2024 02 08

Stranger on the street. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. November, 2023 © Clayton Hauck

Humans of Pittsburgh dot com? Another one from my quick wanderings in Pittsburgh late last year. Have I mentioned how much I love that city and kinda sorta want to live there? Maybe I could live there part time? The reason I ran into this person was because I was walking around the Lawrenceville neighborhood where I’ve been Zillow surfing and found a building I loved that was also affordable… which got me thinking I could try to pull of a See You Soon Pittsburgh… which I realize is insane so I never acted on it… but I enjoy living the dream out in my head.

I’ve long admired Studs Terkel and have thought it would be fun to emulate his career, wandering the land documenting people and their stories through photos and words. This dream, too, remains one I live out mostly in my head, but perhaps some day might pursue. There are some youtubers (this word is so lame and makes this thought lose credibility) who do a great job of living the Studs Terkel Life. Bald And Bankrupt is perhaps my favorite of the bunch, though a polarizing figure. Yes, he posts plenty of clickbait content solely designed to grow his audience, however, some of his wanderings in obscure post-Soviet towns forgotten by time are among my favorite things to watch. They have provided a context to me as I hear these places mentioned on the news after they’re bombed into oblivion by their neighbors. Ho hum.

Slice of Life for life. It’s a big world full of endless slices. When you can enjoy the mundane details, you’ve got a lot to live for.

-Clayton