I Chose Hope on Election Eve #NaBloPoMo

NaBloPoMo

I’m not an especially optimistic person by nature. I skew more toward middle of the road, fusing hope with expectation of the worst followed by sheer relief when I land somewhere in between. This election season I made a conscious choice to be hopeful. It seemed preferable to spending months in anxiety, dread, and mopping […]

We Need 160 cans of cat food? The NaBloPoMo Post

pet food drive cat lady

November distribution starts tomorrow. We have enough to give each caretaker 12 pounds of dry and 16 cans of wet. If we can rally to generate 160 more cans today, each caretaker will receive a full case. A case means one can almost every day. You can use our wishlist or go rogue and shop […]

#NaBloPoMo: Five Ridiculous Things Genealogists Do

Irish American Pittsburgh

I rarely refer to myself as a genealogist (a word I often struggle to spell), preferring ‘family tree explorer’ or ‘family history documenter’ mainly because genealogists seem to be nuts. Not all of them, not all genealogists. But enough of them are loud enough to suck the fun out of it. Rigidity about who I […]

NaBloPoMo: The Poor Souls In Purgatory

November is National Blog Post Month – the goal is to write a blog post each day of the month. This used to be a big thing with prompts, logos, incentives, etc. Now it is just a solitary pursuit. Today is November 1, 2022. Known to many of us as All Saints Day (a Holy […]

My Pittsburgh Basket #NaBloPoMo2019 #NaBloPoMoPgh

The Prompt – You are packing a Pittsburgh box for someone who has moved away. Describe what you include and why. My box would include Yinz is a Gender Neutral Pronoun shirt from Etna Print Circus A piece of slag from Brown’sDump Locally roasted and ground coffee from Eat n Park and Coffee Tree Roasters […]

Where is your coat? #NaBloPoMo2019 #NaBloPoMoPgh

Hallloween costumes

The Prompt – How often did you have to wear a coat with your Halloween costume? Should this be a dealbreaker? It was hit or miss. As I got older, I tried to lean into costumes that were inherently weather flexible. One year, my Dad made me a costume that allowed me to wear a […]

What qualifies as Pittsburgh Famous? #NaBloPoMo2019

Pittsburgh Famous

The Prompt – There are lots of folks described as “Pittsburgh famous” – what does that phrase mean to you? Please list a few Pittsburgh famous folks that most people might not immediately think about. Pittsburgh famous includes high-profile local folks, often members of the media and politicians, but also artists, creators, quirky neighbors who […]

Bridges and Tunnels, Oh My #NaBloPoPgh #NaBloPoMo2019

The Prompt – What are the names of the bridge and tunnel closest to your childhood home? What about now? I’m tickled by how hard these prompts can be even though I created them. I grew up in West Mifflin, minutes from Century III Mall – literally. I had to use Google maps to determine […]

Pittsburgh Needs Policies for Urban Wildlife and Homeless Domestic Animals #NaBloPoMo

The Prompt – Is Pittsburgh a cat or dog city? (Or alligator city?) Explain your answer. I’m a cat and dog person, but I have more cats right now. Thus, I plead the Fifth on this one. I wish the CITY as an entity had more concrete policies with regard to homeless cats and dogs. […]

Okay, Boomer, What Happened To My Pierogies #NaBloPoMoPgh #NaBloPoMo2019

The prompt – Pittsburgh is famous for slaw and fries on sandwiches, cheese on fries on salads, pierogies, and more food speciality items. Did you have these types of items when you were growing up? Does the Pittsburgh food of your childhood carry into your adulthood? I had my very first pierogie courtesy of Mrs. […]