Inspiring Excitement and Passion about History and the Humanities
So something personal about me is that I’m dealing with a diagnosis in May of being bipolar. I had thought I was dealing with a nasty case of postpartum depression, but in fact, it is actually bipolar disorder. So now I’m on 3 regular meds (I worked so hard to have a natural childbirth, and…
I’ve been watching the Trial of Richard III on youtube – there is no end to the geekiness. What, you might ask, is the Trial of Richard III? Let’s start at the very beginning… 1480’s. Wars of the Roses. Medieval England is in shambles as one family has been tearing itself apart for several decades….
I’ve been reading Doris Kearns Goodwin’s The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism about, well, Roosevelt, Taft, and journalists (as the name would so cleverly imply). Doris Kearns Goodwin was actually my university’s commencement speaker the year I graduated, though I don’t really remember much about it except for…
I’m a big fan of baroque music that doesn’t require a lot of thought and concentration. The equivalent of somebody like, say, James Taylor. He’s soothing, and nice to have on while you’re reading or something, because he isn’t very demanding. He’s going to Carolina and you don’t need to know much else other than…
I recently watched a few episodes of my Favorite TV Show Ever, Great British Railway Journeys; a trip from Brighton to Crystal Palace. I first heard the words Crystal Palace used together in a sentence when my voice teacher lived at the Crystal Palace train stop in south London. Yes, I spent a year singing…
I’ve been reading The Men Who United the States by Simon Winchester, a history of the US told through the elements of wood, metal, water, fire, and air, which is an interesting lens through which to view history. The wood chapter, for example, was all about when wood was the primary material; the homes the early…
Since this blog is sort of like the curated museum of Heather’s Mind, I need to start posting more about music. One of my favorite early music groups is Stile Antico, a polyphonic vocal ensemble founded in 2001. They have a new album out, The Phoenix Rising, which is getting a lot of regular rotation…
I’ve been watching the ITV show, Mr. Selfridge, about Harry Selfridge, the American who transformed British retail, and it got me curious as to how much of the salacious tale was actually true. He was one of the retail magnates that dominated the changing world in the late Victorian period, along with Macy and Marshall…
Just to be up front, I was diagnosed as bipolar in May (after thinking I was battling some kickass Post Partum Depression). I’m now on meds, sleeping through the nights (thank you, hubby), and doing all the things I’m “supposed” to be doing – meditating, yoga, journaling, etc. But from time to time, I…
I’m reading a book called Growing Into God, a Beginner’s Guide to Christian Mysticism right now, and I just finished a chapter on Meister Eckhart, the 13th century German theologian (who has the wonderful quote, “if the only prayer you say in your life is thank you, it will be enough”). In the chapter, the author,…