Another long, a-muse(um)-ing (ha!) post
At the very last minute - I mean almost too late - I realised I had a meeting today. The meeting was at the Royal Alberta Museum, on the west side of downtown, at 9:30. It was 8:43 and I hadn't showered or dressed, and we live in the far northeast, to paint a clearer picture. I would talk about how unemployment makes a person lose track of what day of the week it is, but there are other fish to fry here:
I made it on time for my meeting with BMcG, the director. We chatted. At first, things seemed to be going in a weird direction and I wasn't taking them there and I had no control. B to the G is an ornithologist by trade and a *gasp* trombone player in his spare time. Gotta love dabblers. It's not that I don't. It's just that academics who are dabblers have "great ideas" but don't always know...
He started talking about sound in museums and how this is really a cutting edge field and that he would love someone to do a study on the role of sound in museums and the two of us should get together with RQ and come up with a proposal and I could be the researcher!!!
Let's step back a sec. I study music, not sound. And beyond that, I know nothing about sound systems or equipment and I sure as hell know very little about the physics of sound (waves, right? kidding, I know that much). Anyway. The project he's envisioning looks alot more technical than I ever want to be. He has a lot of great ideas for studies that involve music or music people and then he admitted "But maybe these are just things I want to do in my retirement." Ya think? Look, I like birds as much as the next cat lover, but I know better than to suggest bird studies to you based on what I know of ornithology. And I actually know more than you would imagine, as one of my besties has studied plovers for four years.
Anyway, a project on the role of music in the museum has definite merit, and if I do get involved in something like that it would have to go that direction in order for me not to die of boredom.
Our meeting trudged on from there. He suggested many universities and courses and then would say, "Oh, but I guess you're not really wanting to go back to school right away." Well, no, not in Leicester anyway, although their PhD program does sound marvy. But not all was lost. Although I'm not sure he "got" that what I do is more people/history related, he did say that volunteering is a good way to work my way in and up. And he was up front about the fact that contract research for curators will not pay the bills, and I appreciate that, because I did wonder. And he was open about the fact that the band he plays in (Gateway Big Band?) needs another bass trombone, so I should get my Law to call him.
Then I met the volunteer guy, and he said they are full up with volunteers but to send my resoom his way and he'd see what he could do (which I promtly did, because I am "enthusiastic," or so my cova letta would have you believe).
In any event, I know some more people, there's a possible project in the works, I may be poor for a long time, but the potential is there if I am willing to work for what I want. And I'm pretty sure I am. I mean, after all, I have been working on a Sims museum for a few days now, and it is coming along quite nicely if I do say so myself. Hard work does pay off, People.
I made it on time for my meeting with BMcG, the director. We chatted. At first, things seemed to be going in a weird direction and I wasn't taking them there and I had no control. B to the G is an ornithologist by trade and a *gasp* trombone player in his spare time. Gotta love dabblers. It's not that I don't. It's just that academics who are dabblers have "great ideas" but don't always know...
He started talking about sound in museums and how this is really a cutting edge field and that he would love someone to do a study on the role of sound in museums and the two of us should get together with RQ and come up with a proposal and I could be the researcher!!!
Let's step back a sec. I study music, not sound. And beyond that, I know nothing about sound systems or equipment and I sure as hell know very little about the physics of sound (waves, right? kidding, I know that much). Anyway. The project he's envisioning looks alot more technical than I ever want to be. He has a lot of great ideas for studies that involve music or music people and then he admitted "But maybe these are just things I want to do in my retirement." Ya think? Look, I like birds as much as the next cat lover, but I know better than to suggest bird studies to you based on what I know of ornithology. And I actually know more than you would imagine, as one of my besties has studied plovers for four years.
Anyway, a project on the role of music in the museum has definite merit, and if I do get involved in something like that it would have to go that direction in order for me not to die of boredom.
Our meeting trudged on from there. He suggested many universities and courses and then would say, "Oh, but I guess you're not really wanting to go back to school right away." Well, no, not in Leicester anyway, although their PhD program does sound marvy. But not all was lost. Although I'm not sure he "got" that what I do is more people/history related, he did say that volunteering is a good way to work my way in and up. And he was up front about the fact that contract research for curators will not pay the bills, and I appreciate that, because I did wonder. And he was open about the fact that the band he plays in (Gateway Big Band?) needs another bass trombone, so I should get my Law to call him.
Then I met the volunteer guy, and he said they are full up with volunteers but to send my resoom his way and he'd see what he could do (which I promtly did, because I am "enthusiastic," or so my cova letta would have you believe).
In any event, I know some more people, there's a possible project in the works, I may be poor for a long time, but the potential is there if I am willing to work for what I want. And I'm pretty sure I am. I mean, after all, I have been working on a Sims museum for a few days now, and it is coming along quite nicely if I do say so myself. Hard work does pay off, People.