Entry tags:
march update
theoretically i could do these on tumblr— i've got a much larger following there— but dreamwidth is much more suited for long-form blogging, and i tend to use tumblr more as an image repository slash academic pinboard than anything else these days. anyhoo! i've decided to try monthly-ish updates.
a close friend who's a grad student at harvard med and i went to the garment district (a...colorful thrift store in cambridge about equidistant between central and kendall sq), and i spent entirely too much money on: waistcoats, ties, not one but two new coats, and a pair of wool pants that are definitely too large for me and also very scratchy— but i found them in the pit, and that's what leggings are for! also yet another tweed jacket, bringing my total up to 3. (in fairness they look very different.) at the moment i'd call my general look solidly midcentury— my daily attire is usually men's pants (most often jeans, but i have a couple good pairs of chinos and one lovely pair of wool pants that are german hand-me-downs from my grandmother), a button-down shirt, a sweater, sometimes a cardigan or blazer, and oxfords or loafers. and a coat, of course; it gets very cold in massachusetts. that's all well and good, but i'd like to start incorporating more victorian influences, maybe even something steampunky. granted, that's going to be more eye-catching than my current attire, which i can pass off as "grandpa fashion," but there's nothing necessarily bad about being perceived as a bit eccentric. currently, the to-buy list (...much later, when i can justify the expense to myself) consists of: some proper cravats, a black waistcoat (the two i have are brown and reversible caramel/khaki) and one with a bright and eye-catching pattern, a frock coat (if i can get my hands on a thrifted one), a top hat, a newsboy cap, and maybe a gilt-topped cane.
last week, i got the notification that i've been fully funded by my college's classics department to attend the greek workshop at uc berkeley this summer. it's 10 weeks of intensive study— six on the language, four on reading ancient texts— with between 10 and 12 hours of work per day on learning the language. i'm beyond excited, not least because i was the only person in the department to be awarded my entire budget. all i have to pay out of pocket is food and transportation costs. at the moment i'm trying my damned best to find decent housing in the bay area on a shoestring budget, but it is not easy— i've got focus issues that make not having a space to myself (read: living in a double) difficult, so i'm looking for a single room within a reasonable distance to campus, but apparently that is something of a tall order, at least on my budget. i've heard from my friends who've lived in the area that it is possible, though, so fingers crossed.
aside from berkeley, i'm not one hundred percent sure what my summer looks like yet. i want to see my girlfriend at least once, but i also want to spend as much time as possible with my family, because i'm probably doing a wintersession class (intensive german) next year and i won't get those six weeks with them. ari and i were talking about maybe living together in hyde park for a couple weeks, as kind of a trial run for living together long-term when we're both in grad school, but i'm not sure if that's gonna happen. i'd certainly like it to, but it's all a bit up in the air.
on another note: one of the really nice things about attending a rather old college where most of the architecture dates from before 1930 is the presence of so many little nooks and crannies, quirks in the building that you don't really see in more recent stuff. usually, you find them when you're least looking for them; today i stumbled upon a little sitting area in the dorm with the big fancy living room, with a window that has a lovely view of the partly-frozen lake. it's wonderfully quiet, secluded and comfortable, and i don't think too many people know it exists. this is the hall i'm planning to live in next year, actually— with my accomodation i get first pick of available rooms, instead of having to go through the housing lottery, so i'm going to try and nab a single on the upper floors of this dorm, maybe one of the secret attic rooms if i'm really lucky. (yes, those exist, and they're legendarily hard to get.) plus there's a dining hall on the first floor here! i don't even have to leave to get good food!
that's...about it, i think; tune in in april for another episode of Elizabeth's Mundane Life.
a close friend who's a grad student at harvard med and i went to the garment district (a...colorful thrift store in cambridge about equidistant between central and kendall sq), and i spent entirely too much money on: waistcoats, ties, not one but two new coats, and a pair of wool pants that are definitely too large for me and also very scratchy— but i found them in the pit, and that's what leggings are for! also yet another tweed jacket, bringing my total up to 3. (in fairness they look very different.) at the moment i'd call my general look solidly midcentury— my daily attire is usually men's pants (most often jeans, but i have a couple good pairs of chinos and one lovely pair of wool pants that are german hand-me-downs from my grandmother), a button-down shirt, a sweater, sometimes a cardigan or blazer, and oxfords or loafers. and a coat, of course; it gets very cold in massachusetts. that's all well and good, but i'd like to start incorporating more victorian influences, maybe even something steampunky. granted, that's going to be more eye-catching than my current attire, which i can pass off as "grandpa fashion," but there's nothing necessarily bad about being perceived as a bit eccentric. currently, the to-buy list (...much later, when i can justify the expense to myself) consists of: some proper cravats, a black waistcoat (the two i have are brown and reversible caramel/khaki) and one with a bright and eye-catching pattern, a frock coat (if i can get my hands on a thrifted one), a top hat, a newsboy cap, and maybe a gilt-topped cane.
last week, i got the notification that i've been fully funded by my college's classics department to attend the greek workshop at uc berkeley this summer. it's 10 weeks of intensive study— six on the language, four on reading ancient texts— with between 10 and 12 hours of work per day on learning the language. i'm beyond excited, not least because i was the only person in the department to be awarded my entire budget. all i have to pay out of pocket is food and transportation costs. at the moment i'm trying my damned best to find decent housing in the bay area on a shoestring budget, but it is not easy— i've got focus issues that make not having a space to myself (read: living in a double) difficult, so i'm looking for a single room within a reasonable distance to campus, but apparently that is something of a tall order, at least on my budget. i've heard from my friends who've lived in the area that it is possible, though, so fingers crossed.
aside from berkeley, i'm not one hundred percent sure what my summer looks like yet. i want to see my girlfriend at least once, but i also want to spend as much time as possible with my family, because i'm probably doing a wintersession class (intensive german) next year and i won't get those six weeks with them. ari and i were talking about maybe living together in hyde park for a couple weeks, as kind of a trial run for living together long-term when we're both in grad school, but i'm not sure if that's gonna happen. i'd certainly like it to, but it's all a bit up in the air.
on another note: one of the really nice things about attending a rather old college where most of the architecture dates from before 1930 is the presence of so many little nooks and crannies, quirks in the building that you don't really see in more recent stuff. usually, you find them when you're least looking for them; today i stumbled upon a little sitting area in the dorm with the big fancy living room, with a window that has a lovely view of the partly-frozen lake. it's wonderfully quiet, secluded and comfortable, and i don't think too many people know it exists. this is the hall i'm planning to live in next year, actually— with my accomodation i get first pick of available rooms, instead of having to go through the housing lottery, so i'm going to try and nab a single on the upper floors of this dorm, maybe one of the secret attic rooms if i'm really lucky. (yes, those exist, and they're legendarily hard to get.) plus there's a dining hall on the first floor here! i don't even have to leave to get good food!
that's...about it, i think; tune in in april for another episode of Elizabeth's Mundane Life.
