Big Dog Coffee Shop ~ South Side Pittsburgh

Today, my studying took place at this adorable coffee shop, Big Dog Coffee Shop, in Pittsburgh’s South Side area.  I love the brick patio outdoor seating.  It is beautifully gardened with draping vines, an antique fence, pots overflowing with green leafy plants, ferns and autumn flowers and beautiful wrought iron cafe tables and chairs.  It is a refreshing environment change from increasingly barren trees and dry crispy grasses, weeds, leaves and flowers.  I love watching the birds, especially chickadees, and feeling the crisp air.  The scenery is inspiring.  Also, the coffee is delicious and I loved the chocolate scone.  I feel like a Victorian era princess.  My plan is to visit many unique, beautiful cafes in the city pf Pittsburgh this fall and winter season.

 

 

 

The Story ‘O the Possom

Today, my mother and I were having one of our usual philosophical discussions, and the topic fell upon the word “Opossum”.  We had been talking of the difficulty and idiocy of sounding out words for spelling.  This has been a lifelong struggle for us both;  one simply cannot hope to spell correctly using this technique if one does not speak correctly, and this reminded me of a story; one of Opossums.

A long time ago, in a land far, far, away, a friend and I were seated in a park talking.  Dusk had fallen, and friend was yammering on and on about the threats and dangers posed by the wild creatures lurking in the wilderness of this particular man-made park situated in a busy, Pennsylvanian suburb.  The most fearsome beast, claimed friend, the Opossom.  I laughed and laughed, and laughed some more, recently having pilgrimaged from far, far, up and away, in the rocky mountains.  A place where beasts are in fact beasts, and not critters.  What stood out in my mind: friend pronounced the word “Possom”.  I was like “duude, no dude, no, its OOOpossum”.   Friend was all like “actually, its possum”.  I was like “dude… I’m pretty sure “pawsum” is like the hick term for Opossum”.  Friend was all like (mad phone skills) “look”.  And sure enough, the term was pronounced Possum.

I told my mother this story, and we came to some conclusions: During the creation of the word Opossum, the O was in fact pronounced.  The trouble fell in that the natural habitat of the Opossum, is in fact with hicks in the hills.  The hicks, being ill-versed in the finer intricacies of the English language, dropped the o and (through grass chomped on with teeth, both crooked and missing) set forth the new pronunciation: pawsum.  The detail of how to properly pronounce the word became lost knowledge, because of lack of use by other, more literate, members of the general public.  When the word was once again discovered and used by the general public, it came straight from the hicks’ mouth, and the O was pronounced to be a silent letter.  The word then phonetically became possum.

Doing some research into the truth of the matter, I found that Opossum and Possum are actually two different classifications of marsupial.   As far as pronunciation goes, I’m still clueless.  Some say Oopossum, some say Possum, some say uhPossum.  From what I can determine, uhPossum seems to be the correct phonetics of the word in reference to Opossum’s.   Yet if the O actually is silent, I think I may now spell it, ipossum.  That’s it from me on the legend of the opossum. Power to the opossums, people!

Peace and love and opossums,

Abby

A History of Incense

Incense is a wonderful thing.  It gives warm ambiance and soothes the soul.  My mother has burned it all my life and I feel very comfortable and at ease whenever the ‘fires’ have been lit.  My favorite type is sandalwood.  I really appreciate the strong, deep, traditional, scents. I also love watching the patterns of the smoke and the way it flows.  It can be entrancing.  Studying doesn’t seem as daunting a task with a warm cup of tea and incense aglow.  Researching is one of my passions, so today I looked up to see what I could find on the history of incense.  I had already known that it had been used in Hindu and ancient Egyptian rituals to worship deities, but I wondered if I could find anything more in depth.  Basically all I found was that almost every ancient culture used incense for religious rituals and perfume.  High standing people in societies, such as rulers, burned it for pleasure.   Incense use decreased with the prosecution of pagans who used it to reportedly summon the spirits of nature gods and goddesses.  One tale of incense lore that particularly stood out in my mind was Irish, stating that leprechauns would, when feeling threatened, burn incense in their cauldrons of treasure to dissuade anyone from stealing it.  This investigation did remind me of the inclusion of incense in the bible.  I had been associating it with old cultures and hippies for a while now.  So really, incense has been all the rage with societies around the world for thousands and thousands of years.

An Eyebrow Investigation

Everything about eyebrows eludes me.  What their purpose is, how to pluck them, appreciate them, etc, etc, etc.  I have never failed to mess mine up.  I even have a permanent eyebrow regret!  As a child, I was impatiently  rushing to dinner on three separate occasions, and, upon rounding a bend, slammed right into the pointy, corner of the wall.  One may think I learned patience and therefore benefited from this episode.  But did I?  No.  The only result was a slightly dented skull and unruly right eyebrow.  Today, I have decided, is the day I shall begin a quest to make peace with me ‘brows.  Doing some research, I found an Eyebrow Wikipedia page that gave me some good information.

I discovered that nobody really knows what eyebrows are for.  However, there are a few reputable theories.  The one that hits home with me the most, is that eyebrows prevent moisture from running into the eye.  It made me have a total change of heart about mine.  Tennis, played in a hot, indoor court, has taught me that stuff running into one’s eye, blinds, stings and burns.  A lot.  The gratitude from my eyeballs is real.  The ‘brows are taking one for the team.

Another interesting point that I failed to consider, was that eyebrows are a main key to facial expressions.  Until reading about this, it honestly never occurred to me that I actually use and think about my eyebrows all the time!  I have a hard time keeping them under control.  I’m always thinking like “oh yikes dude I wish they hadn’t done that”.  They’re always jumping all over the place.  I also realized I look at eyebrows all the time, and have been frequently, since I started attending public high school.  Most of my life I’ve spent looking at familiar eyebrows.

I’m not sure where this all leaves me, but I do have a greater appreciation of eyebrows.  A deeper understanding.  I do feel a tiny bit scared of mine at the moment, just because I’ve never thought about them before in this sort of way.  I’m going to have to take some time to reflect on all of these things.

My First Steeler’s Game at Three Rivers Stadium

Sunday, October 9th, I attended my second ever professional football game.  The Steeler’s played the Jets in Pittsburgh, at the Three Rivers Stadium.  I am a huge Steeler’s fan and have grown up with them my entire life as my parents are from Pittsburgh, and are huge fans.  I loved seeing the ‘new’ stadium and watching the players in person.  My grandfather was an eyewitness to the immaculate reception (something he is IMMENSELY proud of), and I also got to see the spot where the wonder play occurred.  I felt I was able to come full circle with my history and become much more of a fan myself.  It was also the last time the Steeler’s were to ever wear their throwback uniform from the 70’s, more affectionately referred to as the jailbird or bumble bee uniform.  The Steeler’s won, I cheered, waved my new terrible towel, ate some amazing food, and, in general, just had an outstanding time.  I definitely see myself attending more games in the future.  Maybe even this year, cause I’m pretty sure, and all of Pittsburgh, is eternally in the belief that “Pittsburgh’s going to the super bowl”.  Let’s go Steeler’s!!!

My Application of Physics to Physical Activities

Every Thursday, I take a tennis class and yoga lesson.  These activities have been teaching me a lot about correct ways to perform movements, and the reasoning behind the techniques.  As of late, they have enabled me to become much more self aware.    One difficulty I have encountered in both, is properly balancing myself.  In tennis, an issue I have been struggling with is ‘coiling’ my body to exert more force when hitting the ball.  In yoga, I have had issues ‘centering’ myself in order to remain grounded enough to maintain certain poses.  I have been taking a basic physics class this semester, and during the past week, the topic has focused on forces, and their interactions with objects, and their motions.  I enjoy thinking about physics, and this week, during my lessons, I had forces on the brain, and attempted to apply my new knowledge.

At tennis class, I concluded that Isaac Newton’s 2nd law, F=ma, is the reason for the technique of coiling.  Coiling increases your acceleration, because uncoiling involves a change in direction and a change in velocity, which are both accelerations, therefore increasing the total force you can apply to the ball.  Also, I realized that normal force is a reason behind why you should push one leg off the ground when uncoiling.  Normal force, is the force applied by an object to its supporting surface.  According to Newton’s 3rd law, for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction, the same amount of force you push off the ground with, should be applied back to you, by the ground.  This would, therefore, also increase the amount of force able to be exerted upon the ball.

In the yoga lesson, I felt that the concepts of normal force and Newton’s 3rd law could be applied as well.  Both could explain my current inability to properly balance.  Standing incorrectly, could, instead of evenly distributing my weight, focus it all on one particular area, causing a massive force on one particular part of my body, straining it, instead of alleviating the stress by spreading the force out over a larger area. If I could manage to focus, and evenly distribute my weight, my balance should drastically improve.

The Importance I Found in Maintaining Perspective

The struggles I have been enduring recently have given me a wake-up call about reality.  I have learned to genuinely appreciate such difficulties because of their educational value.  I am grateful, because they have brought to my attention the lack of perspective in my life.  I have been going through scares recently about things like deadlines and occurrences in relationships with the people in my life.  I have learned that getting in a tizzy over minor, though important, stuff, is a bad way to accomplish anything and/or remain happy.  Getting worked up about small things can make a girl delusional about what really is important.  I’m going to keep a good strong core to my being in order to experience life and  difficulties without blowing things way out of proportion and ruining my precious time.  I realize that I can be determined and buckle-down to do work without being anxious or pressured.  Walking my talk doesn’t have to be a stressful ordeal.  I’m going to keep in mind Buddha’s Four Noble Truths.  Incessant suffering and struggling is definitely not my cup of tea.

My Perspective on Trees

Trees are a mystery.  I love them and always have.  In the past two years however, I began relating with them on a different level.  It started with really focusing on the patterns the trunk, branches and leaves form, or in some cases needles.  I noticed first in Colorado at night when the light of the full moon was illuminating the empty space between the lines.  It was stunning and one of my favorite revelations.  It made me see the world in a much more beautiful way.  moving across the country gave me a lot of time to study the trees of various states.  I connected with the sturdiness of the pines and the rich, dark, needles and the deep smell of them in clean air untainted by pollution.  They stood firm with few bushes and undergrowth.  They gave off solid light as it wasn’t heavily filtered by the leaves.(clean lines)

Once having moved to philly I lost a lot of my relation to trees.  They didn’t work the same way.  It took a little while but I began to appreciate the softness of the philedelphian decidous forest.  the trees seem friendlier and more feminine.  The branches aree infinitely more intricate in detail and the leaves dapple the light creating a fairy lit effect.  They blow in a more fluttery pattern and seem more free and flexible as the leaves easily catch air.

There are so many thoughts and question that run through my mind when thinking of them.  But what do I really know? nothing.  Theyre so simple, yet intricate and complex.  And we coexist withought weighing each other down and needing to concern amongst ourselves about what the other is thinking, doing, plotting.  We just are.   And are forever at peace.  I love trees unconditionally.  And it is because of this.  There is only enjoyment.  Trees are on of the main sources of pleasure in my life.  If i could exist in an environment with only one other object it wouldd be a tree.  I cant even understand why I love them so much.  This makes me wonder why the tree of life symbol was created and how it came about.  What understanding did they have of trees?   Upon further research it appears that many different ancient cultures all had the tree of life and their own symbolism and meaning of trees.  Something that will be addressed in latter posts.

Kansas ~ Dust in The Wind

Dust in the Wind is a beautiful, haunting song I have been listening to for most of my life.  Until recently, however, I had never truly ‘heard’ it.  My mother suggested we listen to it a week or so ago, and for the first time I found myself paying attention to the lyrics, the instruments, and sound of this man’s voice.  It changed me as a person.  The notes of the guitar made my heart feel ridiculously light, I fell in love with the passion in his voice, the gorgeous strings of the violin transfixed me, putting me under a spell of emotions I knew, yet never realized I was experiencing.  From that moment on, I sought to have a new relationship with music.  Reflecting back, I believe my enthrallment can be best described in the song Finally Moving by The Pretty Lights.

At the point of having this experience, I was feeling stressed and overwhelmed by my new academic and social life.  I felt dragged under the water by not having enough time for everything I needed to achieve.  What cried out to me first in this song was the lyric “all your money won’t another minute buy”.  I realized the pressure and frantic confusion I was encouraging in myself, was stupid, and that I was destroying my life.  For the first time I can remember, I became the single most important thing in my life.  I understood that what I was trying to accomplish was there to help, not harm me.  I loved “everything crumbles to the ground though we refuse to see”.  My focus turned inward to myself, and I isolated what was important to me: deeply feeling and experiencing.  I valued attention to detail.  Living in depth became important to me.

Whoa, I was immersed in revelation, all because I took the time to listen to a song.  Finally, ‘being in the moment’ and ‘being in the present’ made complete sense.  I suppose I had understood them before, but gave them no value, took the advice for granted.  Really, I don’t think I understood what they meant.  I thought I was in the moment, I was in present. This event showed me clearly I wasn’t and hadn’t been since I was a small child.  This makes me wonder what else I think I embrace, but in reality am only grazing on the surface…  I realized the message of Realize It by The Dirty Heads.

Beginning My Painting Journey

I have never really had all that much interest in painting.  I would give it a try from time to time, but the detailed, intricate style I loved and wanted to create wasnt very supportive of the impatient artist.  I always seemed to loose interest when I would attempt to buckle down and develop the skills. I wanted to get to the fun part of painting and create a masterpiece right away.  Instant art prodigy was not this girl.  So after a few of these attempts over the years I wrote it off as not for me.

Recently however I was introduced to the Bob Ross painting show, and OH MY GOD I was in love.  The art, his voice, the stories, and best of all, how seemingly easy and quick his style of painting is.  And it looks realistic with a seemingly lot of detail!  After watching a season, I was sold.  I decided to take up painting.

Taking a trip the art store, I purchased what I thought was the beginning supplies I would need. Oil paints, basic brushes, and canvases.  All good and I was ready to start painting. Or so I thought…

Before taking the time to practice and improve brush strokes and learning to use the palette knife, I decided to paint along with a Bob Ross episode for fun.  I  started with season 20: episode one.  My first mistake, I would say, was not prewatching the episode.  Suprise, suprise, the one I chose was exceedingly difficult.  Nevertheless I prevailed and I’m beyond thrilled with my first painting!!  His half hour painting show took me a grand total of 5 hours.  I loved every minute of it.  The only thing that was exceedingly challenging was my error in believing you could clean brushes full of oil paint with water.  As i soon discovered, that doesnt work.  At all.  To clean the brushes you need turpentine or a specific brush cleaner for oil painting.