45

I almost forgot...I turned 45!

Some age changes hit you and other go unnoticed. This one is coming at a time of complete transition and seems to be effecting my self perception. I am having little pods of self doubt that are actually effecting how I interact with the world. I find myself "pondering" those unproductive and destructive questions..."why would anyone hire you? why would anyone date you?" I fully know its is the side effect of so much transition and I can't say that it is completely unhelpful but...arrrrggghhh....it might not be the healthiest mind loop to ever play in my head.

I might not fully understand what this experience, and birthday have done to me until I can stand in front of my friends back in CA. Sometimes the best mirror is a friend. Here is the fantastic birthday dessert that they made me...

Job Hunting

I know that it feels like half of the US is job hunting right now and the economy sucks but I am finding that the restoration and conservation community is much more secretive then I anticipated. They don't advertise or have a web presence. They don't post jobs on regular sites and even the official organizations have outdated information on their websites!

How is a person supposed to infiltrate the system I ask? I have now started to systematically email strangers in hopes of a response! I had to create a table in a word document to keep track of who I send what because it seems so abstract. I've now read how to write every kind of resume and cover letter that is posted in every how to website and I feel like a cartoon character that has all those lovely symbols floating over their head as they lay slumped.

But I will continue to try...like everyone else...and maybe I'll be able to slip in under the barbed wire fence, avoid the motion detectors and run past the snarling dogs to enter the sacred kingdom of restoration!

All Pau!

School is done, in the bag, finished....phew...that was intense.

For 8 months I have spent almost all my time with the same 9 people. It wasn't like the standard friendships formed during the normal academic course because you took every class together. We ate together, studied together and occasionally when time allowed hung out together. Normal academic life is so different than what I experienced here. The semester is a nice pace, and you see your friends occasionally in some of your classes...not here. Here it is a tiny room where all your classes are, the same 10 people from 9-7pm some days, 5 days a week and the other 2 days you are in the library with some of your classmates working.

Not sure if I'd really driven the concept home but I'll try one more time...together in very close quarters for 8 months! There enough said in an attempt to build the context.

I haven't posted any photos of them here on my blog because I do respect their privacy, but I did want to make mention of their brilliance. Of course I didn't get along with everyone, but the half of the class that I spent my time with are fantastic. One in fact is spending the next 2 weeks here in my little studio before she goes off to France.

So for the record, my experience was made up of not only an education in restoration but also shaped by a dedicated and over achieving (in a good way) group of individuals that I will always remember with warmth and fondness. Some I hope to keep in close touch with and others I will be happy to see at events and conferences. But they have been such a big part of my experience here that it would be remiss of me not to mention them and I will miss them.

Thanks fellow Post-Bacc Conservation students 2009/2010...

Siena

I finally got to take a day trip to Siena. I have many of the photos posted on my Flickr account and still doing some editing on others.

Siena is magic. There is no other way to describe it. It is a frozen moment in time in many ways. No high tech antennas sticking off roof tops, no zooming cars moving down the streets, and even not much public transportation. Every corner you turn is a gift from the city, and in many ways it is much more beautiful than Florence.

Can you tell I fell in love with Siena. I do wish I had more time there because it is more than one full day of sight seeing. So if I return to Italy some day I hope I can spend more time there and maybe even make it to Venice...Venice is waiting for a time I can travel with someone romantic I think.

I'll patiently wait.

entertainment

There is a fantastic theater here that plays english language movies that is extremely beautiful. I haven't much of an opportunity to go, but when you do it seems like quite the event just because of the atmosphere. I did see "the Adventures of Mr. Fox" there a few days ago with a few friends. A great movie with witty and cunning dialog but I'm not sure most kids get the majority of what is being said.

Here is the link to the fantastic and very unique movie house...

http://www.cinehall.it/pagine/congressi.html

tireless effort

Here is a photo of my thesis helper Mike and I the night before he left...He has been tirelessly editing and proofing my thesis for me on the technical end. I understand now why I do NOT like Microsoft Word and happily would rather be using a design program.

But...I will triumph!!!!

no time

I haven't had much time for posting to this blog or anything else but school work...it's getting close to the end! I am swamped with a thesis, a didactic panel, a movie/slideshow and I just finished a science presentation. I still have reports to finish and I also just finished some restoration work on the computer...life of a post-bacc student. It's all fantastic work, and I am enjoying it but there is little time do much else.

On top of it I think I need to find some time to job search...as it stands right now I might be extending my time here in Italy to get in some extra practical hours if all works out. Fingers can't be crossed about my future because I won't get any typing done. Here is a shot I did at the paper restorers studio...I do love going there!