Updates and Recommendations 8.2.2025

 

August 2, 2025

Hello all!

I have been absent for some time now, which was not in the plan mentioned in my last post... So sorry to have left the wider internet hanging and wondering what must have happened to keep me away for a whole entire year. Well. Nothing really. Writers block, burn out, working to survive the usual. 

But here I am again trying to make a comeback! As the title of this post implies, I'll give a few updates and then some recommendations of sorts. We'll see how it goes

To begin- 

Updates!

1) Last year I began work on my masters degree with the University of Oklahoma in museum studies. I hated it. I know that I am not a fan of online schooling to begin with, I did terribly during the covid distance learning year of undergrad, so I had schedules and supports in place to help and I still was suffering through it. I also felt majorly unsupported by the faculty whenever I did work up the courage to ask for help so I withdrew myself from the program and university. 

I now am enrolled in a history program with Southern New Hampshire University, and even though its not even been a full term yet I do feel much more confident and enthralled with this program than the previous. I get to explore my passion more deeply and involve myself in a potential specialty. I am still struggling some with the online aspect of it all- as it feels like my whole life is on a computer screen- but I am more familiar with the term schedule as that is what my undergraduate institution did. 

2) My friends and I went on an international trip! I had two weeks in late May/early June in Europe. I am very proud, I worked hard to pay for this trip and to save up spending money for it. I got to experience Hungary, Serbia, and Romania and I would love to go back. I tried new foods, saw amazing landscapes, learned so much, and (of course) got to spend time with my friends. 

I took many many photos but I've included some of my favorites here for you to see.                                     

Budapest's House of Parliament.    Breaded Deer Back with Potato.       Bram Castle.

3) I've been promoted! Unsure of if I have mentioned my work in the museum field at a historic site local to me- but I've done work with museum collections, as well as worked as a docent and in their visitor center for a few years now. This summer I am officially the Visitor Center Administrator. Which means I am in charge of various different things and people and actually have to know what I'm doing. So far so good. No huge bumps in the road as of yet and I get to be on site more often, its one of my favorite places to be. 

4) Perhaps most importantly- I got a dog! I adopted Paisley from the local animal shelter last November and I love her so, so much. She's a big ol' lab mix and is such a sweetheart. She is very anxious and shy, and is very afraid of other dogs. A family member who works with dogs professionally says that it was likely that my Paisley was used as a bait dog for a fighting ring. Which just makes me so angry and sad. At some point she had to have all her little front teeth pulled so she has a harder time picking things up sometimes but she still manages. Her favorite things are holding hands, peanut butter, her stuffed animals, and taking naps.

And now on to recommendations!

Books

I want to recommend Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green. I know it came out a minute ago but I am still thinking about this book. It was a quick read, but it was prolonged by my note taking in the margins. I loved Green's voice shining through and I loved how he was able to bring together historical narrative with the contemporary narrative of someone he knows personally. I am interested in this topic and I think I'm going to do more research into it on my own. 

Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix was my book club pick for last month and while it was slow getting started, once I got into it- I was a goner. I really really liked this book. The setting isn't one that I've read before and I think that the portrayal of girlhood and friendship was well done. I always like magic and/or magical realism in books that are otherwise completely non fantasy- and I feel that the addition of magic to this plot really added to the theme of girlhood. Overall I'd definitely recommend giving this one a try. 

Food

I have been on a huge avocado kick lately. So I recommend to everyone...avocado toast. Now the one you can get from Dunkin Doughnuts is perfectly good, some bagel seasoning and bacon bits? Fantastic. But I've noticed that if you order it at a hotel restaurant it usually comes with poached eggs on top and fried cherry tomatoes. I have not figured out how to poach eggs and I don't know if I'll ever make and effort to but a fried egg? Sunny side up? On top of a thick slice of toast, with a good smear of mashed avocado, some bagel seasoning and a little extra salt and pepper? 

Perfection. 

Articles

Recently, I've been scrolling through my AAM newsletter/emails more frequently and reading some articles here and there and one I read last night was especially interesting to me. It was about the impact of decisions by our current administration on National Parks and historical interpretation. This is an important case study to think about as we continue our lives in our world today- what is the purpose of a museum? What is the point of our National Parks? And how can we negotiate these things in a climate that does not want to see either come to light?

Current Events

Currently I am reading Jurassic Park by Micheal Crichton- it is the August book club pick. Additionally I'm roughly half way through Don't Want You Like a Best Friend by Emma R Alban.

I've been working on a paper about mourning culture and rituals in antebellum America and how the Civil War changed them. I'm getting back into the groove of research and falling back in love with that. 

I am planning an outfit for the Renaissance Faire next month, I want to be a nerd and be historically accurate but I'm on a time crunch so I doubt that will be able to happen. But I can always plan for the next one!

Thats about all that I had to say today. I think next time I might do a reading wrap up or maybe a recap of the paper I'm writing at the moment... Maybe in the future I'll have a section with a writing prompt and a paragraph long story. Who knows? I think what's important is that I not put pressure on myself to make this the absolute best thing ever or to be so rigid in how often I update. I think a good goal is once a month,  and if I post more frequently that's cool too. 

Its a nice cool day out (seventy something rather than in the nineties) so I think I'll have a nice cup of tea and go for a little walk...

Until next time, keep learning and exploring!

Anne