Of Time, Food Poisoning, and the US Census 2000.

c. David Grim (taken 4/25/08)

It becomes more and more obvious to me with each passing year that time accelerates for the individual. The last ten years seem (in retrospect) to have passed in the same amount of time that I experienced from age 25 to age 30. I can only imagine what this phenomenon is going to feel like when I am in my 70's.

Ten years ago at this time of the year I was working for the United States government for the first (and so far only) time in my life. It was US Census 2000. I worked my way up to crew leader of the neighborhood I had recently moved into. It was a rapid ascent, encapsulated within the space of about 4-6 months. At the beginning of that particular journey, I had recently quit a gig working with adults with mental health AND mental retardation issues. I had stopped by the jobs center down the street from my new rented house, and quickly set an appointment to take a type of civil service exam.

The day I took the test couldn't have been more inauspicious. I ate lunch at an independently-owned hot dog shop of some repute (the place is notorious for its strong essence of body odor flowing out of its doors and down the sidewalk). I ended up an hour later with my first cramps. And then the stuff I ate began to come rapidly from both ends. Still I got a high enough score to be invited to work at the temporary downtown office, entering data into the still-unwieldy, publicly-financed desktop computers.

After a short stint at the enumeration job (which entailed driving around the city, trying to find addresses to deliver follow-up surveys), and an attempted car-jacking that I negotiated safely by flashing my US flag badge ominously from the interior of my GEO Metro, I took the manager's test and scored a supervisory position that I undertook from the second floor of a bar that has since become the Brillobox. Now I can see bands that I enjoy, or dance with hipsters, where I used to badger my poor employees to get everyone counted.

Anyway, I could have never foreseen the conditions of my life a decade later. And I'm sure the same thing applies to my future. I'd suggest that it's all going to be quite an interesting journey, but that fails in its vast quality of understatement.

Pittsburgh Art Events 3/5-6/10

c. David Grim (taken 4/6/08)

There sure are a lot of fish fries and church socials this weekend in honor of Lent, but if your tastes run toward art, you have some additional options.

Friday

Yay. Once again we come to another Unblurred on Penn Avenue. Don't expect the maelstrom of snow that we experienced in February, but make sure that you wear a lot of warm clothing, because I hear it's going down to 15 degrees Fahrenheit.

A personal highlight for me will be "Focus Your Attention", the juried photography show at Fast>>Forward Gallery (3700 Penn Ave) from 6-10PM. I've got a couple of images in the show, but I haven't seen anything else to be included so I'm expecting some great surprises.

And Carolyn Wenning is unveiling her new work- not at her own SPACE (4823 Penn), but rather at Modern Formations (4919 Penn). She's making room at her gallery for Michael Benedetti, who is informed by his emplyoment in Pittsburgh factories.

We've also got local photographers Dan Thompson and Jamie Sauer at Most Wanted Fine Art (5015 Penn), a group show of environmentally-themed artwork at the Pittsburgh Glass Center (5472 Penn), Steven Miller at ImageBox (4933 Penn), and a special surprise at Bob Ziller's Awesome Books (5111 Penn, formerly the Clay Penn).

Down in Lawrenceville, Zombo Gallery brings back CZM for a display of fake vintage album covers. She's got a hard-on for 50's-60's abstract art, adverting, and science fiction imagery, so I'm sure it ought to be fairly "groovy" (if you're into that sort of thing). And up the street at Remedy Lounge you can check out the works of Ginger Green, which will be hanging in this alcohol-saturated environment starting at 8PM.

If you get a hankering to head downtown, drop by the 709 Penn Gallery for Jennifer Howison's "Nesting". You might have seen her small limbless hand-painted wooden dolls (reminiscent of the classic Fisher Price Little People), but this show consists of gouache paintings and original drawings. That runs from 6-9PM.

Saturday

I guess the Irish are getting an early start on their annual orgy of bacchanalia this weekend, as evidenced by the number of ethnically-themed options for getting soused. But of course that's nothing especially new for the 'Burgh, where oftentimes little excuse is needed for getting drunk enough to puke in public.

Meanwhile the aforementioned Zombo is helping to turn the Arsenal Bowling Lanes into a semi-permanent art gallery, with revolving shows on its walls. Take in the music of the Surf Zombies and the advertised Go-G0 girls between lanes starting at 6PM.

Panza Gallery rolls out its reception for two painters named Bill (Pfahl and Vrscack) from 6-9PM. Stop by and see the competent craft of two artists who have been working in their medium for decades.

If you want to take in a great night of Rock-n-Roll, stop by the Brillobox for a show (10PM) headlined by Slim Cessna's Pittburgh outfit (which includes his son George Cessna, Rob Levkulich and Ian Green). George is heading off to college, so you'll want to make sure to see him before he splits town.

Saturday and Sunday

While I'm not in the habit of mentioning music in this blog, I feel compelled to drop a note on Fantastic Voyagers 3- a quirky mini-fest of "mellow mutant music madness" curated by Mike Tamburo that's happening this weekend at the charming Morning Glory Coffeehouse in Morningside. There are 20 acts playing and the full-schedule can be found here. A $5-15 donation is requested.