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I've lived in several large cities (NY, Phoenix, San Francisco), and sure, they like their Giants, Cardinals, Raiders/Niners... But I've never seen anything like this.
I walk out of my front door, and most of my neighbors have Steelers flags and banners in their windows. We go for a walk, and see mini Steelers theme parks in front yards. Store employees come to work decked out in head to toe Steelers outfits. I go to the mall, and everyone is selling Steelers paraphanalia. Steelers theme vehicles - painted black and gold, with Steelers stickers are not uncommon.
I'm really not the sort of person who's interested enough in politics to be compelled to take time out of my busy schedule to help a political candidate. If I have any free time, I'd rather be working on my little art projects. However, something very interesting happened recently. Somehow, a few months before the presidential election, I got inspired to help Obama.
Wow, what a week! We’re exhausted and giddy.
All the door knocking, registering voters, phone calling, emails, pestering people in line to the rally... It really worked! We were still calling people up ten minutes before the polls were closing, telling them that if they're in line by 8pm, they have the right to vote; if they needed a ride, we'd come and pick them up... It was heartening to hear people on the street, asking each other if they'd voted yet. We had record voter turn outs here in PA... with a little help from our friends.
Barak Obama was in town this week, so naturally, we went to see him speak.
I'm glad to finally have an opportunity to vote for a candidate I truly expect to create positive change for all of us - one who can't be bought by special interests, but truly has our best interests in mind. I suspect a few others feel the same way, or he wouldn't be filling colosseums on a regular basis.
A friend of mine in SF hooked me up with Susan in Carrboro, North Carolina (near Chapel Hill, Durham and Raleigh). Susan had moved there from SF a few years earlier, and was very happy with the move.
She told me about the interesting, progressive town she lives in - "the Berkeley of North Carolina" - with much more affordable real estate prices. There, she found more good job opportunities, and bought her first house after decades of renting. (More)
Next, we headed toward Knoxville, Tennesse. While I was curious about the deep South, we decided not to go through there on this trip. It was summer time, and would be even hotter down south. Plus, we really did want to focus on possible areas to relocate to, and the deep South would probably not be such a good place for vegan hippy lefties like us (though I don't actually know this first hand). (More)
Back on the Hospitality Club website, I found Michal, in Nashville, Tennesee - our next destination. Did we really consider moving there? Probably not, but we weren't ruling it out either. I called Michal because he's Russian, and would be someone I could speak Russian with. We had a nice chat. I like to have a substantial conversation with potential hosts (or future guests), just to make sure we're on the same page, and a good match. (More)
We went to a raw food meetup the other day. (If you're not familiar with meetup.com, it's a website where you can find a group for just about any interest and location. Check it out.)
I was very happy to meet some kindered spirits at this meetup. Though I'm not a total raw foodist like some of the people at this meetup, a large portion of my diet consists of raw foods. Plus, I've found that most of the people in this group are into healthy eating, natural healing, spiritual practice, etc. All the stuff I'm interested in, and was involved with in San Francisco. (More)
There was a big and scary storm the other night. In the morning... icicles everywhere... all the trees covered with ice, it looked like a magical wonderland. (More)
As many of you know, we've been fixing up and improving our fixer upper house for quite a while now. I call our house our grand art project, because we're doing some rather fancy, though unnecessary stuff to it. I want to do artsy stuff, like mosaics, and of course Dan wants techie stuff, like radiant flooring... That's what happens when you rent for a long time, then buy your first house that you can do anything at all with! As promised here are some photos of the bathroom mosaic, as well as some action shots of the work in progress. (More)
I was calling references for a plaster guy, and not only did they want to chat for twenty minutes, they wanted to know what we were doing, gave me advice on remodeling and finishing walls, AND ... one guy asked me if I want to come over and see the plaster guy's work for myself! (More)
We were at Tram's the other night - one of our favorite restaurants in the city - and in walks Moxie - our friend from San Francisco Food Not Bombs! That was surprise number one. Surprise number two: (More)
We've been back in serious construction mode for the past few months, and I've been neglecting everything else, including this blog. Tiling the bathroom floor isn't going too well. We used the wrong adhesive, which didn't dry properly - after almost two weeks. Many of the tiles shifted or broke before we figured out what's wrong. (More)
Good music, great vegetarian meal, enlightening workshops, hayride/educational tour of the farm, $5 all inclusive admission price... No wait for the portapotties? What gives? (More)
Ice Storm
03 February, 2008Believe it Or NotPermalinkTrackbacks (0)(27) comments
Our Grand Art Project
31 December, 2007Believe it Or NotPermalinkTrackbacks (0)(62) comments
Do You Want to Come Over and See?
06 December, 2007Believe it Or NotPermalinkTrackbacks (0)(68) comments
Surprise
23 November, 2007Believe it Or NotPermalinkTrackbacks (0)(72) comments
More Construction on the Horizon
23 November, 2007Believe it Or NotPermalinkTrackbacks (31)(90) comments
I Went to a Cool Summer Festival, and Not Once Did I Have to Wait for a Portapotty
29 September, 2007Believe it Or NotPermalinkTrackbacks (5)(125) comments
Onward to St. Louis
01 September, 2007In Which We Set Out Into the World to Seek Our FortunePermalinkTrackbacks (270)(88) comments
Ok, so I've been slackin on my travelogue. I guess I'm just too in the moment and caught up in the excitement of being here... there's so much to report.
Plus, I didn't really keep a journal during our travels, and unfortunately didn't take many photos. But you know, this way only the most memorable stuff will be included here. If I don't remember it, it must not be too important.
So onward to our next destination: St. Louis, Missouri. We didn't spend that much time there, but we did make some new friends. (More)
