2013!?

How it happened that so much time has passed since I last posted... I'm not sure. Things have happened, and I must have been so wrapped up in happening them that I never sat down to write about it. Well, that's good, isn't it -- it just makes me a bad blogger. Ha!

First things first -- The Holidays Were Awesome.

I had a fantastic holiday season. My aunt and family flew in from Rio de Janeiro for the holidays and only just left yesterday to return to the warm southern clime. A very good friend of mine flew in from Denver and I was able to see him a couple of times over the week of Christmas, as well as hanging out with some of my other VIPs. My cousin drove up from Madison just a couple of days ago for a long-awaited sister-cousin visit with my own sisters. I had a wonderful holiday party with the art museum people, and a belated holiday party is yet to be had for the bookstore. We had a wonderful, laid-back New Years Eve celebration with plenty of other relatives -- aunts, uncles, future brother-in-law and grandparents. In sum, it was and continues to be a wonderful time of year.

I've adopted a big project at the art museum that promises to keep me busy for the next few months. I have a natural deadline that falls before I depart for school. Very soon the museum will take on the annual challenge of their one-day Art at the Park art festival which takes place every July in Appleton, so there will be even more to help out with.

The bookstore continues on as it ever continues on. Post-holidays the retail world goes into recovery mode. I'm always relieved when the mad rush is over.

Books read:

A Moveable Feast -- Ernest Hemingway
The Great Gatsby -- F. Scott Fitzgerald


Albums recently hooked on:

The Heist -- Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
An Awesome Wave -- alt-J
Break It Yourself -- Andrew Bird
The Wild Hunt -- The Tallest Man on Earth
Ceremonials -- Florence + The Machine
All the Little Lights -- Passenger


And where school is concerned, strides have been made. Small, yet significant strides. I've been hemming and hawing, unable to decide which school would be better for me: the University of Glasgow or the University of Edinburgh. It seems that I have chosen the latter for a variety of reasons. The most important one is that I came to grips with the fact that I applied to Glasgow's technical art history program almost a year and a half ago (!?) and at the time it seemed ideal. But now, after almost two years museum experience, my interests have shifted. The bottom line is that the Masters program at Edinburgh now makes more sense. I'm pretty stoked!

So, until next time, here is some travel-porn: Real Edinburgh.

Edinburgh, here I come?

Photo by David Monniaux

Ah, Edinburgh. I have never been there. It's funny, really, that I was in Scotland for the first and only time in the spring of 2011 with my family, and I saw neither Glasgow nor Edinburgh, the two places that I am considering for school in less than 10 months.

I just need to pause for a moment while I consider this whole 10-month time span, because we're talking, like, 10 months until classes begin. That means quite a bit shorter than that, really, before I'll have to be ready to go, or in fact, be there, wherever 'there' is.

I've been accepted unconditionally (grad application lingo for "you don't need to submit anymore supporting documents in support of your application") to the Edinburgh College of Art, which became officially a part of the University of Edinburgh in 2011. As I understand, the college historically was like many fine arts schools in the respect that it didn't offer any sort of art historical training, but now, merged with the University, it does, and still maintains its official name of the Edinburgh College of Art. Not to mention it's practically next to that lovely, and very famous, Edinburgh Castle (pictured above).

I haven't chosen which school to attend yet because it's difficult. That's just the bones of the decision process right there: it's hard. There are a lot of factors to consider, and not the least of them, money. Money, money, money. It's huge. I hate it. And I love it. It's good to get it, it can be fun to spend it, sometimes not as fun to spend it, and it makes your gut tie up in knots when you want to invest it. And I say "invest," but what it really feels like when it comes to education is "gamble."

After a few years out of the academic scene, I've come to terms with student loans (mine are about average, perhaps a bit below, but no less substantial and a pain in my rear). I've also come to respect that education is an investment. The turnaround is that you can advance your knowledge and understanding, and if you do it right, can advance your career. And in my case, in terms of a career in art history, advanced education is pretty much a necessity. One might argue that a bare-bones resume for a career as say, an assistant curator at a museum, would include a Masters degree, but a PhD is often preferable. And since I've been out of university for a few years and am now absolutely, positively sure that I want to be an art historian, the decision making falls to where, and how, and how much.

I've mentioned previously that I've plenty of scholarship applications to write -- and now I've got a few more. Edinburgh is arguably more prestigious, and with that comes a jacked-up price tag. Of course it would. In the end, will employers look at my school history and think, Oh, Edinburgh? Or, Really, Glasgow? Well, yes. They will. Grades are important, sure, but the quality of the work and institution speak volumes. I've learned that about UW-Madison. People know the school when they hear it. That means something. And then when they see you got A's there -- well, that's really something.

So anyway. I'm off track. The next few months will mean a lot of work, but I'm prepared to do what I can in order to make an informed decision that will benefit my future -- and future studies, if it comes to that (because let's face it, I want and will probably someday get a PhD). Glasgow and Edinburgh, I hear, are vastly different types of towns. I would love either and both. So now... time and potential (!!!!??? Do you hear me, universities, pleaseeee!!) scholarship money will tell.

Ahh, relax.

Today is my first day off in... a long time. I can't think back that far. I've been working two jobs -- one full time at the bookstore per usual, and then a part-time at The Trout Museum of Art (shameless plug). Things have been cruisin' at both. I know I don't have anything on folks who work 60+ hours a week regularly or anything, but splitting time between two jobs and doing some work from home and trying to get some social time in there, too... it's just hard work!

All is well, however. Yayyy! My younger sister got engaged a couple weeks ago to a very nice bloke, and there is all sorts of wedding planning going on. It's surreal to think that I'll have a brother-in-law, but in a way it's no surprise that this particular sister is the one who'll tie the knot before myself or my youngest sister (partly because she's youngest, and for me, well, I'm in no state to be tied down yet!). I wish them both the best and of course updates on this sickeningly cute wedding will come eventually. I can already tell it's going to be adorable beyond belief, if her Pinterest board is any indication...

I've been so busy that I haven't had a spare moment to sit down and consider scholarship applications. I know, right? I'm so excited to get going on them and then three weeks or a month disappears and I have not a single word written. I'll get there. Eventually. There is an official (!!!) start date for classes of 9 September 2013, and I'll have to probably be in Glasgow a good week beforehand for orientation, or what they like to call induction. I love the variations in English usage, seriously.

Also, one thing I'm SUPER PUMPED about, in a super-nerd prospective-postgraduate student way, is that the University of Glasgow just opened the doors to its very own Gilchrist Postgraduate Club, which includes a bar, coffee shop, and study space. So I'll get to hang out with postgrads and staff in a postgrad-only atmosphere. Holler! It actually looks really nice and modern; I can't wait to grab an espresso and write a paper there. Like I said, nerd.

Obviously the most important part of any college education.

Via The Gilchrist Club on Facebook (and the one above)

It's the little things I look forward to the most, y'know?

Finally, a couple more musical discoveries. One of my coworkers, who is incidentally a very good friend of mine, recently moved back to the area after a year away. Since he's been back, we've been trading musical suggestions and discoveries left and right (kind of like the old times) and my iTunes library has literally grown in size 1000% over the last couple weeks. Artists and albums to check out that I'm totally digging right now, in no particular order:

1. Lord Huron -- Lonesome Dreams, 2012 (IAMSOUND Records)

2. Passenger -- All the Little Lights, 2012 (Black Crow Records)

3. King Creosote & Jon Hopkins -- Diamond Mine Jubilee Edition, 2012 (Domino)

4. The Tallest Man on Earth -- Shallow Grave, 2008 (Gravitation)

5. Amy MacDonald -- Life in a Beautiful Light, 2012 (Melodramatic Records)

I'm baaaaack...

Cue maniacal laughter? Err..

Well, wasn't that nearly-two-year hiatus fun. (!? Where does time go?) In the meantime, I attempted another blog somewhat similar to this one that essentially shared recipes and crafts, but I go in phases with that. Hence, its sudden demise. And yet here, silently floating on, is little red fish. I think it's time to get back into this thing.

Previously, it was a free-for-all "this is what I like" blog. Everything from recipes to movies to what I was wearing, trips I took, tea I drank. You get the picture. It's still going to be pretty much that. Additionally, events have taken a turn since November 2010... I'm going back to college! That's right, I've been accepted into the technical art history masters program at the University of Glasgow (Scotland! I know, right?) !!! I don't know, can you tell I'm pumped?

Things are going to start getting exciting around here. So look for lots of news about that, and all sorts of crazy, fun things I find and want to share before and after I get there.

Notes on a Small Island by Bill Bryson (William Morrow, 1997).

Partly in honor of my reaffirmed obsession interest in the UK, I picked up Bill Bryson's travel lit for the first time and have to say it's a) hilarious, and b) well worth a read, whether you've been to the UK or not. Particularly since he is an American who lived there for 20 years, his perspective is pretty much squared up with mine. Loving it so far. Humor and adventure and mishaps along the way. Real travel! And of course, a great read.