Munger Moss Motel, Neon Sign, Lebanon, Missouri

Mike Kehoe

Ha Ha Tonka State Park, Missouri

I miss storms.

Growing up in the Midwest, I was scared of them. Tornado drills in school from a young age brought home the fact that one of these destructive maelstroms could come through and wipe an entire town off the map in minutes. Twister came out when I was in high school, fueling both fascination and fear when we watched it in a science class so we could pick apart the fact and fiction. And I was terrified of getting caught out in one if I had walked too far from home, and up from the southwest came dark clouds, wind, and a growl of thunder in the distance. Yet I also felt security as the winds blew around the house, tucked into my bed in the dark; so long as a tornado didn't snake down from the sky, I could rest amid the thunder and lightning, watching the trees blown back and forth by the wind.

But when I moved to the Pacific Northwest in 2006, I found after a few years that I began to miss them. It wasn't just that their relative infrequency had defanged them. Rather, I found that the part of me that curled up while the wind howled and the sky rumbled missed the feeling of safety amid the chaos. Sure, there was always the chance that factors would align to bring a powerful spiraling juggernaut racing across the land, but the vast majority of the time things passed without incident, other than perhaps a few small branches and leaves washed into the storm drain by a sudden torrent.

The few true thunderstorms that raged when I lived in Portland, and then on the coast, became special occasions. Unless I was absolutely uninterruptible, I would stop whatever I was doing, turn off the lights if it was dark, and bear silent witness to the passing of the flashes of light and their resultant chorus. Sometimes there would be no more than one or two distant disturbances to the south or the north; other times we would get a few minutes that almost--but not quite--felt like being back in the Ozarks on a muggy summer evening. These times became so special to me that if my partner were awake later than I was as was often the case, and a storm rolled in, he would gently wake me and sit with me while we enjoyed the show together, before I drifted back to sleep.

So now that I come back here a couple of times a year, I always hope that there will be a storm or two. And as I write this, the southern edge of a storm brushes past Rolla, following I-44 toward St. Louis. It's not an especially wild beast here; the leaves barely move, the rain drops sluggishly, and the thunder only occasionally speaks a ways away. But I am curled up in my old bedroom, blinds open to watch the lightning flash, listening to spatters against the windows.

you almost can’t make this shit up.

the police drive their SUV into a gay couples place of business and then proceeds to arrest one of them for refusing to show identification. allegedly they were swerving to avoid a dog which totally exists

what kind of shit is this.

Yall remember how Texas had that "report an abortion" form that they had to take down after a week?

Well, Missouri has one, only it's for reporting transgender concerns.

Comrades. Friends. Romans. Countrymen. You know what to do.

Kiki Smith: ‘Constellation’ at Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (1996)

KC continues to make me proud.

Simplified explaination: the city gov has refused to comply with any gender affirming care ban, like the one the MO state government is on track to pass.

I will not be surprised if Jeff City tries to nullify or overturn this. Or simply penalize the metro in other ways.

But even if that happens... even if they succeed... the simple fact that this passed by a near-unanimous vote sends a clear message.

It sends a message to non-cis residents that the city is on their side.

And it sends a message to the rest of the nation that resistance is still alive in red states.

At 12 I was still reading The Babysitter’s Club books and thought I was mature because I got tired of Barbie dolls.

Sex was kind of an idea. I knew fine well babies weren’t made by a bird flying in and giving you a baby. I was aware of things.

But it still utterly unthinkable to me that anyone thinks a 12 year girl could get married and do *that* and be psychologically fine.

Why is this man not on a watch list?

St. Louis Globe-Democrat, Missouri, August 11, 1931

St. Louis and the Arch "BRAINS", 1978. Joel Meyerowitz. Archival pigment print.

bro i am losing my fucking mind i live in a clown state what the fuck is this shit

The Missouri Republican Civil War continues to escalate as a member of the Freedom Caucus faction has filed a proposed rule change to allow Senators to challenge an “offending senator to a duel.”

...

"SENATE RESOLUTION NO. _ Notice of Proposed Rule Change Notice is hereby given by the Senator from the 2nd District of the one day notice required by the rule of intent to put a motion to adopt the following rule change: BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the One Hundred and Second General Assembly, Second Regular Session, that the Senate Rules be amended to read as follows: "Rule 103. If a senator's honor is impugned by another senator to the point that it is beyond repair and in order for the offended senator to gain satisfaction, such senator may rectify the perceived insult to the senator's honor by challenging the offending senator to a duel. The trusted representative, known as the second, of the offended senator shall send a written challenge to the offending senator. The two senators shall agree to the terms of the duel, including choice of weapons, which will be witnessed and enforced by their respective seconds. The duel shall take place in the well of the senate at the hour of high noon on the date agreed to by the parties to the duel."