crafty weekend!

guys- baltimore just does not stop coming up with cooler and cooler stuff. there are three awesome events scheduled for this saturday alone. take time to check these out!

tomorrow, thursday november 13, a bunch of nonprofit community leaders will be at goucher to discuss going into that field. meet folks from wide angle youth media, greater homewood corporation, urban leadership institute, community law in action... it is at 7:30 p.m. in the piano room of the t/welsh hall.

charm city craft mafia's holiday heap is taking place on saturday, november 15 from 10 am to 5 pm. check out the 50+ craft vendors selling their wares at the really cool st. john's church, 2640 st paul street in charles village.

also on saturday is this series of free workshops on music & the brain at the american visionary art museum. avam is a must-see even if you can't make it this weekend! demonstrations and concerts will take place from 10:30 am- 9 pm. the visioniary is in federal hill, just a short walk away from the inner harbor (which is easy to get to via the collegetown shuttle or light rail). avam is hosting their own holiday art marketplace, bazaart, on november 29. if this is anything like their gift shop, it will be utterly amazing.

yet another cool event taking place this saturday is caleb stine's round the mountain acoustic extravaganza at the creative alliance. although it is a bit pricey ($17), this will be well worth it considering the amount of talent that will be present. hear the baltimore shape note singers and other folk/traditional musicians at 8 pm. the creative alliance is a really, really cool community arts organization in highlandtown. it's not too hard to get there via public transportation. if you have a car, drive yourself and take a gander through patterson park while you're at it.

apparently wham city will be performing their interpretation of jurrasic park at goucher on sunday night! it is free at 8 pm in pearlstone atrium. it seems like there's just too much going on to fit it all in, but let's try, eh?

great halloween lantern parade

if you live in the baltimore area and don't have plans for next saturday, october 25, i would strongly encourage you to go to the

great halloween lantern parade!

an annual fall tradition in the southeastern neighborhoods around patterson park, city paper named this event the most photo-worthy in this year's best of baltimore issue. over 1000 hand-made paper lanterns will make up this year's jabberwocky-themed parade. if you want to participate, come with your lantern/costume to the pulaski monument at 7 pm. to watch, line up on the east side of linwood avenue by 7:30 pm. they also need volunteers-- if you're interested in setting or cleaning up or being a parade marshal, email the creative alliance.

below are some photos from the past weekend's lantern-making workshops:

free fall baltimore!

free fall baltimore is here!!!
[this blurb also appeared in the quindecim]
baltimore is sometimes a generous city, offering special deals to students, hosting a myriad of public festivals, and sponsoring the third annual free fall baltimore series. spearheaded by mayor sheila dixon's office, free fall baltimore grants free entry into a range of events, museums and cultural experiences. here are a few highlights:
-the homewood museum is offering a guided art walk to the baltimore museum of art, located just adjacent to johns hopkins university. these will take place every saturday in october. to get there, take the collegetown shuttle to hopkins.
-also offering free admission for the month of october is the contemporary museum, an art gallery in mount vernon. they are open from noon to 5 p.m. wednesday through sunday. to get to mount vernon, take the mta #8 bus northbound to lutherville (catch it by the quarter, across from superfresh), and then hop on the light rail southbound and get off at centre street. note that the acclaimed walters art museum, which is free year-round, is located just a stone's throw from the contemporary museum.
-the baltimore streetcar museum, which is only open from noon to 5 p.m. on the weekends, will be free for the month of october. the museum is located on falls road-- another short light rail ride away-- and usually costs $7.
-the babe ruth birthplace & museum will be offering free admission on fridays in october. the museum is located on emory place, close to the stadium at camden yards. this is easily accessible via light rail as well.
-learn about this nation's history at the flag house and star-spangled banner museum, a house located near little italy and the inner harbor. they will be offering free tours at 10 a.m. and noon every day. take the collegetown shuttle to the inner harbor and walk east on pratt street.
-the maryland science center will be open to the public for the first 200 guests to come after 5 p.m. on friday, october 31 (halloween). this includes admission to an imax movie. the museum is in the inner harbor area, which is best accessed via the collegetown shuttle or light rail to the convention center.

in addition to these awesome events, we've got the 35th annual russian festival coming up this weekend, october 17-19. held in east baltimore, it features performances, crafts and plenty of food.

below are some photos from the autumn glory festival held in oakland, maryland (in the very western most part of the state) last weekend. i would really, really recommend checking out western maryland if you have time to drive out there (3-4 hours each way). it is gorgeous this time of year: rolling hills plush with vibrant foliage. we went camping at rocky gap state park, visited the once-booming and now eerily-empty town of cumberland, and could have made it to west virginia and pennsylvania easily but instead chose to stop at antietam battlefield on the way back. also awesome. i saw more mccain signs out there than i ever have here. i definitely felt out of place among the largely older, rural, conservative, religious crowd, but found the town of oakland really interesting.

the festival seem to take over the entire county, ranging from the main parade-- lots of cheerleaders, high school marching bands, shriners and beauty queens-- to glass blowing, clog dancing, choral performances, free admission to the historical museum, a tour of the court house, and many food vendors. we saw a puppet show entitled "autumn declares god's glory," which featured gospel singing puppets proclaiming "jesus saves." very interesting stuff.

book festival!

i know it's supposed to be really dreary this weekend, but the baltimore book festival will be taking over mount vernon place and is totally worth the trip. goucher students and faculty will be reading at 2 pm on sunday afternoon! this was a really interesting event last year and i highly recommend going. you could take the shuttle to the inner harbor and walk to mount vernon, or take the light rail and get off at centre street. enjoy!

cycle the city

i hope some of you enjoyed last weekend's festivities!
this weekend there are two big events, both pertaining to cycling, going on.

check out the C3 bike team's charm city cross event on sunday morning in druid hill park. my roommate hillary is participating and it should be quite the event!

there's also a rally for the river going on this sunday. bikers, runner and walkers can play on the jones falls expressway (83) northbound, starting at the poly/western high school complex by cold spring. the event is from 8 am to 2 pm, and i believe they still need volunteers. the admission is $5 to support the jones falls watershed.

the weather is supposed to be just gorgeous the next week-- so take advantage of it and do something outside! if you're not into biking, you could also see the art exhibit at gwynn's falls park (on the western edge of baltimore city). have fun!

awesome stuff in september

i'll do these in chronological order, but it looks like there's going to be some wonderful stuff sweeping charm city this fall. this weekend is going to be a busy one.


it is the annual star-spangled banner celebration at fort mchenry-- honor the 194th anniversary of the national anthem by making it out to the fort, south of the inner harbor. the entire weekend includes oddball events like cannon & musket firing demonstrations, a dress parade, and singing of the national anthem. on saturday evening around 9 pm, there will be fireworks accompanied by live music (the photo is from last year's event). it's best to drive there from goucher considering it's a bit far. this is a great family event and a lot of fun for the history buffs among us.



hampdenfest is coming this saturday on "the avenue" (west 36th street). last year i really enjoyed browsing the antique shops, listening to live music, and soaking up the "hon"-iness of the neighborhood (photos above). it was fantastic. if you're coming from goucher, you could drive and park at the rotunda, or take the collegetown shuttle to hopkins and walk across the campus, up keswick, to 36th.


also this saturday is the reggae & brew festival at the zoo (which i'll argue is a delightfully odd combination, but...) was also a lot of fun last year. unfortunately, i think the tickets are pretty pricey ($18 for students!). it might be worth it to encounter the serendipity that is island music, drunk people, and exotic animals in one place at one time. the maryland zoo in baltimore is druid hill, which you could get to by taking the mta #8 southbound (or the colltown shuttle to hopkins) then picking up the mta #22 at greenmount and 33rd.


at the end of the month, the baltimore book festival will bring the "city that reads" together september 26-28. this was also really quite an experience last fall. held at the stately mount vernon place (easily accessible in a few different ways), i would recommend volunteering there. it makes for some great people-watching! if you can't make it to the festival, at least go hear david simon-- author of the corner and creator of the wire-- speak at goucher's kraushaar auditorium on september 24!

and look forward to the fell's point fun festival the first weekend in october...more on that later!

in other news: fans of the formidable dizzy izzie's, the homey bar & restaurant in remington, will be pleased to know that it has recently reopened, under the moniker "the dizz." the place was shut down all summer but honestly doesn't appear to be very different. perhaps they spruced up the kitchen facilities? what i do know is that their red velvet cake is to die for and their drinks are very reasonably priced. go check it out!

end of summer things to do

if you're in town-- or soon will be-- make sure you check these out:
-go to an orioles game. it's easy to get there (take the light rail to convention center/camden yards), cheap (tickets can be as cheap as $7), and fun (even if you don't like baseball, it's an interesting cultural experience!). you can bring your own food in, too!
-catch the last of the little italy film series on friday, august 29. they are showing "cinema paradiso" at the intersection of high and stiles streets (you can walk there from the inner harbor); show is at 7 pm but you need to get there early to find seats. free!
-go to the maryland state fair at timonium fairgrounds (literally one light rail stop from lutherville). full of fried things on sticks, adorable farm animals, and an impressive array of crafts, clothes, and crops grown by area 4Hers. you might also see a chainsaw-carving artist or a swimming pig. i think it's $8 but it's totally worth the experience. appreciate what maryland has to offer-- i always forget that we have such a strong rural community here too.
-check out erin fitzpatrick's baltimore portrait series, on display at hampden's awesome rocket to venus restaurant/bar until october 12.
-if you're looking for a specific reason to explore patterson park (see my last post for more about that), go to the 30th annual ukrainian festival there on september 6 & 7. it features ukrainian food, music and dance on both days.

below are some photos of my state fair experience last weekend: