I work in a weird place. Yesterday, I was actually at the Museum Support Center which is mentioned in Dan Brown's book The Lost Symbol. I had the opportunity to hang out in the wet pod, and I know what a thawing, frozen octopus smells like. It isn't pleasant.
But now you can follow some of my writing on the Smithsonian Journeys blog, every Tuesday and Thursday. This week, I wrote about Antarctica and about the people who actually LIVE there. But the video is way cool, so head over there and watch the whole thing. (And leave a comment about how much you love the blog post. I do have a boss to impress.)
And yes, Buzz Aldrin really will be on that tour to answer all of your questions. How awesome is that?
When I was a college student studying anthropology in the mid-1990's, there was a new view of Anthropology. Basically, it was to listen to the cultures and learn from them, rather than telling them whether or not they are civilized. Since the announcement of the 2016 Olympics will be in Rio de Janeiro, there have been a lot of people concerned about what will happen to the Indigenous communities in Brazil. This issues there are heated, and many tribes are facing extinction.
But let's, for a moment, consider how anthropology is approached today. Embedding yourself into the culture you are studying is still believed to be much better than "armchair anthropology"- where college professors don't go anywhere, but ponitificate about the civilized and uncivilized peoples of planet Earth. Here, National Geographic created a show to be broadcasted in the U.K. based on Cultural Anthropology with people from the South Pacific ~ with a twist. Now... this is my kind of reality show.
I gotta say, it's pretty tall. At over 1,500 years old this Redwood has grown to over 300 feet. Somehow it survived weather, loggers, and a mulitude of other variables to survive this long. Clearly they had to piece several photos together just to get the full magnitude of this giant.
It involved three cameras, a team of scientists, a robotic dolly, a gyroscope, an 83-photo composite and a whole lotta of patience. Here's the video of how they did it:
This video is from the Onion, which will freak you out if you are under the age of 25. But you can equally be amused by Oh Crap. My Parents Joined Facebook if your parents are over the age of 45.
Harper's Bazaar did a photo shoot with some of my favorite style icons... the Muppets from Sesame Street. I've been watching a lot of the old videos or "classics" as they say on the Sesame Street website with Sadie. She's a sucker for the Ray Charles videos. And she doesn't even notice the afros, bellbottoms or unusual mustard colored clothing. She just likes the songs.
For the record, here are some of the prices for the clothing in this photo shoot.
Left: Cape, $1,990, blazer, blouse, $690, skirt, $3,790, and shoes, $890, Derek Lam. 212-966-1616. Bracelet, $4,375, Dean Harris for Derek Lam. Right: Coat, $2,190, blouse, $1,090, and pants, $790, Thakoon. Stanley Korshak, Dallas; 214-871-3600. Earrings, $450, Fenton for Thakoon. barneys.com. Gloves, Portolano. portolano.com. Shoes, $1,195, Giuseppe Zanotti for Thakoon. net-a-porter.com.
As much as I appreciate Harper's Bazaar for slummin' it down to the Street, I am a little shocked at almost $2000 for a cape. The Count wouldn't pay that much for a flimsy piece of fabric.
Meanwhile, Bert has been rockin' the same white turtleneck and striped sweater for over 40 years... which is more environmentally friendly. You can see Cookie, Grover, Abby Cadabby and their take on fashion here.
He thinks I don't appreciate all that he does as the "Primary Caregiver" of our family. Yes, we are a little unusual. I go to work each day and have a long commute from Baltimore to Washington, DC. That means I put a lot of trust into my husband that he take excellent care of our daughter. A lot of women downplay their husband's fathering skills, but Charlie has always been good to our little girl, even when she throws herself on the floor and screams for 30 minutes (like she did Monday night.)
When I meet people and tell them what I do for a living, they always wonder and say outloud, "Who takes care of your daughter?" And people are always surprised when I say, "Her father." That really shouldn't be such a rare thing.
But then I see videos like this one, and I think, "Oh. That's why." (For the record, I was equally mortified by the mother who didn't drop the camera and slap her husband for being an idiot.)
Seriously, some fathers really need to get it together and have some common sense. For the good fathers... we love you. As always, thanks Thingamababy -- another "Primary Caregiver" who has it together.
Updated Note: Apparently YouTube thought this video was as horrifying as I did and removed it. It was basically two men tossing a toddler back and forth. Then they put him down and he runs away (probably terrified and needing therapy for hating his father). Then the father picks up the daughter and holds her up by her legs, and well... you get the idea.
I know there has been so much coverage of this topic that it's a bit excessive. But since this is kind of like my own journal, I feel like I have to share my own little Michael Jackson story.
About two years ago, Michael visited the National Museum of the American Indian with his children. It was one of those days at my job where I came to work with one purpose, and ended up witnessing something I never thought I would see. We were supposed to have a meeting about promoting our Smithsonian Memberships, and then I noticed there was way more security than usual in the hallway outside our Resource Center. So I asked our security guard, "Okay, who is the famous person visiting today?" He looked straight ahead and muttered, "Michael Jackson".
Wha? Really? No waaaaaaayyyy....
But then my friend Sharyl walked in front of me with Michael and his children, and showed them our Windows on Collection exhibit. I only saw the back of Michael, who was about 20 feet away from me, as he looked at our beautiful beadwork exhibit. I didn't want to interrupt their museum experience, and over the years I've realized that famous people want to check out our museums just like everyone else. Angelina Jolie came to Air and Space with her kids, First Lady Laura Bush had her birthday party at NMAI, and even Pearl Jam stopped by during the opening of the museum. I even met the Chancellor of Austria once. He emailed his kids from the Resource Center.
Later, Sharyl told me she taught Michael how to dance Yup'ik style, while one of our membership people hoped Michael would donate a lot of money to the museum.
It must not have been easy being Michael Jackson. Everyone wants your money, your time, and your attention. But what I remember most about looking at that family on that day, was his daughter Paris. She was about 9 at the time, had long brown hair, and was wearing a pink shirt, jeans, and sneakers. She looked like a regular kid. She could've gotten lost in the crowd of the thousands of visitors we had every day.
Just a regular kid.
Of course, I immediately emailed and texted everyone I knew. And the response was the same. Yep, he's an oddity.... but he's also an icon.
So here's my favorite Michael Jackson song... this one never gets old for me.
... and it's been pretty non-stop since the Inauguration. I think everyone has "Cameron Moments" like this one. Mine was yesterday. Okay, and this morning. Yesterday I gave up, called in sick, and went back to bed and slept for 6 more hours. Today, I forced myself to get out of bed, take a shower, and get in my car to get to the train station. But this was what was going on in my head:
I didn't bother going to the 5 year reunion because I felt like I had just left high school. I didn't go to the 10 year reunion because I was getting married a week after the event in a completely different state. I don't think I have an excuse for the 15 year reunion. And why would I want to avoid it anyway?
My mom has said that by the time you hit your 25th reunion and over, you are just happy to see each other alive and happy. And I think with the 15th, you are finally pretty set in who you are, what your priorities are, and at least a little more secure about yourself than you were on Graduation Day. But right now I'm in a bit of a whirlwind professionally and personally, and my old hometown loves to gossip. So I know by going back I'll have to have a full-on ready explanation of where the hell I've been, what I'm doing, and how my family is. With a town in Ohio with only 6000 people, and a graduation class of 64, there is no avoiding the how is your family hoo-ha. Luckily, I think Facebook has helped me with the transition. But still, do I look better than I did in high school? I certainly feel better.
When I graduated, my parents were divorcing, they put the big house up for sale, and I was quickly running off to Syracuse University and then abroad to London. Yep, I ran. I won't deny it. And I studied my fanny off. I pretty much cut myself off from a lot of my old friends that I had known since Kindergarten. And I haven't talked to them since... except for a few on Facebook.
Now it's been 15 years, and I have a graduate degree from the University of Chicago and work for the Smithsonian. I work at a place where I see guards with guns, and some with very large guns, on a daily basis. Just last week, I was dealing with an emergency at the Holocaust Museum and hoping none of the students in my program were hurt. On a good day, I am summoned to a Castle. On a bad day, I'm dealing with lawyers. My mom has ALS, my brother is in the military, and I'm married with a kid. I have a lot on my plate right now and manage to still get through the day.
But for some reason, when I think about going back to a high school reunion, I am struck with a certain nervousness that can only be experienced by a neurotic, low self-esteemed 17 year old. And the first thing I think is, "What am I going to wear?" I haven't even talked to my husband about making the trek back to Ohio to actually go to this reunion and I'm already wondering if my butt will look big when I get there. I'm sure this will not be last blog entry about this event.
Oh, Ohio.... when I think of you... I think of this version of this song... I need a drink.
Yeah, this is my personal blog, but I spend a lot of time at work here at the Smithsonian. And when family visits, I spend my days off at Smithsonian. I really love my job, and Smithsonian has been going through some growing pains. We have some curators who don't use email and want to play with their taxidermied birds all day, and then we have our techie museum people who want to make everything digital. But really, we want to hear from everyone to tell us what you expect from museums. Really! We do! So much we made a video about it. Send your response to our little corner of the world on YouTube.
My taxes were never this easy. Maybe it was easier during World War II.
This is a documentary short done by Disney for the Department of the Treasury to encourage people to pay the "Victory Tax". A year after the United States entered the Second World War the federal government needed additional revenues to pay for the war effort, but at the time most people didn't pay income tax. Considering we all pay taxes out the nose (unless you are a congressperson, and then you pay only if you get caught), it's interesting to see this video today. We are at war, we are in a recession, but is it propaganda to ask people to pay their taxes or is it a patriotic duty? Hmmm....
... and I consider him a hero for what he's done for children's education and informal learning. Not to mention reminding us all about following our childlike moral compass. Be good to each other, be good to yourself, and remember: Simple is good.
In honor of Jim Henson, enjoy this classic about being alive:
Okay, this is a little creepy for the younger crowd, and I don't remember seeing this when I was a kid. If I had, I probably would have reconsidered my career path. But this looks like old school Sesame Street and sometimes they get a little weird.
As for real-life creepiness, Egyptian pyramids are really bad for claustrophobics. Trust me. You have to do a duck walk up a plank to get into the main chamber in the Great Pyramid. I was 16 when we went to Egypt, and the tight spaces didn't bother me too much. But the people staring at me because I had red hair did.
and doesn't she look happy?!... This is exactly why Facebook was created! So you can meet famous people, post the picture and share it with all your envious friends from college!
She was interviewing him for BET Radio. Her comments thus far on Facebook are that:
A. He looked her straight in the eye.
B. He complimented her on her "Barack to the Future" t-shirt.
C. And of course, they talked about Wolverine.
And I don't think she gave him her phone number... he's married anyway. We all thought he should lay off the tanning though. But still... he's mighty handsome. And talented. But really handsome.
... and people could upload their YouTube videos for our Sing the National Anthem Contest. Well, Sadie has her favorite, and I have mine. This is Alex Fischbach (age 14) and...... He. Is. Awesome!
Here is why I like him: He's just standin' there like a little punk teenager you would see at the mall. Like, "What's up? I'm Alex, and I probably egged your car last Halloween." Then he starts singing. And... Wow. Awesomeness.
Here's what they win: The Grand Prize winner will be invited to perform the national anthem at the Museum in Washington, D.C. and at the Baltimore Orioles vs. Atlanta Braves game, both on Flag Day (June 14, 2009). The prize, made possible by Grand Blanc Travel, includes a trip for two to Washington, D.C., including airfare; tickets and transportation to a Baltimore Orioles baseball game; and $400 in spending money. Three nights lodging will be provided by JW Marriott Washington, D.C., a luxury hotel located on Pennsylvania Avenue within walking distance to the White House, the National Mall, the National Museum of American History, and a myriad of dining and shopping destinations.
