cubed in silence

Since starting my job about a week ago, I've learned, among many important lessons, how to sit in silence for extended periods of time. This is an impressive feat for me -- I like to talk. A lot.

Let me clarify, I have absolutely no problems with periods of quiet. Like the silence you get when you're on a car ride and everyone's listening to the radio or watching the cars and scenery fly by. I like the quiet you get when you eat with someone and you're so hungry, three words of any sort just get in the way of the fork. I like being so comfortable with someone you can sit in silence next to each other and read a book. That silence isn't really silence to me. It's active quiet -- usually there's some sort of background noise, or some sort of shared appreciation of the void. You aren't partitioned by the silence.

This is the reason why I can't study in libraries, why I write best in cacophanous newsrooms, and why unless there's someone who absolutely needs quiet, quiet it shouldn't be. I actually think better when I have to tune things out. When it's already tuned out, when I'm surrounded by silence, that's when my mind starts to wander, my thoughts start to drift and ten minutes later I realize that I've lost track completely.

I'm currently working the most silent office I've ever been in. The floor is carpeted, the space too large and too spread out, and everyone is cubed.

I've been cubed in silence.

I'm learning to make do. I'm learning ways to be productive like everyone else while surrounded by two walls and no sound. I can't even hear the click of somone else's keyboard.

Then something strange happened yesterday, I looked to the bottom right corner of my screen and realized three hours had gone by. I was so busy, so focused despite the silence, that time had flown and the day was progressing.

Perhaps I was just focusing on the wrong thing?

fruity drinks

I just got back from a week of mommy-daughter time in the Caribbean on St. Maarten. There are a million and one stories to tell and pictures to come when our waterproof disposable camera is developed (yeah we wanted one that could get stolen and wet if the situations arose, only the wet part happened, luckily). The trip was fabulous, relaxation and tans were achieved. And to top it off, my mom drove on the British side of the road for a day in Anguilla without killing us both. A noble and admirable feat. I'm seriously not kidding about that, because I would have killed us both.

The beaches were absolutely fabulous and the company was, as always so wonderful. My mom, in case you don't know her, is an above excellent travel companion. I love her so much and am so thankful she was willing to travel with me -- Typhoid Travel Bethany. If you know me at all, which most of my readers do, you'll know that I'm incredibly cursed when it comes to the magical and mystical wonder that is air travel. I haven't been on a flight in probably four years that hasn't at least been delayed ten minutes. Nothing ever goes right for me. And it didn't this time either, but nothing so catastrophic that we didn't get there and back within a few hours of when we were supposed to.

But anyway, it was wonderful. If you haven't been to St. Maarten/St. Martin, I highly recommend it, though only if you stay anywhere other than the Flamingo Beach Resort. It was a hell hole. Not only did we have problems with our reservation before we even got there, but it continued on through the week. Check in began at 3 p.m., we arrived at 5 p.m. only to find our room wasn't ready. No biggie, we'll just go sit at the pool bar and have a fruity drink, our first in probably close to 100 during our trip. We came back at 5:30 to find that our room was ready, but that it was situated on the first floor with beach access, but that it was immediately behind the beach bar, which we would have to look through to see the beach. Awesome, I thought, when does it close? The answer was a civilized (to some, heresy to others) 10 p.m. No biggie yet again. We're easy, we're on vacation. The room was really nice, except that the beach bar was under construction along with the rest of the resort. Workers started sawing wood, painting buildings and cutting metal tubing outside our door starting at 7:15 a.m. OK, that one's a little bit more of a big deal. The last straw was when we came back from our day trip to Anguilla to find that the maid had left our door open. Big deal reached. Luckily, nothing was taken and it was an honest mistake -- she'd been called away and then just forgot to come back. But still, not cool. And the worst part, they didn't really do anything about it. Sorry. That's all we got, which was fine since nothing was taken, but still. Some free fruity drinks would have been nice at least. Oh well.

My dad and brother just wrapped up a week of racing our boat, Incommunicado, during Block Island Race Week. They came in fourth overall (PHRF 3) and did really well on Wednesday when they won twice. My brother was interviewed that afternoon for a daily video recap of the races. It was his 15th birthday. He comes in about halfway through the video if you're interested.

Oh and the most exciting thing of all, I start my job tomorrow. I'm the newest member of the communications team at the International Partnership for Microbicides. I'm a production assistant for the external relations department. It's a great organization, and an excellent cause -- they work in developing nations with pharmaceuticals to promote a medication that has been proven to prevent HIV in women. I'm super excited and ready to go, but that's another post that I've been rehuminating on for a while. It'll come soon.

That about wraps it up, sorry to be long winded.

we are all trees

So the concert was absolutely amazing. The cause is so inspiring, the musicians are so talented, the company was good, and the venue completely perfect for an acoustic set. The video below is what was played at the beginning of the concert. It features Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai as he discusses the plight of his country and the importance of giving back to the global community by offering your support to causes locally. As Isabella Cannon, the incredible Elon benefactor would say, "Think globally, act locally."



Below is just one of many awesome moments. Still waiting for them to come out with a CD or DVD. This was pulled from YouTube and it isn't quite the whole song, but it's one of my favorites, and it was PHENOMENAL. To top it off, I was only about 10 rows behind the person filming and on the other side of the theater. There are a bunch more videos of this concert on YouTube -- check 'em out!

open letter to the Kennedy Center

Dear Kennedy Center,

Your online ticketing server sucks. I was fifth in line to get Dispatch tickets, when all of a sudden, I was 1,873rd. That is both insanely unfair and frustrating. Through some miracle, I was able to get through your phone system, and was placed on the line with Agent 81. Not only was she kind and understanding, but also managed to get me what I think were probably the last four tickets to the SOLD OUT show.

Please use this as a learning experience. I understand that the typical billings for your performing arts center usually do not draw such ravenous ticket seekers, however, in the event that your institution chooses to host someone like Dispatch in the future, please get your act together.

Thank you.

Sincerely,
Bethany Swanson

life in a nutshell

This week, I've ...

01. graduated from college.
02. moved back to Maryland, unpacked my life and squeezed it into too small of a space.
03. had many a meal with good friends who've gone unseen for far too long.
04. applied to a bunch of jobs.
05. seen "Kung Fu Panda," "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," the season finale of "Grey's Anatomy," and too many hours of TV.
06. mailed a few items that needed to be returned to their rightful owners after accidentally moving back to Maryland with me.
07. gone sailing.
08. had my first Dark and Stormy of the summer.
09. realized that my cat snores.
10. realized that my brother is now 14 and HUGE.
11. realized that I'm ready to start my life and be an adult.
12. realized that number 11 is impossible without a job.
13. realized that without my family and my friends I would be in a panicked state of hysteria constantly, rather than only occasionally.
14. started to understand that making decisions is only possible if there are choices to decide among.
15. come to really love lists.

Art Collections website

After nearly a year's worth of work, the Elon Art Collections website is finally up and running.

A little background on the project: As many of you know, I love art. As an art minor, I was required to take an art history class, and I fell in love -- a little too late. I wasn't able to double major or minor in art history, but I was able to take a few more classes. One of those classes led me to this project. A friend of mine in the class, Alaina Pineda, who is a brilliant art historian, has spent most of her Elon career working with the problematic Elon Art Collections. Like most people on campus, I'd never heard of it. It contains more than 650 works in seven different collections. It's under funded and under appreciated, but it has many gems and I realized that I might have the means to help it out.

My senior sem project (basically like a senior thesis) was born: I would make a website for the Elon Art Collections that would not only explain and explore the collections, but attempt to obviate their use as a teaching tool and a developmental priority. What that means in plain English -- Why it's important that we pay attention to it.

And so I was off. My friend the university photographer, Grant Halverson, graciously agreed to take the photos. Anyone who has ever tried to take a picture of a picture knows just how impossible it is. It's because of his work that I think the project turned out so well. And then I began building with Flash.

And nearly five months later, here it is:

http://org.elon.edu/arthistory/artcollection/home.html

Enjoy, show all your friends, and most importantly, if you go to Elon, any time you get to talk to an administrator, ask them about the collection and what they're doing to promote and support it.

weepies

I'm currently obsessed with this song, The World Spins Madly On, by The Weepies. I think it's just really beautiful. The lyrics are sad, and very melancholy -- but then it's been raining a lot lately. The video isn't the best, but open it up, minimize the browser and just listen.