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

Good news for Oliver Cromwell...

...bad news for Christmas puddings everywhere. Just in case you were wondering, on this day (30 January) in 1649, Charles I was executed, leaving power in the hands of the Rump Parliament and Oliver Cromwell.

It's also the day on which, in 1972, The Bogside Massacre (more commonly known as "Bloody Sunday") took place in Northern Ireland. Supposedly, the annual marches on the date are stopping after this year.

But anyway. What is is somewhat more relevant to this blog is that I have now not posted in about a month.

...sorry 'bout that. It's been busy.

Well, first things first.

I ended up in Mallorca with my Mum for about a week during my holiday, and it was wonderful. I got to see my godfather, and friends that we haven't seen in a rather long time. I've included a few of the pictures, but I have a more detailed slideshow I've put together for my old European History professor that I can send. If you're interested, let me know, and I'll email it to you.

In any case, I got back to Goucher about a week ago. It's nice to be back... especially since we've had our share of snow delays and snow days.

So, that's been interesting.

And, of course, I've started my new classes! My Soviet/20th Century Russian History class and my European History class are taught by the same professor, and she seems very good. She's relatively young, Canadian, and her research is in 20th century Russian history-- particularly soldier's lives and masculinity. So, it's nice to be in a class that is all about what she's researching. And European History is European History. Not much to say about that, except that we're getting into my favorite time period just now: The Enlightenment, and the earliest revolutions that followed it (American and French).

I've only had one American History class so far, because of the snow delays and snow days, but... well. It should be interesting. I haven't taken an American History course in... well. About a year and a half. And if familiarity with the events described in the textbook are any indication, I remember less of it than I thought I did. A bit disturbing, I'll admit, but I'm not too worried. We're just past Queen Anne's War (begun in 1702; ended in 1713 with the Peace of Utrecht), and to be honest, we never really went over much of what happened before then in AP American History in high school, so, it's to be expected. It seems like it's going to be a good class, though. I'm excited about it.

Unfortunately, I'm a bit less enthusiastic about Art History, after my first class on Friday. It's not so much the subject so much as the professor that is the issue: she handed out a "syllabus," which isn't really a syllabus. It says we're going to have assignments, and what they will be: it doesn't way when they are due. It doesn't say when readings and minor projects are due. It doesn't even say when we'll be covering what material. The professor herself said that we probably wouldn't get through the entire course, but "not to worry," because she won't test us on anything we don't get to. Honestly... I don't care about what she's gonna test us on and what she's not. I'm there to be learning the material. The fact that she doesn't know how much of it she's going to teach us is really... well. It bothers me. A lot. And we had better cover everything the course is meant to, because if we don't get to Renaissance art, I'm going to be very disappointed.

And then, of course, I have the next Historic Preservation class, and it is tiny. Really. There are eight people in the class, including me and the professor. That is going to be, I think, really nice, but it could also be a bit annoying, since I'm now expected to hold up an entire 1/8th of the conversation. (Not that I couldn't-- I just tend to be rather shy, as most of you will know.) It doesn't help that four of the students in the class are seniors, majoring in either History or American Studies. One is a sophomore majoring in International Relations, and the other is a freshman who actually lives on my floor, so... anyway. I'm feeling a bit nervous about this class. It's sort of intimidating to be sitting around the table with a bunch of people who know exactly what they're talking about, when I'm still just learning most of the material.

I'm sure it will be fine, though. I had the same professor for my first Historic Preservation class last semester, and I'm rather fond of her.

Speaking of professors that I'm rather fond of... one of my best friends here, Ellie, is taking Anthro 107 with my old Anthropology professor! So now there's somebody else who thinks he's fantastic. It's not just me. (Yes, that comment was intended for somebody in particular.)

Also speaking of professors that I'm rather fond of, I ran into my old European History professor the other day while heading to Art History. Nothing really happened, except that we talked, she told me about a British History class she's teaching at Johns Hopkins next year that I should take, and I told her I would stop by and visit her soon, but... it was just really nice to see her.

...and that's about all I can think of. I'll write again very soon.

Love to all,
Tasha


ps. I just have to add... I've been working on Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond, and... wow. I can't say much more than that. Just... wow.