12:00 midnight on Saturday upon a premises, for which a drink license has not been issued, where food, beverages, or entertainment is sold or provided for compensation. It shall not be necessary for the operator of a premises where food, beverages, or entertainment is sold or provided for compensation to procure a C.O.L. license to allow intoxicating liquor or nonintoxicating beer to be consumed upon such premises between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. (Ord. 61289 § 2 (part), 1989.)

Hey! Are you a lawyer who loves live music? Maybe you can find a loophole, huh?

Also, 1989? Seriously?

So ok....I guess all frat parties with a cover are also illegal, too. Oh, and if I have a party on a Thursday where I might make my friends bring their own O'Doull's, but also make them give me a dollar to do a tap dance to "I've been workin' on the Railroad"...that would be illegal, too - between the hours of 10pm and 6am. (it just so happens I already have a choreographed dance to that song, so it's a natural choice) Grrr.

Oh whatever, I'm an outsider kid anyway. What do I know about such grown-up things? In the face of all the crazy bureaucracy/ordinances/whatever, just being hopeful seems like clapping your hands twice if you believe in fairies to bring Tinkerbell back to life.

Still, a little keepin' the faith surely ain't hurting anyone.

UPDATE: here's the article

Newspaper vs. Newspaper

I don't like the looks of this.

So, I went to hear Bob Dufy of StLPlatform.org (and others) speak at WashU's New Media Symposium.

Heard that the St. Louis Post Dispatch recently trademarked "The Platform."
This means that now the *original* platform has to find a new name b/c they didn't think to trademark. Not trademarking - ok, so it was a definite miss-step on the part of stlplatform.org... but does it have to come to this very shady and disappointing conclusion? Some sortof patent office game of capture the flag? Oh geez.

Still, I don't like to look for bad things. I really really really don't! It's just bad vibes. So I go, ok, let's look at the dates, I'm sure they will all line up and it will be all a very funny story!

Let's play calendar:

• December 07 (right after I found out the thing even existed -- through a high school connection, guilty) article on stlplatform.org in St. Louis Magazine.
• Fast forward to March 08 - The Platform(tm) on St. Louis Post dispatch goes live.
  

Ooo, I don't like that 3 month difference there. It makes me go, "hmm."

Now, I can't quite figure out how to work the US Gov't's trademark search, found HERE, to see when exactly the trademark was registered for the St. Louis Post Dispatch. I'd like to know that date!

I learned, quite excitingly at the symposium, that news outlets have been opening up things like files (notably, the JFK files, oooo), etc... to their readers, saying - "We can't find anything! See if you can find something."

I don't think I've disclosed this, but I named my favorite cat, Nancy Drew - so I'm guessing it goes without saying that I love a chance to sleuth!

So hey Scott and Blythe (my two readers -- if you're not one of them, you try, too! and email me) - can you figure out how to search for a trademark's date? I don't want to point fingers, I don't want to scowl at anyone, I just want to know. And if anyone is in the wrong here (I'm no lawyer, so I'm talking about breaking Natural Law here I guess), I just want them to know that we the people, know.

Hrmph.

Ubiquitous!?

This is hilarious. And wonderful.

"In fact, there are some interesting things on that blog, including a cameo by local civic treasure The Ubiquitous Lori White."

And kindof embarassing (since it was a plug for my friend Ryan's writing workshop!) -- but in a good way.
So, I love 52nd city's blog - they're really achieving what they set out to do, b/c it has really brought some great things into my life - and I just can't plug them enough. Thomas Crone et al, I salute you.

Had no idea that just being friendly could be so noteworthy. It's easy to be a civic treasure! Everyone should try.

(Note, I'm still not a big deal. Just the same, let it not be forgotten that I am the #11 resource on "The Bend and Snap" on the ENTIRE INTERNET -- according to the The Google. )

Also, please sign up to Ryan's writing workshop! He is a very lovely and sharp fella and I he'll be in the next issue of 52nd interviewing his grandpa. The issue's theme? Sexy.

Color me intrigued.

On a related note - have you done your part to SAVE JOE'S yet?

A more appropriate about me section

"I'm from St. Louis. I live in St. Louis. I like to dance. That's me on the left. I like to talk to you about the StL, cities, and cool things. I like to dream of a futuristic St. Louis that's kept an eye on its past. Does that make sense? I don't know. This is my blog." is out.
Though it is true.

Time to simplify.

I am St. Louis.

The *Friendly* Bike Club

I know all you cool kids have been riding in this since you got off training wheels, but I just got a chance to participate in this awesomely weird St. Louis full-moon tradition. They're called the FBC, and they are really good at bikes. We rode from turtle park to carondelet park and back. That's a long way for this gal, but it was totally worth it to get dressed up and go. I do love riding bikes in cities.

When my pal Roz came to visit me here in St. Louis, she mentioned how she liked that this town has a lot of fun in which a girl (or guy) can participate. I always thought that there was more to DO in those big coastal cities like, new york?!!?! wink wink. Whatever, to each his own - stl's a do-it-yourself town, and ain't it grand?

So, here's the FBC through my wobbly camera.

I wish I could've gotten more takes of the group in its entirety. There were something like 60+ people riding their bikes down Macklind, it was pretty great. I was definitely at the tail-end of the ride, and had the privilege of explaining what the heck was going on to all the local folk. It was funny - and friendly!

See you next full moon!

Energy Drink Project featured on SlideShare!

Energy Drink Project featured on SlideShare!
Originally uploaded by lolololori

I'm not really sure what it means to be featured on SlideShare, but I have been! (Still investigating as to whether it's a good or a bad thing that 342 people have seen the thing and 16 people have actually downloaded it) It's for a project I've been working on for an internship assignment at an ad agency here in St. Louis. My, my, my, the job market. Don't get me started!

So yeah, I still maintain that I am not a big deal, but I will just take it that I did a good job/people like it. I'm pretty proud of it, actually.

Sidenote: there was a discussion on the twitter led more or less by MissRogue (whose new site looks so great! and who I greatly admire.), about how women often struggle with self-promotion. I will admit, this felt a little awkward. This on top of a meeting I just had with an old high school pal where she reccomended to me the book, "Women Don't Ask". Is this making mountains out of molehills? I don't know about that - I'm slightly on the well-versed side of things as far as feminist theory goes, and I'd say probably not. Maybe I'm just hesitant to put my work out there for all to judge. Who isn't? Who knows! I'm looking to get hired in St. Louis, so I can stay in this town I love. No shame in that!

Speaking of the devil, I've gotta get to work on my resume.

Openness and comments

Hey!
Mr. G over at Stltoday.com is talking about comment moderation. Now, if you're not sortof somewhat into the whole blogging thing, you're probably like, whatever.

Still indulge me - I love comments.
Who doesn't?! To me, its the equivalent of commenting on a magazine cover in the grocery line ("Gah, Aniston's hair is always flat! Is that supposed to be pretty?") & having someone else say, "Hey, you leave Jennifer Aniston alone, Brad Pitt broke her heart!!" And then conversation happens. Usually (with, as always, the exception of crazy folk) these conversations are either hilarious or pleasant, but sometimes it gets life-changingly insightful and/or mean&angry. Same with blog comments.

Reminds me of the Dane Cook Sneeze story.
Dane talks like a boy, so watch out, there's swearing. But it's funny.



Is this life imitating blog, or blog imitating life?! Who cares. It is hilarious.

So far it's just me and my 2 blog-friends (old high school cohorts) who comment on each other's blogs -- occasionally I get a comment from someone outside my teenage schemers and I just get so excited! I actually really like the angry ones. Whatever, I like'em all.

My favorite (and longest -- woo 6 comments or something, half-mine. ) comment stream though was about tshirts. I feel strongly about tshirts, and so do others, apparently. There was some almost-healthy discussion, too. I'm conflicted about anonymous commenters (as you could probably tell by the above tshirt spree, I don't want you to be anonymous b/c I wanna talk to you, not your keyboard, y'know?) . A lot of my non-close-dear-I-know-their-mom-type friend commenters are anonymous, and I like their opinions, and would prob miss out on'em if I made everyone say who they were...or at least what their email address was.

Can you imagine having this grocery store conversation, only someone put a paper bag on their head or ran away immediately after responding to how you were on Team Angelina? It would be silly.

Meh, I'm done being meta.

Red Lipstick Project

I've always wanted to do this, so no time like the present.
(full disclosure: I was inspired by Lauren's fierce red lips in the season premiere of The Hills - the lipstick that broke this camel's back!)

I'm going to wear a red lipstick every day for a month and see what happens. Maybe I'll think a positive thought about the world whenever I put it on, too.
It might change my life.

Could lipstick change a life?
check twitter.com/lolololori - I'll most likely flickr it, too - and we'll see.

ps I'd like to blog a little bit more about my career "journey", but it feels a lil' too overexposed, and it can get sticky. Stinks though, I know that the whole post-grad "chicken/egg" issue that liberal arts smarty-pants encounter could really be beneficial to someone who's maybe a step or two behind me. I know me 2 years ago would've loved that - to read about the nitty gritty. And frankly, me now would just love to see what other folks like me did to get that foot in that proverbial door!

Maybe I'll suck it up sometime and own up to the fact that my being a step or two behind the stuffed might actually be something others could learn from...and maybe that's more beneficial than this old-school smoke screening. Meh. I don't make the rules, malheureusement. "Behind" is a relative term, anyway!

pps I also would dare to say - since I posture some sort of Ricky Florida-esque commentary in this here web log, might as well come full circle here, folks - that this whole career journey thing is particularly symptomatic of what I hate to say may be a disease - "Insularitis" I'd deem it - that St. Louis, my dear St. Louis, is suffering from. Sigh.

Maybe I DO want to be a Lawyer

I mean, seriously, maybe I do.

"In contrast to the disappointment raised by our elected officials, law students from across the country have responded to the call to work for social justice in the Gulf Coast."
the humid haney rant: The Student Hurricane Network (SHN)



That's what the law is there for, right? Are all lawyers bad? I will have to talk to my friends about this. Would definitely turn my dream of being creative director of my own local boutique ad firm on its head, but .... well, I'll look into it.

Oooh, but LSATS are sure hard.

Gah, can't I just do both? Will be looking into how to take action on these fronts.

Complicated life

I'm sure I've posted this before, but I just wanna be this guy today.
I'm gonna try my best tonight at the Full Moon bike ride with the Friendly(ed.) Bike Club. Exciting that it is on a Friday.

Now, I owe this lil' chronicle a little more than a stream of youtube, and though I have gears a turnin' in my noggin...to everything there is a season. So until the world makes a little more sense, or the full moon goes away (or both!) -- enjoy the video.

Get you some a'that!

I saw this Really Awesome country rap (name check's Tim McGraw and the CMAs) video over here, under the headline (title?) "The Obama Effect" -- ?


All due respect, but I think that's giving Obama a liiiitttttle too much credit. But hey, if that is the case, bless him and his unifying ways, and I mean that in all seriousness! I tend to think it was maybe just the effect of some kind, everyday people, not some (extremely, ridiculously, like whoa) well marketed Harvard Law School fella with no voting record's mere presence on CNN giving a misquoted re-reading of "The Little Engine That Could." Sure that engine could climb that mountain, but could he croon? (and by croon, I mean vote in a consistent way b/c he has voted enough to have consistency)

Don't give your credit all to Obama - that's all I'm saying. But I guess Obama (or Will.I.am singing Obama's word) would tell me that I "can" give myself the credit. Well I do, and Barry Obama's got nothing to do with it, thankyouverymuch.

My horoscope said I should try to not be a grouch today...oops! I am feeling grouchy!

Well, if anyone thinks they can whip me up a batch of Obama Kool-aid to drink (I'll especially need it if he wins the nomination, and it will especially have to be made from a nice sugary policy-based powder...I also like watermelon flavor, fyi) -- whip it up!

Gah. I'm sorry! Politics are so obnoxious to me right now.

Good News!

Do-Nuts Drive-In St. Louis, MO on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Flickr has improved my life today.

THE Donut sign on Chippewa is returning!


From agilitynut on flickr -- (it pays to see if anyone's responded to your comments, as I did for the first time today):
"It's some sort of Route 66 grant. But since my post, I've spoken to the sign shop. The guy working on it is very much a preservationist and he assures me that the sign will be back up, one way or another, in June."

Yay! This is good!

Moonvertising

It's not real!



It is kindof brilliant though. It's for Rolling Rock Beer! Those beer advertisers. What do they do all day? Can I do it, too?

What the heck is a schmoopie?

D@mn the Man, Save Joes!

The forces of mediocrity are at it again.

"The Man/City Hall" has closed down Joe's!


Noooooo!

Get out your pens, people!
I'm surprised to have not seen this anywhere else.

Here's the owner's letter/plea.

" Hello everyone,

As you probably already know, Joe's Cafe is currently closed and will
continue to be "on vacation". In order for us to reopen we will need
to obtain a permit for the "consumption of liquor" from both the city
and the state.

Some of you have offered to be of help, so we'd like to ask all of you
to send a few kind words of support ( a postcard is fine) to:

Joe's Cafe c/o Christman Studios
6014 Kingsbury Ave
St. Louis, MO 63112

The sooner the better! Proving to the city that there is a strong
basis of support for Joe's Cafe could go a long way in helping us to
reopen.

Thank you,

Bill Christman
Andrew Pryor
Kevin Christman"

Sigh! In the name of all that is good, please write a letter! (or 100)

UPDATE: If you'd like to offer a few kind words of support to Joe's, but don't feel like dealing with stamps and paper, put your words in the comments below (or email'em to me) and I'll send'em on through.

My day with Roz - a double date with St. Louis

Y'all wish you were riding with us today!

I had so much fun running around town with my college pal, Roz. She's just as cool as way way cooler than I remember (hadn't seen her in 2+ years!)...and she is pretty cool. Can't say enough about this girl. Delaware should be proud to have produced her! I'm also glad her Dad, who went to SLU med school, sent her to me with such enthusiasm for St. Louis! I'm glad in general today, though I am exHAUSTED.

I'll definitely be posting a'plenty later about our trip today, with a few pictures. The order particular of our sightseeing was the most noteworthy for us, also pretty hilarious and pretty perfect. Gosh I miss my Penn friends a LOT sometimes/all the time. You forget what wonderful people you get to say are your friend when they're all so spread out across the frickin' globe. Lucky world. (Roz is going to Uganda soon - and blogging about it - so if you're into that, you know there will be links)

So, we absolutely didn't fit everything in, and barely went to any bars, so I'm hoping to take her out for a congratulatory cocktail after her med school interview is over. Hopefully she will be as impressed with the Jesuit Medical training offered here as she seems to have been by the city proper. We had such fun discussions as Roz got to know St. Louis.

PS I was totally wrong about the "new" Sandrinas... I'll tell myself I was just misled by Grand Opening Weekend Crowds so I don't feel too dumb. Its a win-win situation for me though, I am quite happy to have been wrong! Went there on Thursday - the jukebox was working!!! - can't say enough. Yay!
PPS The Buttery is now a stranger place to visit, and not in a very good way. I've been scared/upset about people the past 2 visits. It's also more crowded, which should be good, but turns out its not. Seems so at least. More on that later.