My Museum Visit=]

For my museum visit i chose to go to the Cantor Museum. When i first arrived i wasn't expecting anything to exciting. I have been to a few museums before and some of them had endless amounts of exhibits. The museums would take days to cover all the exhibits. When i got to the Cantor Museum i was greeted by a giant horse which was made out of wood (so it seemed). It was really made of bronze, which i thought was very interesting. One of my favorite pieced of art that i came across were snuff bottle from China from the Qing Dynasty in the 19th and early 20th century. I liked them because they were elaborately decorated with beautiful intricate designs. They were also commonly used for medicine, mainly for snuff though. One of my other favorites was a canoe made out of a single Redwood tree by the indians. I thought this was very interesting and amazing how people could carve a boat out of a tree so giant! The indians were very hardworking! I particularly like this museum becuase of how small and uncrowded it was. Don't get me wrong I could have stayed there all day long staring at all the wonderfull artifacts. I like that it was small because i was able to cover the whole museum in a reasonable amount of time. I was able to see everything i wanted to see without walking for hours on end. Although i really like this museum and enjoyed my time there, there was once thing i particularly DID NOT like. It was the man on the right. I was entering the Andy Warhol exhibit when i was greeted by this man. At the time i thought it was a man and i was very startled by him. I spent a good five minutes trying to decide if he was real or not, i thought he was going to jump at me like in a horror movie. I finally discovered the sign saying he was made of wax=]. I was still very scared to go near him though he looked very real. Besides the wax man, i had a wonderful time at the Decantor Museum, i truly enjoyed myself and got to indulge myself in rare and beautiful artifacts. I highly reccomend this museum.

Undirected Blog #3

The Mausoleum of Galla Placida is one of the earliest surviving Christian structures. It was built approximately in 425-26. It served as a funerary chapel and was once connected to the narthex of the church of the imperial palace. This palace was built for Galla Placida’s son when she ruled the west in 425-c.440. Galla Placida and her family were supposedly buried here. The small building was built in the shape of a cross, and has a pendant dome. The inside of the Mausoleum differs greatly from the inside. The inside is covered with intricate paintings, and some of the walls are even made of marble. The unembellished exterior of the chapel leading to the adorned inside simulates the passage of the real world to the supernatural world.


It is very amazing to me that a woman had something so grand created for her and her family to be buried in. Today people often have family plots set aside for when they die so they can be buried with their families. It is highly unlikely to see an extravagant building with murals, marble walls, and mosaics, built just for someone to be buried in. If you want to get a little bit more fancy with your funeral arrangements you could ask to be cremated. It is very interesting to compare the differences of death and the arrangements after death to how people do things now. Funerary chapels or elaborate burials were very important to people.

Undirected Blog #2

For this blog i chose The Pectoral Of Senusret II. The Pectoral Of Senusret II, was found in the Tomb of Princess Sithathoryuent, who ruled c. 1842-1837 BCE. In Egypt royal dress (ecspecialy jewelry) was very well respected, and was often worn by kings and queens. The Pectoral of Senusret II was made of gold and semiprecious stones and has the name of Senusret II on it. There are also many ancient Egyptian symbols incorporated into this piece of jewelry such as the ankh (the symbol of life), a cartouche, Ra (the symbold of rebirth), and the scarab a beetle which represented rebirth and everlasting life. "Decoded , the pectoral's combination of images yields the message: "May the sun god give eternal life to Senusret II" ( Marilyn Stokstad, pg.64).

As i stated above in Ancient Egyptian jewelry represtend high class and even royalty. In todays society the people of high class often movie stars or royalty are seen wearing expensive diamond and jewel filled necklaces. Today most of these necklaces (or other expensive pieces of jewelry) do not have any specific meaning. They are usually just worn to show off your money or class. I think there is no point to wear something so expensive that has no point to it just to flash your money. In Egypt jewelry had a meaning, or protected you in some sort of way.

Undirected #1

This is the "Venus of Willendorf" dated 24,000 BC-22,000 BC. Very little is known about The Venus' cultural significance, method of creation or her origin. The Venus is not realistic but rather an idealization of a women's figure. She has large breasts a swollen belly and vulva. Her swollen breasts and belly suggest a strong connection to fertilily. She has no face but it looks as if her hair is covered with something, such as a headdress or plaited hair.

I chose the picture on the right because in todays culutre "The Venus" would be told to lose weight. "The venus" was considered beautiful and a fertilily god. Today many people consider stick thin models and beautiful, and most models that thin are probally unable to bear children. Today's culutre is so warped people people put pressure on women to be thin because they think it is "sexy." This pressure often causes women to lose weight in unhealthy ways, causing many woment to develop eating disorders. The veiws of how women should look have changed drastically over the years. Something that once represented beauty and fertility now would be considered as unhealthy or aestically unappealing.

About Me

This is a picture of Anguilla, which is located in the British West Indies. I have traveled here every summer for as long as i can remember. I enjoy spending my time here because it is a wonderful place to relax and unwind. The water is crystal clear and the sand is white with a georgous pink undertone. The ocean is teeming with underwater life, the coral is beautiful and there are so many different kinds of fish. Once in a while you may even run into a sea turtle or a stingray. Luckily there are little or no sharks here, and there have never been any shark attacks. With all the stress in my life this island is a great getaway. I am far away from my everday problems and can live the stress free island life. There are very few tourist and tourist attractions, this island is literally untouched, the beauty here is pure and simple.

The picture on the left is my house in Virginia. I moved to California in August to live with my dad. In Virginia i lived on a 26 acre vineyard, which also had a bed and breakfast. My step-dad grew harvested and made all the wine we produced with help from only a few other people (occasionaly i was one of them). I lived on the farm for all four years of high school. I lived at the foot of "Old Rag Mountain" a mountain people came to hike from all over the state of Virginia sometimes they even came from out of state. I loved the crips falls, the warm springs, but the summers were unbearably hot and humid. I was very sucluded since i lived on 26 acres in the middle of nowhere. There was nothing to do, the nearest gas station was twenty minutes away. Now that i live in California there is much more to do, and the drives are shorter. Sometimes i miss the peace and quiet of Virginia but i am happy in California.

.