The weather report said it might rain, and a glance at the sky assured me that it would, so of course I put on a skirt and a light jacket and headed out for a long bike ride to campus–oh, the curse of aspirational dressing! I was cold all day. Regardless, it just felt good to be on my bike after three days off due to what I’ve decided was a pollen-induced multi-day headache. I zoomed down the hill and then took my right through Bolton Hill and Marble Hill over toward Upton. Continue reading
history
A Gentleman’s Room at the Maryland Historical Society at W. Monument & Tyson
I’ve been spending an awful lot of time over the past few months reading about museums and historical societies and historical parks and monuments and such, so today I figured it was time to visit one of those places to see what I might see now, after all that. I hopped on my bike in the much cooler and much windier weather and headed down the hill. I settled on the Maryland Historical Society, which I thought a lot about this week while reading about Fred Wilson and his work, Mining the Museum. Continue reading
Plexiglass Flag On The Star-Spangled Flag House at Pratt & Albemarle
Well, it wasn’t all sunshine and blue skies like yesterday, but I was still excited to hop on the bike this morning for a ride around town. I headed to Hampden for brunch and some light reading and then to the Jones Falls Trail to snake my way downtown for a visit to the Lewis Museum and their new Dandy Lion exhibit. Continue reading
William Wallace Statue at the Reservoir in Druid Hill Park
I was out with S. last night, and she suggested we get up early for a few laps around the reservoir at Druid Hill Park, her running, me on my bike. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but when I woke up all warm in my bed surrounded by cats, well, it seemed like a better idea might be to enjoy a vacation day in bed with coffee and books. But I said I’d be up for it, so I sent a text, sucked down some coffee, put on my wool layers, and headed out on the bike, and, as always, I was glad I did. Continue reading
Sun Over The Bay From Canton Waterfront Park
Today’s ride took me down and around the Inner Harbor with a quick stop at the Maryland Science Center to read about solar energy (the cells on its roof produce enough per hour to power three houses!) and then over to Canton Waterfront Park and the Korean War Memorial for a little learning. When they call the Korean War “the forgetten war,” they are not kidding. (I wonder if we’ll ever have a memorial to those lost to the War on Drugs–that would be one huge wall.) Continue reading
Nat Philbrick in the Poe Room at the Pratt Library on Cathedral & Mulberry
Today’s bike ride took me down to Fells Point to meet V. for coffee and work–she wrote about women’s human rights, I graded papers about gender and social construction–before heading up to the library for a talk. I haven’t figured out a good way to get from Fells Point and points east to the west side without getting trapped between cars on Charles Avenue, so I took the long way around via the friendly bike route via Fallsway. Continue reading
Miniature Portraits at the Maryland Historical Society at Monument & N. Howard
Today’s ride took me down the McKeldin Square to drop off a staple gun to the folks at the media table at Occupy Baltimore before a couple of hours waving signs on the corner with B. and B. The square was fairly empty this afternoon, which surprised me, given the sunshine and Saturday-ness of it all, but maybe folks were still out on the walking tour of Inner Harbor bad guys. Continue reading
Military Ships Docked Across From Fort McHenry
Oh, it was a beautiful day–warm enough for a tank top and skirt, not a single cloud in the sky, blue everywhere. I worked from home for too long, but it was finally time to take the bike out for a ride. I headed down to the library to return one video and pick up another (yay socialism!) and then just pedaled along until I found myself headed to Fort McHenry. Why not cram in a little history while I’m at it, right? Continue reading
John W. Brown Liberty Ship at Fells Point
I spent this chilly Saturday at home and reading my book, which is so, so good, and intense. It makes me angry that I was never taught about Jim Crow in a real way, and Isabel Wilkerson is teaching it in such a real way. This book should be required reading, by everybody. But anyway. It was finally time to peel myself out of bed and get on the bike, so I headed down to the museum to check out some Maryland-specific Jim Crow history–this here kid knows how to spend a Saturday! Continue reading
Royal Theater Monument at West Lafayette and Pennsylvania Avenue
I left my car on campus yesterday so I could sit in J.’s car as he drove us all the way to Gaithersburg for a most excellent, if overwrought and heavy handed, movie at the weird mall with the restaurant that served me fries with my falafal. I can leave my car wherever, because the next day, I can always ride my bike wherever, stick my bike on the car, and drive us all home. Continue reading
What I Saw Riding My Bike Around Today 