End of an era...

Well, I've spent a year in Texas and I'm now at the end of the road. It's time to pack up my life again and move on to colder weather. One of these days I'll be a lot more stable in my living situation/job situation but until then I'll just be on the road of a rather interesting life...even if all I do after work is yoga/dance, make jewelry, and mess around on my computer.

...when in Texas

a true moment of pride

This is another one of my contributions to the museum. I'm actually very proud of this cross word puzzle. It's not very complicated but looking through all the clues you actually have to look through the entire exhibit to get the answers to all the clues.

While sitting in the back office and answering e-mails, I'm listening to two people working through this puzzle and scuffling through the exhibit to get the answers. Most people may not understand but just listening to these two people working through the puzzle tells me that I did something really right and I was able to use something I did with my master's work in my current occupation.

...when in Texas...

Even more on the weather....

The weather is such a crappy subject for me to really be talking about but it is noteworthy enough I suppose. Yesterday the weather was sunny and 80's...today cloudy and a high of right around 60! I'm not ready for this weather! I know I've got to get used to it if I'm going to survive San Francisco but I will be dealing with the weather kicking and screaming the whole way. You'd think I'd be used to cold weather-I grew up in Indiana where the weather changes in the blink of an eye and if you don't like it, just wait 5 minutes it will change. But three years in Bahrain and a year in the tip of Texas have ruined my cold weather disposition--not that I ever truly enjoyed cold weather anyway.

oh well, three weeks until I'm back on the eternal journey and making my way back to Indiana for the holidays and then off to San Francisco to attempt the American Dream.

...when in Texas...

T3

Trios, Tacos, y Tragos... the big biannual fundraiser for the BHA was yesterday and it went off with one minor glitch--a lightbulb went out in a case and was fixed pretty quickly (that was it!) as far as the new exhibit went. I think the only real glitch with the second part of the event (at another location where we had food, drinks, entertainment, and a silent auction) was that come 10:30'ish, the staff was beat and we still had a handful of people who were just not leaving-they were having too much fun apparently. I left when my bosses said I could leave-I was dead, needed to be fed, and had a splitting headache. But all in all, I had fun and we had nothing but good reviews from everyone who was at the event.

Regardless, the exhibit that opened with this event was a major part of why I am in Texas and now that is over. I've learned a lot here and met some amazing people and have plenty of 'no, I can't make this up' stories from the Rio Grande Valley. I've still got work here in archives but all in all, I'm just getting myself ready for the next adventure.

...when in Texas...

a bit of an update

If it's not facebook or e-mail (or my etsy store for my jewelry), I've been pretty well ignoring the world. Mostly, I'm just trying to keep my head on straight with this week...well, this month of getting ready for the exhibit opening in two weeks. Am I ready, not really. Are we actually on track...yes, for once.

On top of getting ready for the exhibit, I'm also getting myself ready for moving and a road trip with my mom and sister.

...when in Texas...

10/10/10

According to those in computer land there are 10 types of people, those who know binary and those who don't... yes, I get the joke. As much of a computer geek I am not, I know more than I let on. :)

So for those who do know/speak binary happy 10/10/10!

...when in Texas...

A blur of a month

One month ago yesterday I was at Dallas/Fort Worth airport heading to New York to visit my grandparents when I found out my grandfather had passed on. I spent nearly a week in New York to be with my grandma and other family that had come to New York.

About two weeks later, Nick came to Brownsville to visit and help me come to terms with my grandpa's death.

This month feels like it went by in the blink of an eye, but at the same time it feels like it went on forever.

...when in Texas...

More on the weather...

The heat finally broke and hopefully we're fairly done with hurricane season (knock on wood). So the museum is in the greatness of Halloween season. The Stillman house is all decorated for the season and it's wonderful...Victorian mourning rituals are rather interesting, but I don't really feel like I can enjoy it as much this year.

At least I've got my costume figured out for Halloween-it's rather cute I think. I'm doing a mix of my belly dance costuming and going out this year as a tribal style fox. That is something I truly am looking forward to doing-especially with historical happy hour at the museum Halloween weekend.

...when in Texas...

returning to the rain forest..

So my previous post was about my grandfather. I get home from New York yesterday to Rhi, 'welcome back, we may be prepping for another hurricane by the end of the week'...yep, another one. This will be big storm number 3 if Hurricane Karl hits us in any shape or form. I'm not looking forward to this but I asked for it.

What this means for everyone: unless you hear me yelling to run for higher ground, assume I'm doing my job and plastic wrapping the Stillman House again.

...when in Texas...

not a vacation

For those out in internet land, my grandfather died last week.  So here's the obituary and his info. He had a lot of stories and a great sense of humor.

John D. Dresser Loving husband, father, grandfather 

CANANDAIGUA - 

John D. Dresser, age 78, of Holiday Harbour, died on Thursday, Sept. 9, 2010. at F.F. Thompson Hospital. He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Betsy Dresser; two children, Jill (Robert) Moore and Mark (Debra) Dresser; four grandchildren, Kate, Sarah, Brian and Daniel; two sisters, Marilyn (Stewart) Turner and Janice (Richard) Sills; brother, James (Mary Jane) Dresser; sister-in-law, Marilyn Dresser; and many nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his brother, William Dresser. Mr. Dresser was a U.S. Army veteran of the Korean War. He was a volunteer at the VA Medical Center and Sonnenberg Gardens. Mr. Dresser retired in 1998, after 23 years as the owner and operator of Trail Break Motor Inn in Fairport. There will be no calling hours. Services are private. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Sands Cancer Center, 360 Parrish St., Canandaigua, NY 14424. Arrangements are by the Johnson-Kennedy Funeral Home Inc., Canandaigua. Condolences may be offered at www.JohnsonKennedy.com

climate control...

South Texas is hot...and humid. For the last week or so I go to work, it rains for about 20-30 min (sometimes I get a little wet) and then it's beautiful for the next several hours before the clouds roll in and maybe we get more rain. I live in a bloody tropical rain forest!

This is more or less comical for me considering I spent three years of maybe getting to see a, uno, single good storm per year when not in North America. Now I've got an abundance of rain, not necessarily storms, but rain.

At least it's warm.

...when in Texas...

the end of the road...

On a field trip to South Padre Island, we decided to see if we could find the end of the road...well, here it is! The end of the road!

...when in Texas...

throwback to July...

o k, this is a very real throwback to July. Right after Hurricane Alex THIS is what Rhi and I were facing at Wal-Mart. I was not joking when I said some shelves were completely empty. I was truly amused but also it was a little post-apocalyptic in a sense.  Very wild.

...when in Texas....

more with south texas...

I'm not dead yet! I promise! Things out here are pretty much the same old song, dance, and routine. Fernando is moving this week and Sarah's last day was last week...so we're all going bowling tomorrow to give them a decent send off!

...when in Texas...

whirlwind of insanity

Certain sights, phrases, etc. are absolutely iconic-everyone knows them regardless of if they think they know them or not-example: Luke Skywalker's famous NNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!! (just after Darth Vader admits that he's Luke's father)


Well, I had an 'oh the humanity!' (newsreel from the Hindenburg becoming a rather impressive fireball) moment and actually said it out loud...and a couple people heard me--one got the reference and started chuckling and the other looked at me like I had gone mad..I need to remind myself that I'm just that unusual in this town.

I was working an event at the BHA and I'm impressed with the strange logic people have when they think a $5 admission entitles them to a ghost hunting program complete with spectral evidence and a poltergeist hanging out in the painting of Charles Stillman. No. We had a ghost hunting group in with all their cameras and gizmos--very cool people by the way. And they were showing our guests how they hunt for ghosts--the rules, patience (which I actually have very little), keeping as silent as possible, and listening and following all instructions.

One group came out after a short hunt and were complaining that they didn't catch anything and wanted to do it all again just to see if they could catch something. Others in this group were equally bummed -and verbal- that they didn't catch anything or see anything or experience anything 'spooky' (insert 'oh the humanity' here). I had to gently remind everyone that regardless of believing in ghosts--they are not trick ponies and will not perform because we want them to. Needless to say, the inner monologue still has some learning to do because it does become external from time to time...

Other than minor to moderate glitches in the program--planned for 15 people...ended up with 83. Had younger kids when we'd set an age limit. Etc. It was a relatively decent program.

...when in Texas...

Hurricane Alex--the day after again

Something I totally forgot:

Wal-Mart is a great asset for many things--hurricane prep is one of them. However, the day after you realize just HOW CRAZY some people can be--there were entire sections of shelving totally empty: canned food, lunch meats, etc. Now, I do realize that these things are necessary for storm survival and such, but WOW! I was truly entertained. It really is the little things that make me laugh. :)

...when in Texas...

Hurricane Alex--the day after

Ok, so today we were supposed to still be doing the hurricane camp out...that didn't really happen. Alex blew through and well, the BHA staffers were called in for un-plastic sheeting everything. That really didn't take too long for all of us to un-plastic sheet/duct tape everything. :) We are back on schedule of everything tomorrow.

All in all, Hurricane Alex as a great practice hurricane for a very long season. We all know what to do, how to mobilize, where to get things, etc. But really, the worst damage we sustained was limbs down. My flat didn't even get a power outage, loss of water, or any problems. We got a lot of rain in pulses--nothing constant, and wind. Things could have been a whole lot worse. I'm actually a little disappointed. oh well. There's one more natural disaster I've lived through and in hind sight said, 'this is it?!'

...when in Texas...

Hurricane Alex

Well, I think at the present moment Alex is a Tropical Storm still. But anyway, Brownsville is right in the path of said storm. This really sucks for me on so many levels. So, we've done all the plastic sheeting and wrapping and moving stuff at the BHA locations (all of them...). and I have my provisions at my home.

Me, personally, I'm looking forward to a storm, a big one. But I'd like to be safe about all of it. So, I'm camping out and waiting for the storm.


...when in Texas...

just for kicks

I changed the colors of my blog. I think I like this better than pinks. I don't know why I had that up for so long.

...when in Texas...

not really news...

Well, it's the middle of June, I've known for a while that it's not really worth keeping this journal, but I do it anyway. I don't have news. I don't mind it. But really, my life is pretty well slated under routine. I get up, I make my lunch, I go to work, I read, research, write, type stuff up like it's going out of style. Maybe things work out like they are supposed to. Maybe people get back to me when I call with questions.

However, because Fernando is leaving us at the end of the month, I'm slowly taking over his stuff--this includes any involvement with both the Mexican Consulate (here in Brownsville, Texas) and the American Consulate (in Matamoros, Mexico). This does mean I'll be making a trip or few to Mexico courtesy of my job. In the words of the great philosopher Jagger: You can't always get what you want but if you try sometimes you get what you need.

...when in Texas...

Mr. Creepy Creeperson!

I am not necessarily an arachnophobe BUT when I'm looking out my window and THIS is who I see...I do tend to get a bit freaked out. Rhi was the one brave enough to go out to the patio and take this pic. I was watching from the door to the patio. 


...when in Texas...

In the news...

Well, it's been about a month since my last update. There really REALLY isn't anything for me to update on except that we've got one heck of a crazy summer schedule coming our way at the BHA. I don't even know where to begin except to say HOLY CRAP! And we're loosing two staff members (Sarah and Fernando) to slightly bigger and better things. So, we're a skeleton crew running on slightly higher octane than most people in the town. Translation: we're nuts and Brownsville just doesn't know how to deal with us. I don't mind it.

...when in Texas...

Congrats to Fernando's sister...

Fernando is one of the people I work with at the BHA. He's a Programs Coordinator (or guru as some of us like to refer to him). He' a really great kid to work with (yes, I said kid, he's 23 and I feel kinda old around him sometimes). Well, anyway, his sister got married yesterday and Rhi and I were invited to the after party by Fernando's mother. She is a very nice and refined woman. So we went to the afterparty--at 1:30am. At the Zamora ranch in the outskirts of civilization. It was great! :) We had tacos and talked with other guests for a good two hours before we came back home. It was really nice to get out of the house even if it was really really late.

By the way, tacos here are NOT taco bell! They are very small tortillas with meat, cheese, and various other things you put on them. You usually get three or maybe four at a time. :) And they taste wonderful! But the tortillas are pretty greasy. the meat and everything else--not greasy. Just the tortilla.


...when in Texas...

finally, I have news...

Last week, I moved into a flat and bought a car. I have my own space to call mine and a means of transportation that does not rely on when everyone else is going somewhere I'd like/need to go. :)

...when in Texas...

5 minutes from Mexico

Matamoros, Mexico is the sister city to Brownsville. Literally speaking, the museum is a five minute walk to the bridge to get to Matamoros. The US Consulate's house is about five more minutes just off the main drag once you get into Matamoros. Why I was in Matamoros...at all. There was a concert at the US Consulate's house that was pulled together by Fernando Zamora (one of the BHA programs people) and he had 10 invites to pass out to members of the board, and his family/friends he thought would enjoy the event. Rhi and I were pretty much the only 'not quite adults' on the invite list. AKA: he wanted someone he could talk to at the event. Basically the who's who of Matamoros was invited and about 80% of the invited actually came to the event.

Now, why am I even doing a post on this whole thing. Good question. Considering I've been to more dangerous places in Bahrain. This was a walk in the park for me. We were escorted by black suits with Ray Bands and ear pieces--it kind of felt like overkill. But it proved to be a great excuse and a bit of a realization that I'm never going to be an adult...so why bother trying.

...when in Texas...

Texas State Aquarium..

I was greeted by happy looking sting rays, birds, etc. But this was one of my best shots of the bunch!

If you look closely, you'll find a lot of sea horses...

I found Nemo! ... and Dory!

Dolphin show!

And the otters! Always a personal favorite at the zoo or aquarium.

Tortuga!

USS Lexington

Welcome to the business end of an engine...

This engine to be precise!

Even flight decks come with warnings... Some more important than others...

Lots of knots! and some of them I could ID pretty easily!

But because somehow along the line, I had an epic fail, I ended up in the brig with Rhiannon.

Easter weekend recap...

We had a 4-day weekend at the BHA for Good Friday through Easter Monday (which we'd normally have off anyway). So, Good Friday the collective we slept all day, Saturday I did laundry kind of things (and was slightly productive on jewelry type things), Sunday we tried to go to Mass at a really nice cathedral down the road from us--it was a bust...the room was a bit packed and the service was in Spanish...needless to say, I can do the Mass in Latin and English but that's about as good as I get when it comes to a religious ceremony not my own. Then Monday, oh did I love Monday. Fernando (fellow BHA staff member), Rhiannon (room mate/BHA staff member/friend), and I all hopped into Rhi's car and drove all the way to Corpus Christi to the USS Lexington museum and the Texas State Aquarium. Pictures will be posted some time in the relatively near future. I had a great time and it was a much needed 'field trip'.

This week we are all back to the grind stone. 


...When in Texas...

3.14

Happy Pi Day!

Now for those out there in internet land who don't know--I'm not a math geek. I am however a classicist. Pi is one of the letters of the Ancient Greek alphabet and today is 3/14...or in math terms 3.14 (π).

The Ancient Greek philosophers had this thing with math and the divine. Somehow they figured out that a number relatively equal to 3.14 would help us figure out the dimensions of circles and spheres. How they figured this out is beyond me and my 26 year old gray matter processor. However, the Ancient Greek philosophers were also responsible for things like figuring out the space between notes in music, the golden ratio, and the foundations of the Fibonacci sequence as seen in nature. So, Happy Pi Day and thank you Ancient Greek philosophers--if it weren't for you, I'd likely have no random bits of useless knowledge to make me sound interesting.

...when in Texas...

Winter?

I walked out the flat this morning not wearing a jacket! I walked into work happy to have the nice weather. It got nicer as the day went on. :) For reasons beyond me, I find warm weather to be most pleasing. 80 degrees is perfect weather for the likes of me.

Work is as always--quite entertaining and interesting. the BHA facebook page has been periodically updated and most recently, Charlie Barkeep has gotten a facebook page. Charlie Barkeep is one of the two manikins at the Crixell Saloon in the museum. He's something of a fly on the wall and a silent witness to all of the programs and the like.

...when in Texas...

more on Charro Days

Alright, this week has been crazy! Charro Days (and subsequently the Sombrero Festival) are a whole lot of people getting dressed up in all kinds of either Mexican peasant clothes or 'Charro' clothes. This is one of those situations where I have to smile, nod, and accept the fact that I am Casper white and will never have a festival that I am THAT dedicated to (asside from the Renn faires).

Charro Days has three parades -- the Children's Parade, the Iluminated Parade, and the International Parade. Each one has something slightly different to offer. The Children's Parade has elementary kids performing traditional dances, the Iluminated Parade is full of lit up floats, and the International parade is a mix of floats and groups from Matamoros as well as Brownsville.  I went to the Children's Parade and got a bit of a sunburn on my face. I got to see the tail end of both of the other parades. It's not the same watching vs. being a part of it all. Again, I'm too much of foreigner to really appreciate it.

...when in Texas...

Charro Days!

Charro: (noun) "ranching dandy" complete with fancy clothes and a girl on each arm.

Day: (noun) time between sun rise and sun set.

Charro Days: (noun) week long series of events, festival, parades, etc. think Mardi Gras in New Orleans, only  in Brownsville, Texas and not quite as internationally recognized...but it is internationally recognized by some pockets of population... :)

Anyway, Charro Days started today and it goes all week.

...when in Texas...

an update on stuffs

The internet has been down in the flat for the last couple of days. At least I can check my e-mail at my office. I've been going a bit crazy with the museum. We opened but we weren't quite finished--we had a handful of details and a bit of Spanish text we needed to get in. Guess what, the people we hire for printing and the like had a bit of a communications glitch and one guy hasn't been sending work orders to the others who actually do the printing. I've taken steps to fix this and go straight to the guys who actually print out my text. They are cool. They actually do the work in a very timely manner.

So, in the mean time, I'm working on the BHA facebook page. I know, crazy. Its a fan page and anyone who is interested can find it:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Brownsville-TX/Brownsville-Historical-Association/255965253619?ref=nf

...when in Texas...

a bit of an edit.

My previous post has a link to get to the newspaper article from Jan. 26th. so, on the date/search date go to January 26, 2010. and the paper should come up.

For those who are wondering, the article made the front page. :)

...when in Texas...

news!

http://epaper.brownsvilleherald.com/Default/Skins/BrownsvilleHerald/Client.asp?Skin=BrownsvilleHerald&Daily=Brownsville&AW=1264531875981&AppName=1

yep, somehow I made it into the paper as the front girl for the Heritage Museum. Actually, I'm the project director for finishing the museum and then I get to put on a different hat for the next project at hand... :) but for now I get to bask in the 'I've got two things left to do on the museum but the pressure is off so I can do my job' :)

...when in Texas...

survive, I did.

We had our big opening/meeting/fancy dinner/etc. yesterday. All day it was a meeting with the Stillman family--whom are pretty much the reason why the BHA exsists! Then we had the annual meeting with the board and members, complete with awards, voting in new members, the state of the BHA address, etc. Members who came to said meeting were treated to the not quite complete (we're missing spanish text, a hand full of labels and a hand full of panels that are also missing spanish text). Everyone loved it! Even with the things we are missing, everyone loved it! After the member's meeting, we had the big dinner. This has been lovingly called the Stillman Trust. Needless to say, with everything going well in the morning and early evening, you'd think SOMETHING would have gone wrong...nope. Went off without a hitch! Sarah was in charge of getting the dinner pulled together and such and oh yeah, she's awesome. The who's who of Brownsville showed up--I know it doesn't sound that impressive but it is for a place like Brownsville, it was. The mayor, commissioners, judges, etc. all came to our event. Now, here's a little thing about said who's who. They tend to judge the event by who else of the who's who came to said event. ALL of them were at our event. Pretty cool if you ask me.

...When in Texas...

one of the coolest things I've been a part of...

Alright, the above piece of stone is a pretty cool one. The four corner images are actual ranching brands from all over the southern Texas. The central brand is the official bar BHA brand. I am in the process of registering it! Rhiannon designed it and drew it, and even painted it on our horse IN the museum.

The stone itself is granite and going to be used for making rubbings of said ranching brands. All we need to do now is get a table for it, write up the instruction panel in English AND Spanish. Lucky me, there's a translator in house.

...when in Texas...

things I did not sign up for...

cold weather tops the list of things that will get me in a sour mood. :( I did not sign up for winter weather! The weather is warmer in San Francisco! Oh well. It meant that I didn't have as many distractions with writing text today. I still don't know how I'm going to get it all finished on time. oh well, just keep on working, it's what I do.

...when in Texas...

Ranching terms side...

Apparently the Ranching terms side didn't upload properly, so here it is!

Little known fact: in the collective two puzzles there are some personal jokes written--Rhiannon is obsessed with Moose--Moose is a word in one of the puzzles. I have a thing with Foxes--Fox is a word in one of the puzzles and 'SPQR' is in one of the puzzles. SPQR (Senatus Populus Que Romanus) was the 'this belongs to Rome' stamp/engraving/etc. that you can see all over Rome today.

:)

my greatest contribution thus far...

This is my coolest contribution to any major project I've ever been a part of in my entire history!!! Yes, it is a word search puzzle...but it is MY word search puzzle! On one side is Ranching terms and the other is Architecture of Brownsville terms. :)

We're all waiting to bust out the chalk and everyone's going to 'rock, paper, scissor' it to see who gets to play with it first. :)

Happy New Year!

Rhi and I went to "the Island" -- South Padre Island that is, to ring in the New Year. We kind of failed in our mission though. We went out for decent surf and turf at 'the Shrimp Haus' and such. We walked along the beach, drove all the way to the end of the road--seriously, end of the road, etc. etc. etc.

How did we fail: we came back to Brownsville about an hour before midnight.