Another very good day in yunzvillle.   Diane and I spent the day in Pittsburgh with larry, leah and paul today. I managed to work much of the day thanks to wireless everywhere. I did give a talk today for all the folks in my old graduate department on my experience in The Colony. I love telling people about the  whole experience and the lessons we learned there. I think it’s good for people to hear how fun it can be to do something completely out of your comfort zone…. 

It was fun giving a completely fun talk in the same room that I had to give so many technical talks nearly 20 years ago. The room was packed and they brough in Pizza.. not just pizza.. but pittsburgh specialties like steak and fries pizza (yes fries)

And a pirogi pizza…. complete with mashed potatoes..

We even managed to solve our audio-visual problems…thanks to Rob, Rich and Larry.  (just how many PHd’s does it take to fix a computers sound problems ?)

The talk went pretty smoothly…. folks laughed at the right places.. recoiled at the right places.. It was fun because many of them had seen the show.. I’ve never spoken to a group that was familiar with the show.. 

The best part of the talk, though. was catching up with old friends . Many of the profs and staff from my time at CMU are still there..   Here’s Roxy … the uber mom of the cad center.. and Lyz (aka Betty) who used to take care of Rob and his students.

I managed to get some decent work done the rest of the day.. and got to speak with some students and profs. A really good day   The car for the airport came to get us around 4:30 /./. Before we left I went up and tried to put a SamStone on the roof.. but it was locked, so I left one as close to the roof as I could get..

As we drove away towards the airport I started thinking about the early fall day in 1988 that Diane, Max and I drove here for the first time. I remember just how scared I was about leaving work., uprooting my family and coming to school here.I agonized about it for months.. both before and after making the move.. Now looking back over the comfortable distance of 21 years it seems so funny to have worried abotu it that much. It was such a fantastic decision coming to school here. It’s opened so many doors for me… made me so many good and lasting friends.. I guess the lesson  here is that it generally all works out… especially when if you see it in hindsight.

Anyway..  I want to thank Larry. Leah and the folks at CMU for hosting us… it was a great trip.. you guys are the best…

OK.. enough.. we’re boarding soon. more tomorrow. Nite folks.. nite Sam
-me

ps. We ran into a really nice Colony fan in the security line !

Spent the day in Pittsburgh…  had an interesting mix. I spent a fair amount of  the day on the phone and blackberry for work.. tough couple of weeks.. but also was able  to spend some quality time here in Pittsburgh..  .. which is even more beautiful than ever.. E.g. These deer were browsing in back yard of Larry and Leah’s house.

Larry and I drove in early to CMU… then I spent a couple of hours on work calls… When I got a break, I dropped into a meeting which Larry had arraigned for Paul Z.   Awesome.. collection of minds again.. neuroscience, engineers, performance artists.. cognitive scientists.

The meetings were all in the newly redone hammershlag hall where I did my time. here. It’s really nice inside now.. they’ve shifted it all to an open office setting…

I noticed that one of the pictures  in the conference room we were using was a chip plot of a project I did in 1989..

Mid day. Paul, Thiego and I went to Craig street for a quick lunch.. we passed the ‘cloud facotry’ on the way.. I used to stair at this thing all the time.. it was made famous in Michael Charbon’s ‘book ‘mysteries of pittsburgh’..   Our friend Bob.. the special effects cheif actully had to drop a real person from te top of one of these towers with out hurting him for a movie of the book .

On our walk back from lunch I found an interesting bumper sticker.. always looking out for these.

Around 2 we went over to the Entertainment Technology Center (ETC) to talk to some of the folks there about Paul’s proposed show on the brain.. It was a fun visit.. the center is made up of a pretty eclectic group of folks.

I even spotted Diane and Leah up on the 5th floor

Here’s the center’s robot collection… complete with a Gort that senses you when you walk up to it..

Here’s the view from Don M’s offive.. he’s the director of the place.. what a view !.. The whole site is on land reclaimed when the city dismantled an old steel mill.. now it’s a butifull hitech developent center.. how cool is that ?

We were able to do some student interaction in the late afternoon.. They were doing midterm project reviews in the Randy Pausch center.. Randy helped found ETC with Don  a few years back. Randy made world headlines by giving a now famous ‘last lecture’ here when he was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer. a few years ago.   Part of the center now is named after him.

After the presentations, Larry. Leah. Thiego. Paul. Diane and I went down to the strip for dinner.. our friends Rob, Mike and Laura joined us as well.. another good night of ideas and good food.. 

It’s been a good trip.

OK.. time for sleep.. night folks.. nite Sam !
-me

ps. Larry has some original Dr. Suess sketches and prints.. .. check out this original study from ‘Sam I Am’..   what do you make of that Sam ?

Greetings from Pittsburgh.. home to heinz ketchup. carnegie mellon university, many of my good freinds.. and the pittsburgh steelers.. (or Stilluhs.. as they’re called here) . Diane and I are down here visiting our good friends larry. leah and hannah while I give a talk at CMU. where I went to grad school. Diane, Max and I leved her from 1988 till 1991. Max was only six weeks old when we moved here.. which was.. Gulp// 21 years ago !.. The place really hasn’t changed much. It was nice then.. and it’s still nice now !

Hannah, who’s Max’ age , was wonderful enough to come and pick us up at the airport this morning.. we drove back to her folks Larry and Leah’s house in Ohaara twshp. Larry and I were friends in grad school.. he’s now a porf at CMU.. and Leah is a childrens book author.. they live here with their 15 year old italian greyhound , Bruno..

First order of business today was for Hannah and I to go watch the Pittsburgh Steelers play the CLevland Browns.. I have not been to a professional sports game since high school.. so it was a huge adventure !

There was so much stuff goign on.. so many things to see and watch that it would have been fun even if they hadn’t played !.

in the second quarter Pittsburgh was abotu to score their first goal.. so I got out the Samstone I was carrying. i figured i’d put it somewhere as soon as the Steelers scored… and they did !

Out came the ‘terrbible towels’.. a yellow rag that everyone here twirls when soemthing good happens on the firl. I remember them having terrible towles 20 years ago.. I htink we have one in our house even.

Then came the half time show.. a marching band playing.. among other things.. ‘free bird’ !.. Where’s my lighter ?

The game lasted about 3 hours.. and hannnah patiently answered every quesiton I asked about the rules and the players.. It was an awesome time !   Hannah had a secret parkign place that made escaping super quick.. we got home in no time.. Around 5, folks started showing up for dinner. Leah put out a real feast.. exotic cheeses, a whole salmon, salads, veggies.. It was great.. as was the conversation. It was a really cool and ecclectic crowd tonight.. ..

Our uber-gracious  hists… larry and leah.. larrys a Prof at CMU and Leah writes kids books.

They’re daughter Hannah.. who’s studying statistics and politics at CMU.. (and teaches footbal rules ot clueless vermonters)

Our friedn Steve.. who had drivig in with wife Kate from State college to see us.. !.. Kate and steve were our some of our closest freinds when we lived here in the 80’s. I’d met steve in a grocery store a few days after we moved to town. Their son Mathew is only a month younger than max. ..  Steve teaches Geograpy at Penn State.

My lovely wife.. Diane.. sorry this is fuzzy.. you’re not !

Kerry. a mathematician who helps run the  Entertainment Technology Center (ETC) here at CMU

Don who i’s the director of ETC.. and who dresses up as a a pirate for Pittsburgh porate games just for fun..

Our frind Paul Zaloom a puppeteer  from LA and Vermont.. Paul did the show ‘Beekman’s World’ for many years.. My favorite science show of all time !

A fuzzy version of Kate.. who teaches early child hood Ed at Penn State..

And.. and… and………….

Kate and Steve had to take off for State college.. it was so great getting to see them tongiht !!!!

Now.. It’s really late.. time to sleep.. Mor ein the morning.
Nite folks.. Nite Sam !
-me

Folks,
   Thank you all for all the folks that turned out to help us prep for the party. I know it sounds like over-kill to be prepping for a party that’s a week away.. but amazing things happen when you invite more than 300 folks into your house. We had a a really productive day.. moving furniture.. taking down real cobwebs, putting up fake cobwebs, stringing lights, putting away breakables, clearing the yeard, straigtening the attic landing decorating the tower.. etc..    The place looks great..

Remember.. the party’s a week from today !.. Hope folks can make it.. be thinking of a costume !

OK.. It’s only 9PM.. but I think I’m goign to bed.. Nite folks.. Nite Sam !
-me

ps. Happy Diwali folks ( Shubh Deepawali – शुभ दीपावली) .. It’s the Indian Festival of lights.. Last year I celebrated with my Good friends Ruchir. Rashi and family by painting sand pictures