Blog of Josh Hall

The Pittsburgh housing authority has approved a sale of land to Pitt for new athletic facilities.  The property is right next to the Oak Hill apartments.  The land left over will be sold to Beacon developers to more than double the number of housing units of Oak Hill.  This is great stuff for 2 reasons.  The obvious reason would be so many new houses in an otherwise undeveloped section of the Hill.  More houses mean more residents.  More residents mean demand for more restaurants, stores, etc.  More development also bridges the shady gaps of the Hill district and makes it a more aesthetically pleasing place to live.  All of that leading to higher property values.

The second good thing to come from this is having pitt’s footprint spread beyond Oakland.  The further into the Hill District that Pitt goes, the more student foot traffic the Hill will see.  Eventually, they’ll see Centre avenue as a great route to downtown.  Pitt creeping into the Hill district really fills in the blanks around the area and all just becomes a well blended section of the City.  So when you’re driving down Centre Avenue, you don’t have that obvious unsettling feeling of, "oh, we must be in the Hill District now."  It’ll be seamless, just like going from shadyside to squirrel Hill.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08207/899398-53.stm?cmpid=news.xml

I read in a book a while back, forget what it was, that to catch raccoons, all you have to do is stick something shiny in a log that won’t come out easily, and when a raccoon sees it, it will not let it go if it can’t get it out of the hole.  Something similar happened today on my walk to work today that was hilarious, to me at least.  Someone had dropped a ziplock bag of cashews or something on the sidewalk and a bird was pulling and pecking away at it.  It was really showing signs of desperation in its efforts.  I was picturing the monkey banging on something it couldn’t figure out.  I’d almost want to do this for entertainment purposes when I get bored.  Would that be animal abuse?

So I’m taking a shower, and I’m doing my Stevie Wonder impression facing the water, and I wonder where I learned that behavior.  I mean, I don’t think I was ever told how to take a shower.  Sure, we all were washed in the tub growing up, sometimes with others, but when we got old enough to take a shower, you were just pointed in the right direction, told how to engage the shower head, and left to it.  Weird.  I think that’s why so many people have so many different ways of taking showers.  Some people like "me time" in the shower and just hang out and sing and do whatever you want to because you’re naked and no one is around.  Some people just want to get in and out for those same reasons; you’re naked and no one is around.  There’s certainly a ritual that goes into taking showers too, that just develops like a Pavlovian response.  Water falling on my head — grab the shampoo.  It’s all taboo too, isn’t it?  You can’t ask someone what they do in the shower in normal dinner conversation.  You can ask someone what their morning routine is, or their normal route to work, or even the way they like their ice-cream, but shower time is private time.  I’m not saying I’m wanting to ask people the question, just that there are tons of variations that include radios, brushing teeth, rinsing and repeating, duration, and so much more, that really gives some insight into the personality of a person, but no one talks about it.

Watching the wind blow by
Watching the clouds cover the sky
Watching the rain camouflage tears
Watching the leaves wither with fears.

Seeing the sky fill over by a shadow
Seeing the lightning strobe the below
Seeing the debris wrestle with the wind
Seeing leaves on trees which they’re pinned.

Hearing the wind rattle the screens
Hearing the rain fall like beans
Hearing the thunder dampen screams
Hearing this storm, interrupts my dreams.

"Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised."
  

I woke up today and this song was in my head.  I have never had this song in mp3, and I have no idea when the last time I ever heard it.  I can’t even say that I think it’s a great song.  But it was repeating in my head.