st. lunatics

blueco in st. louis.

we traveled to two colleges in ye olde blueco van, going to both Webster and Washington universities. one of these i loved, and one of these i didn't, but i won't say which is which. how's that for a veil of mystery?

i did love st. louis, though - a place i think i've been three times now, but hadn't seen much of. i went to st. lou the first time as a literal gateway to the west; after i graduated college, my girlfriend amy and my friends tara and nick from hs made that our first stop on a 21 day road trip across the country. hey, you know, i really loved that trip. do you ever have a moment in your life where - no matter how profound or mundane the moment, you can feel your brain sort of click over and memorize it? that trip was full of those minutes - swimming in clear pools in the middle of the black hills, avoiding brown bears by carrying bear chimes everywhere, hiking the badlands and feeling like we were in 2001:space odyssey, riding in a car with sun breaking through clouds above mountains, wall drug. all of it. and it started under the arch watching fireworks on the third of july.

i'd like to take another one of those trips, but even as i'm typing, i'm realizing that - well, i sort of am all the time. wait a minute. we may not be driving through arizona and glacier national park, but - the comaraderie is what is worth it most. man. lucky.

anyway, back to st. lou. we had a little time off the second day before our tech call, so we ran and took a little walking tour of downtownish areas. chuck (MD), sniffen, shad, haskins and i were bound and determined to arch it and get up in that shit, partially because of haskins major fear of heights. vowing to take care of her, i soon crumbled when i saw that the tram you ride in to the top was only four feet tall and three feet wide, a circular pod that would hold all five of us to the top. i guess i have a fear of enclosed spaces i didn't know about. or, the docent that told us that people got trapped in it one month prior might've been the problem. i panicked quick but forced myself into said pod, and we all co-panicked and felt fine as we moved. i wish we had a picture of this moment, but the speed of it all made us blow this opportunity.

anyway - after we ate and completed a complicated show, we relaxed at night afterwards at a jazz club. sarah knew a guy who owned a place called BB's in the city, so we went and watched some music, winded down, and drank our asses off, only to find it was all comped.

usa.

we did it.