Hey, is that Emil?

Every now and then I watch Smithsonian Channel clips to see what would be appropriate for my Smithsonian Student Travel students. Even after over 6 years of working at Smithsonian, I find it amusing when I find someone I know being interviewed or there a photo shoots where I work. This is the Sneak Peak of the Smithsonian Channel's Stories from the Vaults: Season 2. My friend Beth interviewed Tom Cavanagh yesterday for her Around the Mall blog, and when you watch this video you'll see Emil Her Many Horses near the end. He's a curator at the National Museum of the American Indian, and one really cool Lakota.



Don't worry, I'll go back to writing about my odd mothering moments. Sadie is still doing crazy things. The other morning I found her wearing a "Grandpa got me this shirt in Jamaica" with a smiley face with dreds. But that wasn't the t-shirt she was wearing when I put her to bed the night before. Weird.

A few words about Michael Jackson...

I know there has been so much coverage of this topic that it's a bit excessive. But since this is kind of like my own journal, I feel like I have to share my own little Michael Jackson story.

About two years ago, Michael visited the National Museum of the American Indian with his children. It was one of those days at my job where I came to work with one purpose, and ended up witnessing something I never thought I would see. We were supposed to have a meeting about promoting our Smithsonian Memberships, and then I noticed there was way more security than usual in the hallway outside our Resource Center. So I asked our security guard, "Okay, who is the famous person visiting today?" He looked straight ahead and muttered, "Michael Jackson".

Wha? Really? No waaaaaaayyyy....

But then my friend Sharyl walked in front of me with Michael and his children, and showed them our Windows on Collection exhibit. I only saw the back of Michael, who was about 20 feet away from me, as he looked at our beautiful beadwork exhibit. I didn't want to interrupt their museum experience, and over the years I've realized that famous people want to check out our museums just like everyone else. Angelina Jolie came to Air and Space with her kids, First Lady Laura Bush had her birthday party at NMAI, and even Pearl Jam stopped by during the opening of the museum. I even met the Chancellor of Austria once. He emailed his kids from the Resource Center.

Later, Sharyl told me she taught Michael how to dance Yup'ik style, while one of our membership people hoped Michael would donate a lot of money to the museum.

It must not have been easy being Michael Jackson. Everyone wants your money, your time, and your attention. But what I remember most about looking at that family on that day, was his daughter Paris. She was about 9 at the time, had long brown hair, and was wearing a pink shirt, jeans, and sneakers. She looked like a regular kid. She could've gotten lost in the crowd of the thousands of visitors we had every day.

Just a regular kid.

Of course, I immediately emailed and texted everyone I knew. And the response was the same. Yep, he's an oddity.... but he's also an icon.

So here's my favorite Michael Jackson song... this one never gets old for me.

I work in a place with lots of these...

The Bitter Oldtimer
What they do: Around since the company was founded (or maybe it just seems that way), The Bitter Oldtimer has definitely seen it all, and they’re not scared to tell you all about it. One has to wonder why they’re still at the job. In the long run, though, they can turn your optimism and can-do spirit into the same bitter regrets that they sport, killing your own enjoyment of your job. Attitudes can be contagious.

Yes, this is the problem where I work. People are as old as some (or most) of the objects in our collection. They hate technology, they hate young eager people, and most of all... they hate change. But the fact is, in order to be relevant in this day and age, we need to change. We know it. But I am so tired of going into meetings where there is always a Debbie Downer who puts down every idea and never has a positive alternative. Next time I go to one of the meetings, I really want to take a water pistol with me. Whenever there is a negative commentary that goes on for over 3 minutes, I'm shootin'.

Of all of the poses someone could be in...

Bill Clinton agreed to this one for his official portrait? Really? The psychoanalysis of this is just too easy. This is from the digitized collection at the National Portrait Gallery.