Post-Thanksgiving

I just got back from NYC last night. I visited my brother and his wife. They've got a place in Jackson Heights and it's not too far from midtown. I had the best intentions of getting my school work done over the break, but I couldn't work on it consistently. too many distractions. i should have left my work behind because it would just worry me when i'd see it tucked away in the corner of my brother's apartment. I imagine my homework saying stuff like, "pssst, ricah. why don't you work on me a little bit? if you don't, you'll end up pulling an all-nighter. do you really want to do that to yourself?"
yes...yes, i do. and stop telling me what to do!

Posted by rmarquez on November 28, 2006 at 02:15 PM | Comments (0)

Outside of school

Grad school isn't supposed to preoccupy all of your time. I realized that this past semester. It's been great to take time to spend time with friends and take advantage of what Ann Arbor offers. Like this weekend, my friends and I went over to the Ann Arbor Ice Cube to skate. We're thinking that this would be a great weekly outing now that it's gotten cold. Also, there's a great paintballing place in Pinckney. It's good exercise and you get to take out your frustrations on your fellow paintballers. There are also 2 great indie movie theatres in town and a dollar movie theatre in the mall. So, I can watch the new Almodovar film and then watch a crappy romantic comedy for a dollar if I want to. So, get out and take a break. There's more to life than school.

Posted by rmarquez on November 13, 2006 at 04:26 PM | Comments (0)

Midterm Tomorrow

I'm having difficulties studying for my midterm. My mind is a little disorganized and so are my notes. But I think I can pull off a decent test.

As for job hunting, found a few postings that I'm interested in. If I don't hear from the employers, I've told my friends/family that I will go ahead and move out to my desired location. Apparently, some employers look favorably on those who have residence in the same city. I'm willing to take that risk!

Posted by rmarquez on October 30, 2006 at 07:47 PM | Comments (0)

Before I Leave AA

I've been in AA for 4 years and I feel that I've done most of the usual stuff that people do when they live here. But there are a few things that I would like to do before I go in December:
1-see a hockey/football game
2-rock climb at Mclimb
3-play a serious tennis match inside the tennis center
4-eat a pasty(sp?)
5-play beer pong at an undergraduate party
6-scream in the middle of the diag during class changeover
7-join a game of paintball
8-ice skate at burns park without using the 'walker' or holding the railings
9-spray paint a stencil on the sidewalk
10-attend a cheese tasting at zingerman's

simple enough. i think i have time for all this.

Posted by rmarquez on October 19, 2006 at 03:33 PM | Comments (0)

Fall Break

Fall break went by fast. I went down to TN with 2 of my friends. We stayed at one of their parents' house. Her folks live in Kingsport, so it's close to the mountains. Her home is located on a ridge and it overlooks the town. Her parents cooked for us and they took us out hiking, boating and biking. This trip was what I needed. This week, I plan to seriously start looking for a job. I've found some postings for assistanat archivist positions in NY and DC, but I'm not too keen on living there. I really want to look out west. Why? Because I've never lived there and I want to go outside my comfort zone. To start fresh. I have friends on the west coast, so I won't feel too isolated. The hardest thing is being far from my family, but they promise to visit regularly because they love it out there.

Must add: I'm petrified of the job hunt. Am I going to find a job that I'm qualified for? Can I find a job in the ideal location? Will there be interesting jobs to apply for? What if I don't find something right after I graduate? I don't want to live at home! Nor do I want to stay in Ann Arbor (actually, I wouldn't mind at this point because I've got friends here). These are my fears. And I think the best way to approach them is to just send in my resume (after I have it revised by Career Services) and wait. And keep sending my resume until I hear from someone.

Posted by rmarquez on October 19, 2006 at 03:11 PM | Comments (0)

Saturday Night

I'm with Beth, Patrick and Jeni. We're sitting at my apartment, and we're all doing our homework. Studious SI students. This is what our weekends are reduced to. Homework, homework, drinking and homework. The semester is in full effect. Since we're together, we're having fun with our work. And I get to entertain them with food, drinks and tv. And the occasional smoke break. Next weekend is fall break and we're all going out of town. Looking forward to that. Jeni is going to Seattle. B & P are going to Tennessee. I'll just say I'll be out of town and I'll be taken care of. I'm going through a tough time and I have friends who promised to feed me and hold me.

And this month, I start looking for jobs. My search is not focused, and I'm not picky about location. Since I'm an archives student, I'll keep track of the SAA employment listings. My friends in Chicago told me to check with Hotjobs.com. And I will pinpoint my search to individual archives (going to their website and talking to the archivist or HR person). A couple of my friends suggest I take a look at corporate archive jobs. Sell my soul.

Posted by rmarquez on October 08, 2006 at 12:10 AM | Comments (0)

Before I go on...

I am a grad student at the School of Information. I'm specializing in archives & records management, and I hope to work at either the National Park Service, a natural history museum or a special collections library. I'm interested in digital archives, creating better access, and good old fashioned preservation/conservation methods. Fall 2006 is my last semester. My time at SI has been stressful if not interesting. There were many times during my first year that I wanted to quit because I've never had to work that hard. But I'm glad that I went through the program because it kicked my ass and I actually liked it.

SI isn't the only thing I want to write about. I've lived in Ann Arbor for four years, and I admit, it's not my favorite place on this planet. But I know I'm gonna bawl like a baby when I leave because there are things about it that has endeared itself to me. For instance, I love being able to walk or bike anywhere. I also love: Zingerman's (deli and roadhouse), Dominick's, Ashley's, Old Town, the city parks/trails, the YMCA, Dawn Trader bookshop, summertime, the fall, the Amtrak station, arboretum, the fancy Whole Foods, Kerrytown market, Big Ten Burrito, Blimpy Burger, Ypsilanti (it's so close), the recycling program, and of course, the university.

Now, the things I don't like about Ann Arbor: the living expenses, the winter time, the crazy spring time weather, art fair, the distance from Detroit, the lack of indie-rock venues/shows, football saturdays, the pampered undergraduates (i know, some aren't), the numerous sandwich shops, lack of good tex-mex, the indoor tennis options (only one), lack of good bars, late-night coffee shops, the mall, and it's not athens, GA.

Overall, AA isn't that bad especially if you're here for a couple of years. And my dislikes aren't deep flaws. These are things that I've come to miss from living in a bigger city (Chicago/Atlanta). It's no big deal.

Posted by rmarquez on September 07, 2006 at 11:55 PM | Comments (0)