Tag Archives: jobs

Jun22

uniform.

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 central casting must have had a hand

in a scene on our neighborhood street today. 

while waiting at the corner for the light to change

a mail carrier in his blues came by riding a bike

a doctor in scrubs walked across the street on her way home from the hospital

 a construction worker in a bright neon vest held the sign for ‘stop’ and ‘slow’

all crossing paths

all in uniform

I have to admit that I felt a bit left out and underdressed

in sandals and comfy clothes

although I suppose I was in a uniform too

that of a teacher on summer break.

 

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“I always had a sense that clothes, be it uniform or vintage,

could help to create a character.”

-collier schoor

 

 

 

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 book credits: naomi kleinberg, author – joseph mathieu, illustrator, google books, sesame street

Jan25

cold calling.

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Would You Live in an Antarctic Penguin Post Office?
Applications soar at post office in Port Lockroy, Antarctica

 

Job location: A soccer field-sized island in Port Lockroy, Antarctica.

Job duties: Process 700,000 pieces of mail, teach 18,000 cruise ship visitors and monitor 2,000 stinky penguins in less-than-ideal conditions.

Sound like a dream job? If so, you’re not the only one—officials at the U.K. Antarctic Heritage Trust say that they’ve received over 1,500 applications for a job at the “Penguin Post Office,” up from just 82 last year.
The BBC reports that the post office on Goudier Island has “comfortable” living conditions, but the lodgings aren’t exactly hotel-quality. With no power grid, heat or hot water, limited communications and 24-hour daylight, applicants must be willing to withstand harsh Antarctic conditions to apply. In return, they will receive a $1700 per month stipend and spend the summer as the stewards of the island’s thousands of gentoo penguins.

For over a decade, the island has been home to a wildlife study aimed at collecting environmental data about how humans impact penguin populations. But though the island is popular with cruise ship visitors, it’s carefully regulated to protect the penguins, and the entire eastern half of the tiny island is off-limits even to post office protectors.

  When this year’s four winning applicants take possession of the island from November through March, they’ll take their place alongside the 4,000 scientists who study in Antarctica throughout the summer.

 

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credits: smithsonian.com, eric blakemore, bbc, pbs

Mar30

carpe twittum – (‘seize the tweet’)

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    in what must be one of the most unusual jobs ever, michigan monsignor daniel gallagher, translates pope francis’ spanish tweets into latin, for the more than 230,000 people who follow his twitter feed in that classic language. he is the only american among seven specialists in ‘the office of latin letters at the vatican secretary of state.’ 

gallagher attended the university of michigan, (my alma mater, where we did not cross paths), and studied the sciences, graduating with a microbiology degree. while here, he also took a few latin classes and considered going into medicine, but after graduation, he went in another direction completely and entered the seminary. this led him to rome, (‘all roads lead to rome?’), where he went to study latin and eventually began working in the vatican offices translating latin documents into english.

with the recent onset of the papal step into social media, his new job was created, and it’s clear he loves it. he averages about 4 papal tweets/translations a week and says, ‘it’s a language that transcends cultures and nations, and so many people, especially young people, still crave latin, because it is so much fun. the popularity of the pope’s latin twitter account shows that latin is far from dead.’ (now, how many people can say that?)

gallagher says the learning curve is quite long, with no turnover, and therefore expects it to be a lifelong thing, though he serves at the will of the pope. pope francis stops by his office and invites him to mass occasionally, and he finds him to be quite humble and pleasant.

the pope now has almost 12 million twitter followers.

his latin twitter handle is: @Pontifex_In

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all of this has me wondering. i wonder if his mother is disappointed that he didn’t become a doctor? i wonder if he has any connections, and can help our UM wolverines pull off a big win in march madness? i wonder how he sees latin as ‘fun’?’ why are a quarter of a million people choosing to read twitter in latin?’ as a former childhood catholic, am i going to be hit by lightning for wondering these things? just some of the deep questions i now have. and if i spoke latin, could i tweet him to ask for answers?.

Quidquid latine dictum, altum videtur.
Translation: “Whatever is said in Latin seems profound.”
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credits: detroitfreepress.com, npr.org,
latin quote credit: Strauss, Emanuel (1994). Dictionary of European proverbs Routledge. p. 965. ISBN 0415096243.
 title/faux latin translation credit: me