I got an early start to my downtown solo day on Friday because Penelope woke me up during her witching hour and I never went back to bed. So I was basically killing time all morning before leaving at the reasonable hour of 8:15AM. It was basically like leaving for work but without the stress. And let me tell you, I would have been PISSED if I really was going downtown for work because it was already in the high 80s with humidity you could choke on. Honestly, it was choking a bitch out and I was that bitch.

Ugh, that brought back traumatic memories of walking into the office looking like a fucking swamp monster, face slick with a layer of oily sweat.

Now I was just walking into cafes looking at that, like a fucking greasy rat.

But…at least I got to cool off a bit on the T which was blessedly nearly empty thanks to most office people having the day off.

Anyway, I was excited to be on my own with my Charmera and a book. I usually just stay home when I have the day off and Henry has to work, so I’m glad that I committed to this plan because it turned out to be a pretty memorable day (BUT HOT AF).

Some Liberty Avenue snaps. Anthrocon was starting so downtown was actually pretty lively with furries arriving in droves. Most of them were no fursuited up though, and just had their lanyards on. But I did catch a handful of tails and ears! This is one of the things I miss most about not working from the office anymore. We used to get so collectively stoked for the furries. Most of the businesses down there do too, which is just so heartwarming—Pittsburgh can be so inclusive and welcoming when it wants to be.

And….segue to the killer killer killer graffiti lol. I appreciate that it looks like someone was practicing their cursive.

The fire station in the Strip has been putting out this sign for as long as I can remember. It’s so Pittsburgh.

This bar isn’t open anymore. It’s really crazy how much things in the Strip have changed since I used to work downtown. I walked down there quite often and now there are giant empty lots where buildings have been torn down and I can’t even remember what used to be there.

I do think it’s an actual crime that there is no music venue in this area anymore. (Well, the City Winery I guess but I mean a legit local venue like Metropol, Rosebud and Altar Bar. So weird to me.

Anyway! My first stop was Novaria. It’s a Syrian cafe and I was excited to get something, anything, iced. In fact, just skip the cup and dump that ice right down my shirt, please.

I got the “back home latte” which had date paste and cardamom. It was really good but the best part was the little chat I had with the barista whose name I later learned was Russell when some tech bro with a booming voice was jawing his ear off and bellowed, “Don’t take this the wrong way but you look like a Russell. Historically—” and then he went off some tangent about famous Russells but I couldn’t hear the rest because the two fucking obnoxious “we’re the main characters here” Gen Y ballet bun bitches started cackling over whatever basic conversation they were having.

All of this is to say that this place–or at least, the timing–was not conducive to getting any reading done. Especially not once Tech Bro sat at the table in front of me and then immediately proceeded to take a Very Important Business Call.

But back to Russell! We had a nice chat about physical media because he asked me what else I was planning to do on my “My House Has No A/C So I Don’t Want To Sit There All Day on My Day Off” adventure and I mentioned the possibility of browsing the records at Eide’s. He said he and his roommates just started a CD collection, and that he bought his boyfriend Miss Congeniality on VHS which I thought was cute. (Not the movie, but the gesture, I hate Sandra Bullock a lot.)

I told him about Chooch starting a DVD collection and my mom unhauling several boxes of them on him, and how these younger generations are really fighting back against digital media which I think is really admirable honestly. Also unexpected because these young kids seem, in general, so detached and incapable of caring about preserving ownership.

 

But yeah, speaking of! I went to Eide’s after that. They don’t have the greatest selection of vinyl but I was at the mercy of my own two feet and had to pretty much stick with the area the trolley dumped me off in. (I don’t do buses.)

I used to come here A LOT when I worked downtown and the same guy who was always on the vinyl floor then was there on this day too. It’s so wild to me because I definitely used to go there way more than Henry, but Henry is the one who is occasionally saying, “Hey it’s the guy from Eide’s” when we’re out and about. I felt like he just said this recently too but I couldn’t remember at the time.

So, he was there talking to someone who seemed like he was a regular customer, about Trump’s slush fund. I mean, they were like SCREAMING about it in disgust and while typically angry men would make me tense up, I instead felt like, “OK, this is a safe space.” Anytime I overhear strangers ranting about Trump, it’s like, “Good, these are my people. Let me have a go, too.”

Then their convo segued into one of them talking about their older female cat not eating that much and going from being chubby to skinny, and it was so bizarre because it could have been me saying those exact words about Penelope.

These were all the things I overheard while browsing the new vinyl section.

The one guy ended up leaving so the guy working there started watching MSNBC videos and again, I felt safe.

Eventually, I took my three picks up to the counter.

“Gunship!!! Great pick. You have excellent taste,” he said, obviously happy about this. “You know who else you might like, and I think we have it here—-” he started to say as he flipped to the next record in the stack I handed him. “Yep, you know!” he said, smiling and shaking his head as he held up The Midnight’s new record.

You guys!!! We had the lengthiest conversation about synth wave and he said he was at the Midnight show AND THAT IS WHERE HENRY SAID HE THOUGHT HE SAW HIM! He just kept shaking his head in surprise every time I knew of a band he was referencing and I felt so seen. When I say no one gives a shit about the music I like, I truly mean that. So to have this record store man validating me, I actually wish I had a video of it to rewatch every night before bed.

The conversation naturally segued into him talking about how he is normally into industrial and how his record label puts out these really compilations to benefit cancer research. He pointed to a display on the counter that showed the logo and said I could go to the website to learn more and I did a double take.

“That actually looks really familiar, like I was just on this website—-you’re not selling tickets to The Black Queen show, are you?” I asked, squinted at the display.

“Yes! I booked that show!” he exclaimed. I told him I bought tickets and he high-fived me! So then we talked about The Black Queen and I was like THIS IS THE BEST DAY I HAVE HAD IN A LONG TIME! Just the whole social connection aspect of it. Working from home—well, you know. I’m starved for these kinds of real life interactions. I hate “chatting” on Teams. I want to TALK for real. And not about work!! I feel like people ask me how my weekend was, etc and I just give vague wrap-ups because I know no one is genuinely going to give a shit about how we went to see Dance Gavin Dance and ran into our Sugarspell Scoops friend or how Henry was standing next to Danny Lohner during one of the opening bands for the The Black Queen. (Literally tried to excitedly tell someone and they were like “Sorry, I don’t know how that is.” Ugh. I am LONELY, lol.)

Anyway, we formally introduced ourselves —his name is Jim, I can stop calling him the Eide’s guy now!— and he even showed me some formatting issues he’s dealing with on his website and, I don’t know! It was just a really moment in my little “Erin Spreads Her Wings and Flies” day. I am so glad I decided to go out by myself. When I am by myself, I can small talk like I’m 1998 Erin again. I can’t explain it.

I left Eide’s with my new records in a paper bag which I had to tuck under my arm because it didn’t have a handle and it soaked up my sweat REAL QUICK. It was disgusting. The air was disgusting. I was disgusting. But I still one more stop on my list so I navigated through the hordes of furries (things were really start to rev up down there!) and made my way to Market Square. But first, I waved to my work. Hi, law firm!

The Boredom Set was my last stop. It was definitely not there when I used to work downtown – we had very little options back then outside of Starbucks. We used to have Crazy Mocha which was a local chain and I LOVED THAT PLACE but it got ran into the ground. That’s neither here nor there!

I was DOUBLY SWEATY by the time I made it here, as the temps were definitely well into the 90s at this point, so me and my Krispy Creme complexion crashed through the entrance of this…very un-Burgh-like cafe. The interior was cute at a glance but then I quickly began to scrutinize the furniture positioning and the fact that there is a huge goldenrod curtain that runs down the middle of the space—what are they hiding back there. I don’t know, it was an oddly designed space and that made me uncomfortable not to mention the barista had NO PERSONALITY and high-key made me feel like I was a nuisance for giving her work to do.

“Just so you know there is oat milk and whole milk in this,” she monotoned in the style of THAT GENERATION after I ordered the banana milk matcha latte, no eye contact, yes annoyance. I just said yes, because I know, banana milk is milk.

I was obsessing over her rudeness for a good portion of the day, and clearly into the next day.

It was good but that’s probably because of the banana milk, who knows if the matcha itself was any good, but judging by their Instagram, they seem SUPER INTO BEING COFFEE SHOP PROS so I’m going to assume it was OK even though I didn’t clock what matcha they use there.

I sat next to a table of four furries. They weren’t in full-fur but one of them did have his head on the table.

One of the tables was RIGHT in front of the door to t he restroom which seemed incredibly awkward. Please read an article on Feng shui and fix this, I don’t know, the whole seating arrangement just felt so off to me.

BUT! Other than that, it was somehow quite comfortable vibe-wise. I was actually able to read some chapters AND journal AND send Chooch pictures of my vinyl haul in between eavesdropping on the barista talking to some older man about friend drama she was going through, which softened me to her because a lot of what she was saying was HASHTAG RELATABLE GIRL, I FELT THAT.

I was looking at their Instagram today because I do want to go back (they have another location in a clothes shop in Shadyside so maybe that one…) and try just their drip coffee since they seem to really do a lot of flexing on how INTO THE SCIENCE OF COFFEE they are. Anyway, in my Insta travels, I found the barista who is engaged to the owner, so that tracks. It’s not like she’s going to get fired.

It was around noon by this point and Henry was leaving work, so I walked around the area a little bit to get some more pictures before catching the T back home.

Half-furry.

As mentioned, downtown businesses REALLY lean into Anthrocon and I have always loved that. Unlike the stupid draft, they probably do benefit from this crowd! I mean, furries gotta eat.

And then I was pretty much down for the count for the rest of the day. Exhausted. My body felt like melted rubber. I was COOKED.

Next time I do this, hopefully it won’t be during a heatwave, lol.

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