Project 365: Day 120

Ah, the life of a grad student. Great. So many books, and the year hasn't even started.

Also, how do you know you live in a not-so great neighborhood? When you go to the grocery store and park in pits, specially designed for each wheel:

Project 365: Day 119

I think I found a church! It's the Episcopal Cathedral of the Incarnation, which is just a few blocks from school. It's a pretty big church, and Sunday was a big 'ol party, since it was the first day for the new Dean of the Cathedral.

Project 365: Day 118

Star decided she didn't like being left with us while Evalyn went off to Ocean City. But too bad; the cat came out of the suitcase eventually ("I don't have room to pack a cat!") and Evalyn went to Ocean City without her. She's been keeping us all company, but has certainly been grumpy at being left behind.

Project 365: Day 117

Evalyn threw a big welcome BBQ for all the new people. The cake wasn't quite what she imagined (it's the two houses, with the names of the new residents, if you can't quite tell). It was also a hell of a lot bigger-- it was a full sheet! I neglected to put anything int he photo for scale, but it took up more than the floor space of a shopping cart. The party itself was great-- lots of good food, new people, good conversations. A good way to get to know people here, which is still hard. It's tough thinking I've been here a month now but still don't really know anyone yet. Hopefully that will start to change now that classes are almost underway.

Project 365: Day 116

Orientation!

As per usual, it was hours long and I did not feel at all more oriented after than I had before. But still, there was a limited amount of schwag gained, and many many brochures and pamphlets.

Project 365: Day 115

Finally, I got some stuff hung on my walls. This sort of turned into a little Yale shrine. Oops?

Project 365: Day 114

He's such a charmer!

Project 365: Day 113

We didn't eat there. But we should have.

Project 365: Day 112

Of course, having just moved to Maryland, Marcus decided I needed to learn to eat crabs the Maryland way. Whole, in the shell, covered in Old Bay (ubiquitious and not that good, sorry), with all the parts of food I don't like to think about intact. I think the crabs won; they certainly took me out. It was fun seeing people, and it had to be done-- but I think other people can pick the crabmeat out for me and fry it into crabcakes or put it into soup.

Project 365: Day 111

This sand-recreation of the Last Supper is the best part of the Jesus tableau of sand-sculptures in Ocean City, MD. Ocean City is a trashy beach town like every other trashy beach town: Myrtle Beach, Atlantic City, Cancun, etc. But, this one features a preaching sand-sculptor who must make these every day on the beach. He also does Christ on the Cross and Jerusalem and the Resurrection!

The whole tableau:

And, of course, you can buy the whole thing to watch in your very own home on the 97-minute DVD featuring uplifting praise music!

Project 365: Day 110

Another kind of sick day-- this is my very favorite alley near my house, near CVS.

Project 365: Day 109

Today was a sick day. Blegh! I spent many hours in bed, but AJ was a super-sweetie and made me zucchini pancakes. Even better, he made me some special ones shaped like hearts. Awwwwwwwww.

Project 365: Day 108

AJ and I sojourned to Washington, D.C. today to visit some Smithsonians. It was AJ's first time to our nation's capital; hence the requisite dorky photo from the Mall.

My favorite part was visiting Kermit (Greenfrog!) in the Museum of American History. <3

We also spent a lot of time at the Air and Space Museum, where we got to see awesome stuff like the (not real) moon lander. Also awesome, and sadly not photographed: getting to see Ned and Steve for dinner.

Project 365: Day 107

Mmm! More cooking adventures. This time: pork loin with apples and onions over a sweet honey polenta. Delicious.

Project 365: Day 106

AJ and I went to Camden Yards to see another losing effort by the Orioles. They were totally outgunned by the Angels. But Camden is so pretty and we had a lovely evening. We may have purchased $9 seats and proceeded to sit in $45 seats.

Project 365: Day 105

 

AJ and I went out to the Inner Harbor to celebrate Restaurant Week, and being together, and crab. The restaurant was literally on the water, which was great. We had a lovely view of boats and downtown Baltimore from our table.

We also had imperial shrimp stuffed with crab and two crab cakes (along with Maryland Crab Soup and Cream of Crab soup and the most amazing cheesecake I've ever tasted for dessert). Om nom nom nom.

Project 365: Day 104

While I was waiting in New Haven for AJ to arrive, I went to Ikea. I had lunch there, where I got to eat pretty much the best faux-Swedish food ever. Yum. There was also a sad group of old people sitting behind me. They'd been there all day, having eaten the $.99 breakfast special and nursed their coffees until lunch time.

Project 365: Day 103

Calhoun College, now without ugly construction along College Street! Sorry I didn't have the light/time to take more and better photos, but Hounies, it looks really nice. :-)

Project 365: Day 102

Yes! My mattress was delivered today, and it's soooo comfy! And Greenfrog says "Hello, readers!"
More room photos to follow eventually. I haven't forgotten, JJJ.
Oh, but I think it's too tall. (The box spring makes it way too high!) Any suggestions?

Project 365: Day 101

This one is the real find of the day. It's a brass door-knocker with the JHU seal, and our Latin motto: Veritas vos Liberabit (the truth shall set you free). I find it's a nice follow up to Lux et Veritas. I found this at a neat consignment/antique shop where I also found the BEST GIFT EVER for my mother, which I cannot post here for obvious reasons. We also got lots of furniture, and my desk and office chair are being delivered this weekend.
We also saw tons of really ugly stuff, my favorite of which was far and away this awful couch/loveseat set.

Just in case you can't tell, this is a close up of the repeating pattern.

**Note: thanks to Thanh, my Latin has been corrected. :-)

Project 365: Day 100!!

Wow! It's hard to believe that this is the 100th photo post for the series. I dunno if my photography has gotten any better (if anything, I think it's gotten worse as I've gotten lazier!) but I have already documented a bunch of neat stuff that I wouldn't have photographed otherwise.

Of course, if I had realized, I would have done something more artful than this... oh well, at least this is honest. This is Dell House, where my department (and most humanities departmenst) have been relocated while Gilman Hall is being renovated. I've been promised that Gilman is gorgeous and old and beautiful and spacious, everything Dell House is not. It's really a charmless building, hastily (and barely) converted from a student apartment building into offices and a few classrooms. My German class also meets here; in the room on the first floor with the vertical blinds. I have spent more time here than any other JHU building (not counting my house), so it is a meaningful thing, at least...

Project 365: Day 99

 

This is part of central campus. It's beautiful, very Federal feeling. The style is very consistent but well executed, and the landscaping is wonderful. It's a lot more regular and rectangular than Yale, but I find it really pleasant. 

And of course, this is Star, the cat who owns the house I'm living in.

And here she is, reading Harry Potter 7 with me:

Project 365: Day 98

This is St. John's in the Village, and seems to be a very Anglo-Catholic church with plenty of money. Note the ladies in hats directly in front of me. I also declined to get into a theological argument with a guy who seemed determined to provoke me, so it seems that they're quite serious about their Jesus-ness.

Another striking thing about the church is that it is the absolute picture of wealth. Gorgeous 150 year old church, surrounded by an old cemetery and well-kept grounds, a big iron fence with a hydraulic gate. Of course, it is right across the street from, well, this:

Project 365: Day 97

Oh man! Farmer's Market!

Project 365: Day 96

Yeah, that's the Hon Cafe. Big hair, crazy accents, and a giant pink flamingo. There was an old couple eating in the window that would have made the best photo ever, but it would have been really rude of me to photograph them eating without talking to them first. Sigh!
Katherine and I also went to an auction in Hampden, which was crazy. Not only was the auctioneer hard to understand because she was speaking so fast, but also because she had the Bawlmer accent.

Katherine ended up buying some books, but I got outbid on the table I wanted. Oh well, it was still a lot of fun!

Project 365: Day 95

This is... the most, er, interesting bench I think I've ever seen. I found it while exploring Hampden, a neat neighborhood close to school. I also discovered many neat shops, restaurants, and the best liquor store ever. It sells a million kinds of beer and wine, as well as hard stuff, and has a whole section dedicated to cheese, chocolate, and french bread. I think I'm in love.

Project 365: Day 94

Today, I finally took the undergraduate admissions tour. I realized it was silly that I didn't know where basically anything was, but the tour spent a lot of time on things like freshman dorms and meal plans, and I just don't have to deal with or think about any of that. I did learn a lot of useful stuff-- namely that JHU gets a lot less famous people here than Yale does. :-) But the campus is pretty and very architecturally unified, which is nice. The quads are big and regular and grassy (and humid). Unlike at Yale, they're not full of bratty highschool kids who travel in giant packs. I did feel a little funny taking a tour from this girl; she was very nice but also not even a sophomore yet.

Oh yes. Also, there will at some point be photos of the house. I've been waiting until things are a little more put together. They're coming, I promise!!

Project 365: Day 93

Woo! I'm all official and stuff. (Of course, I hope you'll forgive my slight paranoia in removing some of the key info from the photo. I hope it doesn't detract from your enjoyment of my blog.) Fun fact: the red background on my photo identifies me as a graduate student. Another fun fact: you need to fill out a different form to get library priveledges added to your card. As if anyone *wouldn't* want them...

Project 365: Day 91

Today was the first day of class, and after that, Dad and I trekked out to the MVA (Maryland's version of the DMV). It took ALL DAY but my car is now registered and licensed and everything. Thank goodness!

Also, Dad brought me a sweet license plate frame: Go Cubs Go!

Project 365: Day 90

My dad and I went to Camden Yards to see a baseball game. It was really great! The game itself was hilarious; as you can see the final score was 18-10 Boston. Dad and I got to see something we've both been waiting a really long time for: a foul-pole homerun!!

Also, I really like the bench. They're all over the place, and they make me giggle.

Project 365: Day 89

Moving Day.