Hangin around

Finally found the best way to upload from my phone to my blog. Here are some recently updated photos from everyday life--family, friends, parties, etc.

An afternoon in Lima, Peru

My dad came along on a work trip to Lima, Peru, and we had an afternoon to bum around the city. It was a fun adventure, particularly trying to see the sights while knowing little of the language.

I blogged about the atmosphere in Lima over at HotelNewsNow.com.

what winter was like

There’s something about travel that puts life in a whole other perspective. For me, returning home from a trip almost always becomes a time of self-reflection—stirring thoughts on what’s most important: family, career and friends.

I’m writing this blog from over the Atlantic aboard a flight from Berlin. I spent five hectic days on the road and, although I had the incredible opportunity to see and experience a new part of the world (pics to come), it’s great to get back to the family. Saying goodbye to Melissa and Trevor and heading off to the airport has become too routine for all of us.

So--as we eagerly await a new season to bring sunshine and Cleveland thaws--here’s look back on how the Freed family spent the winter.

We put some work into the basement/family room in early December, carpeting most of the floor but installing wood laminate in what has become Trevor’s playroom. The plan—which seems more long term than I had initially inspired—is to eventually install a bar. Here’s a photo as well as some new artwork we just hung.

Melissa turned 30 in December and we celebrated by touring wine country in Geneva, dining at Horizons at the Lodge at Geneva State Park and staying overnight. It was a really nice day. Later, in early January, we got friends together for dinner at tre belle in Bath.

Christmas was most exciting for Trevor; his infatuation with Thomas the Tank Engine hasn’t wavered. We had immediate family over for dinner in the late morning and early afternoon—Melissa and I cooked mini spinach calzone appetizers and Italian wedding soup. Uncle Andrew helped install a new track set on Christmas Day and it hasn’t come down since. Andrew and Brandie brought Aiden, the newest addition to the family.

On a day off in January, Trevor and I tackled a sled-riding hill for the first time. He was frightened initially but ended up having a blast. Ironically, his favorite part of the day was swinging on the swingset in the snowy weather. Here's a movie from the day:

On the weekend of February 26, Melissa and I traveled to Houston for the Stefanick-Kirkham wedding. We had a blast--it was great to catch up with friends from both Columbiana and Mercyhurst that I hadn't seen in a while. Congrats to Carrie and Jason; their wedding was pretty amazing, the locations could have been out of a wedding magazine. They're both great people and we're lucky to know them. More pics to come from that soon as well.

It’s been a while since I’ve updated Digital Scratch, but I’m rededicated to making it a priority. Major renovation plans for the site are in the works, so stay tuned. Thanks for reading.

Steelers fan in enemy territory

Here it is Super Bowl Sunday and, in three hours, my die-hard favorite team will be battling for its seventh Lombardi Trophy--the most coveted trophy in all of sports. So why am I stuck thinking about Cleveland?

Melissa and I were both working two jobs in Youngstown and struggling to get by when we decided there would be more job opportunities in Cleveland ... and the job boards proved us right. It was a tough pill to swallow. For some odd reason, the local Cleveland channels don't carry Pirates games. I might be the only guy in the office wearing Black and Gold. And God forbid, my kid might grow up to be a Browns fan. I was distraught, and never fully bought into the concept that I would like living near Cleveland.

Not only did we jump closer to Lake Erie, we ended up buying a house in Cleveland city limits. And not only have we settled in, I've fallen in love with the city. I'm proud to live in Cleveland, excited to raise a family here and anxious to be a part of it's revitalization. In Cleveland, there are opportunities, there is plenty of entertainment and the people are blue collar--down to earth and unpretentious.

In fact, Pittsburgh and Cleveland are eerily similar cities. I won't hark on their foundations--how they both were built as shipping imports on great bodies of water, forged in the mills by hardworking laborers--but both cities are in the middle of a transformation from polluted and rusty to clean and unique. Neither will ever be Chicago, New York or L.A., but they'd hate to be. Rather, they'll embrace their size and build on their connectivity.

The animosity between the two cities' sport fans couldn't be greater, yet the cities' franchises couldn't be more similar. Each have their share of winners and losers. Although they never hoisted a championship trophy, the Indians were consistent winners through the 1990s and the Cavs dominated through the LeBron era; the Browns have been embarrassingly bad. In Pittsburgh, the Steelers have enjoyed a run of success lately and the Penguins have hoisted two Stanley Cups in recent years, but the Pirates have been absolutely dismal.

Here's a quote from David Morehouse, the Penguins' president: "If you go back to when all this started, when I was growing up (in Pittsburgh) as a kid in the '70s, the sports were the only good thing happening. You picked up the paper, and it was all bad news. Your neighbors were getting laid off. Steel mills were closing. You couldn't get a job. But these guys were winning championships, and they were doing it by working hard. They were validation that working hard would pay off."

Sound familiar, Cleveland?

Today, it's harder to be a Steelers fan in Cleveland than one might think. I cant wear a jersey to work without feeling somewhat uncomfortable at some point throughout the day. I cant fly my Steelers flag in front of my house without the fear of a drunken Browns fan throwing a rock through my living room window. But these things are to be expected and I respect Browns fans for their loyalty. Having a D-bag for a quarterback in Pittsburgh hasn't made it any easier, but Cleveland shouldn't forget they've rooted for a sleazy Jim Brown, a prima donna Manny Ramirez and the biggest D-bag ever in "The Chosen One." I've come to conclusion that most athletes are egotistical douches and we've just got to deal with it.

As far as championships are concerned, Pittsburgh has been blessed to celebrate a handful in recent years. It's been fun, and as we get closer to kickoff tonight, my stomach is in knots over the prospect of another one. But I would be lying if I said I wasn't rooting for Cleveland to get a trophy soon. Certainly there are bigger things in life than sports, but life would get a lot easier, and this region could all breathe a collective sigh of relief, if Cleveland could bring one home.

It will happen eventually. Once it does, I hope the hatred between the cities' sport fans dies down a bit. After all, it's just sports. Until that day, Here We Go Steelers.

some east coast love

Often times experiences in life can be fantastic reminders of how blessed we are.

I’m writing this blog entry aboard a bus traveling Interstate 195 West from Cape Cod, Mass., to Providence, R.I. It’s a long day of travel; I hit the road at 10:30 a.m. and have already been in a cab, aboard a boat, on a bus and will still fly from Providence through Baltimore to Cleveland before arriving home around 8 tonight. But I’m certainly not complaining.

It’s because of phenomenal friends and family, and a flexible employer, that I was able to witness some of the most beautiful destinations in the United States the past few days. Without Melissa’s support and trust, five days away from home clearly wouldn’t have been possible. Without great friends like Schwab, Emily, Erin and Dan (among others), the opportunity to crash on Nantucket Island for two nights wouldn’t have existed.

My trip started out business-related on Tuesday, when I landed in Boston and checked into the Fairmont Copley Plaza to moderate two discussions on the changing entertainment environment in the hotel guestroom. It was a successful business trip; I met a handful of important IT executives that I can call on as sources down the road, moderated two lively panels and wrote two stories for my new outlet, HotelNewsNow.com.

When I wrapped up with my responsibilities Thursday, I proceeded to conduct some thorough research on the possibility and affordability of extending the trip to join friends in Nantucket. Emily (Schwab’s daughter) lives on the island and Melissa and I were invited to her wedding on Friday night, but for financial reasons we regretfully declined. The fact that I was already in Boston and could change my flight for a minimal fee presented a new opportunity. After a bus from Boston to Hyannis and a ferry to Nantucket, I arrived at one of coolest places on the East Coast.



I usually reserve the word “beautiful” for my wife (or for PNC Park on a sunny Sunday afternoon). But there really isn’t a better adjective to describe the compilation of scenery and events over the past two days in Nantucket. The seafood was as fresh as you’d expect; the rental home was enormous and immaculate; downtown Nantucket was quaint and friendly; Emily’s wedding in the back yard of a giant home perched above the Atlantic Ocean was incredibly scenic and elegant.

Traveling, making new acquaintances and experiencing lifestyles from different pockets of the country can be very educational and fulfilling. More importantly, it can remind us to truly value what we have at home.

a summer Saturday in Pittsburgh with a camera

This blog has been on the back burner for a long while now. Took the fam to Pittsburgh on a Saturday in early August and had a kick-ass time. Some great photos came from the day and I'm just now getting around to uploading them.

I had some media passes from Visit Pittsburgh (thanks, Kristin) so we hit up a lot of fun spots. Some touristy, some not-so-much. First, we took Trevor on his first ride up the Duquesne Incline and he loved it. It was "a train car that went up hills," he said. Got some good shots of the city from atop Mount Washington.

Next we checked out the Children's Museum, which--besides the best Pirates game ever played at PNC Park--was the best part of the day. There was so much stuff for Trevor to do; to play with, not just look at. There was some real creative stuff in there and I recommend it to anyone, even Clevelanders looking for a day trip.

The Science Center was fun and there was a good amount of activities there as well. Certainly the highlight of the Science Center for children is the model train exhibit that fills an enormous room. Great reaction from Trevor when he saw Thomas on the tracks.

Finally we headed to PNC Park, where the Pirates were entertaining the Rockies on fireworks night. The Bucs provided some fireworks of their own: They took a lead late into the game, gave it up in ninth, and allowed 2 runs in the top of the 10th before rookie Pedro Alvarez sent a 3-run walk-off shot into the right field bleachers in the bottom of the 10th for a Pirates win.

Here's a slideshow from the day:

Created with flickr slideshow from softsea.

back on the patio with the trains

Here's a second installment of Trevor and his train collection on the patio. You'll notice a few misspellings in the video. For some reason Windows Movie Maker doesn't work well with certain fonts and has lopped off the last letter of a few of the trains' names.



This is one of the best tracks we've built. The video features most of the trains in Trevor's collection. We're able to leave the track out and just bring the trains in at night. It runs along the sidewalk and we've got some great comments from the neighbors and others walking by.

Of all the things Trevor could be infatuated with, we're glad he picked something pretty cool.