All I can say is, I'm thankful to be inside in this heat than out!
Was going to wax rhapsodic today about an internal MENC novelty, "The Red Book", but will leave that until my next entry....because.....everything has come to a stop for about 20 -25 MENC staff here (which is 1/3 the work force, so it's actually leaving larger ripples behind amongst the rest of the staff....) .....asked to pack up their offices by Friday....no, we're not being let go.....( thankfully!) - just being shifted around to new offices.
While this may not seem like such a seismic occurance, trust me, it becomes one as people who have grown fond of/attached to their cubicles, windows, offices or floor mates suddenly are faced with the reality of CHANGE!! New kitchens to get used to! New walking patterns to establish! New "figure out how it works up/down here" behaviors! Due to shifts in MENC's strategic priorities, personnel are being moved to better facilitate the work effort.
MENC goes through this kind of physical gymnastic every three or four years, it seems! Fellow Blogger, EWL, in her 16 years at MENC, has moved offices something like 7 times! No, Dr. M doesn't get a kick out of playing musical chairs with staff, and you can be SURE our IT department (phones, computers, desks, files, etc.) and mailroom guys aren't jumping for joy each time they are asked to help make these moves happen....no, internal moves are made with solid consideration and rationale, to reflect changing priorities in projects and work, and to prepare for the next stage of the organization's life.
I myself have moved offices three times in 8 years....was on the third floor, facing the front of the building where I felt like I was in a pink cloud each March/April when the cherry trees bloomed outside my window.....then, down to the basement, or first floor, where I was tucked into a hillside overlooking the greeny cool forest behind MENC, where deer and hawk and other creatures played.....finally, about three or four years back, moved up to the 2nd,or ground level main floor, right outside MB's busy Grand Central Station office. I'm grateful to have a view of the woods, although it's not the experience of being IN the woods as it was on the basement level....however, now I get some visitors of birds of all sorts, cardinals who sit on the windowsill, pecking at their reflection, flickers doing the same....spoiled, ain't I?
But, when I left the basement, I also left behind FILES!! Miles of files. MENC's repository of INFORMATION on all topics music ed related!!! The incredible folks who headed this department before my arrival in 1999 kept thorough and wonderful files of surveys, articles, publications on all nature of music ed topics. In my 8 years here, the files have grown, and now, I must cull them and put them out to pasture into the storeroom, or MENC archives, as where they lived is now being turned into someone else's "living" area (new cubicle for CA!).
Going through these files...oh, the memories!! The past projects worked on ! The past importance of that data or memo! Memories flood....some gems found, others trashed....and always, the consoling mantra "It's on the web now, let the paper copy go...it's on the web now...let the paper copy go!" .....but my pack rat mind and treasure hunter's mentality calls back, "But what if some grad student or professor, years from now, decides to do a history of the development of advocacy literature? or the earliest Brain research studies? or the SMPE, or Manhattan Curriculum project?" Hard to let these things go......luckily, MENC has an archive at the University of Maryland, Performing arts college,where I'm hoping a lot of these files will end up. CLICK HERE and then scroll down the page to see the link to the MENC repository.
I add a few articles for your reading pleasure, and recommend one website in particular, which I highlighted in my very first blog, I believe. Check this blog out for always interesting and stimulating conversation/discussion and helpful knowledge!
Hungarian violinist Joseph Joachim, some call him the most important fiddle player of the 19th century; Aug. 15 will mark the 100th anniversary of his death.
Art for arts sake, new book
NSO earbud experiment!
Rock n Roll at Reunion
WATER COOLER: We sure were thirsty this week!
See you next week! SR
