I was born to survive

Fall is in the air...I can feel it.  With the sensing of Fall comes the eagerness for the term to get underway,  my friends to return to school, and the changing of the leaves.  With Fall comes fun and exciting changes to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston!  Chihuly has come to a successful close!  The final weekend was a whirlwind and I don't know how I survived it!  Beer certainly followed to decompress from the demanding, though generous public!

Degas is replacing Chihuly and opens in early October!  It's about his nude studies, which is a nice change from the standard ballet scenes!  ALSO the Contemporary Art Wing (Linde Family Wing) opens September 9th!! CRAZY!  I'm extremely excited for the opening.  Lots of event plans are underway!

Post-Chihuly feels weird at the museum.  From selling 70+ memberships one week to hopefully three the next, it's a blow for sure.  But the crowds will pick up again hopefully soon!

I've received two of my required textbooks for the Fall term; Digital Preservation and my Photographic Archives book.  Still waiting for Database Management to be listed!  With new books, and school supplies going on sale, I can't wait for this semester to start!  It's going to be jam-packed with my job, three classes, and my extended (that's right, I get to stay!) internship in Digital Image Resources!!  I'll be able to manage it all, I have before.  Will this effect any possibility of getting back out there on the "market"? Absolutely.

I'm still so torn up about this relationship's end, the thought of trying again anytime soon just makes me nauseous.  With everyday the healing gets better, then I have a day where I feel as if I took ten steps back and want to stay in bed all day.  Luckily Stella has been such a blessing and gives me all of the unconditional love that I need in order for me to get on with my day, and hopefully someday my life.  I made the biggest step so far a few weeks ago: I put as much as I could in a box, shirts, small sentiments, etc, and mailed them all back with a letter truly expressing my emotions about this split.  One big boulder fell off my shoulders immediately.  Moving forward felt easier, and it still does for the most part.  I feel worse when I don't have something to do. (hence why I'm stoked for the semester to begin to make me crazy busy!)  My friends continue to amaze me with their over abundance of love and attention.  I don't deserve it all but they insist :-)

My apartment is coming together nicely.  IKEA is my new best friend :-) I am continuously meeting some of my neighbours and feel as if this place was fate. 

I'm baking a pizza and it's ready! YUM!
Until next time!

Another year older, another day stronger...

Hello all!

Yesterday was my birthday.  It has been too long since I've blogged.  The end of the semester got crazy, and my summer hasn't been as relaxing as most would hope for!  But I've put a new foot forward and am going to dedicate myself to this blog because there are many of you who I can't keep in the closest contact with and this is the easiest way for you all to follow my life.  With that said, some drastic changes have occurred recently to spark a reinvention and self-reflection.

My relation of three years has ended, much to my dismay.  I'm not 100% but I'm taking it day by day.  The details of the breakup are not necessary to disclose, it's too hurtful, and I do still have to respect his decision.

With that said, I'm single in Boston; not so bad I'll have to admit.  It'll be a while before I can even think of dating again, so in the meantime I'm going to finally let this amazing city embrace me and take advantage of all of the charms and adventures it presents to me!  I held back on a lot of what goes on in this city, trying not to get attached.  Now that there's nothing to look forward to that might displace me from this amazing place, I'm opening my eyes for the first time it feels like, just soaking it all in.

My internship in Digital Image Resources is going amazingly!  I love weeding through 15 years of neglected slide mess, generating new call numbers, and scanning for reference images.  At first I wondered why they still held on to their slide collection when everything else is digital, but then it occurred to me: they are now archival objects!  One master is saved including (at most) two dupes, and digital objects are created if the work doesn't have an image to it.  My library science brain is pleased :-)  I also LOVE being able to look at records of objects that the museum holds, which aren't on public display.  I feel like I've found my calling and am hoping that it's something I can further pursue once I graduate next year!

What else?  OH meet STELLA! Aptly named after Frank Stella!

 

I adopted her a few weeks ago.  She's been such a help giving me unconditional love, and helping me heal a little bit emotionally.  She's 3, and is the most laid back cat I've ever met!  

I think that's all I'll post for now.  Next blog will entail some quilting projects which I've recently finished!

Ta!

There is only 5 weeks of the semester left!

That's right, only five whole weeks!!!!  Strangely enough, I'm not feeling the pressure yet.  A lot has been going on in my life since I last posted.

Unfortunately I was so close, yet so far in obtaining a paid internship at the Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, FL this summer.  Hopefully I'll get even closer next summer!

But good news is that I just recently found out that I did get the summer internship at the MFA, sadly unpaid.  At least I'll still be gaining skills for my future career field!  I'll be cataloguing and scanning slides from the MFAs exhibition collection, and then uploading them online for public access.  Should keep me busy :-)

I'm in the final stretch of enjoying my little hobbit hole, pictured below:

This awesome nook has served me well while I acclimated to Boston living!  Now I'm preparing myself for the transition into apartment life with Rachel! 

With my newly gained form of living independence, I realized that I didn't want to lug my Bernette sewing machine down from Maine, so instead I found this awesome Janome Hello Kitty sewing machine via Target online!!! Check out the link below!

Hello Kitty Sewing Machine

With this handy-dandy portable machine I shall hopefully better my sewing skills, by finishing a quilt, and by making furnishings and treatments for my humble abode! 

I started my second job at the MFA today processing donations for the Give The Arts A Chance campaign.  I love it!  It's so nice to get a chance to get off of the selling floor for a bit, and do something a bit more practical towards my degree (using a database). 

I'm living in a sea of copyright right now.  My term paper for archives is about copyright and access of visual resources within an archive, my essay for this week in digital stewardship was about copyright, and my portion of my group paper is alllllll about copyright.  It's a good thing I like the topic a lot or else I'd go mad!!

Spring is in the air here in Boston and I can't wait for it to get over 40 degrees! It's been below normal temps for over a week now and I feel as if it's January, not almost April.  The robins are back and that's an exciting sight to see!

Now if you don't mind, I have a cataloging assignment that I have to finish before I meet with Candy tomorrow.  Ta!

My whereabouts for the past few weeks!

Hello all!

So I have tragically failed to keep this blog up-to-date, which means that I'm going to power rant about everything significant that I should be sharing in this thing.

First: Caitlin and I had some wonderful bonding time a few Saturdays ago when we went on an adventure to the ICA.  They had an intriguing new exhibit up by an African-American artist out of L.A.  I enjoyed the show because quite often within the works he would reference certain art historical philosophies or terminologies.  Such as, he would use foil wrappers within his works that had a double meaning.  From one end, he was self-identifying with his past career as a hair stylist, leaving an autobiographical mark on the works, while at the other end he was making commentary about stereotypes that African-Americans faced within society by "hanging out in the barber shops" and "always getting their hair 'did'".  I found it an intriguing show.  Plus the view from the building was worth the trip.  Afterward Caitlin and I ate at their Water Cafe and enjoyed a delicious soup and sandwich combination!

Here are some photos from our adventure:

Caitlin Enjoying the view!

Yummy sandwich meal!

What else is new in my world?
Well I applied for a summer internship at the MFA, working on a cataloging and scanning project. I had an interview and I think that it went well, I won't find out for a few more weeks, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Also: I've been offered another small stint part-time job at the MFA during the Art in Bloom season.  They need someone to keep track of the incoming donations and maintain the Enterprise database, send out the thank you letters and process the payments!  It's only from the end of March until the first week of May, but it's just enough! Because...

I'm moving into my friend Rachel's apartment at the beginning of May! So the extra employment will be just enough to provide the necessary deposit!  My first place, I'm so excited, and just as excited to be moving in with Rachel, whom I never had a chance to get to know too well while at USM together.  She's an awesome, easy-going person and I'm happy that she thought I'd be a great roommate with her!

Classes are plodding onward at a good pace. The workload isn't killing me, though my body isn't happy since I just got over headcold number 3!  I'm going to be wicked busy for the next few months, but these are the sacrifices that I need to make and challenges that I need to face in order to get started on my "adult" life.

Spring is in the air...I can feel it and can't WAIT for it to get here!

I ran away to NYC this past weekend with Emily and Katie.  We went to the Met and MoMA for the first time.  It was absolutely extraordinary and I want to go back so bad!  We'll be going again.

Here are some photos from that adventure...I took too many so this is only the tip of the iceberg:

Me in front of a Heironymous Bosch painting!

Amazing Art Nouveau vanity set!

Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Night!

Amazing t-shirt that I got at MoMA!

I hope I haven't exhausted everyone from reading this!  So much is going on in my life, I'm so thankful and just going with the paces!  Next week is Spring Break, and it is much appreciated.  I'm so excited to finally go home and hang out with my family for more than 3 days!  I haven't seen them since Christmas.  Good time will be had!

Until next time...ta!

craziness

This is why I was leary about creating a blog...I have no life.

I have every intention of updating you all about my going-on-abouts here in Boston. But it will have to wait until Friday night...I promise!

Can't a kid just get an internship?

Well the past few days have been quite the past few days.

I received the most exciting news EVER, I'd be interning at the Boston Athenaeum.  That's EPIC! Everyone wants that internship, and they only take one student per semester.  Awesome, right? Ha, or so I thought.

After contacting my new supervisor, I received an auto-reply email stating that his position has been eliminated and to contact him at his personal email.....um, excuse me?  After jumping to the official website, finding the first Archivist email on the Archives page, I sent another email, a little confused.

I promptly received an response apologizing for the inconvenience, but the Manuscripts Curator position had recently been eliminated so the Athenaeum doesn't require an intern for this semester.

Well that's just dandy, did they think possibly, to CONTACT SIMMONS TO LET THEM KNOW OF THE CHANGE?  That would only make sense right?  Well in my state of shock, and panic I contacted the internship coordinators and was told to patiently wait while they fix the problem.

I can't even begin to tell you what it felt like having the best internship opportunity just snatched away from me like that, I was so bummed.  It honestly ruined my day, and I rarely let anything get in the way of a normal day.

BUT good news, 24 hours later, the awesome internship coordinators have contacted me with a resolution : The City of Boston Town Clerk's Office.  I'll be playing with the new open source Archivist Toolkit entering in early 20th century documents.  I think that's a fair trade.

So after a few stressful days, I'm off to the Institute of Contemporary Art with Caitlin.  I'm rather excited because it's been a while since I've been there and Caitlin and I rarely do stuff with just the two of us, so it'll be good bonding time.  YAY!

until next time, Tschuss!

What a crazy weekend!

This weekend has been interesting to say the least!

Work was crazy busy.  I'm always excited to see so many patrons coming into the museum, but when they come traipsing in hoards, I have to ponder where they all come from!  But, with lots of people come lots of great membership sales!  Supporting the museum is important, and I love that I'm an advocate of that!

My organization of information class is slowly killing me, but I knew it was going to happen.  All of the readings make sense, the assignments are just time consuming.  I guess this is what grad school's supposed to be!

On a more tragic note, I'm saddened by the passing of Brian Jacques, THE author that jump-started and inspired me to enjoy reading!  I'm behind on the Redwall Series but feel dually re-inspired to start over, and finish the last four books.  He was such a prolific writer and made vegetarian food sound SO delectable!

Here's a link to the Redwall Series Website, check it out and get inspired!

The weather has been GORGEOUS the past few days!  Spring and subtly peaking its way through the dreary winter drudge!  Hopefully we have more 40+ degree days soon, the amount of vitamin D that I soaked up was intoxicating, but equally rejuvenating!   

I'm still nervously awaiting my internship assignment. It's hopefully between UMass Boston, Harvard Art or the Boston Athanaeum! Keep your fingers crossed for me!

I'm off to read some digital stewardship and write a precis for my archiving class. 

Ta!