Thursdays are my Saturdays

It is only 11:40 AM and I feel I have so much to post. So this will be a long one...

First I want to post a video from Mindy Gledhill in my countdown to Valentine's day. I like this song because I feel this way when I have a crush on a guy. (Yes I am 25 and still say crush.)

The point of these music videos wasn't really just to share love songs but new performers I am discovering. I used to think that people who spent time on YouTube had too much time on their hands but as I am trying to add music to this blog I am discovering some cool music through YouTube and Spotify. It is adding a great mix to my music. So hope you enjoy the music too. I am always willing to take suggestions so please feel free to contact me.

Second a few weeks ago I entered a giveaway contest at Live.Laugh.Rowe

She was having a guest writer, LA Kuehlke, who was writing about her passion in life. Here is a little snippet...

I have many things in life of which I am proud and with which I am fulfilled. I am a wife, a mother, and an experienced teacher who still enjoys what she does. The one thing I hadn’t done, though, was something that I’d always said I’d do “one day”. For some reason, “one day” just never seemed to arrive.

What was this thing? you ask.

Oh, to write a novel, I answer.

While I am not a mother or a teacher, I know the feeling of "one day" I want to write a novel so I really loved this post. She talks about her passion being writing and how she pursued that passion (click here to read more). I was moved by her post that I entered the give away to win a coy of her book... and guess what I did. So I guess I have more books to add to my list. 

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Speaking of my book list I have finished The American Heiress by Daisy Goodwin. It is 465 pages and I think I found it my biggest but fastest read. I mean I have read bigger books than this but I was surprised how  fast I got through the book. Even though it was big I found it easy to read on the T. A lot of bloggers I saw this that mentioned this book called it a good read as we wait for season 2 of Downton Abbey to begin and interestingly enough the main characters name is Cora. Like Lady Grantham in Downton Abbey, Cora Cash,  is an American Heiress who marries for a title. But Downton lovers this is not a prequel to Downton Abbey, it is just a good book to get lost in the world of English Aristocracy. I should say you can like this book with out having ever seen Downton Abbey. 

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This clip comes Single Minded Women

Be careful what you wish for. Cora makes a dazzling impression on English society—followed by a brilliant match—but finds that the chill in the air of magnificent ancestral homes comes from more than the lack of central heating. As she gradually learns that old-world aristocrats are governed by obscure codes of conduct and loyalty that can betray even the most charming, accomplished outsider, Cora must grow from a spoiled young rich girl into a woman of substance. 

That is a good description of the book. Cora while she is not as eager to marry a title as her mother is, she wants freedom from her pushy and over bearing mother and sadly it doesn't seem like English society is a good place to find freedom. She seems more surrounded by rules, servants who don't obey her and every one is waiting to gossip on her failures. Her mother in law despises her, her "best friend" is plotting for her ruin, and I personally had a hate love relationship with her husband who though wanted to embrace her "new world behavior" turned cold at any mistake she made. Aw to British.  With my little insight into Vanderbilt world this seemed like a good fictitious story of Consuelo Vanderbilt. 

Consuelo Vanderbilt

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If you like getting lost in the world of the "Gilded Age" I also recommend the book Alva. That Vanderbilt-Belmont Woman. A fictionalized biography of Alva Vanderbilt-Belmont (Consuelo's mother) and the builder of the Marble house in New Port, RI.

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I could not help but imagine Marble House as Cora Cash's house, where the story starts off in New Port. Of I course I couldn't get Downton Abbey AKA Highclere Castle out of my head when I imagined Cora Cash's house when I thought of her new dwellings as Duchess of Wareham.

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Now that I am done with The American Heiress I have four new books to read as I listed in my Button and Books post (click here). I will be reading Beth Moore's Praying God's Word recommended to me by Colleen at Soundtrack to I do.While I love fiction I think I can get easily swept up and lost in that world. I need to come back to earth every once and awhile. Plus I want this year to be full of new books, though I love re-reading books, I am going to read new books... good thing  have a good list ahead of me.

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I am glad I will have lots of time on the T to get some reading done.

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This is my favorite view of Boston so I am glad I have more excuses to see it. 

Roaming around Cambridge.

Today's photo was to take a picture of the sun. Well I decided to take a photo of my shadow in the sun. I am in my winter coat with my school bag on my side (that is the weird lump on my side). Today I went I took a little trip to Cambridge. While it is only across  the river from me... I hardly go which is a shame because today I remember why I love Cambridge, well at least the Harvard Square area. Tons of brick buildings and old colonial homes.

Map of Boston

But I went to Cambridge to go to the Schlesinger library, it is part of the old Radcliffe College now Radcliffe Institute as it is a part of Harvard. (Side Note: If you love Julia Child her papers are there). Any way the picture above is when I got I got on Radcliffe's campus. I am glad I took the picture then because when I left the library it was cloudy.

This is the campus

Agassiz

I went to the library for my Intro to Archiving class, we had to visit the an archive and write a report on it. I want to research more into Women's Education at the turn of the 20th century. And so I went to the library to look at Elizabeth Cary Agassiz's papers, she was the first President of Radcliffe.

I guess I didn't have to do real research on her, but I maybe I will later. She traveled with her husband, who was a professor, to Brazil together and wrote a book about it. She raised money for the Perkins Kindergarten for the Blind but students ranged in age.

An example of her papers.

I know I am really geeky because I found reading her papers really fun and while I pushed myself to read the late 19th century hand writing some times I was happy to that some one had transcribed her papers (as seen above). 

But while I was at the library I got an email letting me know where I was placed at for my internship (part of my Intro into Archiving class). It is also in Cambridge, so I decided to walk to it. (Side note: I guess I will get lots of reading done while I am on the T). Any way while I was walking around Cambridge I took some other pictures.

I saw these post its just stuck on to an empty store front. I was surprised they weren't on the inside but they were on the out side just flapping in the wind.

I loved this one

But this was my favorite photo...

I took an adventure around Harvard's campus on the way back to the T station and I ended up in part of Harvard I had never seen before. I didn't see a sign for this building but I found it random to see a status of a rhinoceros standing around Harvard, even more odd it is a set. But I didn't take a picture of the second one because a guy was standing in front of it and was blocking the head. 

Buttons and books

Today's photo challenge was a picture of a button. I thought to myself, everything I use is a zipper but then I thought of my coat, it has buttons. And yes it is from a winter coat but it is from a lighter coat which is a good thing here in Boston. Usually at this time of year I have to wear my big puffy coat and ugly winter boots. But this winter I have gotten to wear my lighter winter coat more than I thought I would. I bought this coat in January because of the sales. But I thought I would wear a little until early spring but this winter has been very mild so I have been able to wear my new coat a lot. So this button is not only a button it represents a mild winter. A mild winter, that I hope sticks around.

Full view of coat

Also the book store is still dangerous place for me. While I am on a tighter budget, I still spend too much money on books. I went to the book store to pick up two books for my archiving class and while I was there I saw two books on writing. One is The Writing Life: writers on how they think and work, it seems to be a collections of essays from contemporary literature. The back of the book says "A dazzling collection of essays in which today's most celebrated writers explore their personal relationships literary life. While I love to write I will admit I know little about the craft of writing. Then next to it was Wounds of Passion: a writing life by bell hook (her name is not capitalized on cover so I am copying that). It is more of a personal narrative about her life as a writer.

Back drop provided by my bed comforter. 

When I am came home from class a book I had ordered off Amazon was waiting for me, fortunately that was provided by a gift card from Christmas or else I really would be broke.

Any way I have the next four books I am going to read planed out. Of course in grad school that could take me well into the summer, so I will keep you posted on my readings. First, I have to finish my current book The American Heiress, I am almost done 60 or so more pages to read.

Speaking of books, and more on my countdown to Valentine's day  I have discovered another band... Mr. Hudson & the Library. It is amazing what you can find on Spotify when you do a random search. I did a search for library and found this band.... Hope you enjoy.

Here is there version of  "On the street where you live"

Count down to Valentine

I found this artist Kina Grannis over the weekend, it led me to other artist and other songs so I thought I would share some of them. So I am going to share them in my count down to Valentines day.

Hope you enjoy.