whirlwind of senior week and beyond

since the conclusion of the spring semester a few weeks ago, my life has been surprisingly busy. while no longer in class, the days have been filled with work, moving, and random other obligations. that, and exploring the neighborhood of hampden in baltimore city, a charming and historic area of town where many of my friends have recently moved.

one of the highlights of the past weeks was going to a small gallery in the fells point neighborhood to check out a style writing exhibit curated by adam stab. i’d run into the work of stab, an aerosol artist, at the painted screens workshop in early may. we had a nice chat at the beautifully composed exhibit, discussing the politics and cultural value of graffiti in baltimore. i would like to get more involved in that movement.

commencement was slightly overwhelming for me, and i’d imagine more than that for the graduates. keynote speaker matthew modine was pretty good and all went as smooth as possible. i’m pretty sure i got the worst sunburns of my life that morning. goucher will not be the same without the class of 2008 on campus this fall.

over memorial day weekend i went back up to massachusetts very briefly. it was a very nice visit to central mass but i hope to stay a little longer next time i’m up there in order to see more old friends. i took a greyhound back to baltimore in order to attend a global health conference in washington dc on tuesday. it was the 35th annual conference of the global health council, an international foundation led by (goucher parent and father of my cousin’s ex-girlfriend) nils daulaire. my friend and classmate laura and i shared a ten-minute presentation on our experiences in south africa at a peace tiles workshop. it was intimidating and humbling but ultimately, a really inspirational experience. those people are doing amazing things for the world right now!

i forgot to mention that i was homeless for a few days, between graduation and the middle of this week. my gracious friend tatiana let me store my mountains of crap in her living room during this time; i stayed at the friends’ place in hampden. on wednesday i moved into a suite in a new residence hall on campus with tatiana, laura and a friend named jaime. the place is huge and very nice. we’re still settling in, but we’ve had a good time so far cooking together, doing dishes, watching movies and making coffee so we can function at all of our various odd office jobs. speaking of which, i started a new job at goucher’s career development office last week. it’s going really well so far, largely because those women are extremely friendly and accommodating.

i think this summer will be really fun. not as exotic nor as relaxing as some, which is just fine with me. i like all of my jobs at this point and think it’s still pretty exciting to play house both here on campus and in hampden. cooking isn’t my forte, though, so we’ll see how well that goes…

half way through college!

i am pleased to report that, as of yesterday afternoon, i am officially half-way through college! i finished my last exam and felt a combination of relief, exhilaration, and confusion over the fact that i will be living at goucher until december, so there's not a clear end to my year...

i'll post more when summer life kicks off... for now, it consists of working, running errands, cleaning out my dorm room, going to an orioles game, camping, doing some community service, etc.

painted screens

this weekend has been spent almost entirely at the american visionary art museum (avam), one of the most unique and moving museums i've ever been to. you must go to it if you ever are in baltimore!! i have been volunteering at the rowhouse rembrandts workshop weekend, a partnership between the painted screen society of baltimore, the maryland traditions program, and avam. elaine eff, the former city folklorist and the foremost scholar on the vernacular tradition of painting one's window screens with kitschy designs, organized the entire event. it was a great opportunity to meet some of these amazing folk artists and see them in action before this once-common art form dies out.

our tasks ranged from pouring gallons of latex paint into deli containers to bartending to stacking chairs to filing out auction paperwork. today we got a chance to listen to some lectures on local history as well as to paint our own baltimore screens! it was very rewarding to paint our own after reading and hearing about them for so long.

to learn more about painted screens, check out the society's webpage: http://www.paintedscreens.org/

below are some photos from today's happenings- none from the lively polka dance/auction/screen painting family reunion yesterday...

eccentric baltimore

as the semester is winding down, events in baltimore seem to be picking up. this weekend is the maryland film festival as well as the kinetic sculpture race; next weekend is the "rowhouse rembrandts" painted screens workshop... there is almost too much to do! i love the creative renaissance baltimore is going through right now. it is exciting to witness it!

the kinetic sculpture race, sponsored by the american visionary art museum, took place all over town today. some friends and i went to east baltimore's patterson park to watch the creative works of art in action...we stood by the sand pit (part of the obstacle course) and had just as much fun people-watching as we did watching the actual race. it seems as though every eccentric and/or artsy person in the city was present. our favorite character, however, was this random shirtless and tatooed man on top of a storage unit who kept shouting somewhat slurred words of encouragement to the sculpture "pilots" as they went through.

here are some photos of the day:







only four more days of classes and a few more papers to go!!

passover, time passing fast

campus life has been picking up at a rapid speed since the last time i wrote.

this weekend consisted of hanging out in the sun at the home ultimate frisbee tournament, watching an experimental performance art piece on the residential quad that involved ten or so girls dancing encased in a 20'x20' plexiglass box, trying to do some homework, watching "life is beautiful," avoiding the 150+ students playing "humans vs. zombies" (a goucher invention that is like a live-action zombie video game; recently featured in the washington post), working on the last issue of the newspaper for this year, driving to the magnificent grocery store that is wegman's, and enjoying my first ever passover seder at my friend and roommate maura's house in harrisburg, pa. the weather alternated from 80 degrees and sunny to violent thunderstorms and heavy rain.

the seder was a really great experience. five of us piled into the car and drove just about an hour and a half to pennsylvania's state capitol. harrisburg is a really charming little city with nice brick architecture set against the backdrop of the susquenhanna river. maura's home looked pretty much as i expected it would. our bedrooms are filled with many of the same relics from our childhoods- pictures cut out from dance magazines, lots of good books, art projects, maps of where we've been, french-themed stuff, etc. it's amazing how much you really learn about a person once you see their home. her hospitable and gracious parents planned a very contemporary, politically aware evening of food and prayer. in between the traditional prayers we read new additions, like a prayer for those with aids, those in sudan, those who are marginalized because of their sexual orientation, etc. it was a great cultural experience, and it was also just really refreshing to be in a real home with parents again!

my plans for the summer and beyong are finally taking form. i know that i will now be living and working full-time on campus over the summer but hope to take a couple days to go camping and go up to massachusetts in may. i hope to explore as much of baltimore as possible during the course of the summer. in the fall, i will be living in an apartment with three of my friends- we've finally figured out who will absolutely be there- and immersing myself in anthropology and sociology classes. i will also be taking on more responsibilities- i will be the editor of the newspaper, continue working in several offices on campus, and want to be more involved in community service...

goucher spring traditions

this week was filled with goucher spring traditions- or at least, we had both of our annual two. gala, the big formal dance, was on a boat in the harbor. it was really fun to see everyone dressed up. no one went overboard or got seasick (to my knowledge), so i'd say it was a success. yesterday was Get Into Goucher Day (GIG), an annual festival that included a huge BBQ, a bunch of inflatable moon-bounce things, a concert by ted leo and the pharmacists, and almost every single person in the goucher community enjoying themselves outside. although for many it is about getting away with drinking in public, my favorite part is just being able to hang out with literally all of your friends at one time. the music was great, the weather held up, and i enjoyed almost every minute of it (i got a little worried when people began shoving each other to start a mosh pit at the concert...). i am bummed that i'll be missing these iconic goucher classics next spring, but it will make them that much more special senior year.

this morning i volunteered at the great kite fly, which was attended by over 200 local children. i wasn't too helpful in assisting their kite-flying, but it was sure fun to play with the kids. this evening i'll be half-participating in relay for life, an american cancer society fundraiser, and then retiring to do some homework. it is accepted applicants' day on monday, which means i will be giving two tours and talking to many prospective students as they make their college decision. ron paul will be speaking that evening- that should be interesting....

cultured week

this week blurred by pretty quickly. the highlight was going to see my favorite musician, the dreamy swede jens lekman, and his always-delightful band. the ensemble played at the black cat in d.c. again, playing a similar but possibly more amusing set than when we saw them in october. he is a fantastic storyteller who possesses a mighty grasp of the english language considering his mother tongue is swedish... it was so awesome to be able to get to the show with a car instead of hours of public transportation!

other bright spots of the week included taking a tour of the massive construction project at my school, called the athenaeum. my mentor for a leadership program is the architect, and she took me around the site. it was awesome. i am really pumped for this building to open in a little over a year! photos are below. i also had the opportunity to meet the acclaimed anthropologist edie turner today. the wife of victor turner (possibly one of the most famous anthropologists of all time) and the mother of rory turner (my anthro professor), she has published five books since she turned 65. the british native did fieldwork all over africa, in mexico, and in ireland. she told us some hilarious stories, sang "america the beautiful," shared her adorable laugh, and gave us a long list of very specific things to bring with us when we do fieldwork. it was a delight.

i was toying with the idea of going to the transmodern art festival this weekend, a non-stop performance art marathon at a venue called "load of fun." (i think the rain and the amount of work i have to do have killed that plan, though) i love that baltimore offers such rich art experiences nearly every weekend. the festival of maps is also taking place right now, through june, and a lecture, event or opening seems to occur every day. i love baltimore so much!

i am off to d.c. again tomorrow to spend the day in the national portrait gallery for a paper in my art history class. i hope to see some cherry blossoms while there too! goucher's one big traditional, formal dance will be on sunday... that should be an adventure too!

have a great weekend.