semantics

This post will probably seem to be a continuation of the previous post... that continuity is somewhat unintentional but allows me to reiterate my mindset that remains today.

The other day, a fellow musicologist asked me casually after class, "so how are things at the library."

... we pause now for 3 asides
Aside number 1: this musicologist has always felt an inherit battle between she and I, one that I did not ever realize until she lamented that I always "won." So when she took the "high road" by continuing full-time phd work and teaching, I'm sure she felt that she had surpassed me in our little musicological world.
Aside number 2: I try not to hierarch-ize things, but I'd like to think that what I do here is more akin to museum work than librarian duties. I'm not providing books to the masses; I'm cultivating rare materials for researchers/interested parties. Now this musicolgist was briefly a music librarian. So perhaps that was her linguistic tendency-- to ask how things were at the library. It's a small semantic thing, but the way she spoke it was a bit derogatory. As if what I'm doing must be awful and I must be really upset. Case in point: her reaction.
Aside number 3: My guess is that in asking this she was trying to put aside number 1 and 2 together. She has surpassed me and is "more" of a scholar than I am. She thus wants to ask me how things are in my little library job in order to compare our life choices: mine versus her stressful, juggle three jobs/still full time phd world. [Perhaps I over analyzed a small casual statement. But for the purposes of this blog post, I'm making it a question a true case of semantics: studying the meaning of it all.] 
... end of asides

My upbeat response: "Today has been great. I've been my boss' research assistant practically all week. He brought in this collection to assist him with his dissertation topic. So we've been digging through boxes, uncovering a lost singing school tradition that happened in this area in the 1930s. We're piecing together the history artifact by artifact."
Her response, "Oh. Neat."
End of conversation.

I think it surprises people that I get to do musicological work on a daily basis, while at the same time learning preservation techniques, uncovering new nooks & crannies of musical history, and teaching my student workers random musical knowledge. Oh and I'm getting paid to do so. I think if you're looking for a low stress but rewarding job, I don't know if you can find a better one. Especially if you're a historic preservationist nut like I am. True, I'm still not creating the scholarly tomes I once churned out daily. But at least I am not in a job that makes me forget the techniques I've developed completely.
This week still holds more digging, perhaps almost more enjoyable digging at that. We're going through the 6 boxes of photographs hoping captions and iconographic study can answer more questions raised about this gospel music groups/singing school education/early radio entertainment tradition.

And in a couple of months, I'll be out in the field  (and in a town very close to my hometown at that!) trying to piece together yet another musical tradition of this area: conducting oral history interviews, soliciting memorabilia, and visiting landmark sites.
This may not have been my initial intention when singing up for graduate school, and the world of musicology, and it may not pay quite as well as a full-time tenure track teaching position would possibly bring me in 5 years time. But it is quite enjoyable nevertheless. As the farmer said to Babe, "that'll do.... that'll do."