Thursday, February 24, 2011

I'm At Work and Have Nothing To Do...

... Well that's not completely true. I should probably  start reading "The Moonstone" by Wilkie Collins for my 19th Century British Novel Course, but that's not due until after Spring Break. The procrastinating college student in me smiles with glee while the I-must-get-everything-done-ahead-of-time personality that I have lived with my whole life is shuddering. But obviously not that much since I am here writing a blog to my 2 newly acquired followers (thanks guys for making me feel loved and like I am no longer talking to an empty void!).

Speaking of school - as some of you may know I am currently enrolled in American Literature to fulfill one of my major requirements and we recently finished reading excerpts from Harriet Jacobs' "Incident from the Life of a Slave Girl" (the title explains it all). At one point near the end of her book where a friend of Harriot's purchases her freedom she makes a comment about the receipt of sale and how "It may hereafter prove a useful document to antiquaries...future generations will learn from it that women were articles of traffic in New York, late in the nineteenth century of the Christian religion." What an interesting thing that she realized - a document about her would be and is now a historical artifact. It got me thinking about the future of my possessions - do I have anything "21st century" enough that it will be held onto by SOMEONE somewhere and changed into a historic artifact? My jewelry? My clothes? My homework assignments? My Coach heals of which I am so proud and keep in immaculate condition? Lord knows I have enough journals, scrapbooks, and various memorabilia to inform a whole historic society about the workings and events of my life (sad or impressive - you decide).

But then, who doesn't have this excess of memorabilia anymore? I mean just look at us - look at Facebook. Our entire LIVES are recorded for the world to see - I'm proving that very fact at this exact minute by informing you of my latest musings and how I don't feel like doing my reading assignments! If archaeologists of the future can just keep a contemporary Internet system afloat there will be TONS of information for them to research and utilize when 2011 becomes a time long past. In fact, archaeologists might soon be out of a job (and by soon I mean in like terms of the universe - rather than in terms of our lives) considering how exceedingly easy it will be to find information regarding a 21st century society and its various happenings.

Super weird to think about, right? I just hope that when some of my personal effects end up in a museum of 21st century America, the tour guides are able to pronounce my last name correctly since I won't be there to correct them.

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