Random TV Thoughts

Finished Derry Girls last night. Excellent series finale. I didn’t quite get the Sister Michael comment about the Bishop. But overall it was lovely. Destined to be a classic. Also watched Screw from BBC last week starring Jamie-Lee O’Donnell from the above show. It was hard to separate her from the character of Michelle at […]

On this Caturday

We are still very much learning cat folx skills. We’ve been caretaking for a colony since 2017. We’ve been fostering since May 2019. We’ve fostered 28 kittens. All have survived and flourish in adoptive homes. All experienced illness requiring lots of vet visits and care. Late, late nights and early mornings. Some came to us […]

#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 […]

My Essay About Voting

Day two of #NaBloPoMo This feels mandatory, a reminder to all of you about why you must vote and vote Blue in the elections next week. I like to think that anyone reading my blog would be familiar with these issues and already a regular voter. But since I don’t actually know most of you, […]

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 […]

I’ve never been to Pittsburgh

I’ve never been to Pittsburgh

The Prompt – There are 90 neighborhoods in Pittsburgh and 130 municipalities in Allegheny County. Tell us about one of each that you’ve never visited. And about one of each that you absolutely adore. I’ve never knowingly been to Esplen or Oakwood or St. Clair in the City of Pittsburgh. In Allegheny County, I’ve never […]

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 […]