My Apologies To My City

I know for sure there was a time when I hated this place. The weather. The public transportation. The not-too-big, not-too-small-ness of it (planes from our airport fly to Chicago via Detroit, to Detroit via Chicago, once even to New York via Detroit). It's too hilly (pedestrian unfriendly), lacks parking (too car unfriendly), and has a subway system that doesn't quite serve the areas you would think it should.

It did have some awesome sights though. I remember my first view of Pittsburgh. Coming from the airport, as you exit Fort Pitt tunnel, the city's skyline takes up your whole view. Downtown; the shiny PPG Place; Heinz Field in all its glory, looking like an alien spaceship; PNC Park; Carnegie Science Center. The rivers add a nice touch to it, too. I rarely say this about anything, but the view was breathtaking, as I sat in the 28X, trudging slowly beside the Monongahela. Later on in my first week I was introduced to the quaint neighborhood of Squirrel Hill, with all its shops and al fresco cafés.

But I guess that was it. The cold soon came and I became a hermit staying indoors. I blame the buses (canceled trips), I blame the cold, I blame me being hung up, I blame the lack of shops nearby CMU, I blame the difficulties of fitting in, I blame CMU, I blame a lot more; I blame a lot.

But maybe it's the friends I made. Maybe it's the Steelers. Heck, maybe even the Pirates! I'm sure it wasn't Mt. Washington: I've yet to get a nice view up there. I doubt it's CMU; I'll only love this place the very day I have to leave for good. Maybe it's the unveiling of a million different things to eat by choosing to go katok? Maybe it's the fact that some people actually think this place is awesome (albeit compared to their 'rural' campus towns). Maybe it's the independence of living in my own place. The myriad of bridges, possibly?

Someone joked that a friend of his said it was "a bore" over here--"nothing much, really". And that hurt. It struck home. But I am not moved by the fact that someone could say something like that and know that I can't say much in defense. Or that someone thinks little of The 'Burgh. What surprises me is that I am affected by those mere words. And that can only mean that I actually love my city. I love Pittsburgh.

This is long due, Steel City: I am sorry.

...And He Takes The Lead!

With the addition of two pairs of ridiculously discounted shoes from adidas during the Black Friday sale, I now lead Dian 18-16 in our ongoing Perang Kasut.

The score, however, will not remain the same for long, as two or three pairs still in service will have to be retired. This shall make the task of keeping the lead a tricky one; it is unwise to rest on our laurels over a whisker-thin lead.

And we must never underestimate the willingness-to-buy of a girl who will never accept losing something like this to a guy.

But let's not let it rain on our parade. I now have the lead.

Ladies & Gentlemen, This Woman Is Awesome!

If you have the opportunity, take the time to read Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss. It's a best-selling book about punctuation. Yes. Punctuation.

The author is, in many ways, my hero. Admitting to a severe case of obsession on punctuation, she has always had a thing against the wrongful treatment of apostrophes, hyphens, brackets and ellipses. With her rallying cry "sticklers unite!" she calls upon people everywhere to unleash their inner stickler and correct the moronic punctuation errors we see: misplaced/missing apostrophes, confusion between it's and its, uneducated placement of commas, and many more. Much is also advocated about the colon and semi-colon: how their lack of use is slowly killing them off. Lynn Truss even took it upon herself to grab a marker (Sharpie, to you Americans) and apostrophise the horror that is the title of promotional posters for Two Weeks Notice.

Most of us have left school and lessons of grammar of any sort for quite some time now. While this book may not be a 'grammar bible' of sorts, it does point out the mistakes we fail to see, as well as the ambiguity of language in the modern day. Punctuation has come a long way since it was first introduced in the 15th century, and has many differing schools of thought and styles. In fact, more often than not, punctuation is more a question of style. However, there are some very interesting facts many of us never learnt.

For instance, 'Jones' in Bridget Jones's Diary quite rightly has a second s. Apparently, names that end in s do. Ancient names like Achilles and Archimedes, however, are an exception to the rule.

This is all hanky-panky bullshit, you say? Well, that's what separates people like you, and OCDs like us.