monitorkitty

Name: Anna

Born: in the ’60s in Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Married: to Jim – who is wonderful

Parents of: 3 Cats

Education: B.A. in English Lit, B.A. in Latin/Medieval Studies, M.A. in Tudor Stuart History, almost a PhD in Civil War History (ironic – ain’t it?)

Occupation: Maritime Historian/Curator/Administrator. Most recent big project was the USS Monitor Center. In the past I have been a musician, a dj, a record store manager, a Latin tutor for dyslexic students, a sailor, a pirate, a puppeteer, an 18th-century circus performer, an actress, a university lecturer, a morris dancer, and an art museum educator.

Things I can do: I can play piano, bass, recorder, pennywhistle, spoons, hurdy-gurdy, and Appalachian lap dulcimer. I can read and send Morse code. I can hand, reef and steer. I can eat fire. I can have large rocks broken on my chest with a sledgehammer. I can sing in front of people with only a modicum of embarrassment.

Watershed moments of my life: Meeting Addie and Dickie in third grade. Meeting Lexy in seventh grade. Going to NYC for the first time. Playing my first live gig with a band. Working at the Record Exchange. Getting my Radio license. Realizing while talking about colonial clothing to a large group of visitors to the Hoskins House that I wanted to work in a museum. Running through the streets of Vendome on Bastille Day 1989 with two crazy wonderful French women. Seeing Chartres and Versailles with Adrienne and Rusty. Working on the ships at Jamestown and meeting Jim, Homer, Stephen, Steve, Anneliese, and more. Sailing the Godspeed up the Chesapeake Bay during “the perfect storm,’ Halloween 1991. My first date with Jim (despite the fact that the soft crab sandwich he ordered scared me). Meeting Melody, Anne Marie, Jeff and Carson. Passing my doctoral exams. Wedding Day and subsequent honeymoon to Nevis in 1996 – especially the evenings at Sunshine’s. Singing my lecture at the 1997 Sea Music Festival at Mystic Seaport. Working at the Chrysler and Historic Houses. Meeting Clare. New Years’ Eve 1999 at Clava Cairns near Inverness with Jim, Addie, Lexy, Mike, Martin, & Matt. Holding a piece of the Mary Rose and staying at The George in Portsmouth with Jim. Staying with Mike and Lexy for three weeks in London. Visiting Anneliese and Clare in Dublin. Working at The Mariners’. Meeting Mae. Going to the USS Monitor wreck site off the coast of North Carolina. Being covered in Monitor muck. Making the Flaming Ship of Ocracoke an annual event with Anne Marie, Jim, Sara and Jeef. Discovering dim sum for breakfast in Chinatown. Finding out what family means during Hurricane Isabel. Finally getting the tattoo. Surviving the opening of the Monitor Center. :

Favourite Places: Jamestown Island, VA. Portsmouth UK. Ocracoke Island, NC. Pinney’s Beach, Nevis. Cadillac Mountain, ME.

Favourite Pubs: The George, Portsmouth. The Intrepid Fox, The Constitution, London. Spaniards, Hampstead. The End of the World, Edinburgh. Johnny Foxes, Inverness. Babbity Bowser, Glasgow. Middleton’s, Annapolis MD. The Slaughtered Lamb, Fat Black Pussy Cat, NYC. The Venetian Room, Merkado, Washington, D.C. Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop, New Orleans, LA. Yorktown Pub, Riverwalk Landing Bar, Yorktown, VA. The Crab Deck, Gloucester Point, VA.

Favourite Beers: Stella Artois, Tennant’s, Magic Hat #9, Pumpkinhead Ale, Smithwicks, Carib, Turbodog

Favourite Restaurants: SoYa, Hampton VA. Babbo, NYC. River Cafe, Brooklyn NY. Signor Zilli’s, London. Cafe Gandalfi, Glasgow. The Original Pantry, Los Angeles CA. Kinkeads, Washington DC. Geddy’s, Bar Harbor ME. Sunshine’s, Pinney’s Beach, Nevis. Brandon’s Kitchen, Hampton, VA. El Ranchito, Gloucester Courthouse, VA. Duke of York, Yorktown, VA. Plaza Azteca, Newport News, VA.

Favourite Books: Lord of the Rings by Tolkien; The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis; Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling; Madame Pompadour by Nancy Mitford; To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee; most anything by Charles DeLint, Harlan Ellison, Ian McDowell, Jane Austen, Thomas Hardy, Terry Pratchett, Richard Butner.

Songs That Make Me Want To Break Things: ‘Going Underground’ – The Jam; ‘You’re My Favourite Waste of Time’ – Marshall Crenshaw; ‘Dixieland’ and ‘Copperhead Road’ – Steve Earle; ‘The Wind That Shakes the Barley’ – Solas; ‘Northwest Passage’ – Stan Rogers; ‘Jonathan David’ – Belle and Sebastian; ‘Watch The Sunrise’ – Big Star; ‘Summer Sun’ – Chris Stamey; ‘Glad Girls’ – Guided By Voices; ‘Trois Matelots De Port Du Brest’ – Arcady; ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’ – The Beatles; ‘Celebration of the Lizard’ – The Doors; ‘Waterloo’ – Abba; ‘Shorley Wall’ – Ooberman; ‘Ruby Pearl’ – Hackensaw Boys. I’m sure there’s loads more…….

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