New England Trip: finale

I realized I am probably the only person who really cares about my New England recaps, so I'll restrict this last batch to interesting trivia only.

Day 5: Randomness

• The New Bedford Whaling Museum has more gory prints of whale hunting than you can shake a harpoon at. Whale skeletons are enormous, and drippy with oil if not cleaned properly. Today, fishing is still profitable and dangerous. Up to 40% of local high school guys drop out to make quick cash in the scallop market.
  
• John Rogers' 19th century plaster sculptures of sentimental scenes can be considered the forerunners of Norman Rockwell.

Day 6: PLIMOTH!!
What can I say about Plymouth, MA, Jamestown's early settlement rival to the north? There are a lot of similarities - recreated ships, costumed interpreters, Native villages, totally inaccurate statues. Points to Jamestown for less emotional myth and more hardcore archaeology. (Oh, and being OLDER.) Points to Plimoth for house construction in action and the Plymouth Rock hot tub in our hotel pool. It was almost like a time machine.

Day 7: Salem
This town takes tourism kitsch to a whole new level. With a discount "Hysteria Pass" you can take ghost tours and visit a pirate/witch wax museum. If you look past the dozens of middle aged tarot and aura readers, however, the walkable downtown is full of historic houses. The Peabody-Essex Museum has some serious decorative arts, especially from Asia. The highlight was a 200 year old Chinese house, Yin Tu Tang.

Day 8: Sturbridge
Another big outdoor living history site, Old Sturbridge Village is like a cross between Colonial Williamsburg and the Henry Ford. The farmhouses, town green, and mills interpret the 1830s, which is a time period I rarely think about. The old-timey costumes seemed truly alien - think Amish style combined with the costumes in Wives and Daughters. Thanks to the welcoming staff, we had a great time exploring. It looked like the families out and about were having a good time too.

And then we drove back to Delaware. Classes start tomorrow - holy cow, summer is over!

New England Trip: Part 2

I'm almost done with my jaunt through New England. In the past two days we've caught glimpses of Pilgrims, tarot card readers, and three wedding receptions. Here are some recaps.

Day 3: Artists in training

• The Florence Griswold House in Old Lyme, CT may by my favorite stop. There's a fascinating story here about a spinster sea captain's daughter and her tenant artist colony of impressionist painters. The staff tells the story well, and has added more modern gallery space that doesn't clash. It doesn't hurt that the house is in a gorgeous rural area next to a river!
• The Rhode Island School of Design has a well-stocked art gallery. The 20th Century exhibit was AMAZING, but they wouldn't let us take pictures :-( My favorite was the 1970s red "Valentine" portable typewriter marketed to amateur poets. It only had capital letter keys. There was also a garment I can only describe as what Lady Gaga would wear as a maternity dress.
  
• RISD has a great gift shop selling things designed by alumni. When we peeked in, I bought a little something that will hopefully become part of an art glass collection. (Pictures coming soon!)

Day 4: House tour mania
We hit up Newport, RI, a seaside resort town with dozens of historic houses. Since Gilded Age mansions have no place for moderation, we visited SEVEN buildings. On days like this my class goes through stages ranging from "passionate" to "interested" to "tired" to "grumpy" to "slap happy". Fortunately our schedule saved the gaudiest, Marble House, for second to last.

On the road again...

I'm off on my last road trip of the summer, this time a week in New England for school. Here's a recap of the first two days.

Day 1: Connecticut
We hit two local historical societies with different approaches. One tries very hard to be a community resource, not just a WASP-y gallery. The director has a master's in social work, and it shows. I was very impressed with their oral history undertakings and sensitivity to concerns of minority groups. The many interactive games in the history exhibit were also a plus. The other museum was more traditional in focus, but still made very creative use of their collection. I especially liked the floor mosaic map and the "assemble a chair" activity.

Day 2: Hartford
I would like to point out that we passed through Farmington, the home of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, noted fictional art collector and owner of some "mixed up files." Other sights included:

• The Wadsworth Atheneum, which happily combines early American, European, and modern art. I got to see works by both Frank Lloyd Wright and Ralph Earl.
  
• The Mark Twain house, which totally changed my view of him. It turns out the boy from Hannibal married up and lived in an upper-middle home with decor by Louis Comfort Tiffany's firm. He also owned a ridiculous angel-bedecked bedstead. Some of his best novels were written in the upstairs billiard room/mancave, far away from his six daughters.
  
• The home of former Wadsworth director Chick Austin. Oh my gosh, how did I not know about this fabulous man? My new life goal is to go back in time and hang out with him. He was a pioneering museum director, a great judge of artistic talent ( He bought Mondrian, Dali, and Picasso before they were big), an actor, set designer, and rebel against stuffy New England society. In the 1930's he built a post-modern home, filled it with colorful and eclectic furnishings, and entertained his famous friends there. When George Balanchine, Angela Lansbury, and Bette Davis hang out in your aqua damask-lined dining room, you must be pretty awesome. Oh, and Bauhaus artists designed the bathrooms. I'm a little in love.
  

St. Mark's sneak peek

Here are a few photos I took on my semi-disastrous outing in Philadelphia. St. Mark's Episcopal Church really has some amazing embroidery, especially on altar frontals.

Urban Jungle

After my New York thesis trip, I felt like a total city person. Today's trip to Philadelphia was not so good. After dealing with endless stoplights on Broad Street, I drove in circles for literally half an hour trying to find an open parking space. In this half hour I was honked at once, twice pulled in to spaces only to realize they were restricted, and THEN had some jerkface steal a space from behind me while I was ineptly trying back up into it.

When I arrived thirty minutes late, I found Famous Vestment Designer smoking out front. Thank goodness he had something to do with his time. He had this semi-British accent that made everything I said sound stupid. For example,
"I'm so sorry I'm late, I should have planned this parking situation better."
"Well, one does need to plan these things." (Translation: You are an idiot.)
"I guess I'm so used to Wilmington where not much is going on."
"Yes, this is definitely more of a city. Wilmington is really more of village." (You are an idiot who lives in a podunk town. But he's right about the village thing.)

After that exchange things went better, and I found some fantastic stuff. Hearing about parish histories that actually mention vestments was music to my ears. And then I was helping Famous Vestment Maker close a sticky cabinet I accidentally slammed his fingertip in it. He kept a stiff upper lip - "These things happen" - but I felt like a jerk. A jerk who needs to read up on her embroidery terminology.

JPII you the illest!

As if I didn't already love Kate Beaton's comics about history and literature, here is one she wrote about Mehmet Ali Agca's assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II. (Click here to see it on her site since my formatting is messed up.)


It's no secret that I am a papal fangirl. I got to see JPII live an in person at World Youth Day in Toronto. I wrote a high school paper on said assassination attempt. And yes, there was the infamous Pope poster that hung on all my dorm walls in undergrad.

He died on my little brother's birthday, as I was about to leave college due to medical issues. It's one of the first deaths that really personally affected me.

Image source

Thanks for the shoutout!

A big thanks to D. aka Qandlequeen for giving me a shoutout on her blog! She was one of my co-workers in St. Louis last year, and definitely helped keep me sane as I adjusted to office life. Not only did she answer my near-constant tech questions, she kept a secret "vending machine" of candy in her desk drawers. And then there were the office pranks.... I'm her blog keeps me in touch with her adventures and sense of humor.

I'm also glad D. has photo documentation of my visit when I was in STL last month. After The Nicest Boss In the World had thanked me a dozen times for dropping by, he ran out and bought everyone in the office Ted Drewes frozen custard. Because, well, he's the Nicest Boss In The World. All that custard came with dry ice, which provided a fun distraction.

**Side note on Ted Drewes** If you are ever in St. Louis, their custard is a MUST. My mom went to St. Louis University, so all my life I've been hearing about their legendary "concretes" that are so thick you can turn them upside down. Ted's is honestly the only ice cream I have dared to eat in my 9 years of lactose intolerance, it's that crucial. After I could stomach not one but two servings last month, I'm considering loosening my dairy prejudices.

Modernist Monday - Art Nouveau Vestments

On one of my "sacristy raids" on Thursday I found something quite remarkable - Art Nouveau vestments! Since Art Nouveau was only really popular for a decade or two at the turn of the twentieth century, I feel fairly confident dating the set to that period. This set is also unusual because it is made of black silk. Black vestments can only be worn for somber occasions such as All Souls' Day and funerals. Most Catholic and Episcopal churches today don't use them, instead favoring white vestments that point to the Resurrection. Despite their dark coloring, the Art Nouveau vestments are full of signs of new life. Embroidered panels on the black damask and green orphreys feature butterflies, pomegranates, a peacock, and even a PHOENIX. The text at the bottom of a dalmatic (deacon's robe) reads "Requiescat in pace."

These are so rockin', I wish I could have them worn at my own funeral. Is that too morbid? Eh, these are too lovely to care about such things.

Update May 4, 2012. I feel quite honored that Shawn Tribe of the New Liturgical Movement blog linked to this post today. Welcome new visitors, and many thanks to the comment informing me about Arts and Crafts embroidery. If you are interested in my master's thesis research on Episcopal vestments, you can read more posts about it here.