Rousseau, "The Marriage of Figaro," and unseasonably warm weather.

I often wonder why it is those three things (yes. Jean-Jacques Rousseau is now a thing. I'm sure he would have appreciated that.) always seem to coincide in my life... A word of explanation: I'm working on a paper about the Enlightenment for my European History class, which requires me to talk about The Social Contract quite a bit. Actually, I've gotten quite good at it over the three years I've had of European History. I'm listening to Marriage of Figaro (that's rather self-explanatory). And it is 60 F out.

It's fantastic. This is the most content I've been in weeks.

Honestly, I'm starting to think I like talking about the Enlightenment a bit too much. This paper is meant to be 4-6 pages long. It is now 9 pages in length, and I still have to write a conclusion that will be at least two paragraphs long. And there's no way I'm editing out more than I already have.

Anyway. It's a really nice change, especially since the past week has been... less than good. It has been downright dreadful for Kaira. It started with our window shades falling on her and slicing her finger open, and did not end with the stitches ripping.

My side of it hasn't been very interesting... mostly, it consists of some very uncomfortable moments in American History, and agonizing over what should have been a simple paper for said class. Basically, we were meant to write a few pages on early Colonial history based on the statistics she gave us in class. Sounds fairly easy. Should have been very easy.

Unfortunately, I chose the night before it was due to have massive writer's block. Of course I got it done, but I'm not happy with how it turned out. I haven't gotten it back yet, so I don't know for sure how I did, but I'm sure I don't want to know. I'm going to give it to Kaira, and only have her tell me what I got if it was over an 80%.

As for the class itself, I like it... but I'm still getting used to it. I haven't taken the subject in two years, and it definitely shows. Not that this means that I'm not doing well-- most of the people in the class haven't taken a history class at all since high school, and analyzing documents is analyzing documents, no matter where they're from. But it's still a bit awkward when we discuss John Locke, and I'm thinking more about tabula rasa than property rights.

That settles my choice in concentration, I suppose.

In other news... well. I have one part of my summer plan worked out! I am enrolled in Medieval Studies at Cambridge University for this August! I'm just hoping that if I manage to get an internship, it will be one of the internships that is more flexible in terms of timing, or ends before I have to be in the UK... but anyway. At the moment, I'm just very nervous about the internships in general. They tend to be very competitive, and my resume isn't exactly the strongest at this point. Most of my experience is in politics and writing, and my actual jobs have consisted of being a counselor at a day camp, and working at the Goucher stables.

I suppose it could be worse... But I keep wishing I had worked at a museum at some point.

Well. Hopefully, I'll hear something soon, and hopefully it will be good news, so I'll be able to stop worrying and get back to basking in the light of a way-too-warm February and my Dean's List status.

... I'm still a little bit in shock about that. But unfortunately, that hasn't stopped me from bragging to myself every now and then.

That's about it, really. I'll write again as soon as something interesting happens.

My love to all,
Tasha

Letters and Maps

Well. I got a very exciting letter yesterday evening... I would have gotten it earlier, I assume, if I had thought to check my mail box more than once a week.

It reads:

"Dear Natasha,


Congratulations on making the Dean's List during the Fall semester of the 2010-11 academic year. I hope you are proud of your success; you deserve to be.


As you know, Goucher College has always held academic achievement as its highest goal. Your accomplishments send a clear message that you have embraced this goal too, and I commend you for your hard work and dedication to learning. 


I hope that you will continue your good work and enjoy the satisfaction that comes from doing your best. If there is anything that I can do to assist you with academic matters, please let me know.


Sincerely,


Mark M. Roy
Provost"

So... as you can imagine, I spent the majority of last night bouncing slightly and grinning like an idiot. (And reading for my Russian/Soviet History class, but that's part of the daily schedule at this point.)

Other than that... not much to say. I spent most of today outside, either at work, or taking little walks in the woods. It was surprisingly warm: in the high 40s F... it felt like early Spring. To me, at least... Kaira is still convinced that she'll freeze to death if she steps outside for more time than it takes to walk to class and back. It was just so beautiful, though... I was sort of traipsing around the woods, singing The Lord of the Rings songs to myself, and I'm sure that would have been a strange sight to walk in on, so I'm glad nobody had that experience.

(And since I'm on the subject, I just discovered the Tolkien Ensemble. For those of us who are interested in that sort of geeky stuff, their version of Sam's Song in the Orc Tower has got to be my favorite so far. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoVnWUQ9CR8))

Anyway... it was just... beautiful. Tolkien and the first instances of Spring weather (even when it is in February, and it probably won't be warm again until April) tend to stir up those sort of sentimental feelings in me. Don't mind that.

Well. Until next time,

Tasha

ps. It just occurred to me that I'm going to be 19 in a bit more than two months. A bit early to be thinking about that, I'm sure, but... goodness. The further past 16 I get, the more concerned I become that I'm just not ready to be this old. I'm currently reading Notes of a Red Guard, which is about a man who lived through (and was very involved in) the Russian Revolution. He was economically independent from his parents by the time he was 16. (In fact, he was making twice as much money as his father was by that age...)

...irrational? Maybe. But I still can't help but feel somewhat inadequate.

pps. Also, I've finally finished unpacking all my things. Which means that I've finally finished putting up all my maps, including a French map of Colonial America, and another following Lewis and Clark's route to the Pacific and back. My happiness about this is highly disproportionate to the actual accomplishment.

Fell's Point

Well, we did make it to Fell's Point!

I realized that I sort of mentioned that in passing without really explaining, so... Fell's Point is a Historic District in Baltimore, dating from 1763, which is known for it's bars and pubs, and among History students, for it's historical infamy as one, big, brothel, and for it's hooked shape.

But anyway. It's a very interesting area, partly because it was originally not part of Baltimore at all: in fact, it was quite a trip to get from one town to the other in the 18th century, as one would be traveling through swamp, essentially. Baltimore town was built on its now famous Inner Harbor, but the issue was that the Inner Harbor is actually quite shallow. Fell's Point, on the other hand, has a deep-water port, which made it relatively easy for large, ocean-going vessels to anchor there. So what ended up happening was that ships would anchor at Fell's Point, and unload their cargo onto smaller barges, which would take the goods to Baltimore. As a result, Fell's Point evolved as a more maritime community, where sailors lived between journeys (you can imagine for yourself what that community looked like), while Baltimore Town became inhabited by merchants and artisans, and was therefore somewhat more established and conservative.

Baltimore annexed Fell's Point in 1773, and that's where I'm going to leave the story until the 1900's, when much of Baltimore burned down. Fell's Point survived, making it one of the only areas where 18th century architecture survives in the city.

It was made into a Historic District in the 1960's, after it was almost destroyed to make way for a highway that was to be built through the area. There is a very long, dramatic, and fascinating story behind what I just summarized in one sentence, but I'll save that for another time.

Unfortunately, I couldn't get a lot of pictures, but the cornices on some of the buildings are really beautiful. This is a relatively plain brick one, but most are made of wood, and can be very ornate.

Supposedly, this is the next project for the Fell's Point Preservation Society.

Anyway, I went there on a field trip with my Historic Preservation class this afternoon. One of the 3 people who work at the Fells Point Preservation Society is the head of the Graduate program in Historic Preservation at Goucher, so we got a private tour of one of the projects they are currently working on. The building is called "The Academy," for some unknown reason, since it was never at any point an academy... It was built in 1790, and many additions were made in the 1890's. A porch was added in the 1920's, but it has since been taken off, since the Preservation Society lacks the funds to restore it.

Currently, most of the house is down to the bare bones, so you can see the old wooden frame, and the nogging (essentially bricks that were laid to fill the spaces in the frame). The Baltimore area is very rich in clay, so naturally, one finds bricks being used quite a bit, even though it was porous and a rather unreliable building material in the 18th and 19th centuries. Usually, one finds brick being covered up by wood or by Form Stone (such as in the house above).

An original doorframe.

The plans.

The original staircase.

One can see some of the original nogging here. Apparently, they are going to keep part of this area uncovered, so visitors can see the different layers of the wall.

Wallpaper from the 1920's.

Some of the original roof.

A view from the back of the house. 

This is what is known as a sally port. The more recognized usage of the word describes a secure entrance, usually to a prison or a fort (and of course, Fort McHenry has many of them). These, however, are simply entrances to alleys that lead to the back of a house. Though I suppose they fit the definition of a "secure entrance." They would have to be, I assume.

If you're interested, Fell's Point has a website (and it's not purely about bars!) at http://www.fellspoint.us/ It's worth looking around the site-- they have some interesting videos on the architecture, and some really good stuff on the history of the area. Needless to say, I'm going to have to take another trip there on my own, so I can take my time with the place... and hopefully cover more than just one house.

Until next time, my love to all!

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.