Less than 2 weeks…

Wow it’s all going by so fast!

So this week work was pretty much the same, working on small projects because my time is so limited. I was able to go back to do some work on the Scurlock Collection, which was data entry for the most part. I also made some phase boxes for these tiny little diary journals ranging from 1866-1901. I’ve also tried to make some contacts within the archival community outside of the Smithsonian, which will hopefully bring something good, even if its just information.
         
I also decided to head over to the Library of Congress to do some actual research. Now this semester for the postgraduates, we aren’t really required to do the portfolio or an academic course. I’m fairly certain that’s going to change as of this summer, so good luck post grads :) Well, regardless of whether you need to or not, getting a LOC reader card is really easy and totally worth it. It lasts for 2 years and it’s unbelievably painless. They do say not to get it as a souvenir, so I will too, but it’s still a pretty cool thing to have and I’m sure you can find something to research with it in all those weeks. There are multiple buildings and the staff members there are very helpful in directing you on where to go and what to do, and there is actual signage so you know you're going the right way. The building where you get the reader card is not the pretty one from a few posts ago, but the Madison building, which is right outside the Capitol South Metro stop on the orange/blue line.
         
I also checked out the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. I was in there today, in the later afternoon, so I didn’t get to see as much as I would’ve liked to, but what I did see was pretty cool. I can’t honestly say that this museum is something that I found all that interesting, but it was really neat to see the actual objects used in Apollo 11 and 13, including clothing and supplies and obviously the space crafts. There was also a section on airplanes that I found interesting--mostly the differences of airport protocol around the 1960’s compared to today. The idea of dressing up, and walking outside to get on the plane is truly hard to fathom. There seemed to be an event going on there and a good amount of the areas were closed after 4:30, which was right about the time I got to the museum, so I didn’t see everything there was to see.
         
At this point, for these final two weeks, I’ve decided to move out of TWC housing and in with a friend of mine. So this weekend I packed up my suitcases and shipped home whatever was left--so I'm now traveling from Silver Spring, Maryland. It's only 1 stop farther away from my internship, but the ride is almost $3 each way during peak hours, so I’ve upgraded from the weekly short trip pass to the regular weekly pass (which is over $40 since the price increase at the end of February). I truly recommend doing the math and seeing if a weekly pass is worth the money because I find it reassuring knowing I’m getting my money’s worth and don’t have to worry about adding money to my SmarTrip. I do, however, recommend having a SmarTrip card regardless because they’re exceptionally useful.

So…no pictures again this week, I’m really sorry.

This coming week I plan on going to the Arlington Cemetery and perhaps seeing my family when my cousin comes back from college.

‘Til then,

~K