dirty work

At the Maxwell Institute, the FARMS Review takes an apologetic stance on many anti-Mormon issues. (And I didn't know this before I worked here, but apologetics is a defense, not an excuse or correction.) As such a publication, the Review often (not all of the Review content is apologetic) confronts anti-Mormon material and rebuts it in a scholarly and solid way. However, as the peon of the Maxwell Institute, I find it my responsiblity to complete the source checking, going through and making sure that every quote and page reference is correct. The book this one article is reviewing is quite nasty; part of me wants to take a break, refuel with Book of Mormon reading, and pick up my duties again tomorrow, but the other part of me wants to finish this source checking as soon as possible and never have to look at it again. It really is a nasty book, and thankfully, the article confronts it and reveals its many shortcomings and falsities; but I do wish that source checking weren't part of my job description today.

Before I go to class, I think I'll need to wash my hands. Today, editing really is hideous.

glimpse of a Thursday

Here's a quick glimpse of a Thursday. . . .

• I bought the books I need for my contemporary criticism class. Grand total for today: $109.50. For books for one class. One class. Thankfully I won't have to cough up any more money for books this semester.
• I went with Katie to turn in her graduate school application.
• I grabbed some donut gems and some one percent milk from the vending machines for breakfast before my literature and film class.
• I got to leave literature and film early because we just had to figure some stuff out for a group project; after we figured things out, we left!
• I read more of War and Peace for my Tolstoy class; we're reading War and Peace for the first two months of the semester! I'm looking forward to adding that read to my list of literary accomplishments.
• I hopped on over to the physics department to say hi to Emily and to borrow her meal plan: lunch from the Scoreboard Grill, courtesy of Dining-Plus-generous Emily.
• I went to my magazine editing class. We pretty much decided on a title for our magazine: Whisk. (We're making a cooking magazine--this ShamWow topic must wait for its own post, though.)
• I went to work where I proofread the typeset pages for the next issue of The FARMS Review. Check out this last issue of the Review:
  
  See any particularly awesome name in the acknowledgments? :)
  
  

In about an hour, I'll be headed back up to campus for orchestra, and then I'm going to the gym. This isn't a too exciting post; however, it is a part of the minutiae of my life, so there you have it.

last day of class

Thursday was my last day of class for the semester--YAY!!!! Here was my day:


Instant oatmeal, hot chocolate and scripture study.

Cleaning my computer from a campus-wide USB-transmitted virus.


Hideous editing at work.

Laundry--I hate laundry.

Emily's concert! She was awesome!

It was a good day :) Now I just have to get through finals, and I'll be home free. . . .

being a hideous intern

I can't believe it was already a couple of months ago that I left my job at the Physics Department and started interning at the Maxwell Institute. I think it's about time for an update on the intern situation.

I'm loving it! For about the first month or so, I wasn't too sure. I always planned on sticking out these two semesters, but for a while I was pretty frustrated. I felt like I didn't do things right, I would forget things all the time, and even though I'd do a pretty thorough proofread, my boss would always find stuff that I missed and that's what he pointed out. My boss would also bring up the last intern all the time as an example of what was awesome to do. I don't think that he meant to make me feel bad, because he mention once that he didn't bring up the other intern to make me feel bad, but she was just the most recent intern and therefore, the closest reference.

After the first four weeks or so, though, things definitely picked up. I feel like I'm definitely in a groove--I know what to do, I know how far to go on my proofing and editing, and my boss and I are friends, which always makes working easier and more fun.

I like what I do, and generally, I look forward to going to work. Sometimes I feel mentally drained after work, because my brain is basically working all day now that I can't watch TV during work hours. But I like it. I think that this will be a good leg up to other internships, and I feel that I'm getting great experience.

I love being a hideous intern!

crazy, crazy, crazy week: my first days as a hideous editorial intern

I can't believe it's Saturday again, and my week has been a flurry of school, work, and crammed socializing. It's been kind of a weird week, but a good one. I think I'm going to try a series of posts this weekend to sufficiently document my week, because it's been good. Just insanely crazy.

I started my new job!!!!!! First things, though, I had my last day at the physics department, which was, despite the craziness that job often entailed, sad for me. I love working at the physics department, and I love most of the people I work with. It was a bittersweet day. They had cake for me, I got a bonus, things ended well; but, it was sad to punch out of the physics department for the last time. I'm super super super excited for this hideous editing job, but leaving such a great job is hard.

I'll especially miss working with Emily. :( This is a SP of us on my last day. I meant to get a picture of Brooke and me, but I forgot. I am experiencing Brooke withdrawals--I'm so used to seeing her everyday.

Despite my glumness at leaving the physics department, I think I'm really going to like my new job!


I started on Thursday, and fortunately, I don't think my impression was an accurate one of how things will really be. My boss was gone (which I knew he would be), and so he just left some source checking for me to do--for four hours. I trekked to the library and spent hours in the dark recesses of the library, among the dusty tomes.

I didn't have any interaction with anyone, really, and so I was hoping that things won't normally be like that. Yesterday, my boss was here, and so I got a much better feel for what I'd be doing. I'll be getting a better initial training with all my responsibilities next week, but from what I gather, I proofread, source check, baseline edit (still not sure what that is), format, and do whatever hideous editing needs doing.

All that said, I hate first days at jobs: you don't know anybody, you don't where you're going, you don't know what you're doing. I'm looking forward to the time when this job won't be so new anymore.