Ah, if with only a drop of poetry or love we could placate the anger of the world, but that can be done only by striving and by a resolute heart.
[Pablo Neruda]
Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.
[MLK Jr.]
After two long years filled with every imaginable emotion, I did it.
I am officially a Master of the Universe!!! [Or a Master of Science in Information]
This will mostly be my last degree, at least for a long time.
Masters / Undergrad / High School
I’ve been extra spoiled this month, with a birthday & graduation & I’ve gotten my two dream gifts.
A new camera:
And a stand mixer:
Now I’ll be taking more pictures, cooking more food & uploading more onto Flickr. I’m also looking forward to having free time again – especially with summer here – for gardening, running & hammocking. Next Tuesday I start full-time at the museum [Monday is my mini-vacation] & I’m looking forward it.
Can’t wait for the next challenge life brings!
Even though there are apparently 3-6 inches of snow coming our way tonight, I’m going to write a post about springtime & plants & gardening anyway, because I’m really excited about all of those things.
After years of apartment living, we finally have enough space of our own to have a garden. This year we joined the Seed Starting Squad for Growing Hope, which means they’ve lent us a light stand in exchange for starting two flats of seeds for them. There’s plenty of room under the lights for seeds of our own so, in my customary way, I went overboard & dove in feet first.
15 different seeds – in this tray & the one behind it.
I’m very excited. I also sowed some wildflowers in the back yard, but they’ve been slow to germinate & I’m not sure if they’ll survive tonight. However, I have some flower seeds & empty pots around, so there will be no lack of fresh flowers this summer.
We also have a bird’s nest in under our eves – this has provided hours & hours & hours & hours of staring pleasure for our kitty. I tried to get a picture of the mama nesting, but she flew alway & hopped around the yard chirping at me. I wish it was in a better position to get a peek inside!
Gotta love that I waited until the absolute busiest time of the semester to blog.
11 days until my life is mine again!!
Daylight savings is just 15 days away. Just over two weeks! I’ve had a countdown widget for a while now – the promise of extra daylight [maybe even sunshine] is helping me put one foot in front of the other these days!
Something else to get through the winter is the museum’s “Spring into Spring” event in early April. It’s really great for kids, but apparently pretty fun for adults too. If you’re in the area, you should definitely come on out!! You can buy your tickets online. Who can say no to a pizza feast??
Another key factor in making it to spring is keeping warm – with food!
Since December, Joel has been working at SOS Community Services here in Ypsilanti. In addition to running the food bank, he does crisis counseling for people about to lose their housing. I’m so proud to see him in such a great position – he’s made a lot of positive changes to the program and it’s also encouraging to see him getting respect & encouragement from the other staff [a stark contrast to his previous job].
Last Sunday SOS benefited from a fun [& delicious] fundraiser – the Depot Town Chili Challenge!!
For $5, judges received a bag with a map, 10 mini-cups, a spoon, napkins, a tiny pencil & a score card. This year’s participants where: Sidetrack, the Food Co-Op, Aubree’s, Cafe Ollie & Corner Brewery. And, although not officially not on the ballot, we knew Andy & Hasan had cooked up some chili so we stopped at Woodruff’s for a taste – marinating everything with ghost peppers & habaneros makes things HOT [understatement - my stomach was on fire for hours].
Although Sidetrack won [their veg was my 2nd favorite], I picked the Food Coop’s sweet potato black bean chili as the best. The Ypsilanti Courier has a nice article about the event, including its history.
Now it’s time to clean myself up, go volunteer for a few hours, then head to Lansing for a Fields of Industry show, followed by a weekend in Grand Rapids visiting friends & family.
Cheers!
This unseasonably warm week has been invigorating & has pushed me out of my mid-winter slump, so I thought I’d take the time to give an update on where I am & what I’m doing.
The past two months have been incredibly wonderful, but unbelievably busy.
I hit the ground running at the Arab American National Museum on January 3rd & haven’t stopped to take a breath yet. Thankfully, I thrive on efficiency & I’m surrounded by a phenomenal, enthusiastic & encouraging staff. The core of my position is keeping track of the collection and working with donors, but there’s no end to the side projects: accreditation work, policy updating, online exhibit planning, traveling exhibit planning, archive implementation, grant getting & on & on. I feel challenged, supported & every day I’m thankful to be there.
I especially love that this beautiful fountain is next to my office [from our Motawi Tile exhibit, up through June 12]
I’m only working 2.5 days a week right now while I finish up my last semester [70 days until graduation]! My digital preservation class is only half-term and finishes next week. For my outcomes based evaluation course, I’m part of a team that is holding focus groups for the Ann Arbor Center for Independent Living – a dynamic community organization. Lastly, for management of electronic records, the class will be working in groups to help the University survey current e-record keeping practices. With two client-based projects on top of readings & other assignment, I’m definitely busy.
For the past month I’ve been volunteering weekly at the Ypsilanti Historical Society. I’m having a lot of fun & my current project is indexing the family records from this shelf full of old Bibles, most from the mid- to late- 1800s:
This past week of 40+ degrees has really helped me keep my energy up.
On a break between classes on Tuesday I took a long walk around campus & stopped at the library & got Joe Sacco’s War’s End – a graphic novel about the Bosnian war.
Thursday I put on my yellow tights & wore a skirt for the first time this season!!
Today I ran outside for the first time in month. I did 2 miles in 19:07, which isnt’ too bad for being pretty out of shape. I’m want to get my outdoor running started early this year as I’ve signed up for the Dexter-Ann Arbor Run on June 5th – my first 10k!!
But it’s Friday night & it’s time for dinner & then going out.
Happy Weekend, everyone!
