finishing

My third semester of graduate school is over! The last class was actually last Thursday, but it took until now for me to really surface again out my exhaustion and busy weekend. The biggest and most interesting thing I did this semester was the ABCFM project at the Congregational Library for my archives internship. To see a few pictures of the displays and read what I had to say about the project, you can read my post on the Congregational Library blog here.

In other news: I'm flying home in three days! Hooray! I am definitely ready to be home for Christmas.

-Kim

meet Whimily

One week ago I had a new addition to my life: a bright and shiny new MacBook. Geoffrey, my faithful little PowerBook was pushing 7 years old and was finally giving out. Over the course of the semester he had been gradually slowing down, but by Thanksgiving things finally came to a head and I realized I couldn't wait any longer.

I did a fair amount of research online, and first decided I would purchase a refurbished model to save a little money, but for some reason the Apple website wasn't communicating properly with my bank and wouldn't let me order it. So after getting over that frustration, I decided to just bite the bullet and buy new. For a difference of less that $100 I would get a lot more memory and get to deal with a person rather than an online ordering system.

So last Monday I left my internship a bit early and headed down to the Apple store on Boylston (which is actually the largest Mac store in the nation). It was raining, and there was an employee at the door giving customers plastic umbrella sleeves as we entered so that no one would drip all over the equipment. I thought that was classy. She also asked me what I was there for and found a specialist to answer my questions.

The only question I had left was about how to migrate my files from Geoffrey to my new machine. If I purchased the year-long $100 one-to-one program they would do the transfer in-store, but I wasn't about to pay even more. So they showed me how to use the migration assistant on the computer. The specialist could tell that I had already done my research and made up my mind about what I wanted, so he didn't try to push any accessories or add-ons, which I appreciated. He placed an order online to the basement storeroom, and in minutes I had my laptop and was on my way.

That evening my frustration returned, as I discovered that the age disparity between the two computers meant that their operating systems couldn't communicate directly through the migration assistant. But after poking around online I sorted out how to set up the two as a small network and transfer my files by hand instead. It took longer, but I still got everything I needed. I've had to redo all of my settings, iTunes playlists, iPhoto albums, and Firefox bookmarks, but that's really not so bad. It's given me a chance to weed, and only transfer what I actually want. Migrating all the photos and music files took several hours over the ethernet connection, so I set up those transfers before bed and just let it run.

And then the real hard part came. What to call my new computer? Geoffrey was named for Chaucer, the Medieval English writer, so my original plan had been to continue the trend and call the next edition William. But when I took the computer out of the box, it was clear to me that something so cute and little had to be female. So my next thought was Emily. But I couldn't let go of William. The longer I thought about it the more I realized that both names had associations I had not initially intended, which left me more confused. I went back and forth for days, not knowing what to do, and not feeling like I could really form a connection with my new little helper without knowing who she was.

Then, as so often happens, the solution came by accident. In frustration I said both names together and the answer became clear. She would be Whimily. She would be unique and whimsical, not just a namesake. Two writers in one, to inspire me to further creativity.

I think Whimily and I are going to do great work together.

-Kim

Thanksgiving in CT

Instead of staying in Boston over Thanksgiving break, this year I went home with my friend Tierney to Norwalk, CT to stay with her family. It sounded like a lot more fun than staying in the dorm and doing homework. We spent the long weekend making a series of excursions all over western Connecticut and eastern New York state, generally only returning to Norwalk by dinner time, using it as a sort of base camp.

Tierney's dad came to Boston Tuesday night (after my evening class) to pick us up and make the long drive to Norwalk. Not having to take a bus or train to reach our destination was amazing--I haven't spent so much time in a car in a long time. In fact, I think I easily rode in a car more this weekend than the whole past year in Boston. I also listened to the radio more over this past weekend than in all my time in this city, mostly because I don't have a radio in my room. The only downside to that is that there seem to be only five or six different pop songs that are on the air right now, because we seemed to hear the same things every time we hopped in the car. So maybe I don't actually miss the radio.

The other big bonus of the weekend was that Tierney's family has a cat. She's a sweet little black and white thing named Maggie, and she adopted me pretty quickly. Maggie became my lap warmer most evenings, which I didn't mind at all.

On Wednesday I slept in while Tierney got up early to have her teeth cleaned. After a late breakfast we decided to go into New York City for the afternoon. It's crazy that you can just do that from her town. The ride on the commuter rail was less than an hour, and suddenly we were downtown at Grand Central Station. We spent the afternoon walking up and down Fifth Ave, looking at Christmas displays in store windows and generally having a good time. We even saw the tree in Rockefeller Center, though it wasn't lit yet. They were still taking down the scaffolding from putting the lights on, but it looked pretty awesome even without the lights turned on.

I also got to go into some really fun stores for the first time in my life. The first stop was the American Girl Place, home of the American Girl dolls. In spite of my complicated feelings about the company (described in a previous post), I had to go in and look around. I've wanted to visit the store since I bought my own doll from them in grade school. The first floor of the store has all the Girl of Today accessories, so we pretty much skipped past it. The better displays were upstairs, where we found the historical girl collections. Each girl had her own large display case, showcasing her different outfits and accessories. Each girl, that is, except Samantha and Kirsten. Samantha, having already been archived, was nowhere to be seen, and Kirsten, about to disappear the same way after the holidays, had only one tiny corner. There wasn't even a Kirsten doll on display, just some books and the miniature dolls. It makes me sad to see her fading away like that. When I was younger I didn't fully appreciate the true value of the historical dolls. I love the doll I did get, but dolls like Kirsten capture so much cultural memory. In the end, I couldn't leave without a souvenir, so I bought my doll a hat with the American Girl Place, New York logo on it.

Other stores we spent time in included FAO Schwartz, the biggest toy store I have ever seen, and Tiffany's. We didn't make it all the way down to Macy's, but seeing it on TV during the parade the next day made up for that.

On Thanksgiving we traveled up the Merritt Parkway, on of the most scenic roads in the US, to Tierney's cousins' house for dinner. With a lot of people and two dogs underfoot, it was a bit chaotic, but a good time. I need to look up the recipe for one of the desserts we had so I can make it at home for Christmas--I think my family would appreciate rich, chocolatey Oreo truffles.

Friday was a bit dreary, so we opted to stay indoors as much as possible. That didn't mean staying home, though. After a stop at Kohls, which was surprisingly fast even with the Black Friday crowds, we headed off to IKEA to look at furniture and get ideas for Tierney's new apartment. This was my first visit to the Swedish furniture store, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. We wandered through rows and rooms of furniture, dreaming up ideas for future apartments and houses. And since their in-store restaurant was having a 99 cent Swedish meatball meal deal, we had lunch too. On the way out through the warehouse on the lower level where shoppers pick up their items I debated the necessity of of a beautiful green screen printed throw pillow, but decided to go with a practical clothes drying rack instead. It was a fun trip, and now I'm excited for the day when I'll have a place of my own to furnish.

On Saturday we headed off in the car into New York State to visit a place I had been wanting to see for many years--Sleepy Hollow. And Tarrytown, NY as well, but the two towns blend together, as many New England towns are apt to do, so it hardly matters. The Old Dutch Church from Washington Irving's classic story is right along the highway, along with the churchyard burial ground in which the Hessian is said to have been buried. Beyond that is the newer cemetery, in which Irving himself is buried, along with other notable figures, such as the Carnegies and Rockefellers. The bridge from the story sadly is no more, but a sign marks where the modern highway crosses the creek at the same spot. Farther back in the cemetery a replica of the original bridge for tourists like us to enjoy. The boards have been left loose (we assume intentionally) so that when cars drive over it they shift and rumble, making a sound deliciously like galloping horses. And an even more perfect surprise was a pumpkin bobbing in the creek just to the side of the bridge. This, of course, led to silliness. We also stopped in at Sunnyside, the home of Washington Irving. We didn't feel like paying the admission price to wander the grounds on such a cold day (it would be better to make a return trip in the summer), but we did spend time at the gift shop. I bought a book there that was a compilation of some of his shorter works, and they put a stamp on the front page indicating that it had been purchased at Sunnyside, and included a reproduction of Irving's signature. (His capitol W actually looks rather like an M) I was in English nerd heaven.

But the best part of the holiday weekend by far? Not thinking about school. At all. Well, on the last night I got out my grant and compiled the various comments I had received onto a single page, only to realize that I actually had very little to do other than create a detailed budget. So I packed it away again, not to be worried over until back in Boston.

I'm so glad Tierney and her family invited me in for the holiday. That was the break I needed to face the end of this semester. Full steam ahead!

-Kim

mouth update

So, it's been a while since I told you guys what's been going on in my mouth. My last visit to my dentist for this year was the Friday before Thanksgiving. They took another set of measurements to note the change in height and thickness of my gum tissue and took a couple more pictures. One month after surgery, even with the swelling gone, there was a noticeable difference. Even I can tell the difference just by looking and comparing the right side to the left. And it will continue to improve. I have been instructed to return to brushing my teeth, using only gentle, upward strokes on the surgery side, to massage the tissue farther upward. At my three-month appointment in January they'll take final measurements and pictures before moving on to the next quadrant. We're going to do the lower left next and get the worth part of the process over with before the start of spring semester. Fatema assured me that it will have been long enough since the first surgery to allow for doing the lower again, which is a relief. Given the choice, I'd rather have the slightly easier upper surgeries later in the semester when I'll need to recover more quickly. Besides, doing the lower left in January means the swelling should be gone by the time COF orchestra rehearsals begin for spring. Since that is the side the violin rests on, this is a very important detail.

Of course, when I go back next it will be a whole new experience. The afternoon of my last appointment the new periodontal floor on the 14 floor of the building had its grand opening. It's actually the 13 floor, but the Tufts dental tower is one of those buildings that refuses to acknowledge that it has a 13 floor. I expect the clinic to be shiny and new still when I get there. I hope it's not too bright though. I have found, in my weekly visits to the clinic for cleanings and measurements that going to the dentist can actually be quite relaxing. At least, on this last visit I was in very real danger of falling asleep in the dental chair while Fatema and Dr. Chen bustled back and forth getting ready to take the measurements. I mean, it's a familiar place, my dentists are very sweet people who have always remembered to numb me when they do anything that might hurt, and they leave me there reclining in a chair that, while not as cosy as a bed, has just enough cushion to do the trick. It may also have had something to do with the general sense of exhaustion that had built up over the week, but I still say it's a sign of how good they've been to me. Or it could just be that I'm weird. Either way, I'm still very glad that I don't have to go back there again until the end of January. I'm almost eating like a normal person again--still doing the chewing on the left (except when I forget), but I've moved up to actually biting into my food instead of cutting up pizza with a knife and fork. Hooray for normalcy!

-Kim

CAPTCHA

I learn so many cool things in my preservation class. Lately we've been talking about digitization and whether it is a viable form of preservation or just a way to increase access. I believe the two go hand in hand, but that's not the point of this post.

Have you ever wondered where the images of distorted words used for online security come from? the text comes from digitized books and newspapers, and every time you solve one, you help to digitize the text of a book.

A digitized book isn't much good if it's just a series of images representing the pages. Users demand instant searchability within the text, so Optical Character Recognition was developed to let computers "read" the text. But not every text is so easily read, which leaves a lot of words unrecognized and unsearchable. So a CAPTCHA program is used to allow the general public help decipher the words. Each CAPTCHA displays two words for the user to transcribe as a security measure, to prove that the transaction is legitimate. One of the words will be completely unreadable to computers, but the other is. If the known answer is correct, the program assumes the unknown is as well, and the translation is added.

Pretty cool, huh? I bet you didn't know you were helping to digitize the New York Times when you logged in to leave a comment on a blog or post a link on facebook. That knowledge makes deciphering the twisted CAPTCHA words a little less annoying.

You can find out more about CAPTCHA and reCAPTCHA here.

-Kim