I'm Doing What Now?!?!?!?

Running.

There, I said it out loud. I've started running. Not only am I in my third week, but I'm starting to crave it and I'm noticing improvements.

Some backstory: I stopped running in undergrad. Bad knee (which oddly isn't bothering me now), overweight, out of shape. Seriously, really no running for many, many years (which I understand is not really the appropriate response to being out of shape).

Why, suddenly, have I started? I'm still overweight (way more than I was in undergrad; I'm in the vicinity of 17 stone now and I'll let you do the math), still out of shape... But the last two years I took part in a team sport that involved heavy-duty exertion, especially on race days. Practices were twice a week. And I felt AMAZING. Then, winter, personal upheaval, grad school. I'm hoping to get back into team sport this summer, but the truth is I won't be able to participate fully because of research. I needed something to get me into shape, out of the house, and, well, moving. And something that doesn't require me being in a particular place at a particular time.

Meat world friends and bloggy friends run. Colleagues who are not little slips of things are running half marathons. I was inspired.

I'm using the "Couch to 5K" approach, which starts very, very slowly and over the course of several weeks, you work up to a full 5K (3 mile) run. Though I'm in my week three, I'm still on week 2 of the program because I lost several days in a shoe-exchange (the right shoes are CRITICAL. I had the wrong shoes, and I thought my ankles were going to detach from my body in a horrible, crippling way. New shoes: whoa, no pain!).

I also need lots of reassurance, so I splurged on a Garmin Forerunner 410 (purchased in Amazon's Warehouse where they keep the returns and dinged packages, for a significant discount). It has a GPS in it, so tracks time, distance, location, pace, and calories burned. I got the one with the heart monitor, but the damn thing doesn't work well, so I quit using it (really, save your money). You can upload your data to a free account at Garmin's website, and keep track. Being able to see my improvements in numbers over time is really helpful, and helps me set small goals (a little further, a little faster...).

Why am I telling now? Because I just got back from today's run, and absolutely smashed my previous personal best pace by a minute and a half. And I feel pretty damn great. And last night, I ran -uphill- to catch my bus, and both made the bus and didn't die. I'm a runner. Who knew???

Moved.

Last weekend, I moved. I quit my job(s), packed up my shit, and am now residing South of the Mason Dixon Line gearing up for grad school.*

I'm still unpacking, but can finally see most of the floor space in my apartment. A big day tomorrow: my new bed arrives. It will be my first bed with a real headboard and footboard. Ever. I feel so adult-y. Hopefully, I can assemble that sucker and actually sleep in it tomorrow! My new desk arrives tomorrow too... I may never want to assemble anything ever again.....

* I am eternally grateful to the gaggle of friends who helped me move said shit across several state lines.

Anniversary

If my math is correct, today is the 163'd anniversary of the First Women's Rights Convention. Approximately 300 people attended the convention, which spanned July 19 and 20, 1848 and was held in (and around) the Wesleyan Chapel, Seneca Falls, NY.

The Chapel is now part of the Women's Rights National Historical Park. The reconstruction of the Wesleyan Chapel, which has been an ongoing project for the past 3+ years, is complete, and today was its rededication. I wasn't there for today's events, but was recently while they were getting ready (that's a guy washing the Chapel windows):

Wesleyan Chapel, Women's Rights National Historical Park
Seneca Falls, New York. July 7, 2011

Finally, in honor of the day, The Distillers and their tune, "Seneca Falls":

Linky Goodness (and a Photo)

Today's post: a jumble of really good or interesting links, and a photo.

Bitch or Bathmat?
Over at Historiann's is a really wonderful discussion about Gender and Performance in grad school. As ever, H'ann's comments section is worth a careful read. In this particular instance, profs and students give examples of their own experiences as well as deconstruct the issue and offer alternate approaches. I'm reading very closely myself, with grad school seminars looming.

This Season's Fieldwork Brought To You By A Whole Bunch of People
Announced over at Middle Savagery, the Maeander Project, a group of folks doing archaeology in Turkey, are looking to fund some fieldwork using a crowd-sourcing/micro-financing model. I'm very interested in how this pans out, as I've considered a similar approach to funding portions of work at OMGSuperCoolSite. While you're there, and if you can, kick them a couple of bucks. If they don't meet their goal, they don't get any of the money (no one's credit card gets charged unless they meet their $$ goal by the date given).

Skulls on the Internets
For the physical anthropologists: Kristina Killgrove over at Powered by Osteons announces the University of Michigan has digitized their human skull reference collection and made it available online. This is a big deal; usually this kind of data is a pain in the ass to access. Kristina's blog is, IMO, one of the best resources for announcements and analysis of cool and interesting stuff in the world of biological anthropology. Don't believe me? She followed up the internet skulls with the plot to exhume William Shakespeare to see if he was a pothead (nope, don't need to make this stuff up).

The Goal of Your Conference Paper
Academic coach Jo VanEvery frames the conference paper in a way I've not seen explicitly spelled out before. And made me feel better and more focused about an upcoming paper I'll be giving.

Being Constructive
The folks at Daily Writing Tips have posted 10 Tips for Critiquing Other People's Writing. Good to know, and filed for future reference!

Sunrise over Lake George, New York. Fall, 2009.

Archaeology in New York City

The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission has made their library of archaeology reports accessible online. The reports (almost 1,200), available online as .pdfs, are searchable by keyword and borough. It looks like the keyword search hits author, title, and abstract.

It is exciting to have ready access to this otherwise grey literature (research that is done, but not published) -- not just regarding specific archaeological projects in NYC, but also to the incredible and detailed micro-histories of parts of the city that are included in the historic contexts sections. I've done some work in NYC, and the histories of individual properties can be fascinating.

For a really fascinating take on changes in the NYC landscape when the street grid was dropped on it in the early nineteenth century, have a look at geographer Reuben Rose-Redwood's 2002 MA thesis, Rationalizing the Landscape: Superimposing the Grid upon the Island of Manhattan. Manhattan used to be rolling hills; they flattened it for the grid, and didn't pay *any* attention to former property lines or buildings. Amazing.

For some really great archaeological work in NYC, check out the series of reports titled Tales of Five Points: Working Class Life in Nineteenth Century New York. Six volumes of really great stuff, now available for free online thanks to the NYC Landmarks Commission:

Volume 1: A Narrative History and Archeology of Block 160, by Rebecca Yamin (2000).
Volume 2: An Interpretive Approach to Understanding Working-Class Life, by Rebecca Yamin et al. (2002)
Volume 3: Documentary Data, by Rebecca Yamin et al. (2002)
Volume 4 (2 parts): Basic Artifact Inventory Part I, and Part II, by Rebecca Yamin et al. (2002)
Volume 5: Conservation of Materials, by Rebecca Yamin et al. (2000)
Volume 6: The Long and Short, Being a Compendium of 18th and 19th C. Clay Tobacco Pipes from the 5 Points Site, by Rebecca Yamin et al. (2002).

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

That there is me squealing. Not like a piggie. Not in fear of a mousie (they don't scare me anyway). But in a jump-up-and-down happy excited way.

Why?

Because I just found out, in an unofficial because it isn't in a letter from Admissions way, but from a Very Reliable Source that starting this Fall semester, I will have a new academic home as a PhD student. At my first choice school.

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!

New Email Discussion List: H-DEATH

From the folks at HNet (Humanities and Social Sciences Online), a new moderated email discussion list:

H-DEATH
H-Death is a scholarly discussion group that explores the multitude of historical issues surrounding the process and experience of dying and death. The H-Death discussion group will allow scholars to compare and contrast the processes and experiences of dying and death across time and space, including American, European and non-Western contexts.

I'm impressed by the breadth of experience that subscribers are bringing to the list (at least, those who have opted to introduce themselves). There are archaeologists, historians, theologians, literature profs, avocational researchers, hospice workers, artists, philosophers, and more.

Weekend Randomness

Field of Brussel Sprouts and Apple Orchard, January 28, 2010

A post of randomness, with a photo. Alas, apparently there was no market for brussel sprouts this year.

• There are two job openings I'm *very* interested in. Except they'd interfere with PhD aspirations. I am considering applying anyway to see where the cards fall. Where is the line between keeping options open and burning bridges? They're both at an institution I would love to work for.
• A CFP for an interdisciplinary symposium entitled "The Body On Display from Renaissance to Enlightenment" sponsored by the Society for the Social History of Medicine. Symposium is in July of 2010. A little late to get an abstract in, but the symposium looks very, very interesting.
• Did you know the dictionary contains "words of concern?" A school district in South Carolina has pulled dictionaries from the classrooms while they decide whether to ban it. Yep, you read rightly... ban the dictionary. For containing words. [h/t Banned Books]
• Flavia makes a post about teachers being public intellectuals. I think the premise is an important one -- that our students are not just students, but are also The Public. I really appreciated the discussion of approrpiate/inappropriate invocations of the present in the classroom. I agree that what is appropriate is likely field-specific. There is a lot of politics in the world of physical anthropology, and I try to address those in context. In my other life, clients in the world of CRM are also members of The Public. Yes, the work we do for them is so they can get their construction permits, but occasionally you get clients who (although they don't want to pay for it) are actually interested in the sites and the process. I do wish that CRM reports were not so "gray" when it comes to public access, however. Reports are all filed with the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), and are therefore "public," but certainly not public in the sense of Public Archaeology or Public History. And neither my employer nor our clients (unless mandated by the SHPO) are paying me to get results out there either through publication or presentations.
• Copper is being stolen from historic sites. This isn't just limited to the copper piping in unattended buildings; thieves are now stealing historic site markers and other copper signs from sites. Keep your eyes peeled; if you notice a sign that has always been there is suddenly gone, don't assume it's off being repaired. Contact whoever is in charge of marking historic sites in your region, and let them know it's gone. In the US, your local SHPO/Tribal HPO can help you find out who to contact; a list can be found here.
• Some very cool digital restoration of the Lienzo de Quauhquechollan, integrated with GIS mapping. A very, very cool application for GIS and education. A lienzo maps both the geography and the history of a place in one document, aka historical cartography. The previous link is to an article about the process; the link to the project website is here.

Society for Historical Archaeology Annual Conference Announcements

The Society for Historical Archaeology (SHA) Annual Meeting just finished up in Amelia Island, Florida. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to attend, though I hear it was excellent.

The SHA has selected Quebec City for the 2014 Annual Meeting. The theme will be "Questions That County: A Critical Evaluation of Historical Archaeology in the 21st Century." The meetings are always in January, so it will be cold, but Quebec City is a fantastic place.

Next year's conference will be in Austin, Texas, January 5-9, 2011. The theme is "Boundaries and Crossroads in Action: Global Perspectives in Historical Archaeology."

Edit: Locations for the intervening and following years:

2012 Baltimore, MD
2013 Leicester, England
2014 Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
2015 Seattle, WA (tentative)
2016 Washington, DC (tentative)