Studyscapes: Week 1

I am still working on a few papers this summer. The work is enjoyable and I hope and pray that it is going well.

I have been taking photos of the scene in front of me studying, and posting them on facebook, twitter, and instagram (mariathemagpie). Commenting on one of the photos, I quipped that it was my "studyscape," and then immediately found the word cute. I like taking these photos. I imagine that in the future I will look back on them and fondly remember working on past projects. Or I'll think I was self-absorbed. Either way.

It's been really fun working at different places in Syracuse this summer. Most of the students (particularly the undergrads) are gone, and the campus area has this strange yet relaxing ghost town vibe that I also find very appealing.

This is me re-reading selections of and taking copious notes on Moses Mendelssohn's Jerusalem. I am at my favorite local pub and bar, Beer Belly. I am drinking a sort of strange Dogfish Head beer that has a lot of grape flavors in it. It's a strong beer and Beer Belly sells them in smaller glasses, but as you can see, I still had two. They were delicious.

This is me at the campus Starbucks, re-reading Altmann's introduction to Jerusalem. The nice thing about Starbucks is that they really crank the A/C up. It's probably like 67 degrees in there, which feels amazing after suffering in 89 degree heat. (I'm not good at being in the heat.)

I took this photo while at the Syracuse Bird Library. I was there not really to work, but to wait. The night before I had gone to Beer Belly with my good friend Emma to drink wine. It was fun. I walked to my home, only to realize that I had left my keys in my apartment. I sat on my stoop and considered sobbing, but I don't live in the best neighborhood to sit around on a stoop crying at 1:30am, so I instead walked back to my friend Emma's house. I spent the night at Emma's, and the next morning I grabbed my favorite Starbucks beverage -- a sugar-free hazelnut latte -- and then waited at the Syracuse library for my landlord to call me to inform me that he had victoriously opened my door. I obviously didn't have any of my books, so I somewhat randomly pulled some books off the shelves that had to do with Moses Mendelssohn. Then I read half of an article about Mendelssohn's view of ecclesiastical law and excommunication before my landlord called me to report I could return to my hot and humid apartment.

In conclusion, I like making these studyscapes. I'm going to take photos of them more, and will post more of them here. I will not share all of them on facebook (as I have been doing) because that would be overwhelming.