Happy Bard Day!

Dear William,

Just received your letter about your new play. Something about ham? And you want to know if Pittsburgh would be a good setting? Well, Pittsburghers do love a cold cut called "chipped ham," but I must say if your main soliloquy is that "to be or not to be," you have picked the wrong town. This is the town that invented "that shirt needs washed." Even migrants like myself often forget to use the words "to be" in conversation.

I recommend Denmark.

Yours,

Sarah Louise

Happy Birthday Sweet William!

Ah, my mistresses eyes... (Sonnet 130)

And does anyone else remember the Northern Exposure episode where Maggie reads Sonnet 116 at a funeral and the blonde chick says, wow, I didn't know Maggie wrote poetry!

Fun at blogs! (and listening to the radio)

Every once in a while, I do look at my dashboard for more than "view blog" or "new post." Today I discovered the Shoebox greetings blog in the "Blogs of note." This post on the latest news is spot on!

Am listening to the "Movie Mom" on the radio and there's some new Jack Black movie coming out about two guys at a video store who accidentally erase all the flix and so have to remake the movies, starting with Ghostbusters and Robocop. Hmmm, I do like Jack Black.

Ooh, and on the Movie Mom's website, found this cool quiz on movie quotes, and found out why "I drink your milkshake! I drink it up" is appearing on t-shirts.

The Fonz is in town and is ready to go to the "O"! It's going to be a mini-reunion (not at the "O," at the convention center, silly.) Cindy Williams will be there!

I should be having breakfast with Pete this morning--well, coffee. I probably can't go without food until 10. I was considering walking until I heard the wind chill is 3. But then again, my car won't like driving that short of a distance (the Union Project) if it's that cold. Hmm.

Oh, what else was I gonna tell ya? I forgot. Oh well.

Oh--the shirt I thought the washer ate might have been stuck to the dryer wall--I found it. It still sort of fits. It definitely requires layering though.

Oh, and props to the folks that filled in some potholes in Highland Park recently. In February? I'm impressed! Usually it's May before that happens...

Welcome back, Sarah Louise!

I'm back!

More to come. Sis is here and we are downloading pix--I didn't have to reinstall my camera software after all (which is a good thing--the disc seems to be missing...)

Today will be just rest. Tomorrow, some doctor appts, unpack (unless I get ambitious today) and Tuesday, back to work. I have lots to tell, but you'll just have to be patient...

Hugs,

SL

The Summer of 97: Walks, Dollar movies, and Highland Park: or Sarah Louise and the best things in life (and Pittsburgh) are free

Last summer, Loretta instituted List Fridays. They sort of died out, but I'm all for bringing them back. (I'd link her, but her site is taking like five minutes to load today...)

So it's truly bizarre to think that Toot and Puddle is ten years old. Wow. But it gives me a milestone, as Mr. Ten Years Ago was the one who convinced me it was a great book.

The summer of ninety-seven, he was studying for the qualifying exams for his Ph.D. We had broken up in April, but we were back together by July 4th, and there it was: he had no time (he was studying for the exams) and no cash (he was studying for the exams).

It was the best summer ever.

We had a standing Saturday or Sunday "date" which was often just a walk around Highland Park. We were pretty boring--We'd walk up Jackson, maybe go around the reservoir, and down Highland Avenue. None of this "which way shall we go?" which I personally find very fun.

Every once in a while we'd go see a dollar movie. I think we went to see whichever Batman movie was out.

So, honor of the best summer ever (and Mr. Ten Years Ago, who is happily married and the father of a son) here's another Sarah Louise List.

Free or almost free things to do in Pittsburgh in the summer.

1. Take a walk in Highland Park. Optional: take a penny, and make it a "Penny Walk." At every intersection you drop a penny, and heads is right, tails is left. (I read about it in a book once.)

2. The Three Rivers Arts Festival. I haven't been in YEARS, and this is the last weekend. Maybe Saturday night. (I have the wedding Friday.) Just checked the schedule and Ricky Lee Jones is playing at 6! I suppose if I drove straight from work... well, special guest Lohio--that usually means "opening act," huh. So I could drive home, take the bus down...

3. The Frick Art Museum. Now, I myself love the Carnegie. But if you drive, you have to pay for parking AND a ticket in to the museum. Plus, they took my favorite painting down years ago. The Frick Art Museum is a sweet little art museum with a permanent collection and traveling exhibits.

4. Bach, Beethoven, and Brunch--Mellon Park Rose Garden. Sundays, 10:30 to noon, starting June 17 through August 12. I've never been, because, well, church is Sunday morning. But, hey, I go to church in the evening, so maybe I'll try this out.

5. Cinema in the Park. I love going to Flagstaff. But you can go to movies seven days a week, check it out!

Now, of course, this weekend is Father's Day, but that sort of was off my radar, since we're doing the whole "Celebrate Dad's Birthday and go to Montana" trip. His birthday is the 20th, so in my mind, Father's Day always gets smushed into Dad's Birthday. It's Friday and I still don't have a card for dear old Dad. But hey, it's 8:30 am and I still don't have a gift for the wedding at 5:30! Last month for J&A's wedding, I worked at the library in the morning, ran to Target, perused J&A's registry, found some wrapping paper, and a card. At the register, I confessed that the wedding was a scant hour and a half away. The cashier gave me some grace. "If it weren't for the last minute, I'd never get anything done." Yep, that's me. K&C are registered at Bed Bath and Beyond, so I'll head over to Waterworks this morning.

I guess I'll get on that. Later Babs and I are going SWIMMING! Lunch is with a high school friend who is a prof at CMU.

6 Indulgences under $25 in Pittsburgh (In case you don't want to buy the $48 shorts from Free People)

(If you haven't read Blackbird's recent Italy/random/fashion post, go there now.)

1. Manicure (plain, no special decals) $12-14 depending on the salon.
2. Movie (matinee) $6.50
3. Playing Free Cell at Yahoo! Games: Free! (well, I suppose the cost of dial-up or DSL could be figured in, but who has time for that kind of algebra)
4. Visit to Café des Amis for lunch: ~$8.00 for sandwich and soup du jour or salad. (again, if you like algebra, you could figure in gas mileage to Sewickley.)
5. Dinner at Wendy's: ~$4.00 for small iced tea, Junior Cheeseburger Deluxe, and Baked Potato, 2 sour creams.
6. Trip to Library Book Nook: ~$15.00 for coffee (decaf), biscotti (chocolate covered), Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (hardcover), The Time Traveler's Wife (paperback), Victoria Magazine's book on Calling Cards, an older Catalog for the Carnegie Art Museum, Three Musketeers (the one with Charlie Sheen) on VHS, and two other paperbacks...(algebra for Master's in Library Science tuition, 20% discount for staff, mileage for workplace that is a half hour away from home residence.)

I might start a secondary blog...

To talk about the Pgh transit crisis.

Here's a link from Progress Pittsburgh.

I'll keep yinz posted.