After hours of working in the fine arts studio today my friend mike suggested getting a bite to eat. We both had the unnatural urge to go to McDonald's to get a hamburger. When realizing that it was because we were listening to a McDonald's radio commercial, we both felt mentally violated like lab rats reacting to a formula. We opted for Burger King instead. Eating our hamburgers from the 2nd story window we watched the Burger King manager chase a vagrant from the store with a sawed-off mop stick. I said, "Burger King tastes worse than McDonald's." Mike agreed.
This is my old friend Karl. He was in the area for some Marine Corps training. He is a registered Democrat. I told Karl of my recent realization that the majority of the military is Republican. I concluded that if more Democrats enlisted they would have more of a say to what the military does.
Deep in the bowels of every art school there are almost always shops for carving stone and wood, and welding metal. This small sculpture class called "Light, Sound, and Motion" has enrolled at least three photographers.
I saw this four-car accident at 17th and Constitution NW between my classes today. I ran a few blocks to get there and snap some shots before it disappeared. I asked the salvage truck driver if I could hop on the truck for elevation. The police officer didn't hear me ask permission.
Tonight was my first color photography class with instructor Kim Kirkpatrick. We looked at some slides of examples for our first assignment tonight. I am sure this class will help me with my own digital photography.
For the most part fine art photographers seem to think about taking different pictures in different ways than most photojournalists. These are all fine art photography students in the hall at the Corcoran. The ability to use unadulterated creativity is their advantage over photojournalism students.
Some people put shoes on their dog's feet when it snows. I saw this dog leading his owner up 16th St near Meridian Hill Park.
Today I walked through the snow to the Corcoran Gallery to see the "Common Grounds" exhibit for the second time. The exhibit displays artwork spanning the last 150 years from communities around the world. I walked down to the WWII Memorial with my friend Don Starr to take some photos while there is snow. We tried walking across the reflecting pond by the Declaration of Independence Memorial: walked home with frozen pant legs.
I spent 12 hours trying to get my computer to start up. Instead of having a fuzzy screen I had no screen.
I was happy that I finally had my first class of the semester three days after schedule. The harbinger of no class for the first couple days this semester was the inauguration ceremony.
Bar Pizza
Rick use to work at Swing's coffee shop. Today was his last day. So we carried out a ceremonial good bye. First we stopped at The Big Hunt, they only have 1 pool table -- next stop Kokopooli's.
Today I looked out my window down onto 16th St NW to see a parade of thousands of inauguration protestors parading down the center of the road. I grabbed something to eat and took a shower in time to catch up with the parade a few blocks down the street.
Good thing my class was canceled and I decided to go somewhere with a view. Also it was lucky I had my recently-purchased star filter attached.
Today I had the idea to purchase a used starburst filter. I got it at Pro Photo on "Eye" Street for the great price of $15. This photo reminds me of my birthday last year (early morning Jan 16) when I drank too many rum and Cokes and couldn't remember.
In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day I left my apartment and walked down to Lafayette Park aka "The Peoples' Park." The wind blew all the clouds away. The view of the White House was blocked by the Inauguration Booth and the Media Scaffold. The park grounds are covered with several different types of security fences.
Veteran of Non-Violent Protest
This is Concepcion or "Connie" feeding the animals that surround her throughout the day at Lafayette Park. She is originally from Northern Spain. She has been protesting the United States' (and the World's) use of Nuclear Weapons since the Reagan Administration. She has been here, outside the White House nearly every night since August 1981. The four-story media stand for the Presidential Inauguration can be seen behind her.
Today I thought I could get through a large part of Ulysses. Reading all day I only covered 70 pages and had to use Sparks Notes to understand what I was reading.
Today I turned on my television and all four of my channels were each in a different language. Then I discovered that my cable had been turned on. This must be the work of the devil. To retaliate against the evil of my television I'm going to read as much of James Joyce's Ulysses as possible. This book was banned in the United States before 1934, which had nothing to do with my initial desire to read it.
This is the International Monetary Fund's new building at 1900 Pennsylvania Ave NW. While I was searching the internet for information on this building I found a page of interesting information containing the building's value and tax assessment.
Yesterday the government decided to foot the bill to pay the DC Metropolitan Police Department out of Homeland Security funds instead of making the tax payer of the District of Columbia pay the bill. Here is a picture of the Old Executive Office Building or Eisenhower Office Building decorated for the inaugural ceremony. This is a great building but it wouldn't be very comfortable in downtown Washington in the middle of the summer. If you could zoom out you would see that every other window has an air conditioning unit.
I turned on the television earlier today and to my surprise it was another live feed from President Bush. He is making a lot of appearances his second term. He was at a Falls Church, Va., school speaking at a ceremony commemorating the second anniversary of the Department of Education's "No Child Left Behind" act. Of course different reports say very different things. It would seem that the most powerful country in the World could produce better schools to create more well-educated students. What would it mean if Americans concerned with education no longer had to move to a better school district?
It may be obvious that this photo was not taken through a microscope, it is a bird nest. When I took a closer look at the nest I noticed the birds had woven a lot of plastic into their home. I wouldn't like to live in a plastic bag (like a vagrant), but I would like to take pictures through a microscope.
I remember doing some funny things when I was younger. In high school I would give my friends a ride home. At times, I would circle their house again and again singing "Take the long way home!" Until they threatened to jump from my vehicle at the next pass. A couple times I let people jump but then realized it was dangerous. Tonight instead of taking the Metro train home from Capitol Hill, I walked. It took me 90 minutes.
Pasta, tomatoes, peppers, garlic, oregano, basil, chili powder, chicken, and olive oil.
I shave for the same reason everyone does, or the same reason that every has been since the 4th Century BC - routine. Alexander the Great ordered that all his soldiers shave their beard so no one would grab them during fighting. After that it became the fashion and a sign of civality. Recently, during WWI, our own military began the regulation of men shaving their beards in order that their gas masks have an airtight fit.
I went to The Big Hunt with my friends Andrew and Maris. The best reason I like going to The Big Hunt (aside from the hot wings) is for the atmosphere. The place is decorated like some kind of fictional expedition. The room we were sitting in was a ribcage with mining lights hanging in it. But there are three different floors, even a patio. It is strange to see a wanderer walk by your table and bump their head on a replica mining lamp looking for the bathroom. It's surreal to see three tourists in winter coats pass by single file, like they're holding a safety line while looking for the basement. And with all the smoke and yelling I imagined it to be like drinking in a mine shaft.
When I got off the bus at Lafayette Park today Jesse Jackson was there praying right outside the White House with citizens organized to demonstrate against Ohio and other states' irregular vote count. After the prayer, hundreds of protestors marched down Pennsylvania Ave. through the cold and misty rain to the Capitol Building. The participants demonstration featured prominent activists, speakers, and protest music outside the Capitol to mark the historic[?] event in which Democrats interrupted the vote count and forced a House and Senate discussion on Ohio's irregularities. I am still not entirely sure what was particularly significant about the entire thing.
I saw one of my friends while I was walking home. Unfortunately she had just been in an auto accident. However, it was fortunate that she wasn't hurt and only a little shaken up. I myself have been in several accidents while driving in the rain. That's one of the reasons I no longer drive.
I am thankful I live in the age of refrigeration.
I saw these guys laying some traffic line today. It reminded me of those initiation-like jokes people play on newcomers. When I was a bus boy at an Italian restaurant in Pittsburgh the chefs sent me to the neighboring steak house for a "veal stretcher." Of course there was no such thing. One of the favorite jokes to play on newcomers when I worked at New River Air Station was to send them to get a spool of "flight line" and "chem light bulbs." My favorite administrative piece of tomfoolery -- getting newbies to retrieve their missing "ID 10 T" form.
I went to watch football with some people at my good friends Andrew and Maris's house. They are the first people I visited of the New Year. As usual we also played darts. Then me and Andrew recorded some improvised music. We made up a song about The Bum Isaac.
I haven't left my place yet this year. I had some friends stop by whom I hadn't seen in months. They were my first visitors of the year. This year I'm going to read more. As a result of that I am hoping to learn more.
