“Cures for love; not wanted. Cures for broken-hearts; needed. Young souls create a major demand For hearts they want treated That can’t see the thin line between love and hate.” This last stanza of “Thin Line” was recited by writer Chyna Brown at a reading Thursday night at the Evergreen Museum & Library. Like other readings in Baltimore, this one showcased a diverse group of writers and writing styles. Some of the pieces were funny; some touched on important social issues. Some did both. But unlike other readings in Baltimore, this event was made up of elementary, middle school, and high school students. Brown is a ninth grader at Baltimore…
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Late Night at the BMA
On Saturday, the Baltimore Museum of Art hosted a Late Night party to celebrate the re-opening of the museum’s Contemporary Wing. If I had to choose one word to describe the event, I would say…crowded. But it was also fantastically fun. Fantastic to see so many art lovers in one place. Fun to have drinks while sitting in a glowing chair, listening to White Life in a room bathed in pink light. And pretty awesome that the BMA put on this kind of shindig and invited the public for free. The collection includes works by Andy Warhol, Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, James Rosenquist, Zwelethu Mthethwa, and many others. Sarah Sze…
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Arts/Community
“It is the craving for beauty that is such a vital function of the human soul…” – Dr. Claribel Cone It’s amazing how a little beauty injected into your day can lift your mood, calm your mind, and change your perspective. I saw the quote at the beginning of this post on a plaque a few weeks ago at the Baltimore Museum of Art in the space that showcases the Cone Collection. It’s clear from the collecting habits of the Cone sisters–they filled their Baltimore apartments with more than 3,000 pieces of art, including works by Picasso, Matisse, Cézanne, and van Gogh–that they gave into their craving for beauty on…
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Pursuing Poe in Baltimore
High on the list of things I love about Baltimore: the city’s connection to Edgar Allan Poe. I developed an affection for Poe’s writing as a teenager, when I competed in the poetry category on my high school’s speech and debate team with a collection of his poems: “Annabel Lee,” “A Dream Within a Dream,” and “The Raven.” I was drawn to the dark themes in his work, and I found the rhythm of his words spellbinding, particularly when read aloud. Poe lived in Baltimore for a time and is believed to have written several works here. Although he moved to Richmond in 1835, he later returned and died at…
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A Writing Conference in Maine
I spent the first two weeks of July in Bar Harbor, Maine, attending the Johns Hopkins 2012 Conference on Craft. My time in Maine was a mix of school (since I’m a student in the M.A. in Writing Program, I received credit for an entire semester), vacation, and personal writing time. We had class for a few hours each morning and craft workshops each afternoon. I registered for a reading class focused on the works of New England writers, including Edith Wharton, Sebastian Junger, Monica Wood, and Henry Beston. It was interesting to discuss how the landscape of a region can influence the sense of place in a work. One…
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Seltzer Speaksy, Take 1
I’ve written about Baltimore literary events before, and I think this city has an amazing arts community. The 510 Readings focus on fiction, and the H.L. Mencken-inspired New Mercury Readings bring non-fiction to the forefront (this Saturday’s line-up features my travel writing professor from last semester, Sue Eisenfeld, among others – check it!). And now, Baltimore has a new reading series on the scene: Seltzer Speaksy. Seltzer Speaksy was started by the editors of Seltzer, a new online zine that publishes fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and art. (One of my essays was published in the first issue – yep, that’s both some shameless self-promotion and my full disclosure statement.) Last night,…
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Weekend in Paris
A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to fly to Paris for the weekend – yes, the weekend! I felt very fancy. But even though I spent only two days in the City of Light, I managed to see the classic sites and get a feel for Paris life. Here are some tips on making the most of a short trip. Take a night flight. I slept on the plane and arrived on Saturday morning, rested and ready for an adventure. I had a short list of places in Paris I wanted to visit – the Eiffel Tower, The Louvre, Notre Dame – but I also kept the schedule…
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The Joys of Flying
Sarcasm? Not at all. You could probably say I travel more than the average person (although, honestly, not as much as I’d like to). One summer not too long ago, I was home only two weekends from the beginning of May to the end of August. I’ve had my luggage lost. I’ve sat by my share of crying kids. I’ve missed connections and encountered customer service agents with no concept of service. I’ve certainly experienced the hassles and inconveniences that plague modern air travel, but I’ve realized that, despite them all, I actually look forward to flying. In the quest to balance work, grad school, freelance assignments, and the rest…
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Roadside America
I’ve been researching a story for the travel writing workshop I’m taking this semester at Hopkins, and I just have to share a brief post about it – this is one of the most curious things I’ve ever seen. Located just off Hwy. 78 in Pennsylvania, about halfway between Harrisburg and Allentown, Roadside America is touted as “The World’s Greatest Indoor Miniature Village.” And, after reading these reviews on Yelp, I had to check it out. Last week, I drove two hours to the middle of Pennsylvania to see what all the fuss is about. I must say, it’s fascinating. The exhibit is 8,000 square feet of miniature models, all…
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What Lies Beneath
I stepped through a narrow passageway and into a small room with thick stone walls. The warm, humid air weighed on my lungs with the mustiness of centuries past. The tour guide, a thin young man from California with Harry Potter glasses, who was living in Rome to study Latin, led the group past rows of pagan crypts, and as I peered through the openings that had been cut away in the stone, I saw some had hollowed-out spaces in the walls for crematory urns, while others housed elaborately carved sarcophagi. The guide shared the detailed history of the site, from 64 A.D. when Saint Peter was killed on the…