I'll Get Ya, Commie!

I was doing some end of the year cleaning and came across this photo that I had forgotten about. It's of Chynna, the student, presenting Robs, the teacher, with a unicorn play set called "Cold War Unicorns Play Set starring Commie versus Freedom". Too funny! Here's the back story. We had been studying Communism (USSR, The Cold War, spread in SE Asia, Korean War, Vietnam War) in my 20th Century Studies class and the kids got really involved in the topic. They were especially interested in the Vietnam War because Robs was a Vietnam vet who had, over the years, captivated them with anecdotal information about the War and humored them with his anti-communist musings. So, while talking about the Cold War, I had used a photo of this toy as an attention grabber. The kids loved it and thought Robs would too. I bartered with them--you track it down, you find out ordering details & I'll buy it for the class to give to Robs. They fulfilled their end, so I fulfilled mine.

Bill and Bob: Birthday Fun

May 24th is the birthday of Bill (as in my husband) and Bob (as in Dylan). Bob sent his regrets.... previous engagement or something like that. So, Bill and I started off at Revival, which now occupies the space where King Louie's used to be. I had mixed emotions about going from the start. I was HUGE King Louie fan! Loved the atmosphere, loved the food, loved the drinks, loved the patio. And, based upon the positive reviews, I was worried that I might like it just as much, or more, as King Louie's and that would betray my fond memories. But, life goes on and so we went to Revival. In general, the food was good--not memorable--but good. But, if you go, do try the spicy rubbed ribs (appetizers). They were awesome! The space was itself had changed very little--great booths and tables, awesome bar, awesome woodwork~all still there! But they painted the walls white --totally changed the feel of the place. Not bad, not good, just bright.


After dinner, we went to The Pageant to see Robert Earl Keen. I can't remember how many times we've seen him now but he never disappoints. He starts right up, plays song after song without stop and without much chit chat, and wraps things up with an encore song. No pretense, just great music. I guess that's why the place is always packed.

Graduation 2008

I don't know who's happier on graduation day, the students or the teachers. I'd put my money on the teachers, but I'm a little biased. This year, after the graduation ceremony on Friday, the MRH crew went to the Sport's Attic Bar which is down the street from the high school. It's as unimpressive as it sounds. Food wasn't too bad though. I had a pretty decent veggie quesadilla.


After the Sport's Attic, we drove down the street to a place called Double D's on Brentwood Blvd. for karaoke. This was Kelli's idea and it was a good one. I hadn't been to a karaoke place in a million years! And, while I was no where near inebriated (i.e. I would not be performing), some of my friends were (i.e. good laughs ahead). Unfortunately, I couldn't stay long enough to see them perform. I bet it was hilarious!

Kendra, Nikki, Kelli, & Melissa looking for singing material. Derek hamming for the camera in the rear.

Ahoy Matey!

The Morton-Holden's invited us to the Boathouse in Forest Park on Sunday. I've written before of my love of the eats, drinks, and views at the Boathouse so it was an opportunity not to be missed. Dan, Evan, Bill and Willa boarded the 4-person paddle boat and headed out into the lake for an hour ride while Colette and I talked shop, life, and whatever in the comfort of these big, red rocking chairs.



Boathouse updates: #1 Be aware that spring and summer are their peak seasons. This means that a long wait for a table is typical. It also means that the great service that you get used to from the wait staff in the winter and fall suffers tremendously. #2 The menu has changed. Lots of familiar options but with noticeably fewer choices, higher prices, and smaller portions. On the bright side, the food is still good.

Party Envy

My friend Colette throws the best parties! She's the Midwestern Martha Stewart. The themes, the activities, the food, the fun. Everything is so well planned that each segment leads straight into the next one. Seamless! I really don't know how she does it. Here are a few scenes from her son Evan's 5th birthday party.

Beer Dinner

Thanks go out to our friends Dona and Paul who turned us on to the beer dinner. Here's the deal. About once a month, a local restaurant and a local brewer partner up to sponsor a multi-course meal in which the perfect beer is selected to compliment each predetermined course. Our first beer dinner was at the Newstead Tower Pub House. The Griesedieck Bros., O'Fallon, and Schlafly were there with some tried, true and delicious brews while AB brought a newer one called Shock Top. Shock Top is canned Bud's micro brew-poser, want-to-be-cooler younger brother. He tastes a little better, he tries to look a little better but he still just doesn't cut it. The outer package says it all.

We had such a great time at Newstead that we went to another beer dinner on Thursday night at Mangia Italiano on South Grand. It was a outrageous six course monster sponsored entirely by Schlafy. All I can say is delicious! Oh, and you should definitely go to the next one.

Compton Hill Reservoir Park

Willa calls the Compton Hill Reservoir Park "Ariel's House." Ariel as in The Little Mermaid. And, yes, she does believe that Ariel lives in the water tower. Who am I to ruin her fun? So, I drive by this park at least twice most days. It's at the corner of Grand and Russell Avenues. It is actually not that much of a park, especially if you judge a park by its the size of its green space. Rather, it's more of a system of sidewalks, concrete paths, and well-worn grass trails that run the perimeter of both the park and the reservoir. The park also has a couple of interesting architectural features, the most prominent of which is the afore mentioned water tower. There are also a couple of nice sculptural elements on the exterior of the reservoir. On a final note, if anyone out there knows what the deal is with the ponds, i.e. why one was filled in and why the other remains unfilled, please drop me a comment.

Front Yard Features

Last summer, I noticed that they were showing outdoor movies in Tower Grove Park. It sounded like a great way to meet people and show support for local STL activities so we went. I guess the Front Yard Features were successful because they're at it again this year. On Saturday, and yes, it was cold, the Henske family headed to the park for the first movie of the season, Alice in Wonderland. I've seen it a bunch of times but never outside and never on a big screen. Makes a big difference. I'm not sure about scheduled locations and films but you should check out their web site for more info if you're interested.

How We Spent Prom

While the kids danced the night away, well....until 10:30 anyway, Bill and I entertained ourselves in other ways. One, we kid watched. If you haven't done this recently, I highly recommend it, especially for its anthropological value. Two, we walked the perimeter of the room. As a chaperone, your main duty to make sure that the kids aren't being inappropriate (having fun, in their words). Three, we made art from Eiffel Tower confetti. When a student observed that following Monday that she liked our tessellations, I nearly cried (seriously, how many of us might have used that word, especially at 17, especially correctly?).

Afterward, Bill and I went to a local neighborhood fave, VanGoghz, for a martini. I'm not a huge fan of most martinis but I stop dead in my tracks for a great coffee flavored one. Absoluti Goosed and Van Goghz make the best in St. Louis (both happen to be within walking distance of my house!). If you know any other places that serve great coffee martinis, please drop me a line.

What Color is Your Dress?

It's prom season. Boobs and boutonnieres. woo hoo. When I was in high school, I refused to go to prom. If I remember it was something about...exploitative, excessiveness, starving children, and, probably, "the establishment" (because really, what isn't it behind). I've never regretted not going yet I find myself rather strangely excited about chaperoning this year's MRH Prom, which is tomorrow night at the Sheldon. After some careful consideration, I've decided that my desire to be part of this prom experience stems from: #1 My unfaltering love of the movie Pretty in Pink, and #2 The love that I feel for the kids that I teach (you know, wanting to be part of their happiness & fun & whatnot).

rathergood

MissileFits Model Rocketry Club

There's been a soft buzz of excitement around my house in anticipation of the 9th Annual MissileFits Rocket Launch in Forest Park. But, now that the weekend of the launch is upon us, the soft buzz has grown into a full blown frenzy of excitement. A sample of phrases heard around my house this week: "That's MY rocket!" "Watch out below!" "Where's the fire?" "I'm just looking at it." "Can we shoot it off now?" "Oh, yeah!" So, Willa named our entry Tammi. It's decorated quite nicely with glitter glue and puffy paint, which you can't see too well in these photos. And, there's plenty of room in the nose for our little tiny fuzzy blue chick pilots and parachute.

UPDATE: Things went well for the dynamic duo. Check out Willa's Rocket and its worm pilot.

Senior Pranks

Yep, it's that time.....time for Senior Pranks! woo hoo! Yesterday morning, all the teachers came into their classrooms to find this message:

It says, "Look really hard for them all!" They hid all our dry erase markers and replaced them with chalk. Funny, funny stuff. Today, the prank was even better. The kids found a way to hijack the school's intercom from a regular classroom phone. Once the gained access, they looped some music which played until, presumably, they got tired or caught. Much funnier prank.

The best senior prank was from last year's seniors. Apparently, they put the school (calling it a 'building') and the school's property up for sale in the St. Louis Post Dispatch. I hear it was a steal! Get this. They managed to find out the principals school cell phone number and gave that as the contact number. Brilliant!

UPDATE: They got caught! Apparently, the music also played over the Middle School intercom too. Not so bad in itself but REALLY bad when MAP testing is going on. Not cool. So, the kids were given the choice: 5 days suspension or a week of working the 6th grade academic camps this summer. They both opted for the later.

Gas Prices

I hate watching local news but do like to be in the know. So, occasionally, I read the local going-ons via the internet. Tonight, I went to ksdk.com and this headline caught my attention, "Activist Plans to Lie in Front of Bus to Protest Gas Prices." While I applaud this guy's activism, I am appalled that he, and most adults, still do not understand how gas prices are determined. So, before you go standing, or lying, in the path of a very large vehicle, take a little time to get informed about the issues. Metro, Mayor Slay, Gov. Blunt, Congress, President Bush.....they do not control gas prices! If you want to know who does, click this. Then go tell someone.

Ban Bottled Water!

If there is any one good reason to drink bottled water, I haven't found it. But, I can offer you four GREAT reasons (in no particular order) not to drink bottled water: #1-always resist plastic (which relies on petroleum), #2-tap water is generally pretty tasty, #3 tap water is free, and #4-you shouldn't create unnecessary waste. Yes, I know that you're thinking, "Well, what about recycling them?" Problem is, no one really does it. Doug James of Cornell says that "Since its recent popularization, bottled water (in all its flavors) has become one of the most consumed, yet least recycled beverages. For example, it is estimated that in 2005 alone approximately 30 billion plastic water bottles were purchased, with only about 12% recycled (in part due to out-dated deposit laws). The remaining 25 billion bottles were either landfilled, littered or incinerated." In fact, you should check his video. Cool stuff. And, St. Louis City is doing it right too. In addition to several influential restaurants, the city has pledged to reduce and, eventually, eliminated bottled from offices, meetings, events, etc. Way to go greener St. Louis City! You too can take the pledge. Just click here for more info.

Couple with the Kid

When you're a hetero couple but don't have kids, people assume a couple of things about you. One, you're not married. Two, you're not ready yet. Or, three, you're not having kids at all because you're selfish and hate all children. Since Bill and I began dating in our mid-twenties and didn't marry until our late twenties, we got lumped into group three when we didn't start poppin' out those shorties right away.

Although Bill and I never have hated children, I do distinctly remember feeling very annoyed when inconsiderate people brought their even more inconsiderate children into restaurants that we frequented. It made me cringe when I saw them walk through the door. And, the more baby-distracting gear that they carried the more likely that their kid was going to be a major problem to my excellent dining experience. So, now that we've popped one out, we've become more like that couple. But, we've also tried to be sensitive to others. We eat at weird times on non-popular days. We try to find "kid friendly" even among the independent restaurants that still suit our sensibilities. Or, and this is just the best option most times, gotten a babysitter.

Still, I always thought that the inconsiderate parent problem was not mine because Willa never exhibited anything but a natural talent for being well-behaved and charming in public. But our recent trip to our local fave, South City Diner, demonstrates a contrary experience that is increasingly becoming the norm around our house lately. We walked to City Diner, that was fine. We arrived at City Diner, that was also fine. We entered City Diner and that was when something happened. It was like a dog whistle in that, whatever it was that upset the balance, neither Bill nor I saw or heard it coming. Well, it finally ended but not before feeling extremely uncomfortable, embarrassed, humiliated, and, believe it or not, a lot like one of them! Ugh. And double Ugh.

Niki de Saint Phalle @ MOBOT

Fall is my favorite season of the year but spring is good too. The blossoms, gentle fragrances, cool breezes--It's all about the rebirth and, I gotta mention, the allergy problems (the latter is a nod to my inner curmudgeon, I apologize). So to soak in some springtime goodness, I took my first 2008 trip to the Missouri Botanical Garden. I had forgotten that they're putting up a new sculpture exhibit for the year. The sculptures are mosaic works by the artist Niki de Saint Phalle. I love the whimsy of her work which reminds me of a lot roadside attraction/insider art. I've always had a hard time resisting the pull of a good roadside attraction. I mean, seriously, who hasn't said, or heard someone say, something along the line of "Can we please stop to see the world's largest grotto made entirely of bottle caps and limestone?" BTW, does anyone else out there remember that PBS show out of KC called "Rare Visions and Roadside Attractions"? I was a huge fan. Anyway, if you get the chance, check out the Niki de Saint Phalle exhibit at MOBOT.

Abbey Road

Willa went to Mom Henske's house for an egg hunt on Easter. As it would turn out, the kids starting walking, perfectly staggered, in the same direction as they hunted eggs. Knowing that I had seen this image before, I quickly snapped the photo. It finally came to me: The Beatles! I'll resubmit the photo once I have the time to Photoshop some details in from the original image.

Little shiny hidden egg.

Yeah, It is a Whole Other Country

I was 13 or 14 the first time that I went to Texas. My Dad had moved to Austin the year before and invited my sister and I down for what became an annual summer trip. That first year, we nearly died from boredom! And, we probably would have had it not been for two things: #1, a whiffle ball and bat set that my Dad happen to have lying around the house and #2, my Dad's boat which we used for trips to Lake Travis. The next few years were more or less the same except my Dad put in a pool and we began to explore Texas a little more. Since that first trip, I have come to a three conclusions about Texas. First, Texas is geographically appealing. It has beautiful hills, deserts, lakes, rivers, shoreline, flora, fauna. It also has some cities and small towns that are, at least in part, quite attractive.

Second, the diversity of cultures found in Texas appealing. There's cowboy culture, rancher culture, agriculture culture, Mexican culture, urban culture, small town culture, beach culture.
Third, and most important, is that Texas is NOT appealing at all. In fact, it is down right offensive. This is in most part due to the "Texan culture" which trumps anything and everything that is remotely good, attractive, or sacred about Texas. So, what is "Texan culture?" If you've been to Texas and spent some time there among its inhabitants you know what it is. If not, here it is in a nutshell--it's an ego that's artificial, loud, flashy, larger-than-life, individualistic (as in "I'll do what I want without regard for you"), obnoxious. Yeah, it is a whole other country. My most recent visit confirmed this. I give you two quick examples. One, Austin is probably Texas' greenest city and while I was there (2 days driving around Austin), I saw only 2 hybrids. And, one had Pennsylvania plates. Seems like about every 1 outta 10 cars in STL is a hybrid! And, metro St. Louisians are not known as being particularly environmentally or socially concerned as a group. Okay. Enough. Example 2 (as illustrated in the photo below), Dodge, Ford, and other American made big-as-big-can-be gas guzzling trucks, SUV's, driving on the beach! Yes! As in a never-ending stream of gianormous vehicles coming at you the entire day. No matter the fragility and importance of dune ecology. No matter the health and safety of beach goers. No matter the shoreline aesthetics. Yes, just what I want with my vacation, a side of noise and pollution. Ugh.

Check Out My Peeps

A fellow STL blogger, Cathy at 49, contacted me a few weeks ago about using one of my Art Hill sledding photos. The St. Louis Post Dispatch, our local newspaper, was running a contest called "Peeps Gone Wild." Cathy wanted to use my photo as the backdrop for her entry. I'd forgotten all about it until today when my mother-in-law mentioned something about the Peeps contest entries. I don't know if Cathy won, but I thought I'd post her entry. It's Peep-a-licious!