I had two cans of Coca-Cola SuperBowl night. Because I was tired.

They kicked in when I got home. They may STILL be kicked in now, because I am seriously on the edge of hyper.

Maybe fruity pancakes will burn off the edge!!

…… *leaves to eat brunch, and returns to write blog post a day later*….

So the weekend was great. Friday was consumed by installing a new closet rod. It shouldn’t have been a full-day project, but it became one. Theme song: Swing On A Star.

I was really sick most of Saturday, but my roommate convinced me to go ice skating Saturday night with her friends, and I had a blast. I’ve never skated an outdoor rink before, and her friends were all very casual and friendly. It was a very no-pressure evening.

Sunday I volunteered at the Botanic Gardens, and decided last minute to go to a SuperBowl Party. It’s the first year that I watched the entire game – except for a portion of the second quarter that I spent drooling over this guy’s gorgeous camera. I didn’t really understand most of the game, except the score. And to be honest, I didn’t really care, though I made an effort to follow what was happening.

Until the last 6 minutes. I’m thoroughly amused at the way the last 6 minutes took an hour. And in the real last 6 minutes, I started yelling at the players.

After the game, my friend and I called my aunt to cheer and gloat.

So I guess I’ve officially become a Steelers fan.

My roommate has said multiple times how glad she is that I came skating Saturday night, and she’s mentioned some concern at how much time I seem to be home alone. I decided that she’s right, so I’ve started taking action. I joined a Book Club, signed up for Hebrew classes, and have offered my increased amount of free time to several of my volunteer sites. I want to fill my daytime hours more, but I’m hesitant to sign up for any long-term daytime commitments. I am thinking of adding at least one new volunteer site, however, so perhaps I’ll offer them an initial daytime schedule. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday evenings are now taken by activities, and my Sundays are usually at least partially taken up with volunteering. So it’s a good start.

My coworker told me I could not miss the Strip the weekend before Christmas. I actually had other plans for this morning, but she was so insistent that I canceled to go to the Strip bright and early.

The Strip is basically a section of the city – several blocks – devoted to shops and cafes. I’ve had poor luck with finding the Strip in the past as a result of not really knowing what I was looking for.

But I dutifully headed out, arriving about 8am. I walked from the parking lot, looking for signs of the Christmas frenzy I’d been prepared for. After two blocks, I started practicing how to tell my coworker that I’d been unable to find it.

Then I saw the throng of people.

Let me say at the outset, it was absolutely worth going today. I had a fantastic time and I gained a much stronger sense of the “flavor” of Pittsburgh.

My coworker had told me to look for the ethnic groups – what they were buying, etc. Frankly, I didn’t take the step back to academia. I just enjoyed the immediate moments. It was a little like being back at the Farmer’s Market – even more like being in the shuk in Israel. Some of the stores made me laugh – like the one whose only theme seems to be “celebration stuff” (which naturally has to include Steelers memorabilia) – meaning anything from plates and small toys to Christmas lights. Another shop advertised itself as all about  candles – incidentally, a large section of the store was all about foilware.

There was an open-air crafts market where a woman tried to talk me into buying one of her hats. She told me that guys are drawn to women in hats, and I shouldn’t be afraid to be a bit out there. The hats were cute and I’d admired women wearing similar ones – unfortunately, apparently my head is small (shouldn’t my C-section birth give me a larger head when it comes to hats?)

There were tables and tables and tables along the sidewalks – crafts, gifts, photos, scarves, Steelers stuff, baked goods. Even dog food/treats/toys.

The stores were packed – and the restaurants had lines down the block.

People were friendly, and I picked up bits of conversation – like “Our kids are going away to college, but they are real Pittsburghers at heart.”

I got a Steelers table guy to explain the Terrible Towel to me. And I laughed at the t-shirts boasting about Pittsburgh’s 5 Rings and making fun of Cleveland. There was a line of t-shirts, each a different ethnicity “Steelers Fan” (plus the requisite “Harley” and “Hunky” Steelers Fan shirts):

Steelers Fan Shirts

The Pittsburghese shirts made me smile, but I still don’t know what they mean. I get the ads now, though – like the “Immaculate Beer” billboard!

Should I be sad or proud to say that I bought two gifts for next Chanukah? They were too perfect to resist. Though I may end up not saving them til Chanukah.

I stepped into bakeries just for the scent. I’d been told to stop in Penzey’s Spices, where I watched a boy and his dad sniff different herbs (I wonder what a man bought chili powder for?). Whorley’s seemed like a must – it was a lot like Lexington Market, only smaller. I even stepped into Fudgie Wudgie. I wanted to see everything, see all the people experiencing the day, experience it all myself. The only shop I avoided was the bookstore, because I’d have spent all my money there for sure The cold didn’t bother me, or the glowering sky. Actually, I hope we get snow because one of our volunteers has a granddaughter out from Florida who has never seen snow – and he promised her some.

On my second round, I decided it was time to find food. I rarely eat bread anymore – just tortilla wraps – and all the fresh-baked goods were hard to resist – but I knew cookies wouldn’t be so good for me, and a whole loaf of bread seemed a bit excessive. The “Best Breakfast in Town” still had a line out the door, so I walked a bit farther and found a small shop so warm that my glasses steamed the moment I walked in.

I have to admit, I’d been thinking about french toast this morning. And Tiffany’s post about her cinnamon french toast intrigued me – who wouldn’t have been? So when I saw something very, very similar to what she’d written about… well, I was sold. The main difference was that this dish used a berry sauce instead of the caramelized apples.

Again – people were friendly – the woman next to me had gotten the same thing, so we spoke briefly about the meal. And the next family to sit by me, I somehow got to chatting briefly with the dad about the Strip, and how it was my first time there, how I’d just moved from Baltimore…

The cinnamon french toast was really filling – but who can resist fresh cinnamon roasted almonds?

I love people watching, but I’d expected to be lonely at the Strip today. Instead I was part of the interaction, motion, feeling. I loved that. I talked to and smiled at strangers, and the crush of people in lines were never faceless. I don’t know a lot of the lingo and inside jokes yet, but the Pittsburgh memorabilia isn’t just marketing here – it’s culture in the way that Franco’s Italian Army was not a marketing ploy, it was a group of fans brought together by their cultural identity and their support of a player.

I came home for a break after about an hour and half at the Strip, and I’m heading back out this afternoon for some volunteer giftwrapping to support Habitat for Humanity. At a bookstore, so wish me luck on not spending money while there :-p

On a side note, I gave my coworkers gelt and dreidels on Friday. I got some huge smiles in return Looks like I may have to hold some gambling sessions…I’ve an awful lot of gelt left to give away.

I decided to take a walk with my camera. I’d been thinking of going to Schenley Park or Squirrel Hill- pretty areas. But in Baltimore I was usually drawn to the underdeveloped areas… and in any case, I haven’t really described the area I live in yet. So I made it a walk around my neighborhood, albeit a brief one (was nearing lunchtime).

Carrick to me is a place of could’ve beens. It’s just ten minutes from the South Side, home to some of the hottest bars; it’s an easy commute from the city, but distant enough across the bridge to feel like suburb. Somehow Carrick just didn’t make it; just never developed. Lawns are rarely mowed, and plants- both native and invasive- grow freely, turning Carrick into a butterfly garden. Little beaten paths try to be streets with names like “Jack Way” before they peter out to gravel and grass. Houses have old front porches whose pillars drop white paint peels. Residents keep an eye on the line between themselves and Mt. Oliver, where life gets a little rougher.

That’s what Carrick symbolizes to me. But what image symbolizes Carrick?

Finally it came to me. As a memory, though the scene was probably only a half mile away; it’s one I passed every day when I took the bus.

Boarded up individual-owned businesses.

In any case, most of my photos ended up being plant life. Had some fun experimenting with close focus and angles. I’ll just pick out a couple photos to give some idea of my neighborhood.

Jack Way- what you see is pretty much the entire thing.

Not much business at the Free Indeed Deliverance Ministries

Queen Anne's Lace is huge in Pittsburgh. With Fall just arriving, there's a lot of green, but also a lot of dying plants.

Plants pretty much rule in Carrick.

I have a thing for locks. $1,000 reward, by the way, for any information on anyone defacing this property belonging to Duquesne Light Company.

Playing with angles.

Shabbat was interesting…. I stayed in Squirrel Hill and I interacted with members of more than one ideological group, plus I started reading Story of B (which has its entirely own approach to considering religion), so I had plenty to fuel the inner mental discussions. There were a lot of people- constantly- but it was good to be in a family atmosphere and I’ll have a hard time not taking overadvantage of the open invitation that I have. One of the daughters is going to end up borrowing most of the contents of my bookcases, I suspect, so I’ll be giving a little bit back :-p