My first stories are now online! You can check them out at http://www.prairiepublic.org/?s=datebook. Mine are about the Guilfords and the grasslands. I'd forgotten about them and then when I went to look up something on the website, I was all like, oh, that's one of my stories. It was very weird and now it is exciting. My last name is pronounced wrong, but don't worry, it should be taken care of for my next set of stories. My boss remembered asking me about it and I'm pretty sure I didn't say my last name wrong, but in any case, I wasn't surprised.
And yesterday after our staff meeting there was fresh fruit and treats galore. They were getting ready to send us interns off with clapping and food and no one can object to that. One of the intern's last days is today and soon a bunch more will be following suit in mid-August. I, of course, will be here until the end of September. And I'm looking for jobs in museums and abroad, so if you see anything...
And break is over now. Back to work for me.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Monday, July 26, 2010
Exhibits, Exhibits, Exhibits
Hello,
So on Friday we went over to one of the other intern's houses because his landlord was gone. So I made pina coladas and we played scrabble and watched t.v. Very nice.
On Saturday we headed out early (the people I'm renting from were having a brunch so I needed to leave by 9 which was super early for a Saturday in my opinion). First we went to Oscar Zero which served as a launch alert control center. Basically the site controlled the launching of Minuteman missiles which are intercontinental ballistics which can reach all the way over to the Soviet Union. There were no missiles at the site, but the missiles used to be spread out over an area the size of New Jersey. Now, as part of a treaty to reduce nuclear arms, there are no more missiles in North Dakota, but there still are missile sites in the US. We got a free tour for being interns, which was handy. Before we left, we used the restrooms which we had seen earlier on our tour.
Then we headed up to Fort Totten near Devil's Lake. We also got in free there- it can be handy being an intern. The fort was only a frontier fort for about 20 years, because as the person there said, the frontier is only the frontier for so long. After that it became a boarding school for Native American children. The exhibits switched back willy nilly between the two and it was confusing, so it's a good thing they'll be updating the exhibits soon.
We drove the long way back. Driving along the lake, we were practically at water level. We stopped for dinner at a cute place in a town called Harvey- it was like cheap gourmet and they had sweet potato fries!- very good. We drove through a bunch more lakes on the way back- the lakes seemed very long and I don't think I know how to understand lakes that weren't formed by glaciers- they confuse me. The water was very still so the reflections were beautiful. We got back late and I slept in on Sunday.
We didn't get any internet on Sunday, so I joined up with the Bismarck library and luckily had a letter from a friend on hand to prove my mailing address. I stocked up on dvds for the evening's entertainment and am now on my fourth episode of Ballykissangel.
Today at work was one of the interns last days, which was sad. She works in the Museum Division and so she conspired with the other interns to put labels on everything with all sorts of exhibit label no-no's. Jargon-y sentences filled with obfuscatory language and run-on sentences filled their labels. She mis-labeled all the shelves, too. And they all had labels too such as "Supervisor, mean" (Don't worry the supervisor works hard on her reputation and even has a whip in her desk,which really isn't that large) and "Intern, the." It was enjoyable.
Now I suppose I should get back to work and be done with break since it is not my last day.
So on Friday we went over to one of the other intern's houses because his landlord was gone. So I made pina coladas and we played scrabble and watched t.v. Very nice.
On Saturday we headed out early (the people I'm renting from were having a brunch so I needed to leave by 9 which was super early for a Saturday in my opinion). First we went to Oscar Zero which served as a launch alert control center. Basically the site controlled the launching of Minuteman missiles which are intercontinental ballistics which can reach all the way over to the Soviet Union. There were no missiles at the site, but the missiles used to be spread out over an area the size of New Jersey. Now, as part of a treaty to reduce nuclear arms, there are no more missiles in North Dakota, but there still are missile sites in the US. We got a free tour for being interns, which was handy. Before we left, we used the restrooms which we had seen earlier on our tour.
Then we headed up to Fort Totten near Devil's Lake. We also got in free there- it can be handy being an intern. The fort was only a frontier fort for about 20 years, because as the person there said, the frontier is only the frontier for so long. After that it became a boarding school for Native American children. The exhibits switched back willy nilly between the two and it was confusing, so it's a good thing they'll be updating the exhibits soon.
We drove the long way back. Driving along the lake, we were practically at water level. We stopped for dinner at a cute place in a town called Harvey- it was like cheap gourmet and they had sweet potato fries!- very good. We drove through a bunch more lakes on the way back- the lakes seemed very long and I don't think I know how to understand lakes that weren't formed by glaciers- they confuse me. The water was very still so the reflections were beautiful. We got back late and I slept in on Sunday.
We didn't get any internet on Sunday, so I joined up with the Bismarck library and luckily had a letter from a friend on hand to prove my mailing address. I stocked up on dvds for the evening's entertainment and am now on my fourth episode of Ballykissangel.
Today at work was one of the interns last days, which was sad. She works in the Museum Division and so she conspired with the other interns to put labels on everything with all sorts of exhibit label no-no's. Jargon-y sentences filled with obfuscatory language and run-on sentences filled their labels. She mis-labeled all the shelves, too. And they all had labels too such as "Supervisor, mean" (Don't worry the supervisor works hard on her reputation and even has a whip in her desk,which really isn't that large) and "Intern, the." It was enjoyable.
Now I suppose I should get back to work and be done with break since it is not my last day.
Friday, July 23, 2010
What's new
Well, not too much is new.
I spent last weekend lazing about, sleeping in and sewing up a bag for the back of my bike (because I am way too cheap to pay 40 bucks for one). And I put together a guide for students going to Russia- reliving my glory days. Now I am awaiting feedback from others before putting the final touches on it. I also visited some thrift stores for some camping cooking gear, but was disappointed in my attempt. On Sunday I got out to the farmer's market- there were only 5 stands and I wonder if they are simply more active on other days? And one day I stopped at a bead store called Bead Chicks and restrained myself to only spending 12 dollars which was quite the accomplishment in my book. At work, a news station apparently came in to film some of the people. I missed out on the action while posing for my own photo with my boss for press materials. We pretended to be looking through a roll of microfilm and it was horribly amusing as I pointed at articles.
Mostly this week I've been on the prowl for jobs. Applications await, but still there are not many job openings that I'm qualified for (like directorships). On Facebook someone posted something about this thing at the Museum of Science and Industry where you live there for one month and 10,000 dollars. You have a little room, but you can go wherever you want- explore the place at night and the like. It sounds like a lot of fun, so I think I'm actually thinking about applying.
And I almost forgot, there was a near crisis with regards to housing. The people I'm staying with apparently thought I'd be out by September, but my internship goes through September. Luckily, the person who offered me a space in her loft earlier this summer will let me stay there for the month. Crisis averted.
Well, the weekend approaches. I will be headed out on adventure to Medora and the badlands. I got some advice from someone who lives up there not to run or make sudden movements if ever approached by a bison- same goes for rattlers. I felt very reassured.
And I will leave you with some things I find funny:
On my way to camping trip with Krista I saw a city called Downer. Now, wouldn't it be a downer to live in a place like that? Maybe all the bad jokes (like the aforementioned) really get people down.
There was a place called Funk's Meat market. Hmm.
And this is an article (or most of it) that I found in a Bismarck Trib from 1941. The story is not ND-related however, but it greatly amused me:
Little Betsy has too many friends
VT- Four-year-old Betsy Earle is so popular with the townsfolk that her parents have published the following announcement in the town’s column…:Betsy Earle’s parents wish to announce that she is suffering from a severe case of worms and they urgently urge, that in the interest of her continued good health, the townspeople discontinue the practice of feeding her candy.” This isn’t the first time M r. and Mrs. Earle had tried to meet the problem Once they hung a sign around her neck, reading: “don’t feed me.” That didn’t work, because as Betsy explained: “It wouldn’t be polite to refuse, would it?”
I spent last weekend lazing about, sleeping in and sewing up a bag for the back of my bike (because I am way too cheap to pay 40 bucks for one). And I put together a guide for students going to Russia- reliving my glory days. Now I am awaiting feedback from others before putting the final touches on it. I also visited some thrift stores for some camping cooking gear, but was disappointed in my attempt. On Sunday I got out to the farmer's market- there were only 5 stands and I wonder if they are simply more active on other days? And one day I stopped at a bead store called Bead Chicks and restrained myself to only spending 12 dollars which was quite the accomplishment in my book. At work, a news station apparently came in to film some of the people. I missed out on the action while posing for my own photo with my boss for press materials. We pretended to be looking through a roll of microfilm and it was horribly amusing as I pointed at articles.
Mostly this week I've been on the prowl for jobs. Applications await, but still there are not many job openings that I'm qualified for (like directorships). On Facebook someone posted something about this thing at the Museum of Science and Industry where you live there for one month and 10,000 dollars. You have a little room, but you can go wherever you want- explore the place at night and the like. It sounds like a lot of fun, so I think I'm actually thinking about applying.
And I almost forgot, there was a near crisis with regards to housing. The people I'm staying with apparently thought I'd be out by September, but my internship goes through September. Luckily, the person who offered me a space in her loft earlier this summer will let me stay there for the month. Crisis averted.
Well, the weekend approaches. I will be headed out on adventure to Medora and the badlands. I got some advice from someone who lives up there not to run or make sudden movements if ever approached by a bison- same goes for rattlers. I felt very reassured.
And I will leave you with some things I find funny:
On my way to camping trip with Krista I saw a city called Downer. Now, wouldn't it be a downer to live in a place like that? Maybe all the bad jokes (like the aforementioned) really get people down.
There was a place called Funk's Meat market. Hmm.
And this is an article (or most of it) that I found in a Bismarck Trib from 1941. The story is not ND-related however, but it greatly amused me:
Little Betsy has too many friends
VT- Four-year-old Betsy Earle is so popular with the townsfolk that her parents have published the following announcement in the town’s column…:Betsy Earle’s parents wish to announce that she is suffering from a severe case of worms and they urgently urge, that in the interest of her continued good health, the townspeople discontinue the practice of feeding her candy.” This isn’t the first time M r. and Mrs. Earle had tried to meet the problem Once they hung a sign around her neck, reading: “don’t feed me.” That didn’t work, because as Betsy explained: “It wouldn’t be polite to refuse, would it?”
Thursday, July 15, 2010
KAMPING WITH KRISTA AND AN ADVENTURE FOR TWO GOODY TWO SHOES
Howdy
So last weekend I went with camping with Krista and her sister Cassie. When I got to the park (not a bit late!) I couldn't get a hold of Krista to figure out what campsite we were at, so I drove around, got turned around and drove along gravel roads among very picturesque little ponds and lakes and plenty of trees fearing that I would never find my way out and the dangerous deer would eat at me in the night. So we eventually got a hold of one another and I made my way to the campsite- which was conveniently already set-up. We spent the afternoon on Beers lake (which had no beer), paddling along for a Lewis and Clark style adventure (did you know Lewis and Clark spent most of their time traveling in ND?) and Krista taunted that the long fingers of see plants were reaching up to get us like the dead swamp people in Lord of the Rings. We heard the call of a loon and asked for the time from some people at the dock.
For our campfire dinner I had planned to make potato foil packets, but having forgotten the foil we tried making them in a pan. They burnt and we left the potatoes out for the coons. Well, the coons took the potatoes, but then some slugs fell into the pot and I decided the garage-sale pot wasn't worth saving. Next mornings blue berries pancakes went very well, especially considering that I had also forgotten my fry pan. With plenty of oil and Krista's camp set we survived. We spent another day on the lake, courageously paddling through a field of lily pads and admiring the odd decrepit shanty shacks on the middle of some islands. Before we left, we walked down the main street of Pelican Rapids which has the world's largest Pelican and lots of painted pelicans around the city- one's in laiderhosen, bathing suits and bandit get-up.
And then it was back to work. Researching about the internment camp near Bismarck has been depressing. But I've also worked on some corrections- last Friday Jim and I finally went over the stories, so I got some good feedback. Today I was researching about North Dakota's one and only waterfall and on the wiki travel site about North Dakota there are these warnings:
North Dakota is mostly a dangerous landmass. Never forget that North Dakota's peacefull valleys can give way to deadly ravines and trenches, raging rivers and clay roads, cactus and thorns. Never travel alone in North Dakota. A walk around Lake Sakakawea's beautiful shores can soon turn into a rescue mission. Lakes are deep and sometimes can swallow a life with out anyone knowing for hours. Always wear a life jacket when in North Dakota. North Dakota's graveyards are full for a reason Never ever forget that North Dakota has taken the lives of many. You are on you're own, you may be alone Most of North Dakota's most beautiful scenery is untouched. Remember that there is a reason North Dakota's un-safe land remains a repellent for locals.
Now I shall live in fear and always wear a life jacket, which I suppose will be rather odd at work.
This week the couple got back. I made sure that things were clean (for some of you I know this will be hard to believe), but apparently I didn't think of the damaging capabilities of my (likely dying) tomato plants to her grass.
So anyway, Tuesday night I went on a not-so-adventuresome-adventure with a fellow from work. Another person at work had talked about visiting a ghost town, so I wanted to go. We drove out, following 1806 after it became a gravel road. Lots of Jesus rays came from the clouds and cattle walked along the buttes (think smaller mesa), so it was a nice drive, but we were starting to wonder where it was. When we found it, there were a bunch of old buildings, like an old farmstead and a newer truck. We debated whether or not to go- after all people out here tend to take the 2nd ammendment pretty seriously. We thought we would maybe drive a little bit down the road to one of the houses (after all, we didn't see a private property sign and thought we could pass for the silly tourists we were), but the grass in the middle of the road could be heard dragging along the bottom of my car and we decided to capture the moment with a camera instead of a foot trek.
As we drove along on our way home, we found a train- or a part of a train. I had always wanted to climb up the metal ladders on the side, so we did. I climbed down triumphantly and almost slid down the steep bank- oh well. We walked around a bit, and around this building, but when we heard a radio inside we ran back to the car. I bet the guy inside (if there was one) got a laugh. But I suppose that's what happens when you both talk about being afraid to get in trouble as little kids and the shame of having to stand with your face to the fence. So that was our pansy adventure!
Also, please leave a comment somehow, somewhere! I have no idea who I'm talking to and it's a little weird sometimes.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
The Fourth
So Last Thursday at work we celebrated Canada day- because after all North Dakotans are so close to Canada they're practically Canadians! Not, but since we couldn't celebrate on the fourth for work, we needed a time to eat good food during work.
On Saturday I headed out on the 5-6 hour drive to Charles Lindbergh state park in MN to meet up with Mom, Jim and Alex for a weekend of camping. We weren't in the best of moods after the drive and some phone tag, but after a late lunch, the tent got put up somehow. That evening we drove around Little Falls, the neighboring town, stopping to look at the grand Mississipp (I am being colloquial here and do indeed know the correct spelling) before having the ever classic campfire dinner - hot dogs and smores. And we stopped at a park where Alex and I had fun on the spinny thing that is hard to find on playgrounds these days because they're "dangerous" or something, but so much fun. Just like old teeter totters- who cares if they're dangerous, the new ones are boring and you hardly go up at all!
The next day I only partially thwarted plans of getting an early start by sleeping in to the late hour of 8:30. We got on the bike path at a decent hour, biking on a bridge over the BNSF train. On our way to a small town called Bowlus we biked through a crowd heading out to the parade. We had not planned at all on their being a parade so it was a nice coincident. We watched a bit while eating some cotton candy and other such delicacies and Alex headed out to the street for some candy before heading back on a classic family bike ride filled with the small bickerings of its members.
For fireworks we returned to the very same town and spread out on our blankets for a very pleasant evening. The fireworks were mediocre, not being particularly shapely, but I've never been big on fireworks anyway. The finale was pretty impressive though. When we got back the campsite was relatively empty and we played with sparklers.
Before heading back on Monday we headed to a U-Pick strawberry place. After taking down the tent and packing the cars we headed off. The place was kinda closed for the season, but still letting some pickers through. The rows of strawberries smelled so good and I ate so many sun-warmed berries as I picked them. The nearest U-Pick that I've heard of from Bismarck is 3-4 hours away, so this was a must stop place for me. I drove home with a huge tray of them sitting on top of my cooler, reaching back every now and then for some. In Fargo I stopped for some fresh groceries and gas (gas is somehow more expensive in Bismarck despite the fact that the oil fields are closer and the refinery is not too far away). Everyone seemed so smiley at the grocery store, but when I stopped in Valley City for some bungee cords because my bike and bike rack were not getting along, no one seemed very happy at all. On the drive I listened to prairie public and saw two rainbows- one crossed a cloud- like the cloud was filled with the striped colors of the rainbow- I have never seen anything like that before.
I arrived to an empty home- they are out for the week in Medora so I am enjoying having the place to myself, painting and drawing with crayons on the walls- I think they'll really enjoy my new murals! (Just seeing if you're paying attention). But I have been cooking up a storm and singing loudly around the house.
Now I am back at work and am very glad for the three day weekend because already it's Thursday. I've been rather sluggish and this weekend I've been staying at my desk during the normal walking routine to type up things like this blog! There may be another date confusion for the radio program- all the dates were left open for me and scheduled as re-runs are now open to everybody so none of my dates have been taken, but I will have to be careful. I've got a few more stories in the works, I just need to write them and do a bit more research. Today there was a tomato plant waiting for me- one of the museum people had a surplus and offered them out. So tonight I will plant it along with some herbs that Mom brought up for me (one of the many things- I had her pick up a bunch of groceries that are harder to find her or more expensive so I shall never go hungry again!). Hopefully I will not kill these plants, I would very much like to have really fresh margarita sandwiches!
Well I suppose I should get back to work now, writing scripts and not blogs.
Oh, and if you read this, leave a comment! I'm curious to know about my readership!
On Saturday I headed out on the 5-6 hour drive to Charles Lindbergh state park in MN to meet up with Mom, Jim and Alex for a weekend of camping. We weren't in the best of moods after the drive and some phone tag, but after a late lunch, the tent got put up somehow. That evening we drove around Little Falls, the neighboring town, stopping to look at the grand Mississipp (I am being colloquial here and do indeed know the correct spelling) before having the ever classic campfire dinner - hot dogs and smores. And we stopped at a park where Alex and I had fun on the spinny thing that is hard to find on playgrounds these days because they're "dangerous" or something, but so much fun. Just like old teeter totters- who cares if they're dangerous, the new ones are boring and you hardly go up at all!
The next day I only partially thwarted plans of getting an early start by sleeping in to the late hour of 8:30. We got on the bike path at a decent hour, biking on a bridge over the BNSF train. On our way to a small town called Bowlus we biked through a crowd heading out to the parade. We had not planned at all on their being a parade so it was a nice coincident. We watched a bit while eating some cotton candy and other such delicacies and Alex headed out to the street for some candy before heading back on a classic family bike ride filled with the small bickerings of its members.
For fireworks we returned to the very same town and spread out on our blankets for a very pleasant evening. The fireworks were mediocre, not being particularly shapely, but I've never been big on fireworks anyway. The finale was pretty impressive though. When we got back the campsite was relatively empty and we played with sparklers.
Before heading back on Monday we headed to a U-Pick strawberry place. After taking down the tent and packing the cars we headed off. The place was kinda closed for the season, but still letting some pickers through. The rows of strawberries smelled so good and I ate so many sun-warmed berries as I picked them. The nearest U-Pick that I've heard of from Bismarck is 3-4 hours away, so this was a must stop place for me. I drove home with a huge tray of them sitting on top of my cooler, reaching back every now and then for some. In Fargo I stopped for some fresh groceries and gas (gas is somehow more expensive in Bismarck despite the fact that the oil fields are closer and the refinery is not too far away). Everyone seemed so smiley at the grocery store, but when I stopped in Valley City for some bungee cords because my bike and bike rack were not getting along, no one seemed very happy at all. On the drive I listened to prairie public and saw two rainbows- one crossed a cloud- like the cloud was filled with the striped colors of the rainbow- I have never seen anything like that before.
I arrived to an empty home- they are out for the week in Medora so I am enjoying having the place to myself, painting and drawing with crayons on the walls- I think they'll really enjoy my new murals! (Just seeing if you're paying attention). But I have been cooking up a storm and singing loudly around the house.
Now I am back at work and am very glad for the three day weekend because already it's Thursday. I've been rather sluggish and this weekend I've been staying at my desk during the normal walking routine to type up things like this blog! There may be another date confusion for the radio program- all the dates were left open for me and scheduled as re-runs are now open to everybody so none of my dates have been taken, but I will have to be careful. I've got a few more stories in the works, I just need to write them and do a bit more research. Today there was a tomato plant waiting for me- one of the museum people had a surplus and offered them out. So tonight I will plant it along with some herbs that Mom brought up for me (one of the many things- I had her pick up a bunch of groceries that are harder to find her or more expensive so I shall never go hungry again!). Hopefully I will not kill these plants, I would very much like to have really fresh margarita sandwiches!
Well I suppose I should get back to work now, writing scripts and not blogs.
Oh, and if you read this, leave a comment! I'm curious to know about my readership!
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