The English Language

I have always been terrified of poetry and the concept of understanding deeper meaning of sentences.  I think that stems from my struggle with English classes in elementary school.  I signed up for History of English Lit class this semester with one of our college’s best professors and assumed I would be reading Shakespeare or Chaucer.

Attractive books, I’d say…well..

….wait for it…

THAT IS A LOT OF PAGES.

Of poetry, no less.

Before Day 1 of class I was convinced I was going to drop it..there was no way I could take an entire course on poetry.

Yet somehow, every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I leave class at 11:20 with a deeper understanding of the human experience and a greater appreciation of life.  I may sound like a hallmark card, but I’m serious people!  This is free therapy.

I’m almost certain it is mostly the professor’s doing, but the other 40% I think are the words.  I think I actually love poetry now.  The more I think about the words I’m reading the more I’ve realized that I straight up adore WORDS.

And so, I think I will officially dub Monday, [insert catchy blogger title here] Monday.

I’d like to share a piece of a poem we read yesterday, Ulysses  by Lord Alfred Tennyson.

“I am a part of all that I have met;

Yet all experience is an arch wherethrough

          Gleams that untraveled world whose margin fades

Forever and forever when I move.

How it is to pause, to make an end,

To rust unburnished, not to shine in use!”

Our professor then proceded to ask us questions like,

“Are we evolving as humans or do we stick to our universal themes of the human condition?  If exist, is that enough?  Do we engage with life or are we constricted to the norm and the in’s and out’s of our days?  Do we possess a deeper urge to learn or do we have a stopping point?”

I hope this finds you with a smile on your face and a better start to your week!

Happy Tuesday!

⚓HSB.

Typography; Learning How to Blog

Over the past weeks I’ve talked a lot about learning how to blog and the elements of redesign.  As I play through the thousands of articles and pinned free fonts, I can’t help but download an obscene amount.

I was playing around with a few that I really could see myself using on my blog in the near future! Help yourself!

  simon script / sweetly broken / josefin slab / sketch me / fragment core / type keys / english essay / znikomit / znikomit caps

Do you use fonts in your blog?  What is the easiest way to implement different fonts onto your blog?

⚓HSB.

Snapseed & Photo Editing

My new favorite app/photo editing system, Snapseed.

It’s like instagram, just taken one step further in the actual editing process.  I don’t think it has the follower base that Instagram has gathered, however I almost enjoy it more.  I am more pleased with the photos I get out of it and I love the endless opportunities.  It’s much more of a system rather then a social networking outlet.  I’ve posted a few to my tumblr and I’m really pleased with the way they’ve turned out!

Check out a few of my pictures!

Nyhavn; Copenhagen, Denmark.  Nyhavn decorated for Christmas this past November.  I miss the lazy days wondering down to stroll along the canal.

Christianshavn; Copenhagen, Denmark.  This photo surprises many as people usually assume this is Amsterdam.  Fear not, Copenhagen has bikes and canals too!

Rome; My favorite view [ever].  This is from the top of the Castel Sant Angelo.  Photos of Rome don’t need to be edited, it is that gorgeous.

The more and more I go through my pictures, the harder it is to believe that I actually did all of these amazing things and saw all of these breathtaking places.

⚓HSB.

motivate

motivate by hilarybadger on Polyvore

My ‘to-do’ list is getting a little out of control.  Learning how to say no, take time for myself, and breathe a little bit is on the top of it this week. With tests, quizzes, and papers galore in the quickly approaching days ahead, I’m teaching myself new ways to actively regroup.

A ‘how to’ coming your way soon!

⚓HSB.

This week

This Week 3/6/13 by hilarybadger featuring tall boots

This week here on the Eastern Shore has finally been a time to unwind and relax.  The last 3 weeks have been nothing but crazy amounts of schoolwork, actual work, and working out.  Here are some things I’m relaxing with this week.   1.  Earl Gray k cups..duh. 2.  Newtons Fruit Thins – Blueberry and Brown sugar (incredible..but really).  3.  My best friend Marie’s mom, Ms. Sharon (a Mary Kay consultant) came to visit us at Washington College to give us free makeovers and I ended up leaving with the amazing 3-in-1 cleanser..my face has never felt so clean!  It also has never felt so clean with makeup actually on my face..it was so worth the extra bucks!  4. I have finally found my perfect pair of riding boots.  This picture above looks nothing like them, but they are tall and brown leather.  Macy’s was having a great sale!  I can’t explain the feeling knowing I can throw them on whenever, not having riding boots was seriously stressing me out.  5.  Eat, Pray, Love.. my all time favorite movie.  It was first time I had watched it since returning home from my adventure in Europe.   I’ve been looking at my pictures from abroad all week.  Cannot. Stop.  Miss it.  6.  My thesis books and books for fun.  I’ve gotten out so many books from the lib to start research on my thesis.  I’m also trying to read Anna Karenina on the side…not going so well!

I am so excited for spring break next week to catch up on sleep, family time, and maybe just relax for a few days.  My dad did sign us up for a 5K next Sunday for St. Patty’s day…*gulp.

⚓HSB.

Prague

A little late, but better late than never I always say!

My last week of my stay in Europe I traveled to Prague, Czech Republic for 5 days!  It was wonderful and a nice break from the hectic pace of Rome where days were jammed packed with thousands of churches,

I was especially excited to go to Prague for a multitude of reasons, the main being that my grandparents are Bohemian and I’ve heard nothing but wonderful things about it!  Here are a few photos from my trip!  I was also fortunate enough to spend my time here in Prague with one of my favorite sorority sisters, Cara!

The Astronomical Clock in the Old Town Square…one of the most iconic images of Prague..installed in 1410, most of the original pieces of the clock still functions today!  We waited to watch it do its thang, multiple figures danced, the apostles twirled by..it was quite the experience.  Our tour guide from Britain made fun of it tremendously.

Bohemian Bagel..the very first bagels ever in Prague…opened in the 90′s I think..one of the student ‘tourist’ spots..simply I’m sure because of the name..I’m still a little salty about this place since they charged me 70 czech krona for a small thing of Philly cream cheese.  Yet, super cute atmosphere and great bagels!

The Powder Tower is a gothic tower and is the remains of the old city gates.

Franz Kafka statue right near the Spanish Synagogue.

Easily one of the most moving things I saw during my time in Prague..This synagogue was covered in the names of those murdered during the Holocaust listed in alphabetical order and by which Concentration Camp and city they were sent to.  I gasped in every room we walked into and was something I will absolutely never forget.

The Old Jewish Cemetery in the Jewish Quarter is overladen with head stones, piled on top of one another.   Here lie Czech Jews from 15th century to the end of the 18th century.

Here we are!  Cara and I outside of the Cathedral of St. Vitus.

Hope you’ve enjoyed some of my photos of Prague!  This is the last of the bunch from my trip abroad.  It was such a wonderful adventure and it sometimes still surprises me that it actually happened now that I’m home and in my routine.

⚓HSB.

Learning How to Blog..For Real

So a few changes have been happening on The Anchor Drops as of recent…nothing pivotal but I’m excited about it.

There is absolutely no doubt that I’m not a constant blogger…I try to write down ideas as best I can and spit them back out at you..but I am by no means a serious blogger compared to so many others who have thousands and thousands of followers.

For starters, my blog design needs HELP.  I got in touch with Whitney from WhitSpeaks a few months ago asking about her design & how she learned html, etc.  I was so impressed when she told me she taught herself through online web tutorials!  I am hoping to make it a goal this year to begin to teach myself the art of web design!

If you haven’t heard of Kira from Her New Leaf you are seriously missing out!  This girl helps give step by step directions to Primp Your Blog.  I’ve attached her button to the bottom of my page!   Her tutorials have helped me put in place my social media buttons you see on my blog today!

So now that its March and spring break is approaching I’ve taken the time to reach out to professionals at my school to ask for help.  Hopefully I’ll have time to play around with my new programs!

Our school has Adobe Photoshop available for us to use as well as Lynda.com accounts.  My issue with the Photoshop download is that since my computer is the 13 inch older MacBook, it doesn’t work on my size screen.  Lynda training program is access to multiple training tutorial videos for any kind of computer program you can think of.

My hope was to learn how to do my own web design, but since my Photoshop isn’t cooperating with my computer..I’m not really sure where to go from here.  This will be a very long process and I try to teach myself HTML coding, Photoshop, and web design.

Stick around, there’ll be a multitude of changes under way!

⚓HSB.