Last night, as part of Jen’s birthday celebration, we went to hear Ted Kooser, the current Poet Laureate, speak at Chatham College. Jen has read several of Kooser’s books of prose for her coursework, and she has spoken well of him, so I gladly went along. I was intrigued because Kooser has fashioned himself as […]

Posted on November 16th, 2005 by admin
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I haven’t had the motivation to write a coherent, cohesive entry for some time, so here are some quick hits. Hopefully many will be given a better treatment sometime soon…. On the commute I’ve really come to enjoy the new ride. Instead of fighting traffic, weaving in and out of cars, and trying to time […]

Posted on November 14th, 2005 by admin
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Last night, Pittsburgh Public Schools Superintendent Mark Roosevelt, announced a plan to close 20 city schools as both a cost cutting measure and a way to be serve the youth of Pittsburgh. this map shows the schools that will close or be relocated. I’m not sure what to think about the closing of the Morningside […]

Posted on November 10th, 2005 by admin
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Via the Thomas Merton Center, there is a series of discussions at the Squirrel Hill Branch of the Carnegie Library about Christianity and its response to socio-economic issues. Tonight the discussion will center on the environment as a Christian concern, and future discussions will look at Christianity and factory farming, and Christianity and the consumer […]

Posted on November 7th, 2005 by admin
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The article below was published many years ago (I’d reckon at least twenty) in a glossy Pittsburgh magazine. Growing up, my family lived in an neighborhood in the east end of the city, surrounded by my mother’s family. The entire neighborhood was at one time owned by my great grandfather, but over the years, he […]

Posted on October 30th, 2005 by admin
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Yesterday was the Spirit of the Streets race. Having done seven or eight races in the last eighteen months, I thought I’d offer my services as a volunteer, and the organizer, Brad from Dirt Rag, accepted my offer. There would be two races: 1. The citizens’ race: a combination scavenger hunt/point-to-point race with four checkpoints. […]

Posted on October 30th, 2005 by admin
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From Dave and Casey’s wedding.

Posted on October 26th, 2005 by admin
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Doug accurately sums up the single greatest asset for a parent — short term memory.

Posted on October 21st, 2005 by admin
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I’ve wanted to post about this for a long time, but haven’t found the time. Patagonia has published this essay by Bill McKibben on the joy of localism. I am always amazed that localism is not easily constrained within typical Left v Right thinking. Most “conservatives” would dismiss anything Patagonia prints as enivronmental drivel, yet […]

Posted on October 20th, 2005 by admin
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Let me get this out of the way — I don’t like scavenger hunt style alleycats, at least not as much as the standard checkpoint driven races. When faced with four pages of stuff to do, in divergent corners of the city, I tend to stare blankly at the manifest, hoping that I can find […]

Posted on October 18th, 2005 by admin
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