Thanks for the pic, Sueleen. As I make a point never to go outside, it's interesting to see what I'd look like under that big thing people call "the sun."
To answer your question, DG - It has its ups and downs. St Louis has a fairly liberal bend, despite being enclosed by a red state. I'm not such a big fan of midwest living, period. I'm not from here originally, and returning here was a detour that's already gone on too long.
St Louisians (the natives) are a strange and insular bunch. The big question they always ask is "where'd you go to high school," so you can immediately be pigeonholed. If you're not from here originally, you'll never truly fit in, no matter how long you live here. As much of a pain as that can be, I am grateful for that, as it will make my eventual flee even easier.
The gay community is essentially a microcosm of the larger community. Insular, with a lot of misplaced arrogance, and tons of apathy. I almost never date anyone who is originally from St. Louis. Not that that's my restriction, but they natives don't seem to go for me. I'm not quite sure why that is, but when the rare man does approach me when I go out, he's almost always from some other place of birth.
I'm not sure if that quite answered your question, but there you go. And the tequila is really old. I rarely touch the stuff. I'm a vodka man.
"How do you like THAT 'misanthropic panache,' Mr. Goldstone?" - PalJoey