Inauguration Day

The entire country is no doubt discussing this, I just thought I'd put my two-cents in.

I'm excited to see what this new administration can bring to our nation and the world. That being said, I sincerely hope that people do not expect Obama to pull out a magic wand and solve all of our problems. There is an intense amount of pressure on this new administration to be groundbreaking, I'm just hoping that Obama is a "good" president. If people place their hopes impossibly high, all they are going to get is disappointed. I feel that people think that because he's the first black president, he'll be the most noteworthy president, in league with Washington, Lincoln, and Roosevelt. I hope he is. I truly do hope that he is able to help this country, and improve our relations with the world in such a way that places him on such a high pedestal. What an exciting time to be alive?

My opinion is: He is going to try. I hope he can do all that he says he wants to do. If he can't, I hope people don't jump ship, and turn on him, wishing that they had voted for option number two. That would not have been better by any stretch of the imagination.

In conclusion: I wish good luck upon the next four years, and look forward to "witnessing history"

More Focus?

Here I am, at the toy shop, after having just completed some computer inventory whatnots and whozits. Just wanted to post real quick about the Circus Arts blog I created yesterday. It has to be passed by the other members of the group, but I'm hoping we can eventually start blogging about our individual as well as group experiences.

As far as everything else goes, I shoveled my driveway yesterday while listening to Clive Barker's novel, Mr. B Gone, on my ipod with the audiobook function. I highly recommend this story. Whether or not you like to read, it's a good book, or audio track :-)

Warning: This book is dark.

Its an autobiography of a lesser demon from the 9th circle. Simultaneously hilarious and grotesque, Mr. B Gone was something I picked up last year at Barnes and Noble. I didn't purchase it, but had read it in a handful of hours while my boyfriend was shopping around. I'm very glad that I now have it with a greater degree of permanence. Barker's ability to make the main character, Jakabok Botch, sympathetic, is fantastic. While terrible things are occuring throughout the novel, you can understand Jakabok's mindset, if not sympathize with it. I'm currently at the beginning of disc 3 out of 6. In audiobook its a 6.5 hour performance. Great for long car rides or tedious chores that require little brain function.

Maybe that's what I'll do from now on. I'll give this blog a little more focus by reviewing books and movies and the like...

Mr. B Gone by Clive Barker, great for that little Macabre lover in all of us

In Reference to My Future Honors Thesis

In early December I had a meeting with the director of my department at college. My only homework assignment during this winter break is do chose 3 aspects of the material world which interest me in regards to medieval life. One of these three will ultimately become the focus of my senior honors thesis. The director actually got quite excited when I discussed my optimal future plans.

I want to make history more exciting to the general public. I love history and the way that it is presented is key to capturing interest. I recently went to the Natural History Museum in NYC. Even though I was anticipating this museum trip, I found myself getting lulled to sleep by the warm circulated air and the somewhat musty "museum" smell. If a person who is honestly looking forward to a museum visit is having a hard time keeping their eyes open, how is a non-interested student supposed to get caught up in the actual history?

I love public speaking and I'm not sure exactly how yet, but I want to make a difference in the way medieval history is shown to the public. In my opinion, history is strongly dependent upon it's presentation.

When I discussed that with my director, she decided to make my honors thesis divided into a paper and a mini-exhibit. I would hopefully be able to get into some area museum storage and have a few pieces transferred to my college. There I could work directly with a museum and some artifacts. Then I could present my paper alongside visual aids.

The Problem:

My library at home is abysmal. Every book I wanted to take out is out of circulation in their back room. As of right now I am interested in pagan religious articles, the symbolism behind heraldry (and any over-arching symbolism), and medieval medicines/herbs/tools of the apothecary/barber trade. I'm also interested in medieval performance arts such as buskers at street fairs, or holiday mummers.

In other words:

ARGH!

Thursday Night!

I had my first true downtown experience yesterday evening/early this morning. For those of you in my area, Chippewa St. is "the place" to go on pretty much any given night. My friend Kristen, along with her boyfriend Chris, invited me to accompany them. We spent the evening at Level, which I have linked below. It was clean, music was good, the bouncers were prevalent but not a pain. It's a great place to just have a good time.

Fun times were had by all

I miss high school for very few reasons. One of which being the school dances. You get to dress pretty and dance to techno. Now that I know how much fun that can be had at a real dance club, I really am apt to go out more often. I only had one drink at the very beginning of the evening, and I didn't need one to have fun.

Two weeks remain until spring semester begins!