The Blurgh

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!

Last week I went to a Students for a Sustainable Pittsburgh meeting…I had missed a couple during the past few weeks due to other things going on, so it was good to catch up on what’s been happening. There were also a lot of new faces in the crowd, which surprised me, since in all the student groups I’ve ever been involved with, attendance was always high initially but dropped dramatically as the semester went on. Not so with SSP, but I digress…

During most of the meetings I’ve been to so far, I’ve been most drawn to the things the group has done in the past, which I guess is the result of me being a huge history dork. During this meeting, though, I got really into the new project they’re starting to work on. It’s one of those ideas that, after you hear it, you can’t believe it hasn’t been done already. SSP is planning on partnering with the city of Pittsburgh and other major cities in the tri-state area to beef up the inter-city rail connections by updating the lines to accommodate high-speed travel.

The basis for it is that since Pittsburgh’s economy has been doing so well during the past couple decades, the need for better transportation between the other nearby metropolitan areas has increased dramatically. Pittsburgh itself has its own extensive transit rail system, which has cut down on traffic significantly, but the airport is near capacity and the highways leading into the city are a mess. High-speed rail connections to nearby cities like Columbus, Cleveland, Wheeling, Harrisburg, Morgantown, Erie, etc. would help alleviate the traffic problems and also contribute to continued economic growth.

Maybe what interested me so much was this initiative’s connection to the past–back when steel was king, Pittsburgh was a HUGE rail hub, and there were trains traveling at all hours of the day to every city you can think of. In fact, a lot of those lines are still there, which makes implementation a lot easier than it could be. SSP was asking for volunteers to help them drum up support, and I decided to put my name down. I’m not sure what it’ll involve quite yet, but it definitely seems like a worthwhile thing to be involved with.

When Andi called me the second I turned off my work computer and gathered my November-cold clothing (scarf, but a light one; coat, but not a parka), I was ready for whatever she was going to throw my way.

“You wanna go to Murphy’s? 9 o’clock?”

You better believe I wanted to go to Murphy’s at 9 o’clock. Murphy’s is this ridiculously odd little bar nestled between a furniture store and an art gallery on Federal Street on the North Side. It is unabashedly dedicated to all things 90s, which I find pretty hilarious. My mom grew up in the 90s and a few months ago, during one of her visits, I brought her there. The bar’s named for the guy who was mayor of Pittsburgh during most of the decade - some people like that, some people hate it, but the owners don’t really care. They just want you to have a good time. There are posters of bands ranging from Nirvana to the Spice Girls on the walls, the servers dress in their preferred 90s fashions (some people choose to invoke Cher from Clueless, others prefer the grunge look), and, best of all, they have only-90s karaoke on Monday nights.

I asked Frank if he wanted to come along, and he couldn’t resist. One of his fondest memories is of his mom and dad singing Salt N Pepa’s “Let’s Talk About Sex” at a neighborhood barbecue to the general mortification of Frank and his siblings, so he always sings that song at 90s karaoke. My signature song is Hanson’s “MMMBop,” in honor of my mother who had the biggest crush ever on Taylor Hanson back in the day. Andi’s parents had a thing for Oasis, so she always sings “Champagne Supernova.” And any songs that we don’t cover are sure to be done by the other people.

Anyway, it was just what I needed after a long day at work. I love going to these little bars in Pittsburgh, especially the ones that really fit in with their neighborhoods. The North Side is such a weird, funky place that it makes sense it would have a kitschy bar that you can goof off at next to a hoity-toity art gallery and a family-run furniture store. I freaking love it.

Just got word today–I’ll be interning at Community Recycling and Renewables (CRR) next semester! I’m still not sure exactly what I’ll be doing there, though. They have a lot of programs, and I’m not sure if interns work on all or just one of them. Their biggest areas are: Community Outreach, Technology Vendor Outreach, and Project Implementation. These closely follow the model that that CRR uses, which is to connect neighborhoods/communities with recycling and renewable energy providers, and then assist in implementing the plan that they put together. All of the areas sound interesting to me, so I’m hoping to get a taste of each.

Dr. Lemley also agreed to work with me on a Directed Research project next semester, so I’m excited about that. We met in his office and discussed different possibilities for what the project should be about, and we had a lot of good ideas. I don’t know why, but whenever I speak with Dr. Lemley, I’m never afraid to say what’s on my mind and to get really engaged in the conversation. I guess that’s the sign of a really good teacher.

Throughout the History of Pittsburgh class with him this semester, I’ve been most interested in learning about the different communities in Pittsburgh, and how they’ve changed over the decades. Dr. Lemley suggested picking a neighborhood and tracking different variables (population, employment, etc.) through time. I really liked the idea, and we decided to use the South Side as the model. We’re going to meet a few more times before break to further develop the idea, and we’ll start full-force in January.

The rest of the classes for my last semester at Pitt (wow, that feels so weird to say!) will be just the classes I need to fulfill the rest of my requirements. I also decided to have a little fun and take Aerobic Fitness Boxing, too…I just couldn’t help myself!

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…

This afternoon was one of the best times I’ve had in my life. Normally, at the Pittsburgh Women’s Foundation, I work with girls who enjoy creative writing, but occasionally I’ll pitch in with the girls on sports teams as well. (I was pretty good at volleyball and soccer back in my day, though the girls who come to PWF for sports could have wiped the floor with my fifth grade self.) Anyway, this afternoon I, along with two of my colleagues, got to take 10 of the PWF girls to the North Side to meet the two new female coaches for the Steelers.

We all rode the blue line together to the North Side. Once we got off the subway, we walked the few blocks to Heinz Field. It was kind of slow going, because Samara’s still on crutches, but we arrived just in time to be greeted by some very chipper Steelers representatives, who escorted us up to one of the luxury boxes. The girls were enthralled with the box and took turns sitting on every piece of furniture in it. Then they started pretending that half of them were hot shot sports agents and the other half were star athletes being courted by the Steelers, so there was a lot of silly exchanges about trillion dollar offers and all the Faygo pop endorsements you could dream of.

A few minutes later, the two coaches entered the box and a hush fell over the girls. The special teams coach, Maddie Byers, spoke first about her experiences playing high school football in rural Texas and the prejudice she encountered in the community as a black girl who wanted to play football with the guys. She ended up breaking her school’s record for longest punt return during her sophomore year, and everyone in her town stopped complaining about her and started celebrating her. In college, she excelled once again on her school’s football team, but during her senior year she decided that what she really wanted to do was coach, so she started out as a coach for her own college’s team and worked her way up from there to her present position with the Steelers.

Next we heard from Elizabeth McGraw, the defensive backs coach. She is one tough woman. Like Maddie, she was a star athlete during her high school years, although Elizabeth was a kicker who comes from northern Ohio. She received an athletic scholarship to college and played on her school’s team until halfway through her junior year, when she was injured. She didn’t want to lose her scholarship, so her school offered her the opportunity to begin working with the team as a coach. She learned more about the defensive side of things in football and became really interested in it. After college, she coached a women’s football team in Ohio and then came to Pennsylvania to coach for the Pittsburgh Passion. A few years later, the Rooneys approached her about the defensive backs coaching position and she accepted it.

After the women spoke, lunch was served and the girls peppered the coaches with tons of questions. They were so excited to be sitting with women who were living out their dreams of one day making a living in the world of professional sports. The coaches were very gracious and patient with the girls. After lunch, we all trooped down to the field, where the coaches helped the girls with their techniques. We left to go back to the PWF around 4 and made our way to the subway, the girls chattering the whole way about what teams they want to coach for when they grow up.

Yet again, it’s that joyous time of the semester where I need to start planning what the hell I’ll be doing in the spring.  Unlike like last year, though, I’m actually excited about it.  There’s a couple of internships I’m going to apply for that I heard about at the Office of Entrepreneurial Development (OED), and I’m also pondering asking Dr. Lemley if I can do a directed research project with him.  That way I can knock off my last upper-level class requirement, and Dr. Lemley is also awesome as hell.

It occurs to me now that I never wrote about my trip over to the OED.  The office itself was really nice–it reminded me a lot of the Study Abroad office.  There were books with information, several “Who’s Who” type of directories, and ample sitting areas.  I was a little nervous, so I whipped out my computer and sat on one of the couches before going and talking to the staff.  I noticed a good number of people coming in and out of the office–around 5 in the 10 minutes or so that I was stalling…I mean waiting.  It seemed like a lot of the people were students like me (i.e., liberal arts majors), and they were just checking in with the people who work there (who I overheard being referred to as counselors).

After I rehearsed what I was going to say, I gathered my courage, went up to the front desk, and totally blanked.  I think my exact words were, “Hey, ummmm, my name is Frank, and ummmmmmmm, I was just wonderin’ if, uhhhh, you know…I could…”

The person at the desk just smiled as I was doing my Mario Lemieux impression, and then interrupted and said, “So, this is your first visit here?”  I guess they get that all the time. We talked for a while about my majors, my interests, etc., and then I made an appointment to speak with Ms. Devali, one of the counselors there.

I went to the appointment the next day, and I was a little less nervous, but still unsure of what to say.  The truth is that I really don’t know what I want to do with my life after I graduate, and I don’t feel so great about that.  Most of my friends knew what they wanted to do for a long time, sometimes it seems like they knew since they were born.  I’ve had a lot of ideas, ranging from environmental engineer (whatever that means) to high school history teacher, but nothing ever seemed to stick.  All I really know is that I want to do something I care about, and I want to do it well.  Anyway, that’s what I told Ms. Devali.

She listened as I rambled on about that, and after I was done, she said, “Sounds good, let’s look at some options.” I was expecting her to send me away to think about it some more, so I was pleasantly surprised.  We looked at some different companies and organizations that were offering internships, and a lot of them looked interesting.  There was a really cool community development organization in Homewood, there was a marketing and design firm on the South Side, there were several online magazines…I was amazed by how much there was.  Ms. Devali also said the the OED does not advertise internships that solely involve making copies and doing busy-work, which is something I was afraid of.

The companies that really caught my eye, though, were the ones in the renewable energy field, which ranged from biofuel manufacturers to innovative recycling firms.  One, however, really stuck out: Community Renewables and Recycling (CRR).  This company combined three elements that really interested me–cutting-edge green technology, low-tech implementation, and community outreach.  Building off of Mayor Conway’s original idea to implement renewable energy solutions residentially, their approach is to work with local community groups and grass-roots organizations to develop neighborhood-wide green implementation plans.  They also get down to the actual installation level, which interests me a lot because I love getting my hands dirty!

I applied there as well as some other places as backups, but I’m really banking on CRR, which I should hear from in about a week or so.  After I left Ms. Devali’s office, I realized that going to the OED was one of the biggest single things I’ve done so far to address what I’ll be doing with my life post-graduation.  I’m really glad they were there and so helpful, even for someone as clueless as I am!

One of the things that Gretchen’s fam asked us about when they were in town last weekend was what it’s like living downtown. When they lived in the area, the only people who lived downtown were uber-rich, and even for them it wasn’t all that livable. It was deserted after 5, there weren’t any grocery stores, and the activity-options weren’t so hot.

When they first asked us about it, though, we just looked at them like they were crazy. Although we don’t remember it ourselves, whoever planned the downtown living areas did a really good job. There’s lots of mixed income places, there’s no need for a car because there’s a couple nice grocery stores around the area, and if there was more to do at night we’d probably move out because it would be way too hip for us. It’s awesome to be right by Uptown, which is where most of the cool (and inexpensive) places are, and being that all of the train lines pass within a couple blocks from us we can get almost anywhere in the city. One of the best days we had last summer was when we took the red line out to Kennywood with a bunch of people and on the way back transferred to the blue and saw a movie at the Waterworks.

It also doesn’t hurt to be within easy walking distance of the stadiums, the arena, and the strip. We are saving up to buy a house though, so we won’t be living the dream forever, but for young people, it’s a pretty sweet option.

My mom and stepdad visited this weekend. After I graduated from high school in New Wilmington, they told me that they were planning on moving to Florida to join the rest of my family which has migrated down there, and by the time I finished college they had bought a house down the block from my grandparents. But they come back to good old PA every once in awhile to visit, and it doesn’t hurt that I have a free place to stay when I want to be a beach bum.

Every time they visit, they can’t believe all the things that have changed in Pittsburgh. When my mom graduated from college, back in 2000, young people were leaving the city in droves. They couldn’t find good jobs to keep them here, so they left for bigger cities like DC and New York. But this weekend my mom asked me where all my friends were moving to, and I could only think of one person - a friend of mine from college who’s moving to New York to go to grad school. Everyone else has stayed here. Sure, a few of them are continuing their educations, like my best friend Andi, who’s in law school at Pitt, but most of them have found good, stable jobs and are saving up to buy a house.

I think the work of organizations like Students for a Sustainable Pittsburgh and the progressive politics that have been on the upswing the past few years are mostly to thank for these changes. I’m glad that I don’t have to leave the region I grew up in to find a job that’s meaningful and pays reasonably well. I hope to never have to leave this place - although if I ever decide that hurricanes, bugs the size of small animals, and gaudy tourist attractions galore are for me, my mom has assured me I’m always welcome in Florida.