It's a simple fact that I have a horrible memory. Therefore, this post may not be filled with very many exciting details.
Back to that drive down to Albuquerque. It wasn't too bad -- it actually ended up being Barbara, Brian, and myself. We met with a Native American-owned construction company, Flintco, although I'm assuming the Native Americans that own the company are at their headquarters in Oklahoma. The ABQ office was filled with southern boys and thick accents. It was amusing, but also a good meeting. We'll hopefully be able to do some collaborations with them in the future. Well, maybe not we including myself... I could very well be gone by then. But there was one interesting thing said in the meeting. As Barbara was explaining our qualifications and what we do, she mentioned that I was doing a wonderful job and she hopes I come back. Food for thought. After the meeting we stopped for lunch at some restaurant I can't remember the name of with mind-blowingly hot chile. I probably drank 5 glasses of iced tea -- and I'm talking huge, Sonny's-sized glasses. Not good on the bladder for the rest of the day.
Then was a mandatory pre-proposal meeting at the Hubbell House. They recently finished a renovation/rehabilitation of the house and are now looking for proposals for a master plan to really bring the exhibit portion of the house up to snuff with the building. But, please, take the term "master plan" lightly. The people that wrote the proposal must be out of their minds or just clueless. Included in the scope of work are things as detailed as the text that will go on the exhibit displays. Are we historians or curators? I don't think so, and that's simply not a master plan, nor something that seems appropriate to finish in about 2 weeks time. They also mention a goal of making it a living history museum. Again I think these people are clueless. The house is fairly small, is only open a few days a week for a few hours, and has 1 person on staff. Not sure they realize a living history museum is people dressed in period clothing and interacting with the visitors. They don't have the space or the money for such a goal. However, based on the few people that showed up to the mandatory pre-proposal meeting, and knowing that a couple of them thought it would be way too much to take on, I think we'd have a really good shot at getting it. Is it really worth it would be the main question. We'll decide that on Monday when Barbara is back in town.
It's official. We've moved our office. I like the new place -- it feels much more open and there's so much more natural light. A definite plus. We had the movers move everything on Friday, Monday was full of unpacking, and it's now Thursday and we just got all the printers and computers and phones working properly. Thank goodness, not that it makes a difference for me right now. In the midst of doing a NM Statewide RFP that was due last Friday and moving, Barbara didn't have time to do redlines or gather stuff for me to do while she's on vacation in Michigan. So besides unpacking and organizing the new office this week has been filled with a lot of thumb-twiddling. She was fully aware that this was going to happen, but not to worry. She let me know that there is lots of work to be done, it's just all in her head. That's a scary thought. She gets back late Saturday night and will be leaving again Tuesday afternoon and be gone the rest of next week. So hopefully she'll be able to get some of that work out of her head in the couple days she'll be here.
And while she's gone I'm staying at the Biggs House and taking care of her cat, Ms. Sparkle, who's real name is Spackle. Which name she'll answer to depends on the day and her mood, but basically she doens't answer to me at all. She's 19 years old and the biggest pain in the ass. And I'm not a big cat fan in general, so that doesn't help. I'm in it for the extra cash. So Spackle has decided to stop taking her thyroid medication and stop using the litter box. Thank goodness the week is almost over. Besides the retarded cat, the Biggs house is pretty awesome. Barbara designed it 10-15 years ago when she first got started in Santa Fe. The owners live in New York and just come down for vacation on occasion. When they're not there they let Barbara use it if she wants. Sounds like a pretty sweet deal to me. It's a huge U-shaped house with a central courtyard and a pool. One wing has 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 bathrooms, a family room and a kitchen. The bottom of the U, the front of the house, has a huge formal living room and another kitchen. The other wing has 2 bedrooms, 2 or 3 bathrooms, an office, a sitting room, and a study/library. It's insane. And at the top of the U there's a separate "game house" with a pool table and a bathroom, which on top of is a deck with a hot tub that overlooks the mountains and a golf course. It's ridiculous.
Anyways, back to thumb-twiddling and the stupid people at the Hubbell House. Since this is a less than busy week I got to go to Albuquerque yesterday with Brian to meet with a possible collaborator for the Hubbell House proposal -- someone who is more familiar with museums and exhibit design. Turns out he has a Master's in Architecture from MIT. Fancy. So we met with him at the Hubbell House and had another look around, and he pretty much had the same comments that we did about there idea of a "master plan". So, again, we'll see how that decision to move forward or not goes on Monday. On our way back to Santa Fe, Brian and I made a prolonged pit stop at the Santo Domingo Pueblo for their feast day. What a crazy concept. Basically every tribe has a feast day, at different times, but all in the late summer time it seems. Brian is from the Acoma Pueblo, and he filled me in on all the ins and outs of different tribes -- not that I can really remember all the details about them, but I can assure you it was interesting. So this feast day. Anyone can go, and let me tell you tons and tons of people do. In their plaza they have hundreds of people from their tribe dancing, two groups that interchange from about 7 am to 7 pm. And oh my god was it brutally hot outside yesterday. I was sweating just standing there, and the dancers were completely decked out in body paint and face paint and traditional clothing, dancing around in the sun. The dance was pretty cool and very interesting to see that part of a different culture. Now as far as the feast part goes, wow. Various families throughout the reservation cook all day, and you just go into their homes and sit down and eat, then go to someone elses home and do the same. It's seems like such a strange concept to me. Before going to study in Italy everyone stressed the implication of culture shock. Didn't get to me in Italy at all. But if you go on a reservation for a feast day, you're really in for a culture shock. But beware, the second you step onto a reservation, you now abide by their laws. So strange. The Acoma Feast Day is on September 2, and I'm sure we'll be there for most of the day instead of in the office. Brian, of course, will be helping out with that one, and his family will be of of the family's having the feast all day. He said their one house probably feeds about 500-600 people in that one day. And the Acoma Pueblo doesn't have running water or electricity. I don't know how they do it.
Well, that's about all I have for now. I'm going to continue twiddling my thumbs for another few hours then go feed the cat from hell. I'm really glad my boss doesn't go on vacation often.
there are SO many words!!!
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