Pittsburgh just gives me the warm fuzzies. It feels strangely like home and it makes me happy being here. I was worried a one point that this might not be the case anymore and I’m very relieved that I didn’t turn out that way. It’s such a great and wonderful place, full of personality and wonder and actual nice people. Plus the cutest boys in the world go to Pitt; it must be an entrance requirement.

Today brought breakfast at Barb’s and lunch at Lindo’s, picture-taking in South Side and book purchases in Oakland. I didn’t sleep well last night so I’m being horizontal in my room for a while before heading to Squirrel Hill of dinner and my obligatory visit to the kosher Giant Eagle. I’ll probably drive around a bit more tonight and then hit the bed fairly early so I can get up, have breakfast at Ritter’s and head north to see Sarah in time for a late lunch. And then…Canada.

I envision a longer trip to Da Burgh soon.

And I’m pissed that I missed the giant rubber duck.

I fucking love this city.

After checking the weather, I decided to leave today rather than tomorrow so I’d have a sunny day in Pittsburgh. That meant I left at 4:00 and rolled into the Red Roof Inn just before 11:00. The drive, which I can still pretty much do in my sleep, was extra exhausting tonight and I’m actually a little sore. But the particularly dark part between Summersville and Clarksburg was made bearable by a really good set on CBC Radio 3 (streaming Canadian indie rock to the world).

I miss Pittsburgh. It always seemed really homey to me despite the baggage that came to be associated with it. I love the newspaper and the food and just the whole feel of the place. In many ways, it’s the antithesis of San Francisco. I’m excited to actually be spending some time here again.

Tomorrow will bring:

• Breakfast at Barb’s Country Kitchen or Ritter’s.
• Lunch or dinner at Smallman Street.
• Maybe a stroll through South Side and Squirrel Hill.
• A bookstore or two.

I’ll probably leave Tuesday morning for Buffalo and the border. Unless I don’t.

I’m off. Next week. At some point.

I’m intentionally leaving my schedule a little open on this trip for purposes of spontaneity. I have a nucleus of (nonrefundable) days reserved in Toronto but nothing else, which will alllow me to decide on the fly whether to spend more time there or venture toward, say, Montréal for a few days. I may land in New England somewhere along the way and knock three more states off the list. I haven’t really even decided what day to leave.

Should be fun.

Completely unrelated: Why is Google serving up ads for Japanese porn sites here? I’ve never been to a Japanese porn site and I don’t think I’ve really ever discussed them on the site either.

I built this site years ago when I was still doing freelance work. It was never one I was especially proud of but at least it used to work. It’s been on a death spiral in the years since I gave it up and has finally degraded to the level you see here. It amazes me that a large company like Fox Broadcasting (which purchased the station earlier this year) would let something like this remain active as the station’s only web presence. Why not just shut it down completely?

I’ve half a mind to call them and offer to log in (I’m sure my old password still works) and at least pull the plug since they obviously either don’t know or don’t care how to do it themselves. For a fee, of course…