Last night, Charna, her friend Molly and I went to the Warhol. When we got to the cloud room there were a large number of people punching and kicking the pillows. I would have said lots of testosterone, but they were mostly women. Finally one of them tore a cloud. They ran away very quickly. When Robin and I were in the room neither of us felt any urge to fight with the clouds. We walked through them very gently. I don’t understand the energy or anger these women were displaying.

Renee is visiting from New York this weekend. Charna took the day off today and the three of us went out: just us girls. Our first stop was the Mattress Factory. Some of the exhibits were really fascinating and we all enjoyed. We drove back to Oakland for a small shopping trip. I owed Charna a Hanukah present, which we finally bought. She rarely asks for anything so it’s very hard to buy presents for her. We had lunch at Lulu’s Noodles where Charna had a great eggplant dish. Then we went over to the Strip to look at craft shops and buy a little food. A great day.

View from the Mattress Factory window.

Last night we went to a special opening at the Warhol Museum. This was our first visit to the museum, which is one of the stars of the Pittsburgh art scene. Two temporary exhibits were featured: Henry Darger and Grayson Perry. I’ve seen a lot of Henry Darger; he’s from Chicago and most of his work is housed at the American Folk Art Museum in New York. Grayson Perry was new to me. His work is funny and serious and carries a strong message. He was at the opening, coming as his alter ego Claire. We missed his lecture, which we heard was very funny, but it was fun to see him/her and hear his conversation with his fans.

We walked through the museum and looked at all of the Warhol stuff. It’s a fun place and you get the feeling Warhol and his friends were having a wonderful time.

This is Robin walking through a room labeled: Point of View, Silver Clouds. The room was filled with silver pillows activated by a wind machine. I wanted to walk through them and make them scatter, but they are so light they move almost before you touch them.

One of the best things about the party was people watching. Unlike everywhere else in Pittsburgh most people dressed in something other than their Steelers costumes, some of them very far out. One of the party activities was making a "Vivian" (as in Darger drawings) cress and many people were walking around with these paper dresses, which attached with tabs like cutout dresses.

Last night the entire family sampled another Pittsburgh institution: Calliope. This was a Three Penny Opry night, folk music presented by local artists. When we first arrived we were almost the only people there not performing. The MC asked if we were musicians and we pointed to Eli who got up and performed. I’m very proud of him, that he could do this with no prior notice or preparation. He’s a great kid. There were some other artists who really impressed me, my favorites being John Wells and Jack Erdie. I would have liked to photograph Wells. He was marvelous to look at: a real character. He has a full head of gray hair worn shoulder length, a slight beard, handlebar mustache and glasses at the tip of his nose. He’s probably my age and twice my size. His jeans, held up by suspenders, looked like they had room for him to grow into. He played two different guitars. One of them had a lot of fancy metalwork on it and he had a metal tube on his little finger. I’m sure this kind of playing has a name, but I don’t know it. His sound reminded me a little of Junior Wells, a Chicago bluesman.

My apartment is located on land previously owned by H. J. Heinz. His mansion was torn down in the 1920’s, but the coach house still exists. Nearby is Westinghouse Park, once the location of the George Westinghouse mansion. Within walking distance is Clayton (left), the home of Henry Clay Frick. This house is open for tours and gives a wonderful picture of Victorian life among the wealthy. At this time of year the house is open to visitors without taking a tour. I spent several hours this afternoon looking at the rooms and talking to the docents. I was the only visitor at the time and felt very privileged.

I don’t recall ever feeling so close to history in Chicago. The very rich here in Pittsburgh seem to have left much more to the public than the Swifts or Armours, McCormicks or Palmers. Or is it that Chicago has done a better job of destroying its past. My feeling about the past in Chicago is best exemplified by the plaque identifying Fort Dearborn. It is located at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Wacker Drive. Of course neither street existed at the time and the fort was actually located about 30 or 40 feet below at the point where the Chicago River then flowed into Lake Michigan, which happens today about a half mile further east.