Everything is happening all at once, and it's really exciting and scary and stressful and awesome all at once!

I have a display in the university building (2 cases on Ancient Greek music, with audio) and a case for an exhibit coming through the museum (called Magic Worlds- it's all about magic and fairytales and illusion. My case is about DRAGONS!), writing about the Ethnographic gallery for a museum guidebook they're working on. To be published and sold! So if my writing was in that, that would be pretty cool. All of that is happening in early/mid March. Agghhh! And an event in May that I feel totally at a loss about. And the documentation, which is massive and will include a trip to Edinburgh, and needing to secure many more music tracks with appropriate licenses and photograph all the instruments, and research and write detailed summaries of the cultures they come from, how they are used, etc.
Plus school work.

Ahhh!

But it's really amazing, because if I can do everything well, then I'll feel like I've really contributed during my placement. And I'll have done lots of things in different areas, which will look good on my CV. I even did a handling session on my own for a sleepover in February, with 150 13 year olds that cycled through in groups. At least some of the kids were actually interested in the objects I brought and what I had to tell them, which I was really pleased with!

I'll post lots of pictures from the displays as they get installed. I did already set up the soundcloud account for the Ancient Greek music display. (Link: https://soundcloud.com/ancient-greek-monochord/sets/epitaph-of-seikilos)
It's only about a minute and a half of audio, but I think it's really interesting how different Ancient Greek music sounded. It sounds like it's out of tune to us, but that tuning would have sounded natural to them. And the Ancient Greeks had many different tunings, and they were very distinct. Dr. Creese illustrates two different tunings in the recordings. He plays a song found on a stone post called the Epitaph of Seikilos.
The lyrics mean

"While you're alive, shine!
Don't be sad at all.
Life is just for a little while,
Time demands its due"

I love it! Ok, so the last line is a bit dark, but I just love that the Ancient Greeks used "shine" to mean "be happy"! I think we should readopt that meaning. 

And Andrew and Dr. Creese said they really like my interpretation, which is surprisingly hard to write. It has to be juuuuuust the right levels of intellectual and fun and explanatory. They have to be understandable by an average 17 year old (for the university display; 12 year old for displays in the museum), but still accurate, and interesting enough not to bore the pants off visitors. 

Back to work for me, but I wanted to let y'all know why I've been so busy. I'm so excited! (Stressed too, but SO EXCITED!) It'll be my very display, so I want it to be the best I can make it. And the Magic Worlds dragon case will be seen by SO MANY people. It's in the museum in with a popular traveling exhibition. That makes me really nervous. And it'll be in the same exhibition space with cases and labels done by real curators at the Museum of Childhood and the V&A.

Oh yeah, and the Late Shows are coming up. That's a couple nights in May when museums and other institutions stay open until 11 at night and put on special events. I'm really looking forward to what the GNM will do! I'm going to try to get involved if I have the time. I loved going as a visitor last year, and it would be so cool to get to work with it.

OH! I almost forgot the best part! The Magic Worlds exhibition is opening March 22, and all the staff have to wear COSTUMES. I can help with the opening, and therefore I have a totally socially acceptable reason to wear a fairytale costume to work! And as a massive fairytale and fantasy nerd, this exhibit is the best fit ever. They even have adult sized HOBBIT FEET and cloaks in the costume section. Oh and my case is going to have the Alan Lee illustrated version of the Hobbit in it! (Boy, I really AM a nerd.)
BUT YES this is so exciting!

I've got to figure out my costume soon, too. What do you all think? What should I dress up as?

xoxoxoxoxoxo <3