When New Beginnings Come to the End

Not everyone gets to say that they had the perfect last day at a job, but I think that Rody and I have the privilege of being able to truly say that today was perfect.

One of the reasons that this internship was such an incredible experience is that Mary takes us out on field trips and has us go and meet many important people who work in the visual arts and arts administration. In fact, I'd say that the highlight of this internship was going on these field trips. So it was only fitting, I think, for us to go on a field trip on our last day. And Mary took us to MoLAA (the Museum of Latin American Art) today, which was perfect because both Rody and I really, really wanted to go there.

I loved the work that I saw there, and honestly, I loved the museum. I can see that the museum has some issues (their storage space is TINY), but I really liked the art that I saw there, and I think that the art itself was so different from a lot of the contemporary art that we've seen this summer. I think it's safe to say that Rody and I both loved it a lot.

When we came back to the gallery, both Kirk and Mary came to the Print and Study room to give us some goodbye presents, and honestly, I think that the presents were amazing. Kirk gave us some knee bowls (which I love the concept of), and made me earrings from some slides that I worked with and gave us each a book with a hole in the middle (it will remind me of drill presses, earthquakes, ash and really lame jokes about interns and drilling). Mary gave me a beautiful bracelet made of coconut shell and a notebook (which, again, is really handy).

I've always had a problem with saying goodbye, and having homes in two different parts of the world has not made saying goodbye seem easier or more routine. It's going to be weird to wake up to RA training tomorrow; to not come in to say hi to Rody or Kristin or Kirk or Zoe or John early in the morning; to not take ridiculously long tea breaks routinely; and to not work with slides and really expensive art everyday. I'm still going to have to wake up before 8 this next semester (8 o'clock class is the bane of my existence), but I know that I probably won't look forward to it the way that I did these past 10 weeks. I know the gallery is next door, because it's on campus, but I'm still really going to miss this place.

So before I officially sign out as the Visual Resources Intern at the Williamson Gallery for Summer 2008, I'd really like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who works here. Rody, Patricia and Zoe- I've found a friend in each one of you and I hope that we frequently meet this next year. Mary, Kirk, Kristin and John- thank you so much for everything. This summer was so much fun, and a tremendous learning experience. You guys are incredible bosses, and I can only hope that I will have bosses as fun and nice as all of you when I graduate and go into the really world.

Fare thee well ogre(s)...

It's never easy to say good-bye...So I won't.

I just want to let you guys know that I'll miss you. It has been a real pleasure working with all of you this summer and I hope to see you again during the year. Thank you guys for being so wacky, sweet, and honest for the past ten weeks; I really appreciate it. 

If it had not been for the crazy conversations we had over tea breaks, or on our way to lunch, or on trips with Mary, I probably would not have enjoyed myself as much as I did. Thank you for that. I know this is somewhat corny, but I think I'll let Mr. Rogers take it from here...

It's such a good feeling to know you're alive. 

It's such a happy feeling: You're growing inside.

And when you wake up ready to say, 

'I think I'll make a snappy new day.'

It's such a good feeling, a very good feeling, 

the feeling you know that we're friends.

Sorry, I just had to. Good luck with everything, enjoy what's left of summer, and I'll definitely see you guys again. 

The Writing Blues

Writing has always been something that I've done, ever since I was little.

I remember writing stuff in elementary school. It was mostly fanciful, childish nonsense, but I remember writing it anyway. I grew up keeping an array of different journals and diaries and notebooks full with short stories, but I don't really think that I've ever written anything that has been especially memorable or especially commendable. So I don't pretend to be a good writer, just OK enough to scrape by in school with a B on most of my papers. I do, however, think I have had enough practice with writing to know that I can crank stuff out if I need or want to.

This internship, however, has proved me wrong in that capacity. As one of my final assignments for Mary, I'm supposed to turn in a few essays on some powerful and iconic women photographers and their work. I'm supposed to be writing about fairly well-known photographers (Julia Margaret Cameron, Anne Brigman and Diane Arbus) and I've done a lot of research on all of them. But for some reason, the words just aren't flowing and the essays I have written so far are crap to say the least.

It's not writer's block. I've had writer's block before. This is more than that. Every time I sit down to write, all the information I have just swirls in my head and I don't know where to begin, where to take the essay and how to end. Most of what I've written is all over the place (it's pretty sub-par in my opinion) and it's nothing worth writing home about. I know this shouldn't be hard for me, but somehow, it is. And it's so frustrating. I've never felt like this about any of my writing before, because I positively HATE everything I've written for Mary so far. And I don't think there's anything worth keeping here. And that sucks.

So I don't know what to do. I know I have to turn this in by tomorrow, but I don't want to. I definitely think that it's better to keep the crap stuff hidden or torn up than to have it put on the website for everyone to read.