Life Moves Too Fast

A Renewed Interest in American History

In school, I was much more enthralled with world history. Upon traveling to countries such as Italy or Japan, a much more physical sense of ancestry or achievement over centuries was present. I mean when you encounter historical sites in parts of Europe, you may be looking at man-made creations that are 500 years old. In the US, the oldest structures are but half that. I never was particularly excited but American events such as the Civil War or the American Revolution. As a history buff, I hope I know more than the average American about our history, however, as of late, I have a renewed interest in learning even more.

Firstly, I will admit why. On a recent hot, hot weekend I decided I needed a PC game to pass the time. I started playing Age of Empires III. The game allows you to take control of civilizations (and their settlers and armies) on their conquests of the New World. In a twist, I have suddenly taken an interest in learning more about the original colonies and explorers who settled our country. It’s amazing to really step back and acknowledge all the great discoveries made here at home.

I’m guilty of doing a good bit of my reading through Wikipedia. I am sure false information is sprinkled in, but I find myself jumping for article to article through embedded links. When reading about Lewis & Clark, I got to reading about John Ledyard, which lead to a ton of stories about Spanish explorers. It’s never ending.

So, now that I got to thinking, is this the American History you think of? Maybe my interest is still not in post-revolutionary United States of America, but in the original settlement and exploration of our continent. While I found TV programs like HBO’s John Adams incredible, I still think I take a liking to older history, or exploration. I find it fascinating to read about people like René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle who explored much of the Great Lakes. He explored a part of my backyard and men like these would cover great distances on foot for the sake of discovery. Pretty amazing.

Living in St Louis, we take for granted the historical significance of our location in history. Many of our cities and roads are obvious reminders of our French ancestry. You need not travel far in our area to find a memorial or dedication. Heck, I grew up in Saint Charles, Missouri, the second oldest city west of the Mississippi. I have bar-hopped on Laclede’s Landing, which 200 years ago was a center of commerce and trade with our countries newly purchased land to the Rockies.

So, with that said, do not take for granted our great explorers, for whom we owe more than we know.

Top Five: Celebrity Crushes

Do you remember the episode of “Friends” where they each made a list of 5 famous people that they would be exempt from their significant other if they were propositioned? What, am I the only one that watched Friends in 1999? Here is my list of five celebrities my wife has given me a free pass to fantasize about:

1. Scarlett Johansson

2. Keira Knightley

3. Mia Kirshner

4. Shannyn Sossamon

5. Rosario Dawson

Top Five: Favorite Places I Have Been

1. Venice, Italy. Hands down the most spectacular place I have visited. The canals, the architecture, the way of life. Nowhere like it on earth.

2. Innsbruck, Austria. I visited here once in October, the cosmopolitan atmosphere and old-world charm surrounded by the Alps will forever be a postcard in my mind.

3. Grand Cayman, BWI.. We were married here in 2004. Have visited now four times. Hands down my favorite of all of the Caribbean islands I have visited (and I have visited a lot).

4. Wyoming/Montana. Best seen by car, from east to west. Something about the quiet vistas and open land, and the mountains growing higher and higher as you travel on as I did in 2005. Breathtaking country.

5. New York. My perennial favorite. My second home. The City that Never Sleeps. Need I say more?

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* ‘Top Five’ is a new feature here at LMTF. Once a week I will post a new top five list encompassing everything from travel to food to tv shows. Figured it would be a fun way to share more about myself, and the things I enjoy.

St Louis: Are We Loosing Our Spot on the Map?

It was 1900. St Louis was truly the gateway to the west. The city was the fourth largest in the country. We hosted the world at the Worlds Fair of 1904. In the two centuries prior, the cities location on the Mississippi River made it famous. We were a boomtown. Settlers by the thousands moved to St Louis from points east. It was an entrepreneur’s haven. But in the last 50 years, that all has changed.

Anyone who has traveled the world will agree that St Louis isn’t the fairest of them all. We struggle with our identity as a diverse city. Our climate does not fair well to our infrastructure. We suffer from the typical image of a once industrial city - gritty and crime ridden. Efforts are slowly being made to polish her up and revitiliaze its image, but it takes time. I grew up here. St Louis is my home. I have, though, traveled extensively and have considered leaving for greener pastures more times than I like to admit. But nonetheless, I am still here.

Over the weekend, our fair denizens were informed we lost another iconic company who called us home. Anheuser Busch, the worlds largest brewery by volume, has sold out. To the Belgians no less. The talk of the town for the past two months, we are about to loose another status symbol that St Louisans held proud.

As a kid, everyone I knew was somehow connected to McDonnell Douglas here. My father worked for them for almost 20 years. The company was St Louis. But with the changing times, so came buyouts to line the coffers of shareholders when Boeing announced its takeover in 1997. Within a few years, all but a few facilities remain. My father survived thanks to previous mergers, and while our economy struggled, we survived. A few years later, TWA was bought out by American and for anyone that has found themselves flying on a 50-seat jet to Chicago or DC knows, our global reach was severely impacted then as well. I remember as a kid boarding a 747 and flying non-stop to Hawaii and Germany from St Louis. Those were the days.

I won’t deny that I fear for our fair city. As our economy tightens, and corporations merge and move, in just 108 years since we were the fourth largest dot on the map we are being reduced to a spec. As a wordly guy, I am saddened by this.

The A-B news is front page here in town. It is the talk of the local twitterverse. Even the Today Show sent a correspondent to cover the news this morning. For St Louisans who have been through this before, it feels like another nail in the coffin. Fellow twitterer @CosmosGirl even tweeted that, although she is not directly influenced by the brewer, she felt St Louis lost a little more character following the news. That is precisely how I feel. I work for a stable company. My personal economic footprint will change little by the buyout. But my town, my home, will suffer. The philanthropic impact to our city could be the most visible. For a town already with a pockmarked image, we cannot afford less dollars being infused into our infrastructure and revitalization.

We must turn our focus now to all the great plans for the future. We need to understand and appreciate our city even more. Your image of St Louis may be dark, but take a stroll through Forest Park or our History Museum and remember and embrace our town for all she has accomplished. Plenty of corporations will still call this home, adding value every day. Our economy may change and the ‘family business’ practice may be a thing of the past, but if for nothing else, give our city some credit. She’s had a long history and a bright future.

While I routinely think about moving away, for the chance to experience something new, I secretly have deep roots here that no small force can extirpate.

Beautiful Time Waster

One of my favorite ways to waste time over lunch or while waiting around for something is to browse everyones uploads in Flickr. The single page http://www.flickr.com/photos will show you all the latest uploads to Flickr from its users at that moment. Due to the sites’ popularity, refreshing every 30 seconds will produce usually a whole new selection to enjoy.

It feels like a tour around the world, seeing a glimpse of peoples lives and the things they love enough to snap a picture of. I will typically try to guess where the picture was taken (geographically). Something about the raw pictures, uploaded that instance, is interesting.

Check out our Flickr photostream while you are there.