The Blurgh

Last week, Gretch and I went over to sunny San Diego for a few days.  It was a nice trip–I have family out there, so it was nice to see them, and although Pittsburgh rocks my socks, it’s hard to beat San Diego weather.

Gretch and I went out one night with one of my cousins who lives out there, and we got a huge shock.  The place she was taking us to was in one of the edgy hip neighborhoods, and as we were driving (because everyone drives everywhere out there), I saw a sign on a bar that said “Wednesday night–Pittsburgh Style Karaoke!”

As you can imagine, Gretch and I demanded that we stop the car instantly.  I mean, what the hell is “Pittsburgh Style Karaoke?” Having lived in Pittsburgh all my life, I never realized it, but apparently karaoke in Pittsburgh is very different than karaoke in other cities.  And by that, I mean that in most other places it sucks real bad.  We went in the bar, and it was decked out in Steelers stuff, there were pictures of downtown, and it reminded me very much of a local dive you’d see in the South Side or something.

So, having settled on a place, we got ourselves a table and belted out some tunes.  I’m still not sure exactly what “Pittsburgh Style” means, but I do know that the place was cozy, cheap, and the patrons would cheer just as loud (if not louder) for the bad singers as they did for the stars.  Very Pittsburgh indeed.

Gretch and I were conspicuously absent from posting last week because my cousin Andrew, who had been living in DC, has moved to Pittsburgh.  He graduated from American University the year before and had been working as a temp, but then he got a great finance job in Pittsburgh and he decided to make the move.  Being the good family members that we are, we offered to help with the move in any way we could.  Little did we know what we were getting into…

Moving to a different state amplifies the suckiness of moving by at least ten, but when moving from a DISTRICT, or, as my cousin likes to say, an occupied territory, it reaches a new level altogether.  Example 1: did you know that you’re not allowed to drive a moving truck within a mile of the white house?  We didn’t, but the Secret Service was well aware.

Gretch and I have moved several times in Pittsburgh, and we know a couple truck rental places that have always treated us well, so we offered to rent the truck up here so that it would count as an in-town rental.  My cousin decided against it because he’s getting reimbursed and wants it to be in his name, so Gretch and I borrowed my parents’ van and drove down.  We arrived last Saturday night, and went to bed as early as we could so that we’d be at least a bit rested for what we knew would be a crappy day.

We all woke up early and went to pick up the truck.  Two hours later, we were still waiting at the truck place because they had lost his reservation.  Even though we got there when they first opened, they were out of the trucks he had originally reserved, so he could either take a smaller one or one that could have fit three of his apartments into.  By the time we got back to his apartment in a frighteningly small truck, it was 11 AM, and we needed to haul ass loading the truck if we had any chance of getting to Pittsburgh before dark.  Andrew had a couple friends over to help, but he was on the 7th floor of one of the ubiquitous cookie-cutter apartment buildings in DC, and we spent half the time just waiting for the freight elevator.  It was a good thing we brought my parents’ van, because by the time we were done it was stuffed to the brim and there was a mattress strapped to the roof.

By 3 o’clock, we were finally on the road, but on our way out of town we got lost and ended up on Pennsylvania Avenue about a block from the White House.  After discussing our national origins and purpose in life with the Secret Service for an hour, we finally got out of the District and on the way back home.  We arrived in Pittsburgh at 9 PM.

Thank god unloading a truck takes about a quarter of the time that loading does, but still, it was one loooooong day.  The rest of the week we’ve been showing Andrew around town and helping him get unpacked, along with working and schoolwork.  It’s been nice, but utterly exhausting, and it’s great to have more family back in Pittsburgh!

A couple months ago, I wrote about the organization that my mom is involved with called Breaking Down the Digital Divide (B3D).  A few friends of hers founded it, and my mom getting a job with them was the main push that brought my family, who were originally from Western PA but living in DC at the time, back to Pittsburgh.

I was asking my mom a little more about the founding of the organization a few nights ago, and she told me an interesting story.  Before B3D started, one of the to-be founders was a prominent blogger in the then new but quickly growing Pittsburgh blog scene.  She blogged mostly about technology issues, but as time went on, her blogging became more and more focused on political and community issues.  She got a couple other Pittsburgh bloggers together, and they discussed ways they could start doing something about what they perceived was a problem common to all of them.

That problem, as I mentioned in that earlier post, was the digital divide in Pittsburgh.  At the time, Pittsburgh wasn’t in the best of shape.  The population was in decline, the public schools weren’t doing well, and the city was very segregated and socio-economically divided.  The combination of these issues meant that a lot of disadvantaged kids were getting left behind just as the digital age was really ramping up.

All of the bloggers felt that teaching these kids about technology, and particularly blogging, would be a great way to help prepare these children to better compete in the job market as they got older, give them a way to express themselves, and provide a tool for them to tell their stories in a way that was productive for them and society.  It would also help make Pittsburgh’s already growing blog scene even more dynamic and influential.  This was the definition of win-win.

But, as my mom put it, a lot of people have great ideas, but making those ideas reality is much more difficult.  Initially, the bloggers thought just that–it was a great idea, but how are we going to do it?  They started thinking about all the problems they’d encounter, and generally began to discourage themselves.  In the end, though, they decided to put a few feelers out and give it a shot.

The part of the story that really amazed me, though, was what happened next.  Once they decided to step away from the keyboard and do something about their convictions, people got excited.  One blogger knew some technology people at Pitt, and they quickly pledged to donate computers.  Another blogger knew some people in community organizations, and they pledged space to setup computer labs.  Before anyone knew it, they had equipment, space, instructors, buy-in from the community, and most importantly, a huge group of excited and motivated people.  Soon after, B3D was officially born.

These are the kinds of stories that make me think…what does it take to make things happen?  There are a million different factors, but one that seems universally constant is having enough guts to push past the doubt and various mental barriers we put up and just start making it happen.  I hope that after I get my career started, whatever that may be, that I have the guts to do just that.

Sorry for the lack of posting during the last week, Gretchen and I have been busy entertaining family. We convinced everyone to meet in Pittsburgh like we did over Thanksgiving, although it was a little more difficult this time around because the Florida and California family were scared of the snow! The big event was held at my parents’ house, and it went really well. It really was big, too–besides immediate family, a good chunk of both of our extended families came to town.

On Christmas Eve, we all went down to the Strip for the annual activities. Most of the extended family that came hadn’t been in Pittsburgh for decades, and they were amazed at all the differences. They really enjoyed taking the train to different places, and they kept commenting on how they don’t remember seeing so many people out, especially so many families with young children. The Strip was a madhouse, but everyone there was in such a good mood that it felt more like a party. There were a couple people playing music in the streets, including a guy playing an accordian, and Gretchen and I had a little fun and started polka-ing. After a little bit a few more couples joined us, and our families started snapping a crapload of pictures, many of which I’m sure will embarrass!

One thing about getting together with family is that you get the inevitable questions on what you’re doing with your life. I’ve always hated those, but now that I’m a senior, the questions seemed a little more pointed. When I’d try to give the old answers of, “Oh, I’m not sure, maybe I’ll go on to grad school,” they just didn’t seem good enough, and I guess when it comes down to it, they really aren’t. I’ve been trying not to freak out about graduating, but it’s starting…what the hell am I going to do? I feel like I should have a good idea of what I want to do if I’d go to grad school, and even if I did want to apply for next fall, I’m already late. I hope having a few days off to think about it before the semester starts will help.

A few readers have pointed out to me that in my bio on the About Us page I mentioned participating in Pittsburgh Promise and doing a Pittsburgh Service Year, but I never elaborated on it in a post. With Pittsburgh Promise, there’s not a whole lot to tell–I went to Pittsburgh Public Schools and did well, so when I graduated I got a nice scholarship to cover part of my tuition at Pitt. It’s a great program, and one that made a big difference when my parents were planning their move back to Pittsburgh (or so they tell me).

There are a few more details, however, around getting involved with Pittsburgh Service Year. Like many kids who are nearing their final year or two of high school, I wasn’t sure whether or not I wanted to go to college. In fact, I think the only thing I was sure of was that I was sick of high school and couldn’t wait until I could legally drink. Oh those heady, idealistic times…

Just a few years before that, a number of organizations came together to create a program called Pittsburgh Service Year, which was modeled after other programs like City Year. It was a program for anyone between the ages of 18-24 who was interested in spending a year volunteering at local non-profits, hospitals, schools, or, later, for specific projects sponsored by the city. The program would pay a small stipend to the participant to cover living costs (very MODEST living costs), and after the year was up, there would be a bright shining star to put on a college application or resume.

Anyway, they were doing some tabling in the lunchroom of my school, so I decided to stop and look at the information they had. I asked the person about about the different areas I could volunteer in, which were the popular ones, which were the hardest, blah blah blah. Nothing caught my attention until she told me about a new project coming up sponsored by the city which involved working with the Public Works department. For some reason it seemed really interesting, so I decided to apply right then and there. That was no doubt one of the best decisions I’ve made in my life thus far.

I learned so much that year about all kinds of things, some of them practical, some ridiculous. For example, I could tell you all about the many “paper streets” in the South Side, including when they were first built and why. I can also tell you that I never, ever want anything to do with animal control. Most importantly, though, I learned that Pittsburgh is made up of many different communities, each with its own unique character, but that they are all filled with some of the best people I’ve ever met.

In retrospect, I think going through that program is what made me really want to study history. I’m still very close friends with a lot of the people I met there, and I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything.

Last night I was at my parent’s house, and my dad pulled out some old footage of one of the most ridiculous football games I’ve ever seen.  It took place 20 years ago, and it was the Steelers playing the Miami Dolphins on a nationally televised Monday night game.  At the time, the Dolphins were utterly terrible, and the Steelers were doing pretty well, but the amazing part of that game was how insanely terrible the field was.  I could hardly believe my eyes–it reminded me so much of some Turkey Bowl games I’ve played with friends of mine where by the end the game resembles a mud-wrestling match much more than football.  The game ended with a score of 3-0 Steelers, and it was a huge national embarrassment.

My dad told me that after that game the Steelers came under a lot of pressure to improve the conditions of their field.  They tried different things during the next few seasons with moderate success, but it still was never great.  It was an interesting watch and an interesting story, but I couldn’t help but ask my dad why in the world he kept the video for so long.

Then my Mom came in and told me about a friend of hers who was living in Pittsburgh at the time.  She was an engineering student at Pitt, and she was at that game.  After she got home and dried off, she suddenly got the inspiration for a totally new type of turf, and five years later, she developed it into the product that almost the entire NFL uses to this day.  It completely revolutionized the fields of the league, especially the outdoor ones, and it made her a very rich woman.

She told me that the company she founded is still in Pittsburgh, and since the initial breakthrough they’ve worked on a lot of other material science R&D which has produced other useful innovations.  It takes a lot of guts to take an inspiration and run with it, but man, when it works out, it sure is worth it!

Gretchen and I decided to be a little adventurous this Thanksgiving and do something we’ve never done before–have both of our families over to our place. Not only was it the first time our families did Thanksgiving together, but it was also the most people we’ve ever cooked dinner for. My parents volunteered to make dessert at their house and bring it over, which helped a lot, and Gretchen’s family helped us a lot with the turkey and stuffing. It got a little cozy in our one-bedroom apartment, but in the end it was a great time.

Gretchen’s parents flew up on Tuesday, and if it weren’t for the yellow line, we would have been stuck on the Parkway for over an hour. Instead, we caught one of the express trains and arrived only a few blocks from our place downtown in less than 20 minutes. Gretchen’s parents still get a kick out of taking the train…it’s cute.

Today we’re planning on heading to the Strip to enjoy the sights. About 10 years ago the business owners in the Strip and Lawrenceville came together to organize “Black Friday on Penn & Butler,” which is a several mile-long street festival going from the Strip all the way through 60th street open only to pedestrian traffic. Besides the shopping, there are tons of street performers, great restaurants, games and other assorted ridiculousness.

My grandma is especially looking forward to it, and she promised me that she will FINALLY try a sandwich at Primanti’s–somehow she’s managed to live in Pittsburgh for almost 50 years and she’s never been there, which has to be a record. I’ll let you know what she thinks!

As I mentioned in our “About Us” page, my mom works in the software development arena here in the city. Before my family moved back to Pittsburgh, she was a technology consultant in the DC area, and the organization she worked for focused especially on helping non-profits in education. The main push for my family moving back was a job offer from an organization in Pittsburgh that some of her friends had started. It’s called Breaking Down the Digital Divide (B3D), and it’s mission is just that. For a long time, Pittsburgh was a very divided city, the schools were struggling, and as usually happens in those situations, the children who needed the most help were the ones getting left behind. B3D recognized that it was vitally important for the most disadvantaged children to learn the skills needed in the digital world, and the founders were sick of waiting for other people to do something about it.

The foundation was originally built on the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) program, which by the end of the first decade of the century was having major success bringing technology to children in other countries. Through a number of grants and seed money, B3D was able to purchase a large number of XO’s, hire a handful of instructors, and secure agreements with community organizations in Pittsburgh’s most disadvantaged neighborhoods. The model of the program was to build apprenticeship programs housed in neighborhood community centers to train the kids over a number of years in all the fundamentals of computing, and then to continue by offering specialized programs in computer repair, software development, or web development. Upon completion, the students would be trained and certified, and could either enter the workforce or go onto advanced studies in universities.

After the success of the program during the first few years, Pittsburgh Public Schools became closely involved, and the local universities started offering scholarships to graduates. The program also grew to include several buildings used solely for training, and just recently a complex of 4 buildings was built right in the heart of the Centre Avenue Technology Corridor in the Hill District. My mom is now in charge of the software development apprenticeship track, and she says it’s the best job she’s ever had.

The impact of the program, although small at first, has been tremendous. As the first students graduated from the program, many of them stayed in the area to go on to college or to start their own small businesses. Year after year, more and more kids have followed the same path, and these kids have really become the core of the growing tech community in Pittsburgh. And, as often happens, creative and talented people tend to congregate in the same place, which has helped the Hill District become Pittsburgh’s Silicon Valley. I’ve even heard some people recently refer to it as “Silicon Hill,” which I think is funny because silicon isn’t used in computers anymore! I guess old habits never die…

So last night I was hanging out with my Dad at his recording studio (it’s called Washie’s, btw, and it’s in East Liberty), and as the night went on, more and more random people just started showing up. I haven’t talked about my Dad much on this site, but he’s an interesting fellow–probably about as laid back as one can safely be. He knows a lot of people in the local scene here, and he’s done a lot to promote local bands and to help them with getting their albums cut. Only a couple of bands/performers he knows have gotten more than regional popularity, but as he says, it seems like every year he’s busier, and that every year there’s more stuff going on.

So as I said, all these musicians kept coming in, sitting down, and chatting with my Dad and the other folks there. Some of them brought instruments, which they started pulling out, and the ones who didn’t were looking at the instruments my Dad had lying around. My Dad always said that it’s dangerous to get into music, because soon you end up with a room-full of instruments and no money!

As the night went on, people started cautiously playing little riffs and licks on the instruments, and slowly, the music overcame the talking. By that time, there was a full-blown jam session going down. My Dad plays a little bit of everything, and as he was walking over to his favorite bass guitar, he looked at me and gave me a smile and a nod, which I knew meant for me to go to the recording booth. Since I never showed any real interest or special talent for playing music, my Dad taught me from a young age how to operate all the equipment in his studio, and every now and then I help him out with a recording.

There’s an understanding among all the musician’s in the area that you could always go into Washie’s and jam, but that recording light would probably be on at the time. My Dad has never done anything with the recordings, but a couple of the musician’s have come back to listen to them and incorporate some things into their songs. I’ve always respected how my Dad just started doing what he wanted to do, even before there was a real tangible “scene” in Pittsburgh…it’s kind of reminds me of a chicken and the egg kind of thing. Did the success of Washie’s help create the scene, or did the scene enable Washie’s to succeed? I guess it was a little of both…

Well, I guess this is it. The blog has begun.

So, some new stuff about me…I just got a job bartending at the Castle (which looks awesome since they remodeled it, btw). I won’t really start until later on this month, but I’m pretty sure it’ll work out. My mom was telling me that back when it was called King’s Court they used to have showings of the Rocky Horror Picture Show and people would dress up in costume and basically go nuts. I think I’ll try to bug the boss about doing something like that again this year when Halloween rolls around.

I’m also, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, actually looking forward to classes starting this Fall. I’m especially looking forward to the History of Pittsburgh class I signed up for at the last minute, and not only because I heard it was easy.

Anyway, check out the About Us page for more info on Gretchen and I and the About the Blurgh page for more info on the point of this blog. And wish me luck with keeping this thing going!