This Just In...

Ahhh

2005-08-17T00:46:00.000-04:00

Refreshing. A new adventure with new posts and so much new stuff it's gonna make your head spin. Time to update your bookmarks.

Pocket-sized Art

2004-09-16T22:25:00.000-04:00

Jefferson's getting a facelift. Just in time for the Lewis and Clark bicentennial, the U.S. Mint has released two new five cent pieces.

Who came first?

2004-09-08T13:33:00.000-04:00

In three years, our attentions will briefly turn to Jamestown, celebrating the 400 years since the colonization of America. On the Pacific coast, the question of origins are more sketchy. Theories hold that Native Americans are from Asia via the Bering Land Bridge, but a new report from Reuters, we need an open mind.

Coming soon

2004-09-06T09:30:00.000-04:00

A new site is in the works for The Haven, a NYC-based ministry for creative professionals, and the communications director is now yours truly. Wish me luck...

Be an informed citizen

2004-09-01T09:03:00.000-04:00

The strikingly effective message of Project Billboard has arrived in Times Square.

More Holiday Fun

2004-08-28T23:02:00.000-04:00

Josh and Elizabeth recently celebrated their first year anniversary on a trip to DC and NYC. Check out their pictures and priceless commentary.

Subtle changes

2004-08-20T08:35:00.000-04:00

Experimenting with a new format for a few elements, including this page, Portfolio and Archives.

In the 'Hood

2003-03-14T00:40:00.000-05:00

This needs to be the very next link you click on: Neighborhoodies is where it's at. Literally. You pick the location, the color, the style, and you've got a custom sweatshirt with your neighborhood front and center. All of this from Brooklyn, NY and the enthusiasm of Michael de Zayas and his friendly, lighthearted (and somewhat frenzied) team that prepares every single order by hand. Oh yeah, and read the 'Love Letter' from March 13. As Michael said in an email, "Thanks for your order. You're going to love it." P.S. Wear your hoodies on Tuesdays.

Snowbound

2003-02-17T21:57:00.000-05:00

Another classic moment brought to you by "Only in New York." Twenty-four inches in twenty-four hours. Of course, the same can be said from Virginia to Jersey. Which also meant it was just time to hunker down, stay warm, and come up with something to do. Stuck. Cabin fever. Bored, nothing to do. Well, almost. I'm taking a class online for my work at the Museum. So between that and a little down time (it's a holiday, after all) with Fight Club, it was - like many Northeasterners - a rather chill (and chilly) day. Join me on Fifth Avenue: where sleds outnumbered briefcases.

"Cans" and Squashed Philosophers

2003-01-09T17:54:00.000-05:00

Here are some new web wanderings worth a browse. The College of William and Mary is getting ready to host the first "Cans Film Festival," devoted to the celebration of film works of many genres, all while working for the cause of bringing canned goods to the needy. Cool, huh? Check it out right now (another great work by Adam Stackhouse, the web guru behind Improvisational Theatre). Glyn Hughes, a British designer, has a concise little joint he calls "Squashed Philosophers." This is your one-stop learning spot for everything from Aristotle's ethics to Sartre's existentialism. Interesting and quick reads that can capture even the least likely student of philosophy... and give you that edge in that conversation about a Copernican universe at cocktail parties! Dive right in...

Welcome to Turtle Bay

2002-12-27T12:32:00.000-05:00

I've been moving on up to the East Side... This is my new neighborhood in Manhattan, one block from the United Nations, two from Grand Central, and the Chrysler Building just around the corner. Turtle Bay was featured in the New York Times recently and in The Atlantic Monthly a couple years ago.

Landing a Dream Job

2002-11-06T17:24:00.000-05:00

The William and Mary News contacted me recently to conduct an interview. Turns out the email I sent out to all of kingdom come, announcing my new job in NYC (which you can now read online in my latest, colorful creation, signs of life) caught the eyes of Professor Feiss, Dean of the Faculty and a professor in the Geology Department. He in turn forwarded my email to the friendly folks in University Relations who were looking for new stories, particularly about alumni and their interesting jobs... a "where are they now?" theme. So in the November 4th edition, they've highlighted my new "dream" job at the Museum. Even after nearly two months here, I have moments where I feel like asking one of the guards to pinch me. It's an amazing place and you'll have to come for a visit! Take a read and let me know what you think!

On the wings of change

2002-09-03T18:59:00.000-04:00

I've just accepted a position at the American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan. As of Monday, September 23, I'll be a production assistant in the National Center for Science Literacy, Education and Technology. Find out more...

What's your passion?

2002-04-07T01:58:00.000-05:00

Listening For Smiles.
Read it every day.
Venture into the links.
Share new ideas.
Make comments.
Smile.

My new favorite song-that-won't-get-out-of-my-head

2002-03-28T02:10:00.000-05:00

Of course, I'm not telling the full story unless I mention that I also have the music video stuck in my head. Vanessa Carlton's "A Thousand Miles" starts out in her family's garage, tinkering on the piano, when she (and the piano) start to glide out the door onto the street. She comes full circle after travelling through Manhattan, the highway in New Mexico, among other places (accompanied by marching bands, motorcycle gangs, and a little owl a couple times).

Making my way downtown
Walking fast
Faces pass
And I'm home bound
Staring blankly ahead
Just making my way
Making a way
Through the crowd

Watch the video on Launch

Sure Vanessa's a beautiful gal, but ultimately it's the energy behind the melody (and the orchestra backup) and the idea of gliding down the street belting out my song on a grand.

The Blog Universe

2002-03-26T12:41:00.000-05:00

Something that never ceases to amaze me is the incredible network of unsuspecting people that continues to morph and build upon itself in the blog universe. Forgive the run-on sentence, but I think I needed to make a point. It seems that when you start browsing a blog and then connect to other blogs that the author recommends, you are essentially participating in a run-on sentence. A run-on train of thought. A run-on frame of mind. Not that this is a bad thing. In fact, most bloggers tend to quickly and efficiently get right to the point.

In some ways the meaning of run-on sentence has gotten a bad rap. It is considered poor taste in the world of grammar (yes, mom and dad I've been listening all these years). It is identified with someone who can't get to their point without a reasonable struggle (me for instance, in case you hadn't noticed already). I think it's high time run-on sentence was examined as a part of the process of thinking. (Yeah, Armistead, you're gonna have a fun time explaining this one to me.) OK, ok. The idea behind the run-on is that the words used to express an idea take awhile for the idea-maker to share. A gradual process. A slow state of change. Or as I learned this weekend from Tod Williams, "a successive flow." More about the Virginia Design Forum V some other time.

You might of noticed I got off on a bit of a tangent there. To return to my original point, I am always surprised by the connections between bloggers and curious as to how those connections were made. Let's go for a tour, shall we...

Let's start with Ben Domenech, a fellow W&M student. A blog watch professional. His premiere links take you to some other blog watchers (aka augustinian wonder boys).

One of these boys is Charlie Park, a mutual friend and W&M alumnus, I grant you, but made his web presence known independently. Charlie's Pure Content just made the cut this week for Arthur Coddington's Blog of the Day. Charlie happens to know Dan Pink, a contributor to Fast Company.

Now Dan's site, Just One Thing is actually what Charlie linked on his site. But watch this organic process get wilder. Turns out that Ben knows Dan too. Dan likes to read Heath Row, Heath links to John Ellis, author of the latest interesting read from Fast Company, "All the News That's Fit to Blog".

Turns out Heath is a fan of Charlie's blog as well. Heath also recommends Boing Boing, the directory of wonderful things authored by the Mark-Cory-David team (check out Mark's comic work). Boing Boing considers Subterranean Notes one of the best blogs. Dirk Hine runs this outsiders art site.

Dirk's links page brings up some similar favorites on blogger lists, including Dr. Menlo, who fits into a different part of this circle, including everything from Follow Me Here to Wood's Lot and Ethel the Blog.

As you can see this is getting complicated. I'm sitting here trying to keep track of all these places with about ten browser windows open. This stuff works backwards too. For example, Ethel links back to Boing Boing, as do Heath, Dr. Menlo and RandomWalks (who likes Follow Me Here). Seems that the run-on ends up sometimes being a run-around, where instead of just taking you through the conversations, you end up seeing some of the same old favorites on everybody's page. Next stop: the run-on sentence arrives on the front page of mainstream media.

Lament of the Nonwatcher

2002-02-28T22:16:00.000-05:00

I wish I could have a few more moments in every day that weren't chained to time. I'm a nonwatcher and yet I still end up giving in to everyone else's demands for time. Thus is the way of the world. Nonstop, 24/7, instant, on-demand, super-efficient, high energy.

I'm looking forward to a less frantic pace, or at least the chance to really discover how to use the passions in me to enjoy every moment better. When it really comes down to it, I suppose my needs for a change are more in the need to be doing things that suit my interests more than my current set of responsibilities.

But do not worry, oh best beloved: I will find the way to find the strength to complete these tasks before moving on. If anything I certainly have found the true pleasure of getting enough sleep! And with a trust in the Big Guy upstairs, that path to new discoveries will come clear in the right moment. It may sound cheesy, but Britney might have something when she says: all I need is time, a moment that is mine, while I'm in between (granted I'm not a girl or not yet a woman, but you get the point).

1 Peter 2:7

2002-02-24T16:48:00.000-05:00

The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.

Lost

2002-02-24T16:41:00.000-05:00

Oh where oh where has my little blog gone?
Oh where oh where can it be?

I've FTPed from here to there... and yet no blog do we see.

hmm.

Il campo

2001-04-01T04:06:00.000-04:00

Swept in the moment to the Tuscan countrysides... il campo ...and the small northern Italian villages, right in the center of la piazza. So pardon me for the moment as I quote some bella passages.

"Travels in the Tuscan countryside for a day trip, weekend, week, year -- a journey or a hike, a picnic or a ride: I go when I'm wanting something. Something endless, something new. Something with no memory of mine but with a memory of its own that reaches farther back than I can imagine. When you find the piazza, you're in the heart of the heart of the place. All the lives and affections and events flow out from right there."
- - Frances Mayes, from her book, In Tuscany

Chi pi� conosce pi� ama, pi� amando pi� gusta. (The more you know, the more you love, and by loving more, the more you enjoy.)
- - St. Catherine of Siena

"A me la polenta piace un po' pi� tenera, a mio marito un po' pi� solida, allora la faccio non tenera e non solida, che siam contenti tutti." ("I like my polenta to be soft, my husband likes it dense, so I make it neither soft nor dense and we are all happy.")
- - Ermelina Querciagrossa, from the book Luna, Bella Luna

Luna, bella luna fammi sognar dormendo chi sposer� vivendo. (Moon, beautiful moon, make me dream while I am sleeping about whom I will marry when I awake.)

On Break

2001-03-07T02:06:00.000-05:00

Who says you can't have a good time on break unless you have a vacation?

It seems that most college students run off to distant spots of the globe, hoping to get away from the books for a week's worth of celebrating, merry making, and relaxing. It's a fantastic idea. At this time of year, everyone's ready for a break of some sort - to clear your head, refresh your spirits, wind down and gear up for the second half of the semester... and the rest of midterms. Sometimes it's even nice just to get caught up on the rest of life (reading for class, reading for pleasure, laundry, sleep, a regular eating schedule, the essentials). So the distant beach and commercial venues that beckon: come have a good time with friends, spend your money, sleep away the afternoon... seem like a great break.

Personally, I'd much rather drive the five hours down the interstate and chill out at home for the week. Yes, more than the vacation where you're almost expected to interact with lots of friends and people you've never met (classic example: Mardi Gras) and take advantage of everything you've spent good money to enjoy (taste the flavors, soak up the sights). No thank you, I want to sit down to a familiar meal provided with love and thought from my parents, enjoy a familiar couch cushion or bed or comforting embrace from my brother, and leisure about the house in my PJs as I catch up on local news and magazines from the past two months. When there's several days during the week where you're the only one at home for a few hours, you have the chance to reflect on your own thoughts for once, and not expected to perform under the pressure of the classroom, where the reflection is mostly on the professor's lecture or the textbook's teachings... rushed and constrained to say the least. Even better, the location is perfect for truly relaxing. For one thing, you're already familiar and comfortable with your settings, there's not much new to explore (that you don't figure out in the first day, which is just a part of adjusting to being home) and there's little reason to feel obligated to take full advantage of your surroundings. Well, with the exception of taking advantage of the home-cooked food, veg in front of the TV for the first time since Christmas, and our fun supply of construction paper and art supplies...

Don't think that I'm not a fan of an awesome vacation. But I just think there's some more opportune times to take a real 'vacation' and the middle of the semester is not one of them for me. I prefer to consider this an overstuffed weekend that allows your brain to just go into sleep mode for a few days and recharge. They don't call it 'break' for nothing! And I'm having a good break :-)

Becoming Spring

2001-03-03T00:49:00.000-05:00

How can it be that an entire half of a semester has simply flown by and left me standing there wondering where it all went? Amazingly, it's Spring Break and I'm left gasping for air and ready for a one-week vacation from the roller coaster. It seems that everyone will agree that it's about time we got to the break, too. I'm thinking this will be the perfect recharge for campus... allowing people to come back and enjoy renewed strength and a refreshed look at life (not droopy like the dining experience at College and not stagnant like the Crim Dell...) Somehow the idea of seven blissful days in familiar territory where I can snuggle up to a warm couch and cozy food and loving arms of family is just the perfect medicine.

I have learned a lot in one month's time... plenty about classwork and balance... a lot more about life and living in the world. After all, we enjoy a liberal arts education and I'm taking full advantage of that opportunity these four years: in and outside the classroom! Not as much inside as I would like, but when life starts to take over, it's sometimes very difficult to resist. I feel refreshed already just from completing this week - drained, yes - but content to be finished. Now I just need to find my way home tomorrow afternoon... one step at a time. First through the final moments in Williamsburg, then on to Richmond as I drop off a friend, and to Charlottesville to visit family before I arrive at the final destination of the sleepy mountains in Southwestern Virginia. The sleepy Valley and Ridge, where the trees are only beginning to wake up from the long winter's edge (even with the prospect of a ferocious winter storm later in the weekend), and the river still runs quick and cold. Jack Frost with his icy breath still rules the twilight of morning and the Moon with her frosty glow still rules the twilight of evening.

New warmth will come quiet in the sunshine as the blooms start to emerge and the birds herald the beginning of spring. Renewal and rebirth are soon to be at hand. The sunshine beckons...

Happiness reigns again

2001-02-04T02:15:00.000-05:00

Having a little talk with Nikki Giovanni, professor at VA Tech and world-renouned poet certainly helped cheer things up for the weekend. And the third of four candidates for a geology professorship in our department had plenty to say that made me excited about (of all things) research of coral growth in the Carribean in relation to historical hurricane activity. To top it all off, my friend Ken Davis (a fellow geology major) is receiving the Thomas Jefferson Prize in Natural Philosophy at Charter Day next weekend and my picture somehow appeared in the W&M News this week (along with the article about Ken). I'm the spiffy blonde playing the piano. (Speaking of hair color, I guess it's about time to get it cut. Hair appointment is Wednesday, thank goodness... my mop-top blonde job could use it!)

The square dance this evening at Peace Hill was funtastic... although I dreadfully missed some certain friends who couldn't attend. It was a lovely time, I just wish there were more people who I actually knew. I suppose I'm just wishing it was just like the Christmas square dance. Oh how I miss the holidays... the warm fire crackling, the wafting combination of ginger, cinnamon, evergreen and cider, and the simple joy of singing carols through your head at almost any hour of the day. I miss that so. Did I mention... oh yes, I'm homesick. Even a conversation each with Mom and Dad on the phone just doesn't quite make a world of difference. Sometimes I just wish I could stop the semester in a screeching halt, run home and wander sleepily through a week with family, drive slowly back to Williamsburg (the way I like to savor a good piece of chocolate for a long long time), and start back to classes, refreshed. I like that word: refreshed. It has such a lovely invigorating and appealing sound... my hopes and dreams are full and bright this semester. I just seem to be going through a state of unrest.

Your life is like, a rollercoaster, baby, baby...

I feel like I can't breathe

2001-01-26T18:01:00.000-05:00

This afternoon ended up not being the productive goals that I was hoping it would be. Sure I got some things done: minor things (like writing a letter to my representative for the General Assembly), inspiring things (like meeting good friends for lunch and catching up with folks), and generally uninteresting things (that end up not being worth mentioning, hence uninteresting). But then there were several things I should have gotten done and been more responsible. I didn't make it to a special lecture or meeting with a potential candidate to be in our geology department. And far worse, I completely forgot to go teach first graders this afternoon with a geology lesson on volcanoes... I even had things planned for this afternoon without even remembering that we had set this up two weeks ago. So much for scheduling far in advance... much better for me to plan the day before! It's definitely a moment of feeling like a complete heel and disappointing twenty kids, their teacher, my professor, and myself all at once.

My head's been swirling with a million things that I have to do... call this person, remember this meeting, delegate to have something fixed with our online student community... which is all good and well with my personal info manager. And then there's the twelve million things that I never remember to put on my never-ending to-do list. Such as the stack of emails that I'm supposed to deal with in regard to my work on the geology website. Yeah, yeah I'm whining here... but when I account for the classwork that I'm attempting to focus on this semester and the sleep I'm not getting, then I feel somewhat validated. Sometimes my campus life seems to take over my geology major.

Today, I'm either spinning out of control with so much to do, or I barely have my head above water... breathing is practically not an option. Tomorrow? I'm hoping to have a better head on my shoulders... I know that I usually do when this happens. That's my sensibility and perspective kicking in, thank goodness. Stay tuned.

Finding the balance

2001-01-24T01:19:00.000-05:00

Rest is necessary for daily energy. Sleep is necessary for life itself. Enough sleep is necessary just to function through a day. Even more sleep is necessary for the clear mind and pure heart. Dreams are necessary to maintain an active and creative imagination. Deep sleep is necessary to feel fully refreshed and alive. I am lacking in all of these right now. Finding the balance for the day to day college experience is such a joy... but the process leading up to that sure can be painful. I look forward to the day I reach my semester balance...

Call me a nerd, but...

2001-01-22T03:21:00.000-05:00

Perhaps four of the best pages of a textbook that I've read in a long time happened to be the preface to my exciting new Paleontology book, Bringing Fossils to Life. It focused (as most prefaces do) on the purposes of writing this book and the way it was written in a certain manner. Yet this book seems to be set apart from most. For once, I feel like this is directly addressing the question that I have longed for and searched far and wide in my geology classes for: "What's the point?... why am I learning this?... and where will this help me in the future?" Class is not only looking to be inspiring... but exciting and with really cool reading, too!

"Throughout the book, I have tried to capture a sense of the excitement of paleobiology and have tried to convey why we try to do what we do. Students today are very results-oriented, so in the back of my mind their persistent question "What's the point?" guided my writing. As I wrote, I kept in mind what 20 years of experience with some of the best undergraduates in the country... has taught me about what students retain and what ideas excite them and keep their interest."

--Donald R. Prothero (1997)

Ever had one of those days?

2001-01-19T00:51:00.000-05:00

...that it seems every time you turn around, something is inspiring or just makes you feel plain good deep inside? I think that old saying about getting up on the right side of the bed or starting off with the right foot makes a difference too. I started my paleontology class today and was captivated from the moment I walked in the door until the final sweeping moment when it was suddenly over. Even after leaving T-Hall and starting to walk down the wet brick paths to my next class, I felt I was completely in a daze... my head still reeling with all the thoughts that were packed into that hour and a half. It was one of those "this is going to be a good semester" feelings.

Art studio was no different. While certain aspects were more traditional in the introduction to the class, the same characteristics of my professor that by now I know well (who I had just last semester) were there like always. The room, the feel of the stool under me, the texture of old, dried paint on the drawers and sink, and the quiet, non-intrusive light from the skylights were familiar and comforting. In fact, that's been a common theme throughout my day, I think. The worldview has certainly changed and evolved over my three years here--from the wide-eyed wonder of freshman year, where everything seems incredible, to the unique bond and relationship that I have developed with this campus. I knew today that this was the same College I had left a month before for the holidays, humming with activity in a way that you can only sense, not usually see in an obvious way. Certainly, there have been some routine things today... as mundane as the process of driving through the rain this afternoon to take a nap at home... and as simple as taking time to catch up on the week's happenings in the latest edition of the W&M News.

Yet, there will always and everyday be at least one thing that amazes me, in small and big ways. I caught up with one of my best friends at dinner tonight, to listen to all the stories about the future plans for grad school and worried needs to figure out the year to come. All along, I thought about how incredible to have a friend so experienced in her field and have potential opportunities that may create a fantastic career one day. Then, to have a phone conversation from the halls of the University Center with a new friend about the unique experiences that we have both enjoyed because of the College... everything from field trips in geology and outreach in the community to the very decisions that made (and continue to make) this our school of choice. In full circle, I ended up getting the details from this phone call so I can introduce my professor of paleontology to a group of high school students at a conference this weekend.

The possibilities continue to be endless, the outlook is bright, and the experiences never cease to astound me!

...and so that's how the first day of classes went

2001-01-18T00:00:00.000-05:00

It was a bit tiring and exhausting at the end of the day. I'm sure most everyone felt that way all across campus. One big collective sigh of sleepiness tonight at William & Mary. At the same time, it's a happy sigh to be back and seeing everyone again, catching up after winter break (which always seems to be the case each year)... and it's a sigh of awe to see everything that this semester has in store for all of us (it's that feeling that you know vaguely about everything facing you for the next few months... and it's almost too overwhelming to think about). I'm trying not to think about it... too much.

Overall an amazing day, I suppose. If I had to pick out one particular thing that was the best part of the day (an idea that I think of often when I reflect on a day... something my mom instilled in me) was hearing the Wren Building chime out at noon for the first time! Amazing, the tradition of ringing the bell every hour during the day has returned to our College... something that hasn't happened since Sam Sadler was in school here (or so he informed me today). Wow.

Yeah, that basically sums it up. Wow.

Happy

2001-01-04T02:33:00.000-05:00

Happy are those who long to be just and good, for they shall be completely satisfied. Happy are the kind and merciful, for they shall be shown mercy. Happy are those whose hearts are pure, for they shall see God. Happy are those who strive for peace -- they shall be called the sons of God. Happy are those who are persecuted because they are good, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.

Matthew 5:6-10

This Just In...

2000-12-12T23:39:00.000-05:00

Not unlike Kathleen Kelly, I prefer to begin in the middle of a conversation, as if we were already the best of friends and talking for quite some time now.

Perhaps I should explain myself.

This is my head. I'm open for business. Feel free to take a look now and again. And you can share your side of the story, too.