Summer Wanderings

Hello, dear Richers!

So far this summer, I have done virtually nothing. I have stayed up until 2 or 3 am every night and have slept until around noon every day. I have been lazy. I have done no work. And it has been beautiful. However, I miss you all terribly, and I've become a devoted facebook stalker. The only great achievements I have made so far are the following: I reread The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver (543 pgs of pure genius...I recommend it to everyone), and the day after I finished that, I began reading Tolstoy's War and Peace (1,214 pgs...officially the longest book I have ever read), which I finished at 3:24 am last night! I was/am incredibly proud of myself.

The one place that I've gone so far this summer is Ohio. My brother (a senior poli sci major) is doing some independent research at his college for a few months. On Monday, my dad, older brother, and I took the 10 hour drive to a little town smack dab in the middle of nowhere, to a little college on a hill: Kenyon.

It's an amazing liberal arts college...it's similar to Davidson in size and academic caliber, and it has arguably the best English department in the nation, as well as the most beautiful campus. (This year, it was voted by Forbes magazine as the most beautiful campus in the world, which my brother likes to rub in my face whenever any appropriate or inappropriate opportunity presents itself.)

As much as I hate to admit it, Kenyon does beat Davidson on the beauty scale. There is a gorgeous, mile-long gravel path that stretches the length of campus - Middle Path - that everything is basically situated around.

The cafeteria is stunning, and it's probably what I'm most jealous of when it comes to Kenyon.

It literally looks exactly like the Great Hall of Hogwarts. Long wooden tables stretch the length of this room (they don't usually have tablecloths on them...they weresetting up for a banquet when I took this picture), which has a tall, arched ceiling. You can't see this from the picture, but all of the windows are stained-glassed, and each pane depicts a different author or work of classical European or American literature (Kenyon is best known for its fantastic English department).

The buildings themselves looks like castles...they're all made out of stone and have a really regal feel.

Another one of my favorite aspects of Kenyon is the artwork that is scattered all over campus. My favorite sculpture is this one:

I just love it. Every time I'm on campus, I end up circling it for about 20 minutes. I must mention, however, that the pose is not really bodily possible unless you have an abnormally supple backbone. My brother and I attempted to recreate this art and failed miserably.

Despite all of the wonderful things about this college, I realized this week that I would not trade Davidson for anything in the world--not even a Harry Potter dining hall. I am just too in love with the people, our Georgian architecture, our weather, and the overall environment of Davidson to ever wish that I had chosen a different school. Throughout my application process, I never expected to go to Davidson. Kenyon and several other schools were above it on my list until the very end. However, I somehow ended up at Davidson, and I can't image myself being at any other school. So, whether my Davidson days are the result of an accident or fate, they are my reality, and I am perfectly content.

...Also, it was with great glee that I noticed that our dorms are infinitely superior to theirs, despite the external beauty of their campus. My brother's room for the summer is just plain dingy. GO RICH!

Hey Richers (and select few other awesome people)!

I am writing to y'all sitting under three blankets and shivering as I try to keep my hands warm. Somehow I had forgotten that May in Vermont feels something like late February in North Carolina...

I am glad to be back in the Green Mountain State with its winding, bumpy roads, beat-up subaru's, and wild turkeys that usefully serve as alarm clocks for a 7 am wake-up. I have been catching up on gossip girl and the office, working at a grocery store, planting all kinds of veggies in the garden, and running on the beautiful backroads of Montpelier (see photo). I am afraid my life hasn't gotten much more exciting than this. Once the weather warms up a bit I may have to join the hippies playing ultimate frisbee, doing yoga, and singing along to acoustic guitar on the state house lawn (yes Jacob, you were meant to be a Vermonter) just to spice things up a bit.

It feels very weird to have free time, and I keep having little panic attacks where I think I should be doing something or being productive. I have to remind myself that in fact I do not have sooooooo much work to do. I still have not unpacked any of my stuff, and am currently living out of a suitcase while the rest of my things are piled in my brother's otherwise empty room.

I hope y'all have had a wonderful and liberatingly stress-free summer so far! Let's get this blog crackin'! I want to hear about all of your summers, and Quincy and I didn't put in sooooo much work on this blog for nothing! (just kidding, it was all Quincy :)

Love,

Sarah

Also, does anyone know when we find out our classes for next year?

#domesticgoddess

This isn't twitter. I don't even know how to do twitter... if you can "do" twittering. But I always see people doing that tagging thing on facebook, I don't know what it means, but it looks cool, and I wanted to do it in a forum that I might be slightly less judged. Or more judged, but by people I like better.

Real point: I am a domestic goddess. I have replanted over twenty pots of various shapes and sizes with hundreds of dollars of flowers. I have made pot-de-creme (chocolate), swordfish, roasted corn-sweet potato-pepper deliciousness, and pasta. I attended a cooking class with my mother today. I bought a creme brulee burner.

If you're concerned about my well being, you probably should be.

On the more positive note, I have watched a movie every night since I got back from school. This should also be concerning, yet encouraging for all who know of my cinematic illiteracy. Don't worry, I'm reading more. Acting like myself, you know, but like myself in a house that also has a big TV.

Fortunately I will be headed back east in a week and a half, where I will once again whiff the Atlantic Ocean and identify birds as they migrate south from Canada while I wipe my hands with those fir needles that smell like Christmas as I simultaneously eat a succulent lobster without staining my preppy outfit the likes of which I have never shown any of you (you're not ready quite yet).

In other words,

I miss you guys. Hope your adventures are fruitful.

How windy the city can be

The Art Institute of Chicago (image taken from topshare.com)

So, in starting my second week away from Davidson, NC I would just like to mention that I've had one day off from work. I would complain, but making cash monies is one of my favorite things in the world. My summer has consisted of waking up, going to work, coming home, making dinner, stalking facebook for five minutes, then falling asleep to some random netflix film. I do work in this really cool place though. It's called Poster Plus. For those of you that know Chicago, or have been there once or twice, the store is right across the street from the art Institute of Chicago, which houses some of the world's most famous paintings (though it doesn't compare to the collection at the Met or Le Louvre) The store not only sells reproductions of some of the fine art pieces found there, but also sells vintage war, circus, aviation, music (the list goes on) posters dating all the way back to the early 19th century. We have an original Uncle Sam poster in mint condition. Though all of this sounds really cool, this summer I landed a job on the retail front, meaning I get to stand in this 2x2 box (see below for a picture of my work station) and listen to the many tourists ask directions to the nearest Pizza place. It's a shame I don't know any Spanish or German, but my Davidson education in French has sent about five travellers in the right directions.

The only real downside to this job (my parents work there, i've known all of the managers and the boss for years, and i've worked in the vintage department in past summers) is the fact that I can't wear flip-flops. This torments me. I was forced to go out and buy "real shoes". I got some toms. They should come in the mail any day now.

(And yes, the cow hanging from the ceiling is real life. My mom made it when I was 8 as a part of the city's Cow's on Parade program where 100 custom made cows decorated the city advertising local businesses, and sold the majority of the cows towards charitable causes)

The city however, has been very chilly. I come from 75 degrees and sunny to cloudy with a slight hope of hitting 50. This is my joke life. At least the store has revolving doors so the cold city air doesn't leak in.Our own Sarah Richardson has had personal interactions with these revolving doors on her trip to Chi-town in the winter.

Hey Y'all

Dear Richies,

This is my life:

Berkeley Bums

Crochet vandalism

Three week old kittens

Endless Glee

Fancy mothers

California Cuisine

No college

Also, I saw an awesome art exhibit on fashion. The artist had replicated famous dresses from different historical periods and paintings, but the trick is she made them all out of paper.

Check out the Medici dresses above!

LOVE y'all!

Northward Bound

Hey everyone, heading back to Cleveland tomorrow, land of rock and roll and misguided perceptions about rivers that catch on fire... anyways, I'll be leaving at 10:30 for anyone who wants to say goodbye, and I hope we all keep in touch over the summer!

I'll miss you, Richardson Hall. Sooo many unbelievable memories here. :')

I'll love you forever,

I'll like you for always,

As long as I'm living,

My Home you'll be. 

I LOVE RICH.

love,

Carlyle

JK, I really figured out to post without logging into the same account

So Guys, I'm posting this from an outside account that isn't the admin. In order to post from another account, we will have to invite you. So Sarah or Quincy will invite you to be an author. Just accept the invitation and sign in with your google account and then BAM! you're done! Again, any questions should be directed towards Quincy or Sarah!

Last Day

Hey Richers!
So today marks the last night that I will be staying in the fabulous Richardson dorm (named after me). I have one more meal at Commons, which reminds me of my first meals at Commons oh so long ago. My amazing roommate Carlyle and I would go to breakfast together every morning at 7:45, and eat silently because we are both awkward and quiet... Fun times.
I will miss NCIS marathons and hall dinners, and obviously all of your beautiful faces (and Quincy Newkirk busting into our room in a towel).
Lots of love, and come find me tonight to say goodbye!
Sarah (or, Maggie, Sista Rich)

Instructions

Hey Yall! So I hope this works out and turns into a fun summer project for everyone!
So, the goal of this blog is to get an idea of how everyone's summer is going, what super awesome adventures everyone has, and a more unique way to keep in touch with everyone in our time away from Davidson. Now all correspondents to this blog have something in common: their love of Richardson Hall. As the summer progresses, simply post accounts of your adventures any way you see fit! Perhaps a short story, or artsy pictures, fun things you stumbl upon, jokes, movie reviews, whatever, or video tours of your neighborhoods (or the neighborhoods that you reside in for the summer)! If you do post a video adventure, we have a linked youtube account richcircle2011 for everyone to do fantastic posts there!
All one would need to do in order to post to the blog would be to log into blogspot using my email address (qunewkirk@davidson.edu) and the password that will be sent out shortly. The user name and password is the same for the youtube account as well. (Remember, if you want to post a video, just make the youtube video first and link it through) As time goes on, Ill edit the template and fix things around the blog to make them more accessible, so it might update more often than facebook (I promise you I have no life this summer.) If at the end of every post, under label, you could type in your name, that would be super spectacular!

Love Always,
Quincy

If I can think of anything else, I'll post it. If you have any questions or suggestions, just facebook me or email me. I'll miss you all so much this summer! Hope to see your faces and tales right here!

TESTING