Disappointment & Pride

Today has been a bummer day – I didn’t get either of the funding sources I applied to, so it looks like I’ll be paying for my trip myself. I talked to the career advisor & she said that funding is very tight & extremely competitive this year & that she’ll let me know if she hears of anything, but it’s highly unlikely. I’m pretty disappointed. Oh well – I have my ticket, I’m going & it will be an amazing experience.

Last year sometime, Joel came back from walking Wes & said that someone had taken his picture. I didn’t think much of it until today when reading Mark Maynard’s update of The Ypsi Project. The project sounded interesting & I was intrigued if this had anything to do with Joel being photographed. After going through about 13 pages of really wonderful photographs of Ypsilanti and its citizens – there he [& Dan & Wes] was!

Erica [the lovely photographer behind the project], wants to have a gallery showing of about 100 of the portraits. I’m really excited about this opportunity [even though I’ll probably be out of the country for the show itself] & donated a little bit of money to help back the project. You can do the same [& even get some lovely gifts] on their Kickstarter page.

I really love this town & felt inspired to wear my Michigan necklace today. My grandmother got it for me as a Christmas gift this year from City Bird – a Detroit store that features Detroit-themed goods, as well as items from over 50 local designers and artists.

You may remember my 50 Books in 2010 project – one that I’ve fallen ridiculously behind in [the goal is pretty ambitious for a grad student], but I haven’t given up on it completely. Last week I finished reading The Little Book – an interesting time-traveling tale about family, love & Vienna. This weekend I picked up A Canticle for Leibowtiz & I’m over half finished. I also checked out some audiobooks to listen to while riding the bus & working. I’m starting with Gilead by Marilynn Robinson. My cousin-in-law Angie didn’t give it a great review, but I absolutely loved her first book Housekeeping, so I’m willing to give it a shot.

Here’s hoping the rest of the week is up hill from today. If the weather forecast is any indication, I think it will be!

Related posts:

  1. So many opportunities & simple pleasures
  2. A chance to breathe & a moment of quiet
  3. Summer sabbatical
  4. Saturday!!!!
  5. Old hobbies and new interests

Time Monday, March 29th, 2010, 6:45 pm   |   CategoryUncategorized  |  RssRSS feed |  CommentRespond  |  TrackbackTrackback

Tags:
  • Andrea

    Sorry to hear about the funding, but it will be such a great experience, it's totally worth it. And I like the flow chart. :)

  • ericahampton

    I'm so glad you found the project. Thank you for your support, too!
    It was so cold the night I came across ( now I know their names!) Joel, Dan and Wes I quickly asked if I could take their pic and then moved on…realizing I hadn't go their names at all.

    Please email me, I have a few questions. Hopefully the answers will allow me to write an appropriate description for their image. :)

    Also, have you thought about using Kickstarter for funding your trip? It's worth a shot :)

  • islas_j

    I really like the lighting in the top picture. Kind of magical and eerie, especially with the dead tree framing it to the right.

  • http://eskene.people.si.umich.edu E. Skene

    I'm so excited I can't wait! You should come visit. :)

  • http://eskene.people.si.umich.edu E. Skene

    Oh thanks so much for the comment! I'll write you this afternoon!

    And that's a really great idea about using Kickstarter…. Thanks for the idea!

  • http://eskene.people.si.umich.edu E. Skene

    I agree – I especially love how you can see someone's breath.