get in on it

my uneventful (no classes...) slash eventful (still lots to do...) friday

making work study arrangements.

i was a little on edge going in to student activities today. it was a weird feeling... knowing that i was making the first step towards something huge. seeing people there that i'm sure i will work with & experience so much with... entering a place that will probably become my home. i didn't schedule to work any hours yet, and i'm not exactly sure what i'll be doing. i'll go through a training session next friday... and hopefully i'm getting paid to make copies, organize events, and paint posters. not bad at all.

being an art history nerd.

i made copies of my selected art matters readings at the library. (using that flex card.) it is one of the classes that i am most excited about. so excited that when i went to buy my required reading book ("a short guide to writing about art" by sylvan barnet) i didn't just stop with what my professor wanted, i looked at what the other art matters professors were requiring and bought one of those books too. ("the methodologies of art" by laurie schneider adams.) how much more proof do i need that i am a nerd. on the downside, i didn't realize that each book was $40. on the upside, i'm sure they'll come in handy for an art history minor.

getting in on it.

i took the light rail down to the inner harbor with tara after dinner. i hadn't really explored that area after dark... and it was a whole different feeling. tons of people milling about- shopping at the urban outfitters or watching the way cool street performers. there was a banner down by the water with the slogan from the new baltimore ad campaign on it: "get in on it." (check it out at: http://www.areyouinonit.com/) i think the campaign is genius. and, surprisingly, not everyone does. (not just because they think it evokes references to underground drug dealing.) i think that they represent a minority... but negativity is as contagious as optimism. for whatever reason, that minority has given up hope. they forget about the overall spirit in the city... the energy that is so obvious when walking in inner harbor. i'm still searching and reaching for little snippets of what baltimore is. like i grabbed a copy of "urbanite" today. it's a magazine "for baltimore's curious." there was an interview in it with dr. andres alonso, the new ceo of baltimore's public schools. (i ripped it out right away and stuck it in my cap journal.) alonso is an optimist. refreshing. in the interview he says: "clearly there are parts of the city that have this sense of forward momentum, and you see this in the construction, you see it in the diversity of the businesses and in the richness of the cultural life. then in other parts of the city you see this poverty. my question will be, 'how does this forward momentum encompass the entire city?'" at a fundamental level, he's going through the same process of understanding as i am, before he can take action and start moving forward. according to the article, he'll be meeting back to back with parents, politicians, teachers, etc. for the next month. the editor notes his smile and writes, "parents, for the most part, smile back; they want to believe."