July

I have often told myself that February is my least favorite month of the year, with March as a close second. Mostly, this is because the weather (at least on the Northern half of the Atlantic coast of the United States) is generally unpleasant, and seems to drag on forever. However, around this time every year, I am forced to reconsider this. I think I would gladly move to a place that was constantly raining or sleeting, in order to avoid temperature norms of 80-90 F at any point in the year.

Anyway. It's been a good few weeks. My internship at the New Castle Historical Society has been fantastic, but I'll talk more about that later. I saw Hamlet in early July, as the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival is putting it on this year. I went with Rebz and Sam, and for the first time, without my parents, or theirs. It was a little odd to have that break with tradition, but of course, it was enjoyable as ever.

I've also managed to get some hiking in... Sam and I went (again, in early July) with Susie, and it was really lovely as always. Towards the end, we stopped by a lake, and for once, I went swimming. Sam and I swam/walked out to an island, and were a bit disappointed when we couldn't actually get onto the island, but ah well.

And, of course, as I was saying before, the Historical Society has been fantastic. I now know that I never, ever want to work with anybody under the age of 14 (at the very least), that I'm quite good at putting together power-points, and that I can decipher handwriting that my superiors deem "impossible." I've been helping the archivist put together a slide show for a gala in September, transcribing Horace Greeley's letters (so much more fun than it sounds), and doing research for an exhibition on former farms in New Castle (which has basically consisted of me making copies of maps and circling names, and is also a lot more fun than it sounds). I also just finished working on a joint project with the Chappaqua Library, which I won't bother going into detail with... it was a kids' program, and I'm very glad to be done with it. 

The Story of A Summer, by Cecilia Cleveland (a niece of Horace Greeley's) tells us quite a lot of what we know the Horace Greeley House was like in the 1870s. It was his summer residence-- much of New Castle was still "countryside" at the time. The house is now a museum, as well as the home of the New Castle Historical Society.

Thomas Nast cartoons!

Supposedly, this was Horace Greeley's crib...

The research room (aka: Tasha's new lair).

Some samples of what I've been transcribing.

Anyway. In other news, I now have only 2 1/2 books left to read before getting to Cambridge. So that's something like... 1, 400-odd pages left? So... I need to read 117-ish pages per day? Something like that. In any case. I'm planning on finishing the two shorter ones by the middle of next week, and then getting started on the 700 page one, and hopefully finishing it on the plane.

...we'll see how well that plan goes. 

But really, though. I'm very excited about Cambridge. I'll be at Clare College, by the way. Daria is currently at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, and though we haven't heard much from her, she seems to be happy enough. I don't dare make a more strongly-worded guess.

I don't really have much more to say at this point... more to come.

My love to all,

Tasha

History, Music, and Badminton

I need nothing more to make my summer satisfying. So, now that I'm interning at the New Castle Historical Society, and I've got the musical gang back together, and I have my own badminton net, I'm finding it difficult say what could make me happier. Maybe if I was getting paid for any of those things. Though there may be some money-making in the music area... but I'll get to that in a bit.

Most importantly, I'm now officially an intern at the New Castle Historical Society! (On a less important, but somewhat interesting note, I keep writing "soviety" instead of "society." I suppose this is what Russian/Soviet History class does to people.) I'll be mainly transcribing documents (the Clarence Page diaries to be specific), though I'll also be helping the resident Historian sort through surveys and maps, as well as helping to prepare educational programs. So, that's what I'll be up to Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays... On Fridays, I'll be working with the Archivist, putting together a slide-show for a fundraiser in September. I am really, really excited about this. Of course. The Society has a website here, if you are interested in taking a look at it: http://www.newcastlehs.org/

Well, that's the most important bit, I think. In other news, following a recital on the 12th (this past Sunday), it was suggested that Daria and I should start playing in actual public. As in, "let's go play at the Dragonfly Cafe and see what happens!" I actually think it could be a good idea... I'm justifying it to myself by saying that if we make any money, we could donate it to an anti-fracking organization. Anyway... it could be fun. All that remains is to get Daria on-board with it. My Mum and I were also thinking of spending the 4th of July up in Cold Spring with the rest of our singing group-- there's this tunnel that leads from the river-side of the train tracks to the town-side of the train tracks that Mum and I experimented with when we were there for Memorial Day, and... well. The acoustics are fun. I don't need much more of an excuse. Again, all ideas... we'll see what happens.

Also, I've finally managed to order all of the books I will need for Cambridge! I have to wait another week or so for them to come, but as I'm still working on the first book, I'm fine with the lag time. All in all, things are starting to look up...

More to come at some point!

All my love,
Tasha

Return to Millwood

So. It's been nearly a month since I got back. First things first, I suppose: finals went well, and my grades for the semester came back: As in American History, European History, Russian/Soviet History, and Historic Preservation, and a B in Art History. And yes, I made the Dean's List for the second time. So, I'm considering my first year of college a decent enough success, overall. 

I got back to New York late on May 12th, just in time for Rebz' prom on the 13th. She looked absolutely beautiful, as always. Went to her concert the next evening, and the next week or so was spent catching up with the high school friends who had gotten home by that time. Brendon had to leave again quite soon, as he is studying abroad in Japan for two months over the summer. Other than that, I've been spending most of my time desperately applying for any job I can get an application for, and writing to all the historical societies from the city to Dutchess County, as my plans for Ireland fell through. It's been discouraging, to say the least, but I'm still waiting to hear back from a few places, so... in the meantime, I suppose I'll keep bothering people. the New Castle Historical Society is looking pretty promising, and I've gotten calls from the Bedford Historical Society, as well as the Briarcliffe Historical Society, but I don't want to get my hopes up. Cambridge is still a plan, thank goodness. My sister got into a program at Oxford for the month of July, so the family (minus Nick) is going to pick her up on the 31st, and between then and the time I need to be at Cambridge (the 7th of August), I'll be vacationing with them. We'll be mostly in the Cotswolds, and after that, my family is going their own way for the rest of their vacation while I'm in class. 

Speaking of Cambridge, I've just gotten the list of required books I'm meant to read before taking the classes. There are thirteen of them. Books, I mean. If it weren't for the fact that I now have to order them from the Cambridge bookstore, and wait for them to arrive (or preferably find them at the local Library or on amazon.com), I would be the happiest person in the world. At the moment, I'm about half-way through "Anglo-Saxon England," by F. M. Stenton. It's going more slowly than I thought it would, but that's because I'm actually reading it-- not skimming it. The thing is, I actually know essentially nothing about the period between the re-call of the Roman troops to Rome, and the Norman conquest. So... it's proving really fascinating, of course! I'm just hoping that I'll be able to get through the rest of the books at a rate faster than 100 pages per day. Oh... by the way. The classes I'm taking are: 

The Making of England: Kings and Conquests, c. 600-1066

The Norman Conquest

England's First Heresy: John Wycliffe and Lollard Texts

English Radicals and Revolutionaries, 1376-1414

Anyway. It hasn't been all work, of course... 

My mum and I went to Stonecrop Garden in Cold Spring for Memorial Day... 

...and then walked around Cold Spring itself for a while. 

...and for a while I was really perturbed by this clock, painted on the window of a clock shop. The roman numeral for 4 is written as "IIII," and not as "IV" as I know is the correct way... I'll get to the rest of that story later.

Okay, so Rebz and I visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art the next day (and I was very honored to be the first person to take her), and started wandering around the European Decorative Arts wing... and behold:

...again with the "IIII."

... and again. But anyway. More on that in a bit.

A piece of sculpture we came across in the Byzantine Art section, if I remember correctly... someone had carved their name into it in 1836. 

...yeah. The clock thing was really irking me.

Swagger portraits! (Yes. That's actually an official name for them.)

When/if I ever have money... I want this tea set.

We also went up to the rooftop garden, which was really lovely... it was actually the perfect day for it. Very warm, but too much so, clear, and very sunny.

...and we walked along Central Park back to Grand Central...

...but anyway. After agonizing over the "IIII" v. "IV" thing for two days, I finally looked it up... turns out that's just the way clocks are. Really anti-climactic end, but... whatever. Supposedly it has something to do with the symmetry of the clock face.

Yep. 

As you can probably tell, things have been moving really slowly so far... so if I don't post again until August, it's not because I'm forgetting to: it's because I actually have nothing to write about. Though I probably will. 

All my love,

Tasha