Presenting a collection of St. Louis bricks, sidewalk markers, and the Fleur-de-lis as architectural detail on and in city buildings, brick collecting, urban exploration, and my life by Christian Herman. Reporting from Tower Grove South in St. Louis, MO
2/18/21
2/17/21
We almost bought this Victorian Manse
But sweet baby jesus, that facade and square tower with the hal shell!
2/12/21
A hobby
Her recent dig went so deep I could only see her wagging tail from the hole.
In the hole she experiences rabid abandonment, a gleefulness usually manifested in a younger dog but when she was younger she was forced to be a mother at a camp.
Now puppyness is a frolicsome adventure of slinging mud about the yard while killing my prized hostas and the gentle ferns.
There's something down there she must have.
Perhaps a lost marble shooter. A snoozing beetle. Certainly not a forgotten bone from the other (RIP) dogs, no, they were mannered and did not dirty their paws.
When called Belle rapidly ascends, glances at the yard, gets her bearings, and flies through the door wanting to be in my arms.
She reeks and is dirty this little smelly Bellie.
Here she hid my slipper or maybe ate it and isn't embarrassed to request some yogurt.
2/11/21
The Convalescent Room
Quilt by Gen Obata.
2/8/21
Custom order
I can't drop customer names however a hyper rare Orry Kelly necktie went to a man....no, I still can't. But that Orry Kelly Necktie was most likely the only of his neckties to have survived.
2/7/21
Pedigree
My maternal grandfather was Wilhelm Busch, an immigrant from Germany after WWI. He had flown with Manfred ( Baron) Von Richthofen and was a topographer. My mother had a photo of him with his squad. He had written in white ink the names of the soldiers with him across their chest. On one side of him was Hermann Goering. To the other was Rudolf Hess. The photo is currently in a siblings safety deposit box hidden from history.
After the war he played violin in silent motion picture theaters in Germany before immigrating. He was also a photographer.
In the early 20s, he traveled the US with a circus as a musician.
He met my maternal grandmother in Springfield, IL. They had a...rendezvous and she discovered she was with child shortly after the circus left for STL. More travel and a long story shortened, a shot gun was present at their wedding.
They eventually settled in STL in the 50s where GF Busch was first chair with the STL symphony and in off season worked at American Can Company as a label designer. American Can was bought by Consolidated Chemical and he designed their logo.
He owned and played both a Guarnerius and a Stradivarius violin. The Guarneriushad a carved rose. His bow had cost $500, shocking all family members.
When he died my mother received the violins. Not knowing their value she took them to Bearden Violin Shopand was told they were priceless. She thought this meant they didn't have value and shipped them to her brother.
No one knows what became of them, not even my cousins.
After she graduated from Roosevelt high school in the late 40s my mother.
A talented artist as a teenager, she went to work with her father. She illustrated magazine stories.
The Orginal Fake News was White Jesus
Whenever I see a sale on a 50s hand painted Mary today I bring her and her bossy little kid home.
Resell value is still strong. Bahaha.
2/6/21
2/5/21
Happy Valentine's Day
Call to see if the museum is still open for touring during Black History MOnth and covi :/
Travels with Dear Boi
Birthday
I made that dress! I wanted to wear an Oldsmoble
Just one of the Treasures that has passed through my Hands
I love my job. For the last 35 years I've been a treasure hunter. I have the abilty to quickly identity rare things that typically cost me less than $5.
I had a retail store but then the miracle of the Webs changed my life for the better. There's nothing like waking up to a series of sales to pack :)
1/30/21
1/29/21
Dreaming about My Forever President
Some doomsday effect was going down. Perhaps the river had ruptured and exhausted lives.
Maybe the sun was leaking and we were quarantined.
Something inense.
I held a bossy management position. Comprehensive and authoritative decisions were expected of me.
Disaster management.
I was tired. My teeth hurt and were being crushed by other teeth. The party was contrived and rife with white men.
I gazed at the bulging river through distorted hotel glass.
I liked the music being played in the room, upbeat in contrast to the view.
Barak Obama walked into the room. I felt relief. I grinned at him.
The sun appeared all crisp and new.
The mood instantly changed. Someone offered him a drink.
He was relaxed and happy.
People were taking photos of him with their phones.
I asked him to dance and he stared at me.
You're so short, he said. It would be like dancing with a child.
He lifted me onto an ottoman with casters and this is how we danced. My hand on his shoulder as he slid me about the room. I was laughing with delight.
You can fix anything, I told him.
No, he said, I just know how to dance.
1/25/21
Movie Stills from my Narrative
My relentless obsession documenting the number 3 which is the lucky prime in Math Theory.
For my funny Valentine.
#ControltheNarrative