Impressing 5th Graders!
Ok, so it's been a long time since I updated this, so...what the hell.
Nothing much going on here. Been working a lot. I won't bore you all with the tiny details, but suffice to say that my job at the library is going ok. I even get to go to a conference at the beginning of next month, which should be neat. Getting paid and everything! Whoo. :D
Otherwise, I'm still trying to figure things out. In my free time, I'm still trying to write things, doing a lot of reading, sketching and doing lotsa laundry. Just discovered NaNoWriMo (http://www.nanowrimo.org/), and am considering doing that in November. Trying to figure out what I want to do this summer; if I want to get into some sort of archaeological dig thing, I better get on that now (unless it's too late, of course--which it may be). I wonder if the library would give me some weeks off...?
Anyway, I'm just rambling now.
But I had a kind of cool experience recently that I wanted to record somewhere. So here 'tis:
I went with my mom to the Art Institute recently, and we saw the new Edward Hopper exhibit and the Winslow Homer one too, both of which were really good. It was really neat to see Edward Hopper's other work besides "Nighthawks," though much of it is in the same vein. His early sketches were really interesting, though--apparently he rode around the "El" in Chicago in the 1919s and drew people on it. And lemme tell you, the "El" hasn't changed much since its inception--seriously. The Homer stuff was also really cool. I found his drawings much more interesting than most of his paintings, though. He had these really striking graphite drawings that he'd highlighted with bright white gouche on this dark tan paper. They really stood out, especially compared to all his carefully controlled watercolors. Seeing a large span of his work was interesting as well; as he got older, his watercolors became more and more abstract, moving away from thier earlier realism, which was kind of neat. His work sort of...dissolved over time. Very cool.
Anyway, none of that has to do really with what I wanted to talk about.
So after the exhibit I wanted to go and see the Egyptian stuff, because I'm getting a lot better at hieroglyphics thanks to trying to read stuff at the Field. So I wanted to see what they had at the Institute to read. And there were like five things there, but the hierogylphics were nice and clear.
I started to read stuff, and then this whole class of fifth graders appeared with a docent and some teachers and the docent started to tell them about Ancient Egypt and show them this mummy case. I stood around and listened for a while, and even answered a question when none of the students or teachers could. Then, ass that I am, after the docent finished her talk I sort of volunteered myself. I said "hey, I'm a docent over at the Field, and I'm learning hieroglyphics, so do any of you guys want to read this stelae?" And the docent looked at me and she was like "You're kidding." And I was like "Umm...no." And she and the children and the teachers were like "holy shit, cool!" So they literally handed the kids over to me and I started to read part of a staelae to them and answer questions and explain the language and stuff. And partway through, after I finished the translation, this other woman who happened to be standing there was like "University of Chicago, right?" and I was all like "umm, no, sadly." And she was all like "I'm an Egyptologist and that was really impressive." And she said I had read it correctly, too. And the kids were estatic and stuff and they literally clapped for me. All the teachers thanked me. And the docent wouldn't let me leave until I translated it for her again and explained it so she could do it herself in her tours. She said that in the whole 15 years she'd been a docent there, no one had ever come along who could read the hieroglyphics. She was really, really excited. The whole thing was very nice, and kind of wierd. Never had people spontaneously clap for me.
Unfortunately, I never really got a chance to talk to the actual Egyptologist, as the docent was very much wanting my attention. But I think she said her name was Gina (maybe Gina Hayes? Or is that a Knox person?) and that she was an archaeologist with either the University of Pennsylvania or Pennsylvania State. I've been trolling both websites looking for her, but I've yet to find her. Didn't even get to ask a question. But she said she was impressed, and that was pretty cool. If I can impress an actual Egyptologist, maybe there's hope after all for me going into that field...?
Though I did find out later that she couldn't read hieroglyphics, and that her specialty was actually more art and stuff. It probably would have been very interesting to talk to her; she was a real professor and had been teaching for 15 years and everything. Unfortunately the docent nabbed me and the professor had to go and that was it. But it's not every day that I get to impress a bunch of 11-year-olds! ;)
Anyway, sorry about the choppiness and general shitty writing quality. I've had a headache for hours and am very tired. Think I'll go to bed.
Hope you all are well! :)
Nothing much going on here. Been working a lot. I won't bore you all with the tiny details, but suffice to say that my job at the library is going ok. I even get to go to a conference at the beginning of next month, which should be neat. Getting paid and everything! Whoo. :D
Otherwise, I'm still trying to figure things out. In my free time, I'm still trying to write things, doing a lot of reading, sketching and doing lotsa laundry. Just discovered NaNoWriMo (http://www.nanowrimo.org/), and am considering doing that in November. Trying to figure out what I want to do this summer; if I want to get into some sort of archaeological dig thing, I better get on that now (unless it's too late, of course--which it may be). I wonder if the library would give me some weeks off...?
Anyway, I'm just rambling now.
But I had a kind of cool experience recently that I wanted to record somewhere. So here 'tis:
I went with my mom to the Art Institute recently, and we saw the new Edward Hopper exhibit and the Winslow Homer one too, both of which were really good. It was really neat to see Edward Hopper's other work besides "Nighthawks," though much of it is in the same vein. His early sketches were really interesting, though--apparently he rode around the "El" in Chicago in the 1919s and drew people on it. And lemme tell you, the "El" hasn't changed much since its inception--seriously. The Homer stuff was also really cool. I found his drawings much more interesting than most of his paintings, though. He had these really striking graphite drawings that he'd highlighted with bright white gouche on this dark tan paper. They really stood out, especially compared to all his carefully controlled watercolors. Seeing a large span of his work was interesting as well; as he got older, his watercolors became more and more abstract, moving away from thier earlier realism, which was kind of neat. His work sort of...dissolved over time. Very cool.
Anyway, none of that has to do really with what I wanted to talk about.
So after the exhibit I wanted to go and see the Egyptian stuff, because I'm getting a lot better at hieroglyphics thanks to trying to read stuff at the Field. So I wanted to see what they had at the Institute to read. And there were like five things there, but the hierogylphics were nice and clear.
I started to read stuff, and then this whole class of fifth graders appeared with a docent and some teachers and the docent started to tell them about Ancient Egypt and show them this mummy case. I stood around and listened for a while, and even answered a question when none of the students or teachers could. Then, ass that I am, after the docent finished her talk I sort of volunteered myself. I said "hey, I'm a docent over at the Field, and I'm learning hieroglyphics, so do any of you guys want to read this stelae?" And the docent looked at me and she was like "You're kidding." And I was like "Umm...no." And she and the children and the teachers were like "holy shit, cool!" So they literally handed the kids over to me and I started to read part of a staelae to them and answer questions and explain the language and stuff. And partway through, after I finished the translation, this other woman who happened to be standing there was like "University of Chicago, right?" and I was all like "umm, no, sadly." And she was all like "I'm an Egyptologist and that was really impressive." And she said I had read it correctly, too. And the kids were estatic and stuff and they literally clapped for me. All the teachers thanked me. And the docent wouldn't let me leave until I translated it for her again and explained it so she could do it herself in her tours. She said that in the whole 15 years she'd been a docent there, no one had ever come along who could read the hieroglyphics. She was really, really excited. The whole thing was very nice, and kind of wierd. Never had people spontaneously clap for me.
Unfortunately, I never really got a chance to talk to the actual Egyptologist, as the docent was very much wanting my attention. But I think she said her name was Gina (maybe Gina Hayes? Or is that a Knox person?) and that she was an archaeologist with either the University of Pennsylvania or Pennsylvania State. I've been trolling both websites looking for her, but I've yet to find her. Didn't even get to ask a question. But she said she was impressed, and that was pretty cool. If I can impress an actual Egyptologist, maybe there's hope after all for me going into that field...?
Though I did find out later that she couldn't read hieroglyphics, and that her specialty was actually more art and stuff. It probably would have been very interesting to talk to her; she was a real professor and had been teaching for 15 years and everything. Unfortunately the docent nabbed me and the professor had to go and that was it. But it's not every day that I get to impress a bunch of 11-year-olds! ;)
Anyway, sorry about the choppiness and general shitty writing quality. I've had a headache for hours and am very tired. Think I'll go to bed.
Hope you all are well! :)