Things I want to know

1. Did anyone see Dan in Real Life?
2. Was it any good?
3. What movies have I missed since Christmas that are worth seeing?
4. How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie roll tootsie pop?

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Well while it did in no way come close to being as great an extravaganza as last years St. Patrick's Day party, we did manage to have some fun. Jenny is in town so we have been filling all of our time with fun activities. On Saturday Catherine, Jenny, Sarah and myself decided to go out to dinner and bowling. Our first game we played a normal game and by the second round we needed to spice things up a bit. So, we opted to do crazy bowling/regular (to ensure we knocked down a few pins). So we did things like the "reverse Granny" where you look through your legs and lob the ball down the lane. We bowled with our opposite hands, did a run and slide bowl and even gave under the leg bowling a good college try. Needless to say it was a very entertaining game with VERY low scores. Catherine managed to win with a score in the low 50's.

Taggie taggersoned

1) Where I was 10 years ago:

A junior at Plano Senior High School. Most likely sitting in the back row of a choir rehearsal or taking part in some sort of shenanigans with Jackie and Megan.

2) 5 things on my “to do list” today (today is over, so I'm going for tomorrow):
1. Email Katy

2. Put leather corners of my rebound copy of Nicholas Nickleby

3. Make a survey to send out to pop-up book makers

4. Gather research for 1st MA paper

5. Sleep

3) Things I would do if I became a billionaire:
Buy a stately home in England, a vacation house in Belize, a yacht with full crew to haul my ass around the world in luxury (don't worry you're all invited), a couple thousand shares in the Nordstrom Corporation, a new wardrobe including shoes and accessories, all the kit for my own conservation studio, plus the space in a scenic South England location with full views of the South Downs. Ok, lets be frank, I could do this all day, but I'm gonna stop now.

4) 3 Of my Bad Habits:
1. Procrastinating

2. Listening to someone give me driving directions and pretending I understand when I have no idea what they are talking about

3. Texting far too much

5) 5 places I’ve lived:

1. Plano, Texas
2. Provo, UT
3. Pilot Point, TX
4. London, England
5. West Dean, England

6) 5 Jobs I’ve had:

1. Gravel sweeper for Steve Westberg
2. Baker for some random start-up company in Utah
3. Financial assistant for BYU
4. Graphic Designer for Sebo Marketing
5. Conservation intern at the Guildhall, London

7) Something Most People Don’t Know About Me:
Last week I conducted a single person parade to celebrate the completion of Sonia's big conservation project, complete with marching, singing, and flailing of arms.

I know this is boring, but.....

I thought you all might want to see some of the things I have made and repaired during my time at West Dean. I recently applied for an internship at the Library of Congress and had an interview that went really well. As a result they asked me to send images of my work and due to their large file size I was forced to set up a flickr account in order to be able to send them everything I wanted to show. So if you are REALLY bored and want to see some old and new books go here and take a look.

Lookie!

Well as I've told a couple of you Jackie and I learned how to knit over Christmas break from a random lady in a shop. Well a mere two months later I have made one hat that would only fit a small child or a pinhead AND this little baby.

My degree in pop-up books

Well, I'm sure you don't want to hear any more about my actual academic experience at West Dean, but the MA portion of my program started this week and I thought I would tell you what I'm getting an MA in. Pop-up books. That's right, I am getting a degree in the repair of pop-up books. Don't get me wrong there is a science to this stuff and I will be performing loads of tests on repair methods and what not, but I think it's hilarious that I'm focusing my degree on something so cool. So far I have visited a couple places with pop-up collections and I thought I would show you some of the cool stuff I have seen.

Lots of Books

Well my work placement has ended...sadly. To be honest I didn't even want to come back to West Dean, although now that I'm here it's not so bad. I spent six weeks working in the Guild Hall in London which means I was right next to St. Paul's Cathedral. Everyday I got up at 6am got ready and was at the train station in Brighton by 7am to take the train to London. It takes about 90 minutes to get there, but luckily that gave me lots of time to catch up on lots of reading. I managed to read the three Philip Pullman books The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass, The Life of Pi, The Kite Runner, and Withering Heights. And all along I have been reading Stephen Colbert's I Am America (And So Can You). Needless to say a lot of reading was accomplished in my 3 hour a day commute.

I managed to get lots of work done while I was there, three books were conserved and about 40 pamphlets, so not too shabby. I think the best part about working there was the people, they were fantastic. Everyday Paul, Paul, Alberto and I would go across the street to Pret for a nice coffee and maybe a little snack and a nice chat. Everyone was really nice and friendly which always makes a job more enjoyable. Honestly I'm not really sure what to say about the placement that won't bore you all to tears, but I did have a great time and I am going to miss being there and being in London again. Ok, I'm done now, I will move on to more interesting things from here on out...promise.

Finally!

Well as you might have noticed I have been a little abscent from the blogging scene as of late. This is because I was doing a work placement at The Guild Hall in London. As my first trial by fire I was handed this lovely piece of work which had been severely eaten by mold. (Sorry if I'm boring you already) Anyway I had to repair the vellum and remove the cover from the old boards and make a new case for the manuscript. I t ended up looking like this:


Ok, I promise that's all I'll bore you with for now and I will fill everyone in on the actual placement and goings-on of my time there, but I just wanted to post a little bit to get the previous post off the top of my blog and appease Annalise who might die if it does not change soon. :)

Jammers and Windy Pops

If you recall this summer I told many of you stories about jam. It seemed to be a running theme at West Dean for a while that kept cropping up. I told Jill about "jammers" this summer and she immediately latched on to the idea and even came up with several new ways of using the word. Well since I've been home I have had the privilege of meeting Alex for the first time and got a real kick out of him being called "Tooters" by his mother. This is a very appropriate nickname......as in if you hold him you are destined to be tooted on more times than you ever have in your life. This made me think of my new favorite British phrase "windy pops", doesn't take much imagination to figure out what that means. I knew Jill would get a real kick out of that one and sure enough she has started to say things like it's "windy pops jammers".

Four Girls and a Baby

"sittin' in my office with a plate of grilled bacon"

I can NOT get that line of Michael Scott's traing video out of my head! Have I mentioned I've watched series three of The Office all the way through plus ALL the bonus features and commentaires at least 4 times since school started?! I clearly need to bring back more dvds.

Dear Readership,

It's been a while, but the good news is I'm leaving for Texas tomorrow!

Love,
Kristi

Maroon 5 Concert

Well last night I had a little night out in Brighton and finally got to cash in my Maroon 5 tickets! It was quite a different experience from the last time I saw them in the McKay Event Center in Provo, Utah where their show included a sizable banner and a couple lights. This round they had a huge light board behind them, a giant Maroon 5 logo that changed color, loads of lights, huge screens, smoke, some MAJOR amplification and much much more. I gotta say of all the guys in the band I have a new found love for the keyboard guy Jesse Carmichael who showed up wearing a pink button up and always seemed to be sitting at his keyboard playing one finger at a time but doing so VERY well. The concert went by far to quickly and after one oncore the house lights came up and immediatly people with hard hats swooped in to take down their kit. All in all a little too short for my taste, but a good concert none the less.

Mouldy Stuff

Well for the last week or so I have been trying to work up the strength to write a 3000 word essay about moisture and its effects on books. Needless to say I only have about 1200 words so far and am struggling to keep going. May the gods of bookbinding and mould give me the strength to keep going and finish this baby off.

Lookie lookie

Every year at West Dean the students in each department make a raffle prize in order to raise money for the Christmas party. This year each bookie made a photo album, and here is mine. Just thought you might want to see a little something I've done lately.

Somethine I love about England

When people here say the word "boogie" they pronounce it like this "boo--gie". As in they say boo and add gie to the end of the word, unlike us Americans who would make more of a U sound. Anyway, I woke up to the song "I found a place, where we can boogie. Boogie tonight" and the radio DJ kept saying "boo--gie" over and over again. Fantastic!

A Phone Call Between Catherine and I

Catherine: Well, Chicken, I'll talk to you later.
Me: Did you just call me a chicken?
Catherine: Ummm...yes.
Me: From now on you will be known as Turkey Leg

*Apparently in Ireland calling someone a "chicken" is a nice thing....interesting.

Fingerless gloves?

I made a purchase today, and that purchase was a pair of fingerless gloves. When I actually take the time to think this concept over I can't help but think that these things are the bastard children of a nice normal practical pair of ACTUAL gloves. I realize that it is the point of gloves to keep your hands warm, and that your fingers are the integral portion of your hands, so why would anyone need a pair of gloves sans fingers? The answer is I have no idea, and probably never will, however when I saw these a couple weeks ago a little virus entered my brain telling me I needed these babies, and today I gave in and bought a pair. After a day like the one I had yesterday fingerless gloves just seemed to be the only remedy...after chocolate and a nice viewing of The Blues Brothers.

Dear Kanye,

I'm sorry man.

Love,
Kristi

Birthday Report

Well, it's official, I'm 26. As of yesterday I lept over the hurdle that is 25 and began my progression towards the big 30. As Jackie put it I'm in my "late 20's" and am now quickly approaching the great dirt nap....and I am 10 months closer to that nap than Jackie. It was a good day filled with sweets, cards, phone calls and a fantastic Thai meal. I went out with Catherine, Sonia and Stephen and then drinks with a bunch of other people from West Dean. All in all it was an excellent day that could only had been made better if a few of you were there too.