Life in Transition

A year ago I was commercial salmon fishing in Alaska.

A week ago I was a historic presenter at The Henry Ford. 

And this week I start a copywriting internship at an advertising agency. 

How quickly life changes. 

Though I must say, when you have a college degree in one hand and student loans in the other, it feels that it can’t change quickly enough sometimes. I go back and forth on that point. I miss being in Alaska almost every day, and part of me wanted to dig in my heels and make a part time gig at The Henry Ford work somehow. I felt more emotional about leaving that job than I ever did graduating from any school. 

I hope this internship is the step in the right direction towards actually using my English degree professionally. Sure it is. Of course it is. 

There’s a pool table next to my cubicle in the office. 

Yeah, I think I made the right decision. 

As of late

It has occurred to me that most of what I write these days is hidden away in files and flash drives, like some sort of less-talented modern Emily Dickinson. To keep myself writing and to prevent myself from going down the crazy route by keeping handwritten poems in boxes under my bed, I turn to the blog. 

Haven’t been spending much time on the computer since it’s been warm, partly because I sit outside reading when I get off work, and partly because my computer has gotten so slow in the past year that I feel more like chucking it out the window rather than wait for my email to load. 

I’ve been working a lot lately. I’m a historic presenter at The Henry Ford and have the very important task of teaching museum guests about American history. 

I also teach children how to dip candles, wearing clothing appropriate for the 1760’s. 

Which, for the kids, is more of an exercise in patience than anything else. 

My favorite thing about The Henry Ford is that it preserves and celebrates the history of every day life. Any kid that has languished through a boring history class should be reassured that learning history is NOT just memorizing names and dates and wars, but rather understanding why people have acted they way they did. Part of that is understanding what everyday life was like. The Boston Tea Party, for example, isn’t going to make a whole lot of sense to a kid unless she knows the context of what life was like for those colonial Americans. Otherwise, who cares if you throw a bunch of tea into the harbor? At the museum, this history comes to life (this is the part where I start to sound like a tourist brochure)!

I’m a nerd. 

Further evidence of my nerdness (nerdom? geekery?) is the fact that I went to Motor City Comicon last weekend on my day off. 

And I loved every bit of it. 

It was so popular this year (Stan Lee was in attendance, signing autographs for those with an extra Stan ticket) that we had to park a mile down the road, walk to the convention center, then wait in a line that wrapped all the way around the building just to get inside. It was a lot of fun, though. One thing I noticed about the crowd (and I usually hate crowds with a passion that only a short person who has been stepped on many times would understand) is that everyone was really pleasant to be around. No one was angry or pushy and were clearly all having a good time. 

Nerds are really nice people. 

My highlights all involved Doctor Who, My Little Pony, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer (only saw one Labyrinth shirt the whole time, what’s up with that?) 

I got a doodle of my cat done by Katie Cook, one of the artists that works on My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic. 

I’ve loved MLP since kindergarten, and thus really couldn’t come up with anything intelligent to say when I came face to face with someone who actually works on it. However, I did get a sweet doodle that I will cherish forever and ever (I’ll scan it in later, right now it is all the way upstairs in my room. So far away…)

I had slightly more luck with conversation when I met Nicholas Brendon, who played Xander Harris on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. 

He is such a nice guy! I never expected to see someone who worked on the show in person. His is one of my favorite characters on the show (his comedic sense is perfect) and is just so chill in real life. I would have brought something for him to sign if I had realized ahead of time that he would be there. Oh well, the picture is enough!

If you have never been to an event like this, I suggest you go if you enjoy people watching. There is no better place. 

Also, deals on comic books.  

I only wanted to buy one comic book while there (Adventure Time: Fiona and Cake, issue #5, cover A) but no one had it! Alas. 

The thing about traveling

is that once you start, there is always going to be a place that you are going to miss, no matter where you are. When I was off galavanting about, I always missed home, of course. But now at home there are many places I miss, many of which I don’t know if I’ll get the chance to visit again. This is especially perplexing when I find myself missing places that I only visited for two days. Like Paris. 

I just remind myself that I was lucky to see these places at all. 

Last year at this time I was getting ready to graduate college and pack up for Alaska. I do miss Alaska and am a little sad that I’m not going back this summer. 

I love Michigan, but there are no mountains here (the highest point in Michigan is in the Upper Peninsula, and is something like ten feet shy of qualifying as a mountain). If only Michigan had mountains. Or fjords. I could use a good fjord sighting right about now.

A cookbook with no stains on the pages is wasted paper. 

Popped in Julie and Julia and it reminded me that I have a blog that I’ve been neglecting. 

Hi, blog! 

Here’s a thought: I hate when people leave out necessary commas. Typing “Hi, blog!” just made me think of that. It should be “Happy birthday, so-and-so” and not “Happy birthday so-and-so.”

Just so you know.