past few weeks

i'm writing this from my sickbed (chair), just so you know what quality you'll be getting. the past few weeks have been quite busy with group work and essay proposals. the house has been relatively quiet, too. whatever i have now has been passed around the house for the past week or so, so no one's been really lively. i have been keeping a list of things to update you on... i'll go by genre.

my courses have both been a lot of work, but also very, very good. in policy&practice, we have been working on running a museum, funding bodies, and things of that nature. we visited the conservation center a couples weeks ago, which was incredible. it's almost my dream job-- and would take another 3-year master's degree. so i think i'll wait a while before pursuing that one. in the end, we visited the metal, organics (think wood, cloth, bone), painting, and sculpture conservation departments. all of them were doing work for the new Liverpool Museum (coincidentally, we had the head curator in as a guest lecturer this week for M&A). for policy&practice, i had an essay outline due last week and a group project due in next week. for the essay, i've decided to research conservation policies of the National Museum of Iraq, particularly focusing on trials of war (looting, invasion, bombing, etc).

as for my museums&archaeology course, it's been much of the same. we've had a few guest lectures from egyptology curators as well as a trip to the National Museum Liverpool to see the new egyptology exhibit. all the sessions have been really informative and interesting, especially when considering the future of archaeology in the museum. we also have a course blog, which i encourage you to check out! as with p&p, i have a group project in for next week as well as an essay in for may 18. my essay topic for this course will focus on the excavation of human remains in the US and the UK and the difference in treatment in the moment of discovery (i.e. what happens to human remains exactly when archaeologists stumble across them during excavation). it should be very, very interesting and i plan on keeping you all updated on the progress.

in social news, i've been spending a lot of time with N and the rest of the house. L and i watch LOST every wednesday (as well as some other days-- we're working our way through seasons 1&2 again), and we usually do dinner as well. S and i have been watching rifftracks movies, which are phenomenal. while i normally stay away from tv and all that, LOST and rifftracks (and the company) are usually the highlights of my day. the guys have found a house for next year, too. apparently it's amazing and they've graciously allowed me to sublet for a couple months over the summer (yay! it has a bathtub!!). can't wait for that!

i also saw em a couple times recently. she's off to turkey in four days, and won't be back anytime soon. i visited west kirby on saturday to spend the day with her before she leaves, it was nice to catch up and hear about all the things she's planning on doing (Istanbul and the food are the two major draws still... oh, and the rock tombs. and the coast. and the weather...). anyhow, i hope she has a safe journey and i'm sure we'll keep in touch.

i'm also headed out soon, to montpellier in april. i can't wait! i've just gotten the keys and maps and all that, but the most exciting thing is the food (can we see a trend?). i've been told that dinner most nights can consist of local fruit, cheese, and wine. yay!! and speaking of food, i've been doing well over here. F and i made carrot cake after i got back from edale, and it was amazing (mostly because he made it.. i fell asleep while it was baking). i've also tried to cook for the house a couple times: i made french toast (which was 'pretty good') and caprese eggs benedict (which got a much better review than the french toast).

other, more random thoughts on the list: i finished knitting L's scarf and he loves it (it's sky blue and wayyy soft), i watched D and M play through heavy rain (amazing game! play it!), and i love traveling by train. that's all, hope you are all enjoying the spring weather. take care and all that!