Albuquerque, New Mexico

The big art conservation annual conference was held this year in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  Being that there is only one professional organization for American conservators, it's a pretty popular event.  Everyone just calls it by the acronym for the professional organization itself: AIC (American Institute for Conservation).  If you say to someone, "I'm going to AIC this year," they know you mean the conference.  If you say, "AIC is such a mess... last year they listed me in the directory twice," they know you mean the organization proper.

So, with the following things in mind:

1). next year is a big PMG year, so I probably won't go to that AIC

2). next year's meeting is in Indianapolis *yawn*

3). my classmate Lisa grew up in Abq, so I knew she'd be there, and  if I asked nicely, I could probably stay with her family

5). PMG would hold a session of talks.

I decided to submit an abstract. My talk was accepted, Lisa was called, and in mid-May, I found myself headed to New Mexico!

Lisa, green chili burrito on her plate, on her home turf!

The conference was nice, my talk went really well, etc.  I had the last slot on the last day of photo talks, which is pretty much where I've been slotted every time I've done anything at PGM.  I surmise that the program chair thinks to herself, "Oh, Jessica is going to do a talk.  She always says funny things.  She can go at the end - it'll wake everyone up."  I don't get nervous during the days before giving a talk, so I don't mind it.

I'm so used to PGM Winter Meetings, where its like 16 hours of photograph talks, that two half-days felt like a vacation.  I got to hang out with a lot of old friends and (thanks to Lisa!) see a fair bit of Albuquerque.

Lisa took me and our mutual friends Katie and Saori jewelry shopping and then burrito shopping.  If you ever find yourselves in Albuquerque, check out Skip Maisel's for jewelry and other southwest goodies. Lisa says they have the best stuff at the best prices, and the three of us agreed!

For burritos, we went to the Frontier Restaurant.  Lisa said that it's an Abq institution, and that they make the best tortillas in the universe.  I don't know much about tortillas, but these were amazing.  Katie, Saori, and I each bought a dozen to take home.  Lisa bought six dozen to take back to the Pacific Northwest!

Katie shows off her tortillas.

Lisa and Saori, at the Frontier Restaurant.

The restaurant was huge, and full of southwest 'art'.  Saori and I counted seven portraits of John Wayne, one of which was life-sized and another of which was essentially a framed woven rug.  Pictured below is the most majestic of the portraits.

 Lisa also took us to the Tamarind Institute, a well-known lithography workshop and gallery.

 They were so lovely: they gave us a tour!  These students were busy inking things up.

 A lithography stone dries under a fume extractor.

 Stone storage.  Some of these were massive!

 We checked out a crazy antique store, which didn't have many antiques.

Bits of a ceramic baby, all creepy and affordable.

 The crew of Apollo 11.

 This.

Half of the time Lisa drove a bunch of us around in like a 1983 aircraft-carrier-sized car.  The other half of the time her brother chauffeured us in a 69' Mercedes (I think).  It was her mom's first car, bought used in like 1971!  Pretty much proof that old cars do well in the southwest.

 

Brother behind the wheel.

The photograph people and the paper people had a joint reception, which meant that our pooled resources would allow it to be held in a really lovely venue.  Behold: Los Poblanos, where Lisa got married!

 Rachel, Marion, and I (with a giant name tag) at Los Poblanos.

 After the conference, I hung out for another day, just to chill out.  Lisa's parents (apart from being the kindest and best of hosts) are Model T enthusiasts, and were hosting a Model T enthusiast breakfast the day after the conference.  Lisa and I helped prep - some cooking, jello molding, flower arranging, and, later, some wonderful eating.  It was so much fun to see all these Model T's put-put up to their house!

Her parents' Model T is still in progress, but it runs.  With this teeny-tiny engine!

 Lisa photographs her dad, getting it started prior to our joyride around the neighborhood!

Such a wonderful time!

Natural Disasters

Last week was super-exciting, natural disaster-wise.

Earthquake:

Yes, my apartment shook.  I was home for lunch and thought there was some huge obnoxious piece of building equipment outside on my street, as they've been rumbling things around, repairing the facade of the building across from me all summer.  Things rattled a little, but mainly it felt kind of like low blood sugar, when you get a little dizzy and nauseated.  All in all, the perfect earthquake: all the fun and none of the danger.

Cordie Cat gave no advance warning, so she's absolutely useless for extra-sensory disaster detecting.  But then, she is a special needs kitty.

The news was funny, all "Philly Rocked by Earthquake!" when actually it was more like, "Philly Thinks Landlord Has People Working on the Roof" or "Philly Slightly Nauseated for a Brief Moment."

Hurricane:

This was all panic.  Rachel and I taught a workshop north of Philly, in Bucks County the Friday before.  Both of us needed small grocery items (mozzarella, pizza dough, kiwis, eggs, mushrooms, ricotta) for our individual Friday night cooking agenda, so we took the opportunity of a car to stop at Trader Joe's.

It was insane.  Bread = gone.  Hummus = gone.  Lines = starting at the cheese cooler, at the very back of the store. We made it out alive, with all of our random items, so I was able to make my long-awaited (waiting since like Tuesday) Swiss chard ricotta hurricane quiche.

Saturday, went to yoga, paused at bakery, bought blueberries.  The rest of the day was wimpy grey skies and pitiful spitting rain.

The Apple Store half-heartedly protected their giant glass storefront with sandbags.

I didn't venture out.  Like I need a reason on a crappy day to stay in my house, take long naps, read books, eat hurricane quiche, and watch Jane Austen films?

Some part of Philly got loads of water, mainly the western outskirts and the 'burbs.  The Walk for Health along the Schuykill River Trail was quite flooded.

(All these photos are from the Philly Inquirer).

Trying New Things: Tea

Number one tea: Tetley.

I buy like two 80-bag boxes of Tetley every three months or so, and it requires a special trip to a slightly more-inconvenient grocery story, because the number one Tetley Tea is the British Blend.  (My life is soooo hard!  First world problems - wah wah wah.)  The tea bags are round, have more tea in them, and are even better at brewing darker and are thusly more effective at staining your teeth.

The corner convenience grocery by my apartment doesn't have any form of Tetley, so the other day I decided to branch out, but cautiously, with PG Tips.  PG Tips has a ridiculously awesome name, and is apparently England's number one tea.  Truth - I have actually heard/read of real-life English people drinking it, though when I was in England it was Tetley for me every morning!

Anyway, the PG Tips is good.  It will be my number-two tea.  Emergency run-out-of-number-one-tea or take-to-work tea.

So imagine my surprise when I did a little internet tea-stalking and discovered that the people that make PG Tips are also responsible for Lipton!

Ugh - Lipton.  Why is America okay with Lipton?  So bland, so weak, so nasty.  The tea of conferences - offered by those who only drink coffee, usually with water heated in a coffee pot, so it come pre-sullied with a nasty burnt coffee flavor.  The only thing a cup of Lipton is good for is watering plants: it's so gross.  You might as well just steep a cup of random sticks and leaves that you found in the park.

Interesting side-note.  Tetley British Blend was easy to find in Ottawa.  Once British people get to Canada, they become 250% more British than they were back in the home country, so they need the British Blend to survive in North America, even after they've become Canadian citizens.

There was a second British tea that was all-over Ottawa: Ty-phoo.  I never purchased any Ty-phoo, because the name is too close to Ty-phoid, and it made me think that either a) the tea was only good if you were sick, or b) the tea would infect you.  I did drink some Ty-phoo, and it was okay.  I didn't get Ty-phoid, but then I think my vaccination for that is still good.

Disclaimer: this is all my opinion, clearly.  You might totally love Lipton.  Whatever.

In Which I Return Briefly to Canada. Again.

At the very end of January I found myself headed back to Ottawa, Canada.  Again.

Happily, during this venture into the Great White North I did not end up with a broken car and a trashed computer hard drive.  It certainly was snowy though: there was a little blizzard during the middle of the week.  In case you're wondering - nobody cared.  They just went about their regular business.

 

I and my grad school classmate and fellow photo conservator Lisa stayed with the old roomies at the International House of Pancakes.  Where I took the opportunity of photographing this 'Cake of Angels' that somebody was about to bake.  The French/English boxes never fail to amaze.

Lisa was pretty entranced by the Ketchup flavored potato chips.

 

In all actuality, Lisa and I were in Ottawa to attend our second Winter Meeting of the Photographic Materials Group (PMG)of the American Institute for Conservation (AIC).  Our first experience of the PMG Winter Meeting was two years ago, in Tucson, Arizona.

This time, no longer a student, Former Supervisor Greg and I gave a talk about the big treatment project I completed during my year in Canada, while I was working at the ThinkTank.

 

Because it was the big every-two-years photograph conservation conference, guess who else was in town, come all the way from Paris?


Hye-Sung!

Sad

At work, we've been in a near-constant state of uproar for the past three weeks. Our former Director of Conservation (former as in 'retired after 20+ years in late September') passed away unexpectedly the weekend before Thanksgiving.

The entire staff was a mess. The three days before Thanksgiving involved all of our staff making phone calls and the senior staff helping his wife make arrangements and putting together a memorial service for the Philadelphia museum community. The memorial service was this past Tuesday, and a huge number of people attended. At work, people are still feeling down. You can tell, because everyone's clothes aren't as colorful as they usually are.

From the announcement made in the Book and Paper Group of the national conservation professional organization:

Glen Ruzicka's contributions to the field are international and extensive. He represented a different generation of conservators—a generation which not only mastered their craft but set new standards in scholarship. He stood out for his consummate bench skill, for his talent as a teacher and mentor, for his big hearted and warm disposition, and his contagious passion for the conservation and preservation of our cultural heritage. He was universally admired, respected, and loved, and will be incredibly missed.

Do I Do Any Conservation These Days?

Yes!

Check out what Paper Conservator Corine and I are doing in the project FOCUS at the Center's website.

Coming Soon!

I've been on the move recently, and will remain on the move for a few more days. But! Coming soon are trips to Washington DC and Albany (New York State).

UD Homecoming

Saturday was not only Halloween, it was the University of Delaware 2009 Homecoming. This was the first time I have returned for the celebrations, which is kind of highly appropriate now that I've graduated from UD yet again.

In all actuality, the real reason I returned for homecoming this year was to meet up with my old friends from the UDMB colorguard to laugh and have a good time and to spin with the alumni band. Lots of UDCG alumni came to spin, as we all, in a way, came for Donnie. Pictured below is actually the current band.














As in everything related to the UDMB, it started ridiculously early with rehersal in Delaware at 8:30. Afterwards we were free to frolick in the rain and tailgate with all the normal people. Alissa mixed a special cocktail in celebration of everyone coming: the Malibu Barbie. Yes, that Malibu Barbie.














It was like reliving things. We did the exact same things the band always does, but you could wear blue jeans instead of a crazy unitard and a fake ponytail, or whatever else Donnie would have dreamed up.




























We even had to do that thing where we play the fight song and march beneath the stands. The whole time I kept asking everyone, "Seriously? Are we seriously going to do this? Just like we used to? Seriously?"


















We had excellent seats. For band-watching, that is.














I take my camera on the field! The alumni bands performs two songs at stand-still during half-time. Remarkably, lots of people stayed for this performance.














Typically this sort of thing is a train-wreck, as you learn the work only a few hours before you have to perform it. But, surprisingly, we were pretty good (better than the actual guard, but give me a call if you want to hear about that). I stole this picture from somebody else: our flags are all crazy-patterns, but they're all together.












Some things never change. Sarver, the band director, came up to us afterwards for a good-job (you did better than the current actual guard did today), UDMB is family, Donnie would be so proud talk.














Everyone on the field after the game, those who didn't spin as well, singing 'In My Life'. The band always sings this at the end of each home football game.












We all have soggy shoes. Should have brought the wellies.














The whole alumni guard, post-performance.

Philthy Philadelphia

Rest assured: all is well, I've just been extremely busy relocating, graduating, helping renovate a house, and starting a new job - I'm a post graduate fellow! I'm paid! And have benefits!

Untitled

It took one of the two interlopers (the one with the nose) two and one-half days to notice that I had reinstalled their artwork. Still waiting for comment from the skinny one.

(Benjamin has some fun at the other's expense.)