I went to the civil wedding ceremony of Jury and Natalia at the Montgomery County Courthouse this morning. There were many different parties there, some waiting to pick up their marriage certificates, but most to have their wedding ceremonies performed. It was really bureaucratic. Everyone still goes through the metal detector at the courthouse entrance. Brides and grooms take a number and wait in line.. . .
Natalia and Chris sit outside the back entrance of the Corcoran Gallery. Chris, who is using a trash can as a pinhole camera, proves that the bigger camera always gets the girl.
I walked down to the National Mall today to see what was left of the big Sept. 24th anti-war march. They were doing a lot of cleaning up. There are more demonstrations scheduled for tomorrow. I met a Vets For Peace member named Mike from Connecticut. Then I was taking a picture of a ball in a field and another Vet For Peace from Connecticut, named Mike, introduced himself. It had me wondering where I was from.. . .
Congratulations Renee and Rodney on a wonderful beginning of the rest of your lives.
I just happened to be mailing a bill near the White House when Cindy Sheehan's caravan pulled up. If you've forgotten who she is -- the outraged mother who lost her son, a Marine, in Iraq. Instead of sitting at home grieving, she hit the road to Crawford, Tx. to confront President Bush and question him about a war it seems most of the U.S. doesn't agree with. Usually when I'm asked about Sheehan I say that she is bringing attention to something that needs attention brought to it. But having been a Marine I also understand that when you sign on the dotted line, you may end up giving the ultimate sacrifice. A couple months ago I told my 71-year-old, cancer-fighting mom this. Mom didn't agree, "If you would have died over there [in Afghanistan] I would have killed someone!"
This is a friend, Mike Esposito. An artist that I go to school with here in DC. Way back in high school in Illinois I met my first friend by that name. Of couse we called him Mickey (and we still do).
I was invited to Rockville by my new friend Charlie to document the ordination of four deacons at a congregation of Messianic Jews. Messianic Jews believe that Jesus is the Messiah (similar to Christians). I was also able to witness a renewal of wedding vows, celebrating the couple's 10-year annivarsary. I even saw one of my classmates.
I went to eat with a bunch of my classmates. The Chinese place was closing so they gave us our stuff to go. However, we commandeered a table and managed to eat from out take-out bags before they locked the doors. Fortune Cookie- Wise man cools food in mouth for optimum consumption.
On the way home tonight I stopped at the Safeway on Corcoran St. I remembered I needed some toilet paper and paper towels. At the checkout the cashier set my two bags on the counter. I asked her if she could put my paper items in the bag too. "We don't have bags that big," she said. I stood there for a second and said, almost without thinking, "Can I use one of these carts?" She had one of the bag boys unlock the electronic wheel on the computerized cart and I wheeled it about 3/4 a mile up 16th St NW, and home. People avoid eye contact with you when you're pushing a shopping cart down the sidewalk. Thank you Safeway! Whole Foods would never do that. (p.s. i'll return it friday)
To relieve some stress and blow off some hypothetical and actual steam I decided to take a welding class for metal sculpture this semester. Our instructor Clay shows the ideal acetylene flame before adding oxygen to the mixture. This class is will definitely be a release for me, and a break from my normal classes. However, I didn't realize how tired I would be after a 5-hour welding session in the basement of the Corcoran Gallery.
Dave is selling an old Canon AE something.
This is Meridian Hill, where I live. It's up 16th St NW.
Me, Matt, Maris, and my three friends Andrew took off for RFK Stadium Sunday afternoon, to watch the Nationals spread the "PHILADELPHIA CREAM CHEESERS" a.k.a. the Phillies all over the field. The Nationals played superbly; Philadelphia played like a "runny CHEESE STEAK, running down my arm." Those "cheesey losers."
"Back of the bus, Back of the bus," the crowd control agents at the Conner Gallery smash everyone in to compensate for their lack of space. They know just how to treat people there. They harass me for a press credential and I never even intended to take the leather cap of my wide-angle lens. I guess you need to be a licensed artist in their pretentious space. I left yelling obscenities.
Cutting my hair in an attempt to change my identity. Legs today, arms tomorrow.
