woohoo!

I have an announcement:

I finished the AAUW International Fellowship application. It arrived in Iowa City (yes, Iowa City) via FedEx yesterday at 8:35am.

Yay!

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*The photo is from the International Freedom Festival fireworks display over the Detroit River this summer. I took it with my cell phone from the 10th floor of our office building. The view is looking South down Woodward Ave.--not too bad, eh?

gratitude

L to R: Cindy (hostess), me, Laura (she's Canadian too, eh?)

I celebrated my first official American Thanksgiving last week, November 23rd. It was a great day of food, fun, and fellowship... not to mention hard-core, high-stakes ping pong! Celebrating with friends (some old, some new) was a great feeling--we were adults.*

One thing I am thankful for: I do not have to eat tofurkey often. Phew! It really wasn't that bad, I s'pose. Tofurkey aside, I'm grateful to C. and D. for opening up their hearth and home to foreigners and orphans alike, on this, the day of uniting people, giving thanks for what we have, and enjoying each other's company. And I'm so glad we didn't do it "old school" by including a scalping or two. ;>

For more photos, check out www.newvick.shutterfly.com

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*See the blog entry "pupa" for more on this adult issue.

silence?

I visited Annie Leibovitz's "American Music" exhibit at the DIA yesterday.*

Sure, they were great photos. Sure, she has nice cameras. Sure, she can hang w/ celebrities. But what does all of that mean other than she's well connected? I was disappointed in the descriptions of the images that I heard on the handy-dandy audio thing that they provide. She talked about how she wanted to find a road b/c some country singer sang about a road in one of her songs (or something like that). And there wasn't any music anywhere in the exhibit. When I asked the curator about the music--much to the embarrassment of my patient exhibit-mate--she fed me some info. about licensing. Hmpf.

So why is this bothersome? Well, I've been working on a fellowship application for the last little while. I'm supposed to prove that I'm the best candidate for the award based on the research that I do. If Annie Leibovitz can just "phone-in" her photos, why can't I just phone-in this application and say, "I'm the best applicant just because I am" and have them cut me a cheque/check? Wouldn't that be more fair?

It's like the photography gods provided an application and said, "If you are a good photographer and deserve to be exhibited in the DIA, check here." And Annie did.

I think the fellowship gods should provide an application where they say, "If you are a good scholar and deserve this fellowship, check here." Then I would. Simple, no?

(And don't even get me started on that Rothko painting we saw in another room!) ;>

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*The whole experience was a lot of fun not only b/c I could criticize the exhibit and photographer but b/c my judgmental comrade was amenable to the ridicule. (Thanks, J).

pupa*

*def: the stage between larva and adult for many insects.

So I'm in the pupa stage. Or at least it feels that way. The work I'm doing, the decisions I'm making, and the people I'm meeting all move me towards that "adult" stage and it feels good but it doesn't feel quite like it fits just yet.

At what point am I an adult? Just because I'm (well) over 18? Because I own my car? Because I teach? I don't really know. The word "adult" has always seemed synonymous with mortgage, sod 'n' decks, and having babies. Nowhere do I recall "financially-challenged grad. student" as part of the definition. While logically I know that there will be an end to this dissertation and that, technically, I have no limitations right now, I can't help but feel stunted.

Last night, though, there was a difference. While having gelato at a nice place in downtown Windsor, we watched (and heard) the 19-year-old drunkards stumbling to various bars wearing far too little clothing. At that point I saw a version of my old self and was glad that I wasn't there anymore. I was happy to figure out that "Anne" was the third Bronte sister, enjoyed discussing my dissertation project, and was grateful that I had wool mittens to put on when we left. And, I was relaxed. I guess that's a sign. I felt more like myself than I have in a long time. Finally. So, while I may think that I'm in the pupa stage, maybe I'm finding my own version of the adult stage. And, I quite like it. It's mine. And it's comfortable.

(With special thanks to J. for a really good evening, and to S. and D. for the gelato spot).