I'm Back!

Cable was out for several days, apartment living is fun! Some yahoo unhooked our connection because it didn't have a tag to prove it was legal. Also fun - waking up at 3am on a Wednesday because someone is having a super fun party! PAAARTY, good times.

Steve came to visit last weekend and I got to show him around town. I am actually excited to show people around Baltimore, It's cool and there is a lot to see. I never felt this way about Nashville, and I guess people agreed because very few people visited us there. Steve came to work Friday the 13th. We saw Edgar Allen Poe's grave and he got a bite to eat at Lexington Market which is an experience in itself.

Saturday we ate breakfast at our favorite brunch spot, Paper Moon Diner Near Hopkins University and the Charles Village neighborhood. Then we stopped by the farm to pick up our produce and headed to the train to visit Hampden for Honfest. Well, Honfest was not as exciting as we thought, not too many people actually dressed up and it seemed more like your average arts and craft fair which can be fun but not in 93 degrees and high humidity. We tried to find a place to get a beer that was inside but it was too crowded. So, we got back on the train and headed to our favorite pub, The Wharf Rat near the Inner Harbor and Camden Yards. The pub was filled with Orioles fans because it was a game day. It was cool and the beer was good and we had a fun time talking. After the pub it was time for dinner so we went to Mt. Vernon to our favorite place, Helmand, mentioned earlier on this blog. We almost didn't make it because it decided to rain, pouring rain and we had only one umbrella. Luckily it was Baltimore rain so it only lasted about 10 minutes.

It was a lot to see in a day, but a day was all he had. It was fun hangin' with my brother and exploring the city. If it sounds like fun to you, visit anytime!

Since I started this blog I have been tracking my readers which can get to be a little obsessive. It has confirmed my suspicion that they are all friends and family. So, thank you and hello again! I am right now only posting about once a week because of time and topic ideas. To tell you the truth there isn't much going on that might be of interest to you or anyone. Topic ideas are always welcome.

When I was thinking about what to write this week, I realized I have never fully explained what I do for a living. This would be a good week to do that. I sometimes share some articles on the Reader about my field, museum work, and you can see several now like The Salary Conundrum
Non Profit Leaders
Are Boards Failing Their Historic Sites

As a museum educator my job is to connect the visitor with the museum. This is usually done by translating the content of the museum (history, science, etc.) into exhibits, programs and field trips. As an administrator in museum education I have additional duties including managing staff, budgets and long-term plans. The size of the staff, budget and plans usually is in proportion to the size of the museum. I am currently working at a relatively small museum but with a national focus so it is further reaching than most small museums. We count traveling exhibits and on-line programs as part of what we do for visitors.

I began my week on Monday traveling on the Marc train to DC ($14 round trip, a deal) to attend the Smithsonian Affiliates conference. The conference was from Sunday to Tuesday but I only went on Monday. I attended a couple of sessions on planning programs and spoke with several people from Ohio, Montana, Arizona and other states. I also marketed our traveling exhibits as is my duty. After creating exhibits to travel across the country we have to sell these exhibits and we have to reach our income goals for these exhibits each year. I made some contacts I can use in one of my new projects which also makes my job easier. It was a long day but I love visiting DC and only wish I had time to see some museums. Speaking of, you do not want to visit museums with me (see Gettysburg post). I will pick it apart, especially if they have a guided tour. I can't help it, its what I do. And as a museum guide, when I see those museum professionals coming, I cringe.

Tuesday, I couldn't even concentrate because Obama was going to win the nomination and I couldn't wait. We were glued to the TV all evening for the returns and the speech. At one point I was on my computer and watching TV to get all the info available. The speech was truly amazing and exciting and when the Obamas did the "Dap" Mark exclaimed "Hey, that's what we do" and its true, we do that all the time. But apparently some people didn't like it. Speaking of museums, this brings up another interesting recent article, Museums: A Hotbed of Liberalism?

On Wednesday I gave some tours, as I do many days a week. We have volunteers sometimes but it often falls to me to help out here too. I really love giving tours, more now that I no longer have to wear an 1860's dress and corset to do it. Tours really depend on the teacher and the group so you never know if they will be good or really, really awful. As an administrator, I like getting feedback on the exhibits and the tour experience. It makes me a better advocate for visitors during the exhibit planning process and program planning. I also just love connecting with the kids, inspiring them and teaching them. It gets me out of my office, away from my computer and on my feet which is a nice change in the day.

On Thursday I was back on the Marc train to the Girl Scouts of the Nation's Capitol headquarters for a vendor thank-you luncheon. This was important for me because we have a well established Girl Scout program and Girl Scout USA is undergoing some major changes to their mission and vision which will affect our current and new programs. I heard about all the changes, dropped off some current program info and talked with other museums about what they do for GS. This helps me to understand how our programs stack up, do we charge too much? Is the program too long? I had so many ideas in my head when I left I had to write a lot of notes.

I ended the week up against some deadlines for our Board of Visitors annual meeting next week. Once a year we have a weekend meeting/celebration for our BOV, volunteers from all over the country. We plan a party for them and try to open a new exhibit that weekend. So I had final details for exhibits to work out (only a week in advance, totally stressful!) and help to finalize party details like favors and entertainment.

As often happens, the week didn't end on Friday because we scheduled an outreach opportunity on Saturday at a local fair. We had a booth to provide an activity for kids and give out information to families to visit the museum. I worked the booth for 3 hours in the afternoon in 97 degree temperatures! Also my car doesn't have air conditioning and I didn't drink enough water so I got a headache and was very sweaty. Yuck.

We picked up our second week of CSA produce after I got home. We received more oregano, strawberries and asparagus and also received 2 kinds of peas. Yum!

first CSA share

first CSA share, originally uploaded by bethjc.

We picked up our first real share from the Cromwell Valley CSA. Two weeks ago we did get a share of asparagus but that was not really official.

It was pouring rain but we managed. We received strawberries, lettuce, asparagus, garlic scapes, rosemary and sage. We immediately decided to make strawberry shortcake for after dinner and it was delicious! We are going to use the garlic scapes with pasta tomorrow. I have never cooked with them so we will see what happens.

We are really excited about this and I want to thank everyone who has written to me about their own local food experiments. I have two friends with some really great looking gardens, This is still beyond my abilities. I will stick with the community farm.

Funny Pictures from Gettysburg

OK - so they did have a great exhibit but they also had some quirky stuff. The visitor center was quite large and I can imagine the endless staff meetings:
"So we have most of the space filled but there is this one corner we have to fill, any thoughts?"
"Um, I guess we could do battle photos in 3-D"
"Kids love 3-D"
"That's true""Put on the 3D Glasses and see for yourself!" Um, ok.


In addition to the visitor center we went to the Eisenhower Farm. We had to take a bus up to the farm and as we were waiting to go I noticed this:

Body Fluid
Cleanup Kit

I am thinking they don't pay the bus drivers enough.

The bus back did not have this kit on board, is that good or bad?

Gettysburg

I have been a little behind in my posting lately due to illness and lazy-ness. I meant to write about my Gettysburg weekend when it happened several weeks ago but it seems appropriate for Memorial Day.

Gettysburg is an hour from us, which is kinda amazing to think about. We took a family trip to DC, Williamsburg and Gettysburg when I was 16 (in fact my 16th b-day was at Williamsburg) but hadn't seen it since then. Mom chose the location because it was her b-day/Mother's day weekend. I was actually excited because I am a history nerd and they just opened the new visitor center.

I was prepared to be less than impressed because Civil War history is often poorly interpreted and utilized too often for political purposes, especially among reenactors. And, yes, the town of Gettysburg is filled with tourist traps, bad costume shops and many, many reenactors.

But, the exhibit in the visitor center was very well done. They took the time to put the Civil War in the context of America in the 19th century. They positioned the Gettysburg battle in the context of the war. They did a great job of incorporating artifacts, videos and computer stations to tell a complex story. And most importantly, the story was told from multiple perspectives including all of the country's citizens (and those not considered citizens), explaining who America was in 1860. Too often, If minorities or women are present in Civil War exhibits they are usually slapped on as an afterthought, but here they are part of the fabric of the tale, from the beginning.
Especially interesting was the story of the town and people of Gettysburg and what happened to them when the soldiers marched in.

At the end of the exhibit they left room to interpret the Gettysburg Address
The famous speech is universally acclaimed today but all critics did not agree in 1863. This picture shows quotes from papers across the country reacting to the speech. The exhibit ended with a video of the legacy of the Civil War, what it accomplished, what it didn't and what it still means to Americans.

As a museum educator I was encouraged by the choices here. To tell the story in context, to encourage visitors to think about what America was, how we experienced this war and what came of it is the most important lesson. While I overheard a bus driver complaining about the lack of artifacts in the new space, I disagree. Artifacts were used to illustrate the story (and did this beautifully), not to be the story. History nerds get too excited about actual artifacts when the real story is history itself. But the artifacts were cool.

See more pictures here

me, 2013

Cupcake and Unicorn, originally uploaded by cakespy.

I have been in a NyQuil fog for over a week and have been a bit behind in my googlereader so forgive my late awareness of this lovely gem from the esteemed Senator McCain. His dreamy avoidance of current affairs has led me to dream of my own "2013" The NyQuil also helps with this....

I live in a beautiful 16th century chateau right here in beautiful Maryland that I rehabbed myself after inheriting a fortune from my late distant relative I never knew existed. This paid off my debt and allowed me to quit my job too. I used some of the money to purchase a Unicorn (what? they don't exist? That horn is really a Narwhal tooth?) Not True! I found it on one of my recent visits to the past in my personal Time Machine. Don't believe everything you read in the history books.

Where's Mark you ask? Well, he no longer has a corporeal form ever since the Singularity.

Oh, John, you crazy cat.

Appetizing Applesauce Muffins

Appetizing Applesauce Muffins, originally uploaded by bethjc.

Thought I would share one of my favorite recipes. I make it on weekends when I am in the mood for brunch. We always seem to have applesauce in the house. I copied the recipe out of TEEN magazine in 1986. I had a subscription to Seventeen but often bought Teen and sometimes bought Sassy. I always wanted to be the girl who read Sassy but somehow it scared me a little, was a little too rebellious.

Appetizing Applesauce Muffins

1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup applesauce
1 egg beaten
3/4 cup milk

NOTE: because Mark doesn't eat dairy products I substitute shortening for butter and soy milk, rice milk or water for the milk.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Sift baking powder, salt, flour, cinnamon and sugar together.

Add butter, applesauce, milk and egg. Stir until moistened.

Fill paper-lined muffin tins and bake for 20 minutes. Makes 12. Sprinkle cinnamon on top of muffins before serving.