Oh, the life I lead in the summer

Summer time and the livin' is easy?

If inactivity is the name of the game... I said initially that i would blog about each day of my internship but four weeks mysteriously passed by without anything. It shouldn't be too difficult to sum up -

Week 1: The first day was kicked off with coffee, bagels, and optimism. We all gathered around the board room table to chit chat and hear from the intern supervisor. Our department supervisors came down a little later and mine were pretty exciting. They set me up at a corner desk - away from everyone else were I played around with my computer until we went out for lunch at TAP, an amazing "gastro pub" downtown Atlanta. Ruth, boss1, and I talked the whole walk over there and for most of lunch. She seemed really interested/ impressed with me and I was really impressed by her. After a pretty good portabello sandwich and some fries we returned to the office where I embarked on my primary task of list-making. The next day saw list-making and list-making alone. I barely talked to anyone and stayed at my desk all day. I tried desperately to text with my girlfriend all day for some human contact and assurance but the service in the building is laughable. Boss1 asked me how my day was and I blurted out "monotonous", exchanged a few more, less hostile, words and went home. Morale was way, way down and traffic was very, very bad. Day three saw improvement in social contact as I actually went to lunch. I think it was this day that I had lunch with a very over-whelming group of people that I ameliorated the next day by going to lunch earlier and eating with people that I had originally pinned as desired friends. Friday was a seminar day that saw a gallery tour of Folk Art and a lunch and learn with the Exhibitions Team. The lunch and learn was riveting! The tour was scheduled for after I was going to leave. It was really fascinating to how an exhibition goes from a checklist to an autocad diagram hanging the pictures on the walls. After that was list-making then getting on a plane to be at a wedding in Yonkers, NY with my dearest darling girl. Nice finish.

Week two - I believe I attended my first development team meeting on Monday of this week. I experienced the all-female team in full swing - trying to predict the size and sex of another department member's baby to be delivered the next day. Wow. In the morning of Tuesday (orWednesday?) of this week I attended a exhibition focus-group meeting with the development intern. It consisted of old rich men loudly stating opinions and waving their connections around; I would later realize that this practice is what keeps the art world moving. That evening I stayed to help my bosses schmooze donors with nicely made cucumber and hummus sandwichs and wine. My boss gave me the rest of the white wine as a nice gesture that I extended to my parents - much to their chagrin. The Thursday of that week I stayed to attend a talk on Japanese prints that was mildly interesting then listened in for a bit of the "Concerts on the Piazza" series that the Woodruff Arts Center had brilliantly pieced together and went home. Friday's seminar was with my department, development. Let's just say that no one was blown away. Two other interns and I did some shirking afterwards then return to make lists and then leave.

Week 3 - Development meeting Monday, mapping Atlanta art galleries throughout the week, running away early for the first (and definitely not last) time and music and a marionette troupe production of As I Lay Dying on Thursday. The play was comped for WAC employees which was the first benefit of this internship that I had seen. I got two free tickets and imported a friend to come see it with me as we had both studied it intensively in high school. The way the troupe, the Haverty Marionettes, combined music and audiovisual into a staged marionette show was unlike I had ever seen before. Seeing the creepiness of As I Lay Dying in play format definitely deepened my understanding of the book. It didn't hurt that the theatre, Hertz Stage, is literally underground! Way cool! Friday's seminar was of Photography so we had a guided tour of the Misrach "On the Beach" exhibit. Curator tours are way underrated. Our lunch and learn was with the Education department and it taught me that Museum Education is a job that can be obtained by not having an education degree. There is hope for me yet. There was a pizza party running concurrently in our depart so myself and the previously mentioned shirkers ate the leftovers for a very long time before returning to work.

Week 4 - I got permission to work from home on Tuesday and Thursday of this week because Boss1 was on vacation like much of the High staff. Monday had a meeting with Boss2 that soured at my mention of wanting more complex tasks. I suppose I need to be grateful for my googling tasks? It was a weird turn and other things happened that day to make the day weird. Tuesday was a welcome break from the office scene and I actually stuck to working 9-5, getting a whole project done in one day. Efficiency boost! Wednesday was completely unproductive because it was a seminar day, a personal economic freak-out day, and a day that saw a long Starbucks break towards the end of the day. I ran away early. Thursday at home was amazing because I spent the morning helping my mom with Bible School at their newest "maybe" church. I returned home after mailing a package to my baby, buying sandpaper, and received an email giving me the rest of the day off. Friday was a holiday so I went hiking with a friend from work. It feels great to have week 4 over with because it brings me that much closer to being back with my favorite cuddler.

So that's my illustrious internship experience so far. When I return to work on Monday I'm going to try to calibrate my attitude to be more focused on doing a great job with the projects I'm given and using the in between time to do personal work instead of personal web searching. I have my sights set on the National Undergraduate Research Conference this year so it's not like I have nothing to do. I actually have a meeting with the African Art curator at the High on Wednesday. Perk No. 2. I also have a meeting Tuesday with the government and foundations person in the department to discuss grant-writing. Perk No.3. Not bad for paying about $30/ week in transportation for this gig... I'm hoping to help out my old boss from the kids shoe store for his back to school rush. Income would be greatly appreciated. I am doing some things for my parents that are bringing in a good amount of money but it's still not where I would like to be. I'm starting to understand the feeling of hopelessness that comes with unemployment; but at the same thing, I'm taking it in good faith that whenever everything is about to fall apart something will come through. Good vibes, please.

Work aside, summer in Georgia is not as bad as it has been in years past. My parents and I haven't declared war yet and my mother has even warmed up to talking about gay things with me. It's so amazing to be able to share my most treasured relationship instead of having to hide it. Good things come to those who wait. I still feel that I'm missing a part of my usual happiness equation and I'm trying to figure out how to fix it. I'm amping up the reading and exercise but it might be as simple as lack of alone time, lack of mobility (I dislike driving and to bike is to be killed by a soccer mom), and lack of the one I hold most dear. Skype helps but it isn't configured for hugs. Can someone get on that please? While I have this beautiful "I want to be alone because I hate 4th of July" time I may go pull out the old viola and waste some time.

And away!