Project 365: Day 60 (part II)

It's been counting down the days until Mexico!

Project 365: Day 60 (filler picture!)

Ok, readers. This picture is a cop-out. I know that. See, what really happened is this: The picture I'd been intending for today has been in my mind for over a week. It's at work, on my desk. It's fitting, if not compositionally striking. So, I brought my camera to work, as I bring it everywhere. But the battery died. So I brought it home at lunch, changed the batteries, and went back to work leaving the working camera on my desk. Oops! Anyway, I will get this picture, though it will not be taken today. Instead, I give you everything I'm taking with me to Mexico.

Which gives me a great segway to this-- I'm going to Mexico! I'm not taking my old crappy camera with me, so I'll be snapping away on AJ's camera. This means that you should not expect any more posts until Tuesday, July 7 at the very earliest, and perhaps later. And Mexico pictures may be somewhat delayed by the minor fact that they'll be on AJ's camera, and headed to Ithaca and not New Haven after we head back stateside. But! The pictures will be great, I promise!

Project 365: Day 59

God Says No. Not entirely sure what the deal is with this book, though the description off Amazon.com only makes it more interesting:

Gary Gray marries his first girlfriend, a fellow student from Central Florida Christian College who loves Disney World as much as he does. They are 19 years old, God-fearing, and eager to start a family, but a week before their wedding Gary goes into a rest-stop bathroom and lets something happen. God Says No is his testimony — the story of a young black Christian struggling with desire and belief, with his love for his wife and his appetite for other men, told in a singular, emotional voice. Driven by desperation and religious visions, the path that Gary Gray takes — from revival meetings to "out" life in Atlanta to a pray-away-the-gay ministry in Memphis, Tennessee — gives a riveting picture of how a life like his can be lived, and how it can't.

Project 365: Day 58

Project 365: Day 57

Wooster Square farmers market! Hurray! The weather was gorgeous, and I got some delicious cheese to have with the bottle of sherry (yes, sherry) that I bought yesterday.

Project 365: 56

That's a wedding invitation. To Robbie's wedding. Adorable, and beautiful, and scary at the same time!!

And a bonus photo of something clever I saw:

Project 365: Day 55

 

Fire drill! Great break, especially because the weather was amazing (finally!). 

house

So, after much angst, I think I'm going to end up in House A. Pending a credit check, I've got th room I wanted in that house, which is partially furnished, which will be easy! It's close to my department, and easy to get to and may or may not have a parking spot.
So, that's a good start!

In less exciting news, it looks like JHU beurocracy is even less managable than Yale's. Like Yale, JHU is quite decentralized, and to do things like get the free health insurance I was promised... hoo boy. It may take some doing! But first I have to clear Yale's system, and go through DUH to get records sent and stuff like that.

Project 365: Day 54

We did A LOT of grocery shopping today. We spent about $300. Yikes!

Project 365: Day 53

JJJ and I went to a sweet Latin concert on the Green. It was great-- much better than staying in the library for lunch like I do a lot of days.

Project 365: Day 52

Our balloons are kind of... flacid here at BHouse... oops.

Project 365: Day 51

Did you know that Joe dips his apples in tomato sauce? Isn't that strange?!

Help!

Dear friends,
I would like your help! I found two places in Baltimore and can't decide which to live in. I want your opinions, but time is of the essence, since I promised them both a response soon.

Things they have in common:
~price is about the same
~location is essentially the same. Same neighborhood, two blocks from my department, less than 10 minutes walk to the library, 15 to the gym. They're a block apart on opposite sides of the main street that goes through campus.
~great kitchens. big, nice, modern, clean, totally functional, with gas ranges! 
~washer and dryer in the house
~neither has central air, window units only.
~They're old row houses, late 19th century. At least one dates to 1886, and the other is likely pretty close to that date.

House A:
~small rooms
~new windows and lots of new things. new door, etc.
~gorgeous decor-- house is owned by a designer, lots of framed art, etc.
~pretty formal. Formal living room (with TV, couches, etc though) and formal dining room (complete with china cabinet!) not sure how easy it would be to have other people over.
~a cat
~cute little deck, container gardens, grill
~partially furnished bedroom (which means that I dont have to buy everything right off the bat-- bed, dresser, etc)
~possible off street parking spot
~3 more unknown roommates, probably not students, probably mixed genders
~live-in landlady who knows her houses/maintenance, etc
~storage in the basement

House B
~ tons of space. i would get two rooms (a bedroom and an office, likely) and a private bath. The bedroom has south facing windows.
~house inhabited by 4 (i would be the 5th)  students-- all in the sciences or med school, all girls
~relaxed atmosphere, they have Sunday bbqs and a pig roast (!) in the fall. it's like students live there-- not partiers, i think, but students.
~eh deck, but a little yard. one of the girls is trying to grow things (herbs, tomatoes).
~my rooms are not furnished at all
~small closet
~street parking only
~somebody lives in the basement (one of the 5)
~ADT security system
~ a bit drafty, but not too bad.

Project 365: Day 50

  

Hopkins! In the rain. Of course. But that's the library, my second home of sorts, in the future. 

A fun set-up on Charles Street in Baltimore, outside a neat shop that I'm going to go back to basically every time I need a gift or something neat for a female. The owner, Byran, was pretty great and he makes neat hipster jewelry.

 

A fantastic pizza-like food (a la BAR's mashed potato pizza) at Joe Squared, in a not-so-amazing part of Baltimore. The food, on the other hand, is amazing. And the owners are from Rochester (hey Rosa!) but unfortunately there isn't a branch there.

A perfectly representative photo for today. Monsoon season seems to follow me all over the place. This is somewhere in Delaware (I think?) in the pouring rain.

Project 365: Day 49

Ah, scenic New Haven, as seen from the train station. All the other pictures I have from today were so depressing and not worth it... hurray for the faded industrial glory of the east coast.

Project 365: Day 48

 

Today was apparently the beginning of Monsoon season (apparently) in New Haven. It's been pouring all day! 

Project 365: Day 47

JJJ and I went to the lunchtime concert on the green. It was awesome-- we both wanted to be the sexy singer in the red dress.

wow, money edition

JJJ just linked me to this article: Three Principles of Personal Finance. Good stuff! Highly useful for those recent grads, or even still-students to think about.
Also, the site it comes from: Mint.com. Seriously awesome way to tell where your money is going, and how it's getting there.

Project 365: Day 46

 

I make no comment about this book, but instead leave it to your imagination to interpret. It is a book of contemporary German poems. 

Also, sorry if photos recently have been of lower quality-- I'm using a much older, much lower resolution camera than my good one, which is in the shop right now.

Project 365: Day 45

An impromptu "blunch" in Bass Cafe!

Project 365: Day 44

We  both look a little funny in this one, but I like it. It's amusing to me, at least. :-)

Project 365: Day 43

We went to the opening concert of the Arts and Ideas Festival in New Haven. We saw a sweet concert and had a great picnic. The dancers there were awesome, and so was dancing carrot man.

Bye bye camera....

So, while I still plan to keep up the Project 365, it will be through some inconvenience. I sent my camera to the shop today for repair, since the flash was broken, a lot of my pictures were blurry, and there were big spots in my screen. I'm not sure how long it'll be out-- in the mean time, I may end up using my ancient camera or borrowing from friends-- but if you notice significant delays in the coming weeks, that is almost certainly why.
A photo for today should be coming soon. Theoretically.

Project 365: Day 42

Ok, so this is kind of a filler picture. But still, isn't my shower curtain awesome?

Project 365: Day 41

My desk at work, at the end of a booktruck.

Project 365: Day 40

Project 365: Day 39

David and Joe read with their Littles at Summerbuds.

Project 365: Day 38

The library after closing.

Project 365: Day 37

BHouse is so great. Even now, we're still finding treasures.

Project 365: Day 36

Adorable children at a local street festival.

Project 365: Day 35

We went to Sam Dixon's birthday party! Fun times were had by all. :-)

Project 365: Day 34

Awesome. Who knew they cared about this stuff in France too?

ack

hey readers,
sorry everything is slow and/or confused. We don't have internet at the house, and I can't really do much from work. So we'll be back on track ASAP... Sorry!

Project 365: Day 33

One of my favorite things about BHouse so far-- epic shopping trips. Jae, David, Aditya and I went to Costco... it was insane. We may or may not have driven past it completely the first time, but once we found it, we were in business. 6/7 people eat a lot of food! Which costs a lot of money, but at least it's cheaper in bulk.

Project 365: Day 32

I got to play with Egyptian stuff! I went out to LSF, and they pulled out a bunch of stuff for me to look at. These were some of my favorite pieces.

Project 365: Day 31

My room! Finally, getting settled in BHouse. It took a ton of work, but it's worth it. Come visit us!