Excelsior!

Excelsior 2: The Adventure Continues!

2008-11-20T10:00:00.002-05:00

I'm moving. Well, virtually. I like the editor and the pages option in wordpress better, what can I say? If blogger adds more features maybe I'll be back, but until then, update your bookmarks. This page will still exist as archival material, and who knows maybe I'll be back. But the volume 2 is located at http://seapeanut.wordpress.com

VOTE!!!

2008-11-04T11:22:00.001-05:00

from the mouths of babes...

Change My World 2008

6 rules, 6 facts

2008-10-28T11:14:00.004-05:00

Playing Tag

1) Link to the person who tagged you: Crystalee at http://crystaleecalderwood.blogspot.com/

2) Post the rules on the blog: Posted

3) Write six random things about yourself:

1. i just ate chocolate cake and cream of mushroom soup together...the soup i treated as my drink.

2. it's a lot easier than i thought to get up at 4:40 am

3. a camel tried to eat my arm off

4. i know why hot dogs come in packages of 10 and buns come in packages of 8, my friends.

5. i started riding my bike again and it makes me feel like a kid

6. i might dress up as hannibal lecter for halloween

4) Tag six people at the end of your post.

5) Let each person know they have been tagged. .

6) Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

"Tag, You're It!"

i tag laura, mark, elizabeth, chad, april, and carolyne

news angles

2008-10-07T19:43:00.004-05:00

the bbc news corporation has a head line that of "US anger at Guantanamo Bay Ruling" regarding the declaration by a US JUDGE that the Uighur detainees no longer be declared enemy combatants. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7658045.stm). But the United States of America is not just its government, and in my experience travelling abroad, most people make that distinction. Of course, in recent years, it has become less and less distinct, as the world seems to have less respect for us. Anyways, not all Americans want the 17 Uighurs (Chinese Muslims) to be indeterminately detained (7 years so far). There's the judge, the lawyer, and now, the relgious community in Talahasse Florida. A statement from the Center for Constitutional Rights revealed:

Religious and community leaders from both Tallahassee, Florida and the Washington D.C. area offered to the court detailed plans for the support of the men, from housing and counseling to employment and car insurance. In this stunning show of goodwill and solidarity, 20 leaders from faith-based communities in Tallahassee, Florida, and a network of refugee resettlement agencies and other religious groups, have pledged to help settle the men in local communities.

See BBC? Not all Americans are angered by this! In fact, it's bringing some together.

PhotoHunt: Wild

2008-09-29T11:52:00.002-05:00

i'm kind of backtracking, because i just started the photo hunt. this is the theme from the week of september 13th, 2008. WILD. this is my wild shiba inu, akira. okay, he's really yawning, but he looks fierce!

Photo Hunt: View

2008-09-29T11:34:00.002-05:00

This is a view of the Black Sea through one of the church ruins in Old Nessebar, Bulgaria

Photohunt: Road

2008-09-29T11:30:00.002-05:00

This is my first Photohunt- go to tnchick.com/photohunt to find out more

This is a shot from inside the car on the road from Koprivshitsa, Bulgaria

Post AmeriCorps Service

2008-09-27T12:50:00.005-05:00

The AmeriCorps Pledge

I will get things done for America -
to make our people safer,
smarter, and healthier.

I will bring Americans together
to strengthen our communities.

Faced with apathy,
I will take action.

Faced with conflict,
I will seek common ground.

Faced with adversity,
I will persevere.

I will carry this commitment
with me this year and beyond.

I am an AmeriCorps member,
and I will get things done.

In the oath we took at the beginning of my AmeriCorps service, I committed myself to a lifetime of service, beyond my years in AmeriCorps. Time to put my money where my mouth is, and since I don't have any money, that's my hands :). I volunteered today in Braddock doing light renovation on a future foster home and planting an orchard with peach, plum, apple, and pear trees. I was contacted to do this through AmeriCorps Alums. The majority of people there were currently in AmeriCorps keys, but there was also a Vista alum who served in Seattle and currently works at Reed Smith in Pittsburgh, and some of his coworkers who also volunteered. Mayor John also actively participated in the project. We cleared all debris out and around of a house under renovation, and then moved to the orchard site. The ground was so hard and full of rocks and brick that even using a pick axe was hard going. So the Braddock fire department gave us a little help softening up the ground by spraying it down. It was hard work, and my back is feeling it now, but I got to run under the fire cannon water, play in the mud, and use a firehose, so over all, pretty good time!

Debate Tonight

2008-09-26T18:53:00.002-05:00

the debate is supposedly on tonite after mccain tried to back out...9 pm eastern time, 8 pm there... i'm going to watch it on pbs because jim lehrer is moderating...

new blog

2008-09-26T18:51:00.004-05:00

dont worry i'm still posting here, but i'm divvying things up a bit. this blog will be about personal stuff, service, education, politics, and marketing, and misc. the new one will focus on art, literature, language, philosophy, religion, and culture....anyhow excelsior vol 2 is located at http://seapeanut.wordpress.com

Two Sides of the Same Page

2008-09-19T10:31:00.007-05:00

i did these in colored pencil blended with water on a q-tip in bulgaria

Back to the Drawing Board (Literally)

2008-09-19T10:31:00.004-05:00

I've just had a really strong urge to draw lately. I am not very skilled at it, having mostly given it up in the 8th grade after I got bad marks for not being able to draw straight lines... I used to love love love to draw, I had my own drawing table and got these giant sketch pads. My Dad would buy me 2 or 3 of the good colored pencils (rexworth) every time he had a class at youngstown state, and I gradually built up my colors. I had Indian ink and a gummy eraser, and water colors, and it was pure joy for me to make art. I feel bad that I let grades deter me, because it's something I really enjoyed. I continued doodling in the margins of notes, but that's about it. Then a few years ago, I started doing sumi-e, more recently I've been working on mixed media collages, and now I'm back to the drawing board, sketching. So they're not great, and they probably won't be for a while, but I am having a lot of fun, and getting out some creative energy. I thought I'd share a few with you. Enjoy!

On The Road 1

2008-09-13T16:56:00.001-05:00

in between ohio and pgh...

Sarah's Project, Day 1

2008-09-10T18:03:00.003-05:00

I started work on refinishing a side table this evening. The table reminds me of the old telephone tables, where it has a shelf on the top to put the phone, then space below for a phone book. i don't have a phone, so it makes a good side table by my couch. Anyways, I found it in an alley way along with some other furniture and a sign that said Free Take. I carried it home about 3 or 4 blocks. I realized too late that I should have taken a before picture, but I didn't so I'll describe the state it was in. It had stain on it, but was scratched, faded, scraped in places and had cup rings. So I started sanding it today. First I roughed it up with a 60 grain sand paper by hand, and then I used the electric sander. I only have 80 grain for that, so it's slow going but it's working, just have to spend more time and add more pressure. I cleaned up some of what I did with a 100 grain, and i have 120 and 150 to use when I'm done. I bought a red oak stain. I only spent 2 hours on it this evening because my neighbors were all getting home from work and I was making a lot of noise in our basement. Hopefully, will finish the sanding tomorrow, and apply the stain the next day.... Stay Posted!

First Steeler's Game

2008-09-07T13:35:00.002-05:00

North Shore and Side were full of people tailgating, hawking tickets and parking spaces, and generally walking around in black and gold. I tried to take a few pics on my cell phone without being obvious.. :0)

GO STILLERS!

Hope and Humour

2008-08-27T22:12:00.003-05:00

while the republicans are being nasty and airing loads of baseless attack ads, the dems are responding with hope and humor. they know how to use their claws if they have to, but it's done with aplomb and some jabbing humour.

from MoveOn.org:

from CarryaBigSticker:

and now some quotable quotes from the dem nat convention today (paraphrased as i'm not looking at transcripts)

bill clinton: the world has always been more impressed with the power of america's example than the example of america's power.

the third time is not the charm.

joe biden: that's not change, that's more of the same (regarding john mccain).

it's time for america to get back up, together.

bob casey: john mccain likes to call himself a maverick, but 90% of the time he's voted with george w bush. that's not a maverick, that's a sidekick

Finding Bulgaria in Pittsburgh (post 4)

2008-08-26T14:43:00.002-05:00

On the Verizon building, there is a portal with a globe of the world rotating within. The point is that you can call anywhere in the world from Pittsburgh, I guess. Anyways, the boys took some time to find Bulgaria.

Bulgarians in Pittsburgh 3: PPG Building

2008-08-26T14:28:00.004-05:00

first two pictures by Rado, he has a good eye for that sort of thing. then me playing with the reflections from the building...

Bulgarians in Pittsburgh, Pt. 2 The Point

2008-08-26T14:25:00.002-05:00

Bulgarians in Pittsburgh

2008-08-26T14:15:00.006-05:00

Pavel, Other Pavel, Joro, and Rado with Roberto Clemente

on Roberto Clemente Bridge

walking by the Allegheny River

Me and Rado pose for a picture

to the Point

I know I said I'd post about my trip to Bulgaria, and I still plan to, but here is Bulgaria's trip to me! haha. The brother of Rado's sister-in-law was in Redding, PA for training and came with two other Bulgarian coworkers to visit us for a few hours... We had a blast and tried to compact the surrouding area into a few hours with success. We left on a walk from N. Side and travelled by Pirates (PNC) Stadium, went across Roberto Clemente bridge, walked along the river to the point, went to PPG Square and Market Square, ate at Primantis (A Pittsburgh Original). Then we continued our walk across Smithfield St. Bridge to Station Square, rode the incline to Mt. Washington and enjoyed the view, and walked them back to their rental car before heading off to a concert in Highland Park. What a Pittsburgh day! If they get to come longer next time we'll show them more of our lovely city, but they were very impressed by the city and said they enjoyed it more than Philadelphia or New York. That's right folks! Pittsburgh rules.

I Am Not A Movie Snob

2008-08-17T08:51:00.002-05:00

To be clear, I do appreciate indie movies, foreign films. I like movies that make a statement, are an act of protest, or try experimental camera angles. But it must be said, I still find merit in movies that are released to more than a limited audience and/or don't have subtitles. Some people criticize the pop culture movie as being fluff or the same old stuff. But to me, most of these movies serve to affirm our common humanity. Regardless of if we physically resemble the characters, or if our situations differ, we can almost always identify with a situation or emotion in these movies. Because they are "formulaic," they tap into the archetypes that occur in every culture. The quest narrative, the questions of identity, the struggle/agon/angst... We can see a part of ourselves on the screen. We can also feel a part of ourselves in the audience. When everyone in a darkened theatre gasps at the same time, sheds a tear for the same tragedy, laughs together... it shows that despite our many differences, we are all human, and can perhaps one day get along when the lights are up.

~S

COMING SOON...

2008-08-17T08:50:00.001-05:00

I have not been posting. Obviously. I will post some entries on my recent trip to Bulgaria, as well as things that have been happening around Pittsburgh soon. Promise.

LET'S GO PENGUINS! (Aviary Post 3)

2008-05-31T16:09:00.002-05:00

Here is three month old Sidney. He is rooting for the Penguins and his namesake Sidney Crosby tonight, are you?

Aviary Post 2- Pigeons

2008-05-31T10:42:00.007-05:00

On the way home from NYC back in January, I ran into the apparently now defunct "World of Pigeons." I knew that all pigeons and doves were of the same family, Columbidae, but I didn't realize how varied they were...truly a world of pigeons...until I went to the National Aviary in Pittsburgh yesterday...

Some of the Columbidae Family at the National Aviary:

Nicobar Pigeon
Pied Imperial Pigeon
Victoria Crowned Pigeon
Green-Naped Pheasant Pigeon
Bartlett's Bleed Heart Dove
Fruit Dove

Victoria Crowned Pigeon

fruit dove

Pittsburgh Aviary Post 1

2008-05-31T10:16:00.002-05:00

This begins a series of posts based on my visit to the Pittsburgh Aviary yesterday (Friday May 30th). The following is a short video clip I took at the Free Flight Zone show of Max the Parakeet singing Happy Birthday. I wished I had turned the camera on sooner, because he just got done singing opera.

Make-Your-Own-PostCard

2008-05-06T19:52:00.003-05:00

I made this postcard for my Mom out of an old VHS cover of Thoroughly Modern Millie. I ripped it to postcard size, added sparkly star stickers, and inked a division for the message and address. Easy as pie, a great way to reuse. Thanks to Jeannie for the idea.

There is No Exit Strategy

2008-05-06T10:51:00.005-05:00

It's not so much what it is, but what it is combined with when it is. I saw this on 5th ave in downtown Pittsburgh on April 3rd, 2008. The fifth anniversary of the war in Iraq was on March 20th, 2008. The facts are stated simply, you don't need to add shock and awe for it to be shocking.

Happy Anniversary
March 20
2003-2007
?

"Maybe a hundred years---would be fine with me" --Sen. John McCain

4,000 U.S. Military Dead
39,395 U.S. wounded

....what is best
Who's laughing now?

The placement on a marble building drew my attention to it. I noticed the resemblance to the iPod stickers, though, so did a little research and found this MadTV parody... it's a little predictable, but still has a good message.

I heart Math

2008-05-05T11:51:00.002-05:00

Addition Combos for 2-10

If I keep trying to convince myself I love and enjoy math, eventually it will be true... right? Well, I spent an hour proving to myself that there are indeed 45 unique addition facts. First I wrote out all the possible combinations of adding positive integers to get the numbers 2 through 10 and then I figured out the 45 unique addition facts. If you memorize these facts, you can figure out any addition problem (well, you have to know how to carry or how to add without carrying, which is what the next math post will be about.

45 unique addition facts

The Water Is Ours

2008-05-05T11:24:00.004-05:00

Seen in the Strip District, April 18, 2008, This stopped me in my tracks. It was one of our first warm days of Spring and the streets were alive with people on their lunch breaks. Everyone was walking or eating or smoking and generally enjoying the weather. People kept walking around me when I stopped to read this and take the picture. It was especially poignant because of the water damage, the text streaked by rain, when the topic was the right to WATER. This is what it says:

"The water is ours damnit!" In 1999, under pressure from the World Bank, the Bolivian government, sold off the water system of its 3rd largest city Cochabamba behind closed doors to multi-national investors including the Bechtel Corporation. Over night people were asked to pay 25% of their income for water including collected rainfall and backyard wells. Months of protese ensued. The country was declared under martial law but thousands took to the streets. This, combined with international activist pressure forced Bechtel to flee the country. Despite subsequent attempts to sue Bolivia for $25M in loss of "potential profit," the people of Cochabamba succeeded in defeating a corporate giant and reclaiming control of one of life's most neccessary resources.

Long Overdue Update (Good Stuff)

2008-04-30T11:41:00.005-05:00

I haven't posted in a while because, well, good stuff has been happening, and I've been too busy with the happening to get to the telling. But I have a moment to breathe, so I thought I would share now. I started seeing a wonderful guy back in March. I finished up work on my thesis. I successfully defended my thesis. And I got engaged to be married!

My thesis board recommended that I receive my Masters degree. All I have left to do is some small revisions and get my thesis bound. I had a public reading already, at which this picture below of me and my fiance, Rado, was taken.

My fiance is Radoslav Angelov, and he is more than my fiance. He is my true love, he is my best friend, he is my confidante, he is my partner, he is my companion. We have so much in common, and the things we don't have in common only enhance the relationship. We can talk about anything from history to politics to philospohy to poetry to music to our favorite comedy sketches. We love doing anything together.

Rado has been living in Pittsburgh for 15 years, but he is from Bulgaria. We are planning to travel to Bulgaria when I am done with AmeriCorps. When we get married, my Dad will perform the ceremony with my Mom giving me away. My Matron of Honor will be Nancy Heacock, and my Maid of Honor will be Rachel Baron.

I have put together a Wedding Website if you would like to hear more. It is at http://radoandsarah.brides.com/.

Vote on my Jones Soda Photo

2008-04-09T13:31:00.002-05:00

I submitted a photo of my boyfriend Rado for consideration for a Jones Soda bottle. Vote here: http://www.jonessoda.com/gallery/view.php?ID=937532& and give this photo a rating of 10 if you want to see it on a bottle!

In Case You Missed It

2008-03-18T22:17:00.003-05:00

this is MY CANDIDATE! he's got my vote. here's the transcript of Barack Obama's whole speech in Philadelphia from today. you can find the whole thing and clips of sections on youtube. the different size fonts are parts i wanted to emphasize, but it's all good stuff. there're a few words here and there added in the live speech...watch it on youtube to get it all :)
<<<<
"We the people, in order to form a more perfect union."

Two hundred and twenty one years ago, in a hall that still stands across the street, a group of men gathered and, with these simple words, launched America's improbable experiment in democracy. Farmers and scholars; statesmen and patriots who had traveled across an ocean to escape tyranny and persecution finally made real their declaration of independence at a Philadelphia convention that lasted through the spring of 1787.

The document they produced was eventually signed but ultimately unfinished. It was stained by this nation's original sin of slavery, a question that divided the colonies and brought the convention to a stalemate until the founders chose to allow the slave trade to continue for at least twenty more years, and to leave any final resolution to future generations.

Of course, the answer to the slavery question was already embedded within our Constitution - a Constitution that had at is very core the ideal of equal citizenship under the law; a Constitution that promised its people liberty, and justice, and a union that could be and should be perfected over time.

And yet words on a parchment would not be enough to deliver slaves from bondage, or provide men and women of every color and creed their full rights and obligations as citizens of the United States. What would be needed were Americans in successive generations who were willing to do their part - through protests and struggle, on the streets and in the courts, through a civil war and civil disobedience and always at great risk - to narrow that gap between the promise of our ideals and the reality of their time.

This was one of the tasks we set forth at the beginning of this campaign - to continue the long march of those who came before us, a march for a more just, more equal, more free, more caring and more prosperous America. I chose to run for the presidency at this moment in history because I believe deeply that we cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together - unless we perfect our union by understanding that we may have different stories, but we hold common hopes; that we may not look the same and we may not have come from the same place, but we all want to move in the same direction - towards a better future for of children and our grandchildren.

This belief comes from my unyielding faith in the decency and generosity of the American people. But it also comes from my own American story.

I am the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas. I was raised with the help of a white grandfather who survived a Depression to serve in Patton's Army during World War II and a white grandmother who worked on a bomber assembly line at Fort Leavenworth while he was overseas. I've gone to some of the best schools in America and lived in one of the world's poorest nations. I am married to a black American who carries within her the blood of slaves and slaveowners - an inheritance we pass on to our two precious daughters. I have brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, uncles and cousins, of every race and every hue, scattered across three continents, and for as long as I live, I will never forget that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible.

It's a story that hasn't made me the most conventional candidate. But it is a story that has seared into my genetic makeup the idea that this nation is more than the sum of its parts - that out of many, we are truly one.

Throughout the first year of this campaign, against all predictions to the contrary, we saw how hungry the American people were for this message of unity. Despite the temptation to view my candidacy through a purely racial lens, we won commanding victories in states with some of the whitest populations in the country. In South Carolina, where the Confederate Flag still flies, we built a powerful coalition of African Americans and white Americans.

This is not to say that race has not been an issue in the campaign. At various stages in the campaign, some commentators have deemed me either "too black" or "not black enough." We saw racial tensions bubble to the surface during the week before the South Carolina primary. The press has scoured every exit poll for the latest evidence of racial polarization, not just in terms of white and black, but black and brown as well.

And yet, it has only been in the last couple of weeks that the discussion of race in this campaign has taken a particularly divisive turn.

On one end of the spectrum, we've heard the implication that my candidacy is somehow an exercise in affirmative action; that it's based solely on the desire of wide-eyed liberals to purchase racial reconciliation on the cheap. On the other end, we've heard my former pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, use incendiary language to express views that have the potential not only to widen the racial divide, but views that denigrate both the greatness and the goodness of our nation; that rightly offend white and black alike.

I have already condemned, in unequivocal terms, the statements of Reverend Wright that have caused such controversy. For some, nagging questions remain. Did I know him to be an occasionally fierce critic of American domestic and foreign policy? Of course. Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in church? Yes. Did I strongly disagree with many of his political views? Absolutely - just as I'm sure many of you have heard remarks from your pastors, priests, or rabbis with which you strongly disagreed.

But the remarks that have caused this recent firestorm weren't simply controversial. They weren't simply a religious leader's effort to speak out against perceived injustice. Instead, they expressed a profoundly distorted view of this country - a view that sees white racism as endemic, and that elevates what is wrong with America above all that we know is right with America; a view that sees the conflicts in the Middle East as rooted primarily in the actions of stalwart allies like Israel, instead of emanating from the perverse and hateful ideologies of radical Islam.

As such, Reverend Wright's comments were not only wrong but divisive, divisive at a time when we need unity; racially charged at a time when we need to come together to solve a set of monumental problems - two wars, a terrorist threat, a falling economy, a chronic health care crisis and potentially devastating climate change; problems that are neither black or white or Latino or Asian, but rather problems that confront us all.

Given my background, my politics, and my professed values and ideals, there will no doubt be those for whom my statements of condemnation are not enough. Why associate myself with Reverend Wright in the first place, they may ask? Why not join another church? And I confess that if all that I knew of Reverend Wright were the snippets of those sermons that have run in an endless loop on the television and You Tube, or if Trinity United Church of Christ conformed to the caricatures being peddled by some commentators, there is no doubt that I would react in much the same way

But the truth is, that isn't all that I know of the man. The man I met more than twenty years ago is a man who helped introduce me to my Christian faith, a man who spoke to me about our obligations to love one another; to care for the sick and lift up the poor. He is a man who served his country as a U.S. Marine; who has studied and lectured at some of the finest universities and seminaries in the country, and who for over thirty years led a church that serves the community by doing God's work here on Earth - by housing the homeless, ministering to the needy, providing day care services and scholarships and prison ministries, and reaching out to those suffering from HIV/AIDS.

In my first book, Dreams From My Father, I described the experience of my first service at Trinity:

"People began to shout, to rise from their seats and clap and cry out, a forceful wind carrying the reverend's voice up into the rafters....And in that single note - hope! - I heard something else; at the foot of that cross, inside the thousands of churches across the city, I imagined the stories of ordinary black people merging with the stories of David and Goliath, Moses and Pharaoh, the Christians in the lion's den, Ezekiel's field of dry bones. Those stories - of survival, and freedom, and hope - became our story, my story; the blood that had spilled was our blood, the tears our tears; until this black church, on this bright day, seemed once more a vessel carrying the story of a people into future generations and into a larger world. Our trials and triumphs became at once unique and universal, black and more than black; in chronicling our journey, the stories and songs gave us a means to reclaim memories that we didn't need to feel shame about...memories that all people might study and cherish - and with which we could start to rebuild."

That has been my experience at Trinity. Like other predominantly black churches across the country, Trinity embodies the black community in its entirety - the doctor and the welfare mom, the model student and the former gang-banger. Like other black churches, Trinity's services are full of raucous laughter and sometimes bawdy humor. They are full of dancing, clapping, screaming and shouting that may seem jarring to the untrained ear. The church contains in full the kindness and cruelty, the fierce intelligence and the shocking ignorance, the struggles and successes, the love and yes, the bitterness and bias that make up the black experience in America.

And this helps explain, perhaps, my relationship with Reverend Wright. As imperfect as he may be, he has been like family to me. He strengthened my faith, officiated my wedding, and baptized my children. Not once in my conversations with him have I heard him talk about any ethnic group in derogatory terms, or treat whites with whom he interacted with anything but courtesy and respect. He contains within him the contradictions - the good and the bad - of the community that he has served diligently for so many years.

I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community. I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother - a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world, but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe.

These people are a part of me. And they are a part of America, this country that I love.

Some will see this as an attempt to justify or excuse comments that are simply inexcusable. I can assure you it is not. I suppose the politically safe thing would be to move on from this episode and just hope that it fades into the woodwork. We can dismiss Reverend Wright as a crank or a demagogue, just as some have dismissed Geraldine Ferraro, in the aftermath of her recent statements, as harboring some deep-seated racial bias.

But race is an issue that I believe this nation cannot afford to ignore right now. We would be making the same mistake that Reverend Wright made in his offending sermons about America - to simplify and stereotype and amplify the negative to the point that it distorts reality.

The fact is that the comments that have been made and the issues that have surfaced over the last few weeks reflect the complexities of race in this country that we've never really worked through - a part of our union that we have yet to perfect. And if we walk away now, if we simply retreat into our respective corners, we will never be able to come together and solve challenges like health care, or education, or the need to find good jobs for every American.

Understanding this reality requires a reminder of how we arrived at this point. As William Faulkner once wrote, "The past isn't dead and buried. In fact, it isn't even past." We do not need to recite here the history of racial injustice in this country. But we do need to remind ourselves that so many of the disparities that exist in the African-American community today can be directly traced to inequalities passed on from an earlier generation that suffered under the brutal legacy of slavery and Jim Crow.

Segregated schools were, and are, inferior schools; we still haven't fixed them, fifty years after Brown v. Board of Education, and the inferior education they provided, then and now, helps explain the pervasive achievement gap between today's black and white students.

Legalized discrimination - where blacks were prevented, often through violence, from owning property, or loans were not granted to African-American business owners, or black homeowners could not access FHA mortgages, or blacks were excluded from unions, or the police force, or fire departments - meant that black families could not amass any meaningful wealth to bequeath to future generations. That history helps explain the wealth and income gap between black and white, and the concentrated pockets of poverty that persists in so many of today's urban and rural communities.

A lack of economic opportunity among black men, and the shame and frustration that came from not being able to provide for one's family, contributed to the erosion of black families - a problem that welfare policies for many years may have worsened. And the lack of basic services in so many urban black neighborhoods - parks for kids to play in, police walking the beat, regular garbage pick-up and building code enforcement - all helped create a cycle of violence, blight and neglect that continue to haunt us.

This is the reality in which Reverend Wright and other African-Americans of his generation grew up. They came of age in the late fifties and early sixties, a time when segregation was still the law of the land and opportunity was systematically constricted. What's remarkable is not how many failed in the face of discrimination, but rather how many men and women overcame the odds; how many were able to make a way out of no way for those like me who would come after them.

But for all those who scratched and clawed their way to get a piece of the American Dream, there were many who didn't make it - those who were ultimately defeated, in one way or another, by discrimination. That legacy of defeat was passed on to future generations - those young men and increasingly young women who we see standing on street corners or languishing in our prisons, without hope or prospects for the future. Even for those blacks who did make it, questions of race, and racism, continue to define their worldview in fundamental ways. For the men and women of Reverend Wright's generation, the memories of humiliation and doubt and fear have not gone away; nor has the anger and the bitterness of those years. That anger may not get expressed in public, in front of white co-workers or white friends. But it does find voice in the barbershop or around the kitchen table. At times, that anger is exploited by politicians, to gin up votes along racial lines, or to make up for a politician's own failings.

And occasionally it finds voice in the church on Sunday morning, in the pulpit and in the pews. The fact that so many people are surprised to hear that anger in some of Reverend Wright's sermons simply reminds us of the old truism that the most segregated hour in American life occurs on Sunday morning. That anger is not always productive; indeed, all too often it distracts attention from solving real problems; it keeps us from squarely facing our own complicity in our condition, and prevents the African-American community from forging the alliances it needs to bring about real change. But the anger is real; it is powerful; and to simply wish it away, to condemn it without understanding its roots, only serves to widen the chasm of misunderstanding that exists between the races.

In fact, a similar anger exists within segments of the white community. Most working- and middle-class white Americans don't feel that they have been particularly privileged by their race. Their experience is the immigrant experience - as far as they're concerned, no one's handed them anything, they've built it from scratch. They've worked hard all their lives, many times only to see their jobs shipped overseas or their pension dumped after a lifetime of labor. They are anxious about their futures, and feel their dreams slipping away; in an era of stagnant wages and global competition, opportunity comes to be seen as a zero sum game, in which your dreams come at my expense. So when they are told to bus their children to a school across town; when they hear that an African American is getting an advantage in landing a good job or a spot in a good college because of an injustice that they themselves never committed; when they're told that their fears about crime in urban neighborhoods are somehow prejudiced, resentment builds over time.

Like the anger within the black community, these resentments aren't always expressed in polite company. But they have helped shape the political landscape for at least a generation. Anger over welfare and affirmative action helped forge the Reagan Coalition. Politicians routinely exploited fears of crime for their own electoral ends. Talk show hosts and conservative commentators built entire careers unmasking bogus claims of racism while dismissing legitimate discussions of racial injustice and inequality as mere political correctness or reverse racism.

Just as black anger often proved counterproductive, so have these white resentments distracted attention from the real culprits of the middle class squeeze - a corporate culture rife with inside dealing, questionable accounting practices, and short-term greed; a Washington dominated by lobbyists and special interests; economic policies that favor the few over the many. And yet, to wish away the resentments of white Americans, to label them as misguided or even racist, without recognizing they are grounded in legitimate concerns - this too widens the racial divide, and blocks the path to understanding.

This is where we are right now. It's a racial stalemate we've been stuck in for years. Contrary to the claims of some of my critics, black and white, I have never been so naïve as to believe that we can get beyond our racial divisions in a single election cycle, or with a single candidacy - particularly a candidacy as imperfect as my own.

But I have asserted a firm conviction - a conviction rooted in my faith in God and my faith in the American people - that working together we can move beyond some of our old racial wounds, and that in fact we have no choice if we are to continue on the path of a more perfect union.

For the African-American community, that path means embracing the burdens of our past without becoming victims of our past. It means continuing to insist on a full measure of justice in every aspect of American life. But it also means binding our particular grievances - for better health care, and better schools, and better jobs - to the larger aspirations of all Americans -- the white woman struggling to break the glass ceiling, the white man whose been laid off, the immigrant trying to feed his family. And it means taking full responsibility for own lives - by demanding more from our fathers, and spending more time with our children, and reading to them, and teaching them that while they may face challenges and discrimination in their own lives, they must never succumb to despair or cynicism; they must always believe that they can write their own destiny.

Ironically, this quintessentially American - and yes, conservative - notion of self-help found frequent expression in Reverend Wright's sermons. But what my former pastor too often failed to understand is that embarking on a program of self-help also requires a belief that society can change.

The profound mistake of Reverend Wright's sermons is not that he spoke about racism in our society. It's that he spoke as if our society was static; as if no progress has been made; as if this country - a country that has made it possible for one of his own members to run for the highest office in the land and build a coalition of white and black; Latino and Asian, rich and poor, young and old -- is still irrevocably bound to a tragic past. But what we know -- what we have seen - is that America can change. That is the true genius of this nation. What we have already achieved gives us hope - the audacity to hope - for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.

In the white community, the path to a more perfect union means acknowledging that what ails the African-American community does not just exist in the minds of black people; that the legacy of discrimination - and current incidents of discrimination, while less overt than in the past - are real and must be addressed. Not just with words, but with deeds - by investing in our schools and our communities; by enforcing our civil rights laws and ensuring fairness in our criminal justice system; by providing this generation with ladders of opportunity that were unavailable for previous generations. It requires all Americans to realize that your dreams do not have to come at the expense of my dreams; that investing in the health, welfare, and education of black and brown and white children will ultimately help all of America prosper.

In the end, then, what is called for is nothing more, and nothing less, than what all the world's great religions demand - that we do unto others as we would have them do unto us. Let us be our brother's keeper, Scripture tells us. Let us be our sister's keeper. Let us find that common stake we all have in one another, and let our politics reflect that spirit as well.

For we have a choice in this country. We can accept a politics that breeds division, and conflict, and cynicism. We can tackle race only as spectacle - as we did in the OJ trial - or in the wake of tragedy, as we did in the aftermath of Katrina - or as fodder for the nightly news. We can play Reverend Wright's sermons on every channel, every day and talk about them from now until the election, and make the only question in this campaign whether or not the American people think that I somehow believe or sympathize with his most offensive words. We can pounce on some gaffe by a Hillary supporter as evidence that she's playing the race card, or we can speculate on whether white men will all flock to John McCain in the general election regardless of his policies.

We can do that.

But if we do, I can tell you that in the next election, we'll be talking about some other distraction. And then another one. And then another one. And nothing will change.

That is one option. Or, at this moment, in this election, we can come together and say, "Not this time." This time we want to talk about the crumbling schools that are stealing the future of black children and white children and Asian children and Hispanic children and Native American children. This time we want to reject the cynicism that tells us that these kids can't learn; that those kids who don't look like us are somebody else's problem. The children of America are not those kids, they are our kids, and we will not let them fall behind in a 21st century economy. Not this time.

This time we want to talk about how the lines in the Emergency Room are filled with whites and blacks and Hispanics who do not have health care; who don't have the power on their own to overcome the special interests in Washington, but who can take them on if we do it together.

This time we want to talk about the shuttered mills that once provided a decent life for men and women of every race, and the homes for sale that once belonged to Americans from every religion, every region, every walk of life. This time we want to talk about the fact that the real problem is not that someone who doesn't look like you might take your job; it's that the corporation you work for will ship it overseas for nothing more than a profit.

This time we want to talk about the men and women of every color and creed who serve together, and fight together, and bleed together under the same proud flag. We want to talk about how to bring them home from a war that never should've been authorized and never should've been waged, and we want to talk about how we'll show our patriotism by caring for them, and their families, and giving them the benefits they have earned.

I would not be running for President if I didn't believe with all my heart that this is what the vast majority of Americans want for this country. This union may never be perfect, but generation after generation has shown that it can always be perfected. And today, whenever I find myself feeling doubtful or cynical about this possibility, what gives me the most hope is the next generation - the young people whose attitudes and beliefs and openness to change have already made history in this election.

There is one story in particularly that I'd like to leave you with today - a story I told when I had the great honor of speaking on Dr. King's birthday at his home church, Ebenezer Baptist, in Atlanta.

There is a young, twenty-three year old white woman named Ashley Baia who organized for our campaign in Florence, South Carolina. She had been working to organize a mostly African-American community since the beginning of this campaign, and one day she was at a roundtable discussion where everyone went around telling their story and why they were there.

And Ashley said that when she was nine years old, her mother got cancer. And because she had to miss days of work, she was let go and lost her health care. They had to file for bankruptcy, and that's when Ashley decided that she had to do something to help her mom.

She knew that food was one of their most expensive costs, and so Ashley convinced her mother that what she really liked and really wanted to eat more than anything else was mustard and relish sandwiches. Because that was the cheapest way to eat.

She did this for a year until her mom got better, and she told everyone at the roundtable that the reason she joined our campaign was so that she could help the millions of other children in the country who want and need to help their parents too.

Now Ashley might have made a different choice. Perhaps somebody told her along the way that the source of her mother's problems were blacks who were on welfare and too lazy to work, or Hispanics who were coming into the country illegally. But she didn't. She sought out allies in her fight against injustice.

Anyway, Ashley finishes her story and then goes around the room and asks everyone else why they're supporting the campaign. They all have different stories and reasons. Many bring up a specific issue. And finally they come to this elderly black man who's been sitting there quietly the entire time. And Ashley asks him why he's there. And he does not bring up a specific issue. He does not say health care or the economy. He does not say education or the war. He does not say that he was there because of Barack Obama. He simply says to everyone in the room, "I am here because of Ashley."

"I'm here because of Ashley." By itself, that single moment of recognition between that young white girl and that old black man is not enough. It is not enough to give health care to the sick, or jobs to the jobless, or education to our children.

But it is where we start. It is where our union grows stronger. And as so many generations have come to realize over the course of the two-hundred and twenty one years since a band of patriots signed that document in Philadelphia, that is where the perfection begins.

>>>> ~Barack Obama, 18 March 2008, Constitution Hall, Philadelphia, PA

Washington Landing, Herr's Island, Allegheny River

2008-03-17T16:06:00.007-05:00

I laid on the wall in the sun for a while. It was below 50, but it felt warmer in the sun.

I climbed down the hill beside the wall and looked through the bits of glass and shards of pottery and sticks and stones.

I imagined I was an anthropologist or archaelogist in the future, what these pieces of life would mean to me. There were even a couple of old spoons with designs on the handle
i almost found the whole bowl to reconstruct! (not quite...)

this is what i kept:

a smooth purple glass orb
a piece from the bowl with greco-roman looking fresco type enamel.
also, a piece of what, if i remember my college geology class at all, is granite (maybe feldspar in it?? i only remember feldspar cause it's a funny word), a river shell, and a perfectly round stone.

Me, Myself, and Sarah

2008-03-16T17:28:00.004-05:00

You and me-- all that lights
upon us, brings us together
like a fiddle bow drawing
one voice from two strings
~Rilke

It all started when my name was on a poem by her, us both being in this magazine, us both being named Sarah. We dedicated our copies to ourselves, to each other. I guess it probably started before then, like when we met in poetry class, or when i gave her my mittens. We travelled together to Stratford, Ontario in 2001 and had a great time. We were separated by time and space, but reunited via e-mail, and in person in 2007. We still refer to each other as each other, and it's party a joke, but it is also partly true. We are kindred.

Won't You Wear A Sweater?

2008-03-16T07:55:00.000-05:00

The Green Rabble

2008-03-15T23:06:00.004-05:00

Pittsburgh really gets into St. Patrick's Day. It's not even St. Patrick's day yet, technically. But the Parade was today and the mobs in green were out as well. I tried to take some pictures from my car as I was stuck in traffic, but it doesn't really capture the insanity. There were hoardes of people in all shades of green with green accoutrement, such as a green Pope hat, green star shaped sunglasses, green beads, green hair, and on and on. Here's a small sample.

Tears

2008-03-15T17:57:00.003-05:00

Voila!

2008-03-15T09:18:00.002-05:00

sketch in pen in marker, by sarah for jeannie :)

Beauty

2008-03-15T09:00:00.005-05:00

found: Eloise Street, North Side, Pittsburgh

the text:
Beauty
must be defined as
what we are,
or else the concept itself
is our enemy

To see beauty is
simply to learn the
private language of
meaning which is
another's life--
to recognize and
relish
what is.

Why languish in the shadows of a standard
We cannot personify and ideal we live

YES WE CAN!

2008-03-05T16:31:00.000-05:00

Where Learning Happens

2008-03-05T16:10:00.002-05:00

I was with three friends from another country, we'll call them Person A, Person B, and Person C. Person A has been in this country the longest, and has interacted and dealt with the most born and raised Americans. An American was present, and having a short conversation with Person A. Person B and C (and myself) listened. Person A was incredulous about something the American said, and didn't know whether or not to believe him. "Are you fucking with me or are you for real?" he said. The conversation concluded and the American left.

Person B and Person C said they didn't understand what that meant (Are you fucking with me), so Person A went on to explain at length, using both English and their native language when, why, and how to say "Don't fuck with me."

I was dying laughing. "What?" Person B protested "He is teaching us."

"I know," I said "Just don't use that one at work."

But he was teaching them. They were learning grammar, conjugation, situational appropriate language, culture, etc. It was an amazing thing to see unfolding. This is how some of the most productive learning happens: a simple "I don't understand," the desire to know, and the exchange of information and knowledge in a community of peers.

I'm not saying that the classroom environment is invalid. I think it is vital. But I also think a lot of learning happens out of the classroom, and I also think we can utilize this type of learning in the classroom by putting more power in the hands of the students to teach each other, and even the so-called "teacher". I know I learn a lot from my students....

Just a thought.

Puppet Photography

2008-02-28T16:13:00.004-05:00

I've been getting professional-like photography gigs lately, as people have been impressed by my picture taking prowess ;). ha. I say professional-like, as they're not paying, but as favors to friends. I'm Chaibaba and Machete's unofficial concert photographer, I took some publicity photos for David Atkins of Go4 Design (with his Canon Digital Rebel, which was SWEET), and I took some shots of my friend Nancy's life size puppets for her portfolio. Here are a few of those that I am particularly pleased with.

Second Installment of Pittsburgh Dinosaurs

2008-02-28T16:11:00.002-05:00

This one is located in Aspinwall, north of Pittsburgh, at the intersection of North Ave. and Center Ave.

Emo Kid Finds Religion

2008-02-24T22:48:00.002-05:00

*disclaimer: the owner of the blog does not necessarily hold the opinions represented in this comic.

Allegheny Observatory

2008-02-24T22:02:00.004-05:00

I went for a drive this afternoon with the idea of going to Riverview Park up above the North Side, I don't know if it's considered North Side or Observatory Hill or Perrysville or what, but I drove up. Eventually I ended up on the top of the hill at the Allegheny Observatory.

There were some families out sledding. It was a perfect day for sled ridding. It wasn't that cold out (in the mid to upper 30s celsius) but the snow was still there. The places where the snow was melting created some neat visual effects. The ice melting from the trees and dripping onto the snow gave it a dappled look.

Marketing Design Does It Again (Or, There's a Sucker Born Every Day and One's Me)

2008-02-22T22:32:00.003-05:00

I still have so many commercial jingles memorized and associate real songs with the commercials they were used in (America the Beautiful= America's Best Eye Glasses, Elvis song= doodle bear, etc.) A friend said, you are exactly who these commercials are targeted too...very impressionable. Well, I mentioned how packaging really gets me, here's a fizzy fruit juice I just had to get after seeing the bottle, Fizzy Lizzy: Fruit Fizz with Body:Yes, it does say "Gently SHAKE my hips Before placing bottle to your lips"

Dinosaurs Around Pittsburgh, First Installment

2008-02-22T22:28:00.001-05:00

PPG Glass Building Stegosaurus

WQED Building Mr. Rogers Tyrannosaurus

more to come...

In Case of Apocalypse, Go to Chatham...

2008-02-22T22:19:00.002-05:00

...they're prepared:

drinking water container to be reused as a commode, found in the basement of coolidge hall, chatham university....odd...

Walking to Work...

2008-02-22T22:13:00.002-05:00

25 degrees celsius. brrr. but the sun was shining!

Friendship is one mind in two bodies

2008-02-22T13:46:00.002-05:00

text source: http://www.ambrosebierce.org/dictionary.htm
photo: me 'n' john the revelator

pt 2

2008-02-21T21:48:00.002-05:00

Inspired by Iron Butterfly

2008-02-21T21:30:00.003-05:00

In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (In the Garden of Eden) lyrics, by Iron Butterfly

In-a-gadda-da-vida, honey,
Dont you know that I love you?
In-a-gadda-da-vida, baby,
Dont you know that Ill always be true?

Oh, wont you come with me
And take my hand?

Oh, wont you come with me
And walk this land?

Please take my hand!

this is a sketch i did in my notebook then added overlays of color using the freeware Inkscape

Introducing The Working Poor Blog

2008-02-12T14:38:00.001-05:00

new blog up for pittsburgh band the working poor-- check it out!!! or else!!! http://pghworkingpoor.blogspot.com/
http://pghworkingpoor.blogspot.com/
http://pghworkingpoor.blogspot.com/
http://pghworkingpoor.blogspot.com/
http://pghworkingpoor.blogspot.com/

Feeding the Pigeons

2008-02-11T14:45:00.000-05:00

Finished off a bag of dove seed. Have a slightly larger back of wild bird seed left, but in this cold it will be gone soon. Anyone want to donate to the feed the pigeons fund? just for the colder months ;)

Insomnia

2008-02-11T14:40:00.000-05:00

the view from my bed at midnight

Tactile Learner

2008-02-10T22:55:00.000-05:00

the people who talk about pedagogical theory say that some students need to be doing something with their hands while learning in order to focus and pay attention. to their minds, doodling in class can be a help rather than a hindrance. i hope they're right since this is what i did in my class....hmmm

My nonstop Sunday

2008-02-10T22:38:00.000-05:00

10:30-12:30 am: Unitarian Universalist service, followed by social hour
2:00-3:30PM: The Working Poor performance, Carnegie Library, followed by checking out two books and evening up my accounts with the library
4:45-7:00PM: Barista Jam @ Simpatico
7:55-9:30PM: Persepolis (GO SEE IT!)

The Power to Change

2008-02-07T21:29:00.000-05:00

I've been thinking a lot about Rev. Dr. Johnnie Monroe's sermon at the MLK, Jr. Day event at the Union Project. I'm going to recap some of what I took from that talk in the hopes it will move you as much as it did me.

Monroe quoted the Bible, James 1:23 Be not hearers of the word only, but doers.

The challenge he brought forth was moving from hearing to doing-- WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO TOMORROW MORNING TO BRING ABOUT THE CHANGE THAT IS NEEDED IN PITTSBURGH?

He assured us that "The power to change is in this room tonight." He said that change could be brought about by people of all races who are not afraid to stand up and call out for justice.

Monroe offered some direction of how to accomplish this:

Utilize the power that we have and not be afraid to talk about power and use power
Tell about the God who is able to turn things around and rely on the same.
Go back to the mosques, to the temples, to the churches, and carry the message for change.

He brought the challenge directly to Pittsburgh: PITTSBURGH, IF YOU ARE GOING TO BE THE MOST LIVABLE CITY, MAKE YOURSELF THE MOST LIVABLE CITY FOR BLACK AND WHITE AND BROWN

So, let's be the change this city needs.

Sumi-e

2008-02-07T19:55:00.000-05:00

These are some paintings I did in Sumi-e, or Japanese Ink Brush Painting. I never got real far with it, but I enjoyed doing it. I found grinding with water to be very relaxing and put me in a good state of mind to let myself paint without worrying about how it would turn out. The ink comes in rectangular blocks, and it releases a sandalwood scent when you grind it on the ink stone and mix with water. I stopped doing sumi-e only because I ran out of the rice paper that I was doing it on. I was in the South Side and ran into an art store recently and bought a whole roll. Do you think I should take it back up?

Willow Tree

Plum (apricot) tree

Shitake Mushroom

Dandelion

Bamboo

Submitting

2008-01-28T14:31:00.000-05:00

"To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness. What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places--and there are so many--where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction. And if we do act, in however small a way, we don't have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory."~Howard Zinn

The Bible says the Kingdom of God is within you. Zen Buddhist Cheri Huber teaches that "Believing we are separate (in Christian terms, believing we are out of the presence of God) is the source of our desperate desire to control life. Trying to control life–hold on to this, get rid of that–is the cause of suffering." The Prophet Momhammad has said "My self [meaning 'my ego' (nafs)] has become a muslim" [meaning one who has submitted to God Most High]. Islam literarlly means submission. Buddhism insists that all beings have "Buddha-nature", a nature of wisdom and virtue. A Sikh hymn begins There is one supreme eternal reality; the truth; immanent in all things; creator of all things; immanent in creation. Without fear and without hatred; not subject to time; beyond birth and death; self-revealing. Known by the Guru’s grace." Poet Adam Zagajewski tells us to try to "praise the mutilated world."

I am trying to say something about creativity, hope, and spirituality, and how the three can, and should, be intertwined. Whatever Higher Power you may ascribe to, that is the Great Creator. I read in Julia Campbell's The Artist's Way that when we are creative it is a reflection of the Great Creator, and so is a holy thing to do. Art can be a way to cope, but also a way to offer solutions, actions, hope. But we can't do it of our own accord. Almost every quality writer, and may other types of artists, I have spoken with say that they are just following the story, or the poem, or the characters, or the music, or whatever...where it needs to go. It's almost an act of channeling when it's really working. So much Truth can be told in a made up way. Why do we let subtle differences divide us when we should all be working for the same purpose? I have decided to be more accepting of myself. I've decided to surrender and let the work manifest itself in me. I have decided that I am ready to risk losing what I currently have.

The Most Durable Power in the World

2008-01-24T23:00:00.000-05:00

I think I have discovered the highest good. It is love. Love is the most durable power in the world.
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

CHANGE

2008-01-24T22:44:00.001-05:00

Weather Almanac in Pictures

2008-01-24T17:49:00.000-05:00

For some reason on the warmest day this winter and also on what felt like the coldest thus far, I decided to go for a walk. Now the warm day, most people can understand. The cold one, well I later met two others who went for a walk or bike ride that day just for pleasure and not to get anywhere, but on my walk, I didn't see anyone else who wasn't out there for necessity. According to historical weather data, the warm day January 8, 2008, was in fact the record warmest temperature for that date. Coming in at 69 degrees F, it beat the previous record holder by 3 degrees and 71 years (1937).
The pictures from Jan 8 are from Allegheny Commons and outside the Children's Museum in the North Side, and downtown.

The cold day was well below the average for that day, January 20th, 2008, but didn't get the record.

Jan 20 08 actual minimum temp: 5 F/ =15 C, Average min for Jan 20s: 19 F/ -7 C Record min for Jan 20s: -18 F/ -27 C in 1985. Hopefully I will be smart enough not to go out if it gets that cold this year!
The pictures from that day are from the old St. Nicholas R.C. Croatian Church. It was build in 1900-01, and closed in 2004. The Mary statue remains, but there were spaces where others used to be and I think they got rid of some of the stained glass and murals. Still interested architecture to look at, though.

It's Uncanny!

2008-01-22T11:54:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I've been slacking about updating the blog. I've taken lots of lots of Pittsburgh pictures, I just have been dreading sitting thru the arduous process of exporting, uploading, organizing....but I will put them up soon. They are pictures of extremes- one batch from the warmest day we've had this winter so far, and one from what appears to be the coldest thus far.
In the meantime, chew on this. Apparently this X needs Google Game is all the rage these days. I had to skip over other listings and just wrote out the actual headline ones, not the compilations. So here's how it works. You type your name followed by the word needs in google in quotes and see what comes up. So mine was "Sarah needs" and here are the top 30 results:

Sarah needs:
1. Sarah needs a cold shower, self-esteem
2. Sarah needs to kick him in the nuts (You know who you are...)
3. Sarah needs your manly vote
4. Sarah needs you.
5. Sarah needs a video channel.
6. Sarah needs to make a cake and some cookies
7. Sarah needs adopted- time is up tomorrow afternoon.
8. Sarah needs a life
9. Sarah needs to lean on her man.
10. Sarah (the chinchilla) needs a family
11. Sarah needs to get her life back and establish herself as the person in charge.
12. Formerly Feral Sarah needs a Forever Home
13. Sarah needs batteries
14. Sarah needs a good cuddle
15. Sarah needs more love lyrics
16. Sarah needs to cut down on the overtime!
17. Sarah needs a break
18. Sarah needs Nat and her computing skills to survive and find whatever she needs to keep ahead of her faceless pursueers.
19. Sarah needs some more lovin
20. Sarah needs to respond to a student inquiry regarding the latest assignment
21. Sarah needs a reality check, as well.
22. Sarah needs the help of the notorious Captain Jamie Kerrick.
23. Sarah needs someone with a mature, hardened presence.
24. Sarah needs a root canal.
25. Sarah needs a story about Tina One Life to Live
26. Sarah needs to be hooked up to a respirator in order to survive.
27. Sarah needs someone who can escort her from port to port.
28. Sarah needs special glasses.
29. Sarah needs advice on setting up a wider wheel base.
30. Sarah needs a better agent.

How DID they know all these things about me? Especially number 18. I mean, who knows that? And obviously number 30 refers to a "special agent" Maybe his name is Capt Jamie. But notoriety is a warning signal to stay away. If i had more lovin' maybe I wouldn't need a cold shower. and I am now on the look out for a man to kick in the nuts (numbers 2 and 9 combo). Oh well, I'm sure once I have my special glasses, setting the wider wheel base will be no problem. Now if only I could breathe easier.

First Night Pittsburgh Parade

2008-01-01T12:50:00.000-05:00

Yes, it really did look this trippy in person...

How Helpless We've Become

2008-01-01T12:42:00.000-05:00

If the commercial media is any indication, we have become quite helpless as a society. The marketing is now oriented to product that can make everything so much easier that the product actually does the most simple things for you. So either they think the consumer is helpless or lazy....

Case in Point #1: a toothbrush that beeps to tell you when you're done brushing. well, i do lose count...???? also tells you if you're brushing too hard. the line: "helps you achieve the dental-recommended 2 minutes"

Case in Point #2: kitty litter that changes colors when it's time to change it...good for those with no sense of smell or depth perception...???? the line: "see odor before you can smell it!"

Sarah and the Geese

2007-12-19T10:50:00.000-05:00

(No, this does not end up like Leda and the Swan, thank goodness)

Geese and I are not on as friendly of terms as pigeons and I, but...here we are.

Pigeon Handling

2007-12-19T10:32:00.000-05:00

People sure do look at you funny when you're carrying a pigeon down 6th avenue in downtown Pittsburgh. Regular readers of my blog know my bizarre connection to pigeons (totem animal?). This morning I found a hurt pigeon on the side of the road with a car about to run over her. I'm assuming she's a her because she was all grey, with no spots of color, but I don't really know. Anyways, I scooped her up and held her close to my body as I carried her to the spot where I met Jimmy feeding the pigeons up above the parking garage. Jimmy had told me that there was one lady who took the hurt pigeons home to mend, and I was hoping she would show up. I stood there with her in my arms for a while, but she was obviously scared of me, chest all puffed up, so I set her under a bush where I'm hoping she can hide from predators for a bit. One lady who helps feed the pigeons, Therese, showed up, but she only feeds them. She said that she had the lady's phone number who knows more about what to do when they are hurt and would try to call her. We tried to get the hurt pigeon to eat some seeds, but no luck. We left some for her. There was another pigeon with a big piece of bread with a whole in the middle stuck around it's neck, but it was still able to fly and wouldn't let us get close enough to remove it. The life of a pigeon is apparently not that safe. Pigeons are so dependent on humans. There are only pigeons where humans are. So do we treat them as dirty pests to be at best ignored, or do we show them kindness and charity? Even the Koran offers a suggestion:
"He who takes pity on a sparrow and spares his life, Allah (God) will be merciful to him on the day of judgement. Do you not see how Allah is praised by those in heaven and earth? The very birds praise Him as they wing their flight"- The Koran (24.36):

On Thin Ice

2007-12-18T11:16:00.000-05:00

Geese standing on thin ice on a pond at Allegheny Commons Park, North Side, Pittsburgh.

Marketing Design

2007-12-13T21:40:00.000-05:00

Since I've began my foray into the graphic design world (i.e. trying to improve my web design skills, doing some copy writing, trying to teach myself photoshop and freehand, etc.), I have started noticing design everywhere. Sometimes commercial design simply astounds me.

Take Wrigley's 5 Gum for instance. I, too, fell prey to the clever packaging. It's about the size of a carton of cigarettes, and done in black with a different brilliant color for each flavor. Here is my flavor choice, cobalt.

Since anyone can get free condoms at any Planned Parenthood and various other locations, I guess the condom industry has had to step up to the marketing design plate. Meet ONE, the condom that comes in a shiny tin (aka sleek metal case with a plastic hinged back for easy dispensing!)
Even the individually wrapped condoms have a design--a graphic illustration, along with a witty sound byte...See samples HERE

And look-- you too can design a condom! (AKA be the "Rembrandt of Rubber, the Leonardo of Latex, the Picasso of Prophylactics")

What WILL they think of next?

Why, clever instructions that are still informative of course!

Methods's airfreshner (aka pluggable aroma pill) maintains a witty sense of humour whilst instructing users in its preparation (italics are mine added to the parts i found particularly apropos):
1. Holding fragrance bottle upright, remove cap. Do not remove wick. It's pretty important.
2. Keeping fragrance bottle upright, insert into bottom of aroma pill.
3. Rotate bottle clockwise until tight. You know, righty-tighty.
Rotate plug of aroma pill to accomodate vertical or horizontal wall outlet. Insert aroma pill into wall outlet with glass bottle pointing down. Do not turn sideways or else fragrance oil will spill. Gravity is mean like that.

My Reading at MWFA Gallery

2007-12-11T23:42:00.000-05:00

My Poetry Workshop had their end of term reading in conjunction with the Non-Fiction workshop at the Most Wanted Fine Art Gallery in Garfield. My friends Rachel and Vijay came out to show their support.

Reminder

2007-12-11T23:36:00.000-05:00

My Grandma Charlotte died almost a year ago now. I wrote this poem recently about how it takes the brain a while to catch up, at least the subconscious part that still wants to call her and tell her things, but how also...we don't always want it to catch up...

Reminder

I just absentmindedly drew
an angry clown smoking
a stogie. Read that
Rorschach inkblot.

You used to draw
a clown for me on paper placemats.
I remember some of the parts
looked like sausage links or balloons,
but I can’t remember the order.

I want chocolate milk with a bendy straw
and blueberry pancakes from Pappan’s Restaurant.
There’s a Wendy’s now where Pappan’s used to be.

I want to call and ask you if you think Stabler and Olivia
should hook up on Law and Order: SVU
and how do you spell Mariska’s last name?
It is hard to remember again and again
that you have died.

H-A-R-G-I-T-A-Y.
Hargitay sounds like hard to say.
What was that song you sang
to me that went paddy raddy bumsteay?
I’m trying to say I don’t want
even my memories
to die.

More Photos from Jalsah VI

2007-12-10T09:47:00.001-05:00

The Phat Man Dee graced us with her lovely singing voice.... "I'm just a Jewish girl singing Turkish..."

The view at one point from the stage. The crowd got even larger than this, then dwindled down to a few stalwart souls lounging on the pillows. Phat Man Dee may have invented horizontal karaoke....

Carmine took a break from the Oud for the doumbek to accompany Jeff on the sitar.

Jalsah

2007-12-09T02:06:00.000-05:00

I ATTENDED JALSAH 6 PITTSBURGH at Your Inner Vagabond in Lawrenceville. Nancy played her clarinet, and I played middle eastern beats with a bodhran! It was fantabulous. My arm is toooo sore from playing my drum to say much more. But thanks CARMINE, MELISSA, MARK, BETH, and everyone else for a great night and for letting me jam with you. Here are some pics I took, more later. http://www.jalsah.org

Snowy Walk

2007-12-09T02:02:00.000-05:00

On Wednesday I decided to walk to work again. This time I made it. 27 minutes in the snow, not bad! (and it was uphill both ways haha) The Rachel Carson bridge was a bit slickery, but not too bad!

Morning Walk in Allegheny Commons

2007-11-29T19:25:00.000-05:00

This morning I was diverted from work to a walk in the Allegheny Commons park in the North Side. This is why I love that the spanish word "divertido" means "fun." Because when I get diverted from what I intended to do, the diversion often ends up being quite fun, and probably more fun than what I intended to do... Anyways, I got a little turned around in the park as I was probably too busy looking at everything, so it took me much longer than it should have to make my way through. However, the fruit of this is I have some neat pictures to share with you. I took them on my cell phone, so they are not the best quality, but I just really loved the yellow yellow leaves on the ground and the wrought iron fencing above the railroad tracks. I also liked all the juxtapositions of old buildings with newer downtown buildings in the distance and natural elements like the trees. Without further ado...

Geçmiş Olsun

2007-11-28T11:56:00.000-05:00

I was feeling a little under the weather yet, so I had some red lentil soup at the Istanbul Grille on Center & Craig. But I added some Frank's hot sauce....

Watch Me Turn Into Famke Jansen

2007-11-20T08:38:00.001-05:00

First Snow of the Season in Pittsburgh

2007-11-16T17:02:00.001-05:00

park in the north side from north ave this am as the first snow fell, 16 november 2007

Gray Skies of Pittsburgh

2007-11-14T22:47:00.000-05:00

When I was walking to my car in the Strip District this evening I was overcome by the heaviness of the air and the sheer depth of the sky. It had been gray all day, but now it was so complex and had a beauty of its own to rival a sunny sky. I only had my cell, so these pictures aren't the best, but...

Letter Writing

2007-11-12T23:09:00.000-05:00

It's like Tom Brokaw said. Was it Tom Brokaw? Well, lots of people have said it anyways: Letter writing is a lost art. I mean, when's the last time you sat down and wrote a letter? I mean a pen and paper kind of letter. The kind of letter that goes on to backs of pages and more pages and you lick the envelope to seal it and put a stamp on it and physically walk it to a mail receptacle.....? I had been in the habit of writing letters to various pen pals throughout my life. There was Niall, my friend in N. Ireland, but that communication has evolved to e-mail. I kind of miss those Aerograms. Then there was my San Juan Pueblo, NM friend, whom I wrote to in NM and when he was with the Army Reserves in Iraq, but he stopped writing real letters to, and succumbed to the e-mail trend. Now I am trying to write letters to my friend, also named Sarah. She is basically me, so I think she enjoys this process as well.

I went to a letter writing event at Beleza Community Coffeehouse in the North Side (mex war streets part) of Pittsburgh on Sunday afternoon. I didn't write any super long letters, but I did make this card for my friend Sarah. I hope she'll like it!

Finally, as a bonus for reading all of these posts tonight (ha, I'm in da zone or something) here is an interesting and related link to how a letter took 64 years to be delivered:

Japanese Soldier's Postcard Reaches Friend After 64 Years - Yahoo! News

What's an Adventure Without Friends?

2007-11-12T22:52:00.000-05:00

They were in some of the previous South Side Slopes pictures, but this post is more specifically about my travelling companions in this journey, Vijay and Rachel. Vijay introduced me to the spot on the South Side Slopes, then we just drove randomly up narrow winding hills where you even have to go up steps to get to the sidewalks and there are tunnels through houses to get to the backyard. Here's one of the two of them:

Good thing they were there too, they picked me up when I fell down:

And they humoured my love of trees:

Here are two pictures that Rachel took-- I think she has a good eye for photo composition, don't you?:

Where does this road go?

Onto other places to explore:

South Side Slopes Photos 2

2007-11-12T22:49:00.000-05:00

More Steps

2007-11-12T22:47:00.001-05:00

Here is a staircase. I *think* I took this in the South Side Slopes, but I can't remember *for sure*...

I mentioned a book about Pittsburgh steps before, and here are some quick facts from it:

Step by step
Some facts about Pittsburgh’s steps:

Number of staircases: 737

Total number of steps: 44,770

Total number of feet: 24,176, or about 4.5 miles

Number of staircases that are legal “paper” streets: 334

Number of staircases with more than 300 steps: 5

Number of staircases with fewer than 25 steps: 189

Number of wooden staircases: 80

Number of brick steps: 1

Neighborhoods with the most staircases: South Side, 70; Beechview, 39

Number of neighborhoods with no staircases: 24

Decades in which most staircases were built: 1940s, 204; 1950s, 137

Longest staircase no longer in existence: Indian Trail steps, more than 1,000 wooden steps up Mt. Washington from Carson Street to the intersection of Shaler Street and Grandview Avenue, Duquesne Heights

For more information about Pittsburgh’s steps, visit: www.saveoursteps.org

Source: Bob Regan, author of “The Steps of Pittsburgh: Portrait of a City”

South Side Slopes Photos 1

2007-11-12T22:32:00.000-05:00

There are still too many photos to post from my adventure in the South Side Slopes, but here are a few more. From a quick google search, I'm pretty sure this was at the South Side Park. The Getting Outdoors Website says it's:

reached from Quarry Street (18th Street to St. Patrick to Quarry). The park features 65 acres of ballfields, walking trails, a playground, and a former ice arena. South Side Local Development Company and South Side Slopes Neighborhood Association recently convened a task force to plan park improvements.

Views Around Pittsburgh

2007-11-08T19:09:00.000-05:00

From South Side Slopes and Mount Oliver, mostly. Exploring the higher parts of the city. Perhaps found the highest point? At the peak of Climax Street in Mt. Oliver???

Inspired by Woolgathering

2007-10-31T20:53:00.000-05:00

Elizabeth Perry draws everyday. Well, I can't quite keep up with that in terms of quality, but I am usually doodling all the time. I loved to draw and paint when I was a child. I even made friends with an artist girlfriend of my uncle's who taught me to use water color and indian ink. I used to think I was a good artist, but the older I got, the less I thought that. I still love to draw though, and I love visual art, so I'm trying more and more lately. I've done two mixed media collages and a few sketches that I am sort of pleased with I'm sharing some now, and hopefully more to come.

Happy Halloween From the Future

2007-10-31T20:20:00.000-05:00

i have an original hannibal lecter costume that i have not gotten to wear the second year in a row. so here is my improvised costume. sarah of the future. in my time machine. bam!

Women Bloggers of Pittsburgh Unite

2007-10-31T18:30:00.000-05:00

...in case you haven't seen it... More women are entering the blogosphere, Pittsburgh Post Gazette

Made Up Words

2007-10-31T11:01:00.000-05:00

This is what me and some friends (mostly me, Rachel, and Mariza) did at Quiet Storm in Bloomfield. We played real scrabble, but that wasn't nearly challenging enough. So we decided to become lexicographers of a sort and make up our own words in a cross word puzzle format. Below the picture are some of the definitions. Also, the blank tile is pronounced as a clicking sound.

Laonukeleles: ukeleles from Laos that have a tendancy to explode.
Metagon: a hexagon that defines itself.
Shnyl: someone who is shy, but snobbily so.
Banaliter: even more banal that a banality.
Foremedios: the person you go to for a cure.
Qvelt: someone who is Svelt, but in a more flamboyant way.
Widgety: having the properties of a liquid nitrogen produced foam., also being fidgety do to an accumulation of this foam.

---

This may seem silly, but it brings up an important issue. The power in naming things. When colonizers came to new lands, they imposed their names and made up their own names for things that already had names from the indigenous peoples. When God named things in the beginning in the Bible, they appeared (let there be light, and all that). The German author Jenny Erpenbeck writes somewhat on this topic in her new novel, Book of Words.
I had the opportunity to hear Jenny Erpenbeck and her translator, Susan Bernofsky last night at Chatham University. Here is a small excerpt from the new novel (Read a larger excerpt here):

Eyes, nose, mouth. How often my mother shut her eyes the instant before my
index finger hit its mark, how often my father opened his mouth to show me what
a mouth is and then closed it around my finger as if he were going to bite, but
he didn't bite. If you wanted to play ball with someone's head, only one thing
would get in the way: the nose. My father's teeth are very white, and when I
probe around inside his dark mouth with my finger, they feel damp and hard. I
see a tree and say tree, I smell the cake my mother bakes on Sunday and say
cake, I hear a bird twittering in the garden, and my mother says: That's right,
a bird. We put the cake into our mouths, it vanishes there, mouth, eyes and
nose: holes, the beginnings of paths, no one knows quite where they lead.
Stomach, my mother says, but I've never seen my stomach from the inside, at
least what I eat comes out again on the other end, but what about the things I
put into my eyes, where do they go, are all of them supposed to fit inside my
head, even if I were to stack them up the way our housekeeper stacks the
laundry, folding it and placing one piece atop the other, there still wouldn't
be room, I don't think, and therefore I keep saying all the things as I see them
so they'll change course inside my head and go out again through my mouth. Shit,
I say later when I see what has become of the cake. That's a filthy word, my
mother says, wiping my bottom. Don't say words like that, she says and flushes.
But it's something we even ate. That was before, my mother says, and we go back
to the other room. So the cake has gotten dirty on its way through my body. You
can't look at it that way, my father says, it doesn't have anything to do with
you, it's just a matter of the word. I'm not allowed to say it. No, my mother
says, words like that should never cross the lips of a young lady. Eyes. Nose.
Mouth. So it's precisely the things that are filthy that are supposed to be
stacked up and stored in my head and aren't allowed to change course and go out
again through my mouth. But, I say, if I see a foot that is dirty and say foot,
then that's a filthy word too, isn't it, but my mother says no, the word itself
is clean. Aha. It's only the word shit I'm not supposed to say, but now that's
really quite enough, my mother says.

Pan de Muerto

2007-10-29T21:27:00.000-05:00

Today in my Latin American Narrative course, we were treated to the bread of the dead. This bread is cooked as part of Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, in Mexico, which occurs on November 3rd. This is a time that pays tribute to friends and relateives who have passed on, and food and other objects are offered to the dead. The living then eat some of the food after the Spirits have taken nourishment from it.
We had two of the more traditional shapes of the bread, one in the shape of a skull, and decorated with green colored sugar, and the other in the shape of crossbones.

So, I'ts Only An "Error in Judgment" If You Get Caught?

2007-10-29T10:17:00.000-05:00

Why does this not surprise me?

Which is more sad: That FEMA asked itself questions posing as reporters and aired on the Propoganda Wing (aka Fox News), or that this sort of thing has ceased to surprise me...?

Introducing MR. Peeps Duckington the Third

2007-10-28T22:18:00.000-05:00

My brother got me the sweetest birthday present. It is this awesome round soft fuzzy squishable stuffed DUCK from http://www.squishable.com This is a pic from the site, more pics to come of Mr. Peeps Duckington III, himself.

Walk in the Country

2007-10-28T21:08:00.000-05:00

Click here to see some pictures from the long country walk that Akira and I took on the boys' blog. And here are some more!!

What Ever You Do, Don't Press the Button That Tells You to Press It

2007-10-24T21:25:00.000-05:00

Remember the "press here to disappear" i documented outside kelly's bar in east liberty? if not, go refresh your memory.
Well, I discovered an even more disturbing one (well, depends on how you look at it I suppose), on Baum Square in East Liberty.

The press here to disappear button, if effective, would not have an immediate destructive effect on anyone but the one who pressed it. Now if the one who pressed it would have gone on to find the cure for cancer or something, than yeah destructive for more people, but down the road. Now the press to explode button...would that cause the building which the button was on to explode, or some unknown target that a missile is aimed at to explode, or the presser of the button to explode? Not sure, but either way, there may be some collateral damage. Needless to say, I did not press it.

26th Birthday Weekend Pictures, Pt 2

2007-10-24T20:35:00.001-05:00

Me and my Pap Pap John

Me and my Mom outside of Church after she was the guest preacher! She preached a sermon on how the Good Samaritan applies to the church today and how we should minister to and help others without judging. She did a great job, I am proud of her.

26th Birthday Weekend Pictures, Pt 1

2007-10-23T09:26:00.000-05:00

Me and Pap-Pap John

Me and Mom

I have more pics on my digital cam, but have misplaced my usb cord at the moment. These were taken with my i book, along with some crazy distorted ones that my family would probably kill me if i made public on the internet. those sort of fun house looking ones. birthday weekend was overall good, aside from my pap willard being admitted to the hospital. but i got to spend a lot of time with the fam. took akira on a long walk, and risked life and limb to capture a picture of the goat for his bloggy and cuddled with Shiro-da-biro. Ate good food, saw a so-so movie that I predicted the ending of before we were halfway thru then hoped i was wrong and would be surprised, but wasn't, and watched my Mom preach a sermon. She did very very very well.

Math Rocks My World

2007-10-17T22:49:00.000-05:00

I attended a Math Tutor Workshop this evening. I hate math, but this was kind of cool. I swear I never learned it in school. Try it, it really works!

To Multiply the 6's through the 10's

1. Hold out your two hands- name each finger:
-thumbs are 6's
-index fingers are 7's
-middle fingers are 8's
-ring fingers are 9's
-little fingers are 10's

2. To do a problem (let's try 7X8)
-stick out the fingers up to finger #7 on one hand (curl the remaining fingers on that hand in)
-stick out the fingers up to finger #8 on the other hand (curl the remaining fingers on that hand in).

3. Count the fingers sticking out by 10's. (In this problem you get 50 -10, 20, 30, 40, 50- so you know the answer is 50 something.

4. Count the number of fingers still down on one hand (3), Multiply this by the number of fingers still down on the other hand (2) (3x2=6)

5. You can either add that to 50 (56) or just use that as the second number of your answer for most of them (_6)

City of Rivers : City of Bridges as City of Hills : City of Stairs

2007-10-08T12:27:00.000-05:00

It started out innocently enough, a walk on a sunny day. But then I just kept going. First I tried one of the infamous staircases that climb the numerous hills throughout the city. From what I understand, a lot of them were built so the mill workers could walk to get to work, and some of them are more decrepit than others. This particular one was slightly overgrown with weeds, but seemed sturdy enough. This was in South Oakland on Dawson Street. It let out down near 2nd Avenue, from where I went on a dirt path under 376 and got onto the Eliza Furnace bike trail. I walked on that for a while, getting some odd looks from the bikers and skaters, and looking at graffitti until I got off it by the Greyhound station.
I took a breather at the greyhound station and was regretting not bringing along any water in this 90 degree weather. The sun was beating down and for some reason I had worn two shirts, so I slid my arms out of the outermost one to get more air. This probably only succeeded in letting out any coolness I was keeping in my body and soaking up more sun, but at least I didn't feel so constricted.

I decided to walk across the 10th Street Bridge from there to get a Gatorade at a gas station in the South Side. It was delicious.

Pittsburgh Parks

2007-10-03T11:09:00.000-05:00

Here's a link my friend Vijay passed on to me with maps and rules of the following Pittsburgh public parks: Frick, Highland, Riverview, and Schenley.

Pittsburgh Parks Maps- http://www.pittsburghparks.org/MapRules31.php