OK, while the best art museum in this town will remain the National Gallery of Art, the Phillips Collection gets the prize for the best atmosphere of an art museum. While I especially felt under dressed here (though I usually do in this town), The Phillips Collection is comprised of two buildings, one a modern building and the other, an old house off of Dupont Circle. So, for part of your walk through the museum, you're in a typical "museum" setting with perfect lighting and few windows. For the other part, you wander into the old Victorian house and feel like someone has let you wander their house, enjoying their art collection. It created a very intimate feeling to the museum which I enjoyed. Don't get me wrong, I love my Louvre but the small setting of feeling like I stepped into some one's parlor to comment on their O'Keefe was a unique and special experience.
And then there is the painting that I went to see. I turned a corner and there it was, so much bigger than I expected. Renoir's Luncheon of the Boating Party. It literally took my breath away and I had to sit on the bench in front of it and stare (around the two men who insisted on discussing the painting for what felt like eons directly in front of it). Renoir has always been my second favorite (not being a tortured enough artist for me to love as much as my Van Gogh). To see this painting, arguably not his best, but his best-known, work was a joy. It ranks up there with turning the corner to see Starry Night at MOMA or finding down in the basement Crows with Wheatfield in Amsterdam. I will admit, I thought it was smaller because of the film Amelie. The canvas in the movie is smaller that the painting actually is but I admit I also stared at the girl with the glass and smiled. The colors also blew me away. The flowers on the girl's hat with the dog were so vivid and textured, I would have sworn they were just painted yesterday. Also, this painting has such movement. You expect to see the next moments at any second, as if you were watching a film instead of looking at a painting. I have said it before, but I'll say it again, I wish I could see the world the way the Impressionists saw it. We all should be so lucky.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
learning goal check
(reflective report for school)
I thought this week since I only have about three weeks left I should reflect a little on how I am doing with my project and my learning goals for the summer. For one, I am realizing now that I was unrealistic in thinking I could complete the project this summer. It was never the intention of my supervisor that I should finish however; I thought to myself I could get the main boxes scanned over the course of the summer. I started on the letter H. I am just now rounding the corner of the letter L. It sounds like I have not gotten far at all. But looking at the numbers, I have scanned over 1770 photos into the database. Sadly, I am never going to see the final steps of the project personally at SIA. The refining of the metadata, the linking of the actual photo file to the database entry and the launch of the database into SIRIS, the Smithsonian Institute database on-line where it would be searchable by the user will take place long after I am back at school or even out in the work force. I am just starting to realize the massive amount of time and resources it takes to make a project like this get off the ground and to finally see it completed.
My supervisor took time to explain to me this week about the SIRIS protocol and what the collection will need to go through still after the scanning is done. She was very interested in using flickr as a resource to help identify people we know little or nothing about in the Science Service photos. The Smithsonian Institute and the Library of Congress have both already utilized flickr to not only give better access to their users but to tap into their users’ information. It is amazing to me the network of resources outside of an institution that are available if we only have the tools to use them. I will be interested to see if flickr or a site like it will be used with my collection in the future. This fit well into one of my learning goals for the summer which was to understand how a digitization project comes together from start to finish, what an institution needs to know or learn to make a project of this magnitude a worth-while endeavor that will ultimately help the user of an archives to better access and understand a collection. What I find interesting in this case, with the Science Service photos, is we have a lot of blanks. Photos with only initials and a last name or, worst-case scenario, simply a last name. No university, no area of science to go off on. I have googled many and come up with full names for few. It is another project in itself and one that digitization of the photos could help complete if SIA decides to go the ‘flickr route.’
Along with the start to finish of a digitization project, I have learned a lot about processing collections: when to toss, when to keep, when a finding aid is “good enough” to work for the moment. Something the classroom and the real world have both agreed on whole heartedly is there is never enough time, people, or money to do everything you want to do with a collection and its finding aid. Sometimes, one simply has to say that it is as good as it is going to get for the moment and move on. A perfectionist would die a slow and painful death in the archives. You are perpetually leaving everything half done with the idea that some day you will come back and finish that finding aid to perfection, list other collections that link to it in the archives and elsewhere, come back and digitize everything. In reality, the collections I put back on the shelf today at Fullerton will probably never be returned to – they will live with a simple listing of folders and a brief summary of where the papers come from and what they may pertain to during the dates listed. A user could use them easily, true, but we could do better…if we had time.
So, my learning goals are there. I feel I have gleaned a lot from my digitization project as well as the time I have spent processing collections. I learned patience certainly but from discussing the big picture, I see that it is hard work and lives you often with the feeling that if you only had a little more time, it could be done that much better. It is a problem found in many lines of work. However, I often find myself wondering, as I work on a collection, which will use it next and what can I add to a finding aid to help them in their scavenger hunt. So I add a few lines to a summary, a few lines after a folder name to say something interesting I have found in my perusal of the collection over a few hours of processing. It is not much but the user is something SI has made me very aware of and I feel that one of my lessons, even if it was not in my learning goals or even something my supervisor has pointed out to me, is that the user is always there in the back of my mind and I am working to make the user’s quest in the archives go that much smoother. If it takes me five extra minutes at my computer, in the end, I think it is worth it.
I thought this week since I only have about three weeks left I should reflect a little on how I am doing with my project and my learning goals for the summer. For one, I am realizing now that I was unrealistic in thinking I could complete the project this summer. It was never the intention of my supervisor that I should finish however; I thought to myself I could get the main boxes scanned over the course of the summer. I started on the letter H. I am just now rounding the corner of the letter L. It sounds like I have not gotten far at all. But looking at the numbers, I have scanned over 1770 photos into the database. Sadly, I am never going to see the final steps of the project personally at SIA. The refining of the metadata, the linking of the actual photo file to the database entry and the launch of the database into SIRIS, the Smithsonian Institute database on-line where it would be searchable by the user will take place long after I am back at school or even out in the work force. I am just starting to realize the massive amount of time and resources it takes to make a project like this get off the ground and to finally see it completed.
My supervisor took time to explain to me this week about the SIRIS protocol and what the collection will need to go through still after the scanning is done. She was very interested in using flickr as a resource to help identify people we know little or nothing about in the Science Service photos. The Smithsonian Institute and the Library of Congress have both already utilized flickr to not only give better access to their users but to tap into their users’ information. It is amazing to me the network of resources outside of an institution that are available if we only have the tools to use them. I will be interested to see if flickr or a site like it will be used with my collection in the future. This fit well into one of my learning goals for the summer which was to understand how a digitization project comes together from start to finish, what an institution needs to know or learn to make a project of this magnitude a worth-while endeavor that will ultimately help the user of an archives to better access and understand a collection. What I find interesting in this case, with the Science Service photos, is we have a lot of blanks. Photos with only initials and a last name or, worst-case scenario, simply a last name. No university, no area of science to go off on. I have googled many and come up with full names for few. It is another project in itself and one that digitization of the photos could help complete if SIA decides to go the ‘flickr route.’
Along with the start to finish of a digitization project, I have learned a lot about processing collections: when to toss, when to keep, when a finding aid is “good enough” to work for the moment. Something the classroom and the real world have both agreed on whole heartedly is there is never enough time, people, or money to do everything you want to do with a collection and its finding aid. Sometimes, one simply has to say that it is as good as it is going to get for the moment and move on. A perfectionist would die a slow and painful death in the archives. You are perpetually leaving everything half done with the idea that some day you will come back and finish that finding aid to perfection, list other collections that link to it in the archives and elsewhere, come back and digitize everything. In reality, the collections I put back on the shelf today at Fullerton will probably never be returned to – they will live with a simple listing of folders and a brief summary of where the papers come from and what they may pertain to during the dates listed. A user could use them easily, true, but we could do better…if we had time.
So, my learning goals are there. I feel I have gleaned a lot from my digitization project as well as the time I have spent processing collections. I learned patience certainly but from discussing the big picture, I see that it is hard work and lives you often with the feeling that if you only had a little more time, it could be done that much better. It is a problem found in many lines of work. However, I often find myself wondering, as I work on a collection, which will use it next and what can I add to a finding aid to help them in their scavenger hunt. So I add a few lines to a summary, a few lines after a folder name to say something interesting I have found in my perusal of the collection over a few hours of processing. It is not much but the user is something SI has made me very aware of and I feel that one of my lessons, even if it was not in my learning goals or even something my supervisor has pointed out to me, is that the user is always there in the back of my mind and I am working to make the user’s quest in the archives go that much smoother. If it takes me five extra minutes at my computer, in the end, I think it is worth it.
Monday, July 21, 2008
A weekend of cemeteries
It was actually more cheerful than it sounds for the most part. Work last week went quickly. Having Monday off helped a lot. I scanned for three days and was out at Fullerton again on Friday where I finished the collection I had started the week before so that was good. I also finally got a chance to meet with my supervisor for a bit and got a lot of questions cleared up I had lingering from the appraisal I had tagged along to plus some questions I had about the scanning project I was working on. Friday night I stayed over at Mackenzie's since we planned on leaving at the crack of dawn on Saturday morning.
Actually, it wasn't even dawn yet. We left DC at 4:30 AM and arrived in Gettysburg a little before 6 AM. We headed up to Little Round Top to have a view of the battlefields before the sun rose. I have to admit, seeing the misty fields and the sky lighten purply red was beautiful. I lived there for four years and didn't see it. Funny the things you never get around to doing just because you assume you have all the time in the world to do them in. We continued on down into the park afterwards, watching the sun come up before we had breakfast at LD's after a brief side trip onto campus to get to the ATM. Campus is a bit torn up at the moment. They're building the new athletic center but the new child care center they opened last year looks beautiful even if it was weird to see a building where Stone Lot used to be. After breakfast, we walked the National Cemetery all the way down to the Lincoln Memorial Wall at the back with the Gettysburg Address engraved next to a bust of Lincoln. We then drove up to the Peace Light and did a lot of the Auto Tour. We also climbed to the top of Big Round Top - not that you can tell from the pictures - not much a view through all the trees up there.
We stopped at the new Visitor's Center on the way out of Gettysburg and it is HUGE! I think the new store is bigger than the entire old building. I didn't like that the old buildings were just sitting there crumbling though - they need to tear them down or find a use for them - they look awful. The new center is beautiful though and huge and fits the needs of the area much better so kudos to the designer. We headed over to Lancaster next and explored Amish Country. We just drove around, picking a few side roads to explore down, to see off the "real" Amish, not the tourist displays. Their farms are simply beautiful - so big and in perfect condition. A lot of farms were bringing in their hay so they had these beautiful Belgian work teams out in the fields. It was different to see work horses actually "working" instead of the hitch classes I loved watching at the state fair. I have a lot of respect for their way of life but I don't think I'm signing up for it any time soon. I wouldn't last long anyway. What would they do with a girl who can't sew or cook to save her life? I might not be such a hopeless case with baking...hmmm....something to think about. Maybe I could do a vacation to Amish Country and stay on a farm for a week. I think that would be enough time for me to miss my computer and air conditioning sufficiently enough.
We made one more stop in PA - Harrisburg. We visited the Capital building which is very ornate and decorated within an inch of its life. It also looked very rich - something tells me Albany would not be this impressive. One of these days I should visit my home state's capital though...add that to my list. We got back to DC around 6 PM and I had a quiet night after that.
I didn't start as early the next morning as I had wanted to so it was already blazing when I got to Arlington National Cemetery. Visiting a place with little shade in a Code Red Heat Advisory is a bad idea - I advise against it. I especially advise against climbing hills and stairs to visit graves in this heat. Just some friendly advise. However, I liked seeing the Kennedy graves again - they are beautifully presented on the hill overlooking DC. I then walked up to Arlington House and saw the house (not much there currently) and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers from the Civil War. I started the trek then to the Tomb of the Unknowns. Made it there in time to see the Changing of the Guard which was great - such ceremony to a little thing. Must be the British left in us. I felt bad for those guys though in full outfit under than sun. It must have been 100 by then.
After the Changing, I walked over to the Challenger memorial. I was pleased to see a memorial had been added for the Columbia crew as well. Not a tear shed yet which was impressive as I'd even listened to John Denver's tribute to the Challenger crew (They Were Flying For Me) before I came (I swear my iPod is psychic - what song does she most not want to hear on the way to Arlington?) which never fails to tear me up on its own. Lastly, I walked up to the mast of the USS Maine, the ship sunk off the coast of Cuba during the Spanish-American War. After that, I had to hike all the way back to the start of the cemetery. At that point, the $15 tour bus looked like money well spent but I stuck it out. Luckily, all of Kathy's reminders of sun screen and water had been remembered before I left the house so I didn't melt.
Once back on the Metro, I had some time to kill so I found a bookstore off Metro Center and succeeded in only spending $10 - this is impressive people, look impressed - before I headed over to Chinatown to see Mamma Mia! In not spoiling the movie for anyone, I was pleasantly surprised by the film. They stayed very close to the musical's original plot - always keeps me happy - and even kept a lot of the fun dances I remember from the stage show. My one gripe is that, I am sorry, but Pierce Brosnan cannot sing. It was painful at times. This is why James Bond does not sing people and he shouldn't have too. Even Meryl Streep, a woman who I didn't think had a musical bone in her body, sounded better than him. In fact, I was very surprised by Meryl's performance. She had me won over by the end (although, I would have staged The Winner Takes It All a bit different but that's just me). Other than that, it gets three stars from me.
This week is looking fairly standard. I have another report due on Friday so I need to come up with a topic for it here soon. I also am hoping to go see The Phillips Collection on Thursday night and then I think my museum/gallery list is complete - I may have a few stragglers to finish up. I'm actually not down here for much longer which is blowing my mind - I'm not quite sure where the summer went to be honest. However, I have a full couple of weeks left so I'm making the most of it.
Actually, it wasn't even dawn yet. We left DC at 4:30 AM and arrived in Gettysburg a little before 6 AM. We headed up to Little Round Top to have a view of the battlefields before the sun rose. I have to admit, seeing the misty fields and the sky lighten purply red was beautiful. I lived there for four years and didn't see it. Funny the things you never get around to doing just because you assume you have all the time in the world to do them in. We continued on down into the park afterwards, watching the sun come up before we had breakfast at LD's after a brief side trip onto campus to get to the ATM. Campus is a bit torn up at the moment. They're building the new athletic center but the new child care center they opened last year looks beautiful even if it was weird to see a building where Stone Lot used to be. After breakfast, we walked the National Cemetery all the way down to the Lincoln Memorial Wall at the back with the Gettysburg Address engraved next to a bust of Lincoln. We then drove up to the Peace Light and did a lot of the Auto Tour. We also climbed to the top of Big Round Top - not that you can tell from the pictures - not much a view through all the trees up there.
We stopped at the new Visitor's Center on the way out of Gettysburg and it is HUGE! I think the new store is bigger than the entire old building. I didn't like that the old buildings were just sitting there crumbling though - they need to tear them down or find a use for them - they look awful. The new center is beautiful though and huge and fits the needs of the area much better so kudos to the designer. We headed over to Lancaster next and explored Amish Country. We just drove around, picking a few side roads to explore down, to see off the "real" Amish, not the tourist displays. Their farms are simply beautiful - so big and in perfect condition. A lot of farms were bringing in their hay so they had these beautiful Belgian work teams out in the fields. It was different to see work horses actually "working" instead of the hitch classes I loved watching at the state fair. I have a lot of respect for their way of life but I don't think I'm signing up for it any time soon. I wouldn't last long anyway. What would they do with a girl who can't sew or cook to save her life? I might not be such a hopeless case with baking...hmmm....something to think about. Maybe I could do a vacation to Amish Country and stay on a farm for a week. I think that would be enough time for me to miss my computer and air conditioning sufficiently enough.
We made one more stop in PA - Harrisburg. We visited the Capital building which is very ornate and decorated within an inch of its life. It also looked very rich - something tells me Albany would not be this impressive. One of these days I should visit my home state's capital though...add that to my list. We got back to DC around 6 PM and I had a quiet night after that.
I didn't start as early the next morning as I had wanted to so it was already blazing when I got to Arlington National Cemetery. Visiting a place with little shade in a Code Red Heat Advisory is a bad idea - I advise against it. I especially advise against climbing hills and stairs to visit graves in this heat. Just some friendly advise. However, I liked seeing the Kennedy graves again - they are beautifully presented on the hill overlooking DC. I then walked up to Arlington House and saw the house (not much there currently) and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers from the Civil War. I started the trek then to the Tomb of the Unknowns. Made it there in time to see the Changing of the Guard which was great - such ceremony to a little thing. Must be the British left in us. I felt bad for those guys though in full outfit under than sun. It must have been 100 by then.
After the Changing, I walked over to the Challenger memorial. I was pleased to see a memorial had been added for the Columbia crew as well. Not a tear shed yet which was impressive as I'd even listened to John Denver's tribute to the Challenger crew (They Were Flying For Me) before I came (I swear my iPod is psychic - what song does she most not want to hear on the way to Arlington?) which never fails to tear me up on its own. Lastly, I walked up to the mast of the USS Maine, the ship sunk off the coast of Cuba during the Spanish-American War. After that, I had to hike all the way back to the start of the cemetery. At that point, the $15 tour bus looked like money well spent but I stuck it out. Luckily, all of Kathy's reminders of sun screen and water had been remembered before I left the house so I didn't melt.
Once back on the Metro, I had some time to kill so I found a bookstore off Metro Center and succeeded in only spending $10 - this is impressive people, look impressed - before I headed over to Chinatown to see Mamma Mia! In not spoiling the movie for anyone, I was pleasantly surprised by the film. They stayed very close to the musical's original plot - always keeps me happy - and even kept a lot of the fun dances I remember from the stage show. My one gripe is that, I am sorry, but Pierce Brosnan cannot sing. It was painful at times. This is why James Bond does not sing people and he shouldn't have too. Even Meryl Streep, a woman who I didn't think had a musical bone in her body, sounded better than him. In fact, I was very surprised by Meryl's performance. She had me won over by the end (although, I would have staged The Winner Takes It All a bit different but that's just me). Other than that, it gets three stars from me.
This week is looking fairly standard. I have another report due on Friday so I need to come up with a topic for it here soon. I also am hoping to go see The Phillips Collection on Thursday night and then I think my museum/gallery list is complete - I may have a few stragglers to finish up. I'm actually not down here for much longer which is blowing my mind - I'm not quite sure where the summer went to be honest. However, I have a full couple of weeks left so I'm making the most of it.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Family Times
When family comes to visit, I have time for nothing else. Last week was fairly quiet at work. I finished another box on Thursday and was out at Fullerton in Virginia all day on Friday. My parents and Ally got here on Saturday afternoon. I went with them to their hotel over in Georgetown. It was a very nice hotel - I was impressed. After they settled in, we walked down to Foggy Bottom to get them metro cards for the next two days. We'd made plans to meet Kathy and Scott on the waterfront from dinner so we were going to head to Georgetown. We took the bus over to Kennedy Center and walked down past Watergate and the waterfront into downtown Georgetown and the shopping district. I got a a great deal in H&M and we wondered the Shops at Georgetown (a mall) before we headed back to the waterfront. We ate at Tony and Joe's, a seafood restaurant right on the docks - it was a beautiful night.
The next day we did the Smithsonian Zoo in the morning. Mom got to see her pandas. Her and Daddy went early so Mom actually got to see them moving. All I saw them doing was sleep - lol. The sea lions were the best to watch though and they had tons of a personal favorite, the golden lion tamerin. It got pretty crowded by the beginning of the afternoon so we headed out. We had planned to do the monuments this night but it started to pour just after we got off the metro at L'Enfant. So we headed back to Union Station so Dad could take pictures somewhere. :-)
The next morning, Ally and I did the Holocaust Memorial Museum while Mom and Dad did the Air & Space Museum. It was my third time doing the Holocaust Museum and I got through it this time without crying once - I am making progress. After we met up with Mom and Dad, we went and ate at the Natural History Museum and then went and visited the new Jim Henson exhibit at the International Gallery. I am in love with this exhibit - it has some of Henson's earliest artwork along with lots of video footage throughout. Not too mention, puppets of Kermit, the Fraggles, Bert and Ernie, Rowlf and more. I am totally going back several times. Its open until October so anyone coming down - you must go!
After that, we went back to the hotel for a bit before driving back down to eat dinner. We ate at an Italian restaurant at the Ronald Reagan building - I had this fabulous Primavera dish. Afterwards, we walked over to see the White House so Ally could see it before she left again. From there, we drove over to the Capitol building and Dad took pictures forever. Thankfully, there was a band playing on the Capitol Steps so I did some swing dancing on the lawn of the Capitol to entertain myself. We did a family picture too - our first since Ally could talk. It's been awhile...Next was the Lincoln Memorial and we got to meet up with Aunt Michele, Uncle Joe and Joey here so that was great. We then walked down to the World War II memorial. This is very close to my favorite one - it was beautiful to see at night with all the lights in the water.
The next morning, the family took off for Atlantic City, Ally shoved into the backseat (luckily, I managed to get my stuff on the route home - not much leg room because of it though - sorry!). I got to meet Aunt Michele, Uncle Joe and Joey for lunch yesterday luckily. I had them meet me at the food court at the NMAI - the best food court of the Smithsonian which they loved so I was glad we got to eat together then :-)
The rest of this week is shaping up. I'm back at Fullerton on Friday. The new Batman movie comes out this weekend and I'm off to Gettysburg of all places on Sunday. First time back since I graduated so it's going to be weird but good. I'm excited for some Rita's and dinner at LD's again though :-)
The next day we did the Smithsonian Zoo in the morning. Mom got to see her pandas. Her and Daddy went early so Mom actually got to see them moving. All I saw them doing was sleep - lol. The sea lions were the best to watch though and they had tons of a personal favorite, the golden lion tamerin. It got pretty crowded by the beginning of the afternoon so we headed out. We had planned to do the monuments this night but it started to pour just after we got off the metro at L'Enfant. So we headed back to Union Station so Dad could take pictures somewhere. :-)
The next morning, Ally and I did the Holocaust Memorial Museum while Mom and Dad did the Air & Space Museum. It was my third time doing the Holocaust Museum and I got through it this time without crying once - I am making progress. After we met up with Mom and Dad, we went and ate at the Natural History Museum and then went and visited the new Jim Henson exhibit at the International Gallery. I am in love with this exhibit - it has some of Henson's earliest artwork along with lots of video footage throughout. Not too mention, puppets of Kermit, the Fraggles, Bert and Ernie, Rowlf and more. I am totally going back several times. Its open until October so anyone coming down - you must go!
After that, we went back to the hotel for a bit before driving back down to eat dinner. We ate at an Italian restaurant at the Ronald Reagan building - I had this fabulous Primavera dish. Afterwards, we walked over to see the White House so Ally could see it before she left again. From there, we drove over to the Capitol building and Dad took pictures forever. Thankfully, there was a band playing on the Capitol Steps so I did some swing dancing on the lawn of the Capitol to entertain myself. We did a family picture too - our first since Ally could talk. It's been awhile...Next was the Lincoln Memorial and we got to meet up with Aunt Michele, Uncle Joe and Joey here so that was great. We then walked down to the World War II memorial. This is very close to my favorite one - it was beautiful to see at night with all the lights in the water.
The next morning, the family took off for Atlantic City, Ally shoved into the backseat (luckily, I managed to get my stuff on the route home - not much leg room because of it though - sorry!). I got to meet Aunt Michele, Uncle Joe and Joey for lunch yesterday luckily. I had them meet me at the food court at the NMAI - the best food court of the Smithsonian which they loved so I was glad we got to eat together then :-)
The rest of this week is shaping up. I'm back at Fullerton on Friday. The new Batman movie comes out this weekend and I'm off to Gettysburg of all places on Sunday. First time back since I graduated so it's going to be weird but good. I'm excited for some Rita's and dinner at LD's again though :-)
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Work Culture at SIA
(reflective report for school)
For this week’s report, I wanted to reflect a little on the work culture and management of the archives at the Smithsonian. The other archive I had worked in prior to this internship was my undergraduate college’s archive. While the students there were allowed to dress casually, for the most part, it was a formal environment to work in with a hands-on management style. The Smithsonian archives takes a much more casual, hands-off approach to management that creates a very casual, very relaxed work culture where there is little difference between the manager and the intern in how you interact.
In terms of management, which in turn creates the work culture, there is very little “intense” management. My supervisor works on the opposite side of the building from where the scanning room, where I spend most of my time, is located. She comes over to see me maybe twice a day if she is even in the office. Often much of the staff is out of the office at other archive locations or involved in work at other museums for the Smithsonian. Because of this, I am in charge of my time management and project advancement. I have no manager breathing down my neck if I get a bit behind on a box because there were more pictures in some of the folders than usual. I have no deadline except what I myself set. For my work style, this type of management is perfect. I have a lot of independence in how I structure my days. On certain days that I am out of the scanning room and either out at the Fullerton warehouse or working on a different collection at Capital Gallery, I am always given instructions first and ask any questions before I am set loose and once again, I set my own pace. This works very well for me, as I stated before. I do not hesitate to ask questions if I get stuck or confused but I am not left feeling like my supervisor will be constantly looking over my shoulder either. For me, this means I enjoy the work more, learn more and work harder. I am my hardest taskmaster. A more controlling management style would get me nervous and flustered and I would enjoy the work less.
That said I found having my work checked over is a good thing for me. A fellow intern is doing quality control on my work in the scanning room, making sure my entries in the database are filled out correctly and match up to the digital image. Being my own taskmaster so often means I can get a little sloppy. I think I tend to get into a zone of repetition and stop paying as much attention as I need to the details. Having my work checked this past week reminded me that, while I enjoy my independence at work, I also need to police myself a bit better in general. I am trying to check over my entries at the end of the day to make sure I did not forget something silly like changing a folder name or not putting a “dr.” before someone’s name where it belongs. If I take the time to do this, most of the mistakes my fellow intern is finding would disappear.
Because of this management system, the work culture at SIA is very casual and informal. The director of the archives is approachable by everyone and anyone in her office. All have an open-door policy. I joke and laugh with my supervisor a lot and they encourage all the interns to discuss our projects but also just to talk in general. We have the Internet radio playing when I am over in the archives offices, working on a collection. We share fun or weird discoveries in our collections with each other and our supervisors. The dress code is very casual so I personally am even more in a comfort zone at work. The Records management side tends to be a bit more formal so I am definitely more comfortable in the archives offices even if I spend the most time on the records management side in the scanning room. It is an interesting office because of the physical split in where the archives have their offices and workspace and where the records management teams have offices. However, while more formal in dress, the records management people are just as casual in manner and also add their own radio and stories to the atmosphere of the office. Overall, I find it a very comfortable and relaxing place to work. I like being able to set my pace and be my own manager for the most part around people who are encouraging and helpful as well as genuinely interested in sharing their experiences and learning mine.
For this week’s report, I wanted to reflect a little on the work culture and management of the archives at the Smithsonian. The other archive I had worked in prior to this internship was my undergraduate college’s archive. While the students there were allowed to dress casually, for the most part, it was a formal environment to work in with a hands-on management style. The Smithsonian archives takes a much more casual, hands-off approach to management that creates a very casual, very relaxed work culture where there is little difference between the manager and the intern in how you interact.
In terms of management, which in turn creates the work culture, there is very little “intense” management. My supervisor works on the opposite side of the building from where the scanning room, where I spend most of my time, is located. She comes over to see me maybe twice a day if she is even in the office. Often much of the staff is out of the office at other archive locations or involved in work at other museums for the Smithsonian. Because of this, I am in charge of my time management and project advancement. I have no manager breathing down my neck if I get a bit behind on a box because there were more pictures in some of the folders than usual. I have no deadline except what I myself set. For my work style, this type of management is perfect. I have a lot of independence in how I structure my days. On certain days that I am out of the scanning room and either out at the Fullerton warehouse or working on a different collection at Capital Gallery, I am always given instructions first and ask any questions before I am set loose and once again, I set my own pace. This works very well for me, as I stated before. I do not hesitate to ask questions if I get stuck or confused but I am not left feeling like my supervisor will be constantly looking over my shoulder either. For me, this means I enjoy the work more, learn more and work harder. I am my hardest taskmaster. A more controlling management style would get me nervous and flustered and I would enjoy the work less.
That said I found having my work checked over is a good thing for me. A fellow intern is doing quality control on my work in the scanning room, making sure my entries in the database are filled out correctly and match up to the digital image. Being my own taskmaster so often means I can get a little sloppy. I think I tend to get into a zone of repetition and stop paying as much attention as I need to the details. Having my work checked this past week reminded me that, while I enjoy my independence at work, I also need to police myself a bit better in general. I am trying to check over my entries at the end of the day to make sure I did not forget something silly like changing a folder name or not putting a “dr.” before someone’s name where it belongs. If I take the time to do this, most of the mistakes my fellow intern is finding would disappear.
Because of this management system, the work culture at SIA is very casual and informal. The director of the archives is approachable by everyone and anyone in her office. All have an open-door policy. I joke and laugh with my supervisor a lot and they encourage all the interns to discuss our projects but also just to talk in general. We have the Internet radio playing when I am over in the archives offices, working on a collection. We share fun or weird discoveries in our collections with each other and our supervisors. The dress code is very casual so I personally am even more in a comfort zone at work. The Records management side tends to be a bit more formal so I am definitely more comfortable in the archives offices even if I spend the most time on the records management side in the scanning room. It is an interesting office because of the physical split in where the archives have their offices and workspace and where the records management teams have offices. However, while more formal in dress, the records management people are just as casual in manner and also add their own radio and stories to the atmosphere of the office. Overall, I find it a very comfortable and relaxing place to work. I like being able to set my pace and be my own manager for the most part around people who are encouraging and helpful as well as genuinely interested in sharing their experiences and learning mine.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Happy Fourth of July!
I hope everyone had a safe and happy 4th of July holiday. Mine started a bit early as we were let out of work on Thursday at lunch time. I took the opportunity to wander the Smithsonian's Folklife Festival on the Mall. I had fun wondering the tents with artisans from Bhutan but I really enjoyed the NASA tents. I got to speak with several astronauts and scientists about the International Space Station and NASA's plan to get man back to the moon by 2020.
After I wandered, I keep walking to see some of the monuments as I hadn't really done that yet since I got down here. I walked past the Washington Monument and on to the World War II Monument which I had not seen yet. It was beautifully done - very open and lots of water fountains and falls. The two sides represent the Atlantic and Pacific theaters with a separate pillar for each state and territory that sent men and women to fight during the war. A lot of the area was blocked off however I think this was because of the fourth of July - they launch the fireworks from the reflecting pool, only a short walk away from the monument. I continued on and walked through the Vietnam Memorial next. This memorial always makes me slightly uncomfortable but always in awe. There are always people taking rubbings and this time an entire family had come to place flowers under what I gathered was a son's/uncle's name. It's a very emotional memorial to walk through.
I next hiked on to the Lincoln Memorial and the Reflecting Pool. This whole area was a bit of a mess - it was fenced off for the fireworks and also they are doing some sort of road work it looks like in front of the monument so it's less than aesthetically pleasing currently. I climbed up all the stairs to the inside of the monument to see the statue of Lincoln and to read the Gettysburg Address on one wall, the other had his second inaugural speech on it. I also ducked into the exhibit under the monument (mostly to cool off to be honest) but it displayed quotes of Lincolns as well as video of the more momentous occasions that have happened on the steps of the Monument.
At this point, I could go no further so TJ's monument gets put off for another day. I started my way back up Constitution and when looking for a metro station, I found the Corcoran Gallery which was on my list of museums to visit. This is the first museum I've had to pay for since I came. For me, it was worth it though. I liked this museum's collections of American art a lot and I also liked the special exhibition of photography and film taken by several journalists in countries hit particularly hard with HIV/AIDS. It was thought-provoking exhibit. I also liked the Treasures of European Decorative Art and Sculpture rooms - including a completely transferred salon from 18th century Paris, The Salon Dore. I felt like I'd stepped back into Versailles for a moment. I made my way home after this.
On Friday, I took Kathy out to the Folklife Festival. We got caught in the parade since it starts late for a parade, at 11 AM. Once we got through one of the Mall's security checkpoints, it wasn't as crowded as we'd feared. We had fun exploring and I tried some Bhutanese cuisine (very tasty - I had momos, pork-filled dumplings with salsa) and we both downed Lime Fizzes (so good!). After that, we headed back home. We went and watched the fireworks at Kathy and Scott's friend's apartment building. His roof was the perfect place to watch - they were stunning though I like music with my fireworks, my only complaint. They should pipe a soundtrack through the city during the 4th of July fireworks, just a suggestion ;-)
Yesterday, I didn't do much. I got my phone fixed (yay) so I can do texting and get voicemail messages again. I watched a couple of movies and went grocery shopping. Today, I went and did the National Museum of Women in the Arts as it is free the first Sunday of every month. It's a good thing too - I would have been angry if I'd paid for this museum. It was just not worth it to me. First of all, it felt like a highly disorganized museum, there seemed to be no natural flow to see everything by. Also, the lighting was not the best at times. I don't mind when it means I can't take a picture, but at times, the natural lighting combined with the chandeliers meant I couldn't see the painting itself very well. This may be because, unlike many museums, this one had all the pictures with glass over them. However, I was glad for it when several unsupervised kids were reaching up and touching to see if they would get in trouble. Ugh - children in museums is fast becoming a pet peeve of mine. They always look bored and so they try to amuse themselves by annoying everyone around them. The only museum they seem to like, that I've noticed, is the NMNH which makes sense, dinosaur bones and rocks they can climb on are more kids' styles.
Overall, I was also unimpressed with the NMWA's collection in general. There were a few pieces I liked but most were uninteresting to me. I understand it is a small museum so they rotate what is on display a lot - maybe I caught a bad rotation? I am certainly glad I took advantage of the free Sunday to visit though. This week I probably won't be doing too much. My family is in town this coming weekend so I need to do laundry and get things organized for that. I may try to sneak the Phillips Collection in on Thursday since it's open late but if I get pressed for time as I have a report due this week, that may be moved again to a different week. Hope everyone has a great week!!
After I wandered, I keep walking to see some of the monuments as I hadn't really done that yet since I got down here. I walked past the Washington Monument and on to the World War II Monument which I had not seen yet. It was beautifully done - very open and lots of water fountains and falls. The two sides represent the Atlantic and Pacific theaters with a separate pillar for each state and territory that sent men and women to fight during the war. A lot of the area was blocked off however I think this was because of the fourth of July - they launch the fireworks from the reflecting pool, only a short walk away from the monument. I continued on and walked through the Vietnam Memorial next. This memorial always makes me slightly uncomfortable but always in awe. There are always people taking rubbings and this time an entire family had come to place flowers under what I gathered was a son's/uncle's name. It's a very emotional memorial to walk through.
I next hiked on to the Lincoln Memorial and the Reflecting Pool. This whole area was a bit of a mess - it was fenced off for the fireworks and also they are doing some sort of road work it looks like in front of the monument so it's less than aesthetically pleasing currently. I climbed up all the stairs to the inside of the monument to see the statue of Lincoln and to read the Gettysburg Address on one wall, the other had his second inaugural speech on it. I also ducked into the exhibit under the monument (mostly to cool off to be honest) but it displayed quotes of Lincolns as well as video of the more momentous occasions that have happened on the steps of the Monument.
At this point, I could go no further so TJ's monument gets put off for another day. I started my way back up Constitution and when looking for a metro station, I found the Corcoran Gallery which was on my list of museums to visit. This is the first museum I've had to pay for since I came. For me, it was worth it though. I liked this museum's collections of American art a lot and I also liked the special exhibition of photography and film taken by several journalists in countries hit particularly hard with HIV/AIDS. It was thought-provoking exhibit. I also liked the Treasures of European Decorative Art and Sculpture rooms - including a completely transferred salon from 18th century Paris, The Salon Dore. I felt like I'd stepped back into Versailles for a moment. I made my way home after this.
On Friday, I took Kathy out to the Folklife Festival. We got caught in the parade since it starts late for a parade, at 11 AM. Once we got through one of the Mall's security checkpoints, it wasn't as crowded as we'd feared. We had fun exploring and I tried some Bhutanese cuisine (very tasty - I had momos, pork-filled dumplings with salsa) and we both downed Lime Fizzes (so good!). After that, we headed back home. We went and watched the fireworks at Kathy and Scott's friend's apartment building. His roof was the perfect place to watch - they were stunning though I like music with my fireworks, my only complaint. They should pipe a soundtrack through the city during the 4th of July fireworks, just a suggestion ;-)
Yesterday, I didn't do much. I got my phone fixed (yay) so I can do texting and get voicemail messages again. I watched a couple of movies and went grocery shopping. Today, I went and did the National Museum of Women in the Arts as it is free the first Sunday of every month. It's a good thing too - I would have been angry if I'd paid for this museum. It was just not worth it to me. First of all, it felt like a highly disorganized museum, there seemed to be no natural flow to see everything by. Also, the lighting was not the best at times. I don't mind when it means I can't take a picture, but at times, the natural lighting combined with the chandeliers meant I couldn't see the painting itself very well. This may be because, unlike many museums, this one had all the pictures with glass over them. However, I was glad for it when several unsupervised kids were reaching up and touching to see if they would get in trouble. Ugh - children in museums is fast becoming a pet peeve of mine. They always look bored and so they try to amuse themselves by annoying everyone around them. The only museum they seem to like, that I've noticed, is the NMNH which makes sense, dinosaur bones and rocks they can climb on are more kids' styles.
Overall, I was also unimpressed with the NMWA's collection in general. There were a few pieces I liked but most were uninteresting to me. I understand it is a small museum so they rotate what is on display a lot - maybe I caught a bad rotation? I am certainly glad I took advantage of the free Sunday to visit though. This week I probably won't be doing too much. My family is in town this coming weekend so I need to do laundry and get things organized for that. I may try to sneak the Phillips Collection in on Thursday since it's open late but if I get pressed for time as I have a report due this week, that may be moved again to a different week. Hope everyone has a great week!!
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Visiting the Libraries
Luckily, I have only during the day on Saturday to write about and then this week and I am all caught up!
Saturday, I did the two libraries in my neighborhood. I started at the Folger Shakespeare Library, home of the largest collection of Shakespeare scholarship on this side of the Atlantic. It is quite small, most of it is only open to researchers but the current exhibit is on Armor and Shakespeare which was interesting to look through. My main reason for coming though was right inside the door of the Gallery. One of the First Folios. I had seen one in Stratford of course but I loved this one because it is encased with a touchscreen system which lets you digitally browse through the book as they have digitalized the first part of it. It was fun to look through and see the spellings and find my favorite lines. Like I was looking through Romeo and Juliet and found "I bite my thumb at thee sir!" It took me back to eighth grade and my first experience with Shakespeare (which I will admit, he's grown on me over the years). I also looked into the theater they have at the library. Their season is already done for the year which is a same, I would have liked to have seen a production there. Though it was sort of a poor substitute after seeing the Globe and the Royal Shakespeare Company theaters in Stratford, it was still faithful to the intimate and country feeling to the theaters of Shakespeare's time. I picked up a copy of Much Ado about Nothing while I was here. Now I am quoting my favorite Shakespeare heroine non-stop; I need a Benedick to burn my library for ;-)
After I finished at the Folger, I crossed the street to the Library of Congress. It seriously is one of my favorite buildings in DC. It has the unassuming green dome terraced, with the fabulous fountain out front and Minerva everywhere (they insist on the Roman names here so I will grudgingly use them - the Greek ones are prettier). I wondered in and just missed the start of the tour but since I couldn't see the Main Reading Room without a tour, I nonchalantly joined one in front of the Guttenburg Bible. I really enjoyed my tour actually. The tour guide was this adorable old woman who knew everything about every mural, stone bust and painting in the place. The Main Reading Room is sadly under refurbishment at the moment so sections of it are covered in scaffolding and sheets. But it was beautiful to finally see it in person after seeing it in the movies for so long. After the tour disbursed, I wondered Creating the United States which had drafts of the Declaration and Constitution on display along with countless letters and journals. I then found Thomas Jefferson's Library. It is a reconstruction of Jefferson's original library that he sold to Congress to start their library. It was a nice tie-in to my visit to Monticello last weekend though I wonder were exactly all those books fit at Monticello... I then walked through an exhibit on the Exploring Early America - lots of maps and arguments over who gets what land in the New World. There was a very neat case on pirating in the New World though. After this, I wondered downstairs and into the Bob Hope Gallery, focusing on Bob Hope but also looking at Vaudeville and Hollywood in general during his time. I saw yet another Oscar - seen a lot of those lately. I then shopped (of course - they had a book store people...) and picked up a great read on the presence of American Women in the Library. I then went and got my Reader's Card for the Library in the Madison Building so I can actually go and use the Library now if I want to which I am excited to do. I just need to figure out when exactly I am doing that and what I want to look at. The woman who did my application for the card gave me the name of a fabulous woman's history librarian so I hope to get a hold of her and look at some of their woman's collections. Maybe store up an idea for a thesis for when I get back to school for my woman's history masters....
This week has been fairly standard at work - I've been scanning all week with the new resolutions the Smithsonian just approved so my pictures take twice as long to scan now but I did the Kennedy files this week which were fascinating to look through and read all the newspaper clippings (like, FYI, did you know the Kennedys had a child die 20 hours after birth while in the White House? I didn't even know little Patrick Bouvier Kennedy ever existed...that family really is cursed.) We did have our staff picnic yesterday. They shut down the Folklife Festival to the public for the day and give us the run of the place. This year the tents are Texas, Bhutan and NASA (as it's their 50th anniversary this year). We ate at Texas - Taquitos but I want to try Bhutan when I go this weekend. Hopefully I don't murder any tourists before then. I cannot wait for the Fourth of July to be over and done with - too many Americans around for my taste. Most of the time I've noticed, the tourists come from outside the States. One day, eating lunch in my favorite spot, I didn't hear English anywhere around me. I like it that way - ugh, Americans.
I will report on the Fourth of July next. I cannot wait for this fireworks show!!!!!
Saturday, I did the two libraries in my neighborhood. I started at the Folger Shakespeare Library, home of the largest collection of Shakespeare scholarship on this side of the Atlantic. It is quite small, most of it is only open to researchers but the current exhibit is on Armor and Shakespeare which was interesting to look through. My main reason for coming though was right inside the door of the Gallery. One of the First Folios. I had seen one in Stratford of course but I loved this one because it is encased with a touchscreen system which lets you digitally browse through the book as they have digitalized the first part of it. It was fun to look through and see the spellings and find my favorite lines. Like I was looking through Romeo and Juliet and found "I bite my thumb at thee sir!" It took me back to eighth grade and my first experience with Shakespeare (which I will admit, he's grown on me over the years). I also looked into the theater they have at the library. Their season is already done for the year which is a same, I would have liked to have seen a production there. Though it was sort of a poor substitute after seeing the Globe and the Royal Shakespeare Company theaters in Stratford, it was still faithful to the intimate and country feeling to the theaters of Shakespeare's time. I picked up a copy of Much Ado about Nothing while I was here. Now I am quoting my favorite Shakespeare heroine non-stop; I need a Benedick to burn my library for ;-)
After I finished at the Folger, I crossed the street to the Library of Congress. It seriously is one of my favorite buildings in DC. It has the unassuming green dome terraced, with the fabulous fountain out front and Minerva everywhere (they insist on the Roman names here so I will grudgingly use them - the Greek ones are prettier). I wondered in and just missed the start of the tour but since I couldn't see the Main Reading Room without a tour, I nonchalantly joined one in front of the Guttenburg Bible. I really enjoyed my tour actually. The tour guide was this adorable old woman who knew everything about every mural, stone bust and painting in the place. The Main Reading Room is sadly under refurbishment at the moment so sections of it are covered in scaffolding and sheets. But it was beautiful to finally see it in person after seeing it in the movies for so long. After the tour disbursed, I wondered Creating the United States which had drafts of the Declaration and Constitution on display along with countless letters and journals. I then found Thomas Jefferson's Library. It is a reconstruction of Jefferson's original library that he sold to Congress to start their library. It was a nice tie-in to my visit to Monticello last weekend though I wonder were exactly all those books fit at Monticello... I then walked through an exhibit on the Exploring Early America - lots of maps and arguments over who gets what land in the New World. There was a very neat case on pirating in the New World though. After this, I wondered downstairs and into the Bob Hope Gallery, focusing on Bob Hope but also looking at Vaudeville and Hollywood in general during his time. I saw yet another Oscar - seen a lot of those lately. I then shopped (of course - they had a book store people...) and picked up a great read on the presence of American Women in the Library. I then went and got my Reader's Card for the Library in the Madison Building so I can actually go and use the Library now if I want to which I am excited to do. I just need to figure out when exactly I am doing that and what I want to look at. The woman who did my application for the card gave me the name of a fabulous woman's history librarian so I hope to get a hold of her and look at some of their woman's collections. Maybe store up an idea for a thesis for when I get back to school for my woman's history masters....
This week has been fairly standard at work - I've been scanning all week with the new resolutions the Smithsonian just approved so my pictures take twice as long to scan now but I did the Kennedy files this week which were fascinating to look through and read all the newspaper clippings (like, FYI, did you know the Kennedys had a child die 20 hours after birth while in the White House? I didn't even know little Patrick Bouvier Kennedy ever existed...that family really is cursed.) We did have our staff picnic yesterday. They shut down the Folklife Festival to the public for the day and give us the run of the place. This year the tents are Texas, Bhutan and NASA (as it's their 50th anniversary this year). We ate at Texas - Taquitos but I want to try Bhutan when I go this weekend. Hopefully I don't murder any tourists before then. I cannot wait for the Fourth of July to be over and done with - too many Americans around for my taste. Most of the time I've noticed, the tourists come from outside the States. One day, eating lunch in my favorite spot, I didn't hear English anywhere around me. I like it that way - ugh, Americans.
I will report on the Fourth of July next. I cannot wait for this fireworks show!!!!!
A brief ode to Disney
I am going to take a moment out of my current thread of DC topics to give a brief ode to my favorite company/entity/state of mind. This past weekend I not only saw yet another reason to love the marriage between Pixar and Disney in Wall-E, I was able to attend the opening weekend of The Lion King at Kennedy Center. It was like a brief visit into a world I usually have to fly to Orlando to get to.
In all my attempts to explain my love of the Mouse, I always get that blank look with a vague idea that the person is laughing at me behind their eyes. Why would someone who has gone to Walt Disney World ten times at last count long to go again? Haven't you seen it all yet? How many more pictures of the Castle does one really need? To which, any Disney fan worth their salt replies, just one more of course. Since being forced to grow up and go off to college and now graduate school, I don't get to go nearly as much as I used to (at least it feels that way - I think the truth is Mom and Daddy just go more now that my sister and I aren't home). So any little way I can bring Disney to me, I jump on it. I read the blogs faithfully and download the podcasts to listen to at work while haunting the discussion boards. Every new Disney movie, every time I can watch the Disney Channel for a little while, each time Samantha Brown is on the Travel Channel with a Disney special, I savor it.
So, a weekend where I get a movie and a musical, I am in heaven. Let us begin with Wall-E. I have been watching the trailer for this eons ago it seems and I knew I was already in love with the little guy before I sat down in the theater. For those of you who saw my facebook status later on Friday after I saw it, you know I found my soul mate. It is characters like Wall-E that cements my love for this entity that is Disney. Not too mention, they gave props to one of my all-time favorite musicals, Hello Dolly! How could I not love this?! Yet another reason I have to agree with many of the Disney Bloggers when they say Lasseter is the second coming of Disney.
Next up this past weekend was possible through a stroke of luck that must of used my luck quota up through next year. But it was worth it. My supervisor at work came in on Friday with a single ticket to see The Lion King, just opened at Kennedy Center this past week. I think it was the fact I practically jumped onto my knees for the ticket that got me the ticket - I must have looked pathetic but put Disney and Broadway together for me and that is near nirvana. So, I ventured off Saturday night to Kennedy Center, a place in and of itself amazing to see a production. The Opera House is massive with an absolutely beautiful ceiling fixture. It was lots of little chandeliers making up the design of a snowflake. I had seen The Lion King before in Rochester, NY, aka on a small stage and from several levels up. This night, I sat second row, three seats in from the aisle. The drummer was right next to me as well and was interesting in himself to watch at times. The first time I took in the spectacle that is the stage show, this time I got to revel in it. To see the facial expressions and to enjoy which was a better cast than my first experience. The opening sequence (recently just played on the Tony broadcast as it celebrating 10 years on Broadway) simply takes your breath away. It was a fabulous production and had that touch of something extra that I can only find from a Disney story - especially one hailing from the second golden age of Disney animation.
So, I just needed to get out an ode to a love of my life. I will now return the regularly scheduled programming of my DC summer.
In all my attempts to explain my love of the Mouse, I always get that blank look with a vague idea that the person is laughing at me behind their eyes. Why would someone who has gone to Walt Disney World ten times at last count long to go again? Haven't you seen it all yet? How many more pictures of the Castle does one really need? To which, any Disney fan worth their salt replies, just one more of course. Since being forced to grow up and go off to college and now graduate school, I don't get to go nearly as much as I used to (at least it feels that way - I think the truth is Mom and Daddy just go more now that my sister and I aren't home). So any little way I can bring Disney to me, I jump on it. I read the blogs faithfully and download the podcasts to listen to at work while haunting the discussion boards. Every new Disney movie, every time I can watch the Disney Channel for a little while, each time Samantha Brown is on the Travel Channel with a Disney special, I savor it.
So, a weekend where I get a movie and a musical, I am in heaven. Let us begin with Wall-E. I have been watching the trailer for this eons ago it seems and I knew I was already in love with the little guy before I sat down in the theater. For those of you who saw my facebook status later on Friday after I saw it, you know I found my soul mate. It is characters like Wall-E that cements my love for this entity that is Disney. Not too mention, they gave props to one of my all-time favorite musicals, Hello Dolly! How could I not love this?! Yet another reason I have to agree with many of the Disney Bloggers when they say Lasseter is the second coming of Disney.
Next up this past weekend was possible through a stroke of luck that must of used my luck quota up through next year. But it was worth it. My supervisor at work came in on Friday with a single ticket to see The Lion King, just opened at Kennedy Center this past week. I think it was the fact I practically jumped onto my knees for the ticket that got me the ticket - I must have looked pathetic but put Disney and Broadway together for me and that is near nirvana. So, I ventured off Saturday night to Kennedy Center, a place in and of itself amazing to see a production. The Opera House is massive with an absolutely beautiful ceiling fixture. It was lots of little chandeliers making up the design of a snowflake. I had seen The Lion King before in Rochester, NY, aka on a small stage and from several levels up. This night, I sat second row, three seats in from the aisle. The drummer was right next to me as well and was interesting in himself to watch at times. The first time I took in the spectacle that is the stage show, this time I got to revel in it. To see the facial expressions and to enjoy which was a better cast than my first experience. The opening sequence (recently just played on the Tony broadcast as it celebrating 10 years on Broadway) simply takes your breath away. It was a fabulous production and had that touch of something extra that I can only find from a Disney story - especially one hailing from the second golden age of Disney animation.
So, I just needed to get out an ode to a love of my life. I will now return the regularly scheduled programming of my DC summer.
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