A Link to the Past and Future

This past week ramped up in activity preceptibly. One of my clients saw success in finding work in telemarketing, and he was deeply proud of himself, as I was too. I also had an opportunity to canvass the Allentown neighborhood to raise awareness of the Hilltop Alliance's forthcoming community forums, which are raised at generating dialogue about local issues and broaching the discussion of potential solutions. The pantry wasn't especially busy, serving eighteen families that translated to a total of fifty-one individuals. Those numbers should dramatically increase by Thursday as Brashear has agreed to serve as an emergency pantry for clients who patronize agencies closed as a result of the impending G20 conference. Brashear board members and staff also got involved in a strategic planning retreat over the weekend to discuss the direction, philosophy, and future of the agency. Although it was a long experience on a beautiful summer day, it was constructive and very positive.

On Friday night, Raji and I experienced our first Pittsburgh Pirates game through their "All You Can Eat" Seats promotion; we mostly fasted and resisted eating all day in order to maximize our performance at the game and I, rather disgustingly in retrospect, put away five hot dogs, three boxes of popcorn, five Pepsis, a burger, a half bad of peanuts, and an ice cream sandwich. PNC Park was absolutely beautiful and surprisingly engaging and intimate; Raji and I sat directly behind the right field foul pole where we witnessed the end of the pierogi race, the heartbreak of a budding ultimate fan as he failed to catch a foul ball (stolen by an adult, who in turn gave it to an elderly woman), and heard the cowbells and catcalls of devoted and cynical fans. In fact, the Pirates managed to win that evening convincingly 5-1.

Chavonne and I experienced our first week apart from one another in a sense. Since she has transitioned to her new position in shelter advocacy, she awakes an hour earlier than I and leaves work an hour before, compounding the lack of face time we experience due to school and internship. However, this weekend we tried to combine our sense of responsibility around the house and our need for companionship by doing nearly all we could together, including cleaning out sink drains in the bathroom (which had not been cleaned since before we moved in, judging by the color and length of the hair we found!), combing our house for important documents, taking in the cinema ("Meet the Robinsons," creepy at times and fairly adult, but still worth seeing), and saving the world.

Finally, football season has begun in earnest and the Dallas Cowboys opened their season in style last night at the most lavish and overwhelming structures ever seen; however, Tony Romo sadly forgot to show up for the game, horrible for my IRL football heart yet rousing for my fantasy team, the 2-0 Scarlet Pimpernels.

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