Mums

1. MUMS, wet with dew in the morning.

2. I arrived home yesterday to find these two pots of glorious mums. The orange was my selection. (Believe it or not, it's the orange mums pictured in the photo above this one.)

3. The kitties both wanted to be on the bed, but they didn't want to be near each other. This was the compromise.

4. Gray and white kitty, fleeing.

5. Subway mosaic.

6. Today's outfit, featuring Weejuns.

7. The long way home.

Apple Picking

"We love apple picking. It's like Mormon Mardis Gras." -Kate McKinnon as Ann Romney on SNL.

No, apple picking is like Quaker Walpurgis Night.

Leaf Art

  

 

Today I celebrated a friend's birthday in Central Park with guacamole, gluten-free cupcakes, and leaf art. It was the perfect day - perfect weather, great food, and very nice people.

Genealogy of Images

1. MUMS! You know that fall is here when you see mums. I'm hoping to get a big pot of mums for our front step. Orange is probably the best.

2. The sky was very saturated this day. It looked like it had been washed with ink that all ran down to the bottom.

3. Map of New York from 1960 that hangs in my office. I want this map for myself. Also, check out the amazing crown molding.

4. I love that there are still big trees like this in Manhattan. I just wonder if they're thinking, "What the hell is all this?" and "Where did all of my friends go?"

5. Both sides of my family are represented in this photo. The two in the round portraits are William Drummond and Adelia Kniffin, my great-great-great grandparents through my paternal grandmother. William immigrated to the U.S. (we're not sure from where, but Drummond is a Scottish name) in 1850, while Adelia's family had been in Westchester, NY, and Manhattan for many generations and included the Nodines, the Dyckmans (yes, I share ancestry with Pete on Mad Men), the Springsteens, the Posts, the Fowlers, the Blauvelts, the Nagels, the Vincents, the Waldrons, and the Schermerhorns. As you can imagine, Adelia's blue-blooded family was thrilled when she married a tailor who was fresh off the boat. (Repeat this scenario times about 5 million and you have the rest of my family.)

The Akin Free Library, pictured in watercolor to the right, was built by my cousins on my maternal grandmother's side. The Akins, along with the Thomases, the Colliers, the Moores, the Tripps, the Adsits, and the Knapps, lived on Quaker Hill for generations. I believe that Frances Collier's father Simeon (great name) was the last family member in my direct line to be born on Quaker Hill, but I could be wrong.

Anyway, this is what a simple image can do when you know a lot about your genealogy.

6. Miss Teto on my bed in the morning. Note her paw prints on the blanket and the Leaning Tower of Archaeology Books in the corner.

7. I love the green of the building on the left. Also, there are some great cornices in this photo.

8. I'm hoping to write my next paper on this reliquary chasse of Thomas Becket. It's very similar to one in the Ashmolean Museum and is one of my favorite things in the Met.

Steven Alan Fall 2012

I would wear absolutely everything here, except maybe the second outfit. I already get mistaken for a high school student enough; if I wore clothes like that, I'd be in danger of being shepherded onto a bus with a bunch of fifth graders every time I went to the Met.

Desk update

I know you're all waiting with bated breath to see what I'll do with my bedroom next, so I give you the latest update. My study area now has a little bookcase, on which I keep all of the books that are relevant to the classes I'm taking this semester. I put my London-themed calendar on top of the desk. Now I'm studying and Dog is sleeping. Dog will be 13 in November, so he does little else.

BONUS: Dog, my parents, and I in Maine 12 years ago.

Toast Men Autumn 2012

Not enough men wear cardigans, in my opinion.