A reverence and respect for water is a universal theme, found in cultures from ancient Greece to the remote Pacific Island of Vanuatu. The ritual significance of water spans across the globe to include the Native American rain dance, Christian baptismal font, the gleeful splashing of the Songkran water festival of the Dai New Year and the solemn funeral pyre on the Ganges. Learning to manage water, whether it is a lot or a little, is an important part of our shared community. Well-handled water can be cleansing, refreshing, energizing. Out-of-control water has the power to drown and destroy, to wash away with time even the greatest of mountains.

Writing your thank-you notes should start right after any engagement party you may have. If people are kind enough to give you a gift, a lovely handwritten note (on a fold-over note card, written in black ink) is a priority—a priority you should carry all through the bridal shower, cocktail parties, rehearsal dinner and wedding events.

Extremely rare pieces from one of the largest private collections of Alexander McQueen’s work are among those to be showcased in an upcoming exhibition at the World Chess Hall of Fame. 

LADUE • Bridget Condie picked the right time for her first game-winning goal of her young career.

One in 10 people are likely to develop addiction to drugs and alcohol and need to seek treatment, according to local experts. But many of those who seek help may not know which way to turn in order to overcome their dependency.

NOTE: The review below was written for the original presentation of Stupefy! last December. The latest production features three new cast members, including Chris LaBanca, Ben Ritchie and John Wolbers, who are replacing Blaine Adams, Rob Suozzi and John Foughty, respectively. Additionally, the new rendition includes a 5-minute video pre-show as well as new scenes and a new ending, all in a “faster than last time” 90 minutes.

Communication is one of the very first skills we learn in order to navigate the world. As infants, we are quick to begin communicating our needs and respond to those around us. However, babies who are born with hearing disorders and children who lose their sense of hearing face a very different communication landscape—one that now involves technology and strategies to help them to communicate with the wider world.

A shoulder and elbow surgeon, as well as an accomplished violinist, Dr. Aaron Chamberlain understands the importance of staying healthy in order to do what you love.

Maxine Clark grew up in the decade of big dreams realized. Today, the Build-A-Bear Workshop founder is affectionately gazing back on the journey of her own realized dream.

MISSION: St. Louis County National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) works to eliminate racial discrimination and ensure political, educational, social and economic equal rights for everyone. The nonprofit stands for the belief that people of all races, nationalities and faiths are created equal. 

The common wisdom is that people who love their work are those who find the most success. Here, we feature three women who prove that common wisdom right: By following their dreams, each built a business that has seen more success than most of us would dare to dream for. As John Updike once said, “The refusal to rest content—the willingness to risk excess on behalf of one’s obsessions—is what distinguishes artists from entertainers and what makes some artists adventurers on behalf of us all.”

Story: May ekes out an existence as a cook at a nameless place in a tiny town on the Mojave Desert. Her home is a drab motel room with a bed, a table, a couple of chairs and drinking glasses stored in the bathroom. Her life is dreary but made drastic as well by the unwelcome arrival of her former lover, Eddie.

Story: The time is December 4, 1956 and the place is Sun Records in Memphis. The tiny, unremarkable building once housed an auto parts store, as owner and producer Samuel Cornelius Phillips reminds himself and visitors, before Sam turned it into a tiny recording studio a couple of years earlier.

Who would have thought that Coldplay on cello could sound so cool and mellow? Or that tickling the ivories while whistling La Vie en rose can put the exclamation point on a romantic standard?

TAYLOR ROBINSON, a senior at Ladue Horton-Watkins High School, is one of 814 high school athletes nationwide who have been nominated to play in the 2013 McDonald’s All American Games. The 2013 nominees include high school basketball players from across the country who have been selected by coaches, athletic directors, principals and members of the McDonald’s All American Games Selection Committee. Pictured: Taylor Robinson with Colleen Schoendienst, local McDonald's owner/operator

A cool breeze will now flow through the hot summer nights at The Muny in Forest Park. Audiences can sit back and take in the comforting effect of high-tech fans as they experience the open air theater’s new season of shows. The 95th year will open June 17 with Monty Python’s Spamalot, starring John O’Hurley of Seinfeld fame. LN recently spoke with executive director Mike Isaacson for the scoop on the season, its stars and many more surprises.

Story: Sam and Dinah are a young married couple living the good life in suburbia. Sam is a businessman who commutes by day to his job in the city, while homemaker Dinah tends to chores around the house and caring for their son, Junior.

Story: Two men converse on a nearly barren landscape. They appear to be in dire straits, although their now shabby clothes indicate they once held loftier places in society. They talk about a man named Godot, who has promised to visit them today, much like he has indicated numerous times in the 50 years they have waited. As of yet, though, they have never actually met this individual.

Smiling and giggling babies are a common sight at a Baby Boot Camp session in St. Louis. That’s because their moms are thrusting them into the air for shoulder presses, balancing them during yoga poses and swiftly pushing them in strollers through the park.

“At 91 my mom is sweet, unassuming, loves the Lord and is still as pretty as ever! She still remembers when horse-drawn wagons delivered the milk and when the ‘Laclede Gas Man’ lit the streetlights each night. She is as inquisitive as a child and always makes sure to point out a perfectly blue sky, and then wonder what makes it so blue.”

Eric Rhone didn’t start out to be in the ‘funny’ business. Growing up in Normandy and Pine Lawn as the son of a Bi-State bus driver and city school district employee, he probably did not see himself running an entertainment company, making multi-million-dollar decisions and living in a palatial home in Frontenac.