Andare, Partire, Tornare ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Burning down the house The Holy Smokes workshop, wherein we got to watch a 14 x 14 room set on fire, proved to be absolutely fascinating and valuable. The room burned for three minutes, nine seconds, and seeing what survived, what was partially burned, and what was totally burnt to a small crisp was very informative, not just for museum people but for myself at home. Repeat after me, people: Cardboard boxes, NOT plastic ones. Cardboard boxes, NOT plastic ones, especially those little corrugated plastic ones that the post office uses and sometimes people swipe...they melt into big taffypulls around and over anything they contain. But some old 1850's era envelopes weathered the fire beautifully in a simple shoebox. (Odd note - I mentioned these, and people on the list got all excited. I'll be providing a list of surnames that appear on the envelopes, but I doubt any of them will be valuable. I guess you never know, but it's an awfuly long shot. I was a bit startled at the interest, but then, I was interested enough to pack them up and haul them home, so I really shouldn't be.) Watching the room fill up with black smoke was one of the most terrifying things I've ever seen, especially when picturing myself as a person in there. That trick they tell you about, you know, crawling on the ground under the majority of the smoke? It truly is like that - the room turns into a black inferno, but there is about a foot and a half of clearer air that you could crawl out through. Salvaging items from the room afterwards was also very interesting - the smoke just gets into everything and leaves this acrid tang at the back of the throat. I went home smelling like a chimney. Halloween was pretty uneventful. We had small groups of kids, but it was all over with before eight o'clock, I believe. Either our neighborhood was just a small one with regards to the anklebiter population, or people were staying home. I hate to see one of my favorite holidays ruined by this sort of thing. Did I mention that I'm back in my office? Me and one other person have finally had everything hook up, and as long as I don't jiggle the big wire under my desk that doesn't fit together right, I even have electricity! Generous of them, I say. The best thing about that was discovering that my computer not only had a cdrom drive, it had speakers, so I am currently listening to the Black Crowes and doing that little headbob-I'm so cool thing. Must go...have to prep for my very first exhibition dismantling. We'll be hauling up some big monster crates up from the basement, which is why I got to wear jeans today. For me, that's a major perk! 8:00 a.m. - 2001-11-01 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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