So, I have decided Pittsburgh is awesome.  Reasons follow after a brief word from our sponsors.

(This is the sponsor bit.)

BEER! PITTSBURGH HAS AWESOME BEER! BEER BEER BEER! BEER FROM LICHENSTEIN AND BEER FROM GERMANY AND BEER FROM BEER HEAVEN, WHICH IS ACTUALLY JUST GERMANY STILL.

(Back to the official blog.)

I cut out of classes a little early on Friday to drive over to Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. My philosophy and logic professor, Mr. Duffy, had told me about a very sharp guy coming there from the University of California at Santa Barbara to do a paper presentation on David Hume, the Scottish philosopher. The speaker's name was Dr. Tom Holden, and he was pretty brilliant. He laid out an interesting take on Hume's stance of moral atheism, and it shows how good a speaker Holden is that even my neophyte philosopher mind was able to understand almost everything he said, and even formulate some questions. I have to admit it was pretty sweet to sit in on some real heavyweight philosophy business (it is "the business," as Mr. Duffy puts it)...the people I met there don't just know their stuff, they live and breathe it. It was actually quite similar to the feeling I get around the monks at Saint Vincent, who don't just have a powerful understanding and connection to Christianity, but are in fact so connected to their faith that neither they nor their students can imagine them divided from it.

Also, after the presentation, they served some delicious French wine and imported cheeses. I seriously need to go to more of these things.

After a lengthy question and answer session and some hobnobbing with the philosophers present, I decided I'd take advantage of the relatively early hour (it was just hitting evening) and check out the vaunted South Side of which I'd heard so many things. Some people (lots of people, actually) had told me to beware of the area, saying it was pretty rough crime-wise; but, honestly, I didn't get that impression. Sure, it was a bit "tumbling around the edges," as a friend of mine from Maine would say, but I think the only trouble you can get into there is the kind you either instigate or go looking for. I felt perfectly safe...and my God, people, the beer. The beer.

Obviously I am older than the rank-and-file freshman, so I can partake of these things. I generally don't drink beer because, well...it's pretty disgusting. I've never managed to find beer I enjoy the taste or texture of. All that changed when I visited some choice eateries and bars on Friday night.

I had the good fortune to run into some of the same people from the presentation, and they were gracious enough to spend the night (and much of the morning, heh) showing me around. Additionally, as philosophers, these folks have a firm grasp on the higher things in life, which is to say they know some damn good imported beers. I don't remember the names of most of what I tried, but the best one was some German concoction called, like...Wassen Shussen? Something like that. It was rich, sweet, and pretty heady: simply delicious.

That was actually the most fun I've had in Pennsylvania in a long time. Sitting around with smart folks, discussing philosophy, and hitting on philosopher chicks while sampling some truly excellent brews is, it turns out, a grand way to spend a Friday night. Pittsburgh, which had previously sort of awed my forest-grown backwoods Mainer spirit, now draws me like Plato's Good. If my readers are old enough to adventure into the South Side, I would totally suggest it...and, if you're not, then you have something to look forward to.

If you do go, I will be the hammered guy in the corner happily discussing eudaiminism with a potted plant.