Off I Go

I am off to Pittsburgh tomorrow with a BFF, to see a BFF. This is summer girls' weekend #2. (Yay!)

I have never been to Pittsburgh. For no good reason, I always envisioned it to be a gray, industrial, vaguely-depressing place - not nearly as sparkly as the photo above - but I am ready to be pleasantly surprised.

Plus, in preparation for my arrival, Pittsburgh recently opened an all-slots casino! (Thanks, Pittsburgh!) Perhaps a visit to this mystical place will provide temporary relief from the jonesing I've been doing for Las Vegas (I mean, come on, it's been 8 months). Better yet, perhaps I will win a million dollars in nickels. You just never know.

But the big news for this trip is that I will be accomplishing one of my 40 by 40 goals by visiting the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum!

Yes, that's right, we will be leaving the fine city of Pittsburgh to drive to the equally sexy city of Cleveland. I'd like to say that I will also be visiting one of Iron Chef Michael Symon's fine establishments while in Cleveland, but alas, the timing just isn't right. Will I ever get back to Cleveland? Well, you know, maybe...if I one day become BFFs with either of the Cleveland Michaels (Symon or Ruhlman), then maybe they will invite me to visit them and I'd have a reason to go back.

So, no, probably not.

Anyway, I am looking forward to a relaxing weekend with the girls. And I get to miss work on Monday, which is always a bonus. Even though I don't get paid vacation, it's still a bonus.

Tune in next week for the Pittsburgh/Cleveland recap!

To Write

For those of you who aren't regular readers of Michael Ruhlman's blog, I recommend checking out his latest post. Usually he writes about food and cooking, but this one is about writing, or, more accurately, his stance that the term "writer's block" is really just an excuse for laziness. 

I think he's probably right - and I say that knowing that I am among the laziest of writers - although I don't know that I agree with his implication that choosing to write "The Making of a Chef" in the four months before his wife warned they would be completely broke (they had an infant and he had just graduated from chef school), was an act of superior self-discipline that should be commended. It sounds more like self-centered stubbornness to me and I don't think there are many mothers who would make the same choice in that situation. But, I digress...this wasn't meant to be a criticism of Michael Ruhlman - I actually like the piece. (Plus, obviously the whole thing worked out well for him and his family.)

It's not the first time I've heard the recommendation to set a daily word limit and make yourself meet it, even if what you write is crap. Perhaps it's the combination of hearing it again paired with him hitting the nerve of still being able to do it even with other pressures and responsibilities upon you, but this time I feel like it's something I could actually do. What will I write? Well, let's hope that reveals itself somewhere in those hundreds of words that I promise myself to produce, starting...soon.