In which I have some updates.

It's March! Unclear how that happened, but apparently Philadelphia has decided that it will stop blizzarding for a few days, and pretend it's California in winter. That is, until it starts snowing again on Wednesday. Makes getting dressed in the morning a fun challenge.

Nevertheless, I have some kind of unfortunate updates. I've been starting to realize that, though Philly and my internship may be beneficial for my full initiation into historical nerd-dom, they may not be so great for the actual completion of my thesis (oh, that.). So, in an attempt to prioritize, I've decided to cut my internship a bit short, and head home this Saturday. I'm beyond bummed that I'll have to wrap up my projects at the archive (I may or may not have had a 'moment' whilst perusing some census documents today), but turning in a thesis I'm vaguely proud of is important. Also important = graduating. So, I'll be off to California to burrow in library books, and perhaps become less blindingly pale.

In case you were curious, I DO plan on continuing to blog, since I'll still be researching and amidst historical documents galore. And I'm having a hard time letting go of the AHFOD. So, if you still want to check in, I'll be here!

On that note, I decided to go to work today, so I can finish up my projects and enjoy a full last week at the archive. We're full swing in fellowship application season, so I helped today in the office with data entry of applications. And yes, it was as exciting as it sounds. But, I decided to play a little game (lesson #1 of only children).

All applications have project titles -- most fellows are PhD candidates finishing their dissertations -- and their title should be reflective of all the amazing research they have done and will do. And though all applicants have stellar backgrounds and stellar credentials, some titles were just plain unfortunate. As I perused over 150 applications, I started noticing a trend, which I have broken down below. While some titles were catchy, provocative, and smart, others were...well, not. Though I can't provide actual titles, I've established 4 categories that tended to be the most common, and examples of titles that would fit into them (note: these are not actual titles. I did in fact make these up...but I feel they capture the spirit of some of the actual project titles). Without further ado, I present the Titles: Bringing Smart People Trouble since 9th Grade awards. [Note: To be a legitimate academic work, my professor once told me that you must have two somewhat related phrases, connected by a colon. Wise words: I followed her advice.]

1) The "Uh huh. Uh huh. What?" category
Example: The Sole of the South: Exorcism and Shoe-making in Antebellum New Orleans

2) The "No, really, make this sound MORE thrilling" category
Example: Account Books, Pencils, and Erasers: A History of American Credit

3) The "Just....too much." category
Example: Mayhem, Crafts, Explosions, and Wenches: A History of Glitter, 1776-1860

4) The "Please, make it more obvious that this will only be circulated amidst academics" category
Example: Hegemonic Intertexuality Betwixt Bodies: A Geo-Historical Study of the Otherized Canine Community

Now, I leave you with an AHFOD! I was talking with one of the fellows the other day, and we got on the topic of yellow fever, as you do. Anyway, he told me that yellow fever may have been responsible for America being the vast country it is today. It was a pretty big deal at the turn of the 19th century (it killed over 10% of Philadelphia's population in a bad epidemic in 1793), and in 1802, it killed nearly 30,000 French soldiers in the French territories near New Orleans. Thinking it would be too costly and too much effort to maintain posts there, Napoleon sold the land for four cents an acre, doubling the size of the United States in what would become known as the Louisiana Purchase.

And with that, I'm off to my second historical salon/cult gathering tomorrow night - will most certainly report back.