European Starling

A birder friend of mine correctly identified this bird as a starling (specifically, it is a European Starling) which is a level of success that doesn't usually happen with my representational painting - so I'm pleased about that.  

A Rare Instance of Successful Baking

I'm not sure I have ever actually made cupcakes before, but I had a sudden hankering a few weeks ago when faced with a cupcake tray at a store.  And so I made cupcakes that, despite going off recipe (substituing yogurt for milk, olive oil for vegetable oil) came out looking and tasting like yummy cakes.  

I also went off-script with the icing, opting to just melt some chocolate chips and mix in yogurt - which also, amazingly, came out quite well, a little more mellow than the hardcore sugar of traditional icing.  

And yes, I forgot to take a picture before I had sampled one.  Yum.  

Side note: those paper cup liners are the best.  No trying to pry them out of the tray or messing with greasing and flouring - they were worth the tiny investment.  

Feisty Females of Fells Point tour

Last Saturday, some friends and I braved crazy winds (and lovely sunshine) to attend the Feisty Females of Fells Point tour run by Baltimore Heritage.  Covering a broad range of women over hundreds of years, our guide Robin talked to us about (among many others): 

Mary Elizabeth Lange (1784 - 1882), a French-speaking Catholic originally from Cuba, who founded the first African American religious congregation in the United States, the Oblate Sisters of Providence in Baltimore.  Pope Francis recently declared her venerable, another step forward in becoming a saint.  

Barbara Mikulski, former US Senator of Maryland and former resident of Fells Point, who found her way into politics by way of successful activism to keep a highway from being built in Fells Point.  

Billie Holiday, American jazz singer, who spent part of her turbulent childhood in Baltimore.  The house she lived in now has a plaque, and the street features several beautiful murals of Lady Day.  

We also passed by several women-owned restaurants. Sofia's Place European Deli is owned by Sofia Para who has been selling perogies and other tasty items in The Broadway Market for over thirty years.  Cocina Luchadoras's owner made waves more recently by posting a sign in Spanish that suggested President Trump is no intellectual giant, which generated death threats from those who disagreed, and brisk sales from those who wanted to offer support after those threats.  

The tour ended near the Baltimore American Indian Center, a nonprofit originally founded by Lumbee Tribal members in the late 60s to support the many members of Native American communities then living in Fells Point. Much of the American Indian population eventually moved away from the city, and the nonprofit began to focus on heritage preservation. Archeological evidence points to Paleo-Indians living in the Baltimore area from at least the 10th millennium BC. 

Joyce J. Scott: Walk a Mile in My Dreams Exhibit

Some friends and I went to the amazing Joyce J. Scott: Walk a Mile in My Dreams exhibit at the BMA shortly after it opened.  As the exhibit flyer notes, "Born in Baltimore in 1948, Scott grapples with profound social, historical, racial, economic, and personal challenges that concern society at large in dazzling beadwork, sculpture, textiles, jewelry, printmaking, and performance."  I strongly recommend checking it out.