Featured Posts
Game Time for Rookies
Sports have an undeniable element of risk, physically and emotionally. Unlike other forms of entertainment which are carefully choreographed and rehearsed so they are performed with perfect consistency each time, sports are unpredictable. The energy of the unknown is powerful and beautiful … as long as you’re willing to embrace the chance that your team might lose. That tension provides a rush of adrenaline with every tip or face-off or kick-off. It’s not for everyone, but it’s definitely for me.
Hosting Myself Out of a Party
What if you hosted a party and nobody came? Or worse, only one person came, so you had to put on a brave face for hours until the event was over and you could have a good, long cry?
It would be damn tempting to never have a party again. Or at least not a Soulard Mardi Gras parade pre-party.
But at some point during the long year between one Lent and the next, it occurred to me that maybe, just maybe, there was another perspective on why people who had partied with me in the past didn’t return.
Finding Joy in the Unknown
“The true test is not whether you can access other realities, have connections to other worlds, sit perfectly in ceremonies, knows the right prayer, or access the guidance of divine masters. // The true test is whether you can sustain the vibration of Love amid life's most painful experiences and struggles.”
Cannamom Break Stereotypes?
Kimberlee Kesterson and Jessica Carroll have been cannabis users for longer than they’ve been parents—but both facets of their identity dovetail in STL Cannamoms, the social organization that they founded three years ago. And it turns out there were a lot of other parents just like them looking to connect and improve their well-being.
Feeling a Little Betrayed
Being “a little betrayed” is like being “a little pregnant.” Not possible. My guess is that a lot of us are feeling it right now. And not admitting it. Again, kind of like pregnancy. At first the information is shared on a need-to-know basis. Then suddenly everything shifts and it takes over your entire life every waking moment. I will warn you now: A single book or movie about betrayal is not going to be enough of a balm. You need an entire series.
Watercolors of ‘Colorful Threads’ (aka Immigrants)
In “Threads: A Celebration of the Immigrant Story in Watercolor,” artist Carol Carter is responding to the newcomers in her community, going one-on-one with them through the intimate act of painting their portraits. As the introductory essay promises, “Each one acts as a beacon of freedom and opportunity; together—drawn from every corner of the world—Threads shows an America bursting with energy.”
Snoot Sandwiches, Sundown Towns and a Chef’s Reckoning with Racism
I didn’t know what a sundown town was until I moved to St. Louis. And I’ll be honest, it still jars me to hear people describe it casually, as in this deeply personal segment of the local TV show “Food Is Love.” I don’t want to give away spoilers about what Chef Lasse Sorensen learns about his own complicity in this episode, which aired in 2022. But I commend him for his brutal honesty in sharing the lesson publicly as it unfolded.