Longiloquent

July 30

2009-07-30T05:36:00.000-07:00

A quick guide to the rain in Pittsburgh:

If it starts to sprinkle, that's fair warning. You have approximately ten minutes to take cover before the deluge. It's never the case that it sprinkles and then stops. If it's sprinkling, you're about to get soaked. (I've been caught in more apocalyptic downpours this summer than you would think possible.)

The rain will rain all day once it starts. It's like a tap stuck in the "on" position. There's no half-sunny, half-rainy day. If it's raining, it will stay that way, perhaps for a week.

Always always always take your umbrella with you, even if you think you don't need it. I have a little tiny one that fits into my purse. I never leave home without it.

Yesterday evening after work I was walking to the bus stop through a torrential downpour (under my teensy umbrella, which I had prudently brought with me.) At the corner was a guy with a tremendous umbrella--you could have parked a car under the thing. Then three sopping wet girls without umbrellas came to the corner. He took one look at them and raised the umbrella so they could take cover.

Here's a bird pretending to be Mondrian:

A sign on an office at work:

And finally, I'll have only spotty internet access until Sunday evening, so here's a little something in honor of my last full day in Pittsburgh. I've had a lovely time, and I'll miss it, but I'm ready to go home now.

Love,
Sarah

2009-07-21T05:34:00.000-07:00

To get to Squirrel Hill, I get on the 64A Bus at the corner of 5th Ave & Highland. At this corner is a grotto type of thing with these fixtures inside.

Turns out they're not urinals. Rather, it's where people used to water their horses.

Just up the street is Chatham College, one of the first women's colleges in the US, where they used to chain themselves to ballot boxes and that sort of thing. It's very parklike. I got a brilliant sunburn on the back of my neck reading a book there Sunday morning.

I felt I should visit Homestead, the site of the infamous Homestead Massacre. Here is how they've memorialized it:

Seriously, it's Target, the Gap, and Pier One as far as the eye can see. As if to make it clear how utterly the Union was defeated.

Last night we attempted to go to the Pirates/Brewers baseball game. We started with a sandwich at Primanti Brothers, which was everything Sam said it would be and more. Here's what a sandwich looks like. With typical Pittsburgh practicality and efficiency, they just pile the french fries and coleslaw right on to the sandwich. It's all going to end up in the same place anyway, right?

Here's Amanda, Andrew, and Bob enjoying their sandwiches.

After dinner we walked across the bridge, which was blocked off to traffic, to PNC Park.

It's cool because the ball park is right on the Allegheny so you can look across and see the city from a different angle. We looked across and saw storm clouds lowering.

The geese were not concerned about the rain, which steadily intensified.

After standing there for an hour, during which a thunderstorm came through, we decided they couldn't possibly play a ball game and went home, hoping to catch the make-up on Wednesday. This morning we found out that after all that, they played, and they won.

Nevertheless, my co-workers got me into a baseball park, and I didn't have a terrible time there, even with the $4.25 soda. And the experience was consummately Pittsburghian: it rained, our plans went down the tubes, we enjoyed ourselves anyway.

Love,
Sarah

July 4 and beyond

2009-07-15T16:55:00.000-07:00

July 4 started when Joe & Di (Chris's brother and sister in law) very kindly came and rescued me from the big city! I got to stay at their farm all weekend and hang out with them and their kids & grandkids.

Here's one of my grandnieces, whose mom makes adorable clothes & bows for her. She is a cherub.

Here's her little brother, also a cherub.

We were at a 4th of July party. Water balloons were thrown. Threats were made. I escaped un-dampened.

Here's Joe with either Solo or Panzer, I can't remember which. Don't be fooled by the scary exterior; underneath is a complete teddy bear. (The dog is friendly, too.)

Labrador Puppies! Maybe some of these are related to Marley, who came from Joe & Di's business.

But wait, there's more!

Spaniel puppies!

More spaniel puppies!

The real reason I haven't posted lately--my arm was eaten off by puppies!

Here's a puppy running to eat my arm off.

So that's what I did for 4th of July. When I got back, I dove into the project that has eaten up my time and brain power for the past week. We sent off the letter yesterday and I now have a writing sample that will hopefully maybe help me get jobs.

Note to Sam: I have been meaning to tell you, there's a Primanti brothers right around the corner from where I work. I keep trying to go there, but it's jam-packed with business people every day for lunch! So I'm going to try to get there some weekend when I don't have to fight my way through the suits. Thank you for the tip!

Love,
Sarah

While you wait

2009-07-13T16:37:00.000-07:00

Have a look at the link my brother sent me:

http://thisiswhyyourefat.com/

Pictures of July 4 Coming Soon

2009-07-11T22:55:00.000-07:00

But not before I finish this Position Letter (i.e. Brief for the Regional Counsel, viz., one buttload of work.)

June 28

2009-06-28T17:15:00.000-07:00

It's been a quiet week in Lake Duquesne...

I did find out that there's a Trader Joe's Store very near my house, which I'm told is a good thing. I went to check it out and came out with the silliest bottle of Pink Lemonade I think I have ever seen:

The weather has been fickle, almost like Kansas. Here's what it looks like downtown when it's about to storm:

I didn't have anything to do this afternoon so I went to the Mellon Park to read. It's an odd mixture of grandeur and dilapidation:

I walked by a horse truck and peeked inside to find donkeys, goats, and cows. I think they were a petting zoo.

Here's an old adding machine. I don't know why it was in the park or why someone decided to stick it on the balustrade. I imagine it was once hurled at the head of an unlucky clerk or secretary by an angry Mellon.

Maybe it was put there by this chipmunk, who was decidedly disgusted with my encroachment on his little Eden:

Then it started to rain (you can't see it in the picture, but trust me, it's there.)

I stayed dry under some thick trees & my umbrella. When it let up I came home. As soon as I got inside, the sun came out and it's been shining ever since. I don't mind; rain here isn't ferocious like rain in Kansas. It sort of pelts down gently and then says "there, there" and moves on. Everything is cool and still and quiet now.

Happy Anniversary, Jon!

Love,
Sarah

July 21

2009-06-21T14:32:00.000-07:00

My dad's in town this weekend. Happy Father's Day!

Yesterday we rented bikes and biked on the Eliza Furnace Trail which goes along the Monongahela River, both sides (you bike across a couple bridges). We stopped and had a picnic, and then biked by some abandoned barges with trees growing in them.

Today we took a Just Ducky Tour on a refurbished amphibious vehicle from WWII. Yes, amphibious means it goes on land and on water. It was pretty cool. Here's Dad on the duck boat:

The best part was seeing downtown from the water. I got a good shot of the USW building (it's the one that looks like a waffle iron.)

When the tour was over, we were right there so we went up the Monongahela Incline, which is a funicular that goes straight up the southern bluffs. Not the most calming experience for an acrophobe. I made it though.

Once you get up there the view's pretty spectacular - that's why all the postcard pictures are from up there.

Here's a shot of me with the USW building in the background.

Here's what the fountain at the point looks like from far away:

Remember my first day when I took a picture of that church up on top of Duquesne Heights from downtown? Well here's what it looks like up close:

We're getting up really super early tomorrow to get Dad on his plane. It's been awful fun having him here, and now I know some really cool things to do when you come visit!

Love,
Sarah

2009-06-15T16:52:00.000-07:00

When I get on the bus in the morning I stare at these rooftops and wonder if they did it on purpose.

If you were a preschooler in a city, your school might look like this:

Here's a cool bridge that you can walk across if you're brave:

Sunday afternoon my boss gave us interns some of his season tickets to the Pittsburgh Symphony. They were playing Mahler's Resurrection with the Mendelssohn Choir. So off I went.

There was a ton of traffic because they had a lot going on downtown - the Arts Festival, the Gay Pride Festival, and a bunch of other stuff. So some folks had been waiting for the bus a long time.

I noticed the lady in front of me kind of lolling about, but the woman sitting next to me seemed to be supporting her. Then the supporting lady got off the bus and the lolling lady started lolling a lot worse, and I realized she was having some kind of seizure. It looked like she might bang her head so I jumped up and held her head. Somebody else got the bus driver to call the paramedics. We ended up getting her on her side on the floor of the bus with her bag under her head for a pillow. A few of us stuck around until the paramedics showed up. She was about my age and still had on a hospital bracelet -- someone had just let her out of the hospital. Luckily there was a guy there who said his mom had epilepsy and he just kept holding her hand and saying "It's ok Tammy, help is on the way."

When the paramedics got there I got off the bus (luckily just a few blocks from Heinz Hall) and called my co-workers to let them know I was on my way. Luckily I'd left early (I always do because you never know whether the buses will be running on time) so I got there in plenty of time. I was pretty depressed and a little disoriented and stopped in at the CVS across the street to get Advil and some water. Then I headed into the hall.

It was the perfect place to be after such a disturbing experience. I've never been much of a Mahler fan--he always seems so schlocky and post-romantic and hyper-chromatic. But they played the Resurrection Symphony (No. 2 in C minor, for anyone who wants to look it up). OH MY GOODNESS. It was magnificent! He starts off in the lower registers and gets them going to a real fever pitch, all in the first movement. Then in the second movement he does this hilarious pastorale Teutonic fantasia stuff--I kept having flashes of Bugs Bunny in drag on a fat horse. (I know, that's Wagner but same idea.) The third movement is this delightful snaky peasant dancy kind of business, and then in the fourth movement the solo contralto comes in - again, lower registers, which is frankly a relief. And of course the fifth movement he gets the whole thing going, choir, organ, tubular bells, harps, off-stage horns and drums, on-stage horns and drums--if he'd known how to write for a kitchen sink, he would have thrown that in too. If your hair isn't standing up on the back of your neck by the end of the piece, you must be comatose.

After the concert the boss said "how about a bite to eat, my treat?" So of course we accepted, and had an awfully nice time with him and his wife and another attorney and his wife. They are really cool, funny, kind, intimidatingly smart folks to work with. Then to top it all off the boss gave both of us interns a ride home, and pointed out landmarks along the way.

Today was the Penguins victory parade. They were already lined up at the barracades when I got downtown at 8:00 am, and they didn't leave until 3:00 in the afternoon. In between it was quite a hootenanny:

Random marching band:

Hockey players:

Either hockey coaches or hockey owners, I'm not sure which:

An exuberant ensemble:

Amphibious vehicles (irrelevant but no one cared):

Somebody famous:

Penguin fans that I work with:

My favorite part of the parade:

Before the parade:

During the parade:

After the parade:

Whoopee!

2009-06-09T06:08:00.000-07:00

I just figured out why the ice cubes are in the shape of penguins.

June 6

2009-06-06T17:02:00.001-07:00

I went downtown to check out the Three Rivers Arts Festival that started this weekend. It was mostly boothes of starving artist paintings and cheesy new age jewelry but there were a couple of cool things. It was fun to watch Pittsburghiacs enjoying the sun.

The Pittsburgh Penguins, a hockey team, are playing the Detroit Wings, another hockey team, for the Stanley Cup. Everyone's gone Penguin-mad. So I got into the spirit, too.

Here's a duck who was into the spirit.

This is what Fort Pitt Tunnel looks like from the other end.

There are roses all over this city, even at the bus stops.

Because of the Stanley cup, the whole city is like a big family picnic right now, complete with jovial drunken uncles and moms yelling at their kids. It's actually pretty cute.

Love,
Sarah

June 4

2009-06-04T16:02:00.000-07:00

This morning I looked out of my office window and saw skydivers.

I couldn't see where they landed. Here's a picture of the Alice in Wonderland park where I eat lunch sometimes.

At the point where the Allegheny and Monagahela collaborate together to make the Ohio, the French built a fort in the 18th century.

A century or two later, the Americans built a fountain.

This is my favorite spot to eat lunch. It takes about 5 minutes to walk there. Pictures don't really do it justice.

love,
Sarah

June 3

2009-06-03T11:05:00.001-07:00

Sometimes I look out my office window and think "Wow! I'm in a skyscraper!"

June 2

2009-06-02T16:40:00.000-07:00

There are a couple of empty offices at work so they called the IT guy in and had him set up computers for us. So now I have an office with windows! How cool is that?

They took us out to eat today at a restaurant attached to the Pittsburgh symphony. It's pretty cool; we ate outside next to a waterfall.

Here are some of the people I work with:

Dan, Andrew, Sasha

Katy & Dan

Love,
Sarah

May 27-30

2009-06-01T05:37:00.000-07:00

I didn't take many pictures this week - too busy just learning my way around -- the office, the city, my neighborhood, the grocery store.

I made a scrumptious thai curry last night which is easy-peasy:

Take 1 cup of light coconut milk and heat it up with 1 tbsp of red curry paste for about 10 minutes. Stir in juice from 1/2 lime.
Meanwhile, chop up 1 large or 4 baby bok choy into bite sized pieces and boil them for about 5 minutes until tender.
Saute two fish filets (I used tilapia) in 1 tsp olive oil until cooked (about 5 minutes).
Remove fish filets from skillet and cook bok choy, juice from the other 1/2 lime, and 1 cup sliced shiitakes (get 'em fresh, it's easier) until everything looks hotsy-totsy.

Put the veggies on two plates, then a fish filet each, then drizzle the curry sauce over the top. I had mine with rice.

Today I'm going to the coffee shop to take advantage of their internet connection and do research for work. This is not as onerous as it sounds; I enjoy the coffee shop and I've been hiking all over my neighborhood for the past two days. Also, I'll need the coffee as I was up late last night. Doing what, you ask?

I never claimed not to be a nerd.

Love,
Sarah

May 26

2009-05-27T05:32:00.000-07:00

It was rainy today so I had lunch in the conference room at work. The outside of the USW building is designed a little like a waffle iron, and the windows inside are shaped accordingly.

My big triumph today was finding the bus stop! It's been hiding from me because of all the construction downtown but I finally found the little bugger. It's the difference between a 15 minute ride home and a ride that can take an hour plus. It's a little like finding the holy grail.

When I got home I needed to return some stuff to the library so I headed down the alley behind my house and found the following delights:

The local library really does need to be remodeled; here's what it looks like now.

Remember the monstrous huge church that I took a picture of a few days ago? This is what it looks like up close:

To get to the library I have to cross the Busway. The Busway is a special highway that's only for buses. The Busway is what makes my ride home only 15 minutes when a regular bus takes an hour. It doesn't look like much but the Busway is one of my favorite things about my neighborhood right now. As I was taking the picture, my bus came running under so I got a good shot of it. I waved.

Love, Sarah

May 21-24

2009-05-25T06:03:00.000-07:00

On Thursday I started my internship, which is exceedingly cool. So far I'm just doing research (one Duty of Fair Representation case, one weird case involving a company who won't pay up). The folks there are really fun and they took us out to lunch at a Chinese restaurant downtown, which was very scrumptious. Still learning my way around down there. Here's a picture of a random skyscraper:

On Friday, rather than spend a three-day weekend in a city where I know no one as yet, I decided to come back to Ohio with Chris (the drive is about 1.5 hours) and hang out on his brother Joe's new sailboat. Here's us being boaters on Saturday:

Saturday night we had a cookout and tossed a frisbee around for a while. Today Chris brought me back to the city and then headed back to Indiana. I miss him an awful lot; it's been mighty fun exploring the city with him.

Happy Memorial Day, everyone!

Love,
Sarah

May 20

2009-05-25T05:53:00.000-07:00

Today I had my video teleconference interview with the NLRB in Indy - yes, I'm still in Pittsburgh; they just networked with the regional office here so we could talk about the externship. They said they'll let the applicants know asap so we can work around our class schedules. So we'll see. That was another big adventure downtown - I always manage to get where I'm going but I still have to walk around a bit to find the bus stop to go home. Doing so in high heels is a joy.

In the afternoon Chris and I stopped by the bodega around the corner and found that it's full of Turkish delight. Well, not quite full, but in addition to the usual candy, soft drinks, cigarettes, lottery tickets, and odds & ends, it's got halva, dolmas, baklava, couscous, and yes Turkish delight. So if I get a bug up to cook mediterranean at midnight, I'm set, even if I don't have the ingredients in the house.

Then we went to the Mellon Park, which is about 5 blocks away from my sublet. A very fulfilling afternoon.

May 18-19

2009-05-20T05:44:00.000-07:00

May 18: We headed into town about midday, through the oddly adorable industrial town of Steubenville, WV, which involves the prettiest bridge I've ever seen in person. It sort of looks like an angel from a distance.

But when you go over, it looks like a spider.

Going into Pittsburgh you have to face the Fort Pitt Tunnel, which actually goes under a mountain, which is a little scary when one has grown up in the open fields.

But then you come out onto the Fort Pitt Bridge into downtown, and it's like coming into, well, the Emerald City, actually.

We got the apartment all squared away. These pictures don't quite do it justice b/c I took them at night. During the day, light and air pour in through the windows. For such a small space, it's surprisingly well-appointed.

We went to the Giant Eagle, which is the normal grocery store about 3 blocks away (there's a Whole Foods just down the street but it seems to be frequented entirely by self-righteous yuppies complaining about the bananas) and got provisions for the week. I was sawing logs by 10:00. Big day.

May 19: This morning up early (the sun coming through those windows really makes it easy to bounce out of bed) and rode the bus downtown to see how long it would take. Took a picture of Duquesne Heights, which is a neighborhood perched precariously on the bluffs just across the Monongahela River. (Chris and I are getting a kick out of pronouncing Duquesne the way it's spelled, as opposed to Doo-Kayne, which is how it ought to be spelled if they wanted it to be pronounced that way.)

Here are some pictures of my neighborhood.

In the afternoon I got a library card at the local branch of the Carnegie Library (!) which I probably won't use as much as you would think because in June they're closing the neighborhood branch for remodeling. Oh well.

I'm still figuring out the internet connection. My plan is to get into the habit of getting up early, heading over to the coffee shop for my morning cuppa, and using their internet to do whatever needs doing. Posting may be spotty until I establish some sort of schedule.

Love, Sarah

2009-05-16T06:10:00.000-07:00

I'm going to attempt to keep everyone updated via blogging this summer, if I have adequate time/internet access. Stay tuned.

wow.

2009-05-01T14:32:00.000-07:00

A letter from the President of IU concerning the flu and its effect on graduation proceedings.

Wow, Sebelius got confirmed!

2009-04-28T20:48:00.000-07:00

Article

Now if we can just get Dawn Johnsen in, the number of Women Who Rawk in this Administration is going to be seriously impressive.

Happy Birthday, 92!

2009-04-20T04:58:00.000-07:00

Today our little punk rocker turns 1.

This guy gives 92 a run for her money.

2009-04-07T07:53:00.000-07:00

2009-03-31T19:50:00.000-07:00

Slagsmålsklubben - Sponsored by destiny from Tomas Nilsson on Vimeo.

2009-03-25T17:42:00.000-07:00