double view

Yesterday I walked through Lee Park on my way to the library, which it turns out is closed on Sundays during the summer. On my way into the park, I had a pistachio shell sighting!

Today I walked through Lee Park again on my way to the library, which was open. On my way out of the park I had another pistachio shell sighting!

Looking southeast.

Looking northwest.

St. Louis

Last weekend I attended a history conference in St. Louis, mostly just for fun.

I arrived Thursday in the early afternoon, and found my way on the train to the Central West End and my hotel. After checking in I changed clothes and headed a couple blocks away to Forest Park, which is really big and nice. It was very warm and muggy, but I was only doing three miles (which turned into four).

Toward the end of my run I came across this guy, which of course was motivation to run faster.

That evening was the opening plenary session and a reception. This was the view from the reception. Not too shabby. It was the one and only time I saw the arch.

Friday I attended sessions, read my mammoth history book, and took a nap. That evening was a reception at the history museum, and instead of taking the bus like everyone else I decided to walk. It wasn't too bad, and I did run across one other conference person walking so we chatted. That evening I also attended a get-together for grad students. I met some people and ate some food and talked about history. I also got many bug bites on my legs, and they were so bad that they were swollen and tender the next day. I actually thought maybe I'd gotten a running injury but no, it was just a bug bite.

Saturday I had to run 9 miles, so I got up early and headed back to Forest Park. (Originally I wanted to run to the arch and back, but a couple people in St. Louis said maybe that wasn't the best idea.) There is a six-mile loop around the park, and I tagged on a trip through the Washington University campus.

Saturday during my lunch break from sessions I walked the couple blocks to the Cathedral Basilica. It has one of the largest mosaic collections in the world. Essentially the entire ceiling with its several domes and most of the walls were all mosaiced. Pretty neat.

The thing was, however, that all the mosaics were really high up. So I couldn't see all the details I wanted to, especially in faces. Maybe some day I will mosaic a face, and I want an idea of how to do it well. This separate mosaic happened to be hanging in one of the chapels, so I could finally see a face up close.

They also had a mosaic museum downstairs. I don't actually recommend the museum unless you're really really interested in the construction of the cathedral and mosaics. I was happy to see this neat partially-finished piece.

I also like the inspiration of the desk on display from the studio where most of the pieces were done. Some day I won't be working on my PhD anymore and hopefully I will get to mosaic again.

After the museum I attended another couple of sessions, and spent much of the evening reading. Sunday I went to one last session, ate lunch, and headed to the airport. The flight was a little delayed, and then the flight from Atlanta was canceled, so they put me up in a hotel. I finally got back to Charlottesville Monday around 11:30 and went straight into work.

Even though I only stayed in the West End in St. Louis, I liked it and would be interested in going back some day.

the reading. there's so much.

Some day I'm going to have a PhD. In the meantime, I'm feeling bogged down by doing all the reading it takes to get a PhD. Ugh. Since I'm taking this summer course, I won't have any break at all until Christmas. Every single week between now and then I'll have multiple books to be reading. Even now, when I'm spending my weekend at a history conference listening to lots of history papers, I also have a giant 900-page book on the Civil War to be reading by Wednesday. And in a couple weeks when I go on a vacation, I already know it won't feel especially vacation-y because I'll have lots of reading to be doing. If I'm not reading, I'm feeling guilty about not reading.

I don't mean to be complaining. Just venting a little. I've chosen this lot in life. I'm okay with it. But still, it takes a lot of time that could be spent doing more fun things. Or just relaxing.

I will add, however, to the whole getting a PhD thing, that even though the dissertation part really scares me as far as time management with my full-time job goes, attending conferences like these does make me look forward to the chance to do my own research and write down my own ideas and feel like maybe I can contribute something to the field. But I won't do any of that for another few semesters. Because there's still so much reading to do first.

upside-down sighting

 Today I had class (summer school, ugh) and on my way back to my car I had a pistachio shell sighting! So I sat on the steps and took a photo with my phone to share with you all. A little farther down the path I saw another shell, possibly the first one's partner, but I decided against taking another photo. Then I got home and discovered I can't turn the photo I took over. Who knows why. (It's upside down in the first place because it's hard to get a photo of a shell on the ground next to a step with a flip phone. FYI.) So here you go! An upside down photo!

Not a very pretty sighting.

Also, as a bonus, here is a right-side-up photo of how my sleepy self gets up to Fairfax for class!

(Sometimes I eat Sour Patch Kids instead.)

Happy Fourth!

My Fourth of July was probably the longest Fourth of my life, but it was a good one.

The day started with my 4am alarm so I could get to work by 5:15. Crazy talk, I know. (And staying out at a pre-Fourth party until after 11 the night before didn't help, but was fun and worth the sleep deprivation.) I spent the morning putting wristbands on the general public who attended a big ceremony. I've never put wristbands on people before, and it was a little bit stressful, but I managed.

I was back home at noon, where I read, took a long nap, and read some more. Then it was time for a Fourth of July picnic on Montalto!

I invited several friends and we all went up to watch the fireworks. The neat part is you're so high that you can see fireworks happening all around, from big shows in neighboring towns to the random ones set off throughout city neighborhoods. It was lots of fun.

I got them to wear patriotic tats with me!