'Interesting' Was the Word of the Day

This afternoon, Jen and I headed over to the Mattress Factory.  One of the local Health Corps members it should be on anyone's bucket list (he is a bit of a hipster, so that should have tipped us off).  On the other side of the spectrum Janice said that if I thought the Andy Warhol Museum was strange, just wait until we saw this one. 

I headed over to the museum and because I was a bit early (SHOCKER) I decided to meander some of the side streets.  I came across some crazy artwork as well as Randy Land. 

As Italian immigrants were coming to Pittsburgh at the turn of the 20th century, many began to settle in the North Side, specificially around the area where the Mattress Factory is today.  The outdoor garden used to be home to the first macaroni factory of the area; the six story building where the museum is today was an addition built in the early 1900s.  During the Great Depression the factory had moved to another location.  A variety of things rotated in an out before a more permanent candy factory set up shop in the six story building, and a paper company in the original building.  Unfortunately in the 60s a fire burn down much of the building and in the late 90s it was transformed into an outdoor garden.

Stolen picture because mine was blurry

We stepped off the elevator to a room of ceramic hands holding rolls.  At that point we knew that we were definitely in for an afternoon of artwork that we would never understand.

As we were leaving we saw a note that said the hands were a part of a local fundraiser.  For $100 you could take a hand home with you when the exhibit closed.  All of the money will be going to a local food bank. 

Then off to see Yayoi Kusama's Infinity Dots Mirrored Room.  FINALLY a room that we could understand and appreciate.  It could have been the first time that interesting did not come out of my mouth.

 We got to wear these great surgical booties to make sure we did not mess up the paint job.

With each room all that I could get out was interesting or I don't really get it.  Jen has become my modern art partner in crime.  A few months ago we went to see some modern art dance downtown which was ... you guessed it, interesting. 

Lazy Sunday

Another beautiful day here in Pittsburgh so I was off bright and early this morning.  First up, Lawrenceville for some breakfast and studying.  I came across a new piece of street art 

And some great latte art!  

Maybe I should add learning how to do to this my 30 by 30 list.  Maybe 40 by 40?

Lackadaisical Saturday

This week I have been bumming around the house thanks to a knee injury while playing tennis (the snap crackle, pop variety).  Go figure, the one weekend where we have nice weather I am grounded.  As a result I got in my car and decided to go exploring.  

I ended up in a few neighborhoods north of where I am living and stumbled upon the Allegheny Observatory.  Build in 1859 it was originally part of the city of Allegheny until the city was incorporated into the city of Pittsburgh in 1907.  First built for educating the public, funds soon began to dry up and the facility was donated to the University of Pittsburgh.  

While it has primarily been used for the study of astronomy (Samuel Pierpont Langley lead the study of sunspots and his drawings are still used today), on November 18th, 1883 the Observatory transmitted a signal on telegraph lines operated by railroads in Canada and the US to mark noon, Eastern Standard Time.  Yup, this was the first day of railroad standard time and railroads across the continent used their signal to synchronize their schedules.  In fact, revenue was brought in from the sale of time signals until 1920 when the US Naval Observatory started offering the times for free.  

In 1872, the 13 inch lens of the Fitz Telescope was stolen and held for ransom; Langley refused to pay the ransom.  The lens was later found in a wastepaper basket in Beaver Falls.  Unfortunately, the lens was badly scratched and needed to be reground.  The new lens was much better than the original and as a thank you Alvan Clark's name (the man who fixed the lens) was added to the telescope. 

It turns out that this was not the original location of the Allegheny Observatory.  The new building was finished in 1912, after half of the original building was used for Pitt's football team and the other half sold to an orphanage.  (Pitt later moved to Oakland, where it has remained over the last 100 years). 

Sadly the building is closed for the winter, fingers crossed they will be open again before I head out on my bike trip!  The Observatory is located in the middle of Riverview Park, and there is a great, hilly, 2 mile bike loop so I will definitely be back with my bike once the weather gets nice!

PA to Reinstate Asset Test for SNAP

Unless the decision of the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare (DPW) is reversed, beginning May 1st people under the age of 60 who have more than $2000 in savings or seniors with more than $3,250 in countable assets, despite having very low incomes, will no longer qualify for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP/food stamps) benefits.  In late December, our state government informed the federal government that it will reinstate the "asset test" for SNAP applicants, denying vital food assistance to an estimated 36,000 Pennsylvanians with modest savings.

Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank is working with other organizations across the Commonwealth to urge Governor Corbett to reverse this decision. We hope you will join us in this effort.

AARP is providing a toll-free number to make it easy for all of us to contact the Governor's office in Harrisburg. Please call 1-800-515-8134 and tell the Governor that you oppose the decision to reinstate the asset test.

Specific objections to reinstating the asset test include:

• While DPW notes that the asset test is related to an initiative to reduce fraud and abuse in department programs, federal statistics show that Pennsylvania's fraud rate is one of the lowest in the nation at just one-tenth of 1%.
• Pennsylvania currently receives $2.5 billion in federal SNAP funds annually.  Implementation of the asset test would cause Pennsylvania to lose at least $55 million in federal SNAP dollars, if DPW's projections of those affected are accurate.  Because every dollar of SNAP benefits generates $1.79 in economic activity, Pennsylvania stands to lose millions of dollars of local economic impact under the plan.
• An asset test will also cost Pennsylvania additional taxpayer money to administer the program, including technological upgrades, and additional staff training and time.  Nearly 850,000 households that currently receive SNAP would also have to file paperwork concerning their assets, which would place further strain on already overworked and understaffed county offices.
• Although Pennsylvania had a SNAP asset test in 2008, the state removed this barrier because it was detrimental to seniors and others with savings.  The trend in other states has been to eliminate these asset tests, especially during the recession, which has pushed many working and middle-class people into poverty.  If it implements this test, Pennsylvania will become one of just 11 states states to impose an asset test for SNAP eligibility.
• Older adults and people who have recently lost their jobs, which are two groups that are more likely than others to have savings, would be particularly affected by the new requirement.  An asset test would only make it more difficult for seniors and low-income families to afford food in this tough economy.
• Furthermore, asset limits discourage low-income families from saving and force families in need to spend down their savings in order to seek SNAP benefits.  However, families must be able to save money in order to achieve self-sufficiency.  In addition, it has been found that assets are important to a family's physical and mental health, as well as its economic and social well-being.
• The new asset barrier to SNAP further diminishes the government assistance available to low-income Pennsylvanians, thus increasing their reliance on food banks, which are already experiencing record demand due to the economic downturn and the high cost of food.  Estimates provided by our national partner, Feeding America, reveal a potential increase in demand of 29% at Pennsylvania's food banks due to the implementation of this policy.

Please call Governor Corbett today (1-800-515-8134) and speak out in support of our neighbors in need by voicing your opposition to the SNAP asset test.

An OCD's Worst Nightmare

The Queensland Gallery of Modern Art recently opened a new instillation entitled The Obliteration Room.  This is what happens when you start with a stark white room and give kids thousands of stickers - CHAOS!!

Glass Blowing: Day 1

I have always had a great love and respect for the art of glass blowing since I was a child.  I loved going to arts and crafts fairs and see the way that people could bend glass to their will.  What solidified this love affair was when Memere took me to Murano Island just outside Venice to see some of the most famous glass being made(hopefully by tomorrow you can read the Wiki article as it is currently blacked out).

Back in December I attended an event at the Pittsburgh Glass Center and found that they also offered classes in glass work, so I figured why not.

Tonight our first class was lead by the teacher and the TA, one looking more hipster than the next.  Apparently PGH is becoming quite the hipster scene, but I digress.  The class was going over a lot of the fundamentals like the names and uses of the equipment, getting in and out of the bench, how to use the yolk and glory hole.  The cool part was that we got to practice gathering glass and playing around with some of the tools during the second half of the class.

While PGC has a different glass storage tank, the picture here gives you an idea of just how much heat and light the molten glass gives off.  I could only begin to imagine what it would be like working in a PGH steel mill. 

As the glass beings to cool, it is really important to get it hot again so the glass blower can continue to work on his/her piece.  The best advice was to "wait in front of the glory hole (below) until you are really hot and then wait for a little longer."

By the end I was able to gather a good bit of glass and felt that this would be the beginning of an amazing eight week class.

What I took away from the class was a deep appreciation of what glass blowers are able to accomplish with such a difficult medium.  They make everything seem seamless as they move around the studio.  All of us were awkwardly fumbling around making sure that our poles were constantly moving as we tried to get the right amount of glass and accomplish something before the glass was too cool and we had to head back to heat it up again.  

Scare Tactics, Soda and Teens

Another copy and past job from the Fooducate Blog

A low income neighborhood in Baltimore was selected for an interesting behavior test by researchers from Johns Hopkins University. In four corner stores, paper-written signs were put up next to the soft drinks. Then purchase behavior by teens was recorded. The twist -there were three different types of paper signs:

1. a typical bottle contains 250 calories
2. a bottle contains around 10% of your daily recommended calories
3. you’ll need to jog for 50 minutes to burn off the calories in this bottle

Which sign had the most impact on teens’ decisions?

All signs changed the purchase decision. But while the first 2 reduced the purchase of sugary drinks by 40%, the threat of having to run for almost an hour led to a 50% reduction! The study was published in the American Journal of Public Health. More information here and here.
So what did the teens choose instead of soda pop? In some cases – water. But many opted for diet drinks – not an improvement by our standards.

Still, there is hope. Obviously marking the calories in a clearly visible place has an impact on consumers choices. And when done in a creative way, the change can be more meaningful.

Martin Luther King Day Wrap Up

Today the crew and I headed out to Braddock.  I have heard a great deal about this area of Pittsburgh, but had never ventured over here.  Mama Trempus loaned me a well known novel, Out of This Furnace, which describes some the area during some of the heydays of steel production.  One of the things on the Must See List was actually their Carnegie Library (the first one in Pittsburgh which had a tunnel from the mine into the bathhouse so mill workers could clean up before entering the library) which was conveniently right across the street from the community center where we started our morning.

Braddock, for those of you too lazy to read the Wikipedia article, was once a booming part of Pittsburgh.  Unfortunately the steel industry started to slow down around the same time there was a large cocaine epidemic.  As a result, crime began to increase and the community's infrastructure began to decline.  Since 2005, things have started to improve for the Braddock community thanks to their colorful mayor, John Fetterman.  His work has gained him national attention as slowly he is bringing back the community, with help from volunteers and AmeriCorps members.  

Check out a video looking at what he is doing.  While he looks a little rough around the edges (and now quite what you would expect) he was a great guy and seems to really want to do amazing things for the community.  

 

While our service project was a bit of a wash (we worked with some behaviorally challenged tweens), we did make the best of the situation, and got a free breakfast and lunch out of the deal. 

Muggle Quidditch Anyone?

 
So I have heard distant rumors that Muggle Quidditch does exist, but I had never seen it in person until this afternoon.  Today was another busy day of studying, but when I reentered the Cathedral of Learning I was shocked and amazed that there was a group of undergrads playing (also it was about 15 degrees outside and people were running around in shorts). 

I didn't want to be that crazy stalker person who was furiously taking pictures with my blackberry so I pulled a few from the internet. 

 
Click here to get an easy 7 step break down of how you and your friends can start playing.  No advice on how to assign people to the four houses.  

Apparently there is even an International Quidditch Association with 78 different colleges in the US participating since its inception in 2007 (apparently there are some other countries who play as well).  It should be noted that Middlebury College in Vermont began the intramural league and has taken home the championship title since the league started.  Snitches, however, have their own league!?!

A Snitch in Action

One More Country Down - Three to Go

 

A year ago yesterday, January 13, India reported its last case of Polio in an 18th month old girl.  For the last 17 years, India has been fighting a war against Polio; several years ago the country reported as many as 100,000 new cases a year. 

The only other countries where polio is considered an endemic is Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria.  While there have been some pop up cases in some countries, mainly China, scientists believe that the disease was brought in from other countries. 

"High levels of immunity in India will have to be maintained until there is global eradication achieved," says Dr. Hamid Jafari. 

To read the full article, check out NPR's health blog.  

Turn the Volume Down!

A new study suggests that about 90 percent of New York City residents may be at risk of hearing loss due to noise exposure, with MP3 players appearing to be a major culprit. 

While scientists have known that urban environmental noise like loud subway trains jack hammers can damage a person's hearing, new studies are looking at the emerging impact of people's MP3 players/head phones on hearing loss. 

Ten percent of those who used transit were at risk of hearing loss from transit alone, Neitzel said. Also, "nine out of 10 of New Yorkers are at risk of hearing loss when you look at their total noise exposure: MP3 players plus work plus riding transit."

Long story short, TURN THE VOLUME DOWN.  I guess my mother was onto something there.  While people may give you funny stares wear ear plugs when you go to concerts (I promise you should still be able to hear the music).  Some MP3 players will even let you set a maximum volume to help protect your hearing.

Cracks Me Up EVERY Time

Well TGIF people!  While stuck in a YouTube frenzy last night I came across the Fast Food Folk Song (at the Taco Bell Drive-Thru).  It is definitely worth a good chuckle.  

I know that many of you will be enjoying MLK Day off.  I will think of you as I am off serving.  Want to partake in a day on instead of a day off?  There is still time to find a service opportunity!

Crime Clock

Last Friday we had a speaker come from the Centers for Victims of Violence and Crime.  Much of her talk was about what her organization was about and the services that they offer for residents of Allegheny County.  One of the more remarkable things that was shared with us was a crime clock which gave us an estimate of crimes committed on a yearly basis around the country.  Here are some of the more staggering statistics:

• Homicide: One person is murdered every 31 minutes
• Rape:  One person is raped every 2.7 minutes
• Assault:  One person is assaulted every 7.2 seconds
• Theft:  One home is victimized by theft every 2.3 seconds
• Burglary:  One home is burglarized every 9.1 seconds
• Domestic Violence:  One woman is victimized by an intimate partner every 1.3 minutes.  One man is victimized every 6.7 minutes
• Child Abuse and Neglect:  One child is reported abused or neglected every 35 seconds
• Drunk Driving:  One person is killed in an alcohol related traffic crash every 29 minutes
• Elderly Abuse:  One elderly person is victimized every 2.7 minutes
• Hate Crime:  One hate crime is reported tot he police every 73 minutes

While these numbers cannot be directly related to those found in Pittsburgh, they happen at nearly the same proportion.  Keeping these numbers in mind, it makes sense that the Cycle of Crime runs ramped in some of the poorer communities here. 

It's Now or Never

So since I finished building my bike I have been itching to get out on the road.  There was some bad weather yesterday and starting tomorrow the temp is supposed to drop and there is some snow in the forecast.  

As a result, this afternoon I ran home from the clinic, bundled up and pulled out my bike (it still needs a name).  I didn't want to head out too far just in case something disastrous happened.  The nice part about riding around some of the near by neighborhoods was that I got to see some cool things that I have missed on some of the longer walks I took just after I moved to PGH. 

Here are some pictures from Manchester - a district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.  I found a super cool abandoned swimming pool

and some great Victorian houses.  

The crazy part is that there are also some super poor areas with abandoned homes and ones that are literally falling to pieces.  

I am proud to report that everything was in working order - no major mechanical problems.  This weekend I might fiddle around with the seat placement, but that is an easy enough fix. 

A Modern Sexual Assault Tale

For some of my optional hours I have started volunteering with the DC Rape Crisis Center on a more regular basis (6 years and counting).  While I can obviously not be a back-up or go on advocate calls, I have been able to take several shifts answering the 24 hour hotline.  I am not sure how I ended up finding this, but wanted to share it with you.  It gives a new and interesting perspective on how difficult it is for a survivor to bring her/his perpetrator to justice.  
 

• Man: Hello, I'd like to report a mugging.
• Officer: A mugging, eh? Where did it take place?
• Man: I was walking by 21st and Dundritch Street and a man pulled out a gun and said, "Give me all your money."
• Officer: And did you?
• Man: Yes, I co-operated.
• Officer: So you willingly gave the man your money without fighting back, calling for help or trying to escape?
• Man: Well, yes, but I was terrified. I thought he was going to kill me!
• Officer: Mmm. But you did co-operate with him. And I've been informed that you're quite a philanthropist, too.
• Man: I give to charity, yes.
• Officer: So you like to give money away. You make a habit of giving money away.
• Man: What does that have to do with this situation?
• Officer: You knowingly walked down Dundritch Street in your suit when everyone knows you like to give away money, and then you didn't fight back. It sounds like you gave money to someone, but now you're having after-donation regret. Tell me, do you really want to ruin his life because of your mistake?
• Man: This is ridiculous!
• Officer: This is a rape analogy. This is what women face every single day when they try to bring their rapists to justice.
• Man: Fuck the patriarchy.
• Officer: Word.

A Day On, Not a Day Off

A week from today many businesses will be closed as people celebrate Martin Luther King Day.  Over the last few years many people have started to equate MLK Day as a day on instead of a day off.  The founders of this celebration looked at this Monday as a way where people can try to fulfill the goals MLK spoke about in many of his speaches.  

I took this short clip off the National Service Blog.  In 1960, Harris Wofford served as the coordinator for civil rights during President John F. Kennedy's campaign. He would go on to become a special assistant to President Kennedy on civil rights, a U.S. Senator, and CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service.

Watch until the end - there is a great story about the cyclical impact of giving back to your community!

Want to get involved next Monday?  There are still tons of places looking for volunteers.  Check out the official MLK Day to look for service opportunities!

Gettin' Me Some Learnin'

Today was the day folks that I buckled down and got to studying.  Turns out, if I am going to enroll in nursing school next year (I should hear back in the next few weeks) I will need to take the placement exam for Anatomy and Physiology I and II, as well as for Microbiology.  With the weather being cold and not wanting to overly caffeinated myself, I decided to head over to the Cathedral of Learning.

The Cathedral of Learning is one of the tallest educational buildings in the world, the tallest in the Western Hemisphere, coming in at 42 stories.  The building is made of steel (shocker) and covered with limestone.  

The Commons Room is an amazing 15th century English perpendicular Gothic-style hall which is four stories tall and covers nearly a half acre.  This section contains true arches which support their own weight, as opposed to the rest of the building which is held by steel.  Apparently the fireplaces still work and are lit during finals to give the room a cozy feeling.  Too bad I came a few weeks too late! 

I did get off to a good start, but soon it seemed like hundreds of high school aged children were walking around.  It turns out they were there for a forensics competition.  I was a speech and debate geek back in the day; it was hard to believe that my teammates and I were once that age.  CRAZY.  With the racket going on I decided to pack things up and go poke around the rest of the building.

While walking around I also decided to poke my head into some of the Nationality Rooms (there are 27 in total).  Each of the rooms depicts a different ethnic group that helped to build the city of Pittsburgh; Ruth Crawford Mitchell thought it would be a way of involving the community in the construction of the Cathedral of Learning.  The money to build each had to be raised by each ethnic group, but the maintenance would be paid by the University.  The first four rooms were dedicated in 1938 (Scottish, Russian, German and Swedish), with the newest rooms including the Indian room (2000) and the Welsh Room (2008). 

Twenty five of the rooms hold daily classes and the other two can be explored through a guided tour.  Different traditional and religious holidays are celebrate and appropriately decorated throughout the year. 

Czech Room

Scottish Room

Italian Room

Smoking and Your Health

This was posted yesterday over on the Fooducate Blog!  I couldn't say it any better myself so I just copied and pasted!

Smoking and Cholesterol
The nicotine in cigarettes increases LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol) and decreases HDL cholesterol (the good) in your bloodstream. Diet also has a big impact on your cholesterol levels, so if you are a smoker, you need to be doubly careful about your intake of saturated fats and trans-fats.

Smoking and Bone Health
Studies over the last few decades have shown that smokers have a lower bone density and higher risk for osteoporosis. The exact chemistry has yet to be explained. If you’re a smoker – make sure you get enough calcium in your diet..

Smoking and Vitamin C
Smoking literally sucks the vitamin C from your body’s tissues.Whereas vitamin C is an antioxidant, the chemicals in cigarette smoke are oxidants. So vitamin C, instead of bonding with free radicals in the body and removing them, bonds with the chemicals from the smoke. Smokers therefore need a much higher level of vitamin C and in general much more antioxidants in their body. So if you’re a pack a day person – make sure you’re getting ample fruits and vegetables in your diet as well.

Smoking and Weight Loss
Nicotine has been shown to be an appetite suppressant, but if you think smoking is the way to stay thin, you’re thinking very short term. The damage you are doing to your body by smoking far outweighs the few pounds not gained.

To summarize, quit smoking ASAP. Until you do, be on top of your game nutritionally.

Hello Snow Miser

(Legit) Winter has hit here in PGH!  Today the temperature has been in the high teens and snowing on and off all day long.  In honor of this winter wonderland weather, here is a beloved childhood clip of the Snow Miser. 



Addendum:  I had to dig out my car for a second time after I left work.  No es bueno!

20 New Year’s Resolutions For 20-Somethings

Here are some great ideas from the Thought Catalogue:

1. Before you status update, Tweet, Tumble or Instagram, pause and say to yourself, “is it entirely necessary that I share this morsel of thought with my entire social network?”and if the answer is not, “yes, I absolutely must,” then step away from the Internet.
2. Know which candidate you’re going to vote for in the upcoming presidential election, and know why.
3. Enough with the 14-day juice cleanses. If you want to lose a little weight quickly, eat less and exercise like crazy. If you want to lose a lot of weight slowly, do whatever Jennifer Hudson did.
4. If you really like the person you’re hooking up with and would like them to be your boyfriend/ girlfriend, find a way to tell them, and hope for the best. If you don’t and wouldn’t, stop.
5. Find a way to save approximately 300 dollars and spend it on a flight to see a friend or family member who lives far away.
6. Please stop liking the Kardashians, all of them. It’s not helping anyone, least of all the Kardashians.
7. Spend less than or equal to the money you earn each month.
8. Wear clothes that fit you, especially to work.
9. Call someone on the phone at least once a week, and speak to him or her for at least ten minutes.
10. Start preparing now to get over the fact that Facebook is probably going to change again in six months. You’re not going to deactivate your account. You don’t know how.
11. Wait 30 seconds before you look up a fact you can’t remember on your phone, and try to remember it using your brain. This is what the olden days were like.
12. Replace one terrible reality show you’re currently watching with one wonderful scripted show currently available on television.  Swap suggestion: Real Housewives of Anywhere for HBO’s Enlightened.
13. Try that food you think you don’t like but have never actually tried, unless it’s brussel sprouts. They really don’t need any more attention.
14. Cut one person out of your life who you truly do not like and add one person who you truly do. Note: not on Facebook, on Earth.
15. If you’re still blacking out regularly, you should stop.
16. Volunteer once over the next 90 days.  You’ll feel really good about it, and probably end up volunteering again over the next 275.
17.  Tell someone who you love that you love them on a more regular basis. To their face, not in a text.
18. Back up your entire online life onto an external hard drive, especially your photos.
19. Crap or get off the pot. This applies to whatever thing you’re not doing that you should just sack up and do already.
20.  And in the eternal words of Tom Haverford, “TREAT YO SELF!”