S is for Soulard

Which is where I was last night, which is why I didn't post last night because I was way too tired when I got home and figured I could miss one day. Then today I found out we ALL missed yesterday. So I say because we all missed it, we all get a free pass. How's that? :)

S is also for Saturday, which I'm glad it is. My next couple of Saturdays look like they'll be busy. Today is my mom's birthday and I'll be over at their house most of the day for the celebration. We're also celebrating my brother's birthday since it was last week. Should be fun. Next Saturday I may be going to the wineries at Hermann with some work folks. We shall see. And the Saturday after that is the lovely Lisa's wedding. October is off to a good start so far. :)

R is for Rockstar

I just got back from having a few beers at Yards, and there was this guy singing, and he pulled me up on stage to sing backups with him on "Free Falling." Yeah, lame. But it had been awhile since I sang on stage so I gave it all I had. It was fun. I wanted to sing more. But alas, it was not meant to be. So here's to the next time I'll get a chance to shine in the spotlight... :)

Q is for QuikTrip

A beacon of light
Shines in the night
With gas priced just right
I drive in with glee

A fountain drink haven
This place has me ravin'
Give into my cravin'
But which shall it be?

An orange cream Freezoni or a Cherry Limeade?
A QuikShake, a Hydr8, or some concoction I made?
The sky's the limit, the syrup is free
No matter how weird, it's only for me.

But what's always nice
Is my usual vice
And now with Pumpkin Spice...
My love, my coffee.

P is for Piano

The piano and I go a ways back. We had our split for some time, but I think we are back to a healthy relationship.

We began to get acquainted when my family got our first little electronic synthesizer for Christmas when I was about 9. I started playing on it and made up my first very own songs on that thing. Later my parents got us a full-size electronic piano with all the sounds and rhythms and the capability to record our own music. About that time I started taking lessons for real, and I was able to write even more. Even while I was learning classical pieces and some popular songs, most of the time when I played, I played my own music.

When it was time to leave for college, I auditioned for a music scholarship playing one of my compositions. They offered me $400 if I majored in music and $200 if I minored, and I took the minor (I wasn't ready to pursue it as a career). Then they set me up with who they thought was the best piano teacher the school had. And at first, I believe I held my own as one of her students. I kept up alright, learned the songs she wanted me to learn, and performed a recital fairly well. I'm not sure I remember exactly when the downward spiral began.... but I remember one of our lessons when I was frustrated with a particular piece, and she began to question why I was even at college at all. She asked me what my major was and I said I was undecided. "Well, college isn't for everyone," she said. She even went so far to suggest that I was better off eloping and quitting school. At least she fully encouraged my decision to quit taking piano (and give up the meagre scholarship I had earned).

I think that was the moment that destroyed every shred of creative ability I ever had at music. I have not written a song since I quit taking lessons from her, about 10 years ago.

But all was not completely lost... I later pursued voice lessons and took them for maybe a year and a half, something I have never regretted. And I began to revive my interest in piano, maybe starting sometime last year. I've been trying to add more songs to my repertoire, mostly Broadway numbers that I enjoy singing along to.

But this morning a new idea for a project struck me (ever notice how our best ideas seem to strike in the shower??)... I still have all those songs I wrote those years ago, and they need to be compiled in a little portfolio just for posterity's sake. I have scraps and scribbles of some of them, and a couple of them are fully written out, but I want more of it in nice clean copies. Time to remember how to write music down on paper...We'll see how long I stay with getting this done... :)

And one of my pieces, the one that everyone seems to like best, is unnamed. It's sort of a creepy waltz song but I don't remember what my inspiration was for it. So if anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear!

Whew... sorry for the long post today, guys!! :)

O is for Open Door

Or "The Open Door," the new album release by Evanescence due out October 3, only ONE WEEK from tomorrow!!!



I have loved everything I've ever heard composed by Amy Lee, so I have high expectations for this album. I'm almost afraid they're too high. Nevertheless, I will make getting this album high on my things-to-do list that day, if not the first thing I do. :)

O also stands for Official copy of Origin, which I have. :)

N is for Neptune

Seriously, how gorgeous is this planet? Almost makes you want to dive into its ocean of blueness (never mind that you'd be diving into methane ice around -350º Fahrenheit with winds of 2000mph). It's always been my favorite planet, after Earth of course. Neptune was first sighted 160 years ago this weekend, although its existence was mathematically proven a few years before that.

I've always found astronomy fascinating but never studied it formally, due to my revulsion for algebra and physics. But I love observing the sky and learning what goes on in distant worlds. To think that somewhere out there, winds are blasting at 2000 miles an hour over a cold, desolate, yet beautiful planet... and that a massive red storm as huge as two Earths is churning on another... not to mention new stars being born out of clouds and old stars exploding light-years away in the universe... it seems more within the realm of fantasy.

I think I'll curl up on my little couch under a little blanket and read a little book for now. :)

M is for Mansion

(Ok maybe this should've been yesterday's post, but whatever.)



The Lemp Mansion is St. Louis's premiere haunted house, once named by Life Magazine among the top ten haunted houses in America. It's one of my favorite places to go to in October, mainly for their Sunday family style dinner (which sadly I have to miss out on this year, because I work every Sunday). It's also fun exploring the house after you finish dinner...bring a camera and see what turns up in your photos! :) Last time I was there it seemed like they were renovating the attic, so I'd love to go back and see what's become of that. I'm also determined to check out the Halloween Party one of these years. Maybe this year...? We'll see.


Oh, you want an "M" place name, now? Fine, here you go (I'll make it easy to say today): Monkey Bay, Malawi. :)

L is for Llywelyn's

My favorite little pub in St. Louis. Not to mention it's named for my favorite Welsh hero, Prince Llywelyn ap Gruffudd. The new location in Soulard is the best in my opinion... it's got just the right pub-feel to it. It'd be fun to be there on this Friday night, but the weather is just a bit scary tonight (tornado watches). But I need to find more excuses to go hang out there. I seem to remember something about an open mic...... :)

And here is your "L" place name! If you couldn't say yesterday's, you'd probably hurt yourself trying this one:

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch!

It's the longest place name in the world, and it's in Wales, if you couldn't already tell. :) The translation is "St Mary's church in the hollow of the white hazel near a rapid whirlpool and the Church of St Tysilio of the red cave." And yes, the name is a publicity stunt. :)

K is for Knowledge

Or too much of it. I'm in yet ANOTHER international fares training class. This is a two-day course that gets into the nitty gritty of constructing fare calculation lines for complicated international itinteraries, like ones that make several stopovers in different countries on different continents. And my brain literally hurt when the class was over. What's worse is I had to go back on the phones for two hours so that I worked my whole ten-hour shift. Gotta go through the whole thing again tomorrow. Better get a stronger cup of coffee tomorrow morning...

And here's a random "K" place-name. Have fun saying this one:

Kyzyl-Kyya, Kyrgyzstan.


Don't ask me. :)

J is for Joyride

Took a nice little excursion yesterday to Columbia to see my brother for his birthday. It's so nice to take a little daytrip in the car. I need to do those more often. Although the trip to Columbia just seems to be getting shorter and shorter. I need another nice long car ride. Like the one Janice and I took to Lexington, KY. Or going to Chicago. Or somewhere else I haven't been. Car trips are great. When I'm driving, at least... when I'm not driving I tend to be annoying because I get sick. Just ask Tracie... :)

I is for Italy

It CAN'T be too soon to start planning for the trip next May!!! Well... airfare is still too high this far out, I want to wait to get the '07 edition of a guidebook, and who knows if it's too soon to know what kind of clothes to bring out there. :) But we've started putting together some kind of itinerary (hey, another "i" word!) and we want to include St. Peters, a catacomb or two, a city bus tour, the Colosseum, a trip to Assisi, and a wine tour of Tuscany.



If you have been to Rome or any part of Italy, please send your suggestions! We only have a week to spend out there, but I'll listen to 'em all!

H is for Himmelswein and Homework

Seriously, guys, I am hooked on this wine from Montelle Winery. It's been on sale at Schnucks for weeks now, so every time I go in I can pick up my bottle for $6.88. It sells for $12.00 at the winery.


The bottle's empty cause I drank it. :)

I have finished my draft for Paper 1 and am starting on the research for Paper 2. This next one is on brand loyalty in tourism products (hotels, airlines, etc.) in an international market. Whoo hoo. I will probably have about 3 weeks or so to get a draft together. Better start now. Himmelswein will keep me going. :)

G is for Gypsy

Happy Birthday to Steph, you dirty gypsy you!! :) "Rubber baby gummy gumpers!"

F is for Fall

It's not here yet, but it's coming. It starts next week. My favorite time of the whole year. Crisp air. Halloween decorations. Golden leaves swirling and crunching beneath your feet. Having to put on a jacket in the evening. Pumpkin-flavored everything. It brings back a sense of nostalgia for all the happy fall memories of the past. I just hope I find time to celebrate this year's fall in the same tradition.

E is for Empire Falls

I'm going to start keeping a sidebar on my blog of what I'm reading. "Empire Falls" by Richard Russo is going to be the first. Check the "Currently Perusing" heading underneath "Blogmates" to the left.

This is a book about a small town in Maine and the day-to-day lives of the inhabitants there. I've only just started it, but it's fascinating how well this author depicts small-town life. Makes me think that I could find it on a map. My sister recommended it to me after she and her best friend fell in love with it, so I figured I'd give it a try. It won the Pulitzer Prize, after all. :)

So whenever I start reading a new book, I'll update the sidebar. If anything else, it's another way to keep me updating on a regular basis! That's of course only if I start new books on a regular basis... something I'd like to do anyway.

D is for Draft

I'm working to develop a rough draft of my first paper for my class, "International Travel and World Issues," which I'm taking for independent study. The first paper is about which travel trends dominate the industry, such as economics, security, tourist habits, etc. And the teacher wants a rough draft of it "by next week." So I freaked a little and now I'm gonna have to work as much as I can this week to get it done. But it shall be done. And it shall be good. Because even though I hate writing papers, I can usually get something pretty good out.

C is also for Chicago

If I was seriously considering moving to a new big city, this is probably the highest ranking choice. I just got back from hanging out with a friend who recently moved to the Windy City and she loves it there. It's not TOO far from St. Louis. I hear living expenses are much higher though. And I don't make a lot of money in my profession... so I don't know. But I would like to try living somewhere else for a while. I have lived in Missouri my entire life. I'd probably have to move in with my friend though, just to afford living there, and I'm not sure that would be such a great idea... I'm used to my own space. But anyways. It's just a thought to kick around. I just like the idea of riding the El to work and shopping on Michigan Avenue on weekends. :)

C is for Cardinals Game

Went to see the Cardinals play the Astros last night and had an absolute BLAST. Our seats were in the bleachers and I had never sat there before. The picture above was our view of the field. Not too bad.

My sister's friends have season tickets, so they have grown to know all the other season-ticket holders around them, as well as the beer vendor that frequents the section. The picture below illustrates what a dedicated vendor he is to their crowd.





That's him, pouring a vodka cranberry for one of the girls in our group, which he went to fetch from a nearby stand. Don't try this with your own beer vendors, folks. This one is just particularly loyal to this group. :)

And the game itself was super exciting, as Albert came through to "wing da gang" in the bottom of the ninth inning with a two-run hit. We were screaming and hugging each other. It was one of the more exciting games I'd been to.

Afterwards, we went up to a bar at the stadium that stays open after the games to have another drink and listen to some fun tunes. Here's me and one of Jen's friends dancing to "Walkin on Sunshine" (I didn't know that this picture was taken until this morning):





Overall, a very very fun night. :)

B is for Birthday Boy

Happy birthday to my sweet nephew Ryan! He is 5 today. Mike, be sure to give him a kiss for me. I am a terrible aunt and didn't send a birthday card. Maybe tell them that I start sending birthday cards when they're old enough to remember what a great aunt I really am?? Heh.

I remember I announced his birth at my work, the day after that horrible nightmare took place. Many people sent responses that they were happy to be reminded that new life and new birth continue to go on even in the wake of death and destruction. It was some much-needed happy news for the day.

Sometimes I call Ryan the "day after" baby. I wonder if when he grows up he'll think of himself like that too...

A is for Apple

The BIG Apple, that is.



The spirit of New York resounds especially today, five years later. I don't know what words of significance I can say on this day, other than the resilience and bravery of the New Yorkers is inspiring to the whole world. I feel lucky and blessed to have gotten a chance to visit that great city last year, and have felt the urge to go take it on again sometime soon. Big cities are fascinating to me, and this one is the quinessential urban dream. I could spend a day riding the subway and finding out new hidden treasures. I saw most of the "big stuff" already, so it's time to uncover more of the character of the city. I've made excuses to go back, including new musicals being released (like "The Pirate Queen," which I want to drag Tracie to), and swapping one city for another (if my sister takes me to Las Vegas, I will take her to New York), so it's not a question of "will I?", it's a question of when, and which excuse will I use??

ABC Blogging

Tracie suggested that we try a little game: every day we post something that begins with a letter of the alphabet, starting with "A is for..." and then do a blog post around that. She is also encouraging the use of pictures in this little game. So. Starting Monday, I shall try to keep up this game on a daily basis. The person that misses the most days has to buy everyone else in the game a round of drinks the next time we go out!

Anyone else want to take part in this? Feel free!