The Life-Long Learning: Corinne's Guide to Two Pittsburgh Museums

Schmalex came into town last weekend. Yay! She picked me up from the boonies (pool party in the country, anyone?) then we had a fabulous time with the Rosie and the Frank. And a surprise birthday. Well, "surprise." Made me wish for those fall days when life will be back to the academic rigamarole around here, and I will not be bored at 11:30pm.

On Sunday, Alex and I decided to visit a new part of Pittsburgh... Edgewood and Frick Park! Gasp!

And really, I never knew where the 61B went... now I do.

So the Square Cafe was delicious and all, and we had some pretty creative pancakes and such. Then, walked it off in the nearby acres of woods.

As afternoon time rolled about, we headed to the Frick Museum with pretty low expectations. Maybe it was because I'd only ever heard it called the "Carriage and Automobile Museum."


Thanks to an iPhone, we made it to the correct spot, and walked into a giant, stone... museum. The Frick really can't be explained any other way.


We were immediately greeted and talked through the grounds. The Frick has an art museum (which we were in), a car and carriage museum, a giftshop that used to be the Frick's playhouse, a greenhouse, and "Clayton" (the mansion of Henry Clay Frick).


Here's a mini history lesson: Frick saw that baked coal made coke, useful for steel. Carnegie saw the Frick had a lot of these coal-baking ovens. They became partners. Sometime later there were riots. Carnegie went back home to Scotland. Frick had to deal with it and used violent measures. Frick then hated Carnegie; Carnegie then hates Frick. Carnegie won't let Frick into his gentlemen's club. Frick builds his own building with a club on the 20th floor (it's called the Frick Building, on Grant between Forbes and Fifth... It's where I'm working this summer!) They get old. Carnegie writes to Frick: I'm sorry, we're old, let's forget about this. Frick writes back: I'll see you in hell. The end.


So, learned a little something? I only learned part of that during our tour of Clayton (just the coal-to-coke business). The rest my mentor told me at Carnegie Learning, where my internship is this summer.


Well, during our four-hour stay on the grounds of the Frick, I learned more little tidbits that I knew what to do with. The evolution of the word "sublime" (from "fearsome" to "awe-inspiring" to "awesome")? Check. The fact that Victorians would never take naps in their beds? Check. Franklin Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt were cousins, and pronounced their last names differently (Rooo-sevelt and Rose-evelt)? Check. The first drive-in gas station? On Baum Boulevard (in Pittsburgh). The bicycle being a big break for woman's independence? Check.


Every single person we encountered that day wanted to share something. They treasured their job, the history, and the stories. Even the two tour guides were swapping tales after the tour was finished.


Now I get to talk about that cliche, "life-long learning." I mean, even the theory of evolution will tell you that if we stop, we die. I'm reading a book called "The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature." Even those of you who dislike or don't believe in the idea of evolution can understand the metaphor of the Red Queen in "Alice in Wonderland." She must keep running just to keep up with the world; if she slows down, she falls behind.


As it is with learning. We've all met those people who have decided to get off the treadmill. Some refuse to get off. (My grandpa bought himself an Android for Christmas. While he doesn't know his own phone number, he can chose a place for dinner lickety-split.)


So the Frick Museum was a success. But that was Sunday! It's Tuesday now.


Today I volunteered to tend a gallery at the Mattress Factory, an installation art museum and catalyst for artists like Mark Garry (who was talking). While the tending of the gallery was a bit dull (only three people visited my floor), the whole event was smoothly run: an enjoyable evening, even for us volunteers.


Places like that just make me savor Pittsburgh all the more. Yes, rain is predicted this whole week. Yes, the humidity is a bit hit, as is the temperature. But, yes, Pittsburgh knows its art and history!


Helps a lot while I'm jogging along on that treadmill of learning.

The "Sunshine" State: Fourth of July with the Family

I work for a very wonderful company called Carnegie Learning that makes math software. Wonderful for many reasons, including that they gave us both Friday and Monday off for the Fourth of July.
 
So, thanks to my little sister getting bumped off a plane a month ago, I got a free ticket down to see my parents and two little sisters in Florida, where they were having a two-week vacation.


So I get down there late on Thursday, and Monday morning we are off to Sea World! They have a whole bunch of shows that we really enjoyed (jumping dolphins/whales/sea lions, anyone?) as well as a pretty sweet roller coaster (the Manta!) as well as a sea creature carousel as well as fireworks to finish off the evening. But the best show of the day was far and away the spoof show.

We had done the obligatory Shamu show and a dolphin show called "Believe" (yes, it was that hokie) and even a pet show, where dogs, cats, rats, skunks, and pigs had their day.

After all of these, we went to see "Sea Lions Tonight." The two sea lions (and a fat, ugly walrus) mocked all of the other shows, along with their trainers. And these shows were pretty darn easy to mock. (Really? "Venture beyond the horizon where dolphins, birds and spirited performers meet"? Cheesy.)

The next day was spent at Universal Studios Islands of Adventure, where, if you have been buried under a rock for the past few months, the new "Wizarding World of Harry Potter" opened not too long ago.

It was pretty sweet how immersed you feel in the experience. Walking through Hogsmead, the roofs had "snow" on them... and somehow you felt cooler! We did the dizzying Harry Potter virtual adventure ride, then took a break and did some water rides in Jurassic Park.


It's good we did them then, because that was the last I saw of the sun for the rest of the trip. The skies opened up about two o'clock and didn't shut until... well, after Sunday at least.

We stopped at Toon Town to gawk at Betty Boop, then on to Seussville to meet the Grinch and other characters. (I was read "Oh, The Places You'll Go" after freshman year of high school, and that and the Sneeches are my two favorite Dr. Seuss books.)


Dinner in the Hogshead, with a bit of butterbeer beforehand, and we were done (and damp).


My final day was spent in the condo (which we had arrived late at the night before). The rain came down and out came the games. A grocery shopping trip revived us, and we got up enough momentum to go see the Flying Tigers.

That's right, the Great American Past-time of baseball. Greasy food, ice cream, and a roof for when it rained through the entire fireworks show. What more can you ask for? Oh, getting to see my family. That's in that list too.