about
Tuesday 1 January 2008
:: me :: the short bit ::
Born in Phoenix, AZ - living in Liverpool, UK - working in Egypt - doing a PhD - loving books - loving crochet - obsessing over lists! (my listography)
:: me :: the long bit ::
I'm constantly distracted by the world around me and I try desperately to find focus in the things that I love. I love to read, always have. I have recently begun to redefine my reading by paying attention to the many classics, those sturdy cornerstones of literature as well as new ground breaking authors. But I also love to dive into a good popular book (Amelia Peabody, Anita Blake, Betsy Taylor - vampire queen).
I love to be crafty and creative. I try to be good at both, sometimes I succeed other times I can never quite match the finished product with what I had originally imagined. Creativity however, got me through many projects in my school career. I miss that now as a grad student, there isn't much room for creativity when writing a thesis, no need to arrange soundtracks, create costumes, make posters... I love to crochet, I espcially love making afghans and giving them to friends and family. I really want to learn to knit (I keep saying this) because the clothes are so much prettier and form fitting. I can do the knit stitch and purl a bit but I have a problem with tension. I need a teacher!
I love Egypt! Most Egyptologists try to beat one another by coming up with the earliest date of childhood that they first realized they were going to become an Egyptologist. Well I could lie and say it was the womb but really it was more like 8 or 9 years old. Truly. I know for sure that when I was 9 the $20 my grandma gave me for Christmas was not spent on the latest Barbie, it was spent at Borders to purchase two of Wallis Budge's books (dear me I didn't know at that time that his work was so outdated): The Book of the Dead and Easy Lessons in Egyptian Hieroglyphics (cringe I had yet to learn the constant misuse of the word hieroglyphics). I also remember playing Egypt in our side yard where nothing green grew so it was the perfect place to mummify Barbies and bury them. My love for Egypt flourished and to this day I am still working towards the goal of being an Egyptologist.
I received a BA in Anthropology with a minor in French from The University of Arizona and a MA in Egyptology from The University of Liverpool. I am currently working on my PhD in Egyptology at Liverpool however, after a necessary change to my research project I have decided that it would be in my best interest to finish my degree back at the University of Arizona. Unfortunately this decision was made after the application deadline which means I will not be able to transfer until fall of 2009 so I will continue to do research here in Liverpool until the end of summer and then return home to work for a year (got all those credit cards to make a dent in). By transfering my degree will have to be a PhD in Anthropology with an archaeological focus, I will probably minor in GIS and I may simultaneously do a MA in Classics but we'll see.
I am very fortunate to be a team member of The University of Arizona Egyptian Expedition. I began working with the team in 2005 and soon after took over as the Assistant Director of Archaeological Mapping and Surveying. We are currently excavating the memorial temple of Tausert on the west bank of Luxor. My responsibilities include running a total station and recording points and major artifacts on site which I later input into AutoCAD to draw a 3D map of the temple. I have also helped in the supervision of open units. Working on the temple has piqued my interest in the development of the memorial temples on the west bank and this is what I have chosen to research for my thesis. Having access to new data from the field has been exceptionally useful and will help me visualize what methods were used in the temple preparation at or below surface level. This and many other opportunities with the Expedition and being able to have my work supervised by the director were major factors in my choice to return to Arizona. *Please note that I cannot divulge any information about the UAEE and its work prior to publication. And I cannot help you or anyone else get a position on the team. Please visit our website for more information.
:: blog ::
This is actually my third blog. I first began blogging in September of 2004 when I moved to Liverpool the first time. I used it as a type of journal to keep folks back home up to date with what I was up to as well as to share all the neat photos I had taken. After leaving Liverpool a year later I kept the blog going until the end of 2006. After receiving a rude comment that I was sure came from someone I knew, I changed my blog address in an act of paranoia. Eventually I got bored with this new blog and in January 2008 I decided to completely start over with yet another new address, a new style and to talk more about the books I read. I still talk about life, school and share photos but now I don't really care who reads my blog. I've never posted anything I would be embarassed for people I know to read but I do moderate my comments because people can be such jerks. *Previous blogs are no longer available online.
Labels: life
posted by Ashleigh @ 00:00,
1 Comments:
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At 23 April 2008 at 11:56,
Susan Johnston Hamrick said...
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Here in Atlanta,if it was 63 we would have on a turtle neck! It is about what you are used to. Enjoyed reading your blog!
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