Tiffany Trivia: Pittsburgh Edition

Write about whatever you'd like, but write using regional slang, your dialect, or in your accent.

Today, I decided to kill a few birds with one stone.  I am writing to the prompt, reviving an old series from the blog (Tiffany Trivia), and addressing the "random facts about me" meme that is storming facebook.  Thanks for indulging me.

As a kid, growing up in the Ohio Valley, Pittsburgh was our closest local city, so I really considered myself a 'burgh girl long before I moved there.  I grew up saying y'inz and eating chipped ham sandwiches.  Plenty of my friends lived by the crick.  And even my small little town had its share of jagoffs.

So, it really should have come to no surprise that I ended up living in Pittsburgh for several years.  Even though I do not technically live in the burgh now, I still live close enough to visit often.  Today, I am going to take time to remember all my favorite things in Pittsburgh, and to discuss the quintessential Pittsburgh things that just do not click with me.  Pardon me if I slip into Pittsburghese now and then.

When many people think Pittsburgh, they think about watching the Stillers and eatin a Primanti's sammich.  Here is a little secret about me: I do not really like either of those Pittsburgh icons.  I know, I know, I should turn in my burgher card now.  Do not get me wrong, I do not HATE the Steelers, I just really do not care about football that much.  I also do not HATE Primanti's.  I just do not their coleslaw that much.  If I were going to do a Pittsburgh sports and dinner date night, it would be watchin da Pens and eatin a corned beef sammich from Sammy's.

Taking the incline up Mount Washington is always a fun burgh activity.  The view is gorgeous, a great place to take pictures.  But my favorite place ta look down on the city is the West End Overlook.  I used ta go there a lot when I lived there, and there would hardly ever be anyone there.  It was always a nice quiet place to go and reconnect with the world around me.  A close second is the view as you cross the Veteran's Bridge.  But usually I am goin to fast to enjoy it too long.

Everyone in Pittsburgh, at least the Sahth Hills where I lived, loves Fiori's pizza.  I admit, I have never eaten it.  Instead my favorite pizza place was The Pizza Company down in Castle Shannon.  Best breadsticks and wings ever.  That is one of the few places that actually tempts me to eat gluten.

Most burghs, at some point in their lives, spent some time carousing in the SahSide.  I never really cared much for bars, so I rarely went to the South Side.  Because I was more into exploring the community, I much preferred The Strip and the NorSide.

Some Pittsburgh things it is a given that I am gonna love.  Heinz Ketchup?  Yup.  Mr. Rogers?  Yup.  Dinosaur statues?  Yup.  Pierogies?  Yup.  Dippy eggs?  Aw yeah.  But the thing I love the best about Pittsburgh is her people.  Burghers are the best people on earth.  Sure, we may still have mullets, and wear jean jackets, and our idea of dressing up is wearing our "good" Stiller jersey.  Sure, we make the Pittsburgh left, and we slow down before the tunnels.  But Pittsburgh is full of the most loving, generous, creative people I know.  And no matter where I end up living, I will always be a burgher at heart.

A special Shaht Aht to everyone who understood every single word of this post, and mentally read it in a Pittsburgh accent.

Go Stillers.  N'at.

Tiffany Trivia: Closed Captioning Quirk

Everyone has their weird little quirks, things most people probably do not do.  Things that other people probably find weird.  We all have them.  I have many.  But one of my most unusual quirks is that I watch television and movies with the closed captioning or subtitles on.  I *always* watch with the subtitles on.

This quirk started back when I was in high school.  I had a television in my bedroom, and a father who worked rotating shifts.  My bedroom was just down the hall from my parents' room, so when my dad was sleeping, I could not have my television very loud, as it would wake him.  My solution to this was to turn on the closed captioning.  It became such a habit that to not have it on was weird.  It was a habit I carried with me as I grew up, and moved into my own place.  When I met Hubby, I explained my quirk to him, and he quickly adapted.  Now, whenever we watch anything at home, it is automatic that we turn the subtitles or closed captioning on.  It has become second nature.

The ability to watch television and read the captions has become ingrained.  We often catch mistakes in the captions, when what is written does not match what is being spoken.  And this ability to read and watch at the same time has served me well.  In my college French classes, we watched a lot of foreign films, and the subtitles never bothered me a bit.  As a result, I really really love foreign cinema.  Also, going to the opera, and reading the translation while watching the show is a total piece of cake for me.

On the flip side, there are times when my quirk can be problematic.  It is difficult for me to pay attention to movies in the theater, because there are no subtitles.  And last week, I went to a friend's house to watch a movie with her, and I asked her to turn the subtitles on.  I am sure she thought it was a little, well, odd.

Oh well.  We all have our quirks.

Tiffany Trivia: When I am Bored

Sometimes, people do odd things when they are bored or their hands are idle.  Some people fidget, some people bite their nails, some people crack their knuckles.  Well, I braid.  Specifically, I braid my hair.

I taught myself to braid hair when I was little; I had one of those Cabbage Patch kids with silky hair, and I just kept trying and trying until I got it right.  I was always a lot better at braiding my own hair than braiding someone else's.  It came in handy during junior high, when I was a cheerleader and french braids were the preferred hairstyle.

I rarely, and by rarely I mean never, wear my hair in a french braid in public.  But at home it is not uncommon for me to start braiding my hair and not really realize it.  Often I do it while watching t.v. or reading, as if my hands need to find a way to stay busy.  Hubby will walk in the room and say, "are you braiding your hair?" then shake his head.  I think he fears I will soon be suggesting we get a sisterwife or something.

Tiffany Trivia: When I Grow Up

As you may have figured out, I was not your typical child.  My mom could tell so many stories that confirm that statement.  I was always very vocal about my plans and goals for my life, what I wanted and did not want, but there was one thing I kept to myself -what I wanted to be when I grew up.

You see, while other kids were dreaming of being marine biologists (a popular career among my female classmates when we were 7), teachers, doctors, or stay at home mommies to kids with names like Laken and Trent, I had my eyes set on the Great White Way.

Yes, indeed.  I wanted to be a singer and dancer on Broadway.  At the age of 7, I could sing every word on the cast recording of Les Miz.  By 9, Phantom was added to that list.  By high school, also Miss Saigon, West Side Story, The King and I, Grease, Oklahoma, Guys and Dolls, and Jesus Christ Superstar.  

Cabaret.  Wicked.  Mary Poppins. Rent. Chicago. Sweeney Todd.  Jekyll and Hyde.  The Lion King.  They are more than shows to me, they are old and trusted friends.  I know them and love them all.

Unfortunately, I suffer from terrible, horrible stage fright.  Paralyzing.  I did sing a bit in high school, and college.  Several times I took private lessons.  And you know what became of it?  I sing show tunes, halfway decently, in the bathtub.  But only if I am home alone.  After 5 years, I rarely even sing in front of my husband, the fear is so great.

So, I have never been in a musical.  Never even auditioned.  It is my one great regret in life, that I never tried a little harder.  Sure, I would never have made it to Broadway, but maybe something much smaller scale could have happened for me.  Now, I am relegated to a life in the audience.  But that is ok, the view is still pretty amazing, even from the cheap seats.

Tiffany Trivia: Odd Hobby

There are most certainly some odd things about me.  I am clumsier than any one person should be.  I have no clue what my natural hair color is.  And yes, I dip my Wendy's french fries into a chocolate frosty.  But one of the oddest things about me is a hobby I had as a child.  I used to love to make confetti.

Photo Source

As a kid I would sit for hours, yes, hours, cutting up confetti.  I had large garbage bags full of confetti stashed in my bedroom.  No paper object was safe.  Every Wish Book, grocery ad, wallpaper sample, and spare piece of construction paper would be sacrificed to my ever growing stash.  And while I admittedly did find cutting confetti rather soothing (though I did not enjoy the blisters the scissors caused on my thumb), I was doing this for a far more important reason.

It was going to make me rich.

You see, at our high school football games, every time we scored a touchdown, everyone threw confetti.  So, as a kid I came up with the million dollar idea that I would sell bags of confetti for a quarter at the football games and make a killing.

Except, I never followed through.  I just kept cutting and cutting to make more and more and more confetti, until eventually my mom threw it away.  I would say that all that time had been wasted, but at least it was a few hours that I was not getting hurt being clumsy.

So did you, or do you, have any hobbies that might be considered odd?

Tiffany Trivia: What Creeps Me Out

Since it seems like not many people are reading my blog these days, I have decided to stray just slightly from my standard posts, and just post a little more about myself once in a while. This series is aptly called Tiffany Trivia.

Picture Source

Most people have something, or things, that really creep them out. Mice, snakes, spiders, horses. Those are some of the standard ones. Whether a lifelong fear, or in Hubby's case with horses, due to some unfortunate event, everyone has something that just weirds them out.

I have several. And they are all odd.

For the longest time, it was that stuuuuuuuuupid dancing baby from Ally McBeal. And I think anyone who did not find that at least a little creepy is lying to themselves.

But the thing that creeps me out worst of all now are these 5 pointed metal stars that everyone and their brother have hanging on their homes.

Picture Source

These things are all the rage in the country and primitive decorating set, but I just find the repugnant.  I have no reasoning for this, I generally like stars, but these are just, ick.  We even refer to them as "creepy stars".  I do not know why, and hope none of my readers (all 4 of you) who may have these will take offense.  They just give me the willies.

Another think I find creepy are these plantars made from kid's pants.  It looks like someone bisected a child and hot and threw geraniums on top of it.  Gross.

Picture Source

Along the same lines, those creepy little corner kids dolls.  They used to be all the rage a few years ago.  For me, the source of unparalleled nightmares.

Picture Source

Thank goodness this fad seems to have ended.

Oh goodness, imagine if a house had all three of these things.  It would be like a scarehouse for me.

And do not even get me started on those creeptastic Spitting Image puppets.

Picture Source.

The Genesis "Land of Confusion" video makes me shudder.

Is there anything weird like this that creeps any of you out?