Nineteen

I'm sorry I didn't write this post on the actual day, but... well. I've been nineteen since 25 April! Rebz and her family drove down from New York to see me, so I got to spend the afternoon with them. It was really nice... this is my first birthday away from my family-- I've had birthdays away from home before, obviously, but never one without my parents, and very very few, at least recently, without the Wesners, Brendon, Trevor, and the Bitondos. So I knew this was going to be different... but it's nice to have some old faces around. I finally got to introduce Rebz to everybody, we went out for dinner with Kaira, and at some point, we drove on a sidewalk. Fun stuff. A surprise party was also planned somewhere along the line, and... well. I was a little more than surprised. 


So... that was my Monday. Sorry if that was awkwardly explained... it was a busy day, to say the least. The rest of the week has been wonderful... busy, but... it's been fun. I feel like I should be under more stress, but I just feel completely in my element. I had my final paper in Historic Preservation due on Thursday (which I managed to finish sometime late on Wednesday night), and my final papers in European History and Russian/Soviet History due on Friday (I had "finished" my Euro paper on Tuesday, but I made some changes on Thursday night after my professor looked it over for me. The Russian History paper got done about four hours before class). My final project for Art History is due on Monday, and to be honest, that is really what I should be working on right now. I have an American History paper to write for this coming Thursday, but I'm not too worried about that. We can choose any topic we'd like, so I think I'm going to do something with French-British-American relations. There's a lot to go on, from the revolution, to 1812, to the World Wars... I'll have to narrow it down to the pre-Civil War years, as that's all the class covers (and if I don't, I'll be writing a book. Or several), so we'll see how that goes.


Oh! And I have some rather exciting news... Professor Fraser (my professor for Russian and European History)... well. I'll just quote part of the email for you.


"I have been mightily impressed with your levels of analysis and your work ethic this semester. If you have any interest in it, I would invite you to take my Stalinism seminar (HIS 342) next fall. It’s generally for juniors and seniors, but I suspect your brain could use more of a challenge than you are getting in freshmen-level classes. We will do more specialized historiographical readings and discuss them, but overall the point of the seminar is for students to go off and do their own 20-25-page research paper. Starting early, we’ll do several drafts and workshop papers among each other, with some presentations and peer review along the way. You always write solid drafts, but in terms of learning about shaping your writing, I think you would benefit from working on a single project all semester, and drafting and re-drafting it. Up to you, though, and certainly, no pressure!"


I met with her about it after class on Friday, and... it sounds really great. Of course, it could be a disaster-- it could be too much for me; I could flunk out and ruin my GPA, and not be able to get into the year-long Oxford program... but I've decided that I'm taking it. She's right about needing more of a challenge. And I need to take three seminars before I graduate-- if I am gone for all of my junior year, that's going to be a problem. So if I get a chance to take a seminar early, I'm taking it. I really like the idea of committing to a project for the entire semester as well. And there's the fact that Professor Fraser is the best professor I've had here: I really enjoy being in her classes, and I have a lot of respect for her. She's somebody I hope I become like later on... I also have to admit that this is all very pleasing to my ever-growing ego. I'd be lying if I said that didn't factor into the decision-making process at all. I mean, I wish I could say that the decision was made purely according to logic, but there's quite a lot of the whole "somebody thinks I'm smart!" thing going on... that's probably not healthy. 


Anyway.


It's... just nice to feel like everything I've done this semester has paid off. Recognition is always nice. 


So... to summarize: I'm nineteen, I got to see one of my best friends, I've been working on final projects all week, and my professor thinks I'm good enough to take a senior-level class in my sophomore year. I'm happy. 


Well... I'm getting back to my Art History project. My love to all,
Tasha

Fall Semester 2011 Schedule

AST 110: Introduction to Astronomy

HIS 220: Russia: Peter the Great to the Revolution

HIS 235: The American Revolution

ANT 275: Language Myths

ENG 241: Archaeology of Text: Archival Methods

Fort Sumter and little French songs

Hello again!

Well, it's 12 April: the day the American Civil War began, with Confederate forces firing on Fort Sumter. I'm very pleased with the timing: I had American History this morning, and I had to give a presentation on antebellum presidents... anyway. Supposedly, the only casualty on the 12th was a horse, and three Union soldiers died on the 14th when a cannon misfired during the surrender ceremony.

Anyway.

I spent the weekend in the New York, so I could see Rebz's senior musical, which was amazing, as expected. It's her last in high school, and I couldn't imagine myself missing it... so yes. Rebz: I've told you before, but really. You have such fantastic talent. I'm sure the Ursuline theater program is going to miss you greatly, and you are going to be such an asset to whichever college you chose. I also got to see Trevor, as well as Ben, which was... well. I had almost forgotten how easy it is for certain people to make me laugh.

Speaking of theater and of French-speaking friends... last week, Goucher had students from Marseille over as part of the French Theater program. I didn't get to talk to them much, as I'm not in the theater program, and I don't speak French (cue feelings of inadequacy), but they seemed very nice. An acquaintence of mine from my American History class in bilingual (her father is French), and she got the job of giving the students a tour of Baltimore, via the Collegetown Shuttle. Perhaps not the best way to go about it, but still. Anyway, the entire group of them were on the shuttle while I was taking it to Penn Station, to catch my train to New York. Half of them were sitting in the back, improvising these odd little a capella songs... I really wish I had recorded them.

We also had GIG on Friday: that is, "Get Into Goucher" Day, which I suppose is something like Spirit Week is in high school, except we've managed to consolidate it into one day (thank goodness), and it involves a lot more watching drunk and high people do stupid things. At least, in my case. I may be the only one who does that. Anyway. It was surprisingly fun... there was a big barbaque lunch, and lots of good music, and the dance department got to show off... not bad for my first GIG. Apparently, its a lot more fun when it's not raining torrentially and all the events happen outside.

Moving on... I register for classes on the 14th, and I am... well. I'm really excited. Of course. I can only take 18 credits (that's the limit for all non-freshman students), and with all my other scheduling issues, it may get quite complicated. But I've got a list of classes I want to sign up for, and a list of classes I can take just in case I can't get into one, or a few, of those on the original list.

Original List:



HIS 235: The American Revolution


ANT 275: Language Myths


HIS 220: Imperial Russian History (Peter the Great to the Revolution) (Taught by my current European and Russian History professor, who I'm hoping will be my advisor once I declare my History major.)


HIS 241: The Vietnam War


AST 110: Astronomy






Alternatives:


PSC 111: Theories of Citizenship (aka: pre-requisite to every Political Science and International Relations class ever. Grr.)

ENG 241: Archival Research Methods


MUS 101: Music Theory


MUS 182: Piano


(or MUS 183: Organ, or MUS 184: Harpsichord)


HIS 254: The Jews of Russia
SP 130: Spanish


So, of course, I'll write up my new schedule here as soon as I've finalized it on the 14th.

That's about it, really... nothing very interesting to say. It was 80F yesterday, and very sunny, so the entire student body of Goucher spend the day outside on the quad, getting either pleasantly tan (as in Kaira's case), or turning into a tomato (as in my case). Heh... I'm not really that burned. I actually tanned a bit, for once! I have a really pale strip of skin where I left my watch on... it's sort of amusing.

Anyway, I'll write again soon, when I know more about my plans for the coming summer/fall. Until then, my love to all,
Tasha

The Hampton Estate

Well, I've had yet another adventure through the history of Baltimore! It's a bit difficult to escape them when I enjoy them so much, and they're required for class... anyway.

This week, my Historic Preservation class took a trip to the Hampton Estate, which is about a ten-minute drive away from Goucher campus. In fact, Goucher's current campus used to be part of the estate, and it is said that one of the would-be masters (Captain Charles Ridgely) was killed in a riding accident somewhere on campus (right by the Mary Fischer Library, to be exact). It was owned by the Ridgely family, who began building the mansion in 1783. It was completed in 1790, and was, at the time, the largest home in the United States. It was used as a summer home for the Ridgely family, and the estate included orchards and ironworks, a farm, and a racing track (Charles Carnan Ridgely, the second owner of the estate, and the nephew of the first was an avid horseman, and began to breed Thoroughbreds at Hampton. Carnan Ridgely was originally "Charles Ridgely Carnan," but changed his name in order to inherit the estate after the would-be owner, Captain Charles Ridgely, died).

It is now a museum, with each room restored to a different period of the mansion's history.

This, for example, is the Parlor, as it was in the 18th Century, just after the American Revolutionary War.

I love this carpet. It vaguely reminds me of a rug we used to have in New York, but then again, a lot of things vaguely remind me of other things. Don't mind me. Anyway. I didn't know this before, but at the time, carpeting was sold in strips of about 27 inches (if I remember correctly), and one can see the tiny gaps between strips...

...Yep.

And I happen to find this door quite interesting:

Ordinary, wooden door, right? Not quite. It's made of wood, of course, but it is painted over look like mahogany. Apparently, this was quite a popular method of decoration at this time. In the Great Hall, which I do not have many pictures of, the "marble" decorations at the bottom of the walls are actually wood, painted by somebody to look like marble.

And this is the East Hyphen. A "hyphen," in this case, describes part of a building that connects two larger areas of a building. In Georgian houses, which Hampton is a rather good example of, there were typically two hyphens, one on each side, connecting the larger part of the house to smaller areas. The East Hyphen, in this case, connects to the kitchens.

Each of these bells is connected to a separate room in the house. They each sound slightly different, so that when they were rung, servants knew which room to go to.

The Kitchens:

The Dining Room:

I have to say, I really love this room. Not as in "OhmygoodnessIwouldtotallydecoratemydiningroomlikethis," but in the more "I could spend my day staring at this room," sort of way. It is restored to what it would have looked like just after the Napoleonic Wars. It has a lot of this very beautiful Prussian blue paint, as you can see, and yes, we know for a fact that this was the color used at the time. It's surprisingly bright, but then again, nothing looks too ridiculous next to the mural they have on the wall. These sorts of wall murals were quite popular in Europe at the time, and the Ridgelys were very much aware of this. So they had their dining room wall painted with landmarks of Paris. I kept expecting to look around and see a guillotine painted somewhere, but no... I was disappointed.

The Drawing Room:

Now, we are very clearly no longer looking at the Federal Period. The Drawing Room (the room to which one would "withdraw" after dining) is as it would have looked in the 1850s-1860s. As you can see, there's another very elaborate carpet (imported from England), also in strips, though its more difficult to tell with this one. Here, we have another example of what I was talking about with the "mahogany" door: the wooden decorations on the walls are painted to look like sandalwood.

And I could kick myself for not getting a close-up, but in this room, one sees more decorations with stag heads, and shields with three stars... these are part of the Ridgely Family crest. Later on during the tour, we got to see a lot of the family silver, and quite a bit of it was also decorated with these symbols.

The White Curtain Room:

Well, quite clearly, there aren't any curtains in this room, but that's only because the museum is still researching exactly what they would have looked like. It's nice to know somebody is being a stickler about these things... anyway. This is a bedroom on the second floor, as it would have been in the 1890s. The second floor was meant more for guests, so it was more highly decorated, as you'll be able to see as I go on.

Another bedroom:

This room is restored to its Napoleonic War-era state. Small meals like breakfast and dessert would have been had in this room, and it also houses a telescope, which I would have been very happy to see closer up... but ah well. And if my photographing abilities were not as horrible as they are, you would be able to see that one of the panes of glass looks a bit different than the others... it was a common practice during this time to etch window panes with names, as well as dates of birth (and death). It's a bit classier than graffiti-ing the wall, I suppose...

Just a little section of wall decoration that was kept in the Gallery Room, where they are currently keeping the Ridgely Family silver.

The Needles Bedroom:

Still on the second floor...

 Back on the first floor, to the last room, which happens to be my favorite:

Of course, my favorite room would be the Music Room, shown here in all it's Victorian glory (there's even a little print of Queen Victoria in the corner. Something I wasn't quite expecting to find in Towson, Maryland of all places, but perhaps I shouldn't be too surprised. The Ridgelys did a lot of traveling, and there is a reason we know the period as "The Victorian Era" in the United States, and not just in Britain). This is how the room would have looked in the 1900s to be specific. There are hand-painted silk shades on each window, which I unfortunately could not manage to get a proper picture of, so you'll just have to take my word for it when I say they were quite beautiful.  
I was excited to see this room in the first place, as I've been studying Victorian Parlor Organs for the past week or so, and I was excited to see one in person. So I walked into the room, ready to see an organ with a ridiculous amount of decorated wooden shelving, and instead, I got... well. A pretty standard-looking piano.

I'm not disappointed, really. I'm just a bit bemused, since Parlor Organs were so much a part showing off one's style and taste at this time... I suppose I can't really explain my feelings about it without going into a discussion of Parlor Organs in general, which will have to happen another time, but... anyway. Suffice it to say I was surprised. They also had the original harp used by one of the female family members, so I cannot complain.

And a few pictures of the facade to finish up:

 Well, that's just about that. If you are interested in learning more about it, here is the Hampton Estate's website: http://www.historichampton.org/.

And just a few words about myself personally... things are going fairly well. Busy as ever, but well. I just got my second major paper back from European History, which I wrote about the "Age of Metternich." If you are interested in reading it, let me know, and I will email it to you, along with my professor's comments. But anyway, I got another "A," so I'm pleased. I'm hoping (okay, I'm fairly sure) I did as well on the second part of my European History midterm.

More soon! My love to all,
Tasha