My brothers and I went to Pittsburgh on Saturday. [click for the full photoset]
We drove around the city and found this little square of what looked like cute little cafes, a coffee and tea shop, and so on. We even found a parking space, so we parked and walked to the coffee and tea place. It was adorable, and had all of the teas you could ever want! Plus, they had biscuits and cookies and biscotti and tons of coffee roasts and it smelled heavenly in there. Two nice students were working and they told us that the city, in general, is pretty dead on Saturdays. What kind of city IS this, we wondered?!
We walked across the street to City Cafe to find something to eat, and there was a "back in ten minutes" sign on the door. We stood out front, looking at the signs. I liked the look of Buon Giorno. Finally, a grey haired man popped his head outside and told us we were a disgrace drinking coffee out of paper cups. At first we thought he was just messing with us, but then he went off on a tirade about how we might as well throw them on the ground and that our kids were going to get cancer from all the waste we produce and blah blah blah... He was a total jerk, and after telling him so, we left.
We drove around some more, and decided to find the Andy Warhol Museum. We got there around 1pm, and by the time we were leaving the place had become quite full. I definitely recommend going early in the day because after 2pm the lines are long and the crowd is plentiful. We wandered through the gift shop and down to the cafe. After a peak down a hallway I spotted a PhotoBooth! Bryan headed over to investigate and I snapped some photos of a workshop going on. You are not allowed to take photos of the exhibits, but I was itching to photograph SOMETHING besides the outside of the building. As it turns out, they have these projects that the public can work on that simulate some of Andy's processes on Saturday afternoons. Our options for the day were pen and ink drawings with muted watercolors - which looked cool, but, not when we had the option to screen print! It got me really excited for my upcoming classes, and gave me some new ideas. There were three screen options - cat, dog, and rabbit. Bryan and Matt printed cats, and I went for the rabbit. I was feeling Easter Bunny love, so, I went to town cutting and`pasting brightly colored paper inside the pencil lines I had drawn using the bunny shaped stencil they had. You were to trace the general outline so you knew where to put the cut up paper and where to line up the screen. It was pretty cool seeing people of all ages using safety scissors and Elmer's glue and concentrating and pulling the squeegee of ink and waiting for the girls holding them to nod and help them peel away their new artwork. I snapped several photos of that room, and loved the photo of one of Andy's dachshunds. I learned that he had two of them at one point. Their sweaters and things were in a display case in one of the rooms. Aw.
I took some video of two diy drummers outside of the Penguin's game, which had just let out. Fans in brightly colored jerseys poured into the streets and kept mobbing through our green lights so we could not cross.
On the drive home, we saw a beautiful candy colored sky.
My significant other recently showed me a website filled with awesome geeky gadgets. Of course he wanted everything, but settled on an awesomely geeky new watch and two [one for each of us] of a keyring gadget called TV-B-Gone. They arrived via DHL this afternoon and I find myself wanting to go places with annoyingly yammering TVs just so I can turn them off.
TV is bad, mkay?
Now, to be completely honest, I do pick and choose to watch some programs, some of which are total garbage [ANTM, Project Runway, Scrubs, just to name a few]. However, I do understand the significance of being bombarded by advertisements nonstop and when I am waiting in line at the supermarket and I don't need to space out and watch the constant CNN scrawl and advertisements for products laced with carcinogens and preservatives because our government can't even be bothered to make sure our food, beverage, and body products aren't poisoning us.
Sorry, I got off track.
Basically, TV is a mind numbing distraction and I don't like that they are practically every where you go, filling you with unnecessary fear and misinformation. Along with iPods and other self-isolation devices like them, it discourages interaction with your fellow humans, and it discourages people from reading or calmly just waiting.
When did it become so difficult to just wait anyway?
I was at the post office mailing out some orders the other day and this woman was waiting to mail two letters a few people behind me. She could have easily walked twenty feet over to the automated postage machines, but instead she huffed and puffed in line, trying to get everyone around her angry and feeling as impatient and as unhappy as she was because the line was not moving fast enough. She let out a huge sigh and muttered under her breath angrily because the postal employee paused to give a little boy a junior postmaster sticker before he left with his mother. I wanted to say something to her, but instead I just shook my head. People don't know how to act any more, or to show common decency and patience when in public and it is disheartening to see.
A week or so ago I was waiting to use an ATM at the convenience store by my apartment, and a man practically mowed me over as he walked by me. He didn't even notice me being there because he was completely involved in himself and what he was going to buy. He didn't say he was sorry or even acknowledge me, because he didn't even notice! The cashier noticed and scolded the man for his rudeness. The man was suprised and said he didn't know he almost knocked me over and we both told him to pay attention to where he is propelling his body. It seems to me that many people are not very aware, and this is very much because of things like television and advertising. When we try to block it all out, we often block out everything else.
Think about that.
And think about Plastic Bags !!!
Are you still using plastic bags at the grocery store instead of bringing your own? Even the Plain Dealer's own Connie Schultz is [finally] jumping on the bandwagon of byo-bagging it. Yay! Say it loud and proud, sister. I encourage everyone to read the article and bring your own! She mentions many reasons to do so, including this one :
Plastic bags don't biodegrade. Instead, they break down into toxic bits that contaminate soil and waterways and enter the "food web" when animals eat them.
Need some? Jayne makes them. I got a pretty large black reuseable bag when I bought a pair of shoes the other day. It went right into my glove box for the next time I pop out for groceries or something. There are many kinds, shapes, and colors available that are small and sturdy enough to fold up and carry in a small handbag without taking up a huge amount of room. There is no reason not to do this. It should just be part of your every day routine, like brushing your teeth or recycling bottles.
