A trip to Pittsburgh: It's the new Cabo
By Liam Satre-Meloy
Issue date: 4/5/07 Section: Scene
Originally published: 4/4/07 at 9:58 PM PSTLast update: 4/4/07 at 9:58 PM PST
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Per encouragement from my professor Simone Billings, recent graduate Scott Klausner, junior English major Julie Jigour and I all submitted essays to Honors English society Sigma Tau Delta's national convention.
Each of our essays was accepted, and so we all packed our sweaters and jeans and flew to Pittsburgh, the location for this year's convention.
Had I known that the convention was scheduled for the latter half of our spring break when I initially committed to attend, I may have given spending four days cooped up in a hotel with hundreds of literature freaks a bit more consideration.
I mean, discussing Sexton's and Plath's representations of androgyny in their poetry or examining the liquidity of gender in Hemingway's "For The Whom the Bell Tolls" isn't exactly titillating in the way that body shots and scantily-clad coeds are.
The Iron City, as it turns out, is a long way from sunny beaches and swim-up bars and, well, Cabo.
As much as I employ self-deprecation to downplay the patently obvious fact that I am a nerd and that I did attend an English convention in Pittsburgh over spring break, I've gotta be honest: I enjoyed going to the convention. It was a unique experience, and I got a good feel for where I fit as a writer amidst other aspiring authors.
Moreover, even though the Santa Clara contingency unanimously agreed that most of the essays presented by other attendees left much to be desired, we all thought the overall experience was well worth the time.
A few parting comments: I would not recommend Pittsburgh as a travel destination unless you're obsessed with Andy Warhol or the Steelers, or unless you have an affinity for bridges and coleslaw sandwiches.
As Scott put it one afternoon, "Pittsburgh, you are insufficient in many regards, but I do enjoy the shape of your bridges."
I think Scott's comment was rather comically profound: Observed individually, its myriad puke-yellow and tarnished bridges criss-crossing the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers and colossal, medieval PPG Place office building are unremarkable, if not unsightly.
However, a panoramic view of Pittsburgh's skyline, which you can enjoy from Mount Washington's Grandview Avenue, yields the conclusion that Pittsburgh has an ineffably pleasing and satisfying urban beauty.
Each of our essays was accepted, and so we all packed our sweaters and jeans and flew to Pittsburgh, the location for this year's convention.
Had I known that the convention was scheduled for the latter half of our spring break when I initially committed to attend, I may have given spending four days cooped up in a hotel with hundreds of literature freaks a bit more consideration.
I mean, discussing Sexton's and Plath's representations of androgyny in their poetry or examining the liquidity of gender in Hemingway's "For The Whom the Bell Tolls" isn't exactly titillating in the way that body shots and scantily-clad coeds are.
The Iron City, as it turns out, is a long way from sunny beaches and swim-up bars and, well, Cabo.
As much as I employ self-deprecation to downplay the patently obvious fact that I am a nerd and that I did attend an English convention in Pittsburgh over spring break, I've gotta be honest: I enjoyed going to the convention. It was a unique experience, and I got a good feel for where I fit as a writer amidst other aspiring authors.
Moreover, even though the Santa Clara contingency unanimously agreed that most of the essays presented by other attendees left much to be desired, we all thought the overall experience was well worth the time.
A few parting comments: I would not recommend Pittsburgh as a travel destination unless you're obsessed with Andy Warhol or the Steelers, or unless you have an affinity for bridges and coleslaw sandwiches.
As Scott put it one afternoon, "Pittsburgh, you are insufficient in many regards, but I do enjoy the shape of your bridges."
I think Scott's comment was rather comically profound: Observed individually, its myriad puke-yellow and tarnished bridges criss-crossing the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers and colossal, medieval PPG Place office building are unremarkable, if not unsightly.
However, a panoramic view of Pittsburgh's skyline, which you can enjoy from Mount Washington's Grandview Avenue, yields the conclusion that Pittsburgh has an ineffably pleasing and satisfying urban beauty.
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