Swine Flu appears to be Tempest in a Teapot

No surprise there.  Now if only the Anthropogenic Global Warming meme would die too!

Shorts, legs, and the white tube socks

I became an engineer.  I say this because it’s:

 

1)  The opening line to John Hersey’s book, A Single Pebble

 

2)  Background to this post.

 

Obviously, fashion is not going to be my strong point, although I am getting better thanks to the internet and to the fact that I married an intelligent woman!

 

However, I’m struggling with this post by Joanna Van Vleck of Trunk Club – and if you haven’t checked them out, do so!  It’s a way to buy clothes for guys that doesn’t involve suffering through being in a store and having no idea what you’re doing, being waited on by a minimum wage paid girl that could care less.

 

Joanna says that white tub socks are a no no at the gym – even if you “scrunch” them down.  Okay – but I’ve always worn them at the gym.  Egad!  And worse, she says that ankle socks are what you should wear!  This disturbs me on two levels:

 

A)  When I think ankle socks, I think of the ones girls wear with the little balls on the back,

 

And

 

B)  Gadzooks!!  White hairy male legs!  Yikes!  Pollution!

 

She doesn’t however, address whether they’re okay under jeans with sneakers (tennies, to us Pittsburghers).

 

So what do you think?  White tube socks okay or not?  When?

What I’m Reading – The Tides of War

So right now I’m reading Tides of War by Stephen Pressfield.  It’s about Alcibiades in the Peloponnesian War.  Pressfield is a damn difficult writer to read, but I imagine he’s easier than Thucydides, the author of The History of the Peloponnesian War, from which Pressfield gets much of the story.  The History has been recommended by many strategists and politicians and bloggers about the same, such as Ryan Holiday.  Supposedly Rumsfield was a big fan and that was part of what led to the Iraq invasion in 2003. Opinions differ on whether the USA is represented by Athens or Sparta (Sparta being located in the Peloponnesian peninsula, and thus the name).

I’m only part way into it, but I will note that he takes a charismatic but flawed leader and runs through his rise and fall.  Conn Iggulden does this with Julius Caesar and Genghis Khan in what I have to say is a much more readable fashion.  Pressfield wrote a book called The Hot Gates about the battle of Thermopylae – this was before the Movie “300″ – and it was a struggle to get through it even though the subject itself is fascinating.  I mean, three hundred and something pages for one battle?  So he fills it with training and childhood and all that character development stuff.  It’s told from the point of view of a Spartan slave who survives the battle.  And it’s said he writes awesome battle scenes but I think Bernard Cornwell blows Pressfield away here.

This book is told by Polemides, a fictional character made up by Pressfield that was a good friend of Alcibiades but also his assassin, in the end.  There’s a whole lot more to the story but seeing as how I’m only a third of the way through it I’ll leave it to later to talk more about it.

I’ll say this – it’s a shame we didn’t read the classics in school.  I’ve been reading Aurelius and Herodotus and Thucydides and even a better version of Homer these last few years and these guys are good.  I’d rather read these than Wuthering Heights or Great Expectations.  But who knows, at this rate I may end up enjoying Shakespeare too…

A New Story

Not my best, but scribbled on a Sunday at Starbucks.  Anne LaMott was right – crappy first draft.

Comments welcome.

            She sat in the café, her hands wrapped around the hot cup of tea, and a tear rolled down her cheek.  It was cold outside and she shivered – the scarf around her neck was of no help in reducing the chill, nor was the pink cap with red hearts on it.  This was probably the worst Valentine’s Day she could remember.

            It wasn’t that she was alone, nor was it the loneliness of being in this city, of being in a place far from home.  That was nothing new either, and really, she didn’t mind travelling.  She knew she always had a place full of warmth and love to return to, a family that truly cared about her.

            No, it was for him that she was crying.  They had been lovers once, long ago, and each had moved on.  She had moved on to a literary career, writing articles for magazines, even a few chick-lit books, and finally several full length novels.  She had made a good living, and she knew that she lived a good life.

            But him, that was another story.  He had been a lover of many women, had been a traveler, an inveterate gourmand.  But he had never found his role in life.  He had wandered from place to place, never truly finding a home.  He had never known the joy of a child’s love – although he certainly had a few scattered here and there.

            He had been a dilettante, always dabbling in some new subject, participating in some new get rich quick scheme.  On the occasions when they worked, he had gone through the money quickly, spending it on women and dissolute living.  He had enjoyed all kinds of experiences, from skydiving to rafting, to backpacking through foreign countries.  When he ran out of funds he had friends all over that would send him money.  She herself had, on several occasions – it was to his credit that he had remained friends with many of the women he had bedded.

            It had never been a one night stand thing.  He had carried on extended affairs with each of his conquests.  For several months he made them feel like the most special woman on earth – and eventually, as the flames of passion faded, they came to see that he would leave, and eventually even the most infatuated woman had to let him go.

            The letter had come on a Friday – he was bedridden in a small town, and could she please come – he needed money to pay for his treatment and he needed someone that cared.  So she came, astonishing herself, and by the time she arrived, he had died of complications.  There was nothing left but the clothes he had worn into the hospital, and a note, to her, dictated to the nurse.  “Please take me home.”

            The body had been cremated, the little urn sitting on the dresser in her hotel room.  And now she cried, because she was unable to fulfill his last request.  For she didn’t know what place he could ever call home.  The best she could do was to scatter his ashes to the winds and hope that it would bring him peace, wherever he was.

Scott

Homework from Dawn on Character Creation

Homework from Dawn:

http://dawnpapuga.com/?p=271

It was a cool autumn evening in Prague as Lenka walked home through Stare Mesto.  She had been at Jo’s Bar across the Vltava discussing her favorite book, The Sun Also Rises, by Hemingway.  It had been a spirited discussion with some of her American friends, who didn’t always take kindly to Hemingway’s chauvinism.  But that was the times he had lived in.

 

Speaking of times, she smiled as she entered the town square.  Fall was her favorite time of year here in Prague.  The only way it could be better would be if she had someone to share it with.  Currently, though, she was single.  She had come close to marriage once, but her brother, her only sibling and her best friend, had helped her to see that it wouldn’t have been in any way good for her to marry that particular man.

 

She passed a street vendor selling nuts, and shook her head as she sped up slightly.  Nuts gave her the sniffles, and she avoided them for that reason.  She’d heard that some people were so allergic to them that their throats would close up if they even tasted one.  She shuddered, thankful she didn’t have that particular reaction to them.

 

She could see the Powder Tower now and she stopped for a moment, remembering the man she had met there a year ago.  He was visiting from America and he had hesitantly struck up a conversation.  Upon finding out he was a writer, she had excitedly told him that she hoped to become one someday as well.  He had smiled and encouraged her to follow her dream.  And ever since, she had continued to write, buoyed by the fact that surely if he could do it, she could too…

Neighborhood Walk: Monroeville

My apologies for the lack of photos – I work in O’Hara Township and it’s been dark when I left and when I came home today, but I’ve included a few web photos and lots of links to give you an idea of the place…

\Monroeville, Pennsylvania.  To most people this evokes an image of a giant strip mall.

 

Okay, pretty much, there IS a giant strip mall down the center.  But Monroeville just might surprise you anyway.  Let’s start with a little history.  It’s named after Joel Monroe, who was the first postmaster.  Judge Thomas Mellon, founder of the bank with that name, actually went to school here, at the Tranquil Retreat Academy

 

Monroeville is also the location of the Old Stone Church, one of the early homes of Crossroads Presbyterian Church and dedicated in 1834.  Mellon’s father was one of the founders.  The Crossroads congregation has since moved to another building in Monroeville, but weddings are still held here and people are still being buried in the cemetery.

Over the next hundred years, Monroeville slowly took shape, and in 1954, Miracle Mile Shopping Center, one of the first strip malls in the country, opened, followed in 1969 by Monroeville Mall, yes, that one, the site of Dawn of the Dead and now the location of an annual Zombie Walk.  Westinghouse opened it’s Nuclear Research center there in 1971.  East Suburban Hospital (now Forbes) opened in 1978, and in 1995 – yes, it was that recent! — the last dairy farm closed.  Finally, in 2006, Monroeville opened a big new Municipal park.

Boyce Park is technically here, but it’s not actually a Monroeville Park – it is Allegheny County property.  Community College of Allegheny County’s Boyce Campus IS in Monroeville, and it’s a fantastic educational facility.

Okay, so what about MY Monroeville?  Here’s some stops that I regularly make in Monroeville…

 

Stonecliffe Apartments, built on the former Johnston’s Dairy Farm is soon to be no longer my home as I’m moving into a house.  The apartments have a pool and tennis courts, and a healthy population of Asians and Indians and Muslims, providing wonderful international exposure for my son.

 

Speaking of which, did you know that Monroeville is home to three different Indian temples?  There is a Sikh temple and two Hindu temples, including the Sri Venkateswara Temple, one of the first Hindu temples in the United States and site of pilgrimages by Hindus all over the USA!

 

Across busy Monroeville Boulevard is Miracle Mile Shopping Center, home of the newest LA Fitness as well as Starbucks and Panera.  Nearby is Eat N’ Park, a local restaurant chain.  One of Monroeville’s best kept secrets is Nick Marie’s Esta Esta, a fantastic Italian restaurant founded in the 1950s.

Other stops I might make in Monroeville are:

 

Primanti Brothers:  Everyone in Pittsburgh has heard of and probably eaten at one of the various Primanti locations.  This one is unique in the fact that it was the very first one to be built from the ground up instead of using an exiting building.

 

Phantom of the Attic:  I no longer collect comic books, but this is a well known shop for comic book fans.

 

Tolerico’s:  Another good Italian restaurant.  It was established just recently.

 

La Cucina Dolce:  Yet another good, local Italian restaurant!  (And yes, there’s an Olive Garden in Monroeville, but you can still go local instead of to a chain!)

 

Monroeville is also home to several Indian grocery stores and restaurants as well.

 

I love Monroeville.  From where I lived (Stonecliffe), I could walk to the grocery store, to Starbucks or LA Fitness, and even, if I was ambitious, to Monroeville Mall two miles away.  Even when driving, nothing is more than ten minutes with traffic.  This included the Monroeville Library which is apparently the third largest in Allegheny County in terms of circulating books.  As I’ve noted, the population is pretty international.  Soon, UPMC will establish a second hospital here, but Westinghouse will be moving to Cranberry, so it will be interesting to see how things change over the next few years…

I’ve barely scratched the surface of this suburb, but I hope you can see that there is indeed more to Monroeville than you might think!

Scott

Join the Rustbelt Neighborhood Walk!

I’m excited about this.  My neighborhood is Monroeville, and i think it’s a really misunderstood place.  Can’t wait to give my impression of it!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Cynthia Closkey
724-602-2332
cynthia@mybrilliantmistakes.com

BLOGGERS TAKE THE WORLD ON VIRTUAL TOURS OF REAL-LIFE NEIGHBORHOODS

They’re using cutting-edge technology to revitalize Rust Belt cities

PITTSBURGH, PA – OCTOBER 30, 2008 – The problems of post-industrial cities seem so complex, intertwined, and entrenched, it’s hard to imagine how to start restoring these places to their former glory.

But a group of bloggers says that getting started can be as simple as taking a walk.

The Neighborhood Walk is a chance for individuals throughout the Rust Belt of the U.S. and Canada to recognize the place they live, work, or call home — and to introduce it to the world. The project is the inspiration of a social network called Rust Belt Bloggers.

On November 11, 2008 (11/11/2008), bloggers, podcasters, vloggers, photobloggers and others throughout the Rust Belt region will each take a walk around their neighborhood, make media about it — a blog post, photo gallery, video, or whatever you prefer — and post it on the web.

These individual perspectives and accounts of life at the street level will show both strengths and weaknesses of these neighborhoods: new businesses taking root, old factories and shops closed and abandoned. By raising awareness this way, the people involved hope to build interest in simple revitalization efforts.

How can someone get involved? Take a walk around your block and photograph what you see. Sit outside and write about the people who pass and the world around you. Turn on your video camera and give a guided tour of your neighborhood.

Post your media anywhere — your blog, Facebook, MySpace, anywhere. Tag it as “neighborhoodwalk” so everyone can seek out what everyone else has posted. Then do a search and see everyone else’s neighborhood.

This is the first project of its kind dedicated to documenting and raising awareness of life, work, and culture in the Rust Belt of the United States and Canada. More than 20 bloggers throughout the region have already committed to the project, with more joining each day.

About Rust Belt Bloggers
Rust Belt Bloggers is a group that uses social media to discover and build upon opportunities available in the Rust Belt cities — post-industrial cities in the northern states of the U.S. and southern provinces of Canada. For more information, visit www.rustbelt.ning.com.

John C. Wright has the election money quote!

John C. Wright:

“The American dream is no longer to own land, build a house, raise a family, start a trade, to stand or fall by one’s own gumption and effort, with no leave asked of any man. The new American dream is to be given free health care, and to police the language to censor occurrences of the word ‘niggardly.’”

Source: http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/007350.html

Scenes from a coffee shop

Most days, if possible, I leave the cubicle and go to Caribou Coffee at lunchtime, to get a break from staring at the same three walls.  Usually I take a book and my Moleskine journal with me, so I can write and pretend I’m not a corporate flunkie for awhile.  The women who work there know me by site and we’ve gotten to the point where I can just order “the usual,” an iced chai latte since I’m not much of a coffee drinker.

 

I usually sit at one of the high tables right by the window.  Today was gray, a typical Fall day in Pittsburgh.  But across the strip mall parking lot, the railroad tracks, and beyond the new condo development is the Allegheny River – regretfully out of sight, and on the other side of the river the trees on the hills are a riot of color, in yellows, browns, and reds.  The occasional green marks a tree that didn’t get the memo that winter is coming.

 

Inside Caribou is all greens and browns, with a big stone fireplace.  It reminds me of a hunting lodge, or at least the one I’m used to.  They even have a carpet, which is more than Starbucks can say.  Along with free wireless that doesn’t require a card or a subscription.  The tea is even more flavorful.  There’s none near where I live though, so the only time I’m here is when I work.

 

There are regulars there every day, and though I don’t know any of them personally, I recognize them immediately.  First there’s the guy with long red hair and a sparse goatee.  He wears glasses, a ballcap, and most days camo pants.  Oh, and tennis shoes (sneakers for all of you not from Pittsburgh).  I think he’s dating one of the girls, but I’m not sure.  He sits in one of the armchairs with a Macbook that has some kind of label on it – his name? A music group?

 

The second is a tall girl, athletic, I’d bet based on the fact that she wears Nike shirts a lot.  She always wears those shorts that come just past the knee, and tennis shoes.  Her hair is a light brown.  She uses a PC instead of a Mac and is always studying a huge stack of books.  I’ve no idea what the subject matter is, but I’d be willing to bet it’s medical-related since there’s a hospital nearby and a lot of the nurses come in here.

 

The last regular is a big long haired guy with dark stubble to match his black clothes.  He too seems quite familiar with the staff and I sometimes wonder if he is a manager or something, although I have no evidence for this.  He brings a leather binder every day that has a folded copy of the newspaper – folded so that the crossword puzzle is showing.  He usually brings his lunch with him and eats it there.  Sandwiches always; Subway usually.

 

I see these people every day and notice when they aren’t there.

 

It makes me wonder, what do they think of me?  Do they notice when I’m not there?

Scott

A Dozen Habits for Success

Leo Babuta of Zen Habits notes that success is the result of good habits.  Lately, I’ve been trying to develop some in myself and one of the best guiudes I’ve found is John Maxwell’s twelve daily disciplines (the Daily Dozen) from his book Today Matters.

 

Here’s the whole list, for reference:

 

1.)  Attitude: Choose and display the right attitudes daily.

            Is your attitude a plus or minus today?

 

2.)  Priorities: Determine and act on important priorities daily.

            Are your priorities keeping you focused daily?

 

3.)  Health:  Know and follow healthy guidelines daily.

            Is your health enabling you to succeed today?

 

4.)  Family: Communicate with and care for my family daily.

            Does your family situation provide support today?

 

5.)  Thinking:  Practice and develop good thinking daily.

            Is your thinking mature and productive today?

 

6.)  Commitment: Make and keep proper commitments daily.

            Have your commitments been kept today?

 

7.)  Finances:  Make and properly manage dollars daily.

            Have your financial decisions been solid today?

 

8.)  Faith:  Deepen and live out my faith daily.

            Has your faith been active today?

 

9.)  Relationships:  Initiate and invest in solid relationships daily.

            Are your relationships being strengthened today?

 

10.)  Generosity:  Plan for and model generosity daily.

            Has your generosity added value to others today?

 

11.)  Values:  Embrace and practice good values daily.

            Are your values giving you direction today?

 

12.)  Growth:  Seek and experience improvements daily.

            Is your growth making you better today?

 

You’re supposed to practice all twelve every day, but I figure at this point I’ll focus on one a day and see how it goes.  If I can do that over time hopefully all twelve will become habits!

Scott