Fisk just put up its new Rosenwald School database, which is awesome. And it includes two photos I’ve never seen of one of my dissertation site, the old 1886 school and the 1923 Rosenwald School in 1923. So cool. rosenwald.fisk.edu/s/rosenwald-...

The final final MAAC program is (finally) out after a lot of finagling. Its going to be a great conference in Gettysburg next week with a lot of interesting archaeology to hear about. I hope to see some of you there!

It would be nice to watch the Olympic women’s hockey game without constant interruptions about the men’s team and NHL players. I will be less annoyed if they do the same for the women during the men’s games, but I guarantee they won’t. Tell me when the next women’s game is, not the men’s schedule.

We just finished and published the 2026 Middle Atlantic Archaeological Conference preliminary program. Its a full schedule this year and we have a bunch of very interesting sessions and papers, so go take a look. maac10.wildapricot.org/resources/Do... #archaeology #maac2026

Bad storm coming with the possibility of a power outage so it’s time to pull out the AAA batteries for my middle school mp3 player with a radio c. 2004. And to think I was so disappointed ar first the Christmas I got that at first as I asked for a CD player and had no idea what an mp3 player was.

I got jealous of mug patterns when looking for new plates to embroider, so I am starting to do mugs instead. The auction site said this is pearlware (1775-1830), but it looks like creamware (1762-1820) to me.

Btw, don't forget to register and submit an abstract for the Middle Atlantic Archaeological Conference 2026, back in Gettysburg this year. Abstracts are due Dec 15 with no extensions. I'm really looking forward to sorting through everyone's abstracts and making the program schedule over Christmas.

First embroidery project in a while. 18th century delft ink well ornament.

I am mostly over my grudge with the dog who attacked me and bit my knee in high school. But days (nights?) like tonight when I can very strongly feel the snow storm coming in that leg, it definitely starts coming back a bit.

One of the best entries in a probate record I've come across in a while. The wet and very dirty brown sugar was still worth £6 in 1778 (a bit over $1090 today). A normal (aka not wet and dirty) 150lbs of brown sugar today would be about $170.

A neighbor is blasting Mumford and Sons outside for a party. Not just one song, the whole Sigh No More album. And that is a choice in 2025.

Squirrel (?) carved my pumpkin for me this afternoon!

Nice warm lunch for a rainy fall day.

At the Maryland Italian festival and it’s hilarious how much Pittsburgh sports gear is here (far eastern MD in Harford County) being worn by small old Italian American men. Pittsburgh Italian Americans really spread out everywhere. Also, giant inflatable ricotta.

Question for the archaeology side of Bluesky, how regional is the term schnitting? Does anyone outside of Virginia use this term? Or even know what it means? Based on a conversation with coworkers today it appears to be super regional.

An older man at the pharmacy heard I was there for my covid shot and tried to convince me not to get the "clot shot." He then told me how many times he'd had covid -4- and then asked me how many times I'd had it, which I was able to say 0. He shut up then but why are we still doing this in 2025?

It’s always fun finding out how 3/4 of my grandparents being from Pittsburgh affects my speech despite never living in PA. I just learned “your room needs cleaned” or “the lawn needs mowed” isn’t standard English. I didn’t know slippy isn’t a real word until college. ygdp.yale.edu/phenomena/ne...

I had to order a new trowel as mine is lost beneath a large backdirt pile. It came like this. I can’t even begin or want to imagine what that is…#archaeology

On metro in DC on the way to an NWSL game that I had plans for pre-the national guard invasion. I have literally never seen the Smithsonian stop this empty, let alone one a weekend, especially a holiday weekend. It’s almost spooky.

Out of the blue messages from strangers not in academia saying my dissertation has been helpful in their own Rosenwald school project (in whatever form that is) will never not make my day. And maybe provide the motivation to get a few articles written on it.

Cleaning out and organizing my dig bag before heading off for a project and realized I have two full pairs of gloves, four right hands, and one left hand. I had no idea I had so many gloves in my bag and don’t know where any of the partners disappeared to.

It’s bad enough I generally have to buy gardening gloves for work as work gloves are too big, but this is such a blatant pink tax at Home Depot. And the “regular” small fits the same as the women’s medium (still too big for me fyi).

When sweeping the patio ends up leading to removing the grass covering the back stairs that you hadn't realized were so substantial in the four months you've been living here. I also learned, thanks to a bunch of brand new blisters, that brooms and shovels/trowels hit different parts of your hand.

So excited that the Woodville Rosenwald School is one of recipients of the National Grant Program to fund their interpretive exhibits. The exhibits will include artifacts and info from my dissertation research at Woodville. I can't wait to see the final product. savingplaces.org/stories/acti...

Sunday afternoon working on a sponge-spatter embroidery piece. The sponge part on the rim is going to be all French knots, so that will be interesting

No one but my sister has as cute of a cookbook as I do. I love pulling this out to make dinner. (I know how to make meatballs by memory, but still like to double check the spices).

Goal is to get this finished today. The leaves are going pretty quickly so I think I can do it.

Sheltered from a sever thunderstorm in homegoods and came across these lamps. I am confused but yet want to see the room that they end up in.

I forgot to move laundry all day today, but I got a book review written and got half of the hydrangea petals done on this project. And didn’t doom scroll once. So still pretty productive overall.

Decorating rather than doom scrolling. Using my grandpa's art in the kitchen. Some he made for my childhood bedroom, one was on his front door, and the rest were made for my parent's kitchen. The two you can barely see due to angle are an opera singling asparagus and a body builder brussel sprout.

Starting a project embroidering my sister’s wedding bouquet. She turned the photo into a drawing and now I’m going to be embroidering it for her.

Storm rolling in over the lake from my hotel a few minutes ago. The white caps are going like crazy.

Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia, specifically the Delmarva Peninsula, are these "new parts." Just as an FYI for everyone else who works around here.

DC (Capital) Pride/World Pride 2025. Festive and powerful despite the political climate. Major drop off in companies with booths and no federal offices (as expected). Shout out to Giant, Wegmans, and Nandos for having their normal big booths and Giant for even making DC World Pride specific swag.

Fascinating article about a part of D.C. history I had never heard of before.

Three window AC units cleaned as best as they can be before 90 degree temps this week. And one very sore and scratched up Colleen. I don't think I'm doing anything else this weekend. Taking suggestions for a new TV show to binge.

Just when the poison ivy stops popping up, you develop a horrid itchy rash from a new moisturizer that you bought to help with the post-poison ivy dry skin. I just want to stop itching...

So happy it’s farmers market zucchini time again and I can get a big enough zucchini to make it worth making my favorite baked zucchini dish (yes there is squash under the bread crumbs, herbs, and cheese).

Earlobe posion ivy is a new one for me this round. Don't recommend. I was way too good at applying sunscreen and got urushiol in all the nooks and crevices on my face/ears. These steroids need to work faster to get me presentable for the wedding. I don't appreciate these new spots still appearing.

I’ve been lucky to never get poison ivy on my face before. Of course the one time I do (face, neck, ears, chest, & hands- I applied sunscreen with it on my hands I guess), it’s a week before I’m the maid of honor in my sister’s wedding. I detest steroids, but I guess it’s off to urgent care tomorrow

Unpacking and found one of the best examples of what doing your dissertation during Covid lockdown was like. Illustrated and detailed notes on each individual glass vessel found at all three schools I dug at. I was so bored and had 70,000 artifacts in boxes in my living room.

Making the choice to repot my plants in this gorgeous weather instead of unpacking all my clothes.

Buying a chair is a funny thing when you never sit in a chair normally, but usually sideways so the arms are most important, and are a fraction of the size of reviewers. 'This is perfect for a 12 year old not an adult" is actually a plus. Gotta get it purchased before these tarrifs up the price.

Move accomplished. Now to figure out where to put things. Also, thank God for soon to be brother-in-laws to help move couches and mattresses

Locked out of my apartment views. At least it stopped raining? Only 35 more minutes till the key arrives.

The last few boxes when packing can be an interesting mix of packaging and contents. But, I am essentially done! And that includes dealing with the mice that have apparently been quietly living in the back of all of the closets and behind the couch. Thankfully they got into nothing, just pooped.

The final MAAC program is up! We have two new sessions added since the preliminary program, one on the future of the journal and one on WTF is happening in the US for archaeology. Check it out. You can register at the door in Gettysburg if you didn't pre-register but you see something you like.

The Early American Pattern Glass Society Pattern Index website no longer exists which is a huge loss for figuring out dates of early pressed glass.

For anyone unsure why having the federal gov involved in education is important, here are photos from 1948 in Gloucester VA. The first two are of bathrooms at Black schools, the second two are in white schools. These are photos from an NAACP lawsuit the Black students won for equalization.

Well, I was about to drive up my my parents' house for a visit. Glad I checked the traffic before getting on the road... wjla.com/news/local/v...