and scene

Well, I am done with my first year. I went out celebrating last night, and came home to hear very bad, very sad news: my best friend’s father passed away. We talked and cried together and I can’t imagine what it’s like. I have been thinking about my own parents all day.

It is also strange because I feel incredibly far away from it all. And my celebrating and my worries over my paper felt foolish in comparison. There’s always time to put perspective on things, I suppose.

I finished my first year with three large papers under my belt, lots of projects, a low opinion of introduction courses, a great many new friends who are wonderful wonderful wonderful people, the ability to say I completely & easily made it through an warm Midwest winter, many achievements, and many plans. I created a podcast with the help of fantastic and creative people (we are recording our next one tomorrow!). I got to work at the Wisconsin Historical Society with extremely fascinating serials of all sorts — have you ever read a magazine all about dolls? Or jukebox collectors? Or the Harden-in-ing family? I began planning to volunteer at Circus World, which is just … not anywhere I ever imagined working and I love it. I landed a TAship, a job in archives public services, and an amazing internship opportunity at WPR. I’m proud of myself and I love who I’m at school with (for the most part). Mostly, I made it.

And thank you Mom, and sometimes Dad, for letting me ramble on the phone, either completely upset over my assignment or completely bragging. And thank you Cally the cat for often walking by meowing while Mom was on the phone so I could hear your adorable voice again.

Rest in peace, Ray Sousa.

“No matter where you go, everyone’s connected.”

Well, readers, my good friend Jordan is now back at home (and what an ordeal it was to get him on the plane in time!), the weather is COMPLETELY INSANE, and I’m finally sitting in my office to do some work after a big brunch that I feel I will never recover from. (I made Derek and I eggs, hash browns, and “breakfast links” from Tofurky. We also had a magnificent mug of freshly brewed French press coffee. We felt so American) Saint Patrick’s Day did not actually keep me from doing most of my work yesterday … it was a spider. I am acutely allergic to spider bites, which is terrible, but sometimes it’s a great excuse for me not to even try to like them. I went on a  bug spray frenzy around 7pm which then completely suffocated me out of my own apartment, so I ended up wandering aimlessly around the rowdy Madison streets until I thought my apartment would be aired out.

Even better though: the second installment of the Sound of the Archives podcast came out yesterday. We did an entire show focused on Irish collections. Please have a looksy and listensy here! Editing sound is quite fun, but I can’t wait until I can spend more time truly editing: adding music, sounds, cutting out noise better, etc.

Something else I’ve been busy with lately is getting quite interested in digital legacies postmortem. (I did a big paper on the graves of the victims of the Srebrenica massacre being archives, so I am sure my professor thinks I am obsessed with death and graves …)

A PostSecret card from 3/18/2012: "I look up random teen 'in memorial' groups on facebook because it comforts me to know that other people are mourning a friend too."

Sound of the Archives

Guess what I’m excited about tonight?

PODCASTS!

Ever since the Bancroft Library moved into their new building and I was often placed in the cold, lonely stacks to work by myself, I have listened to them. I first bought a refurbished iPod to combat the loneliness and creepiness (you try being in an aisle of cartons in a room off to the side with no windows because it’s underground and it’s cold and anyone could turn off the lights at any moment and who knows what’s in that exhaust fan??), but after two days or so I was so sick of my music I knew it was a mistake to buy the iPod at all. And then my super cool Dad asked, “Have you heard of This American Life?” The rest is history?

I first listened to the TAL collection, Stories of Hope and Fear, and loved it; I’ve been hooked since then. I went on to discover short stories from the New Yorker, The Moth, Stuff You Missed in History Class, Stuff Mom Never Told You, random “Learn Spanish!” or “Learn Russian!” podcasts, and more that I have since forgotten because I stopped listening to a long time ago. My current favourites are Marketplace, Planet Money, This American Life, 99% Invisible, Radiolab (which has beat out TAL as my #1), Third Coast International Audio Festival (re:Sound), Snap Judgment, and StoryCorps.

I always look forward to listening to them. I pretty much hate being interrupted on my way to or from class because it is prime listening time for me. I just think they are so full of life, and so interesting, and I have come to realize that the true reason I am so deeply invested and in love with archives is the stories they tell. Podcasts tell stories, just in sound instead of through letters or papers. Archives like oral histories, for the most part. Why have these two things not come together?

Well, that doesn’t have to be asked anymore, because with lots of support from my professor and great input from friends, it’s finally happened: I recorded a podcast session tonight!

I was nervous all day and made sure our “recording studio” (my study) was perfectly set up with my fairly cheap microphone and its very own stand — our laundry basket. I set up three chairs around said laundry basket, plugged in the microphone, downloaded Audacity (which was recommended to me by my longtime friend, Jorge over at the Experience Points podcast, who also used to work with me at the Bancroft Library during the golden years! Thank you Jorge for the help!), played with that, tried to go over my notes but found myself too frazzled, and then brought out the wine bottles. Laura and Prairie came over and confessed they were pretty nervous too! We knew it was just going to be the three of us but still, everything we say … recorded? This is new.

I purposefully want this podcast to be about archives, but in an informal, accessible sort of way. It’s not only meant to be a sort of marketing to the public but I do want anyone in the public to find it interesting too. I also want people in the field to find it interesting, obviously. The three of us are getting more of a post-modern, theory based education in archives now, so we might be ruffling some feathers, but I hope if we do, it’s in a constructive way. I see us interviewing archivists all over the country about their collections and telling funny little anecdotes. I see us talking to folks working with indigenous peoples about how to archive non-textual formats. I see us having a good time, but at the same time being a spokes-place for human rights and social justice in the archives.

We recorded for nearly 40 minutes. There’s only a little editing for me to do. I’ve learned how to “cut” already! Derek wrote us a song for it which I will be posting on our Facebook page soon, so I will also have to get a good recording of that and learn to edit the two together. We also want to have a logo contest for the website and for the Facebook page (please contact me if interested!). And, I need to work on the website. There’s a lot to do, but I’m excited for it. It’s already nearly 1am and I’ve been editing for a while when I should’ve been working on an outline for a paper. (Don’t tell, will you?)

So with that, I invite you to keep watch over us, and go Like us over at the Sound of the Archives Facebook page. We’ll keep you updated! I hope you are as enthusiastic as I am. :)

Sound of the Archives, first recording !