On the Road, Part 2

Still in St. Louis . . .

Yesterday Nikki and I hit the Loop for some shopping. She picked up a new futon cover at Pizazz. Basic black, so as not to clash with the reddish-hot pink walls, silver ceiling, and pink/lavender/peach/orange sherbet striped (with metallic threads running through everything) curtains in her studio that she's turning into a guest room.

It looks a lot cooler than it sounds. Really. Plus, she has the walls filled with all these framed posters of rock bands she likes, promotional posters for concerts she's been to or tattoo expos she has attended, photos of her and Noah Hunt framed with her autographed ticket stubs, etc. — I like what's she's done with it.

Back to the shopping: I picked up some new CDs at Vintage Vinyl (new Fountains of Wayne, new Macy Gray, and some guy I'd never heard of but who sounded cool at the listening station: James Morrison). We both mocked the t-shirts at Rag-O-Rama and chowed down on fried tofu, thai crab wontons, and Num Prik Ong pizza at the Thai Pizza Co. Very tasty.

After all that, we swung by the house to get Matt, grab some sammiches, and head over to the City Museum. I was not prepared for the weirdness that this place is. I'm not sure I can describe it and do it justice — much like the guest room/studio, you'll just have to experience it. (It's strange in a good way, though.) I got a little dizzy on the spiral slides and banged my knees up as I was crawling out of one of them. It was pretty chilly outside, but Nikki and Matt insisted that I come out there check out the airplane and different walkways. I didn't do the climbing/crawling that they did to get everywhere (in most cases, there are a set of steps that get you to the same place) but it was kind of fun. It would have been nicer if it were warmer and I had worn different shoes. And if I enjoyed bending over to crawl through things, which I don't.

I think my favorite parts of the night were looking at the vintage opera posters, the architectural elements saved from other buildings as they were torn down to make way for highways or gas stations, and Beatnik Bob's cafe (which is where the giant underpants reside). We ended up there around 11:15 or so to have a pop with some of Nikki & Matt's friends (who had brought about 6 teenagers between them — the place was packed with high schoolers, running around and acting crazy). One of them was telling me all about his plans to create virtual servers for the computer network at the place he works — I think that's what put Matt to sleep, because he probably hears that kind of talk all day, but I thought it was interesting.

So . . . today might involve some rubber stamp/art supply stores, and then the reason for the whole trip: Kenny Wayne Shepherd in concert at the Pageant. Woo!