The city was rather quiet this weekend. Partly because of the weather, which was "fall like" partly because the mayor died on Friday night and residents are still in shock.
How much shock? Ben Roethlisberger is going to miss the first two regular season games due to appendicitis and it did not become headline news in the local papers.
An aside: Is it really appropriate to say that Ben is "cursed" in the article just because he has ended up in the hospital twice in the past three months? Most of the injuries from his accident could have been prevented if he had been wearing a helmet. If he is cursed with anything, it is bad judgment.
This weekend J and I played hosts and tourists to an old friend from South Carolina, now living in Columbus, Ohio. The last time B visited Pittsburgh was ten years ago, so he was eager to see some of his favorite haunts.
We started with a traditional breakfast at Eat-N-Park. Eat-N-Park is a chain of local restaurants. Their claim to fame, aside from what really is a killer breakfast, is their Smiley Cookies. Which are made with lard and sit like lead in your stomach, but have a pleasantly round shape and come in all sorts of colors, including black and gold during football season.
An aside: One of the most embarrassing phone conversations I ever had with another person was caused by my innocently inviting a guy I liked to join my roommates and myself at an Eat-N-Park for a late dinner. Forgetting that the young man in question was not from Western PA, my question "Would you like to go to Eat-N-Park" took on a whole new connotation. After a long, confused silence I was able to clarify my intentions, much to the guy's relief.
First Oakland Stop: The Main Branch of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh.
B is the type of guy to appreciate a well designed library, and I am a library groupie who counts the Main Branch of CLP as one of the most interesting places in Pittsburgh to visit. Among the highlights of the newly renovated library is a small bamboo garden placed in a center courtyard where patrons can sit and read in nice weather. The administration thoughtfully placed a space heater in the garden in anticipation of colder days.
By far the best feature of the library is the stacks. The shelves of the stacks reach five stories and are connected by hazy glass floors. It is a quiet and romantic place, with hundreds of nooks and crannies where a person can disappear for hours. Some of the stack floors are closed, which only tempts me to sneak past the barriers and wander without interruption. On some of the floors you can look through the windows in the Dinosaur Hall of the Museum of Natural History. Sadly, the hall is empty and undergoing renovations.
Second Oakland Stop: International Rooms at the Cathedral of Learning
In order to tour the rooms one must stop at the gift shop and ask for a key. For a $3.00 fee you get a key attached to a tape player with worn out tape narrating the history of each room. I had turned over my identification and fee and had collected the tape player when J and B joined me at the counter. Upon seeing them the clerk informed me that the fee was $3.00 per person and I owed them $6.00 more. I paid the extra money and bit back the temptation to ask if the other members of my party also got keys and tape players.
The International Rooms are worth a visit on a rainy Saturday afternoon. Some are more interesting than others.
To be continued...
For the bad judgment he exhibited over the helmet thing, possibly Ben R. was cursed at in some circles, but that's not quite the same thing as being cursed, period.
ReplyDeleteThe distinction reminds me of an old joke: There's this guy who goes through life constantly "picking the black marble" whenever he's faced with a bivalent decision: Do I go left or right? Should I stay or should I go? It causes him no end of aggravation, like being bitten to death by ducks, but at least he manages not to take God's name in vain when exasperation drives him to swearing out loud.
So...he happens to be an industrial sales rep, and after a call at some company in a remote area, he takes the only available flight out. The aircraft he's on runs into incredibly bad weather: Lightning hits the plane, one engine flames out, the other catches fire, wild up- and downdrafts cause the flight-deck crew to lose control of the stricken airplane completely -- hydraulic pressure's zero and the electrical system's fried -- so that now the plane's nose-down and corkscrewing rapidly toward terra firma.
Our hero offers a hasty prayer, and since he happens to be devoutly Roman Catholic, he asks his favorite saint to intercede on his behalf: "Saint Francis, I don't know why it's been my cross to bear that every time I choose I lose, but I've born it as best I can, and this time I chose to take the only available flight out, and now look what's happening! Please save me!"
And...a huge metaphysical hand reaches from a dimension we can't see, plucks our hero from the doomed bird, bears him aloft into the sunlight, and as his utter terror begins to turn to wonder and joy, a vast voice that booms at him from nowhere and everywhere, "Fear not, my son; I have seen you bear your burden with with dignity, with patience and humility, and your faith never deserted you...Oh, by the way, I was just wondering: Were you praying to St. Francis Xavier or St. Francis of Assisi?"
This is Jay at Cynical_Bastard. Blogger won't let me post comments under my profile right now because it's a worthless piece of crap!
ReplyDeleteBut ...
Let's see. Big Ben comes out of college with limited skills. He's very good at the things he can do, but is still pretty limited. He gets drafted by the ONE team that his skills fit with perfectly. He goes to the AFC title game in his first season and then wins the Super Bowl in his second. I wouldn't call him cursed. I would call him charmed.
I saw that the Pens signed Evgeni Malkin today. That's cool!
Bill - Great joke!
ReplyDeleteJay -I've been having trouble posting comments for several weeks. I think it has something to do with Blogger's current owner and email.
I agree. Ben is not cursed, he is charmed. And stupid, but that is separate issue.
I can not wait to see Malkin skate. Rookie Training camp is this weekend and the Penguins are holding two days of open practices. I plan on getting some photographs. He will not be lonely for long - rumor has it that his parents will be moving to Pittsburgh soon.
Jenn, this is Lisa, and apparently, Blogger hates me too. I love your descriptions of the library and cathedral visits and want to visit the Burgh with you as my host!
ReplyDeleteI hope BR was merely ignorant and not actually stupid. There's a saying: "Ignorance can be fixed. Stupid is forever." He makes noises suggesting he's learned his lesson about eschewing helmets.
ReplyDeleteHe's, what, 24? Pfft. In certain circles, the rhyming metaphor is "young, dumb, and full of..." (Ahem.) Another is "there are old pilots and there are bold pilots, but there are no old, bold pilots." And leave us not forget Mr. Starbuck's qualification for getting detailed to his whaleboat.
I don't even follow hockey --Southern boy here -- and y'all have got me curious about this Malkin person; maybe it's because it sounds like "greymalkin" and I like Shakespeare and cats.