Reasons for Rocking

The Quad City Airport/Airtran rock for the following reasons:

1. fairly cheap non-stop flights to Atlanta 4 times a day
2. Easy and quick check-in. (Of course this is because I was indeed 2 hours early for my 4:30 flight :)
3. They were nice enough to give me a plastic bag at Security so I didn't have to discard my "liquids, gels, and so forth" --which incidently consisted of a small bottle of hand sanitizer (since I"m still battling with the germs apparently)
4. I am currently comfortably positioned on the floor, sprawled out, recharging the laptop battery (i.e. stealing a lill electricity)
5. Mediacom ACTUALLY did something VERY cool. They must be trying to improve their image because they're offering FREE wi-fi in the airport terminals. That's right. Free. It's not a secure connection - but not many free ones are anyway. But I could spend those two hours of early bird worry about the flight shopping on the Internet or something now. (Instead I'm going to plug in the ipod and listen to harry potter 6 on audio)

Hotlanta

Ill be in Atlanta for the next couple of days folks. Ill return with pictures, Southern culture, and a tan (not really). But see you in a few....

If anyone knows of the book 1000 Places to See Before You Die, they'll understand this list. I was inspired to go through the book and mark down what I've seen from the lists because the Travel Channel has a new show dedicated to a newlywed couple who are seeing 100 of the things on this list. If Travel Channel wants to pay me to see others that this couple doesn't get to..I'll more than gladly sign up ;) :) Just point me to the dotted line....
What I've Seen Before I Die (So far)

ENGLAND

LONDON
British Museum
Hyde Park
National Gallery
St. Paul’s Cathedral
Tate Gallery
Westminster Abbey
Shakespeare’s Globe
Harrods

CAMBRIDGE
Kings College chapel


FRANCE

PARIS
Arc de Triomphe
Napoleon’s Tomb
Louvre
Musee D’Orsay
Notre Dame
Cruise on the Seine
Jardin des Tuileries
Ste Chapelle

VERSAILLES
Chateau de Versailles


GERMANY

Bodensee
Alpenstrasse
Romantic Road

Near FUSSEN
Neuschawnstein

MUNICH
Deutsches Museum

OBERAMMERGAU

BERLIN
Brandenburg Gate
“Museum Scene”

COLOGNE
Cologne Cathedral

HEIDELBERG
Heidelberg Schloss

CZECH REPUBLIC
PRAGUE
Castle District
Charles Bridge
Old Town Square

NETHERLANDS
AMSTERDAMN
Anne Frank House,
Oude Kerk,
Red-Light District,
Rijksmuseum,
Van Gogh Museum,

U.S. and CANADA

CALIFORNIA
Monterey Peninsula,
Pacific Coast Highway
Napa Valley (California’s Wine Country)
SAN FRANCISCO
Cable Cars


COLORADO
ASPEN
Rocky Mountain National Park

FLORDIA
Everglades National Park,
KEY WEST
MIAMI
South Beach
ORLANDO
Walt Disney World Resort

HAWAII
Maui

ILLINOIS
CHICAGO
Art Institute of Chicago

IOWA
DES MOINES
Iowa State Fair,

KENTUCKY
LEXINGTON
Bluegrass Country,

LOUISIANA
NEW ORLEANS
French Quarter,
New Orleans Restaurant Scene,

MASSACHUSETTS
BOSTON
Freedom Trail,

MICHIGAN
Mackinac Island’s Grand Hotel,

MISSOURI
KANSAS CITY
Arthur Bryant’s Barbecue,

NEW YORK
Hudson Valley
NEW YORK CITY
American Museum of Natural History
Central Park
Empire State Building
Frick Museum
Lincoln Center
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Museum of Modern Art
Rockefeller Center at Christmas
Statue of Liberty
Times Square
Cloisters
Grand Central Terminal
Carnigie Delicatessen
Museum Mile

OHIO
CLEVELAND
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,

SOUTH DAKOTA
Badlands
BLACK HILLS
Mount Rushmore
Crazy Horse
Custer State Park

WASHINGTON, D.C.
National Mall and Its Monuments,
Smithsonian,

WYOMING
Yellowstone National Park
Grand Teton National Park
JACKSON
Jackson Hole

ONTARIO
Niagara Falls

Happy National Library Week for those of you in the profession and those who partake in the offerings of their libraries public, academic, special and otherwise!

What Do You Do with a BA in ENGLISH?*

Write a blog post while sick. I stayed home from work today because I'm in the midst of a nasty little cold. The sadest part about staying home from work during this particular week, is that I have been inundated with news coverage of the Virgiina Tech massacure. I say sadest for two reasons, one: it is very much a tragedy and two: the news coverage sickens me just as much as my physical symptons of a cold. Cassi and I watched a small amount of the coverage on Monday night while a student was interviewed who said something like: he knew what he was doing when he reloaded the gun, like he was trained. And the reporter asked do you think t.v violence and video games played a part? As if this shooters knowledge of how to use guns could be so easily blamed on video games. It was like the reporter was trying to lead and steer the questions into the direction he wanted for his report.
And now, the backlash, people are starting to criticize the media for getting too involved and too personal too quickly with the victims and survivors. Well, I do wonder what a happy balance would be, between intrusive reporting and making sure the news was gathered and information shared. Obviously the shooter knew that NBC would air his manifesto as he apparently wanted. But, really, should they? Why not just turn it over to the FBI and leave it at that? Well, they showed it to the world because it's a news story, and, of course, for the ratings. It's like having an exclusive interview from beyond. People were grasping for the "why" of his design. They thought the video would provide it.
In a class I took in highschool we were posed a scenario in which we were to be a war correspondant. We were granted access to interview the leader of an enemy camp who tells us that they will be attacking American forces at dawn. What do you do? Tell the American forces so they can get out of the area? Or keep it quiet and report on the battle as it unfolds.
The MTV production company had the same moral problem with allowing one of their castmembers to get behind the wheel of a car when they were obviously too drunk to drive and could potentially kill someone. But, their contracts stipulate they are not to be involved with the cast members in anyway.
I don't know what grey line morality exists on, but certainly it is not an easy decision in any situation.
I will say, I am looking forward to getting over this cold, not only so I'm healthy for my conference next week, but also because it will help me escape the reporting of tragedy and all of the fall-out from it.




*I realize, having just found out that the shooter was majoring in English and wrote disturbing plays that this title might seem in poor taste, however I'm referencing Avenue Q's lyrics, so I don't mean to offend anyone.

Recent Ideas

**Art History class focusing on comparing the use/impact of illegal substances (or at one time legal substances) on the imaginary/grotesque/demons in works of artistic merit** ---haha that sounds more like a broad ranging thesis idea no? Basic plan. Bosch and others, particularly early 19th c. artists partook of things like absinthe and opiates when they created their art. IS there any way to know for sure which works they created while "under the influence" and can we compare these to known works made while they weren't? I have no idea...but the thought came to mind while driving with Courtney to see the Clasical Mystery Tour on Saturday evening.

**While watching Classical Mystery Tour in C.R. Symphony Orchestra's theater. Has anyone ever done an architectural survey purely of theaters? Dating from the beginning of "stage" arts to the modern day black box spaces?? Mixing performance art that is "staged" in gallery spaces and travels, to blockbusters like Les Mis...different theaters reflect the time periods in which they were built, the architectural styles/theories that governed those times, and also had to be functional spaces much like other building types.**

**Ideas can't really by copyrighted on the internet can they? If so, I invoke the copyright laws as such - should either of these become fodder for my possible MA thesis in art history...

Upcoming Excitement and Past Fun

Beware, this is "listy"

* Saw La Boheme put on by the U of Iowa Opera department on last Friday night. Fun times. A special friend did the assistant direction, woot.

* Saturday Fondue party at Liz's and Party at the "Quad" in Ames. With the exceptions of taking care of people who partied a little too hard (but were grateful for the assistance) and the guy who LICKED MY CHEEK!!! It was a fun evening. Liz's second choice of white wine, a yummy organic Riesling was supurb.

* Finally getting to start cataloging the collection at the UIArtLib...

*A French class for reading/research - how scholarly - to start in June

*Introducing Erik and his almost common law Iowan butt to the MUSIC MAN. If you are going to date an Iowan Librarian it's required viewing. - I can't believe he got this far without the torture.

*New reading material, Grand Complication. It stars a reference librarian with a prediliction for musty old books and enclosures...I"m on page 20 and so far I"m enjoying it.

*Watching They Might be Giants instruct children in the art of their ABC's.

*ARLIS/NA in ATLANTA! at the end of APRIL (chance to see Traci, and perhaps Kathy)

*Indiana in May

*Mason City for Frank Lloyd Wright's Iowa prairie style home

*Pella for the tulip festival

*White Sox baseball games via traveling with White Sox Fans.

*Return of Veronica Mars May 1st

*SUMMER!!! --It is too freaking cold in Iowa right now. Yesterday it snowed. If it had been the 1st of April I'd have assumed mother nature's april fool's, alas. It's just her cruel joke.

*The End of this Post

Recurring Dream; Things not as they Seem

I used to have a recurring dream when I was in undergrad. It was one of those panicky types we've all had. Basically I call it my own spin on the "show up to class naked." In that dream, I am walking into the auditorium of the old art building at the UI and sit down and open my test booklet. I await the slides. They appear. I know them all. Score...except...the test asks for their titles in Russian. The essays for the compare and contrast section ask me to formulate my response in...surprise Russian. I do not now, nor have I ever studied the Russian language. It is not on the list of expected languages I should know before my master's degree in Art History either (FRENCH and GERMAN). The whole point I guess is that I know the material and I recognize the works, but I just can't do what's asked. It causes me to stress out, and then I usually wake up.

The new version of this cropped up this past September. It begins with me freaking out that I have not actually turned in my final paper for Art Librarianship. It continues with me frantically trying to throw something together the day the paper is due. Realizing that I've failed to turn anything in at all or that perhaps it wasn't good enough (that part is unclear in Susan Dream Consciousness) and surprise...I don't get to graduate.

Now I ask you...why do we do this to ourselves? Dream interpretation books would probably suggest it is a manifestation of our own nervousness in the conscious realm.
Who knows. But man, I wish it would stop. Jeesh, I've graduated, I've gotten the masters degree, can't these dreams stop too? Or is it the future Im worrying about? The next degree, or the next hoop I'm jumping through?

I'm actually pretty happy about my life right now, where I'm at, and the direction I"m heading in...it feels comfortable, with just a hint of unknown and that's causing excitement instead of trepidation...

*shrug*