Kiva Han Countdown: 27 days

I crossed two items off my Kiva Han bucket list today! (See this post for what I mean.) A friend of mine gchatted me during the day and said "nice blogging" and met me here in the afternoon. When I got here, he said he was just talking with the barista and mentioned this here blog series, so I guess folks will know about it somehow. Cool.

I didn't quite feel like settling down and working, so I looked through the shelf of board games while waiting for my coffee. The stack was falling over after I plucked one out from the middle, and I had to do some careful rearranging to keep the whole pile from toppling onto the ground and making a big mess and din. I settled on the game Outfox. It looked like an easy-to-learn game, was playable by three people, and the time component said 10-30 minutes. Perfect. I went back to our table, unpacked the box. In the process, two balls of paper (one a ripped-up brown napkin and one a pink receipt) fell onto the floor and I said, "Oh well". I also discovered that there were two rules sheets, one entirely in French and one entirely in Spanish. Between me (French) and my other friend (Spanish), we pieced together the rules and started to play amongst the three of us. I realized that those balls of paper were in the box to replace some missing pieces, so we made do with some spare change I had in my pocket. (A penny makes for a great "brown circle".)

We didn't play long enough to develop fully intricate strategies, but enough to realize that the game is not easy, and amounts to being careful about setting up your opponent for an easy win. Perhaps the two player version is different/better/more strategically rich because, as it was, we could really only play with one future move in mind, and that was hard enough. Still, a fun game, and I'd recommend checking it out. So yeah, that was one check on my KH bucket list: play a board game. I'll likely do that again in the coming weeks. There were several other games I'd never played before, and Balderdash is a great multi-player game that I've played many times.

Later, I went upstairs to the bathroom and checked another one off my list.

Kiva Han Countdown: 28 days

You know what I should do more? Eat brunch. In general, yes absolutely more brunch all the time yes, but at Kiva Han, in particular, since there are only so many Sundays left where they'll be serving brunch. Three more Sundays, in fact, and then the 19th, their final day of business, is a Sunday, too. That leaves scant few opportunities to enjoy their brunch options and atmosphere.

I stopped in around 1:30 today, just before brunch ended at 2:00. I actually forgot it was Sunday brunch time, really. I just happened to be starving and needing to be on campus later in the afternoon, so I walked down to Craig St. and went inside and saw the orange menu on the counter and remembered, "Aha, brunch!" I had a hangover cure (of course) with some fruit and toast on the side, and a cappuccino, with thick and frothy steamed milk. It was delicious. The hangover cure also had seasoned tofu. The barista was apologetic that they were out of bacon, and I said that tofu is even better. It was quite busy there, even in the 45 minutes I was there as brunch was ending, and I overheard the manager saying a few times that they "got slammed" that day and were out of a few other things. No worries, man, glad to see lots of business. In other news, I even noticed a couple sitting outside on this unseasonably warm January day and thought about sitting outside myself but decided I didn't want to risk a car taking a right onto Forbes and cutting the corner too closely and hitting that giant puddle of melted snow that has gathered there too quickly and making a huge splash. Yeah, it was a huge puddle.

At one point, one of the cooks brought out three plates of food and called three girls' names fairly loudly. A few minutes later, he reemerged with another order and re-called their names even louder. This might have iterated one more time, I don't remember exactly, but by the end, he was shouting, "KELLY! JASMINE! VERONICA!" (I just made those names up, by the way.) As the girls giggled and walked over to get their food, someone said that they'd been sitting there awhile, and it almost sounded like they were upset about this. Maybe I just misheard the tone, but the girls apologized and walked away with their food. It got me thinking about how many times I've done something similar—didn't hear my name, didn't realize how long it had been, flat out forget about a food order, etc.—and how many times I've done the oppoiste—keep checking the counter eagerly, getting up from a table in the other room and hanging my head in shame and hunger while walking back plate-less.

You might have noticed that I didn't write anything yesterday. I already broke my promise and skipped a day. In my defense, it was cold and blustery and such out yesterday during the day, I had other shit to do, was feeling lazy, and ended up staying in all day until late in the evening. So yeah, I missed one day. That's the last one. Less than one month left!

Kiva Han Countdown: 30 days (yesterday's post)

I stopped by for breakfast yesterday (Friday) but never had time later on to write this post. (I went off to downtown for a Planned Parenthood rally, had a delicious veggie hot dog at Franktuary, hit the gym, and then went out for a friend's birthday all night.) That granola works (yogurt, fruit, granola) really hit the spot. I was in a bit of a rush so I didn't stay long, but was there long enough to enjoy my food, sip an uber hot americano and take the rest to go, and people-watch. It was relatively quiet for 11:00 on a Friday morning, and I could hear some employees laughing back in the kitchen. A few folks came in and out, including one older gentleman who I see there all the time. He joked with the cashier about Kiva Han opening a new location in Hawaii called "Huna Kahuna". Actually, that might have happened on Thursday, but I'm confusing it together because I'm writing this on Saturday. Oh well. It was funny. It was also really really really hot by the window. The sun was streaming in (as you can probably tell in the photo) and you could have melted cheese on the leather seat of my chair.

One thing I did realize while sitting there yesterday is that I have never been at Kiva Han around opening time. One or two times I have been at that corner very early in the morning to catch a 28X to the airport, but once it was before anything was open (like 4:30 am) and another time only the Starbucks was open (around 5:30) so I sucked it up and bought a coffee and bagel to make it through my travels. Other than that, I don't think I've been there before 10 am. (I've been there for closing time more often than I can count, though!) That's partly a consequence of my lifestyle (if I'm out and about that early, it's for class or something, and otherwise I'd rather just make coffee and food at home) but I also realized it should probably be something I experience. Then that got me thinking about other silly things I'll never be able to do there again. So here's a short list of things I've never done at Kiva Han that I'd like to hopefully accomplish in the next month:

• Show up at opening time
• Draw/write graffiti in the men's room. It's all over the place, why shouldn't I partake?
• Play one of the board games on their shelf. My friends and I are board game enthusiasts, so I'm surprised this has never happened. It should.
• Read one of the books on their shelf. Why the hell not?
• Take a nap on one of the comfy seats upstairs. I've hardly ever sat upstairs, let alone do this.

I'm sure I'll think of other things. And do them. Does anyone reading this have any ideas? Is anybody reading this?

Kiva Han Countdown: 31 days

I've been sitting here at that nice table in the front for well over an hour. People have come and gone. A friend of mine was sitting in the other room and saw me here, so he came over and we chatted for a long time about anything and everything: the new Apple iBooks app and the iTunes university iPad app (that's a lot of s), the fact that almost all carousels in the United States rotate counter-clockwise (a.k.a. widdershins) except for one at Great Adventure in New Jersey, the fact that my former high school is one of only three locations in the United States where one can play Fives, the fact that some names are awesome (Pablo Bravo, Gunther Grass) and some are weird (William Williams), the ding ding dong song, and the following story I'm about to tell which is what I was thinking about on my walk over here from campus.

One time last summer, I was sitting in Kiva Han after teaching class. My headphones were plugged into my laptop and I was munching on a delicious Hangover Cure, KH's concoction of eggs, salsa, cheese, and hash browns in a burrito, smothered in hot sauce. It is scrumptious, and I've even tried making some homemade versions in my kitchen, with varying degrees of success. (Try it yourself!) A family of mother/father/daughter walked in and sat down with some cups of coffee and an order of food of some kind, I forget what. They looked very much, to me, like a high-schooler looking at colleges with her parents. (BTW when I told this story, my friend heard "daughter looking ecologists" instead of "daughter looking at colleges" and expressed confusion. Weird.) They kept looking over at me, and I assumed it was because I struck a sight with my long hair and beard scarfing down a breakfast burrito, but it was frequent enough that I eventually slipped off my headphones when I caught the mother looking at me. She smiled and said, "Sorry to bother you, but we're wondering what it is you're eating." I said "Oh, it's called a 'hangover cure'" and kinda chuckled along with them, then stated matter-of-factly, "…and it works!" They gave me a polit smile and laugh at that, and I slipped my headphones back on and that was that. I'm not sure what they thought of me after that, and I had intended it to be funny at the time, but in retrospect, I realize it might have sounded rather gruff or dismissive. So, sorry, random parents and daughter looking ecologists. I was just trying to be funny. I hope you got that.

What this got me thinking about, though, is a more general idea of what Kiva Han represents about Pittsburgh. Imagine you're a visitor to this city, perhaps looking for a school to attend for four years. You drive into the student section of Oakland, heading down Forbes Ave. through the U. Pitt area. What do you see? The looming Cathedral of Learning, of course, but what do you see on the street? Students bustling back and forth. Buses driving by. And some shops and restaurants. Panera. Dunkin Donuts. Caribou Coffee. The O. Primanti's. A brand name shoe store. A gas station. And so on. How many of those are local shops, Pittsburgh institutions, long-standing family businesses? Not many. Then you keep driving, navigate the one-way intersection properly (I once saw a lady drive into the middle of it the wrong way and try to back up instead of just turning, strangely), and head down Craig St. There's Quiznos. Subway. Starbucks. It deeply saddens me to think that across Pitt and CMU's stretch, the coffee shop selection is entirely populated by "big name" shops. Starbucks, Dunkin, Caribou, maybe a Crazy Mocha. That is not a fair representation of this city. One of the things I've grown to love about Pittsburgh is that a Beehive or a Quiet Storm or a Voluto or a Jitters can exist and succeed and thrive amongst some heavy-hitters, so to speak, that it represents something about the people who live here, that people are proud of what they do and what others do and want to support them in their ventures, that we won't just succumb and have cookie-cutter shopping plazas everywhere and pepper the city grid with equally-spaced out clones of the same big name store/shop/restaurant so that someone can satisfy that Starbucks/Subway/KFC/McD's fix no matter where they find themselves during the day. That's one of the things I find myself hating about other cities; not to say that this phenomenon is widespread everywhere else, but when I see that kind of trend, I get upset. Where is it all headed? Hegemony of choices, force-feeding the public the same crap everywhere and all the time. I'm getting a little too ranty now, but I hope you see my point: Pittsburgh is different. Pittsburgh is special to me. I don't want to see that happen here, not even a little bit, because it will be too hard to stop once it starts. Do we really want visitors to this high-traffic university area to see only brand name coffee shops and think that this is a microcosm of the city, that they'd find this everywhere else? I don't. I hate to think that visitors leave thinking that this city is just like every other city because it's not. Kudos to CMU for employing only local coffee shops in their academic buildings (Tazza D'Oro in Gates, La Prima in Wean, maybe others) but that only goes so far. I really hope something special moves in here in Kiva Han's absence, that some other local business can thrive and keep going with the understandably high rent for this major area of foot and auto traffic. Come on Pittsburgh. We can do this.

Alright, time for more coffee.

Kiva Han Countdown: 32 days

Just a quick visit today on my way from a seminar on campus to the Brillobox later for pub quiz. I grabbed a double americano and am sitting here for a little while on my laptop with some friends. One of them heard rumors that the Bagel Factory might be opening a location here … ? Another voiced a desire that Kiva Han just reopen in another space somewhere interesting, like on Penn in Garfield, or who knows. What do I think? I'm not sure yet. I should probably say something vaguely philosophical and hopeful for the future but, unfortunately, I'm feeling a little pessimistic now. I'm not sure that whatever moves in here can be my "go to place" near campus. This is just too right to be replaced. Maybe I'll be spending more time at Tazza D'Oro in the Gates Center, even though it can get quite crowded there during the day. I guess we'll see what happens … *cue closing credits and cheesy soundtrack*

Kiva Han Countdown: 33 days

I've been to this coffee shop a lot. A LOT. At least in the last few years. Strangely, my first two or so years in Pittsburgh, I didn't go out much at all, so I completely ignored that weird looking coffee shop located right across from Starbucks on the corner of Forbes Ave. & Craig St. (I didn't go to the Starbucks either, in case you're wondering.) But over the last few years, I've started to come here more and more often, and, this past summer, I was here almost every day after teaching a 9:00 am class. (For you fellow foursquare users, I'm the current mayor, and will likely be forever, as you'll learn if you read on …)

There's something more significant to their appeal, to me, than just the "Oh I don't want to go to the big chain over there" effect. The flyers on the wall telling me about tons of interesting concerts, art exhibits, and workshops … the funky plants (and now an avocado tree that will never be used here!) … the ever-changing art work and mural on the main wall … the baristas' smiles … the way they'll yell out whatever name you give them, and loudly, even if you're sitting right there at the bar … the perfectly-frothed cappuccino … the hilarious graffiti in the men's room (and women's room, actually, or so I've heard, I mean, what?) … the perfect location, right near CMU and the museums and Craig St. shops … the random assortment of music you'll hear over the speakers … setting up a foldup table outside and watching the traffic … the way that a hangover cure + cappucino combo hits the spot, any time of day … the scrumptious mac & cheese (with chili, too, a.k.a. "the mess") … I could go on and on.

I stopped in yesterday for a nosh and caffeine fix on my way home from campus and spotted a sign on the counter: Kiva Han will be closing its doors forever on February 19, 2012. A confluence of factors—the economy, an expensive lease and another leaser-in-waiting, the competition, etc.—have worked against this place for long enough, and they are, sadly, succumbing. I feel like a little kid whose friend is moving away and they don't really know why, or what they'll ever do in the future. I'm certainly not gonna go hang out at Starbucks every day. (Although I will continue to scam their free wireless signal from across the street, suckers.) Alright, it's not that life threatening, in the grand scheme of things, but it still sucks. I said that to a barista yesterday when I spotted the sign: "That really sucks." She said, "Yup." And that was that.

So why am I writing this now, and why is there a "countdown" in the title? Well, I don't really know what else to do, and I like to commit myself to quantified, manageable tasks, so I have vowed to patronize this here coffee shop (that I am sitting in right now, as I type this) every single day for the next month and a couple of days, while it's still here to be patronized. Even if it's just for a cup of coffee to go on my way to catch a bus, I will stop by here at least once a day for the next 33 days. I figure that will at least be a nice way to make some lasting memories of the place in my head, and if it helps show some support for the place on the whole, all the better. Maybe you'd like to join my quest? Go for it!

Today, I showed up around 2:30 and ordered a California wrap (eggs, avocado, sprouts, spicy tomato spread) and a drip coffee. I'm sitting at a table by the coffee bar, the one that's situated right by the door that opens out onto the corner of the street. I was pretty warm (unsurprisingly) from my walk when I got here, and even thought about ordering an iced coffee, but realized that would probably make me look insane in this weather, so I didn't. Instead, I contemplated opening the door in front of me a tiny crack, but then figured everyone else here wouldn't like that, so I just sat here sipping hot coffee and slowly cooling down. And then I started typing this. And now we're here. And now we're going off somewhere else.

Concert Review / MOIP + 123 @ Brillobox

It had been a long while since I'd seen a proper Meeting of Important People rawk band show. It felt like a year or more, but it was really only like 6 months. Still, that's WAY too long to go without a rip-roarin' set of garage pop tunes, guitar flailing, fast-paced drums, and good ol' fashioned fun times.

I grabbed dinner downstairs at the Brillobox before the show. You have to try the seitan gyro. I think it's pretty new on the menu (I hadn't seen it before) and it was absolutely delicious. Perfectly spiced, nice texture, generously saucy. Yummo. I went upstairs a short while after The Whiskey Holler started their set. I'd only caught these dudes once before, at the Thunderbird back in September, and I was really surprised by how great they were that first time. I wasn't expecting them to be bad, not at all, but it was one of those really pleasant surprises where you don't know the band, have no expectations, and then they rock your socks off and you find yourself grinning halfway through because you know you've stumbled on greatness. Yeah, it was like that. This time around, the crowd was kinda chatty and the band was playing as an acoustic duo (or trio, perhaps?) so it didn't come across nearly as well as I remembered/had hoped. I still enjoyed their twangy rock tunes, but I wish everyone else was paying better attention. I suppose I should have gone up and stood closer but I didn't feel like navigating the already dense crowd. They play around town a lot, so I'll be sure to catch 'em again soon, and I recommend you do the same. In the meantime, dig this live recording from a Howlers set. It is fantastic. Also, check out this story they posted on their blog last month. Love the story-telling style, fellas.



Meeting of Important People got up next and did what they do best: everything. Josh announced that they'd essentially taken the entire fall season off from concert-playing and put together an entire new full-length album of material that they're very eager to share. Huzzah! They've slipped a couple of new songs into their repertoire over the last year or so, and I've wondered how those were coming along and whether they had any album plans. Now we know. Check out the Kickstarter campaign that they launched last week for more info about it; they want to do all the recording themselves, sans labels and PR and all that monkey business. More power to ya, boys. And readers, throw 'em a few bucks. You won't regret it when you hear what comes out of it all. As I was watching them play, I realized that I've written so many review of their shows, it's pointless to reiterate the fun and tunefulness they exude, so I went and did something I remember doing way back when I was just a fanboy, listening to their record on my iPod, seeing them for the first or second time: I copied down their setlist on my phone while they played. Yup. This is direct copy/paste from the document so you can see my silly notes, unedited.

britney lane
hanky church
(verba nets vs. ver baah nets)
leaving here
its alright to let the old folks go (with bullshit indie rock ending)
one o clock
big muscles
we gotta get outta this place
I know every street
innocents abound (guest shaker)
dead man
good for your bones, punk rawk
training song
leap the dips
boys
??? New song, for when you're higher than hell
nothings goin on
school (nirvana)


1,2,3 came up last and played a bunch of songs from New Heaven, and one new song from an upcoming thing they're working on. The crowd was really into it, although it seemed a little thinner than it had been earlier. I learned that the bassist used to be in Juliana Theory. There's a fun fact for ya. They played my favorite tune of theirs, "Riding Coach". That one always sounds good, and I'm really impressed with how well it comes across in person, too. It almost feels like a headphones song, but they nail it live, even Nic's falsetto. Great stuff. I noticed they had their own sound guy working the board, which I don't see too often from local bands, so they must be prepping him for a tour or something? Sounded pretty good, considering the usual Brillo crowd which, by the way, was waaaayyy worse during this set than usual. Nic actually called out a group of super chatty folks right in the front. "Hey, girl in the glasses, yeah, you, hey, you" … and she still didn't notice! Somebody standing behind her had to poke her drunk ass (not literally, she was just being a drunk ass) to get her attention and get her to shut up so they could play a quiet tune. Yowza. Meanwhile, some other really drunk girl kept "dancing" and stumbling around and falling onto the stage, and Josh's ride cymbal kept falling off the stand (the top notch was broken, I think) and a pink-haried lady in the front kept graciously going up to fix it when it tumbled (which happened at least four or five times). Overall, it was a kinda up-and-down set, logistics-wise, but the music sounded good to my ears, which is all that really matters, right?