Some Pictures from February

I've been back to my New York life for about a month now. This semester is already shaping up to be very busy, but I'm enjoying my classes and enjoying this city more and more. So...um....here are some pictures.

I walked past this holiday-themed window several times in my neighborhood before finally taking a picture. The palpable romantic tension between Abe and George made me giggle every time.

Yesterday I turned in my first major assignment of the semester. We had to visit an exhibit somewhere in the city, and then write a review and give a presentation about it. I picked an awesome little show about Victorian photocollage at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It was really fun and whimsical, and proves that Victorians weren't all stuffy and unimaginative. Here are some favorites:

I am so in love with this exhibit right now, and am trying to think of ways to make some extra money and buy the expensive exhibit catalog. So if embarrassing google ads start popping up on this blog, you'll know that I've sold out to fund my photocollage habit. If you want to see more, go here:

http://www.metmuseum.org/special/victorian_photocollage/images.asp

I've mentioned my roommate's cats a few times, but haven't properly introduced them. When they first arrived they were terrified of me (John explained that they had always lived with men, and so it was probably my voice that was scary. Thanks, John.) and had trouble using the litter box instead of the floor. But now their toilet habits are in order, and they no longer flee at the sound of my feminine roar.

This is Lulu. She is the younger of the two, but recently had a bunch of her teeth removed. She enjoys: hanging out in an old box, gumming her food, and sitting in chairs that you were about to sit in.

This is Coco. She is 15. I have no idea why this text is underlined. I was going to make some crack about Coco being a confused old lady, but nothing makes me feel more like a confused old lady than the stupid formatting on this blog. WHY BLOGGER? WHY IS THIS TEXT UNDERLINED AND WHY CAN I FIND NO WAY TO TURN IT OFF? WHY CAN'T ONE OF MY GRANDCHILDREN HELP ME WITH THIS???

Gah. Seriously.

Anyway. Coco. She is very sweet and a little creaky. She enjoys: sleeping under the kitchen table, and staring off into space while standing awkwardly on your lap.

I Understand Houndstooth On A Much Deeper Level Than You

There is an episode of 30 Rock in which Jack and Liz agree that the worst people in the world are graduate students. That quote pops up in my head periodically when I find myself talking someone's ear off about the history of the cage crinoline or archival storage methods, but generally I think I avoid being one of those graduate students.

However, I've noticed one thing that stimulates my over-educated snobbery like nothing else:

This pattern is known as houndstooth. Last semester in my Fiber & Fabrics class we were given a little sample of houndstooth and told to figure out how it is woven. I spent a long time looking at it under magnification and charting what I saw on a piece of graph paper. Eventually, it all clicked and I was the first one in my class to make sense of it. Basically, it is bands of white and black (both vertically and horizontally) meeting in a twill pattern. A twill pattern is where each yarn goes over two and under two (instead of 1/1 as in plain weave). It naturally creates horizontal lines across the fabric. When you have alternating colors you basically end up with a pattern that looks like squares with little diagonal twill tails sneaking out. Here is an excellent picture that I found:

I can sense you glazing over already. Sorry. I'll wrap it up.

Anyway, ever since I had my houndstooth breakthrough, I feel sort of emotionally attached to it. Whenever I see someone wearing it, I think smugly to myself, "that person doesn't understand houndstooth like I do." Things get worse when I see knit houndstooth. You see, the whole point of houndstooth is that it is a clever use of a simple weave structure. Knitting the pattern makes no sense. It is like writing a part in a movie for Tina Fey and then deciding to cast Megan Fox instead. Clearly you have no understanding of the awesomeness of Tina Fey.

So to sum up: now that I am a graduate student, the sight of a patterned scarf fills me with a feeling of moral superiority. Clearly, graduate students are the worst.

Really, American Museum of Natural History? Really!?

I’m not sure if it is a nor’easter or not, but significant snow seems to have finally arrived in New York and classes have been cancelled. So what better thing than to watch the snow fall and write a blog entry?

Well, get ready, because today, I have a bone to pick. Yesterday I visited the American Museum of Natural History and was shocked by how bad and outdated some of their exhibits are. Now, in all fairness I should mention that there are many areas of the museum that have very dynamic, engaging exhibits. The place is huge and I didn’t even make it to some of the most popular areas such as the fossil halls and the planetarium. I did however spend a long time in the “culture halls” and found myself constantly thinking, “Whaaa? Have these exhibits been updated AT ALL in the last 40 YEARS?”

Basically, the ethnographic sections of the museum reek of the old-fashioned “look at these strange people!” exhibits of yore. After walking through a hall of animal dioramas, I entered the Hall of African Peoples, which featured uh…dioramas of African people. There was a sort of unsavory zoo-like feel to these loin-cloth wearing mannequins.

I ended up visiting all of the “culture halls” and continued to notice evidence of outdated ideas. In several of the areas, particularly in the American Indian wings, no dates were listed with any of the artifacts. The implication seemed to be that dates were irrelevant because these cultures weren’t something that changed over time. The format of the exhibits was also very old-fashioned. It really seemed like an assemblage of objects with minimal description and context. There was one label that literally said only “blanket for ceremonies.” The overall effect was alienating, and it was difficult to remain interested in the content. Many of the galleries were deserted, and people seemed to walk through quickly and pause only to take comical photographs with “strange” objects. The exhibits seemed to be based on the assumption that the people visiting were white (there was no “Peoples of Europe” gallery). There was a distinct feeling of being there to learn about some distant “them.”

So seriously, what is your excuse AMNH? By you own assertion you are “one of the world's preeminent scientific and cultural institutions.” You are located in one of the most multicultural cites in the world. How is it possible that you haven’t updated your exhibits? Aren’t you embarrassed?

I can figure only two possible explanations. One is that there might be a fondness felt for these old exhibits. I noticed on the website that the Northwest Coast Indian exhibit is “the museum’s oldest hall” and contains the spoils of an 1897-1902 expedition (this sort of proves my point, right? There was a pretty different worldview in 1902). But if it is the oldest hall, clearly someone somewhere would be splitting their tweed to hear that the museum was planning a re-vamp. Can they really use that excuse though? Education is key to the museum’s mission, so shouldn’t improved scholarship trump old-timey charm?

The other explanation is probably money. A complete revamp of all of the “culture halls” would cost millions. I shelled out $18 at the student rate which seemed exorbitant to me (feeling robbed already I refused the $2 coat check and hauled an armful of winter layers around the museum for three hours), but I realize that $18 is a drop in the bucket when you consider the personnel and facility needs of such a large museum. Even so, they clearly have resources, and good quality exhibits are essential for a world-class museum. Besides, aren’t there government agencies and private granting institutions that wet themselves with excitement when someone wants money for cultural awareness? You really can’t scrape up any cash to make non-Eurocentric, 21^st century ethnographic exhibits?

REALLY, AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY? REALLY!?

Whew. Glad I got that out of my system. I need to return to my rigorous schedule of staring out the window and petting kitties.

Vocabulary Word of the Week: Nor'easter

On Thursday I overheard some of my classmates talking about how a huge nor'easter was heading our way this weekend. When I asked what they were talking about they laughed. After a few moments they realized I was serious, so they explained that it was a kind of major storm that occurs on the east coast. Since I had already been laughed at once, I refrained from my follow up questions which were: What exactly is the word you are saying? Are you trying to say "north eastern"? If so, why aren't you just saying that? Is there a deeper issue here?

When got home I googled my best guess as to what that world actually was, and much to my surprise "nor'easter" is an actual thing. Like, you can use in in a sentence and everything.

So then I got kind of excited. I'm going to experience a nor'easter like a real north easterner! I am battling a cold, so I stocked up on groceries and dreamed of a snowed-in weekend curled up on the couch with the cats and a box of kleenex. But the nor'easter (perhaps insulted by my west coast enthusiasm?), decided to head out to sea once its business was done with Washington D.C.. We got a sprinkling of snow, but not enough to make me feel justified for staying indoors all weekend. So I went out and took a couple of pictures.

Prospect Park

A view of my apartment building from Prospect Park

Back in New York

Ever since taking my cross-country train trip it has amazed me how short the same journey is via airplane. Last Thursday I woke up in Seattle, sat on a 6 hour flight, and arrived in New York just as the sun was setting. It seemed too easy somehow. During the first few days back I felt like I was in a daze. I knew I was physically in Brooklyn, but my thoughts were constantly drifting back to Seattle. Being on break was wonderful, but it was difficult too. It reminded me of all the wonderful bonds I share with people who aren’t with me in New York.

The nice thing about coming back was how logistically easier it was than my arrival in August. I walked off the plane, hopped on the subway, and got off at my usual stop. When I made it to my apartment all I had to do was fish out my keys and turn the lock. And behold! I have a bed, a desk, a set of clothes, and an entire life set up and ready to go. All the New York habits came back to me as if they were natural. Within the first 24 hours I was riding the subway, cooking with cheap ingredients from Trader Joe’s, and watching weird Netflix movies with my roommate.

I didn’t feel like I was doing anything with much energy though. On Sunday I went to the Frick Museum—which has been on my to-do list forever—and only stayed for a short time before going home to take a nap. With no homework and no commitments, I should have taken advantage of my free time and explored the city. But all I wanted to do was write in my journal and chat with friends online.

Luckily, today, I had my first class of the semester. I was apprehensive about the return to school mode, but the day really energized me. Seeing my classmates again made the dark, bathroomless graduate hallway seem warm and happy. I went out for coffee with one of the women in my program, and came back to gab about Cranford and Young Victoria with another. In class, we were handed what we knew would be one of the biggest assignments of the program—a semester-long exhibit design project. But, as daunting as it sounded, I felt eager to start. While the professor gave a brief lecture on the history of museums I started thinking “YEAH! MUSEUMS! GRAD SCHOOL! AWESOME!” I imagined the activities of the term set to a Rocky-esq “Eye of the Tiger” montage: me taking vigorous notes at museums, me carefully re-sewing a torn historical garment, and me insightfully analyzing a primary source.

Okay, so maybe CLARA : THE MOVIE wouldn't make a good action film, but I'm feeling pretty good. Phase II of grad school—Bring it on!