Latest Adventures

Not really. The title is completely misleading. I plan to have some adventures in my future. I will officially begin my internship at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. I will be working on the new exhibit Moving Beyond Earth. Check it out!

Needless to say, I am very intimidated. I feel that if I jack up this opportunity, it will be the difference between a mediocre life and a pretty cool one. I will be working with geniuses!

See here, he doesn't even cringe when the guy mispronounces his name.

Again, stoked, but with tremendous anxiety!

Long Time No See!

Hi there to my small audience! Here I am back on the blogging scene after a long absence. My relatively first full year of graduate school is just about done and I'm headed for DC in the fall. Woot! But, before the excitingness that is coming in the fall, I have to endure another hot-ass summer in Florida. I am so weary of the heat and humidity here. I long for the days of cool springs in Chicago.

On another note, I have discovered a couple awesome blogs and the first one that I'll share is blacksnob.com. I tend to agree with a lot that the author says and she seems pretty cool. I'll try to stay-up-to-date and see you in cyberspace.

Been gone too long!

Well folks, it's been quite some time since my last post, but I must say that I have been pretty busy.  Since my last post, I've gone to DC and froze my toucas off, but got to see an amazing historic event and paid a pretty stiff price upon returning. I won't rehash all the details, since many people over the last 3 weeks have rehashed all of their inaguration moments, but I will say that I learned some valuable lessons: two million people can get together without someone being arrested; two million people can get together and still not make enough body heat to sustain a cold snap in the northeast; 11 strangers can huddle their feet together to stay warm; I can meet my future-ex husband and wonder what could have been! (ahh Vinnie!)

At any rate, I had a wonderful time and would do it all over again!

Back in the saddle. . . .again! Illinois Governor and other musings

I am back in the saddle, so to speak, of school---grad school. After a chaotic fall semester, I am back at it and have hopefully hit the ground running. And by running, I am working 30 hours and taking 9 graduate credits. The classes I have for this semester will keep me busy, but I am glad of it, because I know what boredom and what the mediocrity of boredom can produce.

My first class is American Revolution and the New Republic; the second is European Interpretations: 1648 - Present, and lastly Historic Preservation and Heritage Studies Seminar. I already have quite a few books on request at the library from other institutions and will hopefully be able to get the sources I need.

Now to the meatier issue of the hour---Illinois Governor or Felon (whichever you want to call him). Being from Illinois, namely Chicago, I am used to the political machine jokes, gangster jibes, and overall corruption that is associated with my hometown and state, but the current governor takes it to new heights. Not only does this put a little bit of cloud cover over our President-Elect, but it also once again reminds us that every politician is suspect. I'll continue to watch this unfold and I guess we'll just watch it all unfold!

And so we're off. . . .

Since this is the new year and 2009 has got to be better to me than 2008, I've got to rise like a phoenix from the ashes, and by phoenix rising from the ashes, I mean I need to lose a 4th grader. In viewing recent photos of myself, I have morphed into another version of myself. School and a busy schedule have not been kind to my usually slightly chubby physique.

Many of us in our, ahem, no longer 20s realize that our bodies do not react to certain things like they used to. For example, salsa dancing is something that I usually enjoy, but as of late, my post-30s body pays for it the next day in the form of sore calves and sore hips. Combine this with my cream puff physique and you get a healthy dose of aspirin popping the next day. With all of this reflection, 2009 is going to be my year. I am off to do some dancing!

Hmmm, Being Bored Out of My Mind is the New Black

Since this is my first post, I should backtrack and tell a little bit about myself. I am a single black female living in the South. This single black female is not quite past her expiration date, but is not long for seeing the sunny side of being put on a dusty shelf. But! There is always a but----thank God for youthful, oily (most of the time way too oily and acne-spotted) skin. I can always count on being carded and mistaken for being at least seven to ten years younger than I am.

In our economic times of woe and my lack of a full-time job, I decided in recent months that it was the perfect time to complete a graduate degree in Public History. Now, many would say, 'what, pray, is Public History? Do you plan to teach?' Heavens no! I do not plan to teach! You see, Public History is history outside of the academic setting. It is the applied discipline of history. Think of your favorite museum---ok, you don't have one, well, think of someone that acquires the fossils and artifacts of King Tutankamen for the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago or a consultant for policy makers. Anyway, I think you get the idea. I plan to move on to bigger and better things.

You see, I live here in a moderate-sized city, but hardly a booming metropolis on the Gulf Coast of Florida. It is one of the oldest settlements in the United States, but fails to act like it. This town behaves as if its only about 70-100 years old and part of the Southern, toothpick-chewing, good 'ol boy network instead of behaving like a town with a 450-year history full of diversity, intrigue, culture, and variety that could be seen at the turn of the twentieth century. So, ladies and gentleman, I am not long for this place and plan to fly the coop as soon as this graduate school nonsense is complete!