Pelesir ke Pittsburgh

Here is eternal spring: for you
The very stars of heaven are new.

The lines from Robert Bridges' poem were wrought in steel on the gate inside the Cathedral of Learning at the University of Pittsburgh. I considered the words then turned to Freida, telling her that technically, from the Earth all the stars that we see in the heavens are new. The old stars have burned out. Our Sun is a third generation star. 

She shot me a look, rolled her eyes, and scooted away. Sigh. So much for Learning.

We were having fun in Pittsburgh, though. The three of us (Freida, her mom and I) went to Phipps's Conservatory and Botanical Garden (and saw butterflies aflutter). Sampled two of the four Carnegie museums (and saw a shitload of bones and art). We went up the Duquesne Incline (and had a very nice meal with a view of Ohio-Allegheny-Monongahela rivers). Went to Schenley Park (and traced the Panther Hollow Trail). We also checked out Pittsburgh Public Library (and played with a theremin—an electromagnetic musical instrument that we had never heard of). All in the space of two days.

By far and away, my favorite is the Carnegie Museum of Natural History.  When I had gone to Harvard's MNH, their collections blew me away. After seeing Carnegie's, though, I must say Harvard's doesn't hold a candle. 

For starters, Carnegie's has a lot of bones on display. Dinosaurs'. Bones so big they're bigger than your mom. Tyrannosaurus rex! Triceratops! Stegosaurus! Diplodocus! Pterodactyls! 

I don't think you can go there and not be reminded of your childhood dream of being a palaeontologist. I think that part of the reason why their collection is so impressive is that they are close enough to the Morrison Formation stretching across the Mountain States where the fossils were discovered. However, unlike Utah/Colorado (where the Carnegie quarries are actually located), Pittsburgh is probably better endowed with money. That would be a hypothesis to check if I ever have the time to do a 50-state road trip like what Tirza and Radju were doing.

One thing to note is that being surrounded by dinosaur bones does strange thing to a man. Like forgetting where he deposited his girlfriend. Or overlaying dinosaur photos with texts.

Sidenote: if you have ever wondered why there are no dinosaur fossils in Indonesia, it's because in the Jurassic era the islands that make up Indonesia did not exist. We WERE UNDER THE SEA AND BACK TO THE SEA WE WILL COME. ahem.

Moving on, there's also the crystal collections. Comparing Harvard's display to Carnegie's presentation is akin to comparing your grandma's old cabinet to glitzy displays in Plaza Indonesia. I mean look at this:

Classier than your hotel bathroom selfie.

Digression: I know I've been poking fun at Harvard throughout this post. I'll do that one last time: at Harvard, you only get VERITAS. Pitt, though, gives you VERITAS and VIRTUS. What's truth without virtue? (A week later I learned you can get a better deal from Northeastern: LUX, VERITAS, VIRTUS. Now you don't need to grope around in darkness.)

Anyway, back to the crystals. 

You've probably known that gemstones are judged by the 4C's: Carats, Clarity, Color, and Cut. It crossed my mind that that's how we judge debates, too. Not just by the its weight and clarity, but also by the color of the speaker, and how cut/ripped the speakers are. 

There's also this.

Hehehe pic.twitter.com/d2p7D7zWb1

— Masyhur (@masyhurh) August 4, 2018

Which naturally, leads us to this.

Remind me of... pic.twitter.com/83TN4IUc35

— Sofyandi Sedar (@yandhie) August 4, 2018

Adjacent to the Museum of Natural History is the Museum of Art. Where they ask you these totally reasonable questions.

Well that escalated quickly.

Although if I'm being honest with myself I don't really need these questions if I just wanted to gaze longingly at butts.

The lovers in the painting are Francesca da Rimini and Paolo Malatesta but I prefer to call it Dante and Virgil are appraising Fransesca's buns. (I mean look at where their eyes are pointing to.)

Here's a tip: bring a good camera with optical zoom if you plan to visit the Hall of Sculpture. There are a couple of really cool spots where you can be framed by beautiful columns, intricate sculptures, and stately Greco-Roman statues. It was a shame that we only had our phone cameras with us.

At the top floor, there was an exhibition of American Indian culture. We were watching a video of how they make igloos when the museum kicked us out. They were closing at 5 pm and we were totally oblivious that it was already so late in the afternoon. As we headed down to the main hallway, I spied a photograph of what must be a very happy family.

Ketawa mulu pasti wkwkwkwk. 

We stepped out and the muggy weather welcomed us back. We had a good time--it's time to call it a day.