Archive for February, 2010

February 27th, 2010

Busy, busy, busy, break!

Gosh I’ve been so busy lately!! And as of 7am tomorrow morning I’ll be on a bus headed to DC.
My last day in Ypsi has been nice – some Ugly Mug, some laundry, some errands, some packing & it’s soon to be Mexican food & a house party. I’ll try to give an update or two while I’m away, but I’ll be doing a summary for New Archivist once I’m back that should wrap it all up nicely.
I’ll probably be Tweeting more often than blogging while I’m gone, so keep an eye on that.

I’m getting pretty excited & nervous for my conference presentation. Although I’m really nervous about giving the presentation, I’ve really enjoyed doing more researching and adding to the paper lately.

Well I’m off!
Spring Break!!!!!!!!!

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February 23rd, 2010

A little bit of everything

I’m thankful for our fireplace – today is one of those cloudy, damp days where the chills seeps in. There’s nothing like a fire to warm me up [& to get rid of that pile of junk mail & cardboard!]

Joel shared this quote with me the other day & I really like it:

“These are not books, lumps of lifeless paper, but minds alive on the shelves.” -Gilbert Highet

I’ve posted before about the Let’s Save Michigan campaign, a fantastic local organizations. Together with the DIA, they are hosting a poster contest and finalists were announced today. There are 60 posters & you can vote for multiple posters, but only  once a day for each poster. All of the entries are inspiring & wonderful, but these are my favorites:

Today and Sunday I spent some time at local thrift stores. As I get ready to head to DC next week to work at the National Library of Medicine, it’s become clear that the “business casual” part of my wardrobe is sorely lacking. Luckily, people in Ann Arbor give away really nice clothes and I was able to pick up some great pants & shirts. Also, I’ve been on the lookout for clothing that would be good to take with me to Egypt this summer. It’s a very conservative country, so I’ll be wearing a lot of long skirts, loose tops and keeping my shoulders to myself. [65 days!!!!]

I enjoyed this article from the Boston Globe titled, In the Digital Age, Librarians are Pioneers, a review of Marilyn Johnson’s book This Book Is Overdue. Not only does the book show librarians to be the daring & innovative crew that they are, but she calls archivists the “unsung heros of the library.” Additionally, we are “magicians that deftly distinguish between detritus and artifact, capturing history before it disappears because of a broken link or outdated software.” A wonderful statement [even if it might be up for debate in my appraisal of archives class]!!

Oh!! I just got an email that the University of Michigan is hosting their own TED conference next year. How exciting – I’ll definitely be there!! That is, if I’m selected – attendance is through application & invitation only.

This Flickr group, Looking Into the Past, is a creative way to use photos. By aligning an old photo within it’s modern day setting, the passage of time is clearly visible. I’d love to do this around Ypsilanti! Here are some of my favorites:

Now: homework!

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February 22nd, 2010

A return to school, blogging & health

After 4 sunny days in a row, today we got a LOT of snow. It stopped a few hours ago, which is too bad since I may or may not of had my fingers crossed for getting my night class canceled… ;)

Unfortunately I spent the weekend sick & feeling pretty terrible. [Although I'm doing a bit better today.]

Things I did this weekend:
- blow my nose [x 10000]
- whined about how sore my nose is
- stared at the computer screen
- drank tea [x 10000]
- did 1 word search & 2 sudoku puzzles
- thought about the homework I should be doing
- daydreamed about Egypt
- showered
- watched The Wire

I did do some knitting & finished another hat!

I also finally get us renter’s insurance – something we’d been talking about for awhile, but had never gotten around to doing. Friday night, our friend’s apartment was broken into & his laptop & tv were stolen. Break-ins are unfortunately all too common in Ypsi & I feel good knowing for $20 a month we have $15,000 in coverage.

This afternoon I turned in another funding application. I’ve now applied to do different places that each offer $5,000 & I only need $4,000. Hopefully one/both of them come through but, if not, I already bought the ticket & there’s no way I wouldn’t go now.

Forbes did an “America’s 20 Most Miserable Cities” list that Flint and Detroit are of course on. Less of a bummer is this list by CNN which names Detroit as the second most affordable city to buy a house in the United States! I’ve been thinking lately that if we stay in the US, I’d like to stay in Ypsilanti or Detroit. Strange as it may be, I feel most comfortable there or abroad.

Here’s a silly music video that gives quite a good description of what archivists do:

I’ve been enamored with the website Information is Beautiful lately. So many wonderful & informative visualizations and info graphics.
For example, here’s the most effective male photos at okcupid.com:

or the gender divide online:

-

Class in thirty minutes.

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February 18th, 2010

Foggy thoughts on a sunny day

I’m lucky to be married to a wonderful man who not only loves to cook, but doesn’t mind doing the dishes. I’m definitely spoiled. He often writes about the delicious things he makes, which you can check out on his blog. Well last night I took it upon myself to make dinner & I wanted to blog about it. So: here’s my 90% all-local chips & cheese & salsa dinner! Just wait until I’m on Top Chef – I’ll be making toast & cereal!! Fancy!
I made dinner!

Chips: Better Made, Detroit, MI
Cheese: Meijer, Grand Rapids, MI
Beer: Founders, Grand Rapids, MI
Salsa: not local
[It was still delicious, even if it wasn't very impressive]

I came across some really cool seaweed specimens from Japan the other day:
Seaweed from JapanSeaweed from Japan

Until I’m able to get on a plane, I’ll be satisfying my wanderlust by virtually traveling the Trans-Siberian railway. This joint project by Google & the Russian Railways not only lets you watch the scenery roll by, but you can listen to the rumble of the wheels, some Russian literature or a Russian radio station on your journey.

I started this post at 8:30 this morning & I’m just now finishing it up. I’ve had a hard time concentrating today – my head is foggy, my throat hurts & my sinuses are feeling crummy. Despite that, today was wonderfully sunny & I spent a lot of time walking around campus enjoying it.

Instead of attempting to write anything else, I’ll leave you with a photo of the city I’ll be in 70 days from now. [!!!!]

Photo by Jeff Werner, used under a Creative Commons license.

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February 15th, 2010

Slow down & love more

It seems that while I’m trying to live life to the absolute fullest & making every moment the best it can be that I forgot how important it is to slow down sometimes. After a dizzying string of events, I found myself home alone in the middle of the day with these instructions from my husband – “don’t get anything done.” It’s as if I needed permission to take a minute to myself & to relax.

So -
I put on pajama pants, got a fire going & sat down to listen to the newest episode of This American Life & knit. And you know what? I finally finished knitting a hat that I started 13 months ago! And I started another knitting project! And we watched ‘Julie & Julia’!

And although I only crossed one single thing off my to-do list the entire afternoon, I felt good. Really good. Like I could breathe & think & concentrate again.

Although today I may have had a bad day where I dropped everything & fell apart, it was still a good day because I’m alive. I’m here. Now. This morning Joel found out that a client he had been working closely with for almost a year passed away this weekend. Alone, in a hotel room. So much love, potential, energy, LIFE, just gone.

I’m so thankful that I still get to be here – to listen to the birds in the morning, to hug my husband, to take silly pictures of my cat, to chase after my dreams.

Today, please, go find someone important to you, give them a hug, take a few deep breaths & resume living your amazing life. I believe in you.

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