Upon my arrival back to Pittsburgh from SoCal for an 80th birthday celebration and a fam + friends party down in Mexico, my good friend Aaron Myers' parents house was to be a new home base for the intro to part II of my travels. Aaron is currently the sculpture TA at Bucknell, and with Pittsburgh being not insanely far away from Lewisburg, he made the very understandable decision to stay at school all summer to use the studio. This being the case, my second visit to Pittsburgh was not to see any of Aaron, but to see more hanging out with Claire, visiting another old friend Brian Swed, and random musings through Pittsburgh with Aaron's parents (and dogs).
The Myers' home was really perfect to be in. With all their kids now being out of the house, I got to utilize the whole third floor and be out of their way whenever necessary. Up in my room I got to put together ideas for what I wanted as my album artwork, so the isolation was good for my productivity. Otherwise, while everyone was working, I'd make my way towards the beautiful park nearby to get back into my running routine.
Brian Swed, another music enthusiast I know from Bucknell, was a new face for my Pittsburgh stay. Brian and I, more or less, had overlapping circles of friends but didn't actually get to hang out much in school. I do remember, however, seeing his iPod once and immediately befriending him based on his clearly awesome taste. Brian plays in a band and has a really great basement that they jam in, so for one of my nights I brought over my gear and we all got some jams in. The night ended just right -- and by that I mean with us watching Piranha.
A few different times, Mrs. Myers and I saw ourselves walking the dogs together -- using each other as incentive to get outside and active. Frick Park was a really beautiful location for one, and the other, the great commercial areas near their house in Squirrel Hill.
Once I got an invite to go to a party at Tara Hankinson's in Brooklyn while I was in Pittsburgh, I finally had a real push to get myself back on the road. On the way there, I would book it to Washington D.C. first to stay with one of my good friends, Alex Caughron.
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Alex lives about a twenty minute walk away from Dupont Circle, where another one of my friends, Brittany Singer lives. The first couple of nights staying with Alex were great, as they always are, since Alex and I can debate anything longer than most folks I know. Some nights saw bedtime far later than Alex probably would have preferred if we hadn't gotten carried away...
More of my day activities in D.C. continued on the goal of getting my album prepped for release, so daytime activities were less spectacular. Also, after going out to eat lunch with my Dad's cousin Anne and her husband Larry, I realized I would be able to stay in D.C. for all of August(!) to housesit for them. What an amazing deal! This being the case, there was far less urgency to take care of all that D.C. has to offer right up front for my first visit. Regardless, I did make my way out to see Brittany and a couple of other Bucknell faces who happened to attend the bar with her as well. I didn't realize how many of them were in this city...
more soon....
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Collaborate and be awesome.