Jerry’s Records has been on my Pittsburgh to-do list ever since I first arrived in the city many years ago. My personal preferences in urban media spaces tend toward film venues, bookstores, and art galleries. Record stores typically don’t make it on my itinerary. When I was still buying CDs I would make it a … Continue reading City Scenes: Jerry’s Records in Squirrel Hill
Milk Crates of Canada
Last month I was in Toronto for the first time in six years. For whatever reasons of circumstance, my trips to Canada have always fallen in late October, right around Halloween. Memories of my first visit include the CN Tower being lit in orange and green to resemble a pumpkin, and the red poppy pins … Continue reading Milk Crates of Canada
A “Canyon Carving” Playlist
A couple of weeks back I was in California for a brief getaway. I hadn’t been in the Los Angeles area (or even on the West coast) in six years, and much has changed in my life during the interval. So this return visit was both a reprieve from my current cloistered existence researching in … Continue reading A “Canyon Carving” Playlist
Trail ride to Homestead (w/ video!)
Ever since moving to South Side Flats last year I’ve regularly gone out on the Three Rivers Heritage Trail that snakes along the neighborhood’s edge beside the Monongahela River. My initial forays followed the trail west toward downtown, and I stuck to that stretch throughout the past year. This summer, however, I changed up my … Continue reading Trail ride to Homestead (w/ video!)
City Scenes: Cycling L.A.’s new 6th Street Bridge (w/ video)
While I missed out on all the excitement surrounding the opening of L.A.’s new Sixth Street Viaduct back in July, I finally got to see the bridge in person during a visit to California this October. I also got to try out the city’s bike share system. There is a Metro Bike station near the … Continue reading City Scenes: Cycling L.A.’s new 6th Street Bridge (w/ video)
City Scenes: Pitt Homecoming fireworks redux
One of my favorite features of my South Side apartment is the view of Pitt’s Cathedral of Learning across the river in Oakland. When the time came for Pitt’s annual Homecoming fireworks display last Fall I was excited to check out the proceedings from the comfort of my living room. This time around I wanted … Continue reading City Scenes: Pitt Homecoming fireworks redux
Closing the 2022 Pirates season
This baseball season really tested my Pirates fandom. For six years I’ve followed the team (a relative baseball baby, I admit), never letting a losing record dampen my enthusiasm. Commiserating about ownership and the team’s performance felt like a Pittsburgh rite of passage, and a stalwart standby to have in the conversational toolkit. This season … Continue reading Closing the 2022 Pirates season
A cabin trip prelude in KC
My summer got off to a strong start this year with my only proper vacation travel of the season. For the past several years my sister has invited me out to her in-laws’ Colorado cabin, and I was finally able to accept the invitation this past May. Before making the trek out to the Centennial … Continue reading A cabin trip prelude in KC
Mediated Memories & Nostalgic Obsolescence
I spent much of the spring 2020 early pandemic period like many other people, holed up at home binging streaming content. It’s an interval of the past two years that I recall fondly: having nowhere to go and nothing better to do than consume entire seasons or series of television. During that initial period of … Continue reading Mediated Memories & Nostalgic Obsolescence
Pedal PGH 2022 (w/ video!)
Back on the last Sunday in August I took part in Pedal PGH for the first time. Although this event had never been on my radar, it's been held every year since 1994. Having now participated, I recognize the color-coordinated route markers placed throughout the city to guide cyclists from previous summers; I always assumed … Continue reading Pedal PGH 2022 (w/ video!)