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A VW Beetle sits in the ice and snow on the levee, the old cobblestone slope down to the Mississippi under the Arch. It looks like it might slide right into the cold water with just a little push. Wonder how far down river a sealed-up Volkswagen could float.
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE OPENING RECEPTION OF THE SAARINEN EXHIBIT LAST NIGHT: it was packed! Couldn't get close enough to many of the exhibits to see them clearly. Didn't recognize a soul (almost always true at local arts events - except for immediate family, I'm kind of a lone ranger in these matters). Not only didn't someone buy me a drink, it was so crowded we couldn't even find the bar until we were about to leave. Oh, well. The show is certainly worth going back to on a quiet day. And I bought myself a drink when I got home (umm, nice chard).
TOMORROW: CDPB Monthly Theme Day: Paths and Pathways. It's another weird one.
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Sorry about my complete space-out and forgetting that yesterday was Thursday. As it happens, today is a particularly auspicious day for Arch pictures.
The Mildred Lane Kemper Museum houses the art collection of Washington University, as well as special exhibits. A biggie opens tonight: Eero Saarinen: Shaping the Future. Saarinen was the visionary architect who designed the Gateway Arch, among other notable works. The exhibition traces Saarinen's career and achievements, with special emphasis on the history, design, engineering and construction of my beloved monument.There is an opening reception tonight and I'll be there. Now here's the 15 minuted of fame bit: the muesum's director of education contacted me awhile back and asked if they could use some of my stuff on the exhibit's web site and printed materials. Why, yes, of course. The educational resources page of the exhibit's web site has links to my Gateway Arch photo blog and my big Flickr set of Arch photos. There's also a link to the American Institute of Achitects' web feature on the Arch; most of the photos in the slide show are mine. Lastly, click the link to the Eero Saarinen Connections guide and, um, scroll down to page 14, making note of the photo credits and the last quotation.Now, if someone would only buy this stuff.
WHAT I'M HOPING WILL HAPPEN TONIGHT: some photography lover will but me a drink at the reception.
TOMORROW: bug in peril.
There is a new Arch photo
today on Gateway.
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A block away from where I work, there is an old office building that has been converted to apartments. The developers put in a rooftop pool during the renovations. We can see it from my partner's office - something to amuse her during the summer. On a snowy winter day, the lines and colors become simple.WHAT I DID LAST NIGHT THAT I SHOULD DO MUCH MORE OFTEN: go to the gym. Yes, we all need exercise but it's just a drudge chore to me.
TOMORROW: Thursday Arch Series, a day late, and also a new Arch photo on Gateway.
OOPS! I've had such a week at work I forgot that today is Thursday Arch day. I will be up tomorrow. Actually, there is a good reason to do it tomorrow rather than today.
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This is the first of a short series of photos taken on a cold Sunday from the windows of our office in downtown St. Louis. This garage is immediately beneath my own office. Its simple geometry has been on the blog once before on a warmer day. Click here.
WHAT IT WAS LIKE IN ST. LOUIS THURSDAY: miserable. Sleet and snow, 20 F/-7 C, increasing fog. I sent my staff home early do they could do their driving before dark. But, hey, it's winter and it's worse north of here.TOMORROW: winter looking down, part 2
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Next to Calvary Cemetery, where Tennessee Williams rests, is Bellefontaine Cemetery. The two of them contain the remains of many people of local note and a few of international stature. Williams and William S. Burroughs top the list.
Burroughs, a native St. Louisan, was a revolutionary writer. His 1959 novel, Naked Lunch, was the last written work prosecuted for obscenity in the U.S. Burroughs won. If you don't know him and are interested, the anthology Word Virus is a perfect introduction. My copy sits by my bedside. It also has a CD of the author reading his work, much of which is hilarious. His satire of Franklin Roosevelt's pre-war administration and battles with the Supreme Court is fall-out-of-your-chair funny and not for the kiddies.
Burroughs is a champion to me but I bet that many people picking up one of his books for the first time would think he's dangerously insane, flagrantly offensive, or both. Well, you pays your money and you takes tour choice. The Western Lands is the name of one of his best-known novels (I loved it), the title referring to the ancient Egyptian home of the dead west of the Nile. At least Bill made it west of the Mississippi.By the way, the object to the right of the stone is a decaying pumpkin with a couple of cigarette butts sticking out of it, probably left by a fan. Burroughs would approve.
WHAT I NEED TO FIGURE OUT REAL SOON: where the bleep did I put my remote shutter release?
TOMORROW: winter looking down, part 1.
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Tennessee Williams left St. Louis during his college years. He died in a hotel room in New York. Now he lies here again, in the wandering lanes of Calvary Cemetery. His colorful younger brother, Dakin Williams, stayed in the area, practicing law in the Illinois suburbs. Perhaps that's what brought him back here in the end. Some St. Louisan cares enough about him to bring flowers to his grave.
WHAT SHOWED UP IN OUR GARAGE THIS WEEKEND: a hybrid car. About time.
TOMORROW: the Western Lands.
There's a new Arch photo
today on Gateway.
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There are a number of prominent figures in the arts who are from St. Louis or had a significant connection to it. Tennessee Williams was born in Mississippi but his family moved here when he was seven. He went to University City High School, the University of Missouri and Washington University in St Louis. Then it was outta here. This intriguing bust-and-more is on the corner of Euclid and McPherson in the Central West End.
A PS: some readers have asked for information about the artwork itself. You can find it here.
WHAT NEW PLACE I WENT TO SHOOT AT YESTERDAY: there are a couple of big, old, ornate cemeteries in a part of town I never have reason to go, Finally got up there. They have some well known residents.
TOMORROW: underground Tennessee and a new Arch photo on Gateway.
A VW Beetle sits in the ice and snow on the levee, the old cobblestone slope down to the Mississippi under the Arch. It looks like it might slide right into the cold water with just a little push. Wonder how far down river a sealed-up Volkswagen could float. 
