Becky FifieldJan 5, 20162 minApple of My Eye: Lead Pesticide Use in 1920s OrchardsOrchard workers at Mt. Pleasant Orchard, near Havre de Grace, Maryland, c. 1915. Over the Christmas holiday, I unearthed a small journal...
Becky FifieldDec 5, 20151 minWanderlust Fodder: Atlas Obscura’s Interactive Map of Roadtrips in American LiteratureMr. I sent me a link recently to Atlas Obscura’s “The Obsessively Detailed Map of American Literature’s Most Epic Road Trips.” It is...
Becky FifieldDec 10, 20132 minFighting Writing: Musings on the Recalcitrant PenDoes a battle assume there has been a victory? Writing has a threshold that must be crossed, marking the departure from everyday life and...
Becky FifieldAug 29, 20132 minCatering to Clients in an 18th Century Philadelphia ShopI spent July at a Research Fellowship at Winterthur Museum, Library, and Garden. This mainly meant identifying manuscripts and object...
Becky FifieldAug 21, 20132 minWanderlust Wednesday – By the Side of the RoadTo sleep in your car – completely American? Or not normal? Here’s the Thing, Alec Baldwin’s excellent radio program. I’m not much of a...
Becky FifieldAug 1, 20131 minDigging in the Archives: Swarthmore College’s Friends Historical LibraryMy time here at Winterthur is wrapping up. I took yesterday to visit two incredible local institutions, the Friends Historical Library at...
Becky FifieldJul 8, 20131 minMuseum Monday – Working at WinterthurI’m in residence at Winterthur Museum, Library, and Garden working on my 18th century runaway project and participating in a preventive...
Becky FifieldJan 30, 20132 minBook: The Look of Architecture by Witold RybczynskiIt’s a little bit untrue to title this small volume solely a book. It caught my eye while I was perusing the stacks last week at the New...
Becky FifieldDec 20, 20122 minSpaces that Feed the Writing BrainMcSorley’s. 2003. I just finished Dwight Garner’s “A Critic’s Tour of Literary Manhattan” in The New York Times (December 14, 2012). I’m...
Becky FifieldDec 8, 20121 minA Lesson in Water Conservation – from MartiansThe Leaky Faucet features two of the weirder Muppets, The Martians. Their octopus-like lower halves are topped with wide flexible mouths...
Becky FifieldDec 8, 20121 minA Lesson in Water Conservation – from MartiansThe Leaky Faucet features two of the weirder Muppets, The Martians. Their octopus-like lower halves are topped with wide flexible mouths...
Becky FifieldDec 1, 20122 minShould We Feel Sorry for Twinkies?Mourning miniature, 1788. Brooklyn Museum. 21.474. Twinkies. I’ve had a few. I’ve had more pink Snowballs and Suzy-Q’s than Twinkies. I...
Becky FifieldNov 30, 20122 minNew York at NightRL Fifield. 2008. It’s something about the light of shops shining out onto the sidewalks, people wrapped in coats, the tall buildings...
Becky FifieldNov 27, 20121 minTransportation Tuesday: Time to Get Geeky – The Amtrak History WebsitePerhaps Amtrak is a little late for many rail fans, but the Amtrak history website led to me losing a few hours last night while I poked...
Becky FifieldNov 20, 20122 minTransportation Tuesday: Amtrak’s Quiet CarI was putting together another post on Amtrak when I stumbled across a New York Times Opinion on Amtrak’s Quiet Car by Tim Krieder. The...
Becky FifieldOct 14, 20122 minWriting Fiction – Business Trips Aren’t a LossBusiness travel breeds ideas. My business trips involve some off days, waiting around at my destination, combined with really long...
Becky FifieldOct 11, 20122 minEating AloneOne of many meals I’ve eaten while dining alone. Dusseldorf. RL Fifield, 2012. I can travel a fair amount for my job. Anyone who travels...
Becky FifieldOct 10, 20122 minWanderlust Wednesday: SeattleSeattle. RL Fifield, 2012. It wasn’t supposed to be like that. Brilliant sun and a cloudless sky marked my days in Seattle. Like San...
Becky FifieldOct 8, 20122 minMuseum Monday: Some Humor, and Some Food for ThoughtI think I heard about this study on the Registrar’s Committee of the American Alliance of Museum’s listserve, a very long time ago. If...
Becky FifieldOct 7, 20122 minNew York Diaries ReduxI moved into New York City proper in 2005, and while my journalling habits have given way to blogging, research writing, and fiction, I...