Carbondale

Duplex:  new porch, bad window placement.    This particular model mansard is pretty prevalent in mansard apartment complexes.  There is always lack of window in the middle of the side elevation (or front, depending on your point of view). I am guess there is a wall running between the two units bisecting the duplex?

It looks like a weird block head person with eerily wide set eyes.  Or draw lines from window to window to make an "X".

How come no one told me about this on ramp?

Eastbound Highway 40/64 at Boyle and Papin.  Why was I not informed of this on ramp?  I consider myself a knower of city traffic things.  Back ways.  Shortcuts.  Routes to avoid.  So then why after living in the city since 1996 was I unaware and completely oblivious to one of the most awesome on ramps ever?  Does everyone else know about it and kept it a secret, much like my reluctance to tell others how cool the 22nd exit is?

I still drive like it's 1996:  avoid Kingshighway, take Forest Park, merge into 40/64.  Cut over 3 lanes of traffic to exit at Jefferson or 6th.

What a fool I was.  Here was Boyle and Papin under my nose the whole time.

And so it's clear how stupid I've been- from 1996-1999 I lived in the CWE less than a mile from this on ramp.

I love this entrance so much.  I pick Otto up from K-9 Athletic Club (yes, I send my dog once  a week to doggie playtime) and jump right on that highway to the ominous Last Missouri Exit.  And even though I make this drive with a 70 pound slobbering dog riding shot gun, it is a wonderful ride.

Hannibal

 Tuesday I found myself driving to Hannibal without my good Mother's Day camera.  Drat. My boss asked, "hey, can you go to Hannibal today?  The case is set at 11 and I know it's 8:30 am and it's a 2 hour 15 minute drive, but could you handle it anyway?"  I wasn't worried about preparing for the case.  Rather, I was all "Hannibal has a TON of bad mansards and I am not going to have my good camera."

So if Huck Finn needed his teeth cleaned or a payday loan, he would have gone to these two bad mansards.

Freaky mountain bad mansard

Mountain mansard!  This place is called "Tabernasty" in Fraser, Colorado.  Fraser isn't very far from Tabernash.  By the name you'd think it was a adult entertainment place but it's not.  Glassblowing and tattoos.  Only in Colorado.

A little bit of China in Scotland

Going to school in the Shaw neighborhood can certainly be a challenge at times.  There's a lot of riff raff in the neighborhood.  And I say that coming from Soulard.  Take car cloutings.  When Kay was in pre school someone broke the window of her friend Caroline's car and stole a dance bag with a size 6 leotard.  Neighborhood kids lit our playground climber on fire and routinely write horribly graphic bad words all over the inside of the slide.  At a school auction a car was stolen off one of the side streets.  Imagine that.  Walking out of a school auction with your winnings and not being able to find your car because some punk stole it (ever since then we have hired an off duty police officer for night social activities).

But there are perks too.  It's an academically strong, diverse and caring school.  The students walk frequently to Tower Grove Park and the Botanical Gardens.  The parents are fun, smart and volunteer their talents.    We always have connections to free beer through Schlafly or AB.

The Botanical Garden is also in the Shaw neighborhood.  So when the Chinese Lantern Festival ended we got this pagoda house and a bunch of other cool garden sculpture.  Thanks MOBOT!