Kerri's Awesome 'BlogThe rantings of an Aussie on the verge of insanity.

Jenny did it first…

and then Larry took control.

Who did it better?

Through my living room window, I have a wonderful view.

It is expansive.  I can see all the way to Illinois, which I grant you, isn’t far, as St Louis is on the Mississippi River and Illinois is just there on the other side.   However… How many of you can say you can see another state from your living room window?  Hmm?

I digress.  The view from here is really wonderful and one of the things that make it so are the number of amazing churches the dot the horizon.  Without them, there would be a rather bland landscape, as there are many industrial buildings around here as well. Ugly, dirty, factories, power stations, steel mills poisoning the environment. There is also some pretty ugly government housing out there too.  It’s ugly, beautiful, fascinating and mesmerising, all at the same time.

When I moved here I had no idea that there would be so much fascinating architecture. It’s everywhere around me.  Literally.

We live in a loft in a converted  shoe factory, which was part of the Garment District in the 1920′s, when St Louis was known as a thriving clothing and shoe manufacturing mecca, rivaling those of New York and Chicago.  It’s a beautiful building.  Why they built such ornate buildings for factories back then, I will never understand.

What I can see from the rooftop (by the pool, heh) is the St Louis Gateway Arch, City Museum with it’s quirky array of ridiculous artifacts on it’s roof, including a fully functioning Ferris Wheel, much  of the cityscape and lots and lots of wonderful sky.  It’s a lovely place to be in the warmer months, though right now it is sheer hell, open to the icy winds and the pool cover is full of water, which will be a festering cesspool of mosquito larvae in a few short weeks.  It’s hard to imagine with the heavy snowfalls we’ve had over the last 24 hours.

I’ve really enjoyed my time here in St Louis.  The city is fabulous, the people are friendly, it’s overflowing with culture and the beer is cold.

St Louis really is a beautiful city.  You just have to see it in the right perspective.

Untitled, a photo by Kerri McCrorey on Flickr.

Everyone say awwww…

We found Abby via the St Louis Senior Dog Project. She is a gorgeous Beagle mix and is more than deserving of a loving home.

Poor Abby spent the first 8 years of her life chained up in a yard with nothing but a barrel for shelter.

She is incredibly well behaved and a very loving old girl, which is surprising given her prior situation, but thanks to her loving and caring Foster Mom, she has become a wonderful friend for someone who wants to love her. We happen to be that lucky family.

Welcome to our family, Abba Dabba Do!

I’ve always loved storms but have never been in the right place at the right time to attempt to photograph lightening.

Until tonight.  This is the view from our new apartment.

Living in a Tree House.

Originally uploaded by Kerri McCrorey

Find a place where you can move around easily and safely with your camera. Study the space for 5 minutes, then close your eyes and take 20 shots. Keep your eyes shut the whole time. Try to remember the space and “compose.” Get low, get close, get high; try to make each shot as different as possible. Don’t look until you have shot all 20. If your results are too light or dark, change your settings and shoot all 20 again; don’t peek!

Motivation is severely lacking, in case you haven’t noticed.  If you’ve been paying attention, you would know that I haven’t posted here for almost a year.

Living in the mid west has not exactly been inspirational, though I have enjoyed a lot of things about it.

That is about to change.

Saturday was my niece’s 4th birthday and we spent the day at Six Flags, St Louis.  I hope she had a wonderful day, she certainly seemed to.

Happy birthday, baby girl! xoxoxo

We love you.

You too can look this glamorous, in TV Hat

The first time I watched the video sales pitch I was in complete awe.  I had never seen anything so craptastic.  Of course, I had to watch it a second time… and a third and it got funnier and funnier.

Click on it.

Seriously.

You won’t regret it.

CLICK ON IT!

Yes, they are still for sale.  Want me to send you one? 

Fireworks in the park.

Fireworks at home.

Little girls with sparklers.

“Getting hit in the face with burny stuff”

Boys blowing shit up.

Yep.  A typical July 4th, I’m told 

I have never done a restaurant review before, but decided that this one deserved a mention.

Last night we popped into the Rajin’ Cajun Piano Bar in Alton, Illinois,  to check out one of our local places and to get a bight to eat.

The place oozes atmosphere. Awesome.

We are not fussy people.  We are happy with decent food and decent service.  It doesn’t have to be first class stuff, just pay us a little attention, give us a little respect and serve us edible food at the temperature at which it was meant to be served.

The Ragin’ Cajun failed at every one of these aspects….  oh, the food was decent, but it was COLD, and it was not meant to be cold.  Trust me.

Last night we experienced seriously bad service.  We waited 25 minutes to be asked if we wanted a drink.  An hour to have our food order taken.  Waited another hour and a half for our meal to be served and were treated with utter frustration and disdain when we had the nerve to suggest that they may want to get their act together, because the slow service had become a joke and the talk of the entire restaurant.

The kicker?  Not a single apologetic word.  From anyone.  I emailed the restaurant last night as soon as I got home and I really hope they write back because that place is awesome, except for the service, and I really want to go back.

Thank God for Charlie.  Charlie was the Pianist.  Charlie rules.  Thank you Charlie, for making our night tolerable.  You are the only reason we stayed so long.

The fabbo frustrated guy was stolen borrowed from here.