What matters is the trip

Jess on October 19, 2008

So I don’t know that I mentioned it, but the university radio station is fantastic.  In addition to having an NPR affiliate that plays All Things Considered later than KPR, they also have a really rad indie station.  Yesterday, i was driving around and this song came on.

By Balloon or Sinking Ship by Jordan O’Jordan

I think it’s great! And it makes me excited to road trip back to Kansas City tomorrow, not that I’m not super excited about that already.  I also have been thinking about doing more interesting things with my blog than I’ve done in the past.  Maybe some music recommendations, some sweet photos I’ve been taking or finding on the internet.  I’m not sure.  I read some more interesting blogs now so maybe I’ll start by recommending those things listed in my blogroll.  I have been especially enjoying The Boat Lullabies at Square America.  It’s great.  Though today’s post is pretty sad.

Let’s see what is going on in my life, shall we?  I got that haircut.  That was pretty swell.  Thursday, I had a huge test in collections management and I think it went really, really well.  I’m trying not to be overconfident about it because I would hate to be devastated by my actual grade when I receive that, but for the time being it’s nice to not be constantly second-guessing myself and my answers like I think I did on the last test.  It’s always a nice feeling to get out of a test and feel good about it… and I’d sort of forgotten what that felt like as my last major testing experiences were in Art History and Collections Management.  Too much memorization!  Thursday was a very, very long day though.  I had the test from 8-9:15, then the professor lectured until 10:15, then Data Management from 10:30-noon and an MHSA meeting after that followed by class from 1:15-5ish.  Gracious.  When that was over I went home and laid down for a few minutes then picked up Kyle and we headed to Triple J.  I was pretty well obliterated and passed out by 10.  Which was a nice end to a long, but mostly okay day.

Friday, we went to the communications colloquium and I watched Katie and Amy present a really interesting paper about manifesting whiteness through tradition and public memory at Texas A&M.  Afterward we went out to dinner at Chili’s with some of the grad students and professors.  I really enjoyed chatting with them and it was nice to have some mental exercise.  Makes me really want to get back into history when I’m done with museum science, I think.  At the very least to use in museums.  I’d just like to teach.  I’m jealous of all the comm. friends who get to.  We also saw W.  which made me disappointed/angry/tired.  After waking up a bit after the movie and having a night to sleep on it, I decided that I didn’t like it because I felt that the characters could have been much more dynamic than they were.  Bush, W and HW, were both dynamic but I felt like most of the cabinet was very two-dimensional and that isn’t very cool.  I just felt like it should have been a lot more than it was.  I’m also not quite sure that i agree with the fundamental premise of the movie.  Mostly, I don’t think the war in Iraq stems as much from W’s daddy issues as Mr. Stone apparently seems to think.  And given his track record with history, I’m not about to take him at his word.

Yesterday, we went to the book sale at the Mahon Library and oh em gosh.  It was incredible.  We spent about 30 dollars and got about 50 books.  I got a bunch of books I’ve really been meaning to buy and read… and I think The Historian is at the top of my list—after all, it’s close to Halloween and I am going through a vampire phase.  Last night we watched the mizzou disaster with Kevin and Jess and Kyle and then went to David Trout’s karaoke again.  I think he is near the top of the list of things I love most about Lubbock.  I even did karaoke this time!  I sang “Wrong Way” with Jess and then Kyle roped me into “it’s your love” which was a huge disaster.  Turns out I am not Faith Hill nor am I familiar enough with the song to actually know when it is my turn to sing.  Ah, well.  Heather came out too as we were celebrating her surviving her twenty-second birthday.

Today has been nursing my knee which I think I sprained when I fell down the stairs yesterday.  Heels + Slick painted concrete staircase + drunk = bad times.  Ugh.  There are skid marks on the stairs from where my heels slid out from under me as I slipped.  Poor thing.  It’s really starting to feel better though.  I can limp around and things just certain positions for sitting don’t feel too comfortable.

Tomorrow, I’m spending the day heading to Kansas City for a conference! I’m so excited to get to be home for a few days!  And the conference should be fun too… especially because I get a bit of a break from my regular lecture schedule which I think is much needed at this point.

I wish I said which less.

Let your hair down

Jess on October 14, 2008

I cut my hair tonight, for the first time, basically, since Kyle and I started dating. It’s right at shoulder length when it’s wet which means it’s about an inch above my shoulder when it’s dry. I’m excited to use my regular gel routine and see how it looks tomorrow. She kind of missed the front when she styled it after my cut today so I have deemed myself unable to take a proper photograph of it for public scrutiny. Judging from how it looked wet, Kyle’s reaction, and my early impressions of it dry… I like it a whole lot. If nothing else, it’s nice to have far less hair to have to deal with. I think I’d gotten tired of it.

Studying is going well although I still need to catch up on that reading. Urrgh. I think the next few days I’ll just have to hole myself up in the library. At least I leave Monday to go back to Kansas City so I have a nice little break from classes and having to worry about tests and things. Just one test and one paper between me and the MPMA conference. Woo. I’m so excited to get to see everyone.

I joined hype machine today. It’s pretty cool, so far. It also syncs with last.fm and twitter which makes it uber-fashionable. Oh yeah.

I hope to start going to the gym soon. Maybe we’ll go tomorrow before dinner.

The Sky Opened Up

Jess on October 12, 2008

I think I’m done fiddling with my blog layout for a while.  I finally found the theme I’ve liked best for WordPress for a while.  I might shrink it up a bit because the fonts are bigger than I like but whatever, maybe I’ll blog more now that I’m not bored by my layout.

I’m all holed up studying today and enjoying what is supposed to be a rainy day.  I need to go do some re-reading and catch up on some reading in the library at the museum today or tomorrow but I’m not quite sure that I’ll get motivated for it today.  I’m just trying to get caught up on some of the database-ing I need to do for data management and do some research for the collections management plan we’re working on in collections management.  Productivity is awesome.

I wonder if the new season of Criminal Intent will be saved by Jeff Goldblum.  I’m not sure he can do it.  But I sure did like Pittsburgh a lot and I think he’s just great.

The Thick of the Moment

Jess on October 11, 2008

I officially feel like a graduate student. I can’t seem to really get ahead, but I feel like I’m treading water quite well in the program. I’ve already had my first test and round of papers and I have another coming up this week. I’ve also apparently not blogged in forever. i’m going to have to fix that. I think I’m too reliant upon twitter to relay my daily goings-on. It does a pretty good job of that, but really, I think I should write more complex things about my life.

Thursday I have my second test in the class with the hardest professor. Or at least, the tests are hard. She’s probably one of my favorite professors because she’s so interesting and I learn a whole lot but her tests are more stress than they’re worth, I think. I got a solid B on the last one and that’s a good start to the semester so I hope I do better on this one to continue that trend. I also have a paper due next Sunday night in a different class which will probably be labor intensive but not that difficult.

Meanwhile, I have a huge group project in every class and trying to stay ahead of that is sort of difficult. I think since we all have the same classes we’re pretty aware of how we need to stay on top of this so that the end of the semester isn’t hell. Also, I think all of the projects are pretty manageable, time just goes by so quickly it seems.

I’ve been handling homesickness pretty well. It helps that I’ll be home a week from Monday for a conference and get to spend a night or two with my family. And it helps that I have Kyle here and things. It was really, really bad between when I took that test and when I got the grade back mostly because Maco had to be put down back home which made me really, really sad. He was one of my favorite dogs that my parents fostered and while I knew he was really overweight and therefore in poor health, it didn’t really occur to me that the last time I said goodbye to him would actually be the last time. It made me think about how being here means missing out on a lot of moments with my family (and the dogs) and that made me question my decision to come here in the first place.

For that reason, I’m not quite sure what my ideal scenario is for post-grad school. Ugh. Hopefully in the nearish future I’ll get all of that figured out but at this point I don’t really know that I want to move somewhere to do law school or a phd right away. If things work out though in a really clear direction that would be great. I just miss my family a lot… and my friends too but I know that by the time I’m considering returning to Topeka/Kansas City they’ll mostly be spread all over the country again for a while and who knows where they’ll end up living.

I feel like I have a good group of friends here though and that’s making things a lot easier. I like a lot of the museum science students and I’m glad that we’ve finally gotten to know each other well enough to let our guards down and show our real personalities. I also have some friends through Kyle or through whoever that I like. It’s nice to finally feel like I have an assortment of people to call when Kyle is out of town or to make plans. and hopefully the more time I spend here the closer we’ll all get.

Alright. We’re attending a potluck dinner party tonight and I have to start rolling sushi so that we can go. And then it’s back to studying and hopefully finishing all of the thank yous this weekend. Man, having a wedding before grad school is absolutely ideal until you have like 200 cards to write as class really gets going. I’d recommend against that part. But marriage is awesome! So I can’t really complain.

Dilapidated

Jess on October 4, 2008

looking at pictures of broken buildings,
taken in an attempt to save that which is
at its very basic just a form
with a lot of memories, in the hope
that someday we could restore
its function.

and i think of you and i, all of
those silly postcards we wrote
and the letters which we handed off
as though you were my knight in
shining armor but also my pony
express, and one that read
so poingnantly,
in all of your anger, “Really, I
think we both understand dilapidated
in the same way.”

So, I’m thinking about broken buildings,
again, this time the way it’s all just
fragments.  the vaulting of the ceilings,
the trim, the staircase that
might as well lead to nowhere and
the bathrooms—violently beautiful
escapes.

Row after row after row
after row of empty courtroom chairs.

All that’s left are the beautiful
and romanticized fragments
of memory, but the function
left to die was much more complex.

we'll have a good time, then

Jess on September 22, 2008

I had a chat with Mei today about my workings in the African Art collection and she’d like me to do a research course or a practicum writing a grant so we can get a conservator and an art historian who can authenticate the collection.  This is pretty awesome news.

My trip to Skooners went really well the other night.  David Trout was funny, as per normal, and I had a good time with Amanda, Heather, Jamie and eventually Amber.  Maybe next time I’ll get gutsy enough to sing a little.

Other than that, I have absolutely nothing to report except that this weekend I proved myself to be good at time management. I managed to balance cleaning, socializing, studying, and all the law and order and svu that my DVR could handle.

After my test tomorrow, I plan to reward myself by reworking my layout and site map a bit and relaxing until Thursday.

so happy, together

Jess on September 20, 2008

For perhaps the first time in my life as a blogger, I’ve had a long gap in blogging simply because I am so happy.  Sorry for the lack of updates.  Things with Kyle are totally fantastic.  I’m happier and more in love than i ever have been with him, or anyone, which is great.

My classes are also going well.  I’ve been finding work a little bit boring but I think it’s getting better now that I’m actually working with the african art.  It’s interesting how much work needs to be done on that collection, and it seems to me that I’m plenty encouraged to get to doing it, so that’s neat.  I think next I want to work in education and exhibits to get a feel for those, but I would really enjoy being a curator.  Researching on collections is pretty rad.

I’m also making friends, somewhat slowly.  I am so glad that Amber and Sid moved down here with us because I think I would have gone crazy had I not had someone to hang out with while Kyle was gone for the weekend with debate.  I was supposed to go out for sushi with Rachel and Nancy tonight but Rachel can’t and Nancy got sick so we’re going to do it next weekend instead.  And I texted Amanda and I think I’m going out to Schooners later with her and presumably Heather which should be nice.  I liked them a whole lot when we were all at Chimy’s about two weeks ago.  Chimy’s is pretty badass, by the way.  They have really good happy hour specials from 4-7 and their fish tacos are craveable.

I put in a couple job applications in the last week.  One is for a museum event coordinator position that is part time at a city museum.  Only nights and weekends which would be great.  And the other is for an asistantship in the president’s office.  I think I’m super-qualified for the one in the president’s office so hopefully that works out. Both job searches closed yesterday so I hope to hear back soon.

So far, I’m finding lots of good ways to have adventures and I look forward to continuing to make my niche in Lubbock.

My weekend ends on Monday

Jess on September 8, 2008

And starts on Thursday. Baller.

I think I promised a blog sometime this morning about my weekend and it never arrived when promised, but here it is now! My weekend technically begins Thursday at 5:30 or whenever my class is out. This particular Thursday I had plans with the museum science girls to go to Wild West which is a hip hop and country dance club in the Depot. It was pretty… interesting. I had a good time even though I ended up only really hanging out with Nancy, Mary and Hilary. I really like those three girls though so it was fine. The night started with us meeting at Nancy’s where we pre-drank a little bit and then we got a cab from Hilary’s to Wild West. We watched people dance and got some cheap drinks and eventually met up with the other girls for a few minutes and then headed back to watching people dance. Texas clubs are so overwhelming during country songs because everyone two-steps. And it’s not like during hip-hop where if you have a partner you dance with them and if you don’t then you dance by yourself. Pretty much, you have to be dancing with someone. So my new goal is to make Kyle learn to two-step. We’ll see how that goes. (Hint: probably poorly). Since Kyle was home sick and watching 24 with Sid and Amber, I two-stepped once but mostly just danced during the hip-hop-ish songs.

Friday, Kyle stayed in sick again but mostly just sleeping and Sid and Amber and I went to the First Friday Art Trail. I was so impressed! I was worried that it would be too Georgia O’Keefe and I’m not really her biggest fan, also I don’t like a lot of Southwestish art which narrows out the Taos scene. It turns out there’s a lot of painters who do things that I really do like here and the art gallery selection is pretty huge, especially on first friday. I made a couple lists of artists I was particularly impressed with and plan to return first thing in October! Next time, with Kyle in tow. Also, at the trail, we learned that the Llano winery which is right around here is pretty good at making wines so now we have plans to go on a tasting! I’m excited. I haven’t been wine tasting since last Labor day when Kyle and I went out with Duran and Neely.

Friday, we decided to go to the National Cowboy Symposium on Saturday but instead we went to the Pow-wow which was free. Unfortunately, we showed up right as they took their hour dinner break so we left without seeing much and ended up not returning. The chuckwagon cook-off looked like a lot of fun though. There were all kinds of wagons about and the leftover smell seemed delicious. Hopefully we’ll make it next year before we leave.

Last night, new episodes of Entourage started on HBO and also their new series True Blood aired its first episode. I really liked True Blood and I think Entourage is going to recover from what was a lackluster ending of last season. Hopefully, at least. Jeremy Piven’s character is as appealing as ever and seems a bit snappier than I remembered him, but then, my love of Ari Gold is pretty unfailing in its sincerity. True Blood was really good too. Maybe I just love Anna Paquin. Maybe I just love vampires. Maybe most shows with pilots on HBO are good (though Rome I found not catching). Anyway, I’m excited for the next episode and I’m hoping Anna Paquin ceases to be blonde soon.

Speaking of blondes… I dyed my hair lighter. In bright lights it is the color of honey and it makes my eyes look pretty. Kyle seems to like it quite a bit and I figure that in six or so weeks I’ll go red so I’d rather go from already-lighter to red so my natural hair color doesn’t suck most of the luster out of the red. Or something. Anyway, I like how it looks.

Pictures are up at pulse of the new furniture in the house and stuff from the rehearsal dinner!

Are we really happy with who we are right now?

Jess on September 7, 2008

So I’ll admit that I’ve been listening to Moneen again. Sorry. I can’t really help it too much. I just like them so much live. And it seems that they’re in that category of bands that I seem to never outgrow.

The answer to the question is yes, by the way.

Kyle and I are both starting to recover from our colds. I feel a lot better every day and he’s starting to feel a bit better everyday though he is taking longer to get back to fully functional than I did. I basically annihilated this cold with sinus rinse and zicam. I’m convinced this cocktail is one of the best for knocking out a cold. I’m also pretty impressed that I managed to keep the cold from moving into my sinuses cos that would have made for a bad time while we wait for my new health insurance to kick in. Kyle’s still asleep this morning and I’m hoping that a really long sleep will knock all of the sick out of him before we have to start a new week of classes tomorrow. He doesn’t have class until tomorrow afternoon though so he can probably be sick for much longer.

We’ve been keeping house pretty well, despite our sickness, and I really really enjoy being married, at least after the first week. One of our wedding gifts from the Bearman’s was placemats. I think Shelley will be surprised that such a simple part of their gift has made such a huge impact on our apartment, but basically, the table that Kyle painted (which I think is beautiful, by the way) suffered a bit of damage on the way down here. The damage that’s really bad is limited mostly to the leaf, however, so we were using the table in the center of our dining area as a square. Now that we have placemats, combined with a table runner, we can cover up all the damage so our table looks even better. I’ll have pictures up in the gallery later. I took a bunch last night.

Yesterday morning I woke up at 7:30 which seems to be my body’s new preferred time to rise. I’m not complaining though, it’s nice to have a whole day at my command instead of just part of it like when I sleep in. I started thinking about the few things we still needed to do around the apartment to have it exactly to my liking and decided that a trip to Home Depot was in order to get things to build the bench we had our wedding party sign at the wedding. It’s the bench that was a section of the bleacher on which we got engaged that Dr. Wynn bought us. It looks great now with it’s white legs and can hold a person but will more likely hold my purse and his wallet and cd faces or whatever in our entry way where it sets under my other project of yesterday. I made, in honor of Nicky’s coffee table chalkboard on her wall, a chalkboard out of a 2×2 piece of plywood. It hangs above the table and suits the living room well, I think. I like the graininess of the plywood and I’m hoping that it catches a little bit of chalk so it really starts to look interesting. As it is, I do not yet have chalk so I need to get going on that. I’m anxious to see how it works! Since it’s so close to the door, I included some key hooks on it so we have a place to always find out keys. Haha. I feel like such a grown-up these days.

Alright, I have a lot more to say about last weeks social engagements but I will save that for my next entry when I’m a little farther in to my reading for the week. I still need to straighten up the house and get to the museum library at one so I can get back here quickly. I’ll post pictures and journal again this evening or this time tomorrow.