Survived another book show!

The 55th Michigan Antiquarian Book and Paper Show
was a great success!Part of my job is to help organize
and run this, the Midwest's largest show.

I don't have official confirmation,
but I believe it to be the second largest
show in the country, just behind the big show in NYC.
We're more than double the size of the antiquarian show
in Chicago. We're nearing our thirtieth anniversary,
and do two shows a year here in Lansing. Thankfully,
we have show preparations down to a science, now.

Once again, I came down with a nasty chest cold
two days before the show. When this happened last
autumn I had to stay in bed while the show went on
without me. It must, you know.

This time, I managed to make it out of bed and into
a nice enough outfit. The medicine I took kept me
slightly loopy, giggly and wiggly, but I strutted around
in my lovely "book show heels" well enough to fool
the guests and vendors. My favorite part, by far,
was taking photos of some of the book sellers during
the afternoon lull. If you're not a fan of books or paper,
you'd still get your money's worth if you came to the
show to people watch. They come from as far away
as Quebec and Texas (though not California,
as the LSJ suggested in their show write-up).

Sean and I splurged a bit, and bought a truly jaw-dropping
collection of four "propaganda" prints from 1931.

This one's my favorite!

 They were printed in Lansing and distributed by the
Michigan Tuberculosis Association.
They feature the most gorgeous nature illustrations
by wildlife artist Charles Livingston Bull. They compliment
the WWI and WWII propaganda posters we've bought
at past shows. Now, I need to put my framing tools
to good use and build some quarter-sawn oak fames!

It seemed to be a pretty good show.
We had about a dozen new dealers exhibiting,
and our porter team was stellar. Many thanks
to Leighanna, Alicia, Russ and Sean. And Keith.
We're not quite done unpacking at Curious,
but we're off to a good start. Mark suspects that
we've come back with more sports and movie stuff
than we took with us, but that isn't much of a surprise.
I'm pretty sure Ray sneaks things into the shop
we're not looking. The trick is finding a place to keep it all.

I used the book show as my Grand Unveiling.
Ray, Susan and Ruth approved my paper flowers,
and I bedecked the Archvies booth with them.
 

Those who noticed were impressed, and I may even
wind up selling a few of them in my Etsy shop.
We'll see.
I have about a dozen Phalaenopsis stems left, and a
few dozen little button flowers.

I've already moved on to other crafting projects,
so those will be the only flowers for a while.

I met some very nice girls at the show, and I think we might
start a blasphemous book club, where instead of reading
we rip books apart and turn them into art.

The few photos that were taken of me at the show are

hilariously embarrassing 

and can be found on the Curious Facebook page.

There is so much more to say about my chaotic, exhausting
weekend. I'll be cleaning up the wreckage-strewn house
for the rest of the evening. I must also try to beat this
cold before we head down to Harrison Township this weekend.
Must. Get. Well.

Reinforcing the Glass Ceiling

Swirling about in my mind are numerous less-than-pleasing issues, problems, ideas, and worries.

• Does going to an excellent and highly-ranked grad school mean that I must choose before academia and a large family?
• Why is it that I am only enthused enough to exercise after I eat so much food, I fear that moving will be rather impossible?
• Can I finish all of these darn papers? Does my thesis have a point, even? Does anyone care about an academic approach to the American Girl dolls? Do I?
  
• Will my ex stumble upon this blog, and sift through it for some off-hand mentions of him, as I would if I were to find his? Does this make me completely contemptible?
• Why am I so horribly fascinated by Russell Brand and his too-tight leather pants? How is it that this man can wear higher heels than me, or most women I know?
  
• Was I too quick to judge my boss?
  
• How many saltines would I eat tomorrow, if all I consume is coffee and crackers?

I think that I'm setting myself up for failure. I've partially applied to this wonderful east-coast college that I can't quite afford. I intend (sort of) to finish the application process tomorrow by sending them my writing sample, along with a revised statement of career objectives and a brief explanation of my rather unusual writing sample choice.

I'm not sure if I'm trying to sabotage myself or not, but to meet the requirement of an academic writing sample, I'm sending their history department a personal essay that I wrote a few months back. It's about preservation, and does have historical significance, but it's a mix of narrative and expository sections. I believe (sort of) that it's a creative approach to identifying myself as an interdisciplinary student of both history and English. I believe that it also expresses my interest in and passion for preservation, and public historicism. The essay is definitely not what the committee is expecting, and I'm not sure if it will be well received. Thus, I am sending that brief explanation. But if the sample needs an explanation, is it good enough? Shouldn't it be able to stand alone?

Too late now. I've decided.

But what of this whole grad school "thing," anyway? The plan is/was to pursue a Masters in Library and Information Science (or possibly a MA in History) combined with a certification/specialization in archives management. I've adored my experiences of working with archives, and know that I'd be happy continuing in this field.

Is up rooting and moving to Boston the best plan, though? We're getting married in October, here in Michigan. So if we can find jobs and whatnot, we'd have to jet back out here in a matter of months to pull off The Wedding in a single weekend. That's stressful. But that's not the big issue. Boston is expensive. I hardly think we could afford it. And why should we leave Michigan when we both have multiple job opportunities to follow. For gawd's sakes, his fallback is a full time position at his university. Salaried with benefits, if I'm not mistaken.

I can't back out of the application process now, or I'd never live it down. I'd be mortified to explain it to my parents, my friends, my family, and the six wonderful individuals who were kind enough to write letters of recommendation. But I just don't want to. I think.

I'm done rambling about this. Read what you'd like in the title of this ramble. I feel as if I'm degrading myself in more ways than one.