The Changing Face of Pittsburgh

For several years now, Pittsburgh has begun to be the home of some glossy lifestyle magazines, such as Whirl, Pittsburgh Metropolitan, and Maniac Magazine.

Some people put these down as a waste, saying that they are only vanity mags for the wealthy socialites.  I laugh, because I am certainly not a wealthy socialite!  It’s been kind of neat to watch Pittsburgh go from a shot-and-a-beer town, to a mixture of that and upscale lounge and wine bars.

Don’t get me wrong, Pittsburgh is no New York, or LA.  I doubt if it matches Chicago or Austin.  But paging through these mags it’s neat to see the young people in all fields, as well as the rise of specialty stores like Torque Denim.  The ads made me realize that fashion is here in Pittsburgh, it’s just limited to a small set right now.

And that I think, is what’s cool about these magazines.  It lets you see the other side, that Pittsburgh is  blue collar, yes, but that the New York and LA atmosphere is making inroads here.  We don’t have Paris Hilton (Yay!) but we still have attractive heiresses like the Sarris sisters (of Sarris Chocolate fame):

Not quite Mike Madison‘s “Cupcake Class,” I suppose, but I think we’re moving along…

Scott

Winter Blahs

The weather here in the Steel City is in the single digits and I have apparently caught a cold, so light posting today!  Tune in later this week as I get over the cold and more interesting content on Money, Religion, Self Improvement, and so on returns!

Scott

How to be a Man, Introduction

Many years ago, before I married my wife, I had a problem.

I had no idea how to be a man.  I always thought that when I grew up I’d be mature, confident, in control.  But I wasn’t, and most of the time I was just muddling through.   I wasn’t doing well with women, so I joined a Christian dating group, and at one event, I asked a girl out.  She said no, she didn’t date, and said it was because of a book by Josh Harris called I Kissed dating Goodbye.

Naturally, I (and many others interested in the same girl) went out and bought the book.

To be honest, I didn’t think much of his philosophy.  Your mileage, of course, may vary.  But what did impress me is the last part of the book where he talked about making yourself ready for your wife.  Improving your character, getting right with God, useful skills, that sort of thing.

I took a good long look at myself and I wasn’t happy with what I saw.   So I started to read, prolifically, and work on my social life.   Then I got married and had a kid.  Now I’m working on my career.

I won’t lie and say I have it all figured out – I’m not sure anyone ever really does.  But I’d like to share my learnings in an occasional series of posts.  My next post will mention some of the books I started with, and some of the lessons I learned from them.

Stick around.  I think you’ll find it interesting!

Scott