I Moved to Pittsburgh!

I Moved to Pittsburgh! http://IMovedToPittsburgh.com/blog/i-moved-to-pittsburgh In Which We Set Out Into the World to Seek Our Fortune and Moved to Pittsburgh. Why? What's it Like there? Read on! emilie 2010-09-02T22:27:50Z Go Steelers! http://IMovedToPittsburgh.com/blog/i-moved-to-pittsburgh/believe-it-or-not/2009/01/31/go-steelers 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. <img src="http://IMovedToPittsburgh.com/gallery/2/2-102.jpg" border="0" alt="Steeler Spirit!" /> On a flight back to Pittsburgh during a game recently, the Burghers (in their Steelers jerseys and hats, of course) made the pilot pick up and announce the scores, throughout the flight; wild cheers every time the Steelers scored. We go to the bank, and there are multiple Steelers posters and banners. One enthusiastic home made sign reads: Let's go Steelers! Let's go! The Sunday paper has had not one, but two sports sections the past couple of weeks. And the rest of the paper is really thin, because... what else is could be important to write about? Imagine the unbearable excitement when they're in the superbowl! The superbowl now helps us measure time. I was at my favorite grocery store bakery trying to score some more free buckets, and was told that they would have some more, right before the superbowl!I've frequented circles with some unusual standard greetings for hello and good bye (Om Shanti, Jai Guru Dev). Here it's Go Steelers! I like it when the Steelers win, because it's great for morale. Everyone is elated. Group energy is at it's highest peak. Opiate of the masses? I sure hope we win tomorrow! Believe it Or Not 2009-01-31T20:21:19Z emilie Wake Up, Something Good is Happening! http://IMovedToPittsburgh.com/blog/i-moved-to-pittsburgh/believe-it-or-not/2008/11/23/wake-up-something-good-is-happening 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. Like many others, I'd been freaked out about the state of our country and our world. At one point, all the bad news just kept piling up. The economy has been going downhill for a long time, but only recently did people start noticing; and I was worrying about what will happen when China decides to stop buying our debt. With gasoline at $4 per gallon and rising at the time, our fuel and energy situation clearly didn't look sustainable. Weird climate changes and strong hurricanes were making the global warming problem a little harder to ignore. I was worried about having no health insurance… And of course I'd been upset about the war. As far as I'm concerned, there is no good reason to start a war. Most Americans have no understanding of the horrors of war on a deep level. It's just all so abstract when it's half way across the world. Now there are two wars to be upset about. And here was a presidential candidate who was saying all the things we all wanted to hear, with real, coherent ideas and plans. I actually heard a calling. I somehow felt compelled to help Obama win, and the feeling was too strong to ignore. What's interesting to me is that so many others heard the calling, and like me, many of them were not the activist types. It was like a large number of people woke up at the same time.  We all realized that if things keep going in the same direction, things could get very ugly very quickly. Many of the volunteers I met have never worked on a political campaign before either. Some of them took months out from their busy lives, flocking to the swing states, just to help the cause, which was pretty amazing in itself. There were busloads of college kids from New York, here to help in the final weeks. There were so many volunteers here in Pittsburgh, PA, that we needed many local headquarters locations, and more were being added all the time, to have more space for phone banking, and getting the canvassing shifts started. My friend Lance, who's the Outreach/Student Coordinator for the Santa Clara, CA election board, said,  "Our county had an almost 90% voter turnout.  Everything about the election was unusual and amazing - even months ago.  We are a non partisan organization, and offer the same services to all political parties and campaigns.  During the summer, I was training Obama precinct captains on voter registration, and their foot soldiers - 15 and 16 year old teenagers - would show up at our office every week for more voter registration forms.  I received 1900 applications to work in this election from the high school student program - usually we get about 600." I wasn't really aware of the extent of what was happening until I too decided to help. I just walked into one of the local headquarters, and asked how I can be helpful. Again, something interesting happened. I got on the Obama email list, and started getting a couple of emails every day. These emails kept me posted on what was going on, encouraged me to get involved and most had a donate button, so that people could donate to the campaign. The whole campaign was funded by regular people like me, without taking any money from special interests. Most other political candidates can be bought, but not this one. Even the brokest of the broke in this country, can afford to chip in a few bucks for a cause they believe in.  With everyone giving whatever they could, apparently these contributions did add up and did the job. This campaign used email and the internet like no other political campaign I'm aware of.  I've been saving these emails. I have emails from James Fogarty, the team leader from my local headquarters; from Barack Obama; Joe Biden; Michelle Obama; David Plouffe – the brilliant campaign manager for Obama for America; Craig Schirmer, Pennsylvania State Director, Obama for America; Eric Greenwald, Voter Protection Director, Pennsylvania Campaign for Change; Al Gore; Marianne Markowitz, Chief Financial Officer, Obama for America… There's certainly some direct communication going on, making me feel like I'm in the loop, like I'm being treated like an intelligent adult. I'm recognizing all the internet marketing strategies used in business, employed in this brilliant campaign. Marketing research shows that you usually need to make at least 7 contacts with a prospect before he or she decides to work with you. Hence the repetition with emails, phone calls and home visits in the campaign. Many people were annoyed that we pestered them so often, but you can't argue with results. We had unprecedented voter turnouts here in PA, not to mention all the volunteers and donors. There are YouTube videos put out by the campaign, designed to inform and involve the public. I got lots of these videos in the emails from the campaign. You can watch any speech or debate that you missed, as well as a wide variety of  campaign related videos posted by a wide variety of people. Surely, the media has normally been a very powerful catalyst in politics, but media + internet takes it to a whole new level. Not only can we watch the videos any time, and as often as we want, but anyone can make their own campaign related videos and post them on YouTube, therefore truly having an uncensored voice. I've been blown away by the extent to which every American has had an opportunity to be informed and involved in this campaign. While the US has been fighting wars in the name of democracy in far away lands, our own democracy has been lagging to say the least. You can't have democracy when no one is paying attention; democracy requires involvement and participation. Americans got too comfortable and too distracted by their televisions, video games, pro sports, and other fun distractions. On November 5th, I got a very gracious thank you email from Barack Obama: Emilie -- I'm about to head to Grant Park to talk to everyone gathered there, but I wanted to write to you first. We just made history. And I don't want you to forget how we did it. You made history every single day during this campaign -- every day you knocked on doors, made a donation, or talked to your family, friends, and neighbors about why you believe it's time for change. I want to thank all of you who gave your time, talent, and passion to this campaign. We have a lot of work to do to get our country back on track, and I'll be in touch soon about what comes next. But I want to be very clear about one thing... All of this happened because of you. Thank you, Barack I was very much moved by this email, but I hadn't even thought about what comes next. But of course, this was only the beginning. The campaign has built up so much momentum, it would be a huge waste to stop here. If we could get an unlikely candidate elected with just grass roots and internet strategies, couldn't we do something similar, to help create the change we want to see? Even the president of the United States can't do it alone. Today, I got an email from John Podesta, from the Obama-Biden Presidential Transition Team; that includes a video of a meeting of our Energy and Environment Policy Transition Team, an interview with team member Heather Zichal, and a link I can click on to submit my ideas. When was the last time your federal government asked you for your ideas? In the spirit of continued communication, Barack Obama is creating very short, weekly addresses, and posting them on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zd8f9Zqap6U. Now, with every email I get from the campaign, with every video I watch, I realize that something magical is happening – something many of us have been hoping for, but were too cynical to really expect it to happen… The problem is, I don't think everyone realizes this yet, and I know that not everyone is on Obama's email list, and not everyone scours Video Sift for the latest Obama videos. This is what motivated me to write this article. I think it's important for everyone to be aware, to get involved, because this is what Democracy was supposed to be all about in the first place. Believe it Or Not 2008-11-23T14:20:16Z emilie Hooray! Or Notes from a Swing State http://IMovedToPittsburgh.com/blog/i-moved-to-pittsburgh/believe-it-or-not/2008/11/06/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. I met people from both East and West coast blue states, here in Pittsburgh for just one purpose - to help Obama get elected. Not just young people, but people of all ages, taking time off work, crashing on someone's couch, just to help the cause! And then there were the bus loads of college kids from NY, here to help us, in the last few days before the election. When was the last time we had a truly grass roots campaign like that?  Judging from some of our conversations with our friends and neighbors, we were worried. Even Dan, who's normally laid back in any situation, was anxious and breaking his own records on junk food consumption. Based on conversations with friends, neighbors, and total strangers here, it seemed like lots of people had serious issues with Barak Obama. Most of these concerns were based on lies spread by the other side, and no amount of reason succeeded in dispersing these fears.  Considering the outcomes of the last two presidential elections and conversations with people here on the ground, we were afraid all the lying and cheating might be working. Even normally reasonable, intelligent people were planning to vote against Obama! With such a weird/unusual/Muslim name, a childhood so different from most people here, and dark skin, he aroused much suspicion. Could someone like that really be one of the good guys? So many here couldn't get past all that, to hear what he was actually saying, to realize that he was one of the brightest, most inspiring leaders we've had in a long time, that he actually had viable ideas and plans, and was probably just what we needed to get us out of the mess we're in... I heard objections like, "he's not our type", "he doesn't look like a president", and "I can't vote for him - he'll only look out for his people". People were getting robocalls saying that due to the expectation of an unusually high voter turn out, Republicans should vote on November 4th, and Democrats on November 5th! And they were calling our volunteers, posing as Obama campaign staff, telling volunteers who signed up for shifts that they would not be needed! This was after we'd spent much time and energy signing up volunteers for the final days! I was already imagining my disillusionment if all these slimy tactics would cost us the election, with so much at stake! Even friends from abroad were anxious for Obama to win, since the fate of the US will certainly affect the fate of the rest of the world. Imagine the exhilaration when the numbers started coming in, and a large room full of exhausted campaign staff and volunteers started realizing that things were looking good after all. We were at our local campaign headquarters, and as soon as we were pretty confident that we couldn't lose, and after all the cheering, hugging and crying, we all headed down to the "big party", at the local union hall. By that point, we all really needed a drink. We got to the big party, and I can't remember the last time I saw so many happy people in one place. The numbers kept coming in on the big screen, and the hugging and cheering continued. We heard local politicians and campaign organizers speak. I missed McCain's concession speech while waiting in the bathroom line, which was probably more fun anyway. <img src="http://IMovedToPittsburgh.com/gallery/2/2-91.jpg" border="0" alt="South Side Obama Headquarters - Pittsburgh" /><img src="http://IMovedToPittsburgh.com/gallery/2/2-92.jpg" border="0" alt="Dan" /><img src="http://IMovedToPittsburgh.com/gallery/2/2-94.jpg" border="0" alt="Big Party at IBEU - The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local Union #5" /><img src="http://IMovedToPittsburgh.com/gallery/2/2-97.jpg" border="0" alt="Blurry Dance" /><img src="http://IMovedToPittsburgh.com/gallery/2/2-99.jpg" border="0" alt="Awaiting President Elect" />See the full album: <a href="http://IMovedToPittsburgh.com/blog/i-moved-to-pittsburgh/album/obama">Obama</a> Suddenly, I'm actually feeling hopeful. I know it sounds like a cliche by now, but I truly feel it, as do many others I've met in this journey. I've been asking myself, my friends and enemies: what will need to happen to get us out of the mess we've gotten into in the last eight years. I really think Barak Obama has had the best answers to this question. I know change doesn't come quickly, and I know it won't be easy. But I'm certain now that soon we'll be headed in the right direction. Maybe there’s hope for democracy after all! Believe it Or Not 2008-11-06T16:06:33Z emilie Life, etc. http://IMovedToPittsburgh.com/blog/i-moved-to-pittsburgh/believe-it-or-not/2008/10/30/please-please-please-be-sure-to-vote Barak Obama was in town this week, so naturally, we went to see him speak.<img src="http://IMovedToPittsburgh.com/gallery/2/2-88.jpg" border="0" /> 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.This is quite unusual for me. Normally, I feel like they're all politicians, playing the same game. I do vote because it's easy to do so, while never being quite convinced about how much difference it makes. Not so in this upcoming election. After 8 years of unnecessary, yet excruciatingly expensive wars with so many people dying for no good reason, failed economic policies that will create problems for all of us for many years to come, loss of civil liberties supposedly protecting us from terrorism, and the loss of all respect in the world, it surely is time for a change. Yes, there is a time for every empire, including this one to fall, but there's some wiggle room in how painful it will be for most of us. For friends and family in CA - if you're wondering what the political climate is like in these here parts - the upcoming election makes me realize more than ever that I'm not in San Francisco anymore. PA, while a blue collar, pro labor Dem state most of the time, is now one of the crucial swing states. In these enlightened times you'd think that everyone (with an annual income of $249,000 or less) would enthusiastically vote for a candidate committed to shifting the tides in favor of the poor and middle class, in bringing good jobs back to the US, creating infrastructure to finally utilize alternative energy sources and diminish our reliance on foreign oil, ending a senseless war, paying women equal wages... But, no... racism seems to trump all of that. So many people here refuse to vote for a black man. They believe the allegations that he's a Muslim (His father who left the family when Barak was about two years old gave him a Muslim name, but in fact he is a Christian, <a href="http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/sliming_obama.html" target="_blank">http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/sliming_obama.html</a> .) As well, the idea that all Muslims are terrorists is disturbing in itself. There are large Muslim communities here in the US, consisting up upstanding and productive citizens. This Muslim hating/blaming/oppressing trend is reminiscent of the Nazis, shortly before WW2. They think he'll take their guns away (though there's no indication he'll do that with law abiding citizens - no one is challenging our constitutional right to bear arms).For some people I've spoken with, as a volunteer for the campaign, abortion is a serious deal breaker. They emphasize their belief in "the sanctity of life" above all...No reasonable person thinks that abortion is a good option. But in this imperfect world, there are so many instances where, unfortunately, it is the best option. Bringing large numbers of unwanted children into the world can be so much worse than terminating a collection of cells, when a woman feels this is her best option. Currently, there are restrictions on late term abortions. Once an embryo begins to develop consciousness and feel pain, of course it's too late to abort it (unless the mother's life is in danger). However, if we make it difficult for a woman to get an abortion - if she has a long waiting period or has to take time off work and travel to get one, we are exacerbating the problem, often forcing her to get a late term abortion.Unfortunately, criminalizing abortions doesn't stop women from having them. Often their situation or life circumstances are such that they're not in a positon to have a child. Then, a relatively simple procedure becomes a very dangerous, even fatal, undertaking. Even if given up for adoption, many unwanted children don't manage to find good homes. There are too many orphans, and overpopulation is a serious concern.I don't wish an abortion upon anyone, but I wouldn't impose my wishes on them. We can never know exactly where another person is at, what is right for her/him at any given time. These things should not be legislated. Ironic how the same people who support economic "deregulation" want the government to control the most intimate of personal decisions. I happen to be a believer and supporter of life too. I'm both pro life and pro choice. That's why I don't think we should be killing innocent Iraqis by the thousands and I don't think we should be sending all the "poor boys to fight a rich man's war". In fact, because I'm such a big fan of life, rarely, if ever, do I believe that starting a war is justified. When I ask McCain supporters why we're in the war in Iraq, they usually don't know quite what to say.By now even Americans getting their news soley from the mainstream media know that the Iraq war is doing nothing to protect us from terrorism. The curtailing an evil dictator and bringing democracy to Iraq argument doesn't make sense either. It's so random... are we going to rescue every country with an evil dictator?Most Americans have no clue about the true meaning of war. It's been a very long time since we've had one here. I believe I have a unique perspective, being the child of holocaust survivors. War not only senselessly kills large numbers people, tears families and communities apart, but it also destroys the lives of the veterans who manage to come back. War messes people up on every level - physically, emotionally, mentally... How would your life change if you lost a loved one, especially a young one? What do you think it would be like to live without a limb or two? To live with post traumatic stress disorder? The billions of dollars we, the tax payers, are spending on these wars is creating more debt than we can ever sustain. What happens when you can no longer keep borrowing? What could we be doing with that money that will actually be constructive and helpful? If you truly care about life, please don't support warmongers.Because I'm pro life, I have respect for the lives of all living creatures. I don't eat them, and do my very best not to kill insects. As a proponent of life, I also believe that we need some checks and balances in the "free market". Sadly, the current state of the free market is resulting in a serious disrespect of "life". Animals, in the interest of higher profits, are crammed into tight quarters, with no room to move, shot up with hormones to fatten them up, fed urine soaked newspapers and unappetizing parts of their slaughtered brothers and sisters. If all the life supporters truly care about life so much, why support this industry? The medical and pharmaceutical industries, left unregulated, also prioritize profit over life. Unnecessary drugs and operations often do more harm than good, while resulting in what every for profit business covets - regular repeat customers. Do you know that a very high percentage of hysterectomies are more beneficial for the doctor than the patient? Health insurance and medical industry reform are also issues close to my heart. I haven't had health insurance for a few years, and of course this is a significant risk. As a self employed person, it's not easy finding good and affordable health insurance options. It's a tough dilemma - do I take another straight job for the health insurance, or continue as an entrepreneur and do what I really want to be doing? So many Americans go bankrupt and/or lose their houses because they're either uninsured or "underinsured", and incur significant medical expenses. This is unacceptable, and I appreciate Obama's plan to make health insurance and medical care more reasonable. It's certainly not going to be easy at this point. Much of the damage has been done. And even if the best man wins, there is no guarantee that he will actually get the job. Election fraud, as usual is in full swing.For those who missed the story, here's MSNBC's Rachel Maddow on election fraud:<object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="450" height="350" data="http://www.youtube.com/v/nna4_7k7UoM" id="ltVideoYouTube"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/nna4_7k7UoM" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /><param name="allowScriptAcess" value="sameDomain" /><param name="quality" value="best" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="FlashVars" value="playerMode=embedded" /></object> Also, take a look at <a href="http://videothevote.org" target="_blank">http://videothevote.org</a>. They encourgage people to video themselves at the polls. There's some truly disturbing stuff surfacing as a result of this project. Take a look at this video, about the reliability of the voting machines:<a href="http://videothevote.org/video/384/" target="_blank">http://videothevote.org/video/384/</a>Ironic how, while blatantly stealing elections in the past and present, Republicans are pointing fingers at ACORN, an organization on a mission to empower low income and minority communities. Yes, they hired some people to register voters, some of whom filled out voter registration forms with fake information. But imaginary voters have no impact on elections. They just help ACORN employees fill their quotas, so they can get paid. Do I think that Barak Obama will solve all our problems and be able to follow through on all his good intentions? Of course not... But I do think that with an Obama presidency we would certainly change direction for the better. Wouldn't it be refreshing to have a smart person lead this country for a change?If you find yourself wondering about any of the crazy accusations about Obama, please check out <a href="http://imovedtopittsburgh.com/www.FactCheck.org" target="_blank">www.FactCheck.org</a> - an organization that checks political facts. It's totally impartial and non-partisan. And please please please be sure to vote... the stakes are higher than ever.   Believe it Or Not 2008-10-30T11:44:10Z emilie Carrboro, North Carolina http://IMovedToPittsburgh.com/blog/i-moved-to-pittsburgh/in-which-i-set-out-into-the-world-to-seek-my-fortune/2008/03/22/carrboro-north-carolina 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. After spending some time talking on the phone with Susan, this town seemed like a very good possiblity for relocation. And we really did like it there, though it was middle of summer, and very hot and muggy. We found everything we were looking for - an excellent health food co-op, spiritual community, progressive politics, interesting and friendly people... The health food co-op was the hub and gathering place for all the hippies, like many other towns with a health food co-op, only more so. This one had a large grassy field, right in front of the store, with picnic tables. Every Friday evening, it seemed like the whole town gathered there, to hang out with friends, and see the high quality entertainment. The week we were there, they had some live music and a nationally renowned theater troup. However, we talked to a real estate agent and looked around, to acess the real estate scene, and found out that we'd missed the boat on the good real estate bargains. Alas, by the time we discovered this town, many others had as well, and real estate values were already fairly high. When we asked about life and real estate, nearby but not directly in the city, we were told that even 20 minutes outside of Carrboro is not Carrboro. Meaning... how to say... not progressive...very backward... not a good place for us... Carrboro is a smallish town, with a really nice sense of community, and had a great vibe. It's very close to Chapel Hill, which apparently has a strong job scene and other common big city offerings. The University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, is also nearby. It would definitely go on my top 5 list of progressive, interesting towns we'd encountered on this trip. In Which We Set Out Into the World to Seek Our Fortune 2008-03-22T11:54:39Z emilie Knoxville, Tennesse http://IMovedToPittsburgh.com/blog/i-moved-to-pittsburgh/in-which-i-set-out-into-the-world-to-seek-my-fortune/2008/03/11/knoxville-tennesse 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). It was exceedingly difficult to find anything Dan would eat. If it wasn't for bread, fruit, and fried potatoes, he might have become a breatharian. EVERYTHING was deep fried. After living for 15 years in health conscious California, I was sad to see everyone eating so much crap. I wondered how they could function eating like that, but most people did seem to be very happy and full of life, and much more chilled out. Perhaps deep fried foods don't necessarily lead to disaster? Or does it just take a little while to catch up with you? At one point, driving the backroads of Tennessee, we saw about 12 churches in one small town, not too far apart from each other. But no matter how hard we looked we couldn't find one grocery store. Who needs food when you've got Jesus? Our Hospitality Club host family in Knoxville was certainly not typical for the Area. Frank, Misko and their two daughters were not natives of Knoxville, but liked the slower pace and affordable cost of living. They were very progressive, interesting and we had a very nice time together. Knoxiville was a very modern, clean and progressive town. One day, we were wandering around, and found a local radio station/cafe/Chamber of Commerce, where they had excellent live music shows. The showes were being recorded for the radio station, and free to the public as a live show. What a great idea! In Which We Set Out Into the World to Seek Our Fortune 2008-03-11T15:54:10Z emilie Nashville, Tennesee http://IMovedToPittsburgh.com/blog/i-moved-to-pittsburgh/in-which-i-set-out-into-the-world-to-seek-my-fortune/2008/02/29/nashville-tennesee 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.Heading East, Nashville was where our hosts started offering to meet us in an easy to find place, instead of giving us directions to their house. We thought it was funny, until we realized that there's some very funky, convoluted city planning going on in certain areas, and meeting someone is much easier than giving directions. You might think it's because they wanted to see if we seemed like responsible, un-sketchy people, but I didn't really get that feeling. I think they were just trying to help us avoid getting very lost, which we most certainly would.Our host was exceedingly hospitable, and we felt very much at home in his apartment. Despite the fact that we were not too compatible on the drinking front, we very much enjoyed hanging out with him. Michal must have drunk 12 beers for every one I drank (and 0 beers for Dan).  One of my Nashville objectives was to go see/hear some good music. However, everywhere you go in Nashville, you are in a cloud of smoke. EVERYONE is smoking all of the time! It's almost as bad as Paris and Montreal, where people even smoke in church.Dan couldn't handle sitting in a bar for more than ten minutes, as he's very sensitive to smoke. Needless to say, we didn't partake in the night life too much : (  We walked around a bit on the main drag, where all the bars and music venues are, just to check out the scene. Luckily, though, there was a music festival in the park that weekend, which featured some excellent bands, and lots of fun. The big park in Nashville was really big and nice, and had free wi-fi : ) We spent much of our time chillin in the park, and at the beautiful big public library. While sitting in a secluded corner at the library, some teenagers called out to us: "No making out in the library!" hehehe... I just love it when rowdy teenagers scold my behavior!  Finding vegan food for Dan was a little challenging, but we found a Baja Fresh (healthy Mexican fast food), which we kept gravitating too.Another thing we noticed right around this point heading easward was how African Americans were extra nice to us. After a couple of times an AA person very sweetly offered to let me go ahead of them in line in a store for no apparent reason, I started wondering what was up with that. I think they are socialized to treat white people with reverance in the South, and I'm just so not used to that. If anything, I've run into AA's who were very hostile toward me for being white. But I think everyone seemed a bit more friendly and laid back in the South. Everyone wasn't in a rush all the time, which is what I'm used to. I think people just don't have to work as hard just to get by there, because the cost of living is more affordable.We found Nashville to be a very nice, modern, affordable, chilled out town, with nice people. Too bad about all the smoke. In Which We Set Out Into the World to Seek Our Fortune 2008-02-29T16:50:52Z emilie Raw Foods, New Friends, Satsangs, etc http://IMovedToPittsburgh.com/blog/i-moved-to-pittsburgh/believe-it-or-not/2008/02/22/raw-foods-new-friends-satsangs-etc 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. Wendi and Jim of <a href="http://www.purejeevan.com/">purejeevan.com</a> hosted this meetup. Pure Jeevan is a website offering a holistic approach to health, raw food recipes and workshops, spiritual retreats, a very active and informative blog, and much more. Sampling their raw creations was a real treat. I especially liked the carob coconut balls.Everyone brought a raw dish to share, and I was very inspired by what people came up with. Surprisingly, there were many delicious desserts involving chocolate or carob. At one point, Wendi mentioned a new ashram, only 2 hours from Pittsburgh - <a href="http://leelamata.com/">Leela Mata Peaceful Valley Ashram</a>. I'd seen an ad for this ashram, and was very curious and interested in it because Leela Mata is a disciple of Swami Vishnu Devananda, of the Sivananda lineage. I used to go to the Sivananda Ashram in Grass Valley, CA, and to the Sivananda Yoga Center in San Francisco on a regular basis. It was one thing I missed about California, and now the ashram is even closer to my house than it was in SF.Then, Wendi invited me to Satsang the following evening, with Devaki, from the Peaceful Valley Ashram. I hadn't been to a Sivananda Satsang in a very long time, so I was very happy to come. It's very hard to explain, but for me, there is something very familiar and magical about the Sivananda yoga practice, Satsang, and just being in the Ashram or Yoga centers. I think it's because they are able to set the energy to be very peaceful and uplifting. (At a Sivananda Satsang, we usually meditate, sing uplifting chants, and have discussions about spiritual teachings and the nature of life.)At Satsang, Devaki played beautiful music on the harmonium, and led the chants - most in Sanskrit, but some in English. I was very happy to meet Devaki. She is so passionate about building up the ashram.The ashram was purchased in 2006 and needed quite a bit of work. With the help of some very helpful volunteers, it's coming along beautifully. And, they are always open to having folks come up, participate in the activities, and lend a hand with the rest of the rennovations. Check out the Ashram website: <a href="http://imovedtopittsburgh.com/www.leelamata.com">www.leelamata.com</a>. Lately I can't think of too many things I used to do in SF, that I'm not finding here. Though, I wouldn't mind a City College of SF, here in Pgh.    Believe it Or Not 2008-02-22T09:58:04Z emilie Ice Storm http://IMovedToPittsburgh.com/blog/i-moved-to-pittsburgh/believe-it-or-not/2008/02/03/ice-storm 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.<img src="http://IMovedToPittsburgh.com/gallery/2/2-86.jpg" border="0" /><img src="http://IMovedToPittsburgh.com/gallery/2/2-85.jpg" border="0" /> <img src="http://IMovedToPittsburgh.com/gallery/2/2-87.jpg" border="0" /> Believe it Or Not 2008-02-03T21:02:39Z emilie Our Grand Art Project http://IMovedToPittsburgh.com/blog/i-moved-to-pittsburgh/believe-it-or-not/2007/12/31/our-grand-art-project 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.<img src="http://IMovedToPittsburgh.com/gallery/2/2-68.jpg" border="0" /><img src="http://IMovedToPittsburgh.com/gallery/2/2-69.jpg" border="0" /><img src="http://IMovedToPittsburgh.com/gallery/2/2-70.jpg" border="0" /><img src="http://imovedtopittsburgh.com/gallery/2/2-82.jpg" border="0" /><img src="http://imovedtopittsburgh.com/gallery/2/2-81.jpg" border="0" /> <img src="http://IMovedToPittsburgh.com/gallery/2/2-71.jpg" border="0" /> Wanna see something scary? Here's the bathroom floor after we screwed up the tiling job.<img src="http://IMovedToPittsburgh.com/gallery/2/2-80.jpg" border="0" /> Happy new year! Believe it Or Not 2007-12-31T15:03:44Z emilie