Leave a comment and I’ll give you a letter. Post ten things you LOVE that begin with that letter.  Then give a letter to anyone who leaves a comment for you… and the cycle will continue.

I decided to participate too and he gave me the letter M, but switched up the rules: I had to name 10 things I love about Pittsburgh that start with the letter M, not just things in general. So, without further ado, my list.

1.       Marginal Designs: Yet more shameless self-promotion. But I seriously love the fact that two people can put the face of a local celebrity on a t-shirt in the style of the Che Guevara shirts and people will totally support it. Yinzers rock.

2.       Masloff, Sophie: The first (and so far, only) female mayor of Pittsburgh and a revered local icon. On a related note, I love the WearPittsburgh t-shirts that support a potential Masloff run for President. I’d vote for her!

3.       Mount Washington: A gorgeous view of our gorgeous city. I love bringing visitors up to Mt. Washington. It’s a visual rebuttal to the “Pittsburgh is dirty and smoky and gross” stereotype that somehow persists even in 2008:

(Picture from DeathByBokeh)

4.       Most Livable City: I totally agree, Pittsburgh is the Most Livable City in the United States. We have great museums, a low cost of living, and friendly neighbors. What more could you ask for?

5.       Mario Lemieux: I belong to a Facebook group called “Mario Lemieux Just Might Be God.” And it’s not an exaggeration AT ALL. Mario was an amazing hockey player despite all his setbacks and contributes meaningfully to our community.

6.       Monongahela River:  Together with the Allegheny, it forms the Ohio River at Point State Park. Without it, national sports broadcasters wouldn’t be able to say that Pittsburgh lies at the confluence of three rivers, and then how would they show off their extensive vocabularies?

7.       Miller, Heath: A solid football player and reliable tight end on the Steelers. He rarely misses any of Ben’s passes, which is more than I can say for some of the other players on the team. (cough, Santonio Holmes, cough)

8.       Mr. Rogers : I cried the day Mr. Rogers died. He was an integral part of my childhood and he lived right here in Pittsburgh. My favorite Mr. Rogers story: When he was baby-sitting his grandson, his car was stolen. The news stations reported the theft and the next day, or maybe a few days later, the thief returned the car to Mr. Rogers. That story really speaks to the good he brought out in people.

9.       Myron Cope: A Pittsburgh original, creator of the Terrible Towel, award-winning journalist, and owner of perhaps the most distinctive voice ever. Myron, we miss you.

10.   Mary Cassatt: I love her paintings. Anything that places value on the often unseen lives of women is awesome in my book. And she’s from Pittsburgh, too!

Leave a comment if you want to write your top ten list with a Pittsburgh twist!

Legend has it that Hemingway was once challenged to write a story in only six words. His response? “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” Last year, SMITH Magazine re-ignited the recountre by asking readers for their own six-word memoirs. They sent in short life stories in droves, from the bittersweet (”Cursed with cancer, blessed with friends”) and poignant (”I still make coffee for two”) to the inspirational (”Business school? Bah! Pop music? Hurrah”) and hilarious (”I like big butts, can’t lie”).

Mine:

Hardest-working slacker in … sigh, whatever.

(I realize that “hardest-working,” with its hyphenation, should really be counted as one word, but it seemed unseemly to claim one-word status for it when it takes up so much room and the project was to be as succinct as possible.)

Being so new to the blogosphere that I don’t have any interweb friends who haven’t done this meme already, I’ll pass on the tagging more people, if you don’t mind. (Please don’t mind.)