This is Will, Shauna, and Solomon just before they started mingling at the final Corcoran fine arts photography show of the year. I used my off-camera flash to illuminate the subjects and I hoped I would still capture the golden light of the sun. I love using my off camera flash. Nice sneakers Shauna.
I took this shot of my friend Lars with off-camera flash, using a flash cord I received in the mail today. I think it looks a little biblical. Well it looks about as biblical as the paintings Lars is doing for a Christian art show. He showed me a painting of a half-nude woman eating breakfast in bed. "If you read into it, it could be Christian," Lars said. I was surprised to hear him tell me he was entering paintings in a Christian art show. He's just not a real religious person, more spiritual ... you know what I mean. It's just that we hang out around the White House neighborhood and Christians have been getting a bad name around here from that George "W" guy. "I just want to get one of those under my belt," he said. "One of what," I asked. He was talking about the art show as if it were a notch in the Christian belt. Odd.
Some Ultimate Frisbee players do calisthenics in the Ellipse, the park between the Washington Monument and the White House. The team that was practicing was George Washington University's Hungry Hippos. They recently flew to Southern California to compete against teams from all over the United States. I even did my taxes today.
I was taking a shortcut through an alley by H St today and saw foam dropping to the ground. I looked up and there was a team of window washers rappelling down the building. I am afraid of heights but if I ever had the opportunity to wash windows on a tall building on a nice day I'd take it.
Ever since the recent uncovering of the "neglected animal problem" at the National Zoological Park and the resignation of the Zoo's president, I have considered it my duty to walk past and check up on the animals. Plus I like going to the zoo, it's only three blocks away. When I got there today I needed a coffee because it was a little colder than I thought. I decided to get a hamburger and fries too. I carried them around with me for a while until I got to the tiger. He was hungry too. I could tell because he was pacing by the zoo keeper door. I decided to eat my hamburger there, watching the tiger. I didn't want to spend too long there so I ate my fries on the way to the elephants and camels. The camel's hair and face reminded me of our sixteenth president Abraham Lincoln.
This is Shanon. She used to take classes at the Corcoran. She stopped by the school today to see her friend Arianne. A friend she hadn't talked to for a while. Arianne wasn't there so I told her I would take a picture of her saying hi to her absent friend.
Lighting Pane
If there is a reference to pain and not pane in this photo it is merely coincidental. Shanon asked me how things were going. By that I assumed she meant still spending all of my time in school at our very small campus. I was thinking that lately my life is reminding me of the movie Groundhog Day. It seems like I have Bill Murray's curse of waking up day after day in the same monotony. I never really got to answer that question before she revealed that her afro was now a wig. Surprising because it wasn't pseudo before. She said her mom thinks it is a little strange that her daughter is only 20 years old and wearing a wig. I was talking to my mom on the phone a few days ago about how I remembered her wearing wigs sometimes when I was a kid.
This is Donald. I snuck up on him while he was walking down the sidewalk during his lunch break. He works at the Corcoran Gallery in the receiving room. He said, "I didn't even know who you were with that camera in front of your face."
One Good Show Deserves Another
The best thing about this time of year is the art openings at the Corcoran. The only thing that makes Thursdays better than the art openings is if there is a good band in town too. The opening becomes a sophisticated pre-party. Joan of Arc, Love of Everything, and Make Believe played a great set tonight. The only thing better than that ... when the good band that's in town plays the Backstage at the Black Cat (bargain). Wwwwooooo!
The gas company has been replacing the gas lines on Kilbourne St for about a week now. I asked one of the guys in the ditch how long it would take. He said possibly two more months until completion. I hope they don't work on the weekends.
Cab Driver Recalls Stabbing
This is Yasu. He is a D.C. cab driver and native of Ethiopia. He asked me how I liked living in Mt. Pleasant. "It's cool," I said. "Of course there's a lot of little punks running around." After I said that he went into the story of how a few weeks ago three guys got in his cab and took his money. Then the guy in the front seat stabbed him. He said he stepped on the gas and the man stopped his assault to put his foot on the brake. At that moment Yasu jumped from the cab. The three drove the cab away but they were caught and the cab was retrieved a short time later. He said the two in the back seat were only in high school. The man who did the stabbing is being charged with a federal offense, armed auto theft.
It's a little harder than I thought it would be, taking a picture of the moon. Tonight it had rings around it. My neighbor Spencer said that the rings are caused by moisture in the air. He said it's probably going to rain tonight. I bet he's probably right.
Jenn DePalma eats a sweet orange bell pepper or capsicum during an early morning class break. She said she likes these sweet peppers for their flavor. However, she may not know that raw bell peppers are much easier to digest when skinned, and cup for cup bell peppers have three times as much vitamin C as citrus fruit. Raw bell peppers are only 40 calories, but I prefer them stuffed with meat and rice.
