Friday, March 20, 2009

Won't You Be My Neighbor Day

Yvonne's directions said this:

Travel - 79 north to the Parkway (279?) toward Pittsburgh.  Maintain LEFT LANE as you approach the tunnel.  You want to follow signs for ROUTE 28.  You'll Cross Fort Pitt Bridge then Duquesne Bridge and then it will deposit you on 28 north.  Just pay attention to the signs and you'll be fine.

As we approached the tunnel Mr. Sophanne remained in the right lane. I re-read the directions to him thinking maybe he didn't hear. He said, "I don't like traveling in the left lane." (note* the caps in the above directions were Yvonne's not mine) Fortunately he was well-enough acquainted with the amount of time it takes to go left after the tunnel and my fear of not following directions was proven unnecessary.



We reached our exit and spotted the dinner destination, chosen based on the rantings and ravings of knit night many months ago. It was indeed a good burger.



We continued to the Pittsburgh premiere of My Tale of Two Cities. A Michael Moorish sort of story about reviving Pittsburgh (showing at the Waterworks Cinema until next Friday- showtimes 2:45 and 7:00 pm)

I must say, we were expecting a little more of an audience. They are trying to make Mr. Rogers' Birthday a National "Won't You Be My Neighbor" Day. A day to wear sweaters and "Make doing good seem attractive." We counted sweaters. There were two. Mr. Sophanne's and my own. There was some dispute about whether sweatshirt hoodies counted and Mr Sophanne clearly needs a few more lessons on the difference between a cardigan and a jacket.




Things started to look up as we began to refer to it as an intimate gathering of Pittsburgh Insiders who read the Post.

Mr. McFeely was there. Carl Kurlander, the director was there and spoke a little after the film.

Reviving the area is what Mr. Sophanne and his railroad project are all about. Living life in a Fred Rogerly way is what I'm all about. The fact that there was a movie made to appeal to both of our passions simultaneously is reason enough to try and see it. (Something neither of us knew would be the case prior to the event)

The bonus of the night is below- you must know that I love blogland an awful lot to be willing to show the near goiter-like double chin in this picture. This was also after I cried a bucketful of tears because I am not done mourning the loss of Mr. Rogers.



That Mr. Sophanne, he sure knows how to be married for 5 years.
 

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am so jealous. I would give anything to have met Mr. McFeely. I grew up on Mr. Rogers, he was my absolute favorite, although Lady Elaine Fairchild was a bit scary to my 5 year old brain!! Cherish that picture!! (and next time share the news!!)

Virtuous said...

What a great trip!!! Mr. Sophanne gets two gold stars! :o)

Anonymous said...

You had me scared at the beginning -- what if Mr. Sophanne didn't make it to the exit lane in time? What if the Sophannes were lost in the wilds of wherever it is they were going? What if this is her last ever post?

Whew. Sometimes I get a little carrid away.

Having said all that, I LOVED this post. "Make doing good seem attractive" is a statement that boggles my mind -- it IS attractive! You and your Mr. truly are the PA/WV version of my DH and I, railroads and knitting and doing good and everything. (Oh, and my chin? Duplicate of yours.)

Yvonne said...

I'm glad you got to the Five Guys and the movie all in one piece! That Mr. Sophanne needs to live on the edge a bit more, like driving in the left lane. (I hate trying to dash across 3 lanes of traffic to get to the left lane after the tunnels).

Mary Beth said...

Mr. S. is such a typical man. Why get into the lane & enjoy the ride when you can nearly kill yourself crossing all the fast lanes in 1.2 secs at the very last moment? I mean really.

Anonymous said...

Hi There! I was hoping to e-mail you a note instead of jumping on your blog, but I really loved this post and I'd love to share some music with you. I'm a Fred Rogers fan too, and I'd love to send you a copy of my tribute CD called "Mister Rogers Swings!" in case you might like to blog about it....Or perhaps knit it a CD cozy (I love your work BTW - it's gorgeous...I aspire to such yarny heights). Anyway, if you'd like to hear it, you can check out www.hollyyarbrough.com, or e-mail me your addy and I'll send you an actual copy. Warm regards neighbor! -Holly Yarbrough

Kim said...

Mr McFeely! Wow! Has he slowed down any. His speedy delivery stuff used to make me nervous as a kid. And Lady Elaine the puppet kinda creeped me out. I loved Mr. Rogers and Lady Aberlin.
Five Guys rocks. There is one near my house. I always order a small burger with cheese and jalapenos.