I know it's been awhile, I was sort of trapped in Tucson and gave up blogging.  I'm back now and all is well!  So here are a few things I have been doing:

My internship at the Music Instrument Museum has been going great....when I'm there.  The sad thing is I don't get paid for it, so it's very easy to take the day off.  However, I'm getting lots of experience and one of the instruments I treated will be used in an attractor exhibit around the valley sometime soon.

School is waaay busy but I'm learning quite a bit.  I wish that the Anthro major didn't have so many requirements or I'd double major with my Art History.  I'll settle for the minor though.  One thing that's cool is when professors find out you want to go into art conservation they tailer a whole bunch of stuff to you.  For my Archaeological Ceramics class I've been given a few pots from Teotihuacan to put back together!  Great Experience.


Work is the same and a little boring, if only because it's mostly data entry.  BUT I do get to listen to my Audiobooks while I work and I am addicted.  Seriously I've listened to 5 in the last month as well as the countless podcasts I listen to.  I even had to listen to one twice (albeit 2 years between listening) because I ran out of audible credits.  It was "You Suck" by Christopher Moore and I must say I might re-listen to this every year.  The narrator is amazing as Abby Normal.

Christian is still my wonderful.  Same and loving as always, putting up with my mood swings.

That's about it for now.

So yesterday we ended up going over to the National Park Service’s building which used to be referred to as WACC, Western Archaeological and Conservation Center, and is now known as the Intermountain Region Conservation Center.  I got my friend Crystal an internship there, doing the same thing I am doing.  However, she still works in the Valley and needed to be at work yesterday so I didn’t see her.  

We all went out to a hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant, it was yummy.  Then we all drove up to the top of their “A” mountain.  It was really fun and a good diversion from the normal workday.  My supervisor pointed out a lot of the historical places in downtown Tucson and explained where they will be expanding their building.  

The rest of the day the other intern and I took more pictures of pots and then I did a little worksheet of sorts.  There are a lot of materials that conservators and museums use and they all have their uses.  So, the head conservator and the assistant conservator (my supervisor) developed a worksheet where you have to cut out and tape on all the different materials.  These ranged from polyethylene, polyurethane, Teflon, Mylar, polypropylene, packing peanuts, acid-free cardboard, etc…

Today I have just been reading the 6 other books my supervisor gave me to read in my spare time.  I don’t know what I’ll be doing exactly today, probably some picture taking, random busy work.  

I’ll be home this evening and I get to see my Uncle Pat from Alaska.  He brought me some clam chowder!  Tonight I’ll have to have clam chowder and mac and cheese (I know it sounds gross but I miss my mac and cheese and I really really want some tonight).

Sunday Christian and I are going down to Tucson to go visit Davis Monthan, some of his friends want to go.  Then I’ll stay in Tucson for the rest of the week!

Tuesday:
The other intern and I spent almost all day photographing objects.  I can’t put any up on the web but when I get back if anybody wants to see them seek me out, I’m using them for my portfolio.  You see, picture taking is something very important for conservators and they get super technical with the camera.  I’ve found out that I’ll have to take a photography class before I go to school…. *golf claps.* 

Wednesday:
This day we spent re-housing various metal objects from the Tucson Urban Renewal Project.  You can read about it here.  Well, these objects, mostly metal, have been sitting in a drawer for the last 30 years.  It was our job to take the objects and place them individually in either baggies (w/holes punched in them to allow the metal to breath) or to create a padded box for them if they were particularly unstable.  If you are wondering how we chose which ones were unstable we would look at the ones with paint on them, as the paint is coming off fairly regularly.  There were some cool things like a tin aspirin box, bottoms of oil lamps, a typewriter tape box, and a rosary.  So I learned another important tool for a conservator – re-housing and box making! OoOo, exciting I know!

Coco, my friend’s dog, has been pretty good, but I really think she misses her owners.  She goes outside a lot to look out on the street.  On a side note I’ve been indulging myself with baby artichokes, I’ve had them almost every night this week for dinner.  They are sooo yum!

Thursday:
So far today I’ve been given a bunch of books to read relating to conservation and collections care.  In about 10 minutes we are leaving to go visit another museum but I can’t remember the name of it.  I’ll let you guys know as soon as I find out.  Then lunch at some super good Mexican restaurant…or so I’ve been told.


I’ll be home this Friday evening and then I’ll leave again Sunday morning.  Some of Christian, and I-guess-now-my, friends want to go to Davis Monthan and look at the boneyard on Sunday so I’ll head back down for that.   That’s it for now, I’ll try to update again before I leave tomorrow.

Oh, and to all those people out there who called or texted me a Happy Birthday THANK YOU!!!!  As I'm getting older I don't think of my birthday as such a big deal but I really appreciated those who took the time to tell me so.  You guys are great!

Oh gosh, it’s been a couple of busy days.  That and the internet connection where I’m staying is slow.  Usually by the time I sit down at the computer I’m super tired and decide to go to sleep instead.  Well, here’s a summary of the last couple of days:

Tuesday:
I was given a silver pin by the archivist at the museum to clean of an ink price tag.  It’s his personal item so it was ok for me to mess with it.  Well, to give me experience in writing Condition Reports (sounds intimidating doesn’t it) my supervisor wanted me to treat the pin like an actual museum piece.  Most of the day was spent writing the Condition Report and meeting new people.  Another intern started here as well except she is post-program, meaning she’s already done with her masters.  She’s super nice and we’ve been getting lunch together like everyday.  Oh, and no pot rings to sew!
Went out to dinner at this nice Mexican restaurant.  Well, the food was nice but the building is sort-of run down, but that’s usually where you’ll find the best Mexican.

Wednesday:
Finished my Condition Report on the pin and I was shown how to remove and polish the surface with acetone.  Oh, and I learned something verrry important for conservators - how to make my own q-tip!  It’s too simple to describe accurately but you take a pointed bamboo stick and loose cotton and make a tip.  Anyways, so I removed the price and returned the pin to the owner. 

The museum has decided to have a Kachina doll exhibit this November and some of the Kachinas need some work done. They gave the other intern two dolls to work on and me one (because I’m a noob).  The rest of the day was spent researching the doll.
Ate out for dinner again, this time we just got Pei Wei and took it back to the house.

Thursday:
Basically all I did on Thursday was write up the Condition Report on my doll.  It’s pretty straightforward.  All the doll needs is a light vacuuming and part of the base reattached.  I guess one of the curators here got a little overzealous getting the doll out of storage and it fell over and part of the base broke off.  I’m pretty sure I won’t be the one reattaching it.  That will probably be left up to the actual conservators.

Christian took me out to see Indiana Jones last night.  It was waay cheesy and predictably but it was entertaining nonetheless.  However I don’t think it was as good as the other ones.  I don’t think Christian enjoyed it that much but he’ll probably tell you different if you ask him (because he likes to disagree with me).



Umm, other random stuff…..I pretty much starve everyday between breakfast and lunch because it’s a big hassle to go outside the museum to take a snack break.  I’ve been getting used to it but it’s a big change to go from snacking every other hour to no snacks at all.

I’ve been riding a bike to the museum everyday!  It’s a little over a mile to ride and takes me about 10 minutes to get there.  It gives me some low impact exercise and I don’t have to pay for parking!  It’s been really fun riding and I’ve only fallen once.  That was this morning and just so Christian could see me!  I hadn’t even taken off yet and I fell on to some rocks and twigs with thorns – really hurt!  BUT- Christian hadn’t left yet so he rushed over and picked me up and kissed me goodbye (well, after I stopped hurting).

Umm nothing else for now, I’ll be heading back this afternoon once I am done at the museum.  I’m taking Coco, my friend’s chocolate lab, home with me.  I don’t think my dogs Leona and Rainy will like it but tough beans for them!

Alright, so I made it through the first day of my first internship.  First days are always hard because you don't know anybody and you're not sure what to do.  I know things will get easier but it will probably be by the time I move over to the other internship! 

Anyway, everybody at the lab was super nice and helpful.  I feel like a dork because I'm still pre-program and they are all post-program.  So like, when they ask me things that require knowledge about chemistry and even things about picture taking I stand there and say "I don't know."  Whatev's, at least they don't make me feel bad about not knowing anything.

So the majority of my day was spent sewing pot rings:

http://www.adirondackguitar.com/scaryM/udu.jpg

(this one looks super hippie but basically that's what they look like)

To make them you get a long tube of medical cloth and stuff it with batting/stuffing.  Then, you join the ends together and voila! you have a pot ring.

The rest of the day I spent meeting people in the museum it will take weeks to remember their names and I had a few introduction to what the lab is working on.  I think in the coming days they will have me take lots of pictures, which is vital to the conservation process, and work on pot reassembly.   Ummm that's about all I can think of now, I should have written this earlier when I was less tired.  Oh well.

Someone couldn't wait until next Thursday to give me my birthday present so I got it last night!  If I could wear it all the time without tarnishing it to oblivion i would.

I love my Christian <3

As most of you know Christian and I both have annual passes to Disneyland. We go about once a month (sometimes more) but one bad thing about being in Tucson this summer will mean virtually no trips to Disney. :(

It's one of those sacrifices I'll have to make but hey, the experience I'll get this summer will be indispensable right? Until this summer is over I'll just have to look over pictures from my birthday party from last year:



More Birthday Pictures

 

In about a week and a half I will be on my way to Tucson! Starting May 19th I will be an intern at the Arizona State Museum in the Preservation lab for 5 weeks. Then, I will intern with a private conservator for the remaining 7 weeks of the summer, coming home the 18th of August.

Oh, while I'm there I will take a 5 week Painting class at UofA, straddling in between the end of the first internship and the beginning of the second.

I'm really nervous and excited and scared all at the same time.  This will be the first time I will be living on my own, even if is just house-sitting.  Oh, not to mention that for both my internships I will be working with ACTUAL objects!!  I mean, I'll be great experience and a lot of fun but still, I don't want to mess anything up.  These are all real objects and I don't want to irreversibly damage something.  Well, I guess you'll see if I do mess anything up or break anything.

Since most of my Phoenix friends and co-workers won't be hearing much from me I've decided to actually update this thing.  I won't be writing in this much until I get to Tucson but I promise to do my best when I get there.

So I finally decided I'd post to my livejournal. It's not that I think is is lame or anything I just don't think anyone would read it since I only have two friends. Yet I thought it would be neat to post all these cool things I've been seeing, buying (eventhough i shouldn't), and listening to. So I'll start with a couple of vinyls I picked up at the Goodwill these past couple of days:


Hell yes I love rock n'roll!!



Thought it was Flash Gordon, turned out to be Rocky III. Go Eye of the Tiger!



AHHHH Freak Out!


Thought the girl looked cute, fun album too.



My flash got the best of this one.


C'mon, 40 year old virgin.

and finally,


Like Butta :)