Merry Brandybuck...?

Happy Holidays, all! I'm a bit late for Chanukah and Christmas, but... anyway. Kwanzaa is still going on. And New Year's is in about three days. So... I'm not that late.

Anyway.

I've been home for almost two weeks already... it feels like a much shorter time in some ways, and a much longer time in others. It's been nice being back in New York, but... yep. You guessed it. I miss Goucher already. And speaking of Goucher, I've noticed what I think is quite an interesting incongruity over the past few days: during the four months I was living in a dorm with at least 20 other girls, sharing a water fountain and bathroom and showers and all sorts of germs I don't really want to think about, I was not sick even once. Never. I have been tired, and slightly unwell, but not seriously sick.

So, I thought that I wouldn't have anything to worry about back here. I have my own room, my own bathroom, and there isn't even a water fountain to get mononucleosis from. Should be relatively safe, yes?

...ha.

I'm now stuck in the house with a cold and a box of tissues practically attached to me.

It hasn't been all too bad, though... I mean, I missed out on most of the fun of the snow storm we just got hit with, but I can live with that. I've been spending most of my time sitting in front of the fire, re-reading The Guns of August by Barbara W. Tuchman. I feel like I've talked about this book before in a previous post, but in any case. It's a wonderful book-- I'm not particularly interested in the First (or Second) World Wars as compared to other time periods but, to be honest, but the book is just so well done...

I've also started Winston Churchill's A History of the English-Speaking Peoples, which I'm enjoying, and I've finally started watching HBO's John Adams mini-series. John Adams has never been my favorite American president... the Alien and Sedition Acts always bothered me a bit. And the series does take some liberties with history.

That being said, I love this series. I should be finishing it tonight, and after that, I think the family is planning on listening to Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian on audio-book. I've been meaning to go back and re-read that, so I'm excited.

I've also been doing a lot of thinking about the next few years... of course, when am I not? But this time, I've actually been thinking productively.

...surprising. I know.

Anyway. Specifically, I've been thinking about my study-abroad options. Goucher College requires that each student, in order to graduate, travel abroad as part of their studies. There's quite a good range of programs, and for different amounts of time: there are some shorter ones, like the three-week program to South Africa, and there are some longer ones, like the year-long program at Oxford University in the UK. Most programs are only one-semester, however. I've been thinking about it quite a bit since I'd really rather do a longer program, and even just one semester is quite a period of time... I really need to make a good decision, and the time is rapidly approaching when I will need to make that decision.

I'll be going abroad sometime during my junior year: that is a given. It needs to be something that's going to give me credits for my history major, obviously. It sounds closed-minded to say I wouldn't consider anything else, but it's the truth. And obviously, I need to be able to speak (or be able to learn) the language of the country I will be traveling to. For a while, I considered South Africa, Ghana, the Czech Republic, a program at the University College Cork in Ireland, and a program at the University of Salamanca in Spain, but after quite a lot of deliberation... well. I know what my first choice is, we'll put it that way.

Goucher offers a program in which it subsidizes a full academic year at Oxford University, in the UK. It's rather competitive: only one student from Goucher gets this scholarship per year, but... well. I really want to get it. And by that, I mean I really, really, really want to get it, and I will probably be completely heartbroken if I don't.

Here's Goucher's little blurb on it, if you're interested: http://www.goucher.edu/x37559.xml

But aside from the theoretical heart-breaking, I think it would be the perfect program for me. My interest in history has been steered more and more in the direction of British history since... well. Fine. Forever. And while Goucher's history department is certainly decent, it doesn't happen to have much in the way of my current specific interests. (Actually, there is one class that's all about American and English relations up to the American Revolution, which is exactly what I want to be studying, but I think some more general classes might help as well...) I can't imagine a better way of learning what I want to learn about than going to the oldest English-speaking university in the world (sorry Cambridge: 113 years difference).

So, that's what I'm thinking about that. First choice: Oxford University. Second Choice: probably University College Cork (for the archaeology program), but we'll see.

Anyway. That's pretty much it for now. I'll write more soon. In the meantime, take care, have a wonderful holiday, and I'll be seeing most of you at some point very soon!

Love to all,
Tasha











ps. I got an Indiana Jones hat for Christmas. "Happy" does not begin to cover it.

Tea and Cookies (or Biscuts. I'm not really sure what to call these, actually.)

That title pretty much sums up my week. I spent most of it sitting in my room or in the Atheneum finishing up final projects, studying for finals, staying up late doing nothing with friends, and surviving on earl grey tea and shortbread cookies that say "Biscuts" on the front. It also says "Product of Scotland" on the front, so that explains that. Anway, I'm sure all the adults in the audience will be very pleased to hear about my ever so healthy diet. Except not really, at all.

Anyway.

I spent the weekend at my friend Ellie's house: she lives about half an hour away from Goucher, and she invited to come see a dance concert at her old high school. It was fun, and of course it was nice to get a break from studying and frantically tying up loose ends. But it was a little... well. Awkward. I've only met her parents once before, and I think I was too busy being shy to make a good impression. In any case... it was odd. Whenever I go to somebody else's house, I feel like I'm walking into somebody else's entire life. And... well. There's a big difference between walking into your best friend's house, and walking into a near stranger's house. Ellie is my best friend at Goucher, but... I think we've all gotten used to the idea that our homes are now our dorm rooms-- not where we came from before Goucher.

Okay. Enough of that rambling.

The next week should be a lot better. I don't have classes, and only one actual final test (on Tuesday morning). So I'm pretty much free to roam Towson and Baltimore for the next week. Kaira and I are hoping to finally make it out to the Baltimore Art Museum on Wednesday: she's interested in the Andy Warhol exhibit, and I just feel ever so slightly embarrassed that I haven't been there yet. Especially since I'll be taking Art History next semester... I get the feeling I'm gonna get to know my way around the museum quite well before the year is out. I'd also like to go back to the USS Constellation and go through a better tour. I rushed through it last time, as I was looking for pretty specific information for my Historic Preservation paper, so I'd like to do it properly this time. I also want to see the other ships in the harbor: USCGC Taney (a survivor of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December, 1941), and USS Torsk. So, I'll let you know how that goes. Theoretically, I'll be able to borrow Karia's camera for pictures, so... yep.

I'm leaving for New York on Thursday afternoon, so I'll get back that evening. And... I will write another post then! Until that time, my love to all,

Tasha

Cardinals and Snowflakes

Hello again!

Firstly, I saw a snowflake today. Yes. One, single, snowflake. Not much, but it was enough to keep my hopes up for a real winter. Secondly, I just finished my last piece of work for Philosophy EVER. Thirdly, yesterday was my last day of work at the Stables until next semester. So... yes. It's been a good day.

...I've got to figure out what I'm doing over the Winter break. I have a few plans laid out: I'll be visiting Mallorca in January, and I'm really excited about that. Of course, there's the annual Holiday party at home. This will be the first one I haven't been preparing for for months prior with our little a capella group... and there's the obligatory giant get-together with my high school friends. A few of my friends from Goucher may also be coming up for New Year's... so that should be good. But other than that... I mean, it's not like I'm going to have class work to do, or finals to study for. What am I going to do with myself?

A lot of hiking, hopefully. But other than that, I've been attempting to... well. Lots of non-academic projects going on, actually. A list might be the best format...

1. I'm trying to get a jump start on Arabic (which I will be taking at some point) by teaching myself the Arabic alphabet. So far, it's going as one would expect it to... slowly. I'm not worried, as I taught myself Elvish in the space of two weeks over the summer. If I can teach myself a made-up language in two weeks, then I can figure out a real one in the space of a few months.

2. I'm teaching myself basic Egyptian hieroglyphics. Which is exactly as practical as it sounds. Which is not at all. But it's a lot of fun, and the way I see it, if I get an internship at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (which is what I'm trying to do, but more on that later), I can hang out in the Egyptian Art section and try reading the 'glyphs for myself.

3. Applying for internships. My most ambitious is the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It's unlikely I'll get this one, since they want college juniors and seniors, and one question on the application concerns how many languages one speaks...

...er... how about (barely) fluent English, basic and very slow Spanish, random phrases in Elvish (plus the Quenya alphabet), half the Arabic alphabet, and some random Egyptian hieroglyphs?

Not gonna work.

Seriously, though. I'm suffering from a bit of... how do I even describe this? "Language anxiety?" I don't know. But everytime I let myself sit around and think for too long, I start worrying that I don't know enough languages, or the right ones. Which is a competely valid worry, thank you very much. I keep telling myself I'm gonna really get down to work on my Spanish (I'm saving up for a Rosetta Stone program for Spanish, to help me practice and hopefully, get me beyond kindergarden level), and that I'm gonna try to teach myself Arabic/German/French (any of those, depending on what mood I'm in that week), but... urgh. Maybe I am worrying about it too much. Probably not though.

Anyway, I'm also looking at an internship at the Archaeological Department at Colonial Williamsburg, which I think would be... well. Pretty perfect. Colonial American and British History are my favorite areas of study, and I'm curious about Archaeology as a study... AND, the College of William and Mary is literally right there if I want to take classes and get some credits out of the way.

I'm also looking at internships at the Museum of the City of New York (where I saw a great exhibit on Dutch New York a while back), and at Mount Vernon (George Washington's home and plantation).

4. Knitting myself a sweater. It's the first time I've ever actually tried to follow a pattern, and it's coming... slowly, but well enough. I only work on it when I have nothing else to do (which is pretty rarely), so... yep.

Anyway.

Not much more to talk about... except... well. Okay. My friend Chris and I are thinking about getting a pet shark.

...yes. A pet shark. The ones we were looking at grow to 14 inches long.

In any case, I'm just thinking about it. It started out as just his pet shark, and I was gonna get him a tank for Christmas, but if we decided to share the shark, and split all the costs, it would probably be a bit more beneficial for both of us... and more fun. (Come on. Who doesn't want to be able to say they have a pet shark?)

Well, I'll keep you up to date on that. And... that's about it. I'll write again soon.

Love to all,
Tasha

Well...

...I know it's been a while. Sorry about that... it's odd. It's been long enough at this point that I can barely remember what's news and what isn't... I'll take some educated guesses.

Well. Best to go in chronological order, I suppose.

I'm now on an intramural soccer team! Well, I have been since late October, but anyway. My friend, Ellie, is the team captain, and somehow managed to rope me into it. It's a lot of fun, and I definitely don't regret it, but I'm awful. I mean really awful. Theoretically, I should get better with practice, but... well. We're not playing again until the Spring. I'll let you know should a miracle occur.

Last time I posted, I was about to leave for Princeton, I believe. My friend Brendon goes there, and he invited me to come up for the weekend, so I did, and it was really fun. We saw Illyria, which is essentially the musical version of 12th Night, so I enjoyed that. And... well, it was just really great to see Brendon. I'm forced to admit, however, that I was incredibly happy to get back to Baltimore. The place really feels like home to me now... I miss it whenever I leave, and it's always such a relief to come back. Princeton is a beautiful school (and of course, an extremely good one), but... well. I made the best choice for me.

My classes have been going as well as ever! I just turned in my final paper for Historic Preservation last week, and we'll be getting them back this coming Monday... I really better have gotten a good grade on it. I spent nearly all my waking hours for two weeks on that essay. Not that I'm complaining... it was really fun, to be honest. We got to choose a topic (within certain guidelines), and I chose to write mine on the differences between the Preservation movements in the United States, and the United Kingdom. ...actually, it ended up just being about preservation in the U.K., but since I got that cleared with my Professor, I'm not worried about that. I'm more worried about the fact that she asked for a six to eight page paper, and I handed in a full twelve pages...

I promised I wouldn't complain about that.

Anyway.

Anthropology is great as ever. I'm still enjoying English, and... well. I'll get to my Philosophy course later. I'm still doing very well in European History-- 93% average for the semester. The thing is... this is the first time I have ever, ever, been disappointed in a 93%. I had a 100% average for the entire semester, until I stayed with Nina at the hospital until some un-godly hour of the morning, and subsequently... well. "Bombed" is a bit of a strong word, but I took a test about an hour after getting back from the hospital. Not a very good idea. Especially since the test was on a movie that I didn't see, because I was at the hospital.

...I'm sort of hoping that if I just ace everything else that gets thrown at me in this class (which, although I don't want to brag, I probably will), I might be able to get back up to a 99%.

But that's not it... since we've starting moving into a time period that I'm especially familiar with (Protestant Reformation - French Revolution (which will not be covered in this class)), I've been noticing certain... things... that my professor does. Like try to cram the entire English Civil War and subsequent "Glorious" Revolution into half a class period.

... we spent at least three days on James I and Charles I alone in high school.

So, I'm sorry if this sounds bad, but... I mean, I really like my professor. And of course, I love the subject. But I sorta wish I was learning something new.

Okay, I know that sounded really bad.

Anyway! Speaking of classes, I finally got to sign up for my Spring semester courses! I'll be taking Intro to Art History (which covers pre-historic to medieval art), Modern and Contemporary Europe (which is the second half of my European History class, and covers from 1715 to the present day), American Society and Culture 1607-1876 (part one of two American History courses), Russian History to Peter the Great (part one of three Russian History courses), and Intro to Economics (which I'm hoping I can stitch to something else, since I've already fulfilled that requirement). I was planning on getting my math and language requirements out of the way this semester, but, of course, knowing my luck, I got put in the last slot for signing up. So. Both my math class, and my Spanish class, were both full by the time I got to them.

I am fulfilling literally no requirements outside my major this semester.

...yes, I'm irritated.

Well, not so much irritated so much as I am nervous. I shouldn't be, considering that half my requirements are done with already, and I have plenty of time to get to the others... but still. I can't help but feel a bit anxious.

And of course, there was Thanksgiving. I had a wonderful time as usual... It was great to be able to see everybody (well, almost) and have some down time at home.





I got myself a copy of Atlantic, by Simon Winchester, which was probably a bad idea, since I'd already started Citizens, by Simon Schama. Anyway. I'm almost done with Atlantic right now (I'll probably finish it tonight), and I have to say that I really enjoyed it. After being buried in piles of books about English landscape gardening (I'm not kidding), it's been nice to read something... well. Lighter. I put Citizens on haitus so I could read Atlantic, so I'll be getting back to that soon. So far, I've liked it, but... well. I'll get back to you on it once Robespierre is mentioned for the first time.

Now. Getting back to Philosophy... well. I just gave my final presentation in that class on Wednesday. I can't really bring myself to care how it went-- I'm just glad to be alive at this point. But, anyway, I no longer have to worry about that class! I'm practically done for the semester! So, I am incredibly happy with the knowledge that I will never, ever have to take another Philosophy class ever again.

And that... brings us up to today. I'm doing well, all things said. I went to an AIDS benefit concert last night, which was... well. It's difficult to say how I feel about it. On the one hand, it was really fun: Red Hot Blue (the school a cappella group) was great, and it was nice to just get out for a while. On the other hand... well. I never took the issue of AIDS lightly, but for some reason, I never quite got it into my head that it applied to me, and people I know... that's not quite what I meant. Hang on.

...there are those things one knows mentally, like "anybody can get AIDS," but... it doesn't quite sink in. Well... it sunk in for me last night. Nothing's happened, but at some point, a friend of mine popped into my head for some reason. I'm not sure why. But I started getting all teary-eyed and... okay. I right-out cried. I suppose I started thinking about what it would be like if something ever happened to him, and... I couldn't imagine how devestated I would be to lose him.

I told him that, after a bit of embaressed deliberation on my part, and... I'm really happy I did. Life is too short, and it could be even shorter.

I hope you're all doing well. My love to everybody,

Tasha

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

"In a hole in the ground..."

Today, I was wandering through the library, looking for a certain journal for a research paper, when I came across what I shall now refer to, forever, as the Tolkein section. You can imagine what that means. I picked up The Hobbit just out of that kind of "Oh, I love that book! I'm gonna pick it up for no reason whatsoever!" feeling one gets when one is in a library or bookstore, and sees a book one likes just sitting there. I opened it, read the first line, and promptly began crying.

I don't know why that happened... perhaps I'm more homesick than I thought I was. That first line always reminds me of the Wesners' house, and... well. The Wesners themselves. Especially Sam and Amanda. Badminton. Music. All those things.

My friend Trevor called me yesterday... we didn't talk about much, as we follow each other's blogs and therefore don't really have much news for each other, but it was just wonderful to hear his voice. It's surprising how much I can just miss the sound of another person's voice.

So... I dunno. I just thought I should share that. There have been so many great, wonderful things going on, but I have promised myself that I will be keeping you up on all the... well, not-so-wonderful things that happen. So there you are.

Tasha

Autumn.

When I walked out the door this morning, it was rainy, chilly, and overcast. I actually had to wear a sweater for the first time this year. And I am so, incredibly, happy about all this.

It's been about 90 F all week, until today. It's been... urgh. I don't hate warm weather. I really don't... it's just that it shouldn't be 90 F in late September. Really. Maybe I'm just a spoiled New Yorker, but I don't believe in this whole not-getting-cold-until-mid-October thing. Nina, of course, is the complete opposite: she has lived in the South her whole life (she's immediately from Texas, but originally from Louisiana), so she's been quite happy these past few days, and now that it's getting chilly... well. It should be interesting.

So, anyway, I'm in the best mood I've been in since the week began: I have a sweater and corduroy pants on, there was hot cereal at breakfast, there are leaves on the ground, I have tea, and I can finally listen to Wait, Wait... Don't Tell Me! on NPR. Things are as they should be.

Well. What's been going on this week... ? Not a whole bunch, outside of homework, etc. And I haven't even really had that much homework this week... most of it has been reading (which I can do reasonably quickly, of course), which has given me time for other things... like "helping" Nina with her Chemistry/Biology/strange English class work. And doing a bunch of outside reading... I have started way too many books: I just finished two books on Gothic Cathedrals (which are really interesting... I don't know why, but I seem to be going through a phase of odd fascination with them), I'm still working on Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett, and I've just started That Sweet Enemy, by Robert and Isabelle Tombs... it's essentially a book on the history of the relations between France and Britain. It's a really interesting perspective on the history. I'm very much used to seeing British or French history through the lens of American history, and how they relate to the U.S., etc, etc...

But anyway. I've finally been able to understand what on earth is going on in my Philosophy class! We've moved on to our next book, which (in my opinion), is far better written, and seems more relevant to what I thought the class was going to be about in the first place. The first book (the one I was having trouble with) was Fact Fiction and Forecast, by Nelson Goodman, and we are now reading The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, by Thomas S. Kuhn. I suspect that I like Kuhn better because he's a) actually talking about the history of science, and b) because we just started the book, and I haven't had a chance to dislike him yet.

I've also discovered that I can get the New York Times every week day on my way to class (for free!), so as a result, I've been spending more time than I'm sure is healthy doing crossword puzzles and underlining important-looking-things (yes, that's how I read newspapers: I read, underline and annotate. I blame every English teacher I have ever had). I also have earphones now, so I can listen to NPR while I'm doing my homework... it makes me feel very much at home.

Well, Jeremy has just brought some mango. I'll take a break here, and write more later if I can think of anything.

I hope you're all doing well,

Tasha

ps. A completely unrelated note: there are these great chairs by the library computers. They're really completely unexceptional except for the fact that they have wheels, and they're really fun... I know I sound childish. You'll have to forgive me for that today.

pps. On a more adult note, I've been thinking about taking German next year (after I finish my requirements for Spanish next semester), and I was just wondering what you all think about that... advice is always good.

Soon...

... just a few days before I leave now. It just hit me this morning that I was really going to leave. I'm still adamant that I'm not nervous, or anxious, or feeling any other kind of negative emotion about going to school, but until today, it never really sunk in for me. I think it must have helped that I realized that one of my best friends is leaving on Wednesday.

That was quite the wake-up call. I've really got to get seriously packing.

Today has been one of those lovely days where we've gotten these cycles of 5 minute rainstorms followed by dazzling sunlight... it's especially nice right now, as it's getting later, and the sunlight looks more and more golden. I'm not particularly good at describing what is so attractive to me about all this, so you may just have to go with me on this one. Rain seems to bring out greens in a rather deep, vibrant way, and at this time of year, there's so much green around...

Anyway. I just got back from getting my hair cut. Yes. Again. I know I said I wanted to grow it out more, but, to be really honest, it wasn't looking that great, and I was getting bored with it. So. It's not that much shorter now... just past my shoulders, and with shorter pieces in the front... I'll have to take a picture and post it.

In the meantime, I've been finishing up all the books I've started over the summer. I finished Undaunted Courage, by Stephen Ambrose just last week... It really is a fantastic book-- one of my favorites (this was my third time finishing it in full).  It's essentially a biography of Meriwether Lewis, but it just as well could be a piece on the entire Core of Discovery. I finished Simon Schama's A History of Britain this morning-- another fantastic book (or set of books, rather), but I may be slightly biased by my history geekiness. Yeah... don't mind that. I read Catfish and Mandala, by Andrew W. Pham, for school summer reading, and to be perfectly frank, I didn't much like it, so I'll skip over to The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck, as most of you probably already know. I got it for my birthday... it's one of those books I knew I had to read to be considered a proper American, but I somehow never got around to it until now. And now that I have read it, I can say that I wish I had read it earlier. It's a really wonderful book... and I'm now working on The Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett, which is another one of those books I've been meaning to read for a while. So, when they came out with a TV series based off of it, I knew I had to get on it. I refuse to watch the series until I finish the book, so, don't expect to be talking about that for a while... I'd hoped to have finished it by the time I left for school, but that doesn't look likely.

Well, no doubt I'll have more interesting things to write about very soon. Until then, my love to all,

Tasha

Packing

Not a whole lot has happened since my last post... I visited my friend Kathryn, who has just moved back to the US from the UK, about a week ago. It was really wonderful to see her, and now that we live in the same country again, I'm hoping we'll see more of each other. Other than that, it's been more shopping for college, more driving Nick places, more running around the village wildlife preserve... that has actually been particularly nice. It's not hiking in the mountains, but it's still something to keep me occupied. And I especially need it now... I've gotten to that point in summer where I'm so mindlessly bored and wishing I were back in school that a trip to the local coffee shop seems like an adventure. Of course, I'm not bored for any lack of things to do around the house. There are plenty of things to sort out in terms of packing for school, ordering my textbooks, etc, etc... but after a while, shuffling about in my own room, moving things from one box to another for hours on end starts to get a bit old.

So, when we got a three-day visit from Marianne and her family, I was extremely excited. It didn't mean I got to leave the house much more than I had/have been, but seeing people from the outside world was good enough. And I was especially happy since I hadn't seen Marianne in two years, and her husband in four, when I had visited them in Norway.

Since they left, I've rediscovered U2. And that is just about the most exciting thing that has happened to me in the past two days. Since my computer crashed, I've been trying to find CDs with all my old music on them, and in my searchings, I came across my father's U2 CDs, and... well. Nothing can match the obsession I had with them when I was 13, and I like to think I'm mature enough now to resist the temptation to fall back into that adolescent mindset. But it brings back a lot of memories... It's strange to come back to that music as a very (if not completely) different person than I was just 5 years ago. It's also the slightest bit creepy, to be honest.

But in any case. I've started counting down the days until I leave for Goucher... and not including the rest of today, I have 9 days left. My mum asked me the other day what I would like to do with my last evening at home, which will be next Saturday, in fact. I believe the plan for now is to go to an air show during the day, and either a picnic (which nobody but me will enjoy) or a BBQ at home (which will feature everybody else eating hotdogs and hamburgers, and me with the humus and carrots). So we'll see what happens with that.

And speaking of Goucher, I have heard from my roommate. Not in the past two weeks, but I know she exists now. So. That's good news, I suppose.

And... that's about it. I hope everybody is well, and I will write more soon.

Tasha

I have returned!

Well, to be honest, I returned a while back, but I haven't gotten around to posting in a while... there's so much to write about.

First things first: the White Mountains were awesome, in a literal sense. I had the time of my life. I don't think of myself as a religious person, or even a spiritual one, so what I'm about to try to explain doesn't make much sense even to me, but the mountains changed me. I suppose any and every experience one has creates a change, though one doesn't always recognize it. I feel differently than I did before I left. Susie said I seemed more "confident," and I suppose that could be part of it. I won't attempt to explain further than that.

The week I got back, I went back to working at Hilltop Hanover (the organic farm) at their children's camp, which was just as fun as the first week. Given that I never liked little kids much before, I'm very surprised that I enjoyed working with the campers so much.

This past week, I haven't really been doing much... We had our family reunion, which was as fun as always (and we came up with a plan for discouraging redundant questions about college during Thanksgiving. :P). It's really amazing to see how much my little cousins have grown over just the past year...

My parents and I also went out to do some college shopping. That was interesting. I never realized how attached to my blankets I was until I realized I would have to get new ones. I still need to go clothing shopping, though, as my closet currently consists of stuff that is either too big on me, or is in rags. I'll have to drag Rebz along with me, as I never go shopping, and I wouldn't know the first place to go for clothing. Hopefully she does.

I've been trying to hike as much as possible, between family events and trying to get ready for school. Yesterday, we took Daria along on a hike, and I think she enjoyed it. We went swimming in a lake on the trail, and it wasn't until we reached the parking lot that I realized that I had lost my car keys. I remembered taking them out of my pocket at the lake, and so John (a fellow hiker) and I doubled back to try to find them. No luck. We both searched my bag multiple times, as well as all my pockets, and still found nothing. So we went back to the parking lot, and Daria and I got a ride home from him. It was only when I got home, and searched through my bag again, just to make sure, that I found them in my wallet. So... that was an interesting episode.

Well, I hope everybody is doing well.

-Tasha

Last post for a while...

Well, I'll be leaving for the White Mountains in a matter of minutes, most likely. I'll be returning next Friday evening, but I figured I should write now so I don't have too much to write about when I get home.

I've been working at the local organic farm at Hilltop Hanover (for those of you in the area), mainly counseloring at the day camp, Turtle Island. Now, most of you probably already know that I'm not too fond of small children. Some of you know more than that. And even fewer of you know that there are many small children that I'm actually quite fond of, but those aside, I was pretty nervous about working with 30 kids almost on my own for a week. Today was the last day, and I have to say, I'm really going to miss it. I had so much fun. The kids were wonderful, my fellow counselors were wonderful, and I enjoyed every bit of everything we did. I'll be working there again the week after I return from the White Mountains, and I'm very much looking foreward to it.

I have to cut this short-- time to say goodbye to my parents.

p.s. soccer fans: root for Spain for me. :)

Shakespeare and fireworks

Hello all! (And to my fellow Americans: happy 4th!)

Well, still not much to tell, really. Lots of World Cup and Wimbledon watching... I realized the other day that my ability to speak, write, and generally understand Spanish has diminished in just the past two weeks, so I've been trying to practice. Mainly, that consists of re-reading all my notes, changing the language on my computer and facebook to Spanish, watching the World Cup on univision, and attempting to "think" in Spanish... well, as you might expect, it's a bit difficult to tell how it's actually going.

Yesterday evening, we went to see Troilus and Cressida put on by the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival. It was fun, as always. This is, however, the first time I've seen the play interrupted by fireworks. All the actors (as well as the audience, of course) left the tent to watch the fireworks going up across the river, and it was... well. Quite magical, actually. I've never really seen fireworks... the last time we went to see them, I was rather little and too scared to actually look, and whenever I had a chance to see them at camp, we got rained out. So that was quite special for me.

Edit: These photos are from another evening I spent at the Shakespeare Festival, this time seeing The Taming of the Shrew, but I thought I'd post them anyway.

Sorry to cut this one short, but I have to be going: Fourth of July celebration preparations are calling.

My love to all,

Tasha

Summer begins...

So, not much of interest has been happening lately. My graduation was on June 20th (Fathers' Day), and, as you all are probably already aware, I chose not to go to the ceremony. Instead, we had a really lovely party on the 19th, and another on the 20th at my friend's house. Thank you all, by the way, for all the graduation wishes. I really appreciate your thinking of me.

Since then, I've basically been driving my brother back and forth from tennis, visiting the Wesners, singing, learning Elvish (yes. Elvish.), hiking and taking walks, reading, and watching the World Cup. ...yeah. I've been doing a lot of that. I was devastated when the US got knocked out, but I can't say I was surprised. In retrospect, I shouldn't have been surprised that England got beaten out as well, but... wow was that depressing. I was planning on cheering for them if the US got sent home, but now that we're both gone, I suppose I'll just go with Argentina. Eh.

But soccer aside, I'm going to see one of the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival's productions on Saturday with my family (both the ones related by blood, and the ones that aren't (:D), so I'm excited for that. I've also been meaning to play more badminton... I may or may not have already mentioned this, but I'm starting a badminton club as soon as I get to Goucher (because there's no way I'm going to survive the last few weeks of summer in Maryland without it), and I need to get "training" for that... heh. I have so many good memories connected to badminton, really. Good friends, good weather (and some not-so-good weather)...

I'm sorry there's not much more I can really talk about. I haven't really been doing anything too dramatic. My sleep schedule is all screwed up now, though... I usually wake up at around 5.30, and go to bed at 10.30-11.00ish, but now, I've started going to bed at around 2.30-3.00 in the morning, and waking up at 7.00ish. (Told you. Not interesting.)

I'll write when something more exciting happens. Until then, my love to all.

Tasha

Lots of news

Well, I suppose I should get the bad out of the way first: my laptop crashed, so I haven't had much computer access. I've been able to get most of my files back, as I email most of them to myself at school, but there's still a lot of stuff that I did over the past summer at the writing programs and the NSLC that I won't be able to find again... ah well.

But other than that, things have been going great. I got my driver's license on June 3rd (finally). And prom was... well. A LOT more fun than I expected it would be.

Just a few pictures, but I think you get the idea.

Monday was my last day of high school. That was interesting... on the one hand, I am so incredibly happy to be leaving. On the other hand, there are some people I'm going to miss seeing almost every day. And there's this strange feeling of attachment to the building itself. On Monday morning, I went around to all my usual haunts (past and present): the hallway outside the computer lab, my desk in the library, the green room, the forest pathways behind the parking lot, my favorite tree... and I don't know how much I'll miss those places, but there was the kind of "this is my last time here" kind of thought going through my head. Very strange.

But moving on: I went to my summer orientation at Goucher yesterday. It was amazing. I met so many people I liked (and one person I rather didn't, but that will probably change as I get to know her, as we'll be riding together). I took the equestrian placement in the morning and, of course I'm not on the team. Having never ridden at that level, and having not ridden in about four years I never expected to be. I took the placement because I was interested in taking lessons, and I was going to sign up as a beginner. But the head of the department said that if I had any experience riding at all, I should take the placement, so I did... and I got placed the level above beginner. And I've got a job at the stables for next year set up. So... that's good, I suppose. :) It was amazing seeing some of the other people riding, though... the two girls who made the team were just beautiful to watch.

I've also decided that I'm starting a badminton club. I asked around, and there isn't one already, and quite a few people I talked to said they would be interested, so... I've got that project ahead of me. I'm also working on setting up my schedule for the fall semester, which is turning out to be surprisingly complicated... I kinda wish that the advisors could be of more help, but I suppose its good for me to figure out all this stuff on my own. My advisor is also my professor for the Philosophy of Science, and I met him yesterday. I like him, so far at least. Interesting sense of humor... he refers to the building in which he works as "the labyrinth," and to the area in which his office is as "the place where the minotaur resides." I was the only person in the class who got that joke, which I think he appreciated.

So... I'm excited.

What else... well. I'll be working at a local organic farm for a few weeks this summer. They run a small children's camp, and I'll be helping out there, as will a friend of mine. So that should be fun. I went to the orientation for that on Sunday, and I'm looking forward to that.

I'll let you know when more things come up... in the meantime, my love to all,

Tasha

"Proma"

I've recently taken to referring to all the drama about prom as "proma." And, goodness, there is a lot of it. Far to much. Actually... any at all is far too much.

Most recently, two of my friends (we'll refer to them as "A" and "B") attempted to switch the location of after-prom (one of three different parties that night. Dear me) from the place we had been planning on having it since September, to somewhere else. Namely, from one friend's house ("C") to another's ("D"). A had been having some issues with C's mother, which consisted mainly of miscommunications and misunderstandings, and so, A was uncomfortable with having post-prom at C's house. B is also extremely uncomfortable with C's mother, for reasons that she will not fully explain. What bothered me was that A and B thought that they could just dictate what the rest of us would be doing, without giving us a single reason, and without telling C or his mother until after they had been preparing to host the party for a whole weekend.

To make an extremely long and tedious story short, I wrote to both A and B, essentially saying a) I don't understand why we're changing plans now, b) I'm not sure when we all decided this, c) this is hurting a lot of people's feelings, and causing more problems than it needs to be, and d) Two people cannot bulldoze their way into having the "perfect prom," while making everybody else miserable. I think I wrote all that out a bit more diplomatically, but that's the general gist of it.

A has backed down on her own, and has made up with C and his mother. B, on the other hand, is understandably upset with me and C (and especially A) for standing up to her. We've planned to move post-prom back to C's house, but this is all going to take a lot of damage control... 'sigh.'

I know I've made A and B sound pretty bad here, but they really aren't. Really. I know A is having a lot of problems at home, and she's always been very emotional about everything. And B is really a sweet girl, and a good friend. They both... just like being in charge. And tend to completely miss what other people are thinking. But you know, there's a reason I like having more guy friends, and this is why: most guys don't do all this dramatic nonsense. I feel awful for having gotten involved, even though I'm pretty sure I did what was right. I've never really done this kind of thing before. And I never want to do it again. I feel awful about upsetting B, and even worse about D and her family, who had to be caught in the middle of all of this. I can't help but think that I caused all of this by making an issue out of it. I like to think that I'm essentially a rational person, who isn't susceptible to these sort of things, but I got dragged in, and I feel like I've dragged D and her family along with me... I probably created even more of a problem by confronting A and B about all this.

And I think that that is as many times as you'll ever see me use the word "feel" in any conversation, written or spoken.

But, of course, it's not all bad. I've had almost no school work, so I've had plenty of time to work on my own little projects, run around outside, do some reading... (I've just finished "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" and the other four books in that series.) I've also started trying to teach myself flat-footing using youtube.com... I know. I'm surprised too. Flat-footing is an Appalachian relative of Irish set dancing, with some influence from Native American dance... and it's really fun. I'm enjoying it.

Well, hopefully, my next post will be a bit happier than this one. I'm sorry about going on a bit in this one-- I'll try to make the next post a bit more concise as well.

My love to everybody,

Tasha

Hiking on West Mountain and Timp

Hello all!

Well. I went hiking with Susie, my dad's cousin, yesterday, and it was absolutely wonderful. It was a really lovely day, everything was green, and, of course, one can't fail to mention the good company.

I'm including a few pictures...

By the way, the water you see over there... that's the Hudson River.

Definitely the best way to spend a one's Saturday.

I realized yesterday that I'm really going to miss this place when I leave. I love all the hills, and the trees, and especially when you look at it all from higher up... it's amazing just how much of it there is. It is absolutely beautiful.

I'll be going to the White Mountains in July with Susie, after a music festival. I can't wait! I'll have to start seriously training for it though. So. More hiking to come.