And the curtains start to close.

This is it. Tomorrow is my last day at Villa Finale as an intern and I will miss it sorely. I will miss Meg and her welcoming voice and smile, Katie and her advice, hearing stories about Mexico from Karina, and Tina talking about her children. I will miss Chris and Orlando, who were always kind to me as well. Some song lyrics from The Killers ring true at this moment:


Aggressively, we all defend the role we play
Regrettably, the time's come to send you on your way
We've seen it all: from bonfires of trust to flash floods of pain
It's doesn't really matter, don't you worry it will all work out
No it doesn't really matter, don't worry, that ain't what its all about

We hope you enjoyed your stay
And it's good to have you with us
Even if it's just for the day
We hope you've enjoyed your stay
Outside the sun is shining
It seems like heaven ain't far away
Its good to have you with us
Even if it's just for the day


Tomorrow I will have to say goodbye and set off on further adventures. What they are about and where they will be, I do not know. I hope that I will be going to grad school in Colorado or in North Carolina and that Joe will have a good job too. I look forward to my future adventures bright-eyed and hopeful. God will not let me down.

Ready to Sail Away (Not Literally)...

I'm tired. I've been tired the past week. Why? Because it's the holidays and for some reason, I've been working 9 hour shifts like nobody business. Yes, it's paying for stuff. No, I am not enjoying it.

I know in a real world job I'd work 40 hour weeks, but I'd at least get some days off. I had one day off this past week and that was Thanksgiving. I have none this upcoming week until Monday,the 6th, where Joe and I ship off to Alabama.

Currently, my back is filled up with tons of stress pent up from the week. From every bitchy customer to every pet peeve, all stuck in my back. Now, it's hard to sleep. Thank you, retail job.

I have so much grad school stuff to do it isn't funny.

Happy Thanksgiving

This year is my first thanksgiving day away from my family and, yes, I do feel the effects. I miss the food, the family, and the ambiance. The laughs, the news, the tasty tasty food.

What can I say, I am food fan. (Obviously)

Today is the only day off I have this week and I'm enjoying it as much as I can. I'm not cooking, mainly because Joe is extremely picky and I am tired of cooking. I will pay someone to feed me and enjoy it. I think we are going to have some exquisite mexican (if it is open). I'm going to be watching the Saints game and working on my statement of purpose. Perhaps catching up on last week's episodes of Conan. Such is my life.

Tomorrow I have to work Black Friday and will hate it. I have grown to become numb to customers and their antics, just learning to shake off their quips and going on about my life. I am looking forward to not being a member retail society one day. There are not enough people who have worked retail in the life and I feel that is a shame.

10 days before I see my darling Mama again, attend my sister's wedding, and generally enjoy what it is was like to live in Fairhope before being in Texas. We are going to move back to Alabama briefly for the winter. It will be a regrouping, however. My journey does not have me ending up in Fairhope for long. I must keep moving.

Enjoy Thanksgiving everyone and enjoy your family. I look forward to seeing mine soon.

Love,
Ellen

Oh,blog, excuse my neglect of you

So much to cover in so little space.

Ahem.

Work and Villa take up most of my life, I end up tired, and forget to blog. Bad me. Baaaaad me.

Things have so changed at Villa Finale.I have essentially "graduated" from the actual house and moved on to the Carriage House, or the basic offices on site at the house. Walter's House looked absolutely beautiful. People now get to enjoy the wonder that Walter Mathis created over time. I haven't been in the house since September 30, but I hope to view the inside one more time before I leave this place.

Meg is wonderful as always and I get to work much more closely again with her again. I'm currently in charge of cataloging of the Villa Finale Carriage House library into Past Perfect, a museum catalog software. I can easily say that this has been one of the best learning experiences of my life and I will miss it dearly.

Meg told me the other day that she had been (and still is) extremely impressed that I came to San Antonio simply to intern at Villa Finale. To her it showed my passion for museum work and how I am driven to do what I must to do to become a museum curator.

I told her that if I had not done, if I gave up, that everything would mean nothing, and this quest I have put myself on would have been just a big waste of time. I might as well live out my days working at P-Mart.

I'm talking to the Curator and Asst Professor of Cultural Anthropology, Dr. Jen Shannon, at Univ. of Colorado at Boulder about the museum studies program there next Tuesday over the phone. So excited! This woman has a lot of the similar interests I do!!

I must always remember nothing good is ever worth giving up on.

Let me sum it up for you

Hmm, where did I leave off? Between work, internship and procrastination, I've neglected my blog just a little bit!

So hence I will sum up the past few days at Villa Finale. Things are definitely coming together. The dining room is almost fully put together, the library looks great, the napoleon parlor still needs some work and we are moving things around upstairs finally.Karina and Tina have been helping out as the other interns (although both don't speak much) and the docents (including Bumbling Ed, who I am sure to make an appearance in my posts) are being trained by Sylvia, the director of public affairs I believe. Also, I will miss the company of Tobin.

Last Thursday was Tobin's last day before she heads back to SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design). We had a fun day including going on a quest to steal(borrow) forks Christ the grounds manager's desk in the Carriage House and playing Where Does the Retablo go on the giant arc of Retablo paintings on the wall upstairs. I will miss her talking to me about San An and her life. She's definitely an interesting girl.

Things are moving ahead for the opening on the 30th. More to come.


Ellen

Day 6: My feet are better on the ground.

Sorry I am getting late to posting, but I figure I would go ahead and tell about my week last week before i start my internship this week.

By this time, the Napoleon Parlor as well as the Dining Room and Library are starting to take shape more and more. The time is counting down until Villa Finale opens to the public. Docent training is on-going apparently, but that will be discussed later. On this day, I was joined by a lady who generally works at the visitor center named Diana who was helping place items back in cases. Tobin joined us later as she was cleaning furniture for Meg. I was told to put a variety of items back into a two-shelved case. This included dog and human band figurines from germany, various silverware, etc. etc. My favorite was a tiny album shaped like a suitcase which stated "somebody's luggage" and contained various photos of Tom Thumb (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Tom_Thumb) and his wife, seemingly pre- and post wedding. Apparently, after finding a news clipping in the case, Mr. Mathis was a fan of Gen. Tom and his wife as well. It perhaps has something to do with his impersonations of Napoleon Bonaparte of which Mathis is an obvious huge fan of.

I was told that I, or Tobin, could clean the giant mirror that lined the back wall of the room. Since Tobin was cleaning, I was going to attempt it. Halfway up the ladder, my father's infamous fear of heights caught up with me and the fact I have very bad balance made me come down. Tobin, on the other hand, had no problem accomplishing this task, climbing up the ladder barefoot and straddling the top as needed. My feet are definitely better on the ground.

Did I mention this was the first day I experienced air conditioning in the house? So nice! Everyone was enjoying the difference from hot and sticky air to the cooler environments. Mostly my day was spent cleaning and putting things back together.

More to come,
Ellen

Day 5: Things are taking shape

In my absence due to my schedule at work, things had begun to move along in the shaping of the house museum between the Tuesday I was there and the Thursday upon which I returned to do my internship work. Meg said that the movers had come and moved all the major pieces into their respective rooms, meaning that the Napoleon Parlor which I have spent so much time in looked a bit different.

As I entered the room, I noticed a new face, a woman in her late 20s-early 30s with short clipped brown hair and dark complexion, cleaning objects. Meg announced that although she was not a student (she is actually a free-lance photographer), she would be interning just for the experience. Unfortunately, I cannot remember her name. I know it starts with a "V" and she is a lovely lady from Spain. Another older woman in her 50s joined as well, named Rebecca, who I learned was from Louisiana and is a HUGE LSU fan. She asked me if I went to "Bama" and I replied, no, I went to South Alabama, but I did have friends who went there. She was nice about it, but underneath, I could tell she wasn't a big fan of the school. She told me at least 2 of her children went to LSU. Later, I discussed with Meg that LSU fans were an unique brand.

We all cleaned figures from the Napoleonic collection that Mr. Mathis had collected over the years. He apparently had an intense interest in Napoleon that lasted all his life which drove him to buy many pieces featuring the likes of the small general including, as Chris the grounds manager put, "pieces of gift shop junk".

Lunch came around (finally) as I was tired from closing at work the night before. Meg, Chris, and I sat in the parlor and ate lunch while talking. I found out Chris had a link to Sigourney Weaver through his wife's cousin, who had directed her in a film called Girl in the Park. I would die for him to be able to get Sigourney's autograph for me. Meg knows very well it is my holy grail of photographs and to attain it, I will die happy.

After lunch, Meg invited me to the kitchen for a treat of ice cream (donated by whom I do not know, but it was blue bell and that had me sold) before I went back to cleaning objects. We chatted a bit about dogs and my father, who I told her had a similar fascination with objects like Mr. Mathis, except his came in phases, instead of one long run. After the chat, I went back to cleaning and was joined by the other intern while we listened to the radio that Joe, the electrician from Boston who enlightened us with mob stories over lunch, had brought.

More to report as it comes!!

-Ellen

Day 4: Enter Tobin

Day 4 at the museum included a new guest, the old summer intern, Tobin, who reminded very much of a sprite from Greek mythology. It included filling in many past perfect (collections program) forms for very many collection objects. Nothing new, but work. I got to clean porcelain dishes and discovered the wonder of popsicles in the freezer! According to Tobin, we were allowed up to 10 a day.


Tobin filled me in on many good localities in San Antonio to visit while I am here (if I am not here past December) including telling me to eat a local burger place I am excited to one day try (Chris Madrid's) and telling me that sweet tea is a delicacy in San Antonio, there are no Taco Bells in San Antonio because of the popularity of the local Taco Cabana, which, as Tobin says, "kicks Taco Bell's ass". Also that San Antonio has heat wave days like hurricane days in Alabama, and I must make it to Schlitterbahn, which is a dream of mine.

Day 3: Cataloging and Cleaning

Sorry that I am a little late with this posting. I was exhausted Thursday night and been working and dealing with the passing of my grandfather most of today.

Thursday I got a break from primarily cleaning objects and actually got to start working on the objects catalog for Meg. I know it sounds thrilling, but its just part of the work I will be doing one day in a beginning museum job. I cataloged an assortments of old candy molds and various shaped cookie cutters from Mr. Mathis's (the late owner of the house) collection as well as dusted and cleaned them. One of the electricians looked over at me and went, "cookie cutters? sheesh!" which made me smile. As with archaeology, you have to love your work to enjoy it and even with these small things, I enjoy it.

At lunch we discussed Man vs. Food and Meg found out I don't like potatoes. She was as shocked as anyone else. Apparently her husband is a big fan of potatoes, and I explained to her that only in awfulforyou form do I eat them, but she wasn't the only one to quandry why I hated them so. As to quote Da, "You are Irish! How can you not like potatoes?!"

At then end of the day I cleaned a giant vase/urn that had different scenes upon it as well as a Devil's head upon the handle. Kind of creepy. I got to leave early as Meg had a meeting at the Visitor's Center a few blocks over.

On a side note, I am going to miss my grandfather. I know he wasn't in the best place for the past 3 years, but I know now he is happy and at peace for once. One of the most patient men I ever knew in my life, I remember him asking us if we wanted a cold drink anytime we visited him and proceeded to tell me that there was tea or beer or whatever I liked in the fridge, a man who always asked me if I was reading Blondie when I read the comics at my great-grandmother's house, who told fantastic stories in his prime like my father, was always glad to see you, and made one hell of a gumbo. I am glad to say I am related to him.

Robert James Ferrill
November 21, 1927-August 6, 2010

Day 2: New Faces, New Objects to Clean

I returned to Villa Finale amidst the heat and humidity of the Texas summer day. The lights are still off and the air conditioning is still cut. However, my place in the Napoleon room was in front of a nice big fan and I enjoy the cooling breeze thoroughly. I also bought my off! clip-on to help me to not be eaten alive by mosquitoes. Luckily, my plan worked.

I started off by cleaning a large metal and glass hanging lamp. It wasn't too bad, but the dust under the gilding was ridiculously hard to get out. Q-tips only do so much!! I got to meet the rest of the Villa Finale staff and they were all very nice. Lunch went by quietly and I learned that the grounds manager, Chris, was a former collegiate-level diver and that divers are about as rowdy as any other athletes.


I finished up my day by cleaning a chandelier, which is much harder than it seems, and cleaning a bronze figurine. I was so afraid i was going to break something on the chandelier since the wiring is fragile and it consisted of large teardrop glass fragments. Oh dear.

I was told that Thursday I may not actually be cleaning anything! Moving things? Maybe.

--Ellen

Day 1: First Day in an Open Air Estate

So, this wasn't the first time that I had seen the house during the reconstruction phase that it is currently going through. Joe and I had seen it when we first came to visit San Antonio, a month before we moved here. It's not much different now, except it is supposed to be one week removed from having some systems restored.

It's a big beautiful, old house that has obviously seen many parties and many people walking through its halls, being entertained, and telling their individual stories. I walked in the courtyard and the construction manager met me. After telling him I was a new intern, he took me to one of the floor to ceiling window openings (the windows are being remodeled) to announce to my supervisor, Meg, that I had arrived. Meg happily met me at the front door of the aged three story house.

Its dark and hot in the inside with varying objects covered to be protected from construction dust. Only two rooms of this house are actually fit to sleep in, the rest are entertainment parlors, dotted with a kitchen, basement, and a bathroom or two. The room I am in faces Sheridan Street looking out towards the yard. Gaping holes where windows belong allow fresh hot summer air in. Next to me is a large wall made up of an old mirror. I wonder who has looked in this before me.

Meg shows me the important things: the fridge to put my lunch in, the bathroom, where I will be working at. I was introduced to the "Rhine Maiden", a very dusty and aged figurine chandelier of a flying woman with stag horns and candelabras surrounding here. It was my job to clean her without making the chipping paint on her come off anymore.

Although today was my birthday and I was being eaten by the mosquitoes flying through the open air window holes, I enjoyed taking care of this artifact. Meg got me some bug spray (I will be bringing my clip on next time) and I gently dusted her with paint brushes before I set up to dab her with water to take off the extra grime.

Many q-tips and washcloth dabs later, I finished my goal. Lunch with my supervisor, Meg, and the grounds Manager, Chris, was great. I got to learn more about them and more about me!

I love it here already. I look forward to this being my fall project.

To Know What You Love to Do is Bliss

Since I have started at Villa Finale (officially now, since Tuesday I was recommended not to come due to systems failures at the house), this blog will now be about my journey to becoming a museum curator and what paths I take to get there.

Onto further adventures...

So, I graduated yesterday and am happy to say that I am an official holder of a Bachelor's of Arts in Anthropology. Now to just get the Master of Arts in Museum Studies...Anyways, thank you to every single person who told me not to give up on my dreams and kept pushing me all of the way.

It was funny to hear the relative groan of all the graduates around me in the College of Arts and Sciences who, like me, are desperately trying to avoid working in retail. That is nothing against people who do, but we all have the fear that going back to a high-school age job will not be temporary, but instead will swallow our lives whole.

I saw Jacob, my former supervisor at the Museum of Mobile, last night while leaving the Oyster House. It was almost like God was saying, "don't give up, i promise we will get you to your dream job whatever it takes".

I wanna dance with somebody!

Yes, I am listening to Whitney Houston's I Wanna Dance with Somebody

I feel it is somewhat pertinent to my situation since I am completely done with my undergraduate career! I have achieved at least one life goal: a bachelor's degree in anthropology. My dad would be so proud of me.

I remember us sitting at the dinner table during my mid-middle school/early high school years discussing how I urgently wanted to be an archaeologist, and that in order to do this, I needed to get a degree in anthropology. Although I no longer wish to be an archaeologist (a museum curator nowadays), we would be still discussing the ethics of archaeology and arguing whether the Nazca Lines were created by aliens because he knew it drove me nuts. Here you go, Da. Your little anthropologist is a reality. I wish it could have been your profession as well. You would have loved every second of it.


I am fully moved back to the old house with Mama. Being a graduated girl (as of this Saturday) also means that I need to find a job to get me on my feet. I just currently applied to a temporary job as a bank teller in Daphne. I am applying for every museum job I am qualified for as well as internships. I am desperate to be in a museum once more, hear museum jargon, help curate artifacts, and tell their story to the world.

That is what I want to do. So many cultures are lost in translation when it comes to museum exhibits because I feel while they do present a good view of history past, I want people to experience a culture, to know their history and their life-ways, and inspire people to remember these cultures through their artifacts, art, etc.

I am excited to see Amy once again this summer. It's nice to have her presence around again.

I am wondering where I'll end up, and though I have had some trying times this year, I know God has a great, great plan for me. He has never failed me or ever stopped loving me. I can appreciate that there is brilliance in His name.

How Sweet It Is to Be Loved By Him

I came home two weekends ago to get grad photos taken and my eyebrows waxed. What I came home to was a life-changing event.

What can I say, I absolutely love that I am engaged to the love of my life. Joseph and I have grown so much together over the past 2 1/2 years (March 20th is the exact date). It makes me happy to know I will be spending the rest of my life with him.

I am very happy for Lydia too. I am so glad to see her have a man in her life that loves her dearly.

All through it all, I know my father was watching from heaven, smiling, knowing that his girls were going to be taken care of.

-Ellen

So here's an idea...

A little over a month till spring break. So I am thinking....yoga every am (except saturday because i have to do manual labor that day anyways) and a workout every afternoon. Yoga would help me get limber!!


I think I am going to try it.

Quick break to write a thought

School is pretty demanding once again. OK, it's not so much school as it is that I have classes, then a job, then homework, and that I am a little lazy. Sorry about that.

I finished all my applications to the schools that have fitting graduate programs for museum studies. These include IUPUI (Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis), University of Kansas, University of Denver, University of Florida, and University of North Carolina at Greensboro. As I told my family, I could be a jaguar (again), a jayhawk, a pioneer, a gator, or a spartan.

Although it was very hectic (and very money consuming) to get everything little thing together for the applications including the transcripts, the GRE scores sent, the letters of recommendation, etc. etc., the worst part is the wait!! I won't know where I am going until late March or early April. As Joe said, it's good that it's off my mind for a while, but I want to know who wants me and who doesn't!

I keep thinking of how I have to be a "big" girl next year and pay my own utilities, bills, etc. It's exciting, but extremely daunting, seeing as the economy still is and that anthropology isn't exactly the world's most wanted major. I'm working on a back-up plan as we speak just if things don't go my way. I'm hoping to work in a museum either way.

I'm starting to learn to budget properly (thanks Emily and Gus) with the money that I make. A little here, a little there makes the world go round, I suppose. Anyways, on a lighter note, I am reading some books on Native American culture and religion that are fascinating to me. I am reading them for a directed studies where I plan to do a paper on cross-cultural differences in native american mythology (hopefully).

I'm ready for mardi gras holiday in two weeks. I am ready for spring break also. I am just ready to be done with undergraduate all together. Oh, the plight of a senior!

I will let you know how it is going with the grad school situation. Hopefully, someone will find me fit enough to give me money and let me be in their program!

Love,
Ellen

P.S. Amanda, always believe in your miracles!

Hello 2010, will you be a year of fortune?

We have been released from the bonds of 2009, a tumultuous but hope-bringing year in my book.

I pray that 2010 will bring more good news and, with it, good changes that will teach me new things.

2009 was a year I will both hate and love. It was the year my father was taken from me. I hate that I see new movies that he would want to see and I can't tell him things. I will hate 2009 for that fact. Yet, 2009 was a year of new beginnings with the birth of my nephew, Will. I love him with all my heart and a reminder that for every story's end, there is a beginning just around the corner.

2010 brings my graduation from college, a feat I have masterfully worked towards over the span of four years, promising myself that though many take college for granted, it was a time to learn and grow, not a time to endlessly party. 4 years was my planned time span and I have made it.

It also means applying and hopefully getting into a grad school somewhere in the country for museum studies. A new beginning for me because I must move out of Alabama into a new state and new city to thoroughly begin my life as an adult.

However, through everything that has happened in 2009, and all that will happen in 2010, I will always remember the love that is with me for a lifetime. I have the love of a supportive family who always wants to see me shine, the love of dear boyfriend who inspires me to be better than I am, the love of friends who are always rooting me on and making me laugh, and the remembered love of my father that always makes me proud.