Viva Espana! and my Evil Twin

I am going to the Alamo Drafthouse tonight to see this!

Couldn't be happier.  Javier, Wine, Cheese and good friends....That's all one needs in life to be happy!

On a more sinister note - I have been informed three times in the past month that there is a Goth Doppelganger of me running around the city of Austin.  My friend Sadie spotted her on the bus this morning, but alas, the ride was too bouncy for her to get a mug shot.  This is super odd that three people on three separate occasions have told me about seeing this girl. Another person texted me and said "hey are you at the bar, i think i see you here" when i was out of town.  All three people said they did a double take and thought it was me.  Crazzzzyyy!!!
I'm keeping my eye out now for this mad woman. I'll keep you updated if i get any more updates. 

animals live in the LOC....

HAWKS IN THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS?!

A Poem For You.

Went to Yoga this morning.  Before we began our class, the teacher read this poem.  I found it absolutely beautiful & had to share.

In a Tree House

Light

Will someday split you open

Even if your life is now a cage,

For a divine seed, the crown of destiny,

Is hidden and sown on an ancient, fertile plain

You hold the title to.

Love will surely bust you wide open

Into an unfettered, blooming new galaxy

Even if your mind is now

A spoiled mule.

A life-giving radiance will come,

The Friend's gratuity will come -

O look again within yourself,

For I know you were once the elegant host

To all the marvels in creation.

From a sacred crevice in your body

A bow rises each night

And shoots your soul into God.

Behold the Beautiful Drunk Singing One

From the lunar vantage point of love.

He is conducting the affairs

of the whole universe

While throwing wild parties

In a tree house - on a limb

In your heart.

~ Hafiz

from The Subject Tonight Is Love:

60 Wild and Sweet Poems of Hafiz

You're Gonna Be What? Old and Dusty stuff?!

Over the holidays, some family and friends asked me what I am DOING?

I realize we all ask ourselves this a lot.  And this question is the same as "what is the meaning of life?"  It is an endless search for Ahab's white whale, a continuous riddle for our hearts to ponder, laugh and cry about.  Let's hope mostly laugh about. Frowns kill!

"So you're gonna be an Archivist?"
"Yes."
"So you're going to preserve paper?"
"You're going to sit in a room with old stuff all day?!"
"You're going to look at old stuff? In a basement? With no sunlight or human contact?"
Yes and no.
I've struggled at times with what an Archivist does myself.  Mainly b/c you wear many hats as an Archivist: Researcher, Conservator, Lecturer, Teacher, Student, Shut-In [j/k ;) ], Records Manager, and Collection Curator. 
I saw this video today on YouTube and it really helped me with answering some of the questions asked of me from family and friends over break. 

Click here to see how Archives changes lives and history for the better!!! and - Ken Burns - he's so sweet on the eyes.......

Turning the Page!

Another year is upon us.
It is AMAZING how much can happen w/in a year.
Last year i had a hot boyfriend, a pretty good contract job for a recent graduate, and was living with my parents in Michigan.

Now, I am living up the single life, a grad student at UT, living in Austin, TX.
Many lessons have been learned and many have yet to be understood, but hey - i made it another year, dear!

This year, I hope to be more consistent in my Yoga practice.  I was doing good until, the move in August and then it went by the wayside.  That probably had something to do with the insane stress level I experienced these last few months of the year!

I also hope to find some Italian language lessons to take.  After being away from Italy for almost two years now, it seems my language skills have gone from conversational to non-existent. And that must be remedied if i am ever to retire in my own Tuscan Villa or Lagoon-front Venetian mansion.

I'd also like to give back in some sort of way.  Still looking into the most effective options.  

Last year, I made an intention for more patience and a better grasp on inner peace/serenity. I think i did really well with the patience intention.  I learned this year that stuff will NOT always go your way. but you have to "just go with it".  You cannot rush things or control them, so you might as well go with the pace you've been set at for whatever task you want to make happen.

Ya, the inner peace thing - that's just gonna have to continue into this year.  But I think that is also something one has to learn over a lifetime, not just one short year.

This year has been yet again one filled with health & happiness in my family and i am truly blessed for these two gifts.  Without my family, i don't know what i'd do.

And finally, I learned that men are stupid. And they like big boobs.

My favorite albums of 2010 included (not all were new releases):
Joanna Newsom - Have One On Me
Harlem - "Hippies"
Colleen Green – Milo Goes To Compton
Sade - Soldier of Love
Real Estate - Real Estate
Natural Child - Body Switchers
The Octopus Project - HexadecagonDeerhunter - Halcyon Digest
Local Natives - Gorilla Manor

Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Before Today
Dum Dum Girls - I Will BeArcade Fire - The Suburbs
Portishead - Portishead

what does 2011 have in store? one can only dream...

Merry Christmas to all, in 2.0 style!!!

Here is some digital cheer!

Hope everyone's holidays will be awesome!

And if it isn't snowing for you over the holidays, like it DEFINITELY is here in Michigan, check out some of these beautiful snow shots from around the world. They actually make me hate snow a little less!!!

The Liberal Arts Meet the Data Revolution

i got this in the list serv today:

"This is the first in a series of articles about how digital tools are
changing scholarship in history, literature and the arts.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/17/arts/17digital.html?_r=1

"In Mr. Scheinfeldt’s view academia has moved into “a post-theoretical
age.” This “methodological moment,” he said, is similar to the late
19th and early 20th centuries, when scholars were preoccupied with
collating and cataloging the flood of information brought about by
revolutions in communication, transportation and science."

If the NY Times is right, the future for our profession should be bright."

RIGHT ON.
Also, the other day in Book Arts, we talked about how Kelmscott Manor was flooded this past summer and how they need Conservators. Sweetest job ever!
I love getting this Masters because it allows you to be focused and broad in your intellectual and career ambitions AT THE SAME TIME.

A-to the - MAZING, people!