Job(s), visitors, free time

April 13, 2010

Since I last wrote, I happy to report that spring has arrived! After the long, tough winter the sun finally shone through to Baltimore. Last week it was in the 90s and we even had a heat-induced thunderstorm. The trees are blooming and the flowers are emerging; it is a BEAUTIFUL time of year here. Coming from the rainy—yet evergreen—Pacific Northwest, I’ve come to see that the dramatic change of seasons can be a great thing.

Baking! Baltimore! Crafts! Springtime!





I have been thoroughly enjoying my newfound status as a member of the workforce—that doesn’t have to do homework at night! I am still totally reveling in having free time. It is lovely to come home from work and have the whole evening to do whatever I want! Or to wake up on a Saturday morning not having a huge research paper looming over my head all weekend. That being said, things have been pretty crazy at work as we prepare for Maryland History Day on April 24. I have been receiving what seems like hundreds of emails and calls from students, parents, teachers, principals, coordinators, etc. worried about their registration, sending their materials in, details about the contest day… As a student I didn’t consider all the work that went into the contest, but I am sure impressed with it now. My supervisor is so inspirational in her dedication to History Day! I can tell she is really passionate about it. She seems to know almost all of the 550 or so students plus their parents, teachers and coordinators. I am really looking forward to the big day, and then attending Nationals in June after that! I’m excited to attend the state coordinator conference this fall as well!

As of this morning I was formally offered another awesome part-time position, this time at my alma matter! Beginning next week I’ll work 20 hours a week as a Development Assistant for the Annual Fund at Goucher, an office located in the Alumni House. Development is basically the most important function in the nonprofit sector, and it will be a terrific learning experience for me. I will be raising funds for financial aid, which I truly believe is a very worthy cause. I know I wouldn’t be the same person I am today without the generosity of donors giving to Goucher’s financial aid pool! Nonetheless, I’m thrilled to start this job next week.

When I’m not working, I’ve been enjoying the springtime in a variety of ways. We’ve had quite a few guests visiting from out of town (Seattle, Minneapolis, Boston, Providence…) and it has been fun showing them around. I like playing tourist in my own town sometimes. I’ve also been doing lots of crafting (sewing, stamping, making cards and pins, and having fun with felt) and trying to do more with my photography. I’m helping to organize a photo exhibit in my neighborhood, matching contemporary photos of the area with historic photos we found in the library archives. I have also been exercising much more lately than I ever did in college, now that I feel that I have time to do so. I’ve biked to work a few times and was proud to go 10 miles on the stationary bike at the gym the other day.

When I’m not doing any of the above-mentioned activities, I’ve been thinking about my next steps. Both Timmy and I applied to a year-long internship program in Denmark but didn’t make the cut, which was a bit of a relief…an intercontinental move sounds like a challenge. I was originally looking for a short-term position in Baltimore and then wanted to move on to a new city, but I have been totally loving this town lately. It’s so much more fun to take advantage of all that it offers—in the coming weeks I’m going to check out a free lecture by Gwen Ifill (that one’s at Goucher), another free lecture about the Star-Spangled Banner, the state-wide Sheep & Wool Festival, the Kinetic Sculpture Race at the American Visionary Art Museum, a dance performance put on by some friends, a literature festival downtown, a concert in DC, a community potluck at the local church, and a conference on Baltimore History at the historical society!! How can I leave a place that offers all this? Plus my house and neighborhood have really grown on me—I feel quite comfortable in this spot. I feel like I have such a great network, both personally and professionally, in this area and it seems silly to walk away from such a resource. I am up for exploring, seeing a new place, moving elsewhere, but feel that now is not the time.
A trip to South Mountain Creamery, a family dairy farm in rural Maryland:




I look forward to posting later this spring with more details about my new job and perhaps some photos from my mini-family reunion for commencement!

snowstorms + other news

first, some good news: i got a job! a real job! i feel like i've finally secured a place for myself in the real world. i'll be working at the maryland humanities council, an awesome nonprofit located in baltimore that puts on public lectures, forums, and other educational events. i'll be helping to coordinate the national history day contest in the state of maryland. history day is an annual history competition for middle and high school students; students research a topic and then produce a video, performance, exhibit or paper. the goal is to make it to the national competition, held in june at the university of maryland. i was lucky to participate in it when i was in high school and am so excited to help other kids enjoy it. i genuinely think winning a free trip to DC made me realize how much research and academic efforts could pay off, and thus encouraged me to work harder in college. it is only 20 hours a week but i think it will be exactly the type of work i would like to be doing. i'm also working 20 hours a week in the office of student engagement at goucher, filling in for the program assistant/receptionist who is out on medical leave through march. i am also toying with some other opportunities: i was offered a position in visitor services at the maryland zoo, i might intern/apprentice with an urban planning firm (no pay, though), or do something else to earn some income and have fun.

now, onto the bad news: according to the baltimore sun, "Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport has recorded more than 6 feet, 7 inches of snow [this season]. That is nearly four and a half times our annual average. Plenty of locations in Central Maryland saw more. We have had three big storms averaging 21.8 inches each at BWI. Nothing like that has ever been recorded here. We have witnessed the snowiest winter, the snowiest February and the snowiest month on record for the city." as this indicates, the massive amounts of snow recently have pretty much dominated my life. i haven't been to work in a whole week! most days i've been able to take a walk and enjoy the beautiful downy white covering everything, but yesterday we experienced a blizzard and were ordered to stay inside at all costs. it was literally illegal to drive in baltimore yesterday, except for emergency vehicles! winds were up to 50 mph, thrashing our 30"+ inches of snow around. scary stuff. we are very lucky to have had our power, heat and plenty of food this whole time, so for the most part it's been quite cozy. i've caught up on lots of movies, reading, baking, crafting, blog-reading, etc. however, i'm getting pretty antsy to get out and do something soon!








i hope to take some more photos of the damage today...the winds yesterday sure kicked up some pretty patterns!




happy valentine's day, and happy 2010 olympics!!

post-college update #1

although it feels so far away now, i'll do a brief recap of the end of last fall. it definitely felt much, much different than any other semester because i was living in the city rather than on campus, wasn't involved in any extracurricular clubs (okay, just a few...but not the all-consuming newspaper) and had a ton more homework than usual. i was taking all three of my required seminars in my major at the same time and working about 20 hours a week, so i kept busy despite what i thought would be more free time. i really enjoyed commuting to school via the collegetown shuttle, a great free service for baltimore area college students. i rode with a lot of my friends every day, and it was a superb opportunity to listen to NPR, drink my coffee, and catch up with our awesome bus driver chip or each other. the bus was too shaky to get much reading in, so i soaked up a lot of slow morning wake-up time instead. the only problem was that it stopped running at 8 pm and when my night class ended at 9, i always had to rely on the generosity of others to give me a ride (thanks, timmy!). other than that, i tried to do some baltimorexploring at various events and festivals. i love this city and this state--so many things to do! our mayor was on trial for stealing gift cards meant for needy children, which made for some interesting local political discussions. thanksgiving with timmy's family is massachusetts was surprisingly relaxing (i had less homework to do than i predicted, and didn't even have a cold as i usually do that time of year) and we had a nice time despite being stuck in traffic in new jersey for about five hours. my mom visited in early december, which was a lot of fun for all of us (i think). baltimore pulls out all the stops for christmas so we had fun showing her the christmas lights of hampden, doing some local shopping, and checking out the MICA art fair. besides our furnace being broken and our pipes freezing (we couldn't use our toilet for a day, which was the most unfortunate part of the freezing pipe situation) i really love our house. it is the perfect size for the two of us, although i am looking forward to my friend kashmir moving in this weekend for a few months, and i like how we've decorated it. it was particularly exciting to have our own christmas tree (all ornaments courtesy of my mom!) and decorate for the season. our neighborhood has definitely grown on me--it is really diverse but there aren't too many amenities (i.e. grocery stores) near by.






for anyone that didn't catch it, there was a huge snowstorm that hit the east cost the weekend before christmas. that messed up my travel plans (i flew to seattle tuesday instead of sunday) but other than that was actually kind of fun because we didn't have to go anywhere. i heard we received about 22 inches total. it was so heart-warming to see all of our neighbors get out and try to clear our street (there was no way a plow was going down our narrow, three-block-long avenue) together. normally there's not a whole lot of conversation between neighbors but when it snowed everyone was out there together. i learned i am pretty useless with a shovel but did feel productive when i brought a few dozen freshly baked gingerbread cookies out to share. after the snow cleared a bit i finally made it back to the northwest for a relaxing, family-filled week at home. i am fortunate to have such genuine, interesting and fun friends and relatives. i got to see pretty much everyone i wanted to (including my most adorable little cousins and hilarious former babysittee), clearing out old high school memorabilia, and spending time in front of the fire. i really love christmastime and enjoyed it just as much this year. it is unfortunate that my hometown and current home are so far apart, because it really is a huge pain (and expense) to travel so far when i want to get home. it saddens me to say that izzy, aka pookie, our family's oldest and most beloved cat, passed away last weekend. she seemed totally and surprisingly healthy when i saw her last week but in one day it was discovered that she had a tumor and had to be put to sleep. this was really tough on my brother and mom, who adored that cat more than i thought possible, and i feel so guilty that i can't be there for them. rest in peace pooquincy.






it is currently a few minutes past noon, i'm still in my pajamas, and have been browsing the internet for jobs for the past three hours. i am currently enjoying my 20-hours-a-week job in goucher's career development office because it means i work three days a week and the other two are spent looking for a real job. however, when that ends in two weeks i have a feeling being (f)unemployed will have lost its luster and i will be anxious and bored silly. i have several informational interviews lined up, and am really excited about what i have applied to (smithsonian folklife festival, maryland humanities council, johns hopkins library, univ. of maryland parkinson's research lab)--but have no leads as of yet. what a horrible time to be looking for a job. at least i am a relatively cheap employee, right? i hope so. we'll see how this whole job search goes. timmy and i both applied to work in denmark for a year--serving as program assistants for the study abroad program we both did, DIS--from august 2010 to august 2011. that would be the opportunity of a lifetime, but if it doesn't work out i think we could find some interesting opportunities in the US too. after this summer our lease will be up and his contract with americorps will end, so we will be free to roam. we are hoping to do a road trip this spring (he gets passover off, which means we could go for about 10 days) to explore some midwestern locales, perhaps to investigate the possibility of moving after this summer. my top three cities of interest right now are minneapolis, chicago, and denver, followed by st. louis, pittsburgh, and maybe austin? if anyone has thoughts on cool, mid-sized, artsy midwestern cities with good public transportation systems and ample job opportunities, please let me know! now that i don't have homework (!!!!), i hope to spend much more time returning to creative pursuits such as sewing, knitting and making cards. i have been doing a lot of baking and cooking lately--last weekend i made wheat bread from scratch!--which is a good hobby when you have time but not lots of money. i really adore taking and editing photos, but it would be a good idea to practice some hobbies that don't require staring at a computer screen. if anyone has any suggestions for craft projects, let me know!

done with college!

sorry i have not posted at all recently-- things have been really zany finishing up many papers and projects-- but i am pleased to report that i am now officially done with college! my last exam took place about an hour ago and now i am free as a bird. i promise to post more pictures and updates at some point soon. happy holidays to all!!!

falltimore

autumn update

autumn glory was awesome! well, the festival was...the camping part was pretty miserable at times. the drive went well, with the foliage getting more intense as we drove west. we made it to the state banjo competition and witnessed some very young as well as very old banjo players. the southern garrett county high school gym was packed with mostly senior citizens but also some really entertaining little kids who had fun dancing. camping that night involved four people sleeping in a two-person tent (we brought another but we couldn't set it up), without sleeping mats (we forgot them in baltimore), in the pouring rain, atop gravel. and the temperature was a high of 40 the next day, so needless to say it was very cold as well. the camping was really unpleasant, actually. the next day we got up early and headed straight into small-town america. we got to see the church choir perform a gospel puppet show (not as good as last year's), check out the (fabulously tacky) craft fair, buy ridiculously cheap pumpkins and gourds from some mennonite and amish farmers, eat hand-made donuts (pretty much the only vegetarian option in the entire county) and see an appalachian clogging performance all before witnessing the grand parade. it was just as absurd as it was last year, with lots of obnoxious shriner cars zipping around, lots of cheerleaders and drill teams in uniforms from the early 90s, their accompanying high school marching bands, beauty queens freezing in strapless gowns, historic fire engines, ROTC and other military brigades, and local politicians atop goofy floats. i love that stuff! our final stop before heading back home was to refuel and warm up with some great cheap coffee and vegan cupcakes (we made those and brought them with us) to celebrate timmy's 24th birthday! all in all, it was a really memorable weekend.



other than that i feel like i've been drowning in homework lately, specifically studying for midterm exams and writing reviews of literature. that's what i should be doing now, in fact! i also took time to set up a linked in account for the sake of networking and hopefully finding a job for the spring. we'll see how that works. if anyone hears of any full-time opportunities in the baltimore area from january to july of 2010, please let me know!!!

i get through my homework sessions with hyggeligt candles and oversized cups of coffee/tea/chai/hot chocolate/apple cider:


our harvest-time window display:

tumblr + autumn glory

quick update: things are going well, busy as usual. school is back in full swing and i'm feeling slightly stressed. i am really really looking forward to a weekend in western maryland at the autumn glory festival! small town americana at its finest, this festival was a total blast last year and i hope it will be the same this time around. maryland truly lives up to its moniker of "america in miniature" (or 'merica, if you prefer)-- there are vibrant urban areas, sprawling suburbs, and your standard conservative rural towns as well. it is refreshing to see the foliage, smell the farms, and experience maryland's more west virginia side. i hope the predicted thunderstorms won't deter us from having a good time and celebrating timmy's 24th birthday!

on another note, this week i fell in love with tumblr, an awesome blogging platform that is very design-oriented. if you click on the link it should take you to my page-- i'm going to post photos and other musings there...