Football Comes to America
A few months ago, I was elated to learn that two of the top soccer teams in England, Manchester City and Chelsea, were going to play a friendly match in Busch Stadium here in St. Louis. I’ve played soccer all my life and am a huge fan (particularly of the English Premier League), so I [...]
I Ate a Grasshopper
Today I found myself in a brand-new Mexican-fusion restaurant in St. Louis called Gringo. I’ve heard great things about it, and I noticed that they had pork belly on the menu. They serve pork belly a lot on Top Chef, and I’ll do pretty much anything to pretend I’m on Top Chef. So as I [...]
Why Do You Go to Live Sporting Events?
With the “real” opening day for baseball upon us tomorrow (two official games have already been played in Japan, but tomorrow marks the first day for a game on US turf), a lot of hype has been made about the new Miami Marlins stadium. It’s the site of the opening day game, where the Marlins [...]
Pet Please #60: Unexpected Free Things
Today I ran over to The Cup for some cupcakes after work. I was worried about parking as I pulled into Maryland Plaza, but then pleasantly surprised to find a yellow-zone parking spot right in front of the building. I figured I’d jump inside, order some cupcakes, and be back within a few minutes. But [...]
My Groupon Rule
I’ve written about how much I love daily deal sites like Groupon and LivingSocial; given their success, you probably do to. However, I have one rule about this sites that I want to share, and I want your opinion about it. I think it’s a rule worth following, but I understand if others have different [...]
Management Tactic #36: The Power of Perks
The other day I got a call from my insurance agent. She said that in honor of Thanksgiving, she was calling all her clients to thank them for their loyalty (I’ve been with her for a while, probably close to 8 years). Then she asked if I were available on November 19 at 7:00 pm [...]
Wingfest 2010
Last weekend, Trevor had people over for Pizzafest 2010–basically, a bunch of people went out during halftime of the Rams game, picked up pizzas from different restaurants, and brought them back to Trev’s place to try. It was a lot of fun, so I decided to host a similar function this week, but with buffalo [...]
Planning for Spontaneity
As noted on an earlier blog, I am the world’s least spontaneous person (although I’m working on it). However, for quite some time I’ve dreamed of taking a spontaneous four-day weekend abroad. Every week I look forward to my American Airlines Netsavers newsletter, which notifies me of very reduced fares for the upcoming weekend. More [...]
Welcome to Deer Tick
A former girlfriend of mine once saw John Mayer before he was John Mayer. Have you ever had that happen? I think I had that happen tonight. I saw a band called Deer Tick at Off Broadway in St. Louis tonight. Just got back. Ears are still ringing. They were at capacity with about 200 [...]
Top 10 Things to Do in St. Louis
Every once in a while, people visit St. Louis (it’s true!) People who have never been here before. Depending on who they are or how the weather is, we do different things. I can’t say that I’m a great tour guide…I kind of just go along with what the person wants to do while retaining [...]
The Best Food in St. Louis
Having lived in St. Louis for over 10 years, I’ve developed intimate relationships with specific restaurants and food selections. Thus I present to you my Best of St. Louis list. Bookmark this page if you ever decide to visit St. Louis, and comment below if you disagree or have something to add. I’ve listed these [...]
CommonCensus
I’m totally forgetting who alerted me to this website, but I’d highly recommend you go to www.commoncensus.org and spend 30 seconds their answering a few questions. CommonCensus is an attempt to redraw geographical boundaries based on factors other than state lines. The most fascinating aspect to me is the maps resulting from the sports surveys. [...]
St. Louis Mayor Decides City Will "Go French," Switch to Euro
ST. LOUIS, Missouri (AP) – In an effort to improve the appeal of the Gateway City, Mayor Francis Slay announced today that St. Louis will return to its French roots “across the spectrum.” “Today we tip our hats to Louis Joliet and Jacques Marquette, discovers of this great land. Merci!”, said the mayor on Monday, [...]
How Is Everything?
What do you say when the waiter or manager at a restaurant comes up to the table and asks, “How is everything?” You know what you say. Regardless of how the food tastes, you say, “It’s great!” You do this for a few reasons: You know it’s the answer that he wants to hear. That [...]
Best. Burger. Ever.
There are a lot of great burgers in St. Louis. O’Connell’s. Seamus McDaniel’s. Hardees. None are better than the Liluma cheeseburger. If you come to St. Louis, get this burger. It’s so good that it didn’t even occur to me to add condiments when I ate one today. Didn’t even think about it. The meat [...]
Pet Please #9: Nonsmoking Bars
Many of you live in cities where all bars and restaurants are nonsmoking. St. Louis is not one of those cities–not yet. So a true pet please for me is finding a fun bar that’s nonsmoking. A place in which you can breathe. A place where you can walk out of smelling the same way [...]
Pet Please #8: The Wave-In
You know what really makes my day? When someone turns what appears to be insurmountable odds into something manageable. Specifically: Every day when I leave work, I am faced with a solid wall of cars in bumper-to-bumper traffic on Forsyth. The nearby highway in St. Louis is closed, so everyone uses this tiny road instead. [...]
Pet Please #7: The Forgotten Milkshake Phenomenon
I had the pleasure of going to St. Louis’ shining star in the north of the city, Crown Candy Kitchen, on Saturday morning. The place was packed, and many people who were in line before the restaurant even opened were stranded outside for over an hour. As with any olde fashioned candy shoppe, Crown Candy’s [...]
The Seven Best Cities in the World for Writers
(Note: The original list was for five cities, but the list has grown thanks to alert readers. If you have a city to add and the data to back it up, let me know. Also, I’m connected to an independent publishing company called Blank Slate Press, so if you’re a novelist or a reader of [...]
Condo Tour
My condo in St. Louis went on the market today. Below are a few photos of this 2-bedroom, 2-bathroom, 2-balcony masterpiece. Cat not included. If you’re interested in buying property in lovely St. Louis (baseball! Catholics! Gooey Butter Cake!), contact me by clicking the e-mail link on the right. [...]
Pet Peeve of the Hour
The Pet Peeve: When you call ahead to order a pick-up lunch from a nearby restaurant, wait the alloted time before arriving, and the order isn’t ready when you get there. Call me picky, but that’s the kind of thing that makes me not want to patronize that restaurant in the future. Thanks for ruining [...]
Black Thorn Review: Of Mice and Pizza
I had this whole glowing review written in my head even before I arrived at the Black Thorn Pub (St. Louis) on Friday. I’d been there before, so I was fully prepared to rave about their pizza and their shuffleboard table, insist that you go there, and further insist that you share a few slices [...]
The Solution to Poverty
Today, as anyone who’s anyone in the blogosphere knows (I just found out about this yesterday by pure chance), is/was Blog Action Day 2008. It’s a day when bloggers across the nation—bloggers who want nothing to do with one another on any other day and who foster feelings of jealously for any more successful bloggers—band [...]
The Best Restaurant in St. Louis
The best restaurant in St. Louis is Iron Barley. That’s all I really need to write. It’s one of those places that you have to try for yourself, and you’ll never want to eat anywhere else. Iron Barley’s secret is the smoked flavor infused into almost all of their meats. It’s this rich, heavenly flavor [...]
