Author Archives: Natalia

Café Causerie

Sometimes folks complain about the lack of international flava in the ‘Burgh. But there are actually lots of opportunities to get involved in activities with an international slant.

For example, if you would like to improve your français, Café Causerie is an informal group of native and non-native French speakers that meet at Kiva Han at Forbes and S. Craig St. in Oakland every other Saturday morning.

This Saturday, April 15th, they are meeting from 11h-12h30.

Here is some information I received about the group last summer, when I started attending:

“Il y a 1 ou 2 francais, des gens qui ont etudie en france, des gens qui vont etudier en france, une femme suisse, etc. Le niveau est assez haut, mais souvent des gens avec un niveau plus bas viennent pour ecouter et ca va. Nous sommes tres gentils et peuvons parler plus lentement aussi. Et, c’est TOUJOURS bon d’avoir des nouveaux gens, alors on serait tres heureuse si tu viens!”

Bon, venez a Kiva Han ce samedi pour parler francais! Peut-être vous me verrez. Vous êtes tous bienvenue!

Posting update

It appears that some folks who signed up to be able to post on the site never received their password. I fiddled with some things and hopefully the problem is fixed. So if you signed up earlier through the “Register” link on this front page and never recieved your password, please try again.

We apologize for the technical difficulties. Please let us know if you have any other problems. We’re here to help.

Pittsburgh REPRESENTS at the Webby Awards

webbyWell, well, well …

From over 5500 entries, two Pittsburgh-based websites have made it to the Webby Awards, the Internet version of the Oscars (Grammies, Golden Globes whatever.) Click here to read about the awards.

* Designed by Pittsburgh-based firm Wall-to-Wall productions, Carnegie Mellon University’s Admissions web site was nominated under the School/University Category. See:
http://my.cmu.edu/site/admission

* And under the Law category, JURIST, published by a team a faculty and students at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law was nominated, beating out a lot of other well-funded law sites. See:
http://jurist.law.pitt.edu

The winners will be judged on:
* Structure and Navigation
* Visual Design
* Functionality
* Interactivity
* Overall Experience

Congratulations to both nominees! The winners will be announced on May 9th – we wish you the best of luck!

Something Positive about PennDOT

For all you commuters, traffaholics and general cynics, the press release below just graced my inbox:

PENNDOT OFFERS PUBLIC INFORMATIONAL NEWSLETTER
Monthly publication will help keep motorists informed

Pittsburgh, PA (April 3, 2006) – The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) Engineering District 11 is pleased to announce the creation of a monthly newsletter designed to inform residents and motorists about PennDOT activities in Allegheny, Beaver, and Lawrence counties.

The newsletter, entitled PennDOT D-11 News, features articles written by PennDOT employees to help the public understand more about what PennDOT does and the people who work in District 11. The newsletter is available by email or through the District 11 website at www.dot.state.pa.us/district11.

PennDOT is offering the newsletter to anyone interested in receiving it. Please send your email address to jstruzzi at state.pa.us if you would like to be added to the distribution list for the newsletter. The newsletter is part of PennDOT District 11’s continuing efforts to better serve its customers, the traveling public, by offering more information and interaction opportunities.

Bruegger’s Bagels … People-watching!

So someone recently asked, “Where’s a good place to people-watch in Pittsburgh?”

The first place that occurred to me was surprisingly, Bruegger’s Bagels at 18th and Carson in the Southside. This place is a MADHOUSE on the weekends and during lunch. I discovered this about two weeks ago when I popped in one Sunday to pick up some coffee. Wow! It seems all of the Senior Citizens within an 18-block radius FLOCK there. It’s like the old country. I sat in a plush chair to do some reading and couldn’t help but overhear a table full of Polish seniors discuss the pros and cons of various buffets on the south side of the Mon. Here is a conversations I wanted to post to Overheard in Pittsburgh, but didn’t get around to doing (sorry Chris 🙂

Man #1: You know who has a good buffet?
Audience: Who? What? Where?
Man #1: The Olive Garden.
(murmurs of agreement)
Man #2: So where are the Olive Gardens these days?
Man #1: Well … I’ve been to the one in Greentree, and up there near Southland in West Mifflin.
Man #3 (wide-eyed): Wow, you’re a traveler! You really get around!

Also, I didn’t realize the the hospital cafeteria was open to the public (well, maybe i did, but i never considered it as a lunch option.)

i suspect they flock there because it’s less yuppie than Starbucks and definitely less eclectic than the Beehive. It’s a happy, senior medium. And it smells like BAGELS. Yum.

Where do you people-watch in Pittsburgh?