busy, busy, busy
Jul. 4th, 2009 03:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lizzybennetI have been terrible at updating this week; I have been busy and by the end of the day I just want to veg. Let's see if I can give a quick synopsis. Of course, now that I've said "quick", I realize it will probably be anything BUT quick, because I'm going to sprinkle in lots of pics.
Work: I've started a new project which involves working with Burmese-Pali manuscripts. These are very different from the initial project. Whereas those manuscripts (ms. for short, from now on) were quite small, these are much bigger. They are written on palm leaves and have wooden fronts and backs. They don't have any binding and would normally be kept together with a pair of pegs that go all the way through the leaves and cover. The Burmese script itself is very unique, unlike any other kind of writing I've ever seen. It's very circular, which I've learned is because straight lines would have torn the palm leaves. Each ms. is also painted and gilded, which makes them beautiful, but the smell of the paint is quite strong. It turns my stomach, truth be told. Some of the ms .were never separated after gilding and all the pages are stuck together. That's sad, isn't it? Someone spent all that time hand writing the material, and now the work can't be viewed at all.
Most of the ms. were originally wrapped in fabric and tyed with a woven strap (or ribbon). The cloths are really cool, some of them hand spun and hand woven. Here's an example of commercial cloth:
And here's an example of one of the ribbons. It's not as beautiful as some of the others, but it's unique because it's made of animal fibers.
I spend the mornings examining the ms. and writing down the physical details and I spend the afternoons creating MARC records. The ms. were examined several years ago by a Burmese scholar who wrote up the details such as title, author, etc and published the info in a journal. The cloth wrappings have also been examined by a textile scholar. In order to create the MARC record, I am merging the info of the previous scholars with the info I obtain through my inspections of the ms. It's much more slow going that my first project, which is a good thing. Hopefully this will last me until the end of my time here. I just finished my fifth week, which is the half way point.
Play time: Tuesday night, Clara, the boys and I went to a free concert at the Kennedy center. Turns out they have free concerts every night of the year! We went to see a Welsh band perform and I really enjoyed it.
I also got to walk through Watergate :) The view from the top of the Kennedy Center is quite beautiful:
We rode the Metro back to Union Station and walked home from there. It was raining and I didn't have my umbrella. Clara ran on ahead--she's much more fit than I am plus she wanted to get the kids home as soon as possible. I walked home in the rain. It was a warm rain and I kind of enjoyed it.
Yesterday Clint and Clara decided to go kayaking and they invited me along. I had visions of myself stranded in the middle of the Potomac (maybe upside down, who knows?) unable to make my way back to shore, so I decided not to. Instead, I did a much more Tina-ish activity. I rode with them to Georgetown and while they kayaked, I I visited Georgetown cupcakes (wow, that's a cool website). Clint told me the line would be long, but I was very surprised to see just how long it actually was:
The cupcakes themselves were $2.75 a piece. You may be wondering if they were worth the wait and worth the price? Honestly, I'd have to say no. They were good, there is no denying that. But they are, after all, just cupcakes and not anything spectacular in my opinion.
I walked around town, climbing up and down hills in attempt to burn off some of those cupcake calories. I also walked along the toe path, which is a path originally used by donkeys who pulled barges down the canal. Imagine my surprise to come across a donkey while I strolled along!
Last night, Clara invited a few people over for dinner before we went to see the concert rehearsal. Shireen (one of the other Asian interns) came, along with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
ticklethepear and a couple Clint and Clara know from church. So, it just so happens that the man of the couple is Hilary Clinton's speech writer. It's so bizarre to me to find myself just casually interacting with people who have such prestigious jobs. He was a nice guy, as was his wife (and we all know how nice ticklethepear is!) After dinner Clara, Clint, Shireen, the boys, and I walked down to listen to the rehearsal. We couldn't get close enough to see the actual stage, but we had a good view of the jumbo-tron. Honestly, of all the performances my favorite was the National Symphony's rendition of the 1812 Overture. I love that they shot cannon's off right from the stage. Barry Manilow and Aretha Franklin were quite amazing as well. Big Bird did a decent job, as did Jimmy Smits :)
The Capitol looks quite beautiful all lit up for the evening, doesn't it?
This morning, I went to the National Archives to attend a reading of the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration was read by three middle school children, and they did a really good job. The list of grievances against Great Britain was read by historical reinactors and they were very entertaining. The crowd boo-ed after each complaint. When Thomas Jefferson read the bit about taxation without approval by the people, and imprisonment without trial, he paused dramatically and raised his eyebrow to indicate that this is a problem we are once again facing today. The audience boo-ed with gusto in response.
After the presentation, people started to get ready for the parade. I wasn't aware there was going to be a parade, but I decided to stick around and watch it. I could already feel my skin start to bake, but I thought it would be worth it. I took a stroll through the Sculpture garden:
and found a place to sit and wait. Luckily I was right at the start of the parade, so I got to see everyone still perky and energetic, before the heat and marching had gotten to them. It was by far the best parade I've ever seen...although it would have been much better if I could have shared it with the boys. *sigh*
And now I'm red as a lobster
Maybe I'll put on a blue shirt tonight for the fireworks. Then I'll be red, white and blue :)
Work: I've started a new project which involves working with Burmese-Pali manuscripts. These are very different from the initial project. Whereas those manuscripts (ms. for short, from now on) were quite small, these are much bigger. They are written on palm leaves and have wooden fronts and backs. They don't have any binding and would normally be kept together with a pair of pegs that go all the way through the leaves and cover. The Burmese script itself is very unique, unlike any other kind of writing I've ever seen. It's very circular, which I've learned is because straight lines would have torn the palm leaves. Each ms. is also painted and gilded, which makes them beautiful, but the smell of the paint is quite strong. It turns my stomach, truth be told. Some of the ms .were never separated after gilding and all the pages are stuck together. That's sad, isn't it? Someone spent all that time hand writing the material, and now the work can't be viewed at all.
Most of the ms. were originally wrapped in fabric and tyed with a woven strap (or ribbon). The cloths are really cool, some of them hand spun and hand woven. Here's an example of commercial cloth:
And here's an example of one of the ribbons. It's not as beautiful as some of the others, but it's unique because it's made of animal fibers.
I spend the mornings examining the ms. and writing down the physical details and I spend the afternoons creating MARC records. The ms. were examined several years ago by a Burmese scholar who wrote up the details such as title, author, etc and published the info in a journal. The cloth wrappings have also been examined by a textile scholar. In order to create the MARC record, I am merging the info of the previous scholars with the info I obtain through my inspections of the ms. It's much more slow going that my first project, which is a good thing. Hopefully this will last me until the end of my time here. I just finished my fifth week, which is the half way point.
Play time: Tuesday night, Clara, the boys and I went to a free concert at the Kennedy center. Turns out they have free concerts every night of the year! We went to see a Welsh band perform and I really enjoyed it.
I also got to walk through Watergate :) The view from the top of the Kennedy Center is quite beautiful:
We rode the Metro back to Union Station and walked home from there. It was raining and I didn't have my umbrella. Clara ran on ahead--she's much more fit than I am plus she wanted to get the kids home as soon as possible. I walked home in the rain. It was a warm rain and I kind of enjoyed it.
Yesterday Clint and Clara decided to go kayaking and they invited me along. I had visions of myself stranded in the middle of the Potomac (maybe upside down, who knows?) unable to make my way back to shore, so I decided not to. Instead, I did a much more Tina-ish activity. I rode with them to Georgetown and while they kayaked, I I visited Georgetown cupcakes (wow, that's a cool website). Clint told me the line would be long, but I was very surprised to see just how long it actually was:
The cupcakes themselves were $2.75 a piece. You may be wondering if they were worth the wait and worth the price? Honestly, I'd have to say no. They were good, there is no denying that. But they are, after all, just cupcakes and not anything spectacular in my opinion.
I walked around town, climbing up and down hills in attempt to burn off some of those cupcake calories. I also walked along the toe path, which is a path originally used by donkeys who pulled barges down the canal. Imagine my surprise to come across a donkey while I strolled along!
Last night, Clara invited a few people over for dinner before we went to see the concert rehearsal. Shireen (one of the other Asian interns) came, along with
ticklethepear and a couple Clint and Clara know from church. So, it just so happens that the man of the couple is Hilary Clinton's speech writer. It's so bizarre to me to find myself just casually interacting with people who have such prestigious jobs. He was a nice guy, as was his wife (and we all know how nice ticklethepear is!) After dinner Clara, Clint, Shireen, the boys, and I walked down to listen to the rehearsal. We couldn't get close enough to see the actual stage, but we had a good view of the jumbo-tron. Honestly, of all the performances my favorite was the National Symphony's rendition of the 1812 Overture. I love that they shot cannon's off right from the stage. Barry Manilow and Aretha Franklin were quite amazing as well. Big Bird did a decent job, as did Jimmy Smits :) 
The Capitol looks quite beautiful all lit up for the evening, doesn't it?
This morning, I went to the National Archives to attend a reading of the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration was read by three middle school children, and they did a really good job. The list of grievances against Great Britain was read by historical reinactors and they were very entertaining. The crowd boo-ed after each complaint. When Thomas Jefferson read the bit about taxation without approval by the people, and imprisonment without trial, he paused dramatically and raised his eyebrow to indicate that this is a problem we are once again facing today. The audience boo-ed with gusto in response.
After the presentation, people started to get ready for the parade. I wasn't aware there was going to be a parade, but I decided to stick around and watch it. I could already feel my skin start to bake, but I thought it would be worth it. I took a stroll through the Sculpture garden:
and found a place to sit and wait. Luckily I was right at the start of the parade, so I got to see everyone still perky and energetic, before the heat and marching had gotten to them. It was by far the best parade I've ever seen...although it would have been much better if I could have shared it with the boys. *sigh*
And now I'm red as a lobster
Maybe I'll put on a blue shirt tonight for the fireworks. Then I'll be red, white and blue :)
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2009-07-04 09:47 pm (UTC)Enjoy Independence Day, sweetie!
no subject
Date: 2009-07-05 03:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-05 12:31 am (UTC)We loved them showing that guy talking about the taxation thing. The way he said it WAS like he was knew he was talking about today. lol
no subject
Date: 2009-07-05 12:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-05 03:07 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-05 04:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-05 02:02 pm (UTC)We have an aloe plant if you still need some relief. I've got allergies today so I'm skipping church.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-05 10:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-06 04:53 pm (UTC)I love how the crowd booed during the readings *lol*. Man, what a cool time.
Cupcakes...hrmm...should I...Starbuck's is open...