So this past weekend was GORGEOUS! I actually went on a visit to New Jersey, via Amtrak, to spend some time with my favorite, Brittney and her family. The Amtrak train was really easy to access, even at 605 in the morning, via Metro to Union Station, and then you’re right there in the station. It was actually warm enough to lie outside and get a little bit of a tan! I spent two days there, and we drove back to Massachusetts, because her spring break had ended. I stayed at my house, which was nice, and will be the last time until I return in May, and then I flew from Boston to Baltimore this past Monday morning. To get back to my apartment, I took the Metrobus B30 line to Greenbelt station, where I switched to the Orange line at L’Enfant Plaza. Woo that was quite a day.
This week at work we had another few graduate students on their spring break from the University of Illinois. During the lunch hours they discussed the paths they had chosen and why they returned to school and my bosses did as well, which gave me an awesome perspective and multiple ideas to consider for options on my next step. I was continuing with my side project from the previous week and should definitely finish this upcoming Monday and Tuesday.
Wednesday night I went to a TWC-sponsored happy hour meeting with current postgraduates and many alumni. It was a really nice place to network with people from other years and actually to meet a few people from MA. I finally got to give out some of those business cards that we received from The Washington Center. Also, later at a place across from my apartment, a friend and I were also able to network with people outside the program but who were all really very nice. I found both settings really interesting because college doesn’t always work like that with the social end. The people I met outside of the classroom, or in my case even outside of my athletic team, I didn’t really know beyond their names and their drink choices. These happy hours can be used as a great way to meet new people or really get to know the new friends you’ve made.
Unfortunately the weather went from summer-y to winter-y almost immediately. That may be a slight exaggeration but it did reach very low temperatures, especially Friday evening. Saturday the 27th kicked off the Cherry Blossom Festival here in DC, and the weather was brisk but had a nice sun. I spent most of the day in Georgetown, but I’m hoping during the coming weekdays I’ll be able to get some really nice pictures of cherry blossoms.
These next two weeks of the festival also see the National Museum of American History on extended hours, which happens every year, so whether you’re coming this year or any other spring, definitely try to get out to the museum, its open an extra 2 hours.
Next weekend there should be fireworks~
Til then,
~K
Monday, March 29, 2010
Friday, March 19, 2010
And of course, with spring comes rain.
So this week was not as exciting as I would've hoped for, because it was pretty wet. Saturday I spent most of the day inside, catching up on laundry and TV shows, and then went out to eat in Maryland with a friend from home. We had planned on going in to DC to check out some of the other clubs in the area, but with Daylight Savings taking place, we forgot the trains were closing earlier. So we stayed in and decided to walk around D.C. and see Alice in Wonderland in 3D IMAX. There are only three theaters that have that in about a 40 mile radius, and the one thats most Metro accessible is the one off of Eisenhower Ave Yellow Line Metro stop, called AMC Hoffman Center 22 in Alexandria VA.
Because of the wait for the movie, my friend and Sabrina and I walked around DC to kill some time before our movie. We went to my job and looked at the some of the Pop Culture history, which had been updated since my first arrival with a special case with Olympics-related treasures, including Brian Boitano's ice skates, Nastia Luikin's leotard, Bobby Morrow's 1956 gold medal, and an Olympic torch from the 1984 Summer Games, and Apolo Ohno speed skates, which were up before. We also saw C-3PO, and the Louisville slugger on display along the wall on the second first floor near the Constitution street exit.
Saint Patrick's Day was also this week, which is a really big deal back at home in Boston, but here I did see quite a few people in green to celebrate the day. Multiple happy hours with specific deals on Guinness and other Irish beers were going on throughout the city.
Work has been fun. I have a site visit coming up next week, and I'm currently working on an important, somewhat tedious job of double checking a finding aid to be sure everything is correct. As boring as that may sound, I find it interesting and stimulating. I am also really thinking about graduate school and have sent a request for information to the school local to home, Simmons in Boston, about their Library Science program. This internship has been extremely successful so far in helping me find direction.
More next week, and I'll try for pictures next time!
Til then,
~k
Because of the wait for the movie, my friend and Sabrina and I walked around DC to kill some time before our movie. We went to my job and looked at the some of the Pop Culture history, which had been updated since my first arrival with a special case with Olympics-related treasures, including Brian Boitano's ice skates, Nastia Luikin's leotard, Bobby Morrow's 1956 gold medal, and an Olympic torch from the 1984 Summer Games, and Apolo Ohno speed skates, which were up before. We also saw C-3PO, and the Louisville slugger on display along the wall on the second first floor near the Constitution street exit.
Saint Patrick's Day was also this week, which is a really big deal back at home in Boston, but here I did see quite a few people in green to celebrate the day. Multiple happy hours with specific deals on Guinness and other Irish beers were going on throughout the city.
Work has been fun. I have a site visit coming up next week, and I'm currently working on an important, somewhat tedious job of double checking a finding aid to be sure everything is correct. As boring as that may sound, I find it interesting and stimulating. I am also really thinking about graduate school and have sent a request for information to the school local to home, Simmons in Boston, about their Library Science program. This internship has been extremely successful so far in helping me find direction.
More next week, and I'll try for pictures next time!
Til then,
~k
Saturday, March 13, 2010
It feels like spring!
So this is the first March during which I have ever felt, especially this early in the month, that spring was close…really close. This weekend was gorgeous, so I tried to do as much as I could outdoors while still going to some local indoor attractions.
I’m really enjoying my job, so I thought I would actually check out another archives, the National Archives, which holds the Magna Carta, The Constitution, The Declaration of Independence, and the Bill of Rights. I have no pictures of these because photography is official restricted there. Now, don’t get me wrong, I think those documents are exceptionally important, but my favorite part was actually the interactive public vaults area. It’s really interesting even if you’re not a super nerd like myself, but what I really enjoyed about the set up of the exhibit as that it actually looked like we were walking in to an actual archive, they had acid free boxes, map cases drawers, images of microfilm and reels. The average visitor has probably not seen the inside of an archive, so I probably looked like a moron, since I was fascinated with the way the exhibit was set up and not so much the interactive materials.
I also made a stop at National Museum of Natural History, which was overrun with kids! I didn’t take pictures because I had trouble actually getting close to something without someone ruining the shot, but I would definitely recommend making a visit. Its full of ANIMALS! All and any kind of animal you could think of, including the bones of dinosaurs and wooly mammoths as well as Neanderthal bones. As a Smithsonian employee I also took advantage of my weekly free IMAX ticket, so I saw the Dinosaurs: Giants of Patagonia. This was my first 3D IMAX, ever, although not my first 3D, or first IMAX. However this is the first 3D in the newer not so “blue and red” kind of 3D, so it actually looks the coloring it was supposed to be. I found it really interesting, and am excited to see the other films that are offered at the museum. They range between 6-10 dollars depending on age.
I also decided to walk to some more outdoor park service sites, I walked from the Washington Monument, down passed Thomas Jefferson Memorial, to George Mason Memorial.
I continued to the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, which is really large, although these are some of my favorite images of the monument.
There were so many people out on the Mall and it was just a really beautiful weekend.
This week at work was really awesome as well because, Michelle Obama’s Inauguration dress was officially presented and is now on display at the National Museum of American History. I decided not to take and post an image first because its up on the Smithsonian website somewhere, but more so because I truly don’t think that dress, or many of the others with sparkly accents transfer well in photo media.
Also, this week was the last week for my fellow interns at the Archives Center, so Ryan and Katrina head back to California to finish their semesters, but they were really nice and I’ll definitely miss them.
So, Spring Forward.
And I'll catch you all next week...
Til then,
~K
I’m really enjoying my job, so I thought I would actually check out another archives, the National Archives, which holds the Magna Carta, The Constitution, The Declaration of Independence, and the Bill of Rights. I have no pictures of these because photography is official restricted there. Now, don’t get me wrong, I think those documents are exceptionally important, but my favorite part was actually the interactive public vaults area. It’s really interesting even if you’re not a super nerd like myself, but what I really enjoyed about the set up of the exhibit as that it actually looked like we were walking in to an actual archive, they had acid free boxes, map cases drawers, images of microfilm and reels. The average visitor has probably not seen the inside of an archive, so I probably looked like a moron, since I was fascinated with the way the exhibit was set up and not so much the interactive materials.
I also made a stop at National Museum of Natural History, which was overrun with kids! I didn’t take pictures because I had trouble actually getting close to something without someone ruining the shot, but I would definitely recommend making a visit. Its full of ANIMALS! All and any kind of animal you could think of, including the bones of dinosaurs and wooly mammoths as well as Neanderthal bones. As a Smithsonian employee I also took advantage of my weekly free IMAX ticket, so I saw the Dinosaurs: Giants of Patagonia. This was my first 3D IMAX, ever, although not my first 3D, or first IMAX. However this is the first 3D in the newer not so “blue and red” kind of 3D, so it actually looks the coloring it was supposed to be. I found it really interesting, and am excited to see the other films that are offered at the museum. They range between 6-10 dollars depending on age.
I also decided to walk to some more outdoor park service sites, I walked from the Washington Monument, down passed Thomas Jefferson Memorial, to George Mason Memorial.
I continued to the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, which is really large, although these are some of my favorite images of the monument.
There were so many people out on the Mall and it was just a really beautiful weekend.
This week at work was really awesome as well because, Michelle Obama’s Inauguration dress was officially presented and is now on display at the National Museum of American History. I decided not to take and post an image first because its up on the Smithsonian website somewhere, but more so because I truly don’t think that dress, or many of the others with sparkly accents transfer well in photo media.
Also, this week was the last week for my fellow interns at the Archives Center, so Ryan and Katrina head back to California to finish their semesters, but they were really nice and I’ll definitely miss them.
So, Spring Forward.
And I'll catch you all next week...
Til then,
~K
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Here we go again,
So this week has been really nice. I went home for the weekend, which was less hectic with the weather not being terrible. I left from Dulles, so I took the Metro to West Church Falls, and then grabbed the Washington Flyer, which even at 5:45 in the evening was a quick trip to the airport. The airport is set up different than Logan and Newark, and it seems like it’s smaller than it actually is. I celebrated my birthday with my family, and my favorite, and we saw a bunch of really good movies.
Monday I spent the entire day traveling back to DC, but Tuesday I went on a tour of the Capitol Building with the Smithsonian Interns. I had gone once before, but they’ve added an orientation video which is really interesting. Our group was really large, so we were able to use those weird headsets so we could all hear her. The rotunda area has 6 large photographs depicting our country’s history and has beautiful artwork at the top of the dome and around the walls higher up on the dome. That also depicts important events in American History and this image was of Lexington Green, on April 19 1775, the first battle of the American Revolution.
Another room we went to was the old Senate room or the Whispering room. The guide was able to turn off the microphone, walk across the room and whisper and we could all here her. On the floor, there was a plaque that noted the location of John Quincy Adams’s desk.
The “tomb” which was intended to be the burial location for George and Martha Washington, but couldn’t be due to their will, contains statues of important people from the 13 original colonies, with the exception of Lincoln’s unfinished head. My state, Massachusetts, had Samuel Adams, the cousin of John Adams.
This week at the Archives Center, grad students from the University of Michigan’s Library school came for their alternative spring break and worked on a collection. It was really helpful to talk to them about where they came from and what they wanted to do after college. One was my age, going to grad school right after undergrad, while the others were returning to school after 7 years. Some of my superiors gave small presentations about what they do, but instead of helping me, they just seemed to show me more options, and I’m still pretty confused.
More next week,
~K
So this week has been really nice. I went home for the weekend, which was less hectic with the weather not being terrible. I left from Dulles, so I took the Metro to West Church Falls, and then grabbed the Washington Flyer, which even at 5:45 in the evening was a quick trip to the airport. The airport is set up different than Logan and Newark, and it seems like it’s smaller than it actually is. I celebrated my birthday with my family, and my favorite, and we saw a bunch of really good movies.
Monday I spent the entire day traveling back to DC, but Tuesday I went on a tour of the Capitol Building with the Smithsonian Interns. I had gone once before, but they’ve added an orientation video which is really interesting. Our group was really large, so we were able to use those weird headsets so we could all hear her. The rotunda area has 6 large photographs depicting our country’s history and has beautiful artwork at the top of the dome and around the walls higher up on the dome. That also depicts important events in American History and this image was of Lexington Green, on April 19 1775, the first battle of the American Revolution.
Another room we went to was the old Senate room or the Whispering room. The guide was able to turn off the microphone, walk across the room and whisper and we could all here her. On the floor, there was a plaque that noted the location of John Quincy Adams’s desk.
The “tomb” which was intended to be the burial location for George and Martha Washington, but couldn’t be due to their will, contains statues of important people from the 13 original colonies, with the exception of Lincoln’s unfinished head. My state, Massachusetts, had Samuel Adams, the cousin of John Adams.
This week at the Archives Center, grad students from the University of Michigan’s Library school came for their alternative spring break and worked on a collection. It was really helpful to talk to them about where they came from and what they wanted to do after college. One was my age, going to grad school right after undergrad, while the others were returning to school after 7 years. Some of my superiors gave small presentations about what they do, but instead of helping me, they just seemed to show me more options, and I’m still pretty confused.
More next week,
~K
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