Poster Child

Mar 31, 2008 23:51

This weekend was very exciting, yet very draining all the same!  Friday night immediately after work, I headed to the airport to make my journey directly to South Bend for 48 hours.  I took a 2 hour flight to Detroit, where I sat and waited for a small plane to take me to South Bend.  The whole process of transferring, and hauling ass from one end of Detroit airport to the other was very exhausting!  My friend Amanda picked me up in South Bend when I finally arrived at 11:30pm.  After I dropped my stuff off, she immediately whisked me away to the bars!!  Our plan was originally to go to the Backer, but after dramatic episode that quickly lost its amusement, we ended up at a bar that was way too college drama for my taste.   Too much gossip and hook-up talk that reminded me of the aspects of college I don't miss.  Once we got back to her place, we continued drinking and talking, which actually was the best part of the night.  After seeing that it was 5am, we decided to call it a night.

In the morning (well, afternoon), Amanda dropped me off at the hotel, where I showered and got ready for the day's event: my talk about the women's museum at Saint Mary's.  As it got closer to the actual talk, I began to get more nervous.  I was more nervous for the second half of my talk, which was set to talk about my personal experiences post graduation.  I know the museum material like the back of my hand, but I don't particularly like talking about myself in front of a large crowd.  Plus, since the talk was scheduled for a Saturday afternoon, I was nervous that no one would show up.

Well, the last fear served to be true: only 10 people showed up.  And most of them were there because they knew me personally.  But actually, I think that really helped me!  My uncle showed up, as did my friend Emily whom I had not seen in ages.  All the history department professors showed up, including my favorite profs from college! I hadn't seen them since graduation, so it was AWESOME to see them again!  It meant a lot that they came out for the support.  So even though it wasn't well attended, I consider a success because of what people took away from it.  At the end of my presentation, I showed them how they can access the museum collections online.  The profs especially were interested.  I could see the wheels turning in their heads about how they can use the collections for classes and resources for students.  The fact that the museum's collections will be used, to me, makes the whole trip worth it.

The only person I didn't know at the talk turned out to be a reporter from the Observer, the ND/SMC newspaper.   She came to do a write-up, and the article appeared in today's paper.  Although there are a few blatantly obvious things that are wrong, like how she said I'm the curator when I'm clearly not, it was a pretty good article.  Check it out:
http://media.www.ndsmcobserver.com/media/storage/paper660/news/2008/03/31/News/Smc-Alum.Discusses.Nwp.Tactics-3292145.shtml

After the talk, the history department took me to dinner at Fiddler's, my favorite pub in South Bend!  I loved being able to talk to them as equals, instead of a student trying to get her papers and research done.  After dinner, I met up with Em and Tony, and after 3 hours of talking and catching up, I realized how tired I was, and headed back to my swanky hotel room.  I had planned to go to the Backer, but after the drama from the previous night, I was in no mood to witness the immature college drama twice in two nights.

Sunday morning my mom and Niki drove in for breakfast with some of our family in town.  They picked me up from the hotel, and we met them at a nice place downtown.  It was so special to see them, for we haven't seen that side of the family since my aunt died.  We met with her husband and kids, who are my age.  When she died a few years ago, it was really painful for everyone to get together without her.  But time has passed, and we are making up for lost time.  And the memories that we are making are just so special.  I'm so glad I got to see them all.

We pretty much spent all morning and a good portion of the afternoon with them, so by the time we said goodbye, it was time for me to go to the airport.  My journey took off again, and once again I got in very late, and very exhausted.  Overall, it was a great weekend.

So a few weeks ago, Presh and I were having a conversation about my planned talk for Saint Mary's, when she made the observation that I've become the official poster child.  She then rambled off posters I've been on for college and stuff: the COD reading center, the SMC alumnae department, the Smithsonian Intern program brochure, and now being in the newspaper.  I think I AM a poster child!  How the hell did that happen!?!?!  I find it amusing.

Oh, and tonight, walking home from the market, I randomly joined a gym.  I walked past it, and they had a sign for an open house.  They waived the huge registration fee, and my first month is free.  Plus, free personal training for my first month.  It's a chain of gyms in the DC area, and I was looking at the one close to my work, but I had no idea there was one in my neighborhood!  It's less crowded by my house, and it's not filled with yuppies who use the gym as a way to find a date.  I look awful when I work out, and I don't want to have to compete for the tredmill with the yuppies.  No thanks.  So I'm excited to belong to a gym finally!  I've been aching to do more than just walk every where.

Tomorrow is April, and April is Jazz Appreciation Month.  So happy jazz appreciation month. Listen to jazz and stuff. And enjoy the spring weather.  The cherry blossoms are in full bloom out here, making it truly exciting.  Now if I could only get rid of those damn, annoying tourists.   I certainly hope it gets warmer for all of you out in the Midwest!

xoxoxox
Dani 
Previous post Next post
Up