CSD Berlin - Part Two - The March
An amazing day in Berlin
CSD Berlin 2024: Part One - CSD auf der Spree afterparty at Osthafen
My outfit for day 1: A vintage German dirndl bodice thrifted in Neukölln and glow in the dar face jewels from Claire’s.
Photos from my short lecture trip to Venice










Another beautiful weekend in Maine
A few perfect fall days
Listen to my interview on public radio about the Amazing Campus Galli! →
Photos from Freiburg and Waldkirch, Germany
I have lived in this part of Germany for roughly sixteen months over the last 8 years, and the natural beauty of the place still astonishes me. I went to the Münsterplatz Market on Saturday and enjoyed a lovely evening in the Black Forest Town of Waldkirch that evening. Yesterday, I went to the Freiburg Schlossberg Festival and caught a great snap of the sunset.












Photos from Berlin and Everyday Utopia Spotted in the Dussman Bookstore
Spent 5 wonderful nights in Berlin








Day trip to New Lanark in Scotland, a UNESCO world heritage site
I was so excited to finally visit New Lanark, the home of Robert Owen’s utopian socialist experiments in the early 19th century. This place could be seen as the birthplace of every social movement to improve the working conditions of industrial workers in the last 200 years.
Since it was early April, the place was very empty and we spent a few hours wandering around the exhibits and really reading everything. It was the perfect day trip from Glasgow.











Photos from my quick trip to Glasgow for the 2023 BASEES meetings
The last weeks have been crazed as I made a mid-semester dash to Glasgow to present a paper at the 2023 meetings of the British Association of Slavonic and East European Studies. I had some time to walk around Glasgow and visit Calton Books, the “best wee radical book store in the world.”


















My short but wonderful Bulgaria trip
I’ve just returned from a quick dash to Sofia to do some research in the National Library, celebrate my ex-mother-in-law’s 85th birthday, and write a little about how the country still celebrates 8 March as International Women’s Day. It was a very busy and over scheduled trip, with visits to three history museums, but I am always happy to be back in Bulgaria, even if only for such a short while.















Airport working with white wine
The beginning of my spring break…
Kayaking on the Merriconeag Sound in Harpswell, Maine
A perfect Sunday morning diversion. Glorious weather.
The Source of the Danube River and Sigmaringen Castle
Last Friday and Saturday I visited the source of the Danube River in the town of Donaueschingen (the Donau is the German name of the Danube) as well as the beautiful Sigmaringen Castle which towers over it a bit further downstream.
The Karl Marx and Capitalism exhibition at the German History Museum in Berlin
On July 4th, I visited the “Karl Marx and Capitalism” exhibition at the German History Museum in Berlin, twice in one day. I did the exhibition first in the morning, and then went back in the afternoon for the guided English tour. It was a really good exhibition, and remarkably well put together and thought out. It was very text heavy, so there weren’t a lot of images, but I enjoyed the presentation of Marx’s ideas within the context of their time.
The German History Museum also conducted an interesting survey of Germans and their opinions of Marx in 2021. Not surpassing, the East Germans have a much more positive vision of Marx than those in the West. I am posting some highlights of the exhibit here, but if you happen to be in Berlin this summer, it is well worth a visit.











Freiburg Weinfest!
Oh my god, what a party!







An amazing weekend
So after a week of COVID isolation, I tested negative just in time for the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade. Since I was not at home in the U.S. to hit the streets for a protest, I went to Christopher Street Day in Freiburg instead. We also went to a massive flea market (and I bought three new typewriters) and on Sunday we went to to see the Marriage of Figaro at the Stadttheater Freiburg. Lots of escapism!









Scenes from Freiburg June 2022







Lunar Festival of Lights in Sofia
Such a cool project which made the whole city come alive with art and light. The perfect way to forget for a few moments about the pandemic, war, and impending recession.
Working in the National Library today
And I found a great article about Alexandra Kollontai!