June 2011
2 posts
May 2011
1 post
April 2011
6 posts
Things one can purchase the Market District Giant...
Rice macaroni with dairy-free “cheeze” Organic tomato paste Jam whose* main ingredient is not corn syrup Bread whose* main ingredient is not sugar Crackers whose* main ingredient is not salt Whole wheat fettuccine with milled flaxseed Spinach and artichoke hummus Coconut milk vanilla yogurt Mold-free fresh strawberries Dark chocolate
*Yes, I am personifying food.
My zippy little Fit is in the shop for a little dent-removal TLC following that bizarre hailstorm a few weeks ago. So now — as my insurance covers a rental, thank goodness — I’m driving around town in some massive Dodge station wagon/SUV thing (my first Enterprise loaner was a much more manageable Civic, but it reeked of cigarette smoke, and I find breathing essential to safe...
Ah, it was Sara Watkins of Nickel Creek playing with the Decemberists, not Gillian Welch of David Rawlings partnerships. Sometimes I wish concerts came with playbills… The part of “the fiddler” will be played tonight by Topol!
Thanks to the PG’s Scott Mervis for the clarification.
March 2011
2 posts
February 2011
16 posts
The Manor Theatre
Saw The King’s Speech last night, which I enjoyed in the way that one enjoys very nice, very pleasant, inoffensive to the common denominator things, such as peanut butter sandwiches and Caribbean cruises. Earlier this week, in my own home, I watched Winter’s Bone and Wendy and Lucy. Both blew away The King’s Speech (I’m slowly becoming convinced Michelle Williams is the...
Braddock's American Brasserie and Streetside Bar
Determined to use an about-to-expire Groupon, I braved last night’s blizzard for dinner at Braddock’s — deep breath, long name — American Brasserie and Streetside Bar. Snuggled in the Renaissance Hotel lobby (plush, loungy, lots of pillows and nooks and LCD fireplaces), Braddock’s serves French-inspired edibles and just fine whiskey cocktails. The Sazerac was a bit...
Ketchup
Drumroll. Ladies and gents, prepare for the kind of post that comes following an extended period of undocumentation… The undocumentated life, documented in a series of images!
My kitchen, where I’ve been spending a great deal of time baking blueberry-lemon muffins, white-chocolate-gingerbread blondies, blackstrap molasses cookies. Red wine and Madeleine Peyroux. View from the work...
January 2011
1 post
Digging for Diamonds at the Bottom of the Sea
I disappeared to Florida for a bit around the holidays. Read by the pool and bundled up in the sand. Music for Torching is more sad now than satirical (10 years ago I thought the opposite), and Super Sad True Love Story was neither super sad nor super true, though certainly a story that might or might not have been about love (I loved some of Miranda July’s stories, specifically...
December 2010
5 posts
Fallingwater & Marilyn Monroe @ Warhol
First ever visit to Fallingwater on Saturday. No idea why it took more than two decades of living so nearby to visit the home (in that time, I’ve been to the Frick residence at least half a dozen times, though I guess that’s a five-minute drive rather than an hour-and-a-half; and there are cocktails and cakes at the Frick; and I’ve always been a bit of a nut for the Victorian...
Penn Brewery & Banjo Night
Took the folks out on the (North Side of) town this past Wednesday — Penn Brewery for rye IPA and wursts and college-aged boys in lederhosen playing German folk songs, and then to the 22nd anniversary of Banjo Night for four-stringed Christmas sing-a-longs… What? Jews know the words to “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer,” too. The next morning my father emailed to proclaim...
Girl Talk @ Stage AE
December 7, 2010/”Gregg Gillis Day” via @therealgirltalk
Pretty excellent to finally have a mid-sized venue that can accommodate acts that exceed Mr. Small’s capacity, and are more modest in fanbase than Sir Paul McCartney or Lady Gaga. Stage AE reminds me of the Electric Factory from across the state (corporate-sponsored pseudo-rave space, basically), but with way better...
November 2010
11 posts
Thanksgiving
I think, most of all, I am thankful for resilience. For vigilance, really. And the brazen happiness it can afford. Also, for the many people who fill my life with stillness that moves, which is to say the kind of love that is full and honest and crisp even at the edges.
“There are a lot more people in glasses here than at the Shadyside bars.”
– My big sister, last night, upon her first visit to the Brillobox
16th Street Bridge
I’m never particularly happy on my drive to work. I’d rather be in bed or at yoga or with my face in a puppy’s fuzzy belly or whatever.
But then I reach the 16th Street Bridge. And I can’t help but smile.
Through rain and shine, good times and bad, sickness and health: CLAY AIKEN, TRUE & TRUE… TOUR! In technicolor.
I mean, really. Is there a peppier billboard...
WYEP
Lately all I hear on WYEP is Best Coast’s “Boyfriend” and “You Don’t Know Me” by Ben Folds with Regina Spektor. Every time I get in the car. Every. Time. These songs. It’s enough to drive a girl to college radio.
Let’s review. Best Coast’s Crazy for You came out in July. She, i.e. Bethany, seemed to be what we’d call “A Hot New...
Plea for Smoking Ban in Pittsburgh Bars
Routine:
1) Strip. 2) Set clothes, down to socks and underthings, in single layer in close proximity to HEPA-grade air purifier. 3) Let filter do its thing for a day or two or three. 4) Hot shower. 5) Wash hair. Twice. 6 Neti Pot out the ash-colored snot. 7) Those artificial tear drops. 8) Dab corners of eyes to remove what might be soot, might be mascara. 9) Apply salve to upper-arm cigarette...
Frightened Rabbit @ Diesel
Frightened Rabbit at Diesel last night was enjoyable, until I turned on WDUQ on the drive home and realized the election “results” from a friend’s phone earlier in the evening had duped me into believing — for the length of a set, at least — that America might not be so demented after all. When, in fact, America is demented, and Pennsylvania is leading the...
Tale of Two Parades
Bloomfield, Thursday: Bordering on obscene, bordering on depressive. High school marching bands; boys on percussion dressed as ugly women, and colorguard shivering in their flesh-colored tights. Grown-up-looking-girls in panties and pasties (nearly); some sort of local “dance team.” Politicians pelting penny candy. Police brigade, with sirens. Civil War reenactors with muskets in the...
October 2010
14 posts
Truly a gross, gross Monday. “Vintage”...
New Pornographers at Diesel
I’ve seen the New Pornographers more than any other band. Yes, even more than the Spinto Band. I’ve seen Carl solo, and Neko solo more than once. I’ve seen the New Pornos in a club the size of my kitchen, a club the size of a stadium, outdoors, indoors, for free as a journo, for free as a fan. I’ve traveled distances to see them. I’ve interviewed several members...
South Side Street Harrassment & Ben Rapistberger
Saturday night I went out on the South Side. I usually avoid Carson Street after dark, but a friend recently moved to that side of the river from my side of the river. So after wine and hummus and homemade ciabatta in her gorgeous apartment-with-a-view, we decided to check out some bars outside our East End comfort zone. Before I say anything else, I will say that there are some decent spots on...