Calendar Plates

I had never seen a calendar on a plate until I found one at a Tallahassee thrift store last week. I was struck by the date on the calendar, 1911, and with an unbeatable price (25 cents), I couldn't help but pick it up. The enscription at the bottom reads 

"J. W. Collins & Co.

Everything to eat and wear
Tallahassee, FLA."



I wasn't able to find much information about calendar plates, but this website for antiques said they were popular between 1906 and 1929 and often featured the name of a store with a picture, exactly describing the appearance of my new plate. However, searching google images for calendar plates, most of them looked much more ornate than mine, and often the calendar was shown circling around the plate, not clumped in a rectangle in the middle of it. I did find one other plate online very similar to mine, gold rim and all, but not much other information about it, except that it was from 1907.

I also tried searching for J.W. Collins & Co. without any luck. There were no markings at all on the back of the plate. I guess the origins of my 99 year old Tallahassee treasure, and the idea behind the creation of calendar plates will remain a mystery!

Games

Since the onset of basketball season and the opening of a new basketball court on campus, my boyfriend and other boy friends have been playing pick up games every so often. The courts have been so popular that one time (the time I decided I would play, too), we weren't even able to get a half-court because there were two full-court games going on.

Another popular game these boys have been playing is Twilight Imperium, an 8-hour board game of inter-galactic politics and domination. Since one of the roommates of Curtis' apartment moved out, they turned his bedroom into the War Room.

 

Soon it will be baseball season, and we'll start attending the FSU baseball games and playing in our fantasy league (I'm doing it too!)

my first FSU basketball game

In my six months at FSU, I've felt the most connected to my school not at orientation, not sitting in my favorite class, not at the football game, and not at the Gator Bowl parade, but at the basketball game I just attended. The intimacy of the Civic Center (as opposed to the stadium) and the passion of the fans together created the most exciting sporting event I've been to. I've have never been a big sports fan or felt great school spirit (or "spear-it" as it's called here), but tonight I really enjoyed the coherence of the crowd in our support for the team. Sports are so interesting because it's fascinating to me how important they are to our society. The energy put into a 2 hour game is amazing. It's so easy to become passionately committed to a team and emotionally affected by the events in a single game. It was just so interesting to watch- and to be a part of- the crowd, yelling synchronously and feeling the same emotions in reaction to the game. It's really powerful.

 

Joe Westhaler, student assistant 1957-1959, Captain varsity basketball at FSU  

I wish the short shorts were still in

from the Florida Photographic Collection

Let's talk food

I was an extremely picky eater until high school, and I still can be. I never eat less than three meals a day and typically try to eat healthy foods, but sometimes it almost seems like a hassle to eat (and to find things that are vegetarian and yummy). Since I have never had to cook for myself, I have never really appreciated the joy of cooking. I have the cheapest meal plan at FSU because I couldn't imagine eating cafeteria food all day every day, and like many college kids, I end up eating a lot of pizza, spaghetti, macaroni, and PB&J when I'm not at the dining hall. All of the grain gives me gas sometimes, and some of the microwavable dinners just leave me feeling bloated.

About a week ago I decided to really try to eat more healthy and tasty foods, which meant I had to get creative (no more fifty cent microwavable pizzas from Dollar Tree). I took out my cookbooks and recipes I've collected (though I've only tried 1 or 2), and with Curtis' help, decided to make a vegan Shepard's Pie from Peta's Vegetarian Starter Kit (which you can view in PDF or order in the mail for free)

It was very easy and good! The recipe fed me and three hungry boys, a couple of whom went back for seconds. It felt good to try something new and to make something healthy.

So this past weekend, I found some TVP (Texturized Vegetable Protein- a soy product) recipes online and chose to make sweet and sour TVP with carrots and pineapple served over rice. I thought it was a little too sweet (perhaps cut back on the sugar) but overall it was exactly as it sounds. We doubled the recipe for some reason, so we have a few servings leftover for Curtis to munch on, since he liked it so much.

I hope to continue making something new every week. I'll try to keep posting on it (maybe with pictures next time).