The Fair 2010

If you have read this post, you already know that one thing I look forward to every year is volunteering in the Home Arts building at the Montgomery County Agricultural Fair. This year I was a bit more bold with my picture-taking, so I have a few to share!

First up, a little insight into a day-in-the-life of a Home Arts Registrar. We sit at long tables covered in brown Kraft paper, with our clipboards and supplies at the ready. As each entrant gets their paperwork in order, they come to us to log each of their entries and affix an identifying tag to their piece(s). I love the tags, and we hand-write each one (note my number in the upper right corner here, that is critical for when the chair people of each department (hand knitting, baked goods, quilting, etc.) inevitably come out and fix something entered in err):



So we fill out the little tag, coding it with the (hopefully) right department, division, and class number, then the runners come and carefully transport each piece to the proper destination. There were loads of runners this year, and they are absolutely adorable. So enthusiastic about their jobs. They hover, hoping that the next item might be theirs to carry back.

Of course we get to see the entries as they come through - here are a few that stood out for me this time around:

Knit veggies



Multi-color knit scarf



Other entries of note (not pictured) were this really cool carved-looking coconut pound cake baked by a Marine in his toaster oven (because his oven broke), an 88" cross stitch of a giraffe and her calf that this gentleman worked on from Labor Day 2002-July 2010, a southwest-style armadillo, and a tiny purple marzipan hippo.

These turtles were my favorite entry from last year:



Finally, no trip to the fair is complete without a visit to the Cheese Barn ("Big Cheese") for a grilled cheese sandwich:



I'm already looking forward to next year :)

Wedding Planning

Since Dan and I became engaged April 30, 2009, we have slowly week-by-week, month-by-month been discussing, sketching, clipping, arguing about, and finalizing all sorts of ideas related to our upcoming wedding. Although there have been a few difficult moments (deciding which day of the week we will get married, trying to find a dress (blech), and wrestling with Kinkos and their ever-broken printing and cutting machines to get our RSVP cards printed), on the whole, we have had a really great time planning this special event together.

This is a picture of the bulletin board in our apartment:



And we have exactly 10 weeks left to figure out the rest of the details. Should be a fun time :)

Pussy, Dan's Bike Gear, and Baby Sara

One of our favorite pastimes at our apartment is hanging out with our landlords' cat, Edina, who Dan affectionately calls "Pussy." Here she is enjoying the view from our front step:



Dan really enjoys biking to work, and the other day I coaxed him into a quick picture of him in his bike gear:



Finally, here is a pic of our friends Jenny and Dave's new baby girl Sara, in the arms of her Aunt Jackie:

Mr. Tinkles, Peaches, and Baby Paul!

This is our Saturday in pictures...

First we drove out to Westminster to visit with Dan's sister Marisa and her husband Jason and his new baby kitten, Bentley (who Dan affectionately named "Mr. Tinkles"). Here is Dan's first embrace with him:



Then we drove to a "pick-your own" farm called Baugher's, and had our first experience picking peaches. I have picked berries before, which is tons of fun, but I can honestly say that no picking experience can compare to peaches. They were SO warm and delicious (of course we had to sneak a few bites) and the fuzz was very soft and seemed so much more alive and edible than the usual fuzz on peaches from the grocery store.

Here is the first peach I picked:



Here is our bounty:



And a close up:



We finished off the day at a housewarming pool party for some of our good friends, Mike and Ashley, who recently bought a place in Eldersburg, MD. We had a ton of fun, and one of the highlights for me was getting a chance to hang out with one of my favorite babies, Paul:

Baby Terrapins

These are the baby terrapins at the Howard County Conservancy where we will get married this October !



We first saw them when they were baby hatchlings, and now they have gotten so big! By the time we get married, they will probably be returned to the wilderness.

Fun in the snow

Practicing new signature...

It used to be that when women got married and changed their names, they would enthusiastically fill pages of paper practicing their new signature. While this is still fun, and I have been doing this, one thing I recently thought of is how the majority of signatures I do are electronic - all day long I "sign" my e-mail messages "Julia Golden."

So today I decided to start practicing for my new "e-mail signature." Just to try it on for size. My fingers are so used to writing Golden, that it will take a while to get the new one together. And I look at my new "signature" and wonder - who is that person? Is that me? It will be soon!

Please indulge me while I practice.

Julia Triman
Julia Triman
Julia Triman

Its getting better every time !

:)

Books!

I always get a lot of e-mails from my Library Science program (the ischool!), but one stuck out for me today: Robert Darnton, a history professor from Harvard, was giving a lecture at the National Gallery of Art on the History of Books and the Future of Digitization. When I got to the lecture hall, it was packed!! The lecture was interesting, and Dr. Darnton told lots of detailed stories about the book pirates in France in the 18th century, and he described the electronic book he's working on now. His main point was that "old books and e-books are not enemies. they are allies." His talk gave me a lot to think about and got me pumped up for more scholarly work - and also convinced me to put his book A Case for Books on hold at the D.C. Library. Overall, a neat experience!

some recent photos of us

here are two recent photos of dan and i:

here we are when we first got engaged on april 30 2009:










and here we are when we arrived back from alaska on june 23, 2009:

Why I love the Fair.

I was talking to Dan tonight about how excited I am that the fair is this week, and I was going on and on about reasons why I love the fair, so I decided to share it in a blog entry.

We started volunteering at the Montgomery County Agricultural Fair at a young age- I think I was 9. Lindsey and Devon's Aunt Bea was in charge of the Home Arts department, and we were the gophers. I remember feeling that our job was so important because we got to carry the really delicate and important items from the registration tables to their destinations inside. We also volunteered at least one summer at Joe's Place, the burger joint.

Fast forward a few years and here we are - only now Lindsey is the head honcho (for all intents and purposes) and we are registrars instead of gophers. I look forward to it all year. The people come with their quilts, their baked goods, their crochet, their needlepoint, their cross-stitch (I still don't know how to tell those apart...are they the same thing?), their dolls, their canned goods...the list goes on and on. We sit and faithfully document each item they bring us, then pass it to the gophers who gingerly carry it inside, just like we used to do.

Here are a few of my favorite things about it:

The people who come with two boxes of stuff, then just when you think you're done with them, call out to their spouse: "Ok honey, bring the next boxes!"

The little kids who genuinely enter stuff (not the ones whose moms make them) The hope in their eyes and the things they come up with are SO CUTE.

The dolls people make

The smells (freshly baked pie, fabric smell, other smells of the fair wafting under the tent on the breeze)

The decorated cakes with moving parts

All the personalities (especially the ones who take it VERY SERIOUSLY)

The canned goods people who are very particular

The little tags we put on the items

Seeing everything put together when it's all finished.

Julie and Julia

"A Julia is brave and Junoesque and slightly forbidding; a Julie is a seventies-era cheerleader in pigtails and hot pants."

-Julie Powell, in Julie & Julia

Inauguration Video Clips!

here is a 1 minute video compiled from the excitement we shared on the weekend prior to Inauguration--the quality is pretty fuzzy so that I could upload it onto my blog, but I think you'll get the idea...

teaching

talking to a friend tonight about her experiences as an elementary school teacher made me start to think about teaching. I wouldn't want to teach in the traditional public school setting--more like a Waldorf/Sidwell Friends/experiential/outdoor education/creative dramatics-style setting. Just thinking about the possibilities of teaching if you were creating things to do that inspired the students to want to learn and explore and grow as people is really exciting.

Publishing!

Through about 6 months of working at GU Press, I have come to the conclusion that working as an editorial/publishing assistant is one kind of work I might like to pursue after I graduate from Gallaudet next may. One issue with this (as with many fields at this time) is that it is very competitive and a lot of the Presses and Publishing houses I have researched are very small and unlikely to actively advertise or seek for people to fill positions; if anything, they will be cutting positions, not growing. But there is also opportunity to work as an editor/proofreader freelance or as part of other job duties in a number of different capacities, so I will not give up on it before I even explore the possibilities!

It's just so exciting being a part of the process of making books! I've always loved to read and my passion in life is derived from being a student. Working at the Press is the most "student-like"/"scholarly" job I've ever had~!

So the other night I was doing some research and I came across a few interesting tidbits...recording them here mostly for my own benefit so that I can look back to them later, but who knows..others may be interested in these as well!

The first (and number one on my mind) is a summer publishing immersion/intensive at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, BC, Canada: Simon Fraser Program
Not only do i LOVE the idea of the program and the schedule and the intense experience and meeting hundreds of other people who have similar interests/curiosity about the publishing world, Vancouver is probably my favorite city in the world! It is like New York but more fresh and clean and outdoorsy. I doubt I will have the money or resources to attend, but it's fun to dream :) (not to mention that I think it would be super cool to go from Alaska to Vancouver before coming home to D.C.)

Second, when I told my boss about that program, she directed my attention to a similar program in Denver: Denver Program The program is twice as long, and also twice as expensive, and it seems there may be less opportunity for financial assistance...I certainly do not plan to take out any more loans, as I'm already nervous about paying back the debt I have accrued as a Masters student.

Third, looking at publishing internships, there is one in India that looks really neat! India Program As you probably know if you are reading this, it is one of my life-long goals to go to India, but I have always felt like I do not want to go as "just a tourist." I think it is important to have a reason behind going, not feel like I am just adding another person to an already crowded country for no good reason.

So these are the directions my mind takes when I have time off from my grad school responsibilities. Who knows what I'll come up with next week??

Deaf Space

I feel like I have the Deaf Space bug. it's only one course, but I've been neglecting everything else to work on it all semester long. It makes my other work seem not as exciting. Today my friend and I went on some site visits to prepare for our final design project and we were really inspired by the grounds at the National Cathedral. I am posting a few pics...

Alaska

Dan and I are planning a trip to Alaska next Spring/early summer. I am super excited; it will be my 46th state. After that, only Iowa, Michigan, Nebraska and North Dakota remain. Today I used my 40% off Borders coupon to order an Alaska Atlas. Probably overkill, considering we will only visit a tiny portion of the HUGE state, but since I love maps and planning, hopefully I will get good use out of it!! Not sure it will make the cut in my backpack though...maybe I'll just make a few photocopies of pertinent sections.

Three of the areas we are thinking about visiting are Denali National Park, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Haines, AK. We are also hoping to fly out to Portland for a few days before we head to Alaska; pending budget considerations.

That's all for now. I should search for a winter break job before bed!

Long time no write

As much as I love and have always loved school, there is a large part of me that is now starting to itch for more 'freedom' in terms of my day-to-day activities. Work, come home, play. Not Work, school, work, school, school, weekendstudystudyweekend.

Also there are things about Gallaudet I won't miss.

dan and chuck

Click to Play

just as it says

Here is a silly video of Dan and Chuck from the 4th of July...we went down to the National Mall and it was quite a fun time! (albeit a little rainy ;))

If you'd like to see more pictures, click this link!!

july 4th

dan riding 2 bikes

dan requested that i post the video from our trip to the cherry blossom festival...here goes!!

p.s. sorry its not rotated.

Embassy Day

May 17, 2008

I went solo, which was actually quite refreshing and I found that I connected with the experience and the people running the various events.

First Stop: Embassy of Iraq.





When I first walked up, there was a man greeting at the door before the metal detector and he was holding prayer beads in his hand. I really wanted to snap a shot of the prayer beads, but thought it might not be appropriate. I need more of Paulette's photo-taking gusto. Later I saw the same guy walking around on a cell phone in front of the Embassy house; not nearly as intriguing.






The Embassy of Madagascar had a great celebration, but I didn't get any pictures.

The highlight of the tour was definitely the Embassy of India:




Dancing, food, pamphlets and an "I Love India" pin!!


Then it was off to Ethiopia, Nigeria, Ghana, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. Ethiopia has a cool metal sculpture on a wall as you enter the courtyard of the Embassy:





And Ghana has the neatest wooden spiral staircase:





All in all, an exhausting and memorable day traipsing through Embassy after Embassy! Well worth it.