oh what a feeling

Okay, so, I volunteered again today, but only for 3.5 hours (damn doctor appointments, taking me away from the archive!), and it was so awesome! I spent the entire time (a) talking to my awesome boss & fellow volunteers and (b) doing research in the archives. I don't know why this didn't register yesterday, but a huge part of being an archivist that I never really thought about is helping people do research. Duh, right? In the particular archive I'm working in, there are oodles of calls and emails with research requests and very few on-site researchers, which means I get to do real live research! Not just helping people find the right box to look through or whatever; I got to look through press releases and newspaper clippings from the past thirty years! It was great!

And yes, I do realize how nerdy this sounds, but I realized today that I've chosen the right career. Tomorrow, I get to do more work that will involve looking at a bunch of those same press releases, and I am so excited that I might go in early. If I can get to sleep before 2am, that is.

NEW OBSESSION

I get to end world hunger AND feel smart because omg I know so many words.


Went to a show tonight, saw Narwhalz and others, it was totally awesome, I am so into noise bands.

crap

This internship that I tried to get right after graduation? That involved doing research for a historian? That I didn't actually do because I had scheduling issues (probably caused by going home for a month and then coming back and working two jobs and doing research for another historian because omg I am so important look at me)? Also, though, he started ignoring me so it totally was not completely my fault although possibly he ignored me because who wants an intern who is too busy to do any work?

Whatever. That historian wrote the textbook for one of the courses I might take this spring. UGH MISSED NETWORKING OPPORTUNITY FUCK.

You guys, I am so into my new career that I am sincerely interested in networking so as to further said career.

exceptionalism is bad!

I've been listening to PJ Harvey today, which I should really do more often. "The Desperate Kingdom of Love" is such a perfect melancholy song; you should go listen to it right now.

I started reading a book on the subway today, and by the end of the introduction, I knew that it was going to change my life. It's called A Nation Among Nations: America's Place in World History, and I think it's going to be the book around which I organize my academic career. Thomas Bender is a fucking genius.

(nerdy!)

I was on the subway heading towards the Cloisters, which is still my favorite place in New York. The Treasury has finally been reopened; I saw it for the first time today. I know it's cheesy or whatever, but whenever I go to the Cloisters and Fort Tryon Park, I feel like I can breathe, like I can think clearly. For some reason, maybe because the park reminds me strongly of Prague, it's so easy to think about what I want to do with my life, where I want to go from here.

(cheesy!)

In conclusion, there was a homeless dude smoking a blunt on the subway a few nights ago. I have never seen someone enjoy smoking that much. He was smoking for at least five or six stops, he was laying back, smiling and laughing, and when he got up to move to a different car, he stopped on the platform between cars, and holding the door open, he sang-screamed "I feel good! I knew that I would!" and you guys? I believed him.

Cripes

First New Year's Resolution--no more apologizing for only writing here sporadically.

I met with my favorite professor in the world yesterday, and it was awesome as always. We spent the first half hour talking about grad school and law school and what I'm going to do with my life, and at one point, she told me I was smart and followed it up with "you know that, right?" Apparently I am (a) smart and (b) really obviously neither confident nor self-assured. But hey, she thinks I'm smart and capable! Hurrah! And I'm reasonably sure that she didn't just say that because she gave me 300 hours of research to do.

(I have 300 hours of research to do! I'm going to spend so much time in the library! EEEEEEEE!)


It looks like my Philadelphia weekend getaway is not going to work out as I have to work on Saturday and do millions of hours of research and also some web designy things. I'm definitely going to go sometime this month though, so if any of you [two or three people, tops] have Philadelphia reccomendations, you really should leave me a comment. I'm definitely going to see the Liberty Bell and the Museum of Medical Oddities (Mutter Museum if you want to be "accurate") and probably the Amish Market. Is there anything else I should definitely check out?