Metro will do a holiday MetroLink train this year if there is enough public interest. It would run every Friday and Saturday in December. I am SO EXCITED about this! If I were still in St. Louis, I’d volunteer to be an elf!

The Chicago Transit Authority has a long-running tradition of running a Santa Express train every holiday season. The first time I encountered the Santa Express, I wasn’t expecting it. I was heading up the escalator at the Garfield Green Line station, and when I heard a train I started to run so that I wouldn’t miss it. But then, besides all the usual train clatter and roar, I heard… holiday music? Could that be holiday music? I ran even faster, and when I got to the top of the escalator I saw a green glowing El train all decked out in lights, with the words SEASON’S GREETINGS written in giant silver letters across its side.

(Note: I took these photos on a Santa Express on the Blue Line in 2008, if you’re counting. Katherine of Chicago has video of the train, with sound.)

OH MY GOD THE SANTA TRAIN. I ran aboard and sat down. It was a weekday afternoon on the South Side, so there were only a handful of other passengers. A CTA employee dressed as an elf came around and handed out candy canes, telling some of the more deliberately stoic passengers “Cmon, you know you want one.” She managed to get every single person on the train to smile.

The Santa Express is a pretty serious operation–it even features a car with Santa’s sleigh, and they ride outside in the Chicago winter. The train now features its own custom Christmas upholstery on its seats. It also has fake ads for Christmas related businesses where the regular ads normally go.

While the MetroLink holiday train wouldn’t be this big of a production (yet???), it would certainly be really cool nonetheless. I’d love to see that Santa train glee come to St. Louis.

A Metro holiday train would be a fun surprise for riders who didn’t know about it, and an entertaining outing for folks who’d heard about it in advance. Think of the joy of visiting Santa, with the glee of riding a train, minus the holiday mall insanity. And, of course, there’s nothing like a ridiculous themed celebration on public transit to enjoy and promote all the good things that can happen when you don’t have to drive. I can’t speak for the whole Prom Committee, but this MetroLink Prom organizer is overjoyed at the thought of Metro having their own sorta-parties on the train.

What can you do to bring a holiday train to St. Louis?

1. E-mail blog@nextstopstl.org and tell them you want the holiday train!

2. If you use Twitter, tweet using the hashtag #stlholidaytrain.

3. Spread the word! E-mail your friends, blog it, post it on facebook, encourage others to tweet about it…. You know what to do!

By the way, I am alive and well and living in Hamtramck, Michigan, a tiny municipality inside of Detroit but separate from it.

I dropped the St. Louis from the title of my blog, and will just be writing under Curious Feet from now on. I still intend to write about St. Louis, but I’ll probably be writing more frequently about Detroit and Hamtramck. Readers, I hope you’ll stick with me on this new leg of my journey. St. Louis and Detroit have a lot to teach each other.

I plan to write about why I chose to move to Hamtramck soon. For now, here are some photos I’ve taken in Hamtramck this year:

Grossly belated! My apologies–moving to Michigan ate my free time.

Here are links to photos from MetroLink Prom! If you have a link of your own (or a link to Prom photos you’ve seen around the web), please share in the links section and I will put them up!

Miss MetroLink’s own album from 2009

Nazim Keven’s photos from 2009

Vanishing StL’s photos from 2008

Art of Serendipity’s photos from 2008 including couples portraits with the backdrop

ST. LOUIS — In a violent scene typical of those that we only pointedly note the location of when they happen on the North Side, three innocent cats were dragged out of their North St. Louis home today and given shots.

The victims, age 4, 4, and 4 were approached at about 10:45 AM by a lone white female. The assailant was described as being in her mid 20s with long brownish hair and wearing nerdy glasses. The assailant proceeded to gently approach each one of the victims, pick them up, and stuff them into a small cage. The cages were then transported to South St. Louis, where two more assailants removed each cat from his or her cage and poked them with a sharp needle. The victims were then forced to watch from inside their cages as the main perpetrator filled out approximately 10 minutes worth of paperwork.

A young woman has already claimed credit for the attacks, saying, “I don’t know why they’re suddenly acting like they don’t know who I am. I raised them and I feed them and spoil them. I am not a stranger. I just needed to get them microchipped because we are moving. I gave them treats when we got home.”

One of the victims, a small white and orange male named Jarns, issued a statement to the press rebutting Ms. Nowak-Boyd’s statements. In his statement, Mr. Jarns wrote, “Eooow. Eooow. EOOOOWWWW! EOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW! AWOOOOOOO!”

Another victim, speaking under condition of itty bitty anonymity, told a reporter, “Mip! Mip! Mip! Mip! Mip!”

Ms. Nowak-Boyd has denied any wrongdoing.

Thanks again, Dewey Decimal Drinks attendees. It has been a wonderful 2+ years and I have learned so much from you. I always knew that stereotypes of us and our profession weren’t true*, but you have proven to me without a doubt that librarians are fun. Damn it, we can drink and be sleazy when we want to, and it’s that much better because we librarians know what we are doing. So, THANK YOU.

In case you missed the news: I’ll be moving to Detroit in a few days. A gal named Christina Pryor is going to be taking over Dewey Decimal Drinks. Christina is great, and I am so glad she will be doing this. When she said yes, I jumped up and went, “YESSSS!”

In the past, Christina has organized a library students’ social group and a librarians’ trivia team (named the Dewey Decimators!). She is super social, super smart, and one of the funnest drunks I know. I hope you’ll welcome her with open arms, and keep on comin’ out for Dewey Drinks.

Always reading between the lines,
Claire-ian the Librarian

*Except the hot librarian archetype/stereotype. That one is true.

A very thoughtful friend posted on Facebook about the huge social divide between her college and the town where it is located, seeking advice on how to improve the state of things. I unintentionally ended up writing a bit of a novel in response, and I thought I’d share it here incase it might be useful for anyone else. I’ve removed the name of the school and the town to make it more about the general situation, rather than the specific place.

I wrote it as a Facebook comment, so please forgive the even-more-informal-than-usual style. Names are references to other folks in the thread.

Here goes:

I think Matt hit the nail on the head: Making friends is a big deal. Getting to know someone in the community, and them getting to know you, is a huge thing. You don’t necessarily have to be besties, just get to know each other on some level. It really does make a difference.

On an individual level, I’d say get out there and start meeting people in the community. Go to where they are.

A huge part of the battle is just showing up. In our North Side/McKee efforts, it has blown minds when young shiny Wash U or South Side types show up and want to know what they can do to help us. Even just the interested presence of people listening and caring does make a difference. I realize in this case it’s a specific battle rather than a more general situation, but it does feel like we are invisible and a lot of people who claim to care never appear, and… yeah, just seeing people here and knowing that people care that we exist is huge. So often, people teeter on the brink of fear, of worrying they will do the wrong thing or feeling overwhelmed by the hugeness of the problem/gap, and they let that keep them from showing up. But when folks don’t show up, we have no way of knowing that they are sitting there thinking about us and meaning well. You’ve gotta come to the table.

Going by yourself or with just 1 friend is the way to roll. Safety’s important in certain situations, but if there are just 1-2 of you it’s a lot easier to start conversations. Too many people and you become a self-contained pod.

Where to go is up to you: a bar, a neighborhood meeting, an art opening, a governmental meeting, somewhere social. I think volunteering can be good, if you show up outside of the context of your school. Volunteering is always helpful, but as others have pointed out, the traditional college day of service model can be pretty hierarchical. Its core assumption involves the students being superior to the community members…. not that the work isn’t needed! Here in the neighborhood we do really love it when a huge phalanx of university kids shows up and helps, it makes a HUGE difference, but one isolated day is not the foundation for a feeling that they care about us in some sort of long-term way. It’s not bad, it’s just the limits of that mode of interaction. Like Meredith wrote, pitching in totally outside of the context of school, where everyone but you and your pal are non-[school]ites and it’s [town] people in charge/setting priorities, is the way to go. It tells people you care about them besides just when you “have to.”

I use my camera a lot as an excuse to talk with people about their business, church, etc. It gives a reason for my presence, allows me to ask questions, etc. Of course, having a camera is also a socially hierarchical gesture, but if you’re sensitive and always ask permission before shooting, it can be a good jumping off point. And “I’ll bring you by some prints of my favorite shots” is a great excuse for following up on a good conversation. Plus, almost everyone likes a nice portrait of themselves, their pet, their Christmas decor, their business, etc.

Some forays will be fruitful, some won’t, and many will be uneventful. Stick with it. Despite being an StL city native and having spent big chunks of my childhood in North City, as a geeky white girl I’ll always be a bit of an outsider here…. And in my outsiderly role, having curiously wandered in many a door…. Sometimes you have a good conversation, sometimes it’s a dud, and sometimes you end up talking about race and class into the wee hours and doing shots with the owner of the bar until you throw up. It’s not gonna happen unless you show up.

Where the distrust runs deep, sometimes it will take time and sometimes people might not want you there, and that is their right. I don’t know if that applies to your situation, but it certainly applies in St. Louis. And I guess I’m also thinking of my future home of Detroit, which is the subject of enough attention right now that some natives are getting downright angry at the decay tourists, who come and go. Yeah, I’d say that’s one difference to keep in mind besides class differences: They’re in it for the long haul and you’re just visiting for a few years. That’s no one’s fault and it’s not irreconcilable, but understand that it flavors your presence to locals. Anyway, back on track….

Once you start getting to know individuals and the broader community better yourself, you can start helping other [school] friends dive in here and there. Take people with you to events. Invite people to places they wouldn’t go otherwise. It doesn’t have to be a big, conspicuous thing of WE ARE GOING TO GO MEET THE COMMUNITY NOW and in fact probably shouldn’t be–more of a “hey, let’s go check out this neat place or hit up this fun event” is best.

And when you talk with people, they will have ideas about how [school] can do better by the community. They know better than anyone. Listen to what people need, and if you hear themes emerging or there’s one thing that really stands out as a change you in particular are interested in, go for it. Make it happen. (I love this, so much easier said than done, bwahahahaha….)

On the institutional level, I really don’t know the specifics, but perhaps the school could find some way of encouraging people to respectfully explore the community on their own. Perhaps the school could approach leaders in the community–I’m thinking people somewhere between mayor and block captain–about what some of the community’s greatest needs and frustrations are, and identify some of the school’s greatest resources, and see how those things could be sustainably combined in a way that helps. Again, the traditional volunteerism/charity model is one to steer away from as much as possible–people as individuals and as communities are always best served when they are treated as equals and as fellow stakeholders, and when their dignity is preserved. And heck, the college could probably do more to include the community in a lot of extant programs and events it does. Being a North Sider and an inner city resident, well… Traditional white progressive/arts types often put on events feeling that they are universally interesting and then are surprised when “the community” doesn’t show up and they’ve got a homogenous room, BUT when you’re dealing with a community that has been historically disenfranchised and excluded, if you don’t explicitly let us know that we are invited and that the proceedings will be relevant to us, we’re likely to assume otherwise and stay home. I realize I’m putting most of the onus on the school and students here, but in situations like this it’s up to those who have traditionally held higher social standing and power to act.

And yeah, I’m sure particularly at [school], people are worried about being judged as art weirdoes or the like by the community. Your average Midwesterner may not share your views on all things political, but there are a lot of things about the stereotypical liberal arts college liberalism that I personally don’t agree with myself. And just because you might not vote the same, doesn’t mean you don’t have a lot in common. There are plenty of other topics to talk about. Being strongly political, dressing in an artsy manner, things like that…. It may be the most conspicuous layer of difference to you, but it’s probably just one more layer of difference of many to the person you’re talking with. And heck, sometimes being a little goofy helps. When I dyed my hair NEON fuschia on a whim a couple of summers ago, I worried terribly afterwards that I’d done something that would make it a challenge for me to continue getting around North City on foot, camera in hand. Not so: the pink hair actually became a great conversation starter, and it seemed to signal to most people who saw me walking that I knew what I was doing, because I’d be a fool to go some of the places I did looking like that if I *didn’t* know where I was! So you never know.

••••••

I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences on the matter, readers.

PROM IS STILL ON FOR THE ORIGINAL DATE AND TIME! Facebook sent our message out a day late, but yeah: Prom is on for Friday the 23rd. Be there.

I posted it at the main post about the event, but wanted to share it in a separate post because 1) some people read via RSS and 2) I worked really hard on it.

For more info about MetroLink Prom, please see the big post about it.

The first time I heard Neko Case’s song “Thrice All American,” I was visiting St. Louis from my then-home in Chicagoland. My friends wanted to stop in Vintage Vinyl. Foolishly, foolishly, I thought I’d avoid buying anything by perusing a listening station rather than browsing. I popped on the giant headphones, idly flipped here and there through songs without any of them particularly catching my attention, and then…. I heard this wonderful song. Frugality be damned, I bought the CD and announced to my friend that we’d be playing it in her car right away. We put it in the discman-rigged-to-tapeplayer set-up and rolled down the windows of her grandma-given hooptie and turned it up and drove down Delmar. 

Neko Case’s lyrics are about her native Tacoma, but when I first heard “Thrice All American,” all I could think was St. Louis St. Louis St. Louis. As Detroit has increasingly become a part of my life, I’ve begun to picture its streets as well when I hear the song.

Lyrics follow:

“Thrice All American”

I want to tell you about my hometown
It’s a dusty old jewel in the South Puget Sound
Where the factories churn and the timber’s all cut down
And life goes by slow in Tacoma

People they laugh when they hear you’re from my town
They say it’s a sour and used up old place
I defended its honor, shrugged off the put-downs
You know that you’re poor, from Tacoma

Buildings are empty like ghettos or ghost-towns
It gives me a chill to think what was inside
I can’t seem to fathom the dark of my history
I invented my own in Tacoma

There was nothing to put me in love with the good life
I’m in league with the the gangs, and the guns, and the crime
There was no hollow promise that life would reward you
There was nowhere to hide in Tacoma

The people who built it they loved it like I do
There was hope in the trainyards that something inspired
Once was I on it, but it’s been painted shut
I found passion for life in Tacoma

Well I don’t make it home much, I sadly neglect you
But that’s how you like it away from the world
God bless California, make way for the Wal-Mart
I hope they don’t find you, Tacoma

…

If you’d like to hear the song, there’s a charming, gleeful fan video for it on youtube.

I can’t say it any better than she does in her own words, but I like that Neko Case does not treat a town and its residents being down on their luck as some wholly, monolithically terrible thing. I don’t mean to sugarcoat decay or to in any way dismiss the struggles of people who live in communities like, well, mine, but damn it we have pride and history, too. It’s not all bad, and to focus only on pathology-centric accounts of places like this is to deny our communities their human complexity.

October’s Dewey Decimal Drinks will be the last under my jurisdiction, and maybe the last ever. As I’ve written recently, I’m relocating to Detroit in a few weeks.

I’d like to say THANK YOU for 2+ wonderful years, my dear alphabetizers. It has been a ton of fun. It has been an honor to get to meet you all (and introduce y’all to each other). It’s been great watching new connections, friendships, and occasionally even romances form. I have learned a lot about librarianship as a broad field, and affirmed my belief that librarians are a curious, diverse, and dangerous bunch. Don’t ever let anybody tell you that librarians are boring, or that we don’t know how to party.

Please join me for a massive Dewey Decimal Drinks on Thursday, October 15th @ 7pm. We’ll be at Luckett’s Lounge, 4616 Delmar. Luckett’s is cash only, and we will be ordering pizza, so please bring paper money.

I’m making some kind of decorations. I’ll be raffling off bookends to benefit the Gary Public Library. And I may or may not wear a garment made out of thrift store dime novels. Just come on down, and bring lots of nerdy pals. It’ll be a good time.

If anyone would potentially be interested in taking over Dewey Decimal Drinks, please contact me: clairelovesthecity {at} gmail.com.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Forever reading between the lines,
Claire-ian the Librarian

P.S. Thanks to local activist Tom Duda for modeling for the flyer!