Yes. I have a blog. I remember.

Sorry... haven't been writing as much as I had hoped I would have over the past few days...

Anyway.

The adventure continues! I went home for Autumn break over the weekend, which was really wonderful. Firstly, I got to see my Mum, Dad, and siblings-- and I got to see Nick's football game! I'm amused by the fact that this was the second Greeley football game I've ever been to. The last time I went, I was a freshman in high school, and my parents had to drag me. It's a lot more fun now that I've graduated.

And of course, I brought more things back to clutter my dorm room with.

Clutter. Huzzah.

I don't dare take a picture of my desk.

I also (FINALLY) got to meet Rebz's boyfriend, who I have been hearing about and not meeting for about three months now. And... well. I heartily approve of the kid. (I can call him a kid because he's two years younger than me. Is that a valid excuse? No. Ah well. Just go along with it.) In all seriousness, though, I really liked him. It's difficult not to like a fellow Sharpe watcher who can talk French politics...

Anyway.

I had tea with Amanda before I left, which was really nice... I'm glad I got to see her.

I got back to Goucher on Tuesday evening (after waiting for the College Town Shuttle for about an hour and fifteen minutes), and I was amazed at how happy I was to be back (despite having a six-page essay to write in the space of three hours)... it wasn't that visiting New York was awful, of course, but... well. As soon as I stepped on campus, I was reminded of why I chose to go to Goucher. It's so beautiful, and the people here are wonderful... and, to be honest, it was nice to be back in my own room. It's really become mine... I've got all my books here, my guitar, my giant teddy bear, my less-giant teddy bear, my tea...

There's a strange duality about living away from my family... on the one hand, New York is always going to be the place I grew up. It's where my family and some of my best friends are, and let's face it, I'm never going to enjoy autumn as much anywhere else. But on the other hand, Goucher has very quickly become home as well: how could it not be? I live here, and most of my really important possessions are here with me. Never mind my roommate and the other people who have been like family to me here. So, there's this odd split... in some ways, coming back to Goucher felt just as much like coming home as coming back to New York did.

And the weather is finally starting to get really chilly! I feel like I say that every week, but all the same. I was actually cold when I got out of the shower this morning. It's sweater weather.

The week since has not been too interesting... class, homework, work... I'd say something about Anthropology, but I've already talked too much about that for it to be interesting to any of you at this point...

Well. That's about it. It's Friday night, and I'm sitting in my room, writing a blog post. And as soon as I'm done, I'll probably go back to my tea and sketchbook.

Hope you're all well! My love to all,

Tasha

ps. I'm editing this post at 12.10am, just to say this: I realized this evening that there are people other than me and Dad who like Warren Zevon. And I just spent most of my evening listening to good music with them. I... cannot express how happy I am right now.

Ships and Grades and Parental Units

I feel like it's been a while since I've written... at least a week. So, I'll start back at last Sunday:

I visited the USS Constellation. And it was fantastic.
 

I went on a day much like the rest of that week: cold, cloudy, and perpetually either raining, or about to rain. In other words, perfect museum weather. Unless you're going to and outdoor museum.

Ah well.

I think I already gave you a quick run-down of the ship's history, so I'll try not to go over that too much again. But just to recap: there have been four ships by the name of the Constellation in American history. The first was built in 1797, but torn apart in 1853. The ship I visited is the 1854 USS Constellation, which is most famous for its exploits in disrupting the illegal African slave trade. It was restored in the 1990's, and smaller restoration projects on the ship have been ongoing since then.

While we were there (I dragged my friend Nina along with me), they held a demonstration of firing the guns. They only used 1/8th of the amount of powder that would have actually been used in firing a gun to kill, and... well. It was still quite loud, we'll put it that way. Given that in a battle, one would be using the actual amount of powder, all the other guns on the ship would be going off, all the guns on the other ship would be going off, and that theoretically, one could be doing this on a regular basis, it's easy to see why sailors went deaf.

 The Captain's quarters

Everybody else's quarters

The medicine cabinet. For some reason, I don't have pictures of all the tools they used for amputation, but... yes. As if I wasn't already hesitant about the whole sawing-your-arm-off thing.

Now, I know this is the wrong period (USS Constellation is a Civil War-era ship, as opposed to Napoleonic War-era), but throughout the entire tour of the ship, I couldn't get the Master and Commander soundtrack out of my head. I should go back and re-read those books... again...

Anyway.

That was a great visit. I really had a lot of fun. I just wish... well, two things actually: a) I wish I'd been able to spend more time there, b) I wish the museum itself had been more specific. How do I explain that...? Well, the presentation of the ship was very much "Here's what life was like in the US Navy during the Civil War," as opposed to "This is what was going on, and this is how the ship was connected to it." Ah well. Who am I do critique? It's a great site, and if you're ever in Baltimore, I would look into it... it's part of a museum that shows two other ships as well, so if you're into Naval History... yep.

Okay, I'm done now, I promise.

Things have been going... well. I'm still very happy here, and I'm still loving all my classes (except Philosophy, which you all probably know by now), and I'm doing very well: we've all been getting our "progress reports" back over the past few days, and... well. I'm getting a B in Film and Literature, A- in Philosophy, A in Historic Preservation, and A+ in European History. So... not terrible. I haven't gotten my Anthropology grade back yet, but I'm very excited to see that. But anyway, excuse my bragging, and let me get back to what I was saying: I'm really happy in terms of my academics, and most other things, but... I dunno. I'm coming down off the first-few-weeks-of-college high, and sorting through a few things. Prioritizing, I guess, would be the best way to put it. Things are already looking up, but it's been a strange week. Most of it feels like a dream.

And to top it off, this past weekend was Parent's Visiting Weekend! Which was wonderful... I was really happy to see Mum and Dad again. I'll talk more about that later, since a lot of what I have to say goes along with the pictures my Mum took, and I haven't gotten them yet. But it was a great weekend: my parents got to meet Kaira (my wonderful roommate who I can't say enough nice things about), and I got to meet her Mum, so that was nice.

It's odd... for the past few weeks, I've been in this mindset of thinking that I should feel more like an adult, but I don't... does that make sense? Probably not. But since my parents visited, and since they left, that has gone away. I suppose I've proven to myself that I can take care of things on my own... which is a great feeling. It's one thing to feel independent because you're parents aren't there to tell you what to do, but it's something else entirely to feel independent because you can stand up for yourself and decide what's best for you, on your own.

That being said, I did need Dad's help in opening my bank account. And in getting the right train tickets. So. I'm working on it.

My love to all,

Tasha

ps. A few birthdays I have to mention:

Happy Birthday to Sam (again)! And a belated one to John Lennon as well. It's difficult to overestimate how influential he has been, both musically and as a celebrity, even to those of us who were born after he died.

Here comes the sun... (Happy October!)

Firstly: thank you for all your responses to my last post. That was a rough few days, and I feel so incredibly lucky to have such wonderful friends and family.

It's been a bit strange... perhaps I should blame it on sleep deprivation. But it feels like I'm always either ecstatic to the point of dancing down the street, or tired and sad to the point of sitting in the library, staring at the wall, and doing nothing. I didn't expect it to be easy, the first month at college... I suppose I'm still figuring out how to keep up some kind of healthy routine. I'll figure it out.

Something I've been struck by over the past month is how much little things really affect one... like how much just having some of my books in my dorm make it feel like home, or how much things seem out of place when you can't get the right music when you want it... does that make sense? Probably not. Don't mind me.

Well, it rained pretty much non-stop all of last week. We had our first glimpse of sun here yesterday, and it seems to be continuing into today. Now, I love rain-- I find it very soothing. But after a week of nothing else, I'm really for a few days of proper October weather: chilly, windy, and cloudless. And accompanied by the Beatles, of course. I don't know why, but every time October rolls around, I find myself in a Beatles mood... the same thing happens in December, except I start listening to the Harry Potter soundtrack non-stop.

I'm still a bit bothered by the fact that I'm considered an adult... anyway.

I've had to change my plans to visit Fort McHenry for my Historic Preservation class, since the ferry only goes there from April-September, and all other ways of getting there involve having a car.

Oops.

So, I'm going to see the USS Constellation tomorrow. I've been doing some preliminary research on it, and the history of the ship(s) seems really quite fascinating. There have actually been four ships by the name USS Constellation: the first was built in 1797, and torn apart in 1853. It was the first ship launched by the U.S. Navy, and the first to pull off a major victory against an enemy ship (namely the French frigate, L'Insurgente). The second ship (the one that is actually preserved in Baltimore's Inner Harbor) was built in 1854, and stayed on the Naval Vessel Register until 1955. There have been two other ships since then, but honestly, I'm much more interested in the first two.

The 1797Constellation

The 1854 USS Constellation

I'm going to be in a bit of a squeeze, time-wise... I have to write a paper about the site for my class on Monday, in addition to actually seeing the site, writing another 6-page essay for my English class... it's gonna be an interesting Sunday. I'm hoping to finish the English paper today, so I won't have to worry about it tomorrow, but I prefer to be pessimistic, so I'll (hopefully) be pleasantly surprised when I get to go to bed before 2.00am.

And on that note, I'm going to get back to work. I'll write more soon... until then, my love to all,

Tasha