May and June Update

The past few months have been a complete and utter blur. I suppose the biggest reason for this is the fact that my thesis was due (for once and for all) on June 10th. Eeek! So May especially saw many, many revisions. But! I'm quite pleased to announce that my thesis - "Tacoma's African American Community: A History" - was successfully submitted and, even more importantly, accepted! Yay! For those of you who are especially interested, you're welcome to read it here.

I have to admit, since submitting it, I've startled awake a number of times thinking about what section I'd revise that day... only to remember, shamefacedly, that oh, yeah, it's done. But of course the phrase "it's done" is somewhat misleading - I certainly plan on continuing to research and write about Tacoma's African American community, as well as more generally, Puget Sound/Pierce County history for years to come. In the immediate future that means conducting new a oral history interview every other month or so and writing a few articles for possible submission in various academic journals, etc. I also plan on staying in touch with Dr. Honey and the Washington State History Museum and various other local historians and societies and making continual pilgrimages to the Northwest Reading Room. I just can't help myself, I'm afraid.

I skipped UWT's graduation ceremony, opting to just participate in my department's hooding ceremony. It worked out perfectly - hooding was intimate and personal and very special. And then we (my family) went home and had apple cobbler and I opened, among other presents, a set of Laura Ingalls Wilder "Little House on the Prairie" books. I can certainly attribute part of my love of reading and of history from my childhood immersion in those books (regardless of whatever else can be said about them). All in all, it was a very sweet celebration.

As wonderful as my experience at UWT was, and as much as I loved being absorbed in my thesis, the last few months especially have been all-consuming in regards to school and as such, I've put off lots of other things. So the rest of June has been a "catch up" month for me. It's been overwhelming, but also enjoyable and productive. I've been able to spend time with a number of people and check off a growing number of tasks with all of my post-graduation "free time".

That includes lots of wedding planning and the execution of said plans, as well as the process of officially obtaining our first house. Yay! We'll have to save those photos and details for later, though, so you'll have to check back in a few days. Or weeks.