Another week has gone by in the great state of New York. Sweltering hot walks, subway rides, and minutes on platforms. Coming from Virginia and living in Williamsburg for the past two years, one would think that I would be used to high humidity and heat...I'm not. Well, at least I'm not used to wearing business causal everyday in said heat. It wouldn't be so bad if the Museum had central air but alas, historic buildings do not have that capacity. I wish I could report a week full of extremely exciting and new adventures but in reality they were few and far between. Tuesday night we had the first of the Garden Gala summer events at work. Two jazz musicians from New Orleans played an hour long concert in the Museum's garden while the interns helped take money and serve drinks. Though the crowd was small and the demographic...elderly, it was still a nice evening and the music was wonderful. The rest of the week I did more research, took inventory of craft supplies for camp, and spent my first day as a docent sitting in the gift shop talking to the two volunteers that work on Thursdays. Both are older and absolutely hilarious. The older man is basically blind and loves telling stories. The other volunteer, an older Jewish lady who's lived in Manhattan her entire life, looks and sounds exactly like Grandma Yedda from The Nanny. They feed off each other, cracking jokes, making fun of each other (and other docents), telling stories about their stints at the public libraries and various other institutions, and painting me a very vivid picture of the political spectrum within their respective families. A day that would have been quite and a tad boring was filled with amusement thanks to their vivid personalities. Instead of going into the museum on Friday, I slept in, took a later train into the city, and hopped the C up to 86th Street on the Upper West Side. The plan was to do some research at the BGC (Bard Graduate Center) where they have an extensive material culture library collection that I was hoping could aid my research. Alas, I only got through 4 of the 14 books the librarian had pulled for me but on the bright side, I'm planning on going back this week! (I must confess it's partly because there is this coffee shop a block over that I REALLY want to go to. Yes, I am a slave to the addiction that is coffee.)
This weekend I've taken some time off from my exploration schedule to catch up some work and research. Saturday, after waking up late-ish, I hung out with Joe's little sister while she study for exams and I read one of my secondary sources. It was nice to just sit in silence, listening to Adele on my iPod while I read the source (though I would have rather been reading one of the many books on my summer reading list).
Now, if ye who read my sparse blog shall permit me, I would like to delve into some personal development thoughts. Having been working for a few weeks now (it seems much longer) I have slowly come to the realization that I am not cut out to research every day, from 9-5, with little to no actual human interaction. This discovery is a bit disconcerting as my projected career path of curator requires quite a bit of research. I am beginning to question whether or not the museum field is where I should actually be or if I would even enjoy it. I know this doesn't sound like a huge deal but for someone like myself, who has had their life planned out for a very long time, it's quite scary. What am I supposed to do? Where am I supposed to be? What profession will make me happy?
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Catching Up
Hello again. I apologize for the silence so far this week. It is a result from a) work b) early mornings/early nights c) no time to actually use my computer d) my complete lack of motivation to actually charge said computer. So I guess this will just have to be a "catch-up" post.
So Sunday, after copious amounts of sleep on Saturday and a Memorial Day celebration the friend I am staying with over the summer, Joe, and I got up early (8 a.m.) to catch the 9:00 train into the city where we were meeting a friend from school in Soho. Excited to explore the city and see my friend, I was okay with the early morning. So we were traveling and traveling some more. (I would also like to take a moment to note that our Sunday trip was my first time taking the Subway anywhere in the United States.) Anyway we met up with our friend, Huan, and set off to find something to eat before we headed to the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. I will go ahead and say that the place we found was, or so I thought, on the expensive side for brunch...in reality it was well worth the $23. L'Ecole is "The Restaurant of the French Culinary Institute and has a great two course brunch for the said $23. If you are up that way, check it out. http://www.frenchculinary.com/lecole/index.html After filling our poor stomachs to their bursting points we took the subway up to Brooklyn. The Brooklyn Botanical Gardens was fantastic! (Technically, it's the only one I've been to so there may be some that are better. You'll have to determine for yourself.) We walked through the indoor exhibits(?), the outside park, took pictures, smelled roses. After the Botanical Gardens we went back to Soho and walked around looking into shops before deciding to go eat in the Village. If you don't know me, I'll let you in on a little secret. I like pizza. I like John's Pizza even more. Last summer when I came up to visit Joe, we went to the John's Pizza in the theater district. This time we went to the original John's. I honestly can't say which I liked better...you know what that means!!! TRY THEM AGAIN!!! We also went to MarieBelle for a delightful frozen hot chocolate. (http://mariebelle.reachlocal.com/coupon/?scid=2025217&cid=779749&tc=1106021905277060&rl_key=9b91aa963d435de63c21fd251fcc2d1f&kw=13794261&dynamic_proxy=1&primary_serv=mariebelle.reachlocal.net&pub_cr_id=10828822650) It was great! Overall Sunday was a fantastic first day in the city.
On to Monday. The dreaded day before work a.k.a. the end of summer vacation. I slept most of the day then we went to eat an early dinner with Joe's family. We had the famous "sauce" which I promise you is one of the best things ever!!! Lots of good food and good company. After a couple rounds of cards, Joe and I went back into the city to figure out my work route. The commute didn't seem to difficult or hazardous in terms of getting lost (one of my biggest concerns.) Upon figuring out my route we got onto the R. Unsure of where Joe was taking me, when I saw Parsons across the street I freaked out just a little. If you don't know, I am a HUGE fan of Project Runway and do a little happy dance every time I see Parsons. Not only did he take me to see Parsons, we also walked outside of Mood (it was closed :( .)
On to Monday. The dreaded day before work a.k.a. the end of summer vacation. I slept most of the day then we went to eat an early dinner with Joe's family. We had the famous "sauce" which I promise you is one of the best things ever!!! Lots of good food and good company. After a couple rounds of cards, Joe and I went back into the city to figure out my work route. The commute didn't seem to difficult or hazardous in terms of getting lost (one of my biggest concerns.) Upon figuring out my route we got onto the R. Unsure of where Joe was taking me, when I saw Parsons across the street I freaked out just a little. If you don't know, I am a HUGE fan of Project Runway and do a little happy dance every time I see Parsons. Not only did he take me to see Parsons, we also walked outside of Mood (it was closed :( .)
Next comes Tuesday, my first official day on the job. I woke up at 5:30 a.m., caught the 6:41 train into the city and got to work an hour early. Fail? Perhaps, but getting in so early gave me PLENTY of time to grab coffee from Starbucks! I wish I could say my first day was extremely exciting and I got to do a ton of really cool stuff...but I can't. There was lots of paperwork, docent manuals, and background history to read. I think I did as much reading that morning as I did this past semester in my colloquium. Trust me, that's a lot. I also got to meet and get to know the two other fellows I will be working with. Ruthie, a grad student at a decorative arts college in Manhattan, and Sally, a rising junior at Skidmore in upstate New York. Both are very nice and great to talk too. After lunch, which we ate in the gazebo in the beautiful garden behind the museum, we took 3 or 4 consecutive tours of the museum with the various docents that were working that afternoon. Having been to many historic homes and on multiple tours, I found myself mentally noting things I could talk about and focus on when giving the tour myself.
The rest of the week honestly consisted of shadowing more tours, working with a couple of school groups, getting our research projects, beginning said research. My favorite moments were working with the school groups. The first school tour was a group of fourth graders from St. Ignatius and blew me away with their answers and enthusiasm. They were divided up into three even groups with an equal ratio of boys to girls. Each child was assigned a character and a character bio. As we went through each room in the Hotel, the children had to figure out whether or not their characters would visit this room and what they would do there. At the end of the tour the groups converged and split themselves up into one of three categories: Workers, Male Visitors, and Female Visitors. Every child had a great time explaining who their specific character was and did to their peers. The other school activity was similar. This group, from an elementary school in the Bronx, split into groups and each group learned two different 19th century games. When they came back together in the garden each group taught the rest of the class their two games. These types of activities are really an integral part to sparking the interest of the children who visit the museum.
My research is looking at Christmas traditions and practices during the 19th century and how the changing of public opinion metamorphosed the holiday from scorned to commercialized. Withing the traditions I will be looking at, I am specifically searching for types of gifts exchanged and why gift giving was a cause of anxiousness. The research will be used to revamp Holiday programs and further the Museums knowledge of socialization methods between 19th century guests.
Yesterday was a great day off. After sleeping in a little, we got ready and caught a train into the city. Our destination: The MET. Our objective: the Alexander McQueen exhibit. So an hour and a half of standing in line and many, many people, we finally got in. The exhibit was amazing. The garments were, of course phenomenal but the thing that made the exhibit great was the way the curators had set up each room, the music used, the way the quotes were situated. (My favorite part was the use of a John Williams song from Schindler's List.) When we finally left the MET we grabbed a cupcake from this street vendor that I had heard about then we traipsed off to find dinner. Not sure of where to eat we walked 30 or so blocks downtown, finally deciding on the Brooklyn Diner. It was all right but not worth the price we paid for it. My first official week was finally complete.
So Sunday, after copious amounts of sleep on Saturday and a Memorial Day celebration the friend I am staying with over the summer, Joe, and I got up early (8 a.m.) to catch the 9:00 train into the city where we were meeting a friend from school in Soho. Excited to explore the city and see my friend, I was okay with the early morning. So we were traveling and traveling some more. (I would also like to take a moment to note that our Sunday trip was my first time taking the Subway anywhere in the United States.) Anyway we met up with our friend, Huan, and set off to find something to eat before we headed to the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. I will go ahead and say that the place we found was, or so I thought, on the expensive side for brunch...in reality it was well worth the $23. L'Ecole is "The Restaurant of the French Culinary Institute and has a great two course brunch for the said $23. If you are up that way, check it out. http://www.frenchculinary.com/lecole/index.html After filling our poor stomachs to their bursting points we took the subway up to Brooklyn. The Brooklyn Botanical Gardens was fantastic! (Technically, it's the only one I've been to so there may be some that are better. You'll have to determine for yourself.) We walked through the indoor exhibits(?), the outside park, took pictures, smelled roses. After the Botanical Gardens we went back to Soho and walked around looking into shops before deciding to go eat in the Village. If you don't know me, I'll let you in on a little secret. I like pizza. I like John's Pizza even more. Last summer when I came up to visit Joe, we went to the John's Pizza in the theater district. This time we went to the original John's. I honestly can't say which I liked better...you know what that means!!! TRY THEM AGAIN!!! We also went to MarieBelle for a delightful frozen hot chocolate. (http://mariebelle.reachlocal.com/coupon/?scid=2025217&cid=779749&tc=1106021905277060&rl_key=9b91aa963d435de63c21fd251fcc2d1f&kw=13794261&dynamic_proxy=1&primary_serv=mariebelle.reachlocal.net&pub_cr_id=10828822650) It was great! Overall Sunday was a fantastic first day in the city.
On to Monday. The dreaded day before work a.k.a. the end of summer vacation. I slept most of the day then we went to eat an early dinner with Joe's family. We had the famous "sauce" which I promise you is one of the best things ever!!! Lots of good food and good company. After a couple rounds of cards, Joe and I went back into the city to figure out my work route. The commute didn't seem to difficult or hazardous in terms of getting lost (one of my biggest concerns.) Upon figuring out my route we got onto the R. Unsure of where Joe was taking me, when I saw Parsons across the street I freaked out just a little. If you don't know, I am a HUGE fan of Project Runway and do a little happy dance every time I see Parsons. Not only did he take me to see Parsons, we also walked outside of Mood (it was closed :( .)
On to Monday. The dreaded day before work a.k.a. the end of summer vacation. I slept most of the day then we went to eat an early dinner with Joe's family. We had the famous "sauce" which I promise you is one of the best things ever!!! Lots of good food and good company. After a couple rounds of cards, Joe and I went back into the city to figure out my work route. The commute didn't seem to difficult or hazardous in terms of getting lost (one of my biggest concerns.) Upon figuring out my route we got onto the R. Unsure of where Joe was taking me, when I saw Parsons across the street I freaked out just a little. If you don't know, I am a HUGE fan of Project Runway and do a little happy dance every time I see Parsons. Not only did he take me to see Parsons, we also walked outside of Mood (it was closed :( .)
Next comes Tuesday, my first official day on the job. I woke up at 5:30 a.m., caught the 6:41 train into the city and got to work an hour early. Fail? Perhaps, but getting in so early gave me PLENTY of time to grab coffee from Starbucks! I wish I could say my first day was extremely exciting and I got to do a ton of really cool stuff...but I can't. There was lots of paperwork, docent manuals, and background history to read. I think I did as much reading that morning as I did this past semester in my colloquium. Trust me, that's a lot. I also got to meet and get to know the two other fellows I will be working with. Ruthie, a grad student at a decorative arts college in Manhattan, and Sally, a rising junior at Skidmore in upstate New York. Both are very nice and great to talk too. After lunch, which we ate in the gazebo in the beautiful garden behind the museum, we took 3 or 4 consecutive tours of the museum with the various docents that were working that afternoon. Having been to many historic homes and on multiple tours, I found myself mentally noting things I could talk about and focus on when giving the tour myself.
The rest of the week honestly consisted of shadowing more tours, working with a couple of school groups, getting our research projects, beginning said research. My favorite moments were working with the school groups. The first school tour was a group of fourth graders from St. Ignatius and blew me away with their answers and enthusiasm. They were divided up into three even groups with an equal ratio of boys to girls. Each child was assigned a character and a character bio. As we went through each room in the Hotel, the children had to figure out whether or not their characters would visit this room and what they would do there. At the end of the tour the groups converged and split themselves up into one of three categories: Workers, Male Visitors, and Female Visitors. Every child had a great time explaining who their specific character was and did to their peers. The other school activity was similar. This group, from an elementary school in the Bronx, split into groups and each group learned two different 19th century games. When they came back together in the garden each group taught the rest of the class their two games. These types of activities are really an integral part to sparking the interest of the children who visit the museum.
My research is looking at Christmas traditions and practices during the 19th century and how the changing of public opinion metamorphosed the holiday from scorned to commercialized. Withing the traditions I will be looking at, I am specifically searching for types of gifts exchanged and why gift giving was a cause of anxiousness. The research will be used to revamp Holiday programs and further the Museums knowledge of socialization methods between 19th century guests.
Yesterday was a great day off. After sleeping in a little, we got ready and caught a train into the city. Our destination: The MET. Our objective: the Alexander McQueen exhibit. So an hour and a half of standing in line and many, many people, we finally got in. The exhibit was amazing. The garments were, of course phenomenal but the thing that made the exhibit great was the way the curators had set up each room, the music used, the way the quotes were situated. (My favorite part was the use of a John Williams song from Schindler's List.) When we finally left the MET we grabbed a cupcake from this street vendor that I had heard about then we traipsed off to find dinner. Not sure of where to eat we walked 30 or so blocks downtown, finally deciding on the Brooklyn Diner. It was all right but not worth the price we paid for it. My first official week was finally complete.
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