Baltimore, December, 2005

(Originally written on December 12, 2005)

Last Friday I went up to Baltimore with my Dollfie Dream, a digital camera, and a special handmade ornament in tow.

Here's some background. A few months ago an art gallery called the Maryland Arts Place was having a call for entries based on the idea of doing kitsch-style artwork. Well I decided to do a few digital photos featuring not only my Dollfie Dream but also my two Dollfie Plus dolls as well as my Crissy and Velvet dolls. It created a minor stress with me because the deadline was right before the trip to Bermuda.

Well I got a rejection letter from MAP regarding my entry but then invited me to create a special kitschy ornament and bring it to decorate the gallery's Christmas tree at the artists reception that was scheduled for last Friday.

So I hit upon an idea where I had my Dollfie Dream cuddle a tiny nutcracker (which was really a Christmas tree ornament that I bought during a local store's post Christmas clearance sale back in January) while I snapped a couple of photos.

Then I went to Michael's Arts & Crafts and purchased a Sculpey ornament kit where you created special ornament frames to put a photo in the middle (after the Sculpey is baked and allowed to cool).

The only hassle came when a snowstorm started around midnight the night before. The local news media were hyping that this could be a big storm and stuff. The good news is that my area only got a couple of inches of snow and it started to melt in the afternoon. I still called the place as a precaution to make sure that the reception was still being held.

Sure I could've opted to mail the ornament in. But I was being a bit of a control freak and I feared that my ornament would not be displayed at all if I simply mailed it and counted on someone else to decide to put it on the tree. (Besides, I read that MAP had the option of rejecting any ornaments for its tree if it wanted to.)

I originally envisioned bringing the ornament right when the reception began and I hoped that it wouldn't be too crowded. I fantatsized that I would arrive early to meet a MAP employee and I would show him/her the ornament. If the person asked about the doll holding the nutcracker in the photo, I would whip out my Dollfie Dream and nutcracker ornament for the employee to oooh and aaah over her. As other guests arrive, they would also oooh and aaah over her and they would talk to me and I would end up networking with some influential local people in the arts.

I headed for Baltimore around 3 p.m. and it was pleasant driving. Many schools cancelled classes due to the early morning snowstorm and many parents opted to stay home from work to watch their kids so there were hardly any traffic to speak of. I took the light rail into the city and got off at the Camden Yards stop. I took a couple of photos of my Dollfie Dream, Sakura, next to...

the statue of the number 8 (Cal Ripken's number)...

...the statue of Babe Ruth (he was originally from Baltimore)...

...and the Camden Yards gate (which were closed since baseball season is long over but were decorated with some nice Christmas wreaths).

Then I headed over to the Inner Harbor where I took a few more photos of Sakura.

Here's Sakura outside Santa's Place.

Here is one of the windows of Santa's Place.

There were actually some flowers that peeked through the snow.

Once the area got too dark, I decided to check out Harborplace.

I went inside the Light Street Pavillion where I ate some sushi (which wasn't very good) and a caneolli (which was yummy!). After dinner I checked out the automated Shiatsu massage chairs and I plunked a dollar in the slot where I had a brief three-minute massage.

I then walked over to the Pratt Street Pavillion where I discovered a new Japanese restaurant called Edo Restaurant (located in the background on the right) that had just opened recently.

It had a cool facade on the outside of the restaurant and I found myself wondering if the sushi was better there than at that food court stand in the other pavillion.

Afterwards I walked over towards the Power Plant where I checked out both Barnes & Noble and the ESPN Zone. I purchased the latest issue of Haute Doll magazine from the former and I played a few videogames in the latter.

By then it was getting close to 7 p.m. so I headed over to MAP (located on the far left side in the above photograph) while I continued to snap various photos of Baltimore after dark.

By the time I arrived, the place was totally packed. There were many people who were grouped in twos and threes who were chatting with each other and I felt like a total wallflower since I arrived by myself. (Many others came with spouses or friends.) No one reached out to me and I couldn't find anyone who looked like a MAP employee to make small talk with.

I found the Christmas tree and I saw that it was an incredibly thin tree with dinky branches. It looked like MAP went out of its way to pick the cheapest tree possible. Since I couldn't find any employees, I decided to just put the ornament on the tree myself. Well, it was a struggle since the branches were so thin that my modest Sculpey ornament bent many of them over. Finally I found one lone branch that looked thick enough to support my modest ornament and I placed it there.

I spent an hour checking out the kitsch exhibit and feeling like a wallflower before I left. I never found an opportunity to whip out my Dollfie Dream so I only managed to use her to take a few Baltimore shots.

Baltimore, December, 2005

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