Welcome, 2010.

Jess on January 7, 2010

I hadn’t really realized the apparently global, seething hatred for 2009 until the calendar changed to the next year.  Goodness, people have some pent-up resentment, but when all is said and done, I can’t say that I’m not too bummed that we’re in a new year.  As I’ve been someone dependent on important school dates, I always like it when a year rolls around that is supposed to signal completion.  For high school it was 2004, for college 2008, and now it’s 2010 and I expect to be Jess Rezac, M.A. by the end of the year.  Yeah!  So that’s all exciting.  Except, for right now, there is no Ph.D. 2015 plan and that means this year will also have a host of added new stresses like finding a job that is within a career for both my husband and I, moving (presumably/hopefully), beginning and continuing student loan repayment (though that may be more of a 2011 adventure, dependening.  Either way, this year brings a lot of potential excitement.

For this weekend, however, I’m continuing regrouping after 2009.  It’s not that 2009 was particularly bad for me, in fact, I think I found a lot of personal fulfillment with my education, got good direction on my thesis, and I feel like by the end of 2009 I was prepared for all of the tasks that 2010 will lay before me.  However, after winter break, I feel a little less ready to get started on all of it, so this weekend I’m only going to prepare for the semester and next week starts all of the major life changes that will likely overwhelm me and collapse all self-improvement plans except for attain a masters degree in museum science.

Decalogue, Part Five

Jess on December 31, 2009

Isn’t it a funny that the same songs
played too loudly
at fifteen
calm a new spring
of flowing tears at twenty-three (I
can’t wait to be twenty-four, at
least that’s a number I can memorize
and in a few months, I won’t need to
count the long way on my fingers
the distance between 1986 and 2001).

Saturday nights can be so,
so violent.

At twenty-three, just as fifteen,
I find myself the only adult, the only
reasonable person in a kitchen full
of children.  Children grown and
resentful.  Strong willed and wild
with the new elixir that stops
the shaking in their hands that
started one morning they cannot remember.

Tomorrow morning,
they cannot remember.

And the flashbacks to this memory
leave me stubborn.  Unwilling.
On some sort of self-inflicted bed
rest.  I can’t focus.  I can’t
even have the conversation. And
I will require years of
manufactured microdrama to avoid
any mention of these details.

I guess in this respect I am lucky.
Your meanness, it turns out, is not
a byproduct of alcohol.  And I am
still smart only by books, intelligence
unearned and lacking life experience.
As though you did not hand me the life
experience on so many similar nights,

I am still the entitled bitch
I was (three fingers and
one fully extended hand ago).

Lot No. 23: Auctioning natural heritage

Jess on November 13, 2009

A few weekends ago, I stumbled upon an interesting LA Times article about Samson, a 66-million year old Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton auctioned off at the Venetian in Las Vegas.  At first, I thought this was another article about the failing Las Vegas economy, but as it turns out, Samson’s owner is an anonymous private owner who has been keeping the bones in storage for many years.  The owner initially purchased the skeleton from commercial fossil collectors who had arranged a deal with the owner of the land in Harding, SD on which Samson was found.  Bonhams & Butterfields, an LA based auction house, has the skeleton available.

From the auction catalogue:

The rare 66-million-year-old Tyrannosaurus rex known as “Samson” is one of the three most complete examples of its species to have been discovered. Excavated from a private ranch near Buffalo, South Dakota over 15 years ago “Samson” has journeyed to NASA for CAT scans of the skull, the Carnegie Museum for the preparation of the skull and to a New Jersey laboratory where she was professionally mounted for display.

In life, “Samson” measured approximately forty feet in length and could have looked into a second story window. Her massive skull and powerful serrated teeth could have bitten through the leg bone of any contemporary dinosaur. Most likely a very skilled hunter with binocular color vision and an extremely sensitive sense of smell, this colossus, like others adults of her species, lived as an apex predator of the Late Cretaceous Period.

The scientific preparation of “Samson’s” skull was completed by the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. “Samson’s” skull is regarded as one of the finest and most complete T. rex skulls in existence. The skeleton contains approximately 170 bones, more than 55% of the total bone count of an entire skeleton

Of further interest are pathologies (evidence of healed injury or disease) of the skull and portions of the skeleton which provide a time capsule for the study of life during the Late Cretaceous Period. In life, “Samson” was equal in weight to “Sue,” the T. rex skeleton currently displayed at the Field Museum in Chicago; her large size is one indication that “Samson” is a female, despite her male moniker. Her skeleton is beautifully prepared and mounted utilizing the most modern techniques, which allow for new discoveries and enhanced aesthetic qualities.”Samson’s” skull has been mounted separately from the skeleton on a custom steel base which also displays 22 teeth which were found apart from the skull.
Numerous related and ancillary materials, including associated flora and fauna from the excavation site, accompany the skeleton.

Both the LA Times article and the catalog description acknowledge the immense research value held in this specimen, a point that I likely don’t disagree with, but I think that The Onion captured the essence of the situation best in an American Voices update on October 6.  The (fake) respondents answer to the question “A nearly complete skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex found in South Dakota was put up for auction at the Venetian casino in Las Vegas last weekend. What do you think?” illuminate the danger of ownership of this skeleton being transferred to another private collector, especially if that collector is actually someone making a rash decision because they’ve recently fallen into a better financial situation in Vegas (a concern also voiced by the auction curator in the LA Times article), and the absurdity of a dinosaur being for sale at the Venetian.

At auction, Samson failed to meet the reserve bid established prior to the auction, thus, not selling.  The curator expressed dismay about the situation as he believed the specimen would be best suited in a museum and would hate to see it lost in a private collection for many years again.  So, yesterday, the AP had some good news to report this week that Samson has been purchased by a private buyer who is in talks with several museums.  Hopefully, all of the issues of loans, donations, et cetera, will work themselves out quickly so this specimen can be used for some public value.

Exam season

Jess on October 29, 2009

I just finished taking the Qualifying Competency Exams that are the second of four tiers to completion of my masters program.  The other three are coursework, proposal/defense of thesis, comprehensive essay examinations.  In our program, quals are fifty true/false, multiple choice, fill in the blank, and short answer questions.  All questions are submitted by the 6 professors who teach our 8 core courses: Collections Management, Data Management, Preventive Conservation, Museum Education, Interpretation and Communication, Museum Administration, Museum Law, Ethics and Standards, and Museology.  Each professor submits around 30 questions to a database and then a computer randomly chooses 50 of those questions with at least several from each topic area and creates a test.  A passing grade on the test is an 85% which means each student must correctly answer 42.5 questions.

I still don’t know the outcome of the exam, but I feel pretty confident about it.  When I reviewed my answers, there were maybe 6 or 7 about which I didn’t feel completely confident, but upon further review (googling), I know that I got at least two of those correct.  I also know that I missed two for sure, but one of the questions isn’t even in my notes at all.  Hopefully for the others, anything that doesn’t fall in my favor I will appropriately defend in my defense of the test with our museum director and program chair when my grade is available.  Honestly, I just hope I pass and I’m pretty confident that I will.  My grades for the program look like A, A, A+, A+, A+, and I’m sitting with As in every other class so far.  I feel like that alone should give me some confidence.

Anyway, the whole process of qualifying exams has kept me so busy the last few weeks.  For future students who may pick up on this post, I don’t recommend always starting with collections management studying.  Once you’ve studied collections management, everything you read seems like an extension of collections management.  Mostly because that professor is so thorough and also because collections are at the heart of what any collecting museum does, but still.  If you start with education or museology or something else, you don’t burn out on a study session as quickly.

The last few days, I’ve tried to stay pretty relaxed and low key.  Soon though, the semester will start making demands of me again and I will have to get back in gear.  To say the least, I’m enjoying the chance to think about things without considering how they might condense down to a standardized test question.

Lost.

Jess on September 24, 2009

I don’t know how to talk to you,
i don’t know even where to find you anymore
so i look for you
, everywhere,
so i look for you
, between his teeth,
and i imagine you
i hallucinate you
in the goldtipped
sunsets
in a city
you’ve never visited.

Good Idea or Great Idea?: Museum Passes for Check-out

Jess on August 25, 2009

I read an article by the Bristol Press, “Library passes boost museum turnout,” today via the American Association of Museum’s Twitter today about the Bristol Public Library in Bristol, Conn.  The library offers museum passes for the day that members of the library can check out for one day only to visit area museum’s for free.  These passes can be reserved through the library up to a month in advance so there is no worry that you’ll drive to Bristol and discover the pass you wanted is unavailable.  If you just happen to be in town, you can also stop by and see what passes are still available for that day.  This seems like a really creative solution to increase access to these museums to the greater public, bind the museum and library both in mission and funding, and increase visitorship to both institutions.

One part of being a museum science graduate student that has always confused me is the lack of clear connections between libraries and museums… I understand there is a fundamental difference in what they collect and how they collect it, but I’ve also noticed a lot of believed disconnect between the most valuable asset to either institution.  Although libraries are comprised of books and without those books they would cease to be a library, libraries are very forward thinking about providing services to a community. I’d like to see all museum professionals begin to see the public as the most important thing that enters their building.  I believe it’s starting to happen or maybe we’re even closer to the middle of the end of the process, but maybe programs like this can bridge the divide.

Our museum is talking to our library about doing special book displays that relate to our collections.  We are part of the same university institution which makes this a very logical cooperation, but I think this could really work for other museums and libraries to generate interest in permanent and upcoming exhibitions at the museum and the services of the library.  I might begin pursuing a little greater depth of examination of the difference between museum-library relationships and visitor outreach that begins for both institutions.

A Religious Social (Media) Revolution

Jess on August 19, 2009

I’m going to diverge a little bit from the last several lines of discussions about museums in this blog and look for examples of bending to new trends in social media from other directions. I’m doing this for two reasons, the first is that I fixed some technical problems for Shameless Popery, a Catholic theology blog operated by my friend Joe for whom I also designed the site’s masthead. So he thanked me with a link and I would like to deliver for his readers if they follow the trail he left to jlrezac.com.

The second reason is that the Vatican museum recently started offering night tours to respond to new tourist demands and to take part in a trend that many museums are following and I would like to point out that the latest reservation to visit the Vatican museum is at 9:30 p.m. on at least Friday nights for September and October. I hope they continue this when I’m next in Vatican City because who wouldn’t love a night stroll to the Sistine Chapel? The Vatican has been such a private space and I would love to re-visit it after dark. Other museums offer late entries during certain seasons and I think it allows a different kind of reflection about the works in the collection—and in the case of the Vatican Museums, a different religious experience—than is offered during the day. At least, I’ve always felt a different reflectiveness about both museums and churches after dark so I’m glad that the Vatican is offering these late entries.

Also, Joe at Shameless Popery blogged about the impact of lay-bloggers in the church in entry titled “Laypeople in the (Online) New Evangelization” the other day in which he discussed concerns that church leaders and others have about non-priests blogging. His argument boils down to a fear that priests will seem less necessary as more laypeople contribute to the new evangelization and comment on the theology of the church. This fear repeats itself outside of the Church in regards to other positions of authority that are threatened by the ability of internet individuals to become authorities or establish their credibility through thoughtful participation the blogosphere. In this way, museums worry that the digital representation of objects may nullify their social role and that the museum and its curators will no longer be a necessary authority in interpretation of their artifacts.

As for the Church, I think the authority of the Holy See sits well as resources like Pope2You.net offer individuals quick access to the social media outlets and projects of the Vatican. Riazat Butt, the religious affairs correspondent to the Guardian explained the Vatican’s rationale for creating such a site and media in a May article, “iPhone to popePhone: follow the pontiff as Vatican grasps new technology.” As long as the highest levels of the Catholic Church understand, as does Monsignor Paul Tighe, secretary to the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, that “If a church does not communicate then it ceases to be a church. It is not simply the technologies of communication that are changing, the culture of communication is changing also,” strategies for enhancing the role of priests in social media evangelization will be created.

Finally, as with the museum world, I think that this fear is somewhat irrational as people still fundamentally desire authenticity found only in actual attendance at a church, or a museum, that cannot be offered through a blog, an image, or a forum. Instead, I think social media communications and on-line evangelization either by museums or churches is likely to only enhance the appreciation for the role that these institutions play in society and our personal lives. Thus, increased evangelization or interpretation online is likely to increase the temporal and emotional appreciation for these institutions—reserving a space in the the hearts and minds of potential visitors and believers.

Sustainable Transportation and the Museum

Jess on August 17, 2009

Somehow, yesterday, I came across a news piece about B-Cycle, a bicycle sharing startup in Denver, Colorado, the first of its kind in the United States. I must say, I’m excited about the concept and I’m also excited about the projects Denver has embarked on as a city, metro area, and consumer community that promote bicycling and bike safety. My thoughts about how great it would be to move to Denver after graduate school and try to find work intensified after a heated discussion with my parents and uncle last night about my hometown mayor’s decision to override a resolution to hire a consultant to create a bikeway masterplan for Topeka. (If this upsets you, consider donating to $5 to Override, the organization attempting to raise the funds the city won’t provide.) My argument, simply put, was that good biking systems enhance the desire of young professionals to return to or move to a location. Today, I’ve been considering the role that bicycle-sharing could provide in enhancing museum traffic.

I specifically think that this sort of program may work best in very metropolitan areas where museums are somewhat clustered. In Topeka, most museums are fairly spread out and even though the city is somewhat small the lack of a good bikeway system makes the ride from the history museum to the art museum somewhat daunting for someone who would ride in. But, in Kansas City, a bike share may make the Kemper Museum of Art, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and Toy and Miniatures Museum accessible with only one parking job. While you’re at it, you can take a self-guided fountain and architecture tour of the Country Club Plaza. Even for locations with two much distance between them, bike sharing may enliven a historic neighborhood following a visit to the area museum—think of a short bike ride around 18th and Vine after visiting the American Jazz Museum and the National Negro Leagues Museum. My argument is that museum-based bicycle sharing programs may enhance visitorship at museums on the same day as the travel between museums becomes part of the fun rather than a daunting process of finding new parking.

As sustainable transportation becomes more important in people’s understanding of their impact on the environment, these programs would keep museums innovative in addressing pollution. With the knowledge that one four mile bicycle ride stops 15 pounds of pollutants from being dispersed into the air, bicycle sharing programs include a huge educational component.

As the startup and maintenance costs of these programs is high, it provides, or requires, a consortium among institutions, a practice that I believe will be invaluable to museums in the future. It could foster a relationship between museums and uncommon partners like locally owned bike shops, bike manufacturers in the area, or private businesses interested in facilitating bike sharing. Whether the process is initiated by the museum or a private entity, the benefits for the museum may be immeasurable.

Let's get going!

Jess on August 13, 2009

It’s interesting how life is. I’m starting the major reading project for my thesis beginning yesterday and continuing today while I’m home for a few week in Topeka, Kansas visiting parents and friends. That means, I’ve returned to my favorite coffee shop—at least locally—since I learned to drive. PT’s/Lola’s has survived two sets of owners, three or four management changes, new people in front and back of the barista counter at that time, and even when I disappear for a year and come back in, they compliment my new hair style and ask me how my marriage is going.

In some other arrangement of this room and patio, I first read Annie on My Mind, a book I remain sentimental about, sipped my first shots of espresso, started smoking and quit smoking a month later, developed a taste for cappuccino foam over coffee, and now that I return from Texas an ice tea enthusiast, I still love the smell of their PT’s coffee over any other coffee smell. I have written probably dozens of poems here, met friends of all sorts from all my circles of friends for conversations and general mischief. The first time Kyle came to Topeka to meet me, I told him to meet me here because that was only the most natural meeting place.

I’ve also written at least a portion of most every significant paper I’ve ever worked on here, from high school through undergrad and now I’m starting my thesis surrounded by different paint but familiar faces, and I’m very much ready to get going on that new project, too.

I have two-thirds of a thesis committee put together, including my chair and my outside committee-member and now I’m doing the reading. Yesterday, I read the very short collection of literature available about social media and non-profits and I’m realizing I probably have a lot to contribute to the discussion. The most significant difference between what I might say and what the literature suggests stems from my coming at it from a different angle. Most of the authors seem to have came into social media somewhat begrudgingly for their institution without fully understanding how it works, and I’ve been a fan of it since before the word blog existed outside of blog networks. I’m most excited to get into more interesting, historical, reading about how museums translate history through and alongside popular culture.

I’m hoping that needing some sort of daily account of my thesis inspires me to blog a little bit more, as microblogging has killed the macroblogger in me in many respects. Also, as I’ve intended to begin using this space at the start of the upcoming semester to reflect on the current state of museums and museology, my pursuit of knowledge in the field of popular culture, popular history and museum education/interpretation, seems to be a perfect fit for the pseudo-direction of this little corner of the Internet.

Out of town guests and new sights in an old town

Jess on June 3, 2009

ReAnne is visiting from Topeka this weekend and I’m very excited to explore things about Lubbock that I haven’t visited even though I’ve lived here for over 9 months. She gets in Thursday night at about 9:30 so we’ll probably wait until my class gets out at noon on Friday to have any adventures.

I’m thinking shopping Friday and then going to the First Friday Art Trail, an event that I’ve only been present for and missed twice in the 9 that I’ve been available to attend. I missed it last month because Kristen and Stephen scheduled their barbeque for that evening and once when we decided to see Watchmen instead of going. I think it’s the best start to any month in Lubbock and I’m glad that ReAnne will be here for it. After FFAT, I think we’ll go to La Diosa Cellars and enjoy the ambience. Kyle and I first visited it last week to see one of the communication studies professors boyfriend’s band. Their Bella Riojo wine is about the only wine I’ve ever wanted to try twice, but they had me at “blueberry” and “strawberry” flavors in the description. Mm. Maybe we’ll also go to Melt. If Friday night had a theme it would be “Classy on the Caprock.”

Saturday, we’re barbecuing and then going to karaoke or maybe the dance club we like. Maybe during the day we’ll just relax, go grocery shopping and hit up the National Ranching Heritage Center and the Museum of Texas Tech University. There are two exhibits up—”Spectacular Spectacles” and “A Double-Edged Weapon”—that I have been waiting for her visit to go see. Plus, people like to see where I work when they visit, I’ve found. Possibly, it’s because I work at a museum. An office would be far less exciting, I imagine.

I am leaving the rest of the weekend to fate, letting whatever happens happen. Maybe we’ll go to the wineries around Lubbock. Maybe we’ll try to find some prairie dogs. Either way, I’m excited for her to visit and to see some new things that I have yet to visit here.