PGH Book #8: Bone Wars

Like any kid who grew up in the 80s and 90s, dinosaurs were an essential part of my life. I remember receiving books about dinosaurs for Christmas and spending hours looking at the pictures of these awesome monsters that were once real. After seeing Jurassic Park in the theater, I would put my brother and his friend from down the street in a wheelbarrow and run them around the backyard pretending they were on their own Jurassic Park tour. It was great fun, especially when I would dump them out of the wheelbarrow and tell them to run from the hungry T-Rex. Seeing Dinosaur Hall at the Carnegie Museum for the first time as a kid was incredible. There aren't too many moments in your life when your jaw drops like the first time you see dinosaur skeleton. (Well, for me, at least.)

My love of dinosaurs continues today. (So much so that I am planning on buying a T-Rex costume for Halloween this year.) (Oh, and will probably have to buy this for my dopey-looking fat black cat.) When I searched for a Pittsburgh-related book that had to do with dinosaurs and found Bone Wars: The Excavation of Andrew Carnegie's Dinosaur, I was happily surprised! But, I guess I shouldn't have been considering I now walk past dinosaurs daily on my way into work. We are a dinosaur city! How lucky for me!

"Disco Dino" lives right outside of my new office building.

But, I have to be honest. I did not finish this book. About halfway in I got so confused by all the archeology terminology I didn't know and then there were ten or fifteen different main people and they were alway changing places and connections and... Well, I just had to put it down for good before I go to the end. There was this excellent quote that I made note of, and will always remember:

[Regarding the purchasing of a complete dinosaur skeleton to be displayed in Carnegie's museum in Pittsburgh for the people of the city to view and enjoy.]

"My lord--can't you buy this for Pittsburgh--try," Carnegie scrawled along the margin of the modest New York Post story. "Wyoming State University isn't rich--get an offer--hurry AC."

Determined he was, and it earned Carnegie a collection of dinosaurs that is unrivaled by anyone else in the world. 

As self-imposed punishment for failing to finish Bone Wars (which, I'm sorry, but so many times I have almost written or said "Boner Wars"), here are some pictures of a typical almost-thirty-year-old's apartment:

PGH Stuff and Things N'at: August 2012

Due to a combination of extreme discomfort (stupid poison ivy legs) and a return to high temps (stupid sweaty poison ivy legs), I feel like I haven't been able to do much fun stuff lately. The good news is the itchiness is gone! Now I just have to wait out the disappearance of these scabs and patches of dead skin (I know, sounds really cool, right?!), but I'm back to shorts, skirts, and dresses. Stupid work pants be damned! So, in lieu of a post dedicated to one thing, here's a post dedicated to five things. Stuff and things n'at. Enjoy!

Love Front Porch
This morning while I was eating breakfast (toad in the hole smothered in cheddar cheese) and drinking coffee, I was catching up on my Google Reader. One of the PopCity articles I had missed last week was about Love Front Porch, based in Homewood. Do yourself (and Vanessa German, creator of Love Front Porch) a favor and read the site's About Me section. Or, if you're more of a watcher than a reader, press play:

I was inspired to donate to Love Front Porch, and I hope you will be too. The amount of time I spend in Homewood is basically zero. When I first moved back to Pittsburgh, a friend suggested I take a route through the neighborhood from my apartment in Bloomfield over to Regent Square. I felt incredibly unsafe. After that first ride through Homewood - even what as probably a less dangerous section that borders Point Breeze - I have stuck to braving Penn Ave when I need to get over to that part of the East End. Here's the thing though: I want to spend time in Homewood. It's a neighborhood in our city with a rich past (the Carnegies had homes there), storied culture (John Edgar Wideman sets many of his novels on those streets and Billy Strayhorn moved his family there), and buildings I want to explore (the Homewood branch of the Carnegie Library and Victorian homes in need of some TLC).  But, because Homewood is a hotbed of violence, I stay away. I want to love Pittsburgh as a whole, not just the sum of the parts where I feel safe. I wish Vanessa German all the luck in the world with her project. And I hope it can bring a sense of calm and community to a neighborhood that is ailing.

Strata
Sometime in July, I saw these weird posters go up around Downtown. I was intrigued.

When I found out the project was of Bricolage's creation, that was all the mystery I needed solved before purchasing a pair of tickets. I'm not going to reveal much about Strata. I was specifically instructed not to on my visit. But, participating in this was one of the more unique things I have ever done in my life. My dad accompanied me and he not only enjoyed himself, but he had a completely different experience than me. Bricolage has undertaken a huge endeavor here, and they have succeeded. Do yourself a favor and get refitnessed before time's up. The production goes until September 1. Who knows when something this incredible and bizarre will pop up in Pittsburgh again.

The Calm After the Storm - Pittsburgh's Beautiful Sunset
If you're an Instagram user (follow me at everythingbetterpgh) and you have any Instagram friends who live in Pittsburgh, chances are they posted a picture of the sky from Sunday evening. We had a terrible day of rain and scary storms (which I was fortunate enough to get caught in on my bike!), but by 8 p.m., the rain had cleared and looking up was a treat. These photos: unedited.

Looking down Friendship from my corner on Gross Street.

East Liberty Presbyterian Church and The Highland Building

Happy Birthday, Andy Warhol!
Today would have been Andy Warhol's 84th birthday. While I was getting ready this morning, NPR aired a bit about it, and the unassuming cemetery in my hometown of Bethel Park where he is buried. Listen to the story here, and scroll down to watch a great time-lapse video that brings Warhol's grave to life over the course of two years.

Movin' On Up: To the 16th Floor of PPG One
Not going to lie about the rough string of ten days or so I just had to live through. Between the poison ivy, the anniversary of my mom's death, a bike accident, and two flats in four days, I was seriously down in the dumps. Add to that a crazy week of work, but not because of my day-to-day responsibilities. We packed up our offices in the Henry W. Oliver Building and bid farewell to the Daniel Burnham-designed mini-skyscraper and have said hello to PPG One, i.e. the glass castle that is so essential to Pittsburgh's skyline.

Sixteen floors up, with one of those baller window-walled offices is where you'll find me, Monday through Friday.

Now that the move is over, I am so happy. Walking into that building today, sitting at my desk and looking out the window at Pittsburgh, the Mon, the Smithfield Street Bridge, and the South Side Slopes... I feel like I won the office lottery. When I started with the law firm I work with, I didn't ever expect to a) have a job where I felt so challenged and engaged with my work (I had started off as the receptionist, but am now a writer/paralegal) or b) sit in an office that I truly think would make anyone jealous. I remember being a kid and visiting my dad at his office out in Robinson and thinking "Look how important he is with this office and this big window and wow!" (I was also OBSESSED with playing with the Xerox machine in his office; I was a weird kid.) Tomorrow, he's coming up to see my office and my window and I can't wait to show it off.

I feel like this move has been the 180-degree flip I needed in my grumpy overall mindset. I am excited about all the stuff and things n'at that are to come.

Get Out There & Ride Your Bike

After the Bloomfield Halloween Parade (which we're getting closer to every day!), BikeFest is my favorite yearly Pittsburgh event. It's a celebration of biking in Pittsburgh, and there are so many awesome opportunities to get out there and ride around the city. This year, BikeFest kicks off with PedalPGH on Sunday, August 5. 

It's pretty much guaranteed to be the largest group ride of the year, which should help to bring awareness to biking throughout the city. I see more people biking every day, and the more people out there with us, the safer we will be. 


BikeFest then continues through August 19, and the list of scheduled events is extensive and there is definitely something for everyone.

Here are the events that I've highlighted on my calendar:

SUNDAY - August 5 - PedalPGH Ride

MONDAY NIGHT/TUESDAY AM - August 6/7 - Moonlight Ride

WEDNESDAY - August 8 - Carrie Furnace Ride

THURSDAY - August 9 - Northside Public Art Tour

FRIDAY - August 10 - BikeFest Party

SATURDAY - August 11 - The Hollows Ride

SUNDAY - August 12 - Yoga Ride

TUESDAY - August 14 - Roberto Clemente Ride

THURSDAY - August 16 - Underwear Ride

FRIDAY - August 17 - Flock of Cycles Ride

SATURDAY - August 18 - Light Up Ride

SUNDAY - August 19 - Golden Girls Scavenger Hunt

I'm looking forward to those rides as I continue to add miles to my Pedal for Pennies project. Whether you're a daily biker or just go out for a fun ride every now and then, try and get out there for PedalPGH and some BikeFest activities. It's a great way to show you care about biking in Pittsburgh, which in turn gives BikePGH more leverage when making the city a safer place to be on two wheels.

Keeping it Local in Lawrenceville on a Saturday Night

I've been in self-imposed isolation for the past week and a half due to my lovely poison ivy legs. But, with the weather being fortunately cooler, I dragged myself out to get some grub at the first Pittsburgh Food Truck Roundup on Saturday night. We walked down toward the empty lot where the trucks were set up, and walked right to the back of a line. We weren't sure what line we were in. I don't think anyone knew what line anyone was in. It was very British of us all to be standing there in a queue, not really sure of what might be at the end of it. Eventually, I ended up with cheddar potato pierogies from the Pittsburgh Pierogi Truck and some honey lavender ice cream from the Dozen dessert truck. 

We hurried down Butler toward 39th just in time for my first visit to the Arsenal Cider House. This has been on my Pittsburgh to-do list for a while now, and I went with some seasoned veterans (Steph and her boyfriend Derek) who already had empty growlers ready to be filled. We sampled four different ciders (and here I thought they only had one cider at a time!) and picked two (one that was peach-like and one that was sour cherry) to take back to their house.

Steph and I sat in her backyard in Lawrenceville listening to LCD Soundsystem and drinking some pretty great cider until my legs started itch and I needed to make my way back to the comfort of the couch where calamine lotion and bags of ice were easily accessible.

I'm nearly out of the woods with this whole poison ivy nightmare. I've been able to bike more the past few days and spend more time outside without feeling like I need to scratch off the top layer of my skin. There's so much good stuff coming up with PedalPGH and Bikefest in the next two weeks that I would hate to miss.

PGH Book #7: The Lost Cyclist

The hardest decision I had to make about the bike trip wasn't the route ("stay on trail" was the plan) or the food (noodles, oatmeal, noodles, oatmeal, and a smores poptart here and there). It was the books to read. Last year I tried to take a copy of Devil in the White City with me. I had read it before, and was completely aware of its contents, but a friend advised that taking a book about a serial killer while I would be camping alone might not be my best idea yet. This year I wanted to take along The Lost Cyclist, but when I described it to someone as "a book where this guy from Pittsburgh tries to ride his bike around the world but ends up disappearing in Turkey," he thought maybe I should come up with other options. (Which I eventually did. But I don't think taking either Gary Paulsen's Hatchet or The River were the most brilliant choices thematically anyway.)

So, once I got back from the trip and had settled back into normal life, I picked up The Lost Cyclist.

PGH Book #7: The Lost Cyclist - David V. Herlihy

This book did nothing the quell the extreme wanderlust I felt a few weeks after getting back to Pittsburgh post-bike trip. Before I even started in on The Lost Cyclist, I was already researching the possibility of riding my bike across Canada. The Cyclist at the center of this story is Frank Lenz, from Pittsburgh, which is why this counts as a PGH Book. He was one of the first cyclists ever to get into racing and touring. It was his dream to ride his bike across the world (i.e., become a "globe girdler"), and he got the opportunity to do so in the mid 1890s. On bike with a camera and very little else, Lenz cycled across the United States to the West Coast, took a ship to Asia and went through Japan and China. Others had attempted these kinds of extreme tours before Lenz, but they had started in Europe and crossed a lot of terrain by train. Lenz was a fervent believer in biking across all terrains when possible, so his mileage was considerably greater and his trip considerably more dangerous. He also attempted his tour of the world alone, while many others had partners along for the ride. Long story short: he disappears in Turkey. The book then goes into the crazy search that followed.

Even though our poor hero doesn't make it out alive (not a spoiler; it's revealed early on that things don't go Lenz's way), the descriptions of his travels on two wheels made me incredibly jealous. It's nothing I could set out to do in the very near future, but I'm starting to work things out in the back of my mind to one day tackle some sort of cross-country (preferably Canada, but I'd also consider the United States) bike tour. Frank Lenz may have just become my favorite Pittsburgher. 

Gotham City = Pittsburgh: The Dark Knight Rises

By now we have mostly all seen The Dark Knight Rises? Yes? Ok!

Bat signal at the Carnegie Science Center.

Pittsburgh, aka GOTHAM CITY, from the Carnegie Science Center.

Midnight IMAX showing made for a rough Friday at work, but it was worth  it.

This won't be a lengthy post. I've always been a horrible reviewer of things. It's either I love it, I was amused by it, or I didn't care for it. With The Dark Knight Rises I was amused and I loved it. Seriously. I know the movie has its logistical flaws and a lot of people had issues with Bane's voice or the big problem that needs to be solved before the end of the movie, but I enjoyed every second of it. Most all of the recognizable Pittsburgh scenes are in the second half of the film, starting with the Heinz Field scenes, which my brother, friends and I were lucky enough to be VIPs at the day of filming. I saw my office building (not for long though; we're moving to PPG Place in a week) and watched orphans run out of what would be Franktuary. I saw the Saks Fifth Avenue sign as well as the sign for Wiener World. It was a little disorienting during the chase scene when they kept circling around Kaufmann's (Macy's - whatever). It was totally fun, and I'm expecting to schedule a second viewing soon. Going to the Science Center and seeing it on that crazy IMAX scene was great, but I'd like to see it normally too. I think I missed a lot of stuff around the periphery of each scene.

Anyways. Great movie. Great fun when they were in town filming. Even though I wasn't in the movie, it feels like a small part of me can be because those are my streets. I walk down them every day. Just like Batman.

Everyone: Be Safe. Pay Attention. Be Respectful.

On Wednesday morning, on a stretch of Penn in Point Breeze that I often travel by bike during football season to watch Steelers games at my friend's place in Regent Square, a cyclist was hit and killed. The crash occurred around 5 a.m. The driver took off after and has not been identified as of my writing this.

The death of James Price, 46-years-old, father of an 11-year-old daughter, was completely and utterly senseless. He lived in Homewood and started biking as a way to improve his health and diabetes. At 5 a.m. there is not enough traffic on Penn Ave on that stretch to make it impossible for cars and bikes to share the road. The speed limit there is 35 MPH, and I doubt the driver was adhering to that limit, as most drivers (MOST, not all) similarly do not. Mr. Price was wearing a helmet, and he had lights on his bike. It's hard to believe that he was not visible at the time of the crash.

I understand that I exist as a minority in Pittsburgh. Though I see more and more cyclists on the road every day, biking is still not the first (car) or second (public transportation) choice for most Pittsburghers. Some comments from the Post-Gazette story are hard to swallow. There is definitely animosity in this city when it comes to cyclists and motorists. Look: I don't want to be in your way, cars. But, without bike lanes on all major roads (I'm thinking Penn, Forbes, Fifth, etc.) the only thing I can do is try to bike as close to the curb as possible. When there is street parking, I try to bike as close to the parked cars as possible, but one day that is going to get me doored.

I hope that one day those bike lanes do exist. I hope that helps ease the frustration felt by both cyclists and motorists. I hope that those bike lanes encourage more people to ditch their cars because biking immediately becomes much safer. I hope that nothing like this happens in Pittsburgh again.

BikePGH is a tremendous organization, and they are doing everything in their power to make cycling in Pittsburgh a more common thing. Here is their post on the story.

Cyclists: Wear a helmet. Use lights. Be cautious. Be aware.

Motorists: OBEY THE SPEED LIMIT. Stop texting (please, seriously, stop texting). If you pass, leave plenty of room on our left (the law requires you give us four feet). Be patient.

Everyone: Be safe. Pay Attention. Be Respectful.