What . . . Me?

Spent today at DCCA (two-day gig) on a B2BW follow-up project. Will finish tomorrow afternoon. Cell phone rang . . . a recruiter from Birmingham, Alabama . . . found my resume on the net . . . Development Director position open at Birmingham Museum of Art . . . got up off the floor . . . yes, I'm interested . . . top tier recruiter calls me back an hour later . . . tells me there may be a Curator of Education position open as well . . . which one would I be more interested in . . . got up off the floor again . . . tells me to call him back tomorrow and he'll have an answer for me to confirm the availability of the education position. Quite possibly having hallucinations. Whoa. Do you really mean me??? Did the research tonight. Yes, it is the largest regional art museum in the southeast with amazing education programs in place (staff of 16 educators!) and what seems to be well-established and well-managed endowments. Director of Development has moved up to Deputy Director - smooooth transition possible. . . Lower cost of living than Delaware, bars that are open until 6am, lots of festivals and galleries, 4 universities in the area and . . . jeez, it's a real city with 2 bedroom apartments under $1,000! Later: Julie Van Blarcom comes in to pick up an art auction purchase. Chatted. Told her how much I loved working with Maxine and would love to come on board as her assistant. Julie asked me if Maxine is the only director I'd want to assist . . . Ummmm, well, no! Said to send her my resume and she'd send it around. . . Later: Kim Graham from CCAC calls to answer all my questions about the current PNC project we're doing together. Confirmed as a contractor, paid every two weeks, etc.

Did the planets realign? Is it the Democratic shift? Have I finished walking through the fire? Life is terribly mysterious.

Head First

Plunging head first into a Head Start classroom tomorrow morning for an observation . . . can't wait to see those fours steeped in learning. I suspect it will be inspirational and give me a reality check on future lesson plans as well. Although I still feel fragmented about this project the unknown is something I am learning to live with. As VT tells me, move through it. As MG told me, ask for a contract. As I've told myself, I need the paycheck. So, there you have it.

Janis Called

Janis Tomlinson from U of DE Museums just called for the reference for Judith Cizek, a candidate for the Curator/Exhibitions position. I hope with all my might that Judith lands this position. She is one of my colleagues from the 2004 DAM mess, and we've all had difficutly integrating back into the field since then. Landing this position feels like success for all of us.

Book Festival Tomorrow!

I may venture out to the Book Festival in Dover tomorrow. There is so much hidden activity in Delaware; so many arts events and I feel like it's all happening without me. Disengaged once again. It has been a rough week working on my lesson plans (due and submitted today!) without any official feedback from the last training session. I put way more than 10 hours in on research and writing. I probably shouldn't have. I'm trying to find out if I need to submit a time sheet or do I get paid automatically for 10 hours each week no matter what our activity is. As messy as my desk always seems to be, I am a planner and a details person, and I'm wrestling with myself about the process of this project. For now, I'm just trying to "get over it and move on" as I once had a supervisor tell me. . . On the other hand, I had a blast in the children's section at the library, and reading through the three new books about kids and art that my amazing and generous daughter bought me for my birthday. I am also very excited about the classroom observtion Paulette is setting up for me. I can't wait to see little ones in action.

Personally, I am dreading the holidays and the sadness that is already overtaking me. I'm starting to cry during shows on the food channel about Thanksgiving . . . this is not a good sign. On the good news side, Judith Cizek (curator slashed from DAM in 2004) interviewed at U of DE for the Curator/Exhibition Designer position, and they are checking her references! I am one of them, and gosh, the entire universe knows she deserves to land this job. We've exchanged a lot of thoughts during the past 2 years, and she thinks I bounced back better than she did. . . I am just a lot better at counseling other people than counseling myself. I think I'm at the point where I just need to find another career, like cashiering at a gas station. I can't obliterate the sadness.

Lessons and More Lessons

Spent the day working on lesson plans for the PNC Grant at CCAC. Ten lesson plans due on November 3. The 4 that I've done may be too extensive, so my goal is to do 2 of the remaining 6 on a more superficial level. After all, how much can a 4-year old do in 20 minutes?? Some of them are 4-6 session lessons, so I'll be offering a wide range of experiences to the teachers. I sent 2 to Kim for feedback, but discovered today that she is in Ghana. I knew she was going, but I didn't know the dates. (communication, communication, communication) So, I won't get feedback, or a sample lesson plan from last year's project. Why do I feel like I'm expecting too much? Um, because I probably am. I have a tendecy to overwork, being the workaholic that I am. As a good friend pointed out to me, my perception of things is different from that of a lot of other people . . . That's certainly something to consider working on, isn't it?!

Hopefully, I have a classroom observation coming up next week, which I believe will help. I would like to ask for some sample lesson plans from the teachers, but I'm not sure if that is invasive or feeling more like a policing thing. Will take it slow. Got my first paycheck from CCAC today which is lovely, but not enough. . . Are there more lessons in this for me than there are for the pre-school teachers? Hmmmm . . .

Did I mention that I believe in Santa, Fairy God Mothers and winning the power ball?

What Do Our Elected Officials Think About the Arts?

As you head for the polls, consider where your elected officials stand on support for the arts. Do they believe that all students need the arts as part of well rounded education? Do they understand that the arts are a vital part of an active community and commerce? Find out! Take a look at the CONGRESSIONAL REPORT CARD IN THE ARTS The Americans for the Arts Action Fund PAC issued a Congressional Arts Report Card saying 41 House Members received the highest possible grade (A+), a 24% increase over the 2004 Report Card.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/061023/clm517.html?.v=44

Health Insurance Hell

I WANT A REAL FULL TIME JOB WITH BENEFITS AND I WANT IT NOW! SCREW THE ISSUE OF MY NOT HAVING A DEGRE - I HAVE MORE EXPERIENCE AND SAVVY THAN 6 CHEAP-SALARY RECENT GRAD 20 SOMETHINGS AND I COULD BURN THE DELAWARE ART MUSEUM BOARD OF DIRECTORS' BUTTS IN A HEARTBEAT AS I STAND AT THE GATES OF HELL WELCOMING THEM. Do you know what it's like to be hacked from the job you've been on a path for a lifetime to acheive?? My life hasn't been the same since 2004, on many levels, and I've done an ace job at dealing with it for two years, and now I'm getting ready to live under the railroad bridge downtown Wilmington because of the DAM board's reactive decision and the work of a sewer harpie who had physical ties to the queen of all board members from hell who granted said sewer harpie's wish to get rid of everyone who was smarter than her. (Note: she and her minions are now gone from DAM - someone at the top figured out what the dripping blood from her evil mouth was about.)

I've been trying to hold off on this one, as it lives in me as a tirade full of nasty words . . . but I'm approaching the danger zone. I had health insurance at DCCA from December 1 of last year until October 8th. During this time I was able to get my arthritis diagnosis nailed down, and found a pain medication combination that could get me through each day. Love thos Ibuprofen Horse Pills. Tramadol (generic version, of course) is often for sports injuries, but it worked nicely for me. So, just when all was under control and the blood tests and xrays and bone scans were over, and I was able to walk, stand and sit with the rest of the world, I'm back on the street. No meds. I tried to get a three-month refill but that was a disaster. Thanks to Blue Cross and Walgreens not speaking to each other about what they actuall cover. Arrrggghhhh. Thank God for the kind folks at Claymonth Health Clinic. They will see me and try to fix me up. They only see people without health insurance, and try to match the meds I am on with what they have on hand. If they can't, it would be the full price option prescription, which I can't do . . . Maybe it's time to read that book When Bad Things Happen to Good People.