Back on the Blogging Bandwagon (I hope)

I've just returned to New York after a long holiday vacation and I think it is appropriate to also return to my poor neglected blog at the same time. As many of you have noticed, I've been conspicuously absent from web for the last few months.

So here it goes...(in bulleted outline form because, as many of you know, I'm a little obsessed with organization and lists)

Brief summary of the last two and a half months:

1.) I love grad school. I finished my first semester with 2 big papers and a large project/presentation. They all went well and I'm very proud of the noticeable progress I've made in the last 6 months.

2.) I presented a paper at a museum studies symposium hosted by NYU. It was titled "Making Modern Art Narratives Accessible in the Museum: The Museum of Modern Art and the Tate Modern." The experience made me thankful for St. Olaf's required "Oral Communication" credit and for the experience of presenting my senior distinction paper last spring. In other words, St. Olaf prepared me for my future--what a success story! Here's a picture of one of MoMA's Monet "Waterlilies" that I used in my paper. Isn't it great (and huge?)



3.) Christmas was disrupted by a long and intense snowstorm. My family wasn't able to get together as we usually do--instead, Dad and I spent a few days inside eating, reading, and watching movies. It was also terribly cold but I was SO happy to see snow that I didn't mind. Here's a great picture of our garage on Christmas morning after the garage door accidentally stayed open all night because when we drove in the night before the drifted snow fell inside and blocked the door's sensor!



4.) Second semester starts on Tuesday and I can't wait. I'm taking 3 classes: Museum Management, Museums & Interactive Technologies, and Museums & Political Conflict.

5.) Oscar and Dorian have grown so much! My roommate, Alex, took care of them while I was gone for the holidays and I was so happy to return to them this week! They are still very active and Oscar is always loud and wild. He's adorable and very friendly with visitors, which is nice too. Both cats have recently found so odd places and positions to sleep. I was lucky enough to have my camera on hand to catch a few great napping moments:


I've never seen a cat sleep on his back before with his legs splayed out like this. Oscar is a funny little guy.


I don't know why the dishes drying rack is a comfortable place to nap, but Dorian seems to think it is.