First Conference Presentation

I feel all grown up this week. I made my first professional presentation about my research last Friday March 23, 2013 at the Virginia Forum in Ashland, Virginia http://virginiaforum.org/. This is a place where Virginia historians gather together to present and discuss research projects that focus on various aspects of Virginia history. This was not only my first presentation at this conference but also my first attendance. I will plan to go back next year when it's held at George Mason.

I wasn't as nervous presenting as I thought I would be. Our presentation was titled, “Preserving a Mercantile History : Digitizing document artifacts of  the Ware Neck general store”. Our session was about Digital collections so we focused on the technical aspect of our project, not necessarily any research, especially since we haven't gotten to that point yet. We presented with a husband and wife, she showed her organization's(AAS- American Antiquarian Society) digital collections, while he showed how his research benefited from digital collections. The session flew and I'm glad I didn't end up being as nervous. I stumbled over a couple of lines but didn't completely bomb it. We received two rounds of applause. During the Q&A part, we had one question about the steps of scanning and also praise for using our own equipment for the project. While we were leaving we were stopped by a woman who told us that she wanted to enlist us for some help, unfortunately, I was too frazzled to remember to give her my card.

I'm looking forward to the next phase of this project!

http://www.wareneck.omeka.net

Metadata

Yesterday I attended a webinar provided by the Society of American Archivists at the Virginia Historical Society. Although it's for credit for DAS certification, in which I am nowhere near but now want, I thought, "what the hell, it's free and local" and went. Soooo...yeah, I now want a DAS certification and I believe it would be attainable for me. This was the "Beginners to Metadata" and explained 1). what is metadata (data of data...blah, blah....technical definitions) and 2). a quick overview of the similaries and differences of the main standards: MARC for libraries, EAD for archives and VRA for art museums. I liked the analogy that you can think of these and the tons of others as forms of "speech". They all have semantics, structure and syntax. So it'll be comparing your own local vernacular- for me that would be- English with a Southern accent(not that big though- but compared to someone say from Massachusetts) and I say "soda" instead of "pop". The same is for metadata typology. There seems to be a base "English" and then "accents""Southern" and then local vernacular terms "soda".

In short, I approved of this webinar and highly recommended to any library/museum/archive person just generally confused about metadata standards.

So I'm determined to finish learning HTML, then I'll move onto XML and SQL, and hopefully learn EAD on the way. I'm also striking the idea of getting a PhD(come on, I don't like history that much) and focusing on getting certifications- SAA Archivist, GIS and SAA DAS(Digital Archives Specialist).

And yes, I totally spent down time at work practicing HTML instead of commenting on blackboard. HTML was way more entertaining, believe me. My mom and my boyfriend both agree that I'll be a good programmer, I just think I found my ambition. Gotta make it happen.

Technology Craze

With light of my boyfriend going back to school to finish his IT degree, I'm really starting to get into more technological endeavors. My library system offers a "university" for county employees. So once I'm finished with the current acting program, I'm going to start taking classes to be a certified "Information Generalist". Which just means I know how to safely surf the internet and can help people with Microsoft Office 2010. Wohoo- resume builder.

On off-desk time, I'm taking HTML classes through codecademy.com. Although more information fields rely on XML, SQL, or RUBY- I thought I would give HTML a try. I know I need to learn EAD for archives, but I'll get there. So far:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title style="color:purple">Reasons I'm Doing This</title>
</head>
<body>
<p>
These are my reasons for choosing HTML
</p>
<ol>
<li>It's free</li>
<li> It's a resume booster</li>
<li> I'm crazy</li>
</ol>
</body>
<html>

Future plans: Fix my laptop Bojangles- he needs a new fan. Play around with Linux some more. Make Bojangles a server. Move the Ware Neck collection from Omeka.net to Omeka.org with Bojangles as the mainframe. I wonder if I can do all this.

2013

So it's 2013 now. I've completely forgotten about this blog. So I've decided to refresh, revive and reanimate it.

Update on my life thus far. I have a new amazing boyfriend- 9 months strong. I'm back in school- part-time to finish my MLS with Drexel University. I anticipate graduating in December. My family opened a restaurant so I pretty much have no time for a personal life when I work 90 hours/week plus school. You don't want to know when I find time to do homework. I picked up an internship in my favorite city to start working a step closet to my career. I'm working on a digital preservation project in Gloucester Co, VA and I will be making my first professional presentation next month in front of VA historians.

I keep adding things to my to-do list that I want to learn/do. I think I will either drive my boyfriend crazy or end up in a hospital. Welcome to my world. 

This is stuck in my head-- it's not even the good Brian McKnight version

Candy Runs Week Two

So my first week of running was successful , minus the fact that I skipped a running day and I didn't make it to Pilates. Oops, I had put off Friday's running until Saturday ( I had a date and wanted to be lazy). But then on Saturday I ended up sleeping in, dinner with friends and then drinking with more friends. 

Personally, the running schedule I'm using is the perfect fit. Although I feel a little odd on the treadmill versus running outside. Also, I wish that the neighborhood where I live could be a little more uniform with the sidewalks. Some places, they're there, some not. I would rather for there to be lots of sidewalk or none at all. 


This week:
Sunday: "Rest" and work 7 hours and then a business meeting

Monday: Work 8 hours and then running on the treadmill at the gym
             Warm Up 3 minutes
             Run 1 minute
             Walk 2 minutes
             Repeat 4 times
             Cool down 3 minutes

Tuesday: "Rest" and work 11 hours


Wednesday: Work 8  hours and then running on the treadmill (again)
                  Warm Up 3 minutes
                  Run 1 minute
                  Walk 2 minutes
                  Repeat 4 times
                  Cool down 3 minutes

Thursday: "Rest" No work and I'll try to make the BodyFlow or Yoga class at 
     night 

Friday: Run outside and then work
          Warm Up 3 minutes
          Run 1 minute
          Walk 2 minutes
          Repeat 4 times
          Cool down 3 minutes

Saturday: "Rest" , oh and apparently I'm going to be working that day now so  it depends on what time if I can make the Pilates class in the morning. There's also a local Earth Day celebration I might want to hit up. 

Seriously, why is the page down if the celebration is this weekend?
Fail Style Weekly.

Run Candy Run

To help with my #1 resolution of this year , I've have decided to become the unthinkable, a runner. Any of my friends know that this is a crazy task on my part. 

This is what my mother thinks I run like:

But only about a quarter of it's speed.

This is what my roommate thinks I run like:

 

This is a bit more accurate.

I found a blog to help newbies train to become runners <Start Running for Beginners>. I plan to start this evening and strictly follow the schedule. I love schedules and plans. If I could I think I could plan out every minute of every day and be a very happy camper. The downside is that I get very irritated if those set plans are obstructed by someone. 

Anyways, here's a look at my work and work-out schedule for Week One. I have incorporated this schedule with my own. 

Sunday~ rest aka work 12 hours open to close, same thing right?

Monday~ work 8 hours and then gym for running schedule and then friend's band performance

Tuesday~ rest aka work 11 hours; 10am-5pm & 5:30pm-9:15pm

Wednesday~ run in the morning (I have to make myself) work 11am-4pm & 5:15pm-9:15pm and then drinks

Thursday~ rest and the first day off in 20 days, shopping, Netflix and Ipanema

Friday~ another day off and the running schedule 

Saturday ~morning Pilates and the day off

Hopefully this will help me take another chunk off the 20 lbs I have left to lose. I might have to invest in some knee braces too. Now I just need to come up with a good running playlist

Vegan Goodies and Flavor Tripping

For a change of pace for a Friday night, my ladyfriend and her hubby came over last night with miracle berry tablets in tow. While she is a vegan and he is a vegetarian and I'm a 3 week old pescatarian, we decided to share cooking before tasting of the fruits. She made a "baked pasta" using penne and tofu "ricotta" and vegan cheese. I made a "Fruit and Fiber salad"- mainly a red cabbage salad with carrots, dates,cannellini beans, apple, pear and a honey, orange juice vinaigrette. After we devoured the food it was time for tasting. The tablet was odd. You have to "slowly roll the tablet on your tongue and be careful not to swallow it whole". It tasted like cardboard and some other flavor that was familiar that neither me nor my ladyfriend could identify. Once dissolved we pounced on the food.

Here's the sampling:

Lemons- Really, truly taste like lemonade

Lime- Awesome limeade

Granny Smith Apples- I had sprinkled lemon juice over top so they wouldn't brown after I cut them. They tasted like lemon candied apples- probably my favorite

Grapefruit- A great substitution for when I used to eat a half a grapefruit with sugar for breakfast. So sweet and yummy.

Strawberries- The others enjoyed the strawberries. I'm creeped out by the taste and texture of berries, that I took a bite and that was enough for me. 

Vanilla Porter- Tasted like Vanilla and Chocolate milkshake- the best of the drinks

Pecan Porter- We all decided that it was way too sweet. "It was like someone who doesn't like beer poured a crap-ton of sugar into the glass"~ ladyfriend's hubby

Gin and lemon juice- So by this point our miracle berry had worn off and my ladyfriend had prepared the largest shot of gin ever. We could only get through half of the drink when it felt like acid was burning off a layer of skin. We each quickly grabbed some tonic and poured a half of bottle into each glass to lessen the burn

Oranges- N/A- I realized after that we finished I had forgotten to cut any oranges. I'll just save them for breakfast for another day.

Vegan "Cheesecake" aka Silken tofu mixed with lemon and lime juice- It curdled and ended up tasting like sweet tofu. It was terrible pre-berry and post-berry. 

So the tasting was pretty awesome. I would definitely do it again. We all agreed that for the time it took to dissolve the tablet compared to the time that the berry lasted was very unequal. It would be easier to pop in a tablet in the morning and let it dissolve while trying to get ready. Then you can snack on your candied grapefruit or lemon and enjoy a great dose of vitamin C for the day. Be prepared with some soothing lip balm and some antacid, that much citrus screws up your belly and burns the lips, but the kitchen smells quite nice.

 Fruit and Fiber salad

Miracle Berry Tablet Faces

 Enjoying a lime

 We killed the vegan baked pasta

 Chowing down on a lime

 All I could eat of the strawberry

 Fruit carnage and Vitamin C and gin haze

And of course every good evening ends with a viewing of "The Room"