I have to admit that I only ever once read PittGirl's blog, and that it wasn't my cup of tea, but it is terribly unfortunate that she will be no longer blogging. I can only hope that whatever brought it to pass wasn't something that put her through undue stress.
oh no!
didn't someone save her glossary of terms or anything else somwhere else on the internets??
Another one bites the dust. Three questions:
What age do we enter now?
Perhaps she (or he) moved - or is about to go out-of-town?
Perhaps she (or he) is about to run for public office. Could Theresa Smith be PittGirl?
I'm glad that b*%@$ is gone!
/dances jig on Pittgirl grave
Say it ain't so, PG? Best of luck.
Damnit, Ken Rice, get back behind that keyboard!
PG
Thank you for making my transition of moving back to the Burgh from 16 yrs in Chicago a funny and informative experience. You will be missed by minions and allies alike. Only the pigeons are rejoicing.
My City of Pittsburgh flag is now lowered to half-staff in tribute.
The reference in her final message to her privacy makes me wonder if someone was about to "out" Pittgirl, so to speak. I certainly hope she can find a way to carry on her secret blogging.
I bet she was outed or threatened. That's so sad that someone would play games that way.
It's a damn shame it had to come to this. I really hope that there were no threats to her anonymity, or especially her well-being, that caused this. I prefer to be an optimist and think maybe she got a big promotion or something and not longer had the time for it...
No matter what the reason, it's a sad day for her readers and the extended city at large. Now, I might actually have to fill up my time at work by actually doing work, and that pleases me not at all.
Godspeed and Good Luck, PG!
It is just a little sickening to think soeone needed to feel big about themselves by blowing up her ID. If we find them, can we prosecute them for a Hate Crime? because this is just hateful.
What about the new shirts? What the h%^& is my family gonna get me for the holidays?
Sorry to be so dense, but what was PittGirl involved in, and/or what did she write, that would make her so concerned about her privacy and, apparently, personal safety?
A gold thread in the fabric that is the 'Burgh has been tarnished and we are all less joyful and amused , moved and inspired by its loss.
My hope is that this is a positive move but that is hard to believe in.
Sorely missed to be sure.
@ Gosford - Women on the internets can attract crazy stalkers, no matter what they do to safeguard themselves. I really, sincerely hope that's not what it was in this case. But that's one thing that can make someone fear for her life merely for having the nerve to, you know, exist.
Gosford, Pittgirl was a popular Pittsburg blogger (I guess mostly by word of mouth, although she had had soe mentions in the papers). She was religious (so to speak) about not revealing her identity, and joking about doing that some. I speculated that someone was going to reveal her identity based on what she said in her good bye message, but I know nothing concrete about that. Past that, I think most of us are just guessin'
Damn!
Theresa Smith is not PittGirl. I can promise you that.
Feel like I lost a good friend. 
"'I don't know if I would be fired or forced out or what, and I'd like not to find out,' she said today in an exchange with the Post-Gazette. 'I was anonymous for a good reason and when that was threatened, we pulled the trigger so to speak.'"
I didn't do it.
I always suspected it was Alecia Sirk. But I think I was wrong. Oh well!
I've never even VISITED Pittsburgh, but got a huge kick out of PittGirl's blog, which I happened upon by accident. I'm really bummed that she's now gone. I really enjoyed your writing, PG!
This was the noblest Burgher of them all.
Like rules that are meant to be broken, author anonymity is meant to be compromised. Sheesh, it's not like she was advocating for regime change from behind the Iron Curtain.
When the sun rises tomorrow, there will be some new sassy, self-indulgent hack to take her place.
It's my fault. When she posted the story about the vandalism at the school for the blond, I introduced PittGirl to my readers. That was the kiss of death.
Just kidding. 
Wonder if it was the bus driver who finally figured out who PG is?
I echo Gosford. Why would her employer fire her over an amusing blog? Perhaps because when she was supposed to be working she was blogging?
Still, quite a character. I'll miss the blog.
www.MacYapper.blogspot.com
Can you imagine the impact of this woman? Even in her absence she is providing a forum for interaction and comments.
Ken Rice's eyebrows were out for blood.
Right on with CapMan. Plus she was not that great. All the pigeon banter was stupid. Can't handle pigeons ? Move back to the country. Plus anybody who goes on and on, about peoples' looks while maintaining a covert existence is pretty jr. high
I read her every day. She had a way about her that just seemed so... Pittsburgh. Good luck to you PG, hope you find it back to the internets.
@DemEx, especially...honestly, if you don't like what someone blogs...why bother reading it? You obviously did, and are taking the time to post here. PG was funny and while some of her stuff could move into some slightly superficial territory, she ALWAYS gave people she may have said less-than-nice things about a platform to defend or explain themselves (see -- oh, wait, you can't anymore -- I was going to say see: Lawyer w/ Awful hair). I think for the most part PG called it like she saw it, and I think how she saw it was pretty much like how most normal, rational, intelligent people see things. That's why those of us who fit into that category are really going to miss her.
So I remembered the "Lawyer w/Awful hair" right away, and I'll bet a lot of people did here. That seems like a good comment on how popular and widely read she was. I didn't always agree with her, and I wasn't interested in all her posts, but I thought her writing style was pretty good, especially for a blogger. She was pretty entertaining and will be missed.
Come on. A PG front page paean to PittGirl? I am moved to say, "Get a life", but that would be superficial. But a little perspective, at least, would be in order.
I can hear the editorial board discussion now--"putting it on the front page will prove that we're cool, and any way, Dennis wants it on the front page and he says he's going to find out who PittGirl is and blow the lid off of this whole blog thing."
I'll admit that while I read four local blogs daily, my only exposure to PittGirl was through her BurghReport comments. That, coupled with the silly quotes that Roddy ran today--especially the LOTR/Gollum reference--was quite enough to assure me that PittGirl was only so much fluff.
BTW, if you try to figure out who I am, I'm going to change my anonymous handle! (LOL, as the bloggers say.)
Did anyone else notice how today's version of the story leaned hard on Mayor Lukey, Dread Lord Zober, Ford and Sirk? That was pretty cool...
I kinda wonder if someone was going to out her, too.
I haven't even heard anything about who she possibly was. The only thing I have heard is that her name is possibly [redacted to blunt speculation]. That doesn't really narrow it down.
what a coward! she wasn't too concerned about privacy when she was attacking others. at least bram puts his face on his comments...like him or not...he has the guts to put his face and name on his opinions.
Anonymous | 11.19.08 - 1:30 pm - Many bloggers just don't want to be bothered. For example, the beloved Matt H was anonymous at first before he was outed. He was such a little wimp that he lied about it too. So you see, everybody has their own level of comfort.
I am PittGirl
Matt never blogged anonymously. For a while he commented as Matt H and it took a while for him to own up to being Matt Hogue of HACP, the ACDC and Elliot, but by the time he set up his own site he was very much himself.
One of the bloggers on our little blog d-list last night circulated some promising-sounding leads as to how one might discover her identity -- but it feels like we're content to shut the discussion down until further news or instructions.
Bram, why do you defend Matt? Is he your boy toy?
Matt, I am disaccpointed that you even mention a possible first name. What is the possible purpose? Could PittGirl's big reveal cost her a profession she must love?
"Matt, I am disaccpointed that you even mention a possible first name. What is the possible purpose?"
So my possible leak of a 1st name narrowed it down to how many thousands of people?
Why did Bram defend me? He didn't have to but what he said was true. He was stating facts. I never did blog anon.
Would you really think Matt would care about her personal circumstances? After all, she disagreed with Matt on some things. And to Matt that is a definite no no. All dissent of the great one must be squashed. In the end I am sure he would do whatever he felt was necessary to permanently put her out of business. If the cost of that was her employment - so be it.
Of course, I don't think he is totally heartless. But he is pretty darn close.
grateful...you hypocrite! what if her blabbering cost others their position? i am curious, do any of you have any real jobs of any significance...or are all of you paper pusher wannabees who drone through life well below mediocrity?
Isn't it interesting that two notable bloggers complaining about the attention this topic has generated in the MSM failed as a team and in seperate attempts to work in the MSM themselves?
I'm just sayin.....
Matt H blogged pseudo anonymously. Anybody who had been around the O'Connor world knew who he was (I knew who he was long before it became public). Then, I believe, he typed his full name into the comments at PittGirl's blog, thus "outing" himself. In Matt's case, the outing didn't really matter.
And Matt, not running for Council? You should. I think you might've won this time. Good luck with the school board race though. I would vote for you if I still lived up in the Burgh.
I would never defend Matt, even though he is my boy toy. I was simply correcting the record.
It's ugly and ignorant commenters like you that drove Chad Hermann away from us. So I guess thanks are in order.
#rimshot#
" #rimshot# "
You give a whole new meaning to rimshot Bram.
You're welcome!
I suppose that was low-hanging fruit. (Stop!) I knew I should have went with the smiley.
"And Matt, not running for Council? You should. I think you might've won this time. Good luck with the school board race though. I would vote for you if I still lived up in the Burgh."
Thanks Mike. I appreciate the kind words.
LOL. Matt running for the School Board is going to be great.
"In the end I am sure he would do whatever he felt was necessary to permanently put her out of business. If the cost of that was her employment - so be it."
What in the world are you talking about? I never had any issues with The Burgh Blog. If there was a chance of her losing her job because of her blogging anonymously then that's a risk she took and fully was aware of it.
"I would never defend Matt, even though he is my boy toy. I was simply correcting the record."
Ha Ha
"Matt running for the School Board is going to be great."
Yes it is! I'm excited to do it if I choose to do it.
Matt - you proved my point exactly. Thanks!
what point was that my friend?
That you really don't care about her personal circumstances.
I just think Matt sucks.
OK
leave em alone
Hoagie 4 school board!
Hoagie for whipping boy!
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