I have been doing a lot of fun assignments lately for Photo Edit Inc. Most of the photos are for text books. One of the assignments I'm doing now is photos of small business owners for a college text called Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management. An assignments I have been working on for the past couple days has been the inside of toaster and microwave ovens for a college math book. Before I left Andrew and Maris's place I went to photograph the inside of their microwave and found warmed asparagus. A forgotten part of an already eaten dinner.
My friend M.E. Sprengelmeyer gets a thumbs-up review from a passer-by who has just sat through Michael Moore's new film Fahrenheit 911. Even though I had drank my entire slush and ate my box on Raisinettes just waiting in line, I thought the movie was great. I wish I could have participated in the making of it. In a way I did. My friend Sprengelmeyer also had a hand in reporting from both Afghanistan and Iraq for Scripps Howard News Service. We both liked the movie a lot. I was impressed by Michael Moore and not annoyed by his monolog. I thought it was better than Bowling for Columbine from an entertainment standpoint. My friend Sprengelmeyer might disagree with me. He was also a reporter for the Denver Rocky Mountain News during the Columbine incident.
This is my friend Andrew's xylephone. This is a mallet from France.
This is the toaster oven at Swing's Coffee Shop. It's suppose to be toasty this weekend, low-80s. I guess that's not actually toasty for DC. It could be toasty somewhere else in the low-80s. Somewhere like Phoenix or Reno, some place sunny and arid.
My sister Patti and my niece Carol started their drive back to Florida today. This is Carol taking a break at the final stop on our three-day tour of DC, St Matthew's Cathedral. Carol has been limping around all day, probably a stress injury. Neither Patti nor Carol had any further desire to visit St Matthew's Cathedral after their tiring stay. However, I had placed St Matthew's on the list at request yesterday, and it had to be the end of their vacation here ... for some reason. The cathedral was, of course, closed. We stayed on the steps for a few minutes, and then headed to the bus stop. I need some rest too.
Walking around touring DC takes a lot of work. Being a tourist takes a lot of work. My niece's feet hurt and my sister developed possible shin splints over the past few days of walking around. Today we took the car everywhere. The majority of our up-hill walking was done when we went to go see the animals sleeping at the National Zoo. One of the pandas was actually passed out in a tree. After the National Cathedral, The Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, and the FDR and Jefferson Memorials we headed to get a close-up look at the Capitol. On the way back we were tailed by the Weinermobile. I hopped out at the red light and gave them my card. Now all I have to do is sit back and wait for the free hot dogs to start rolling in!
Photo #2
I took this photo at the zoo.
Today was another perfect vacation day in DC, warm humid weather and a torrential downpour. My sister Patti, my niece Carol and I went to see the Woman's Memorial, JFK's Eternal Flame, and The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, all at Arlington National Cemetery. Luckily the downpour didn't start until we were back on the Cemetery's Tourmobile. The Tourmobile attendants pulled clear plastic screens down to protect its cargo of tourists from the rain, but the storm was too much. It showered in every place possible, half-soaking everyone. No one got off at the following stop because everyone wanted to get back to the Visitors' Center. When the attendant at the Visitors' Center opened the gate on the side of the Tourmobile it must have looked like the start of a very wet horse race. Women and children, men and retirees, were all running with maps and pamphlets over their heads for the crowded overhang of the Visitors' Center. The stampede turned up a casualty. While running, Patti dropped her phone in a puddle. Carol, who was running along side her pointed, "Mom! There goes your phone!" And kept running. Before my sister could rescue it, it had been trampled by the soggy mob.
This is one of the many awesome photos I shot today with the help of the Humane Society of the United States. They have an very clean and organized mailroom. With great examples of internal, postal, and package mailing systems.
My sister Patti and my niece Carol came to visit from Florida today. Patti drove all the way, leaving at 4:30 this morning. When they arrived we went to Tunnicliff's Tavern, a good restaurant and on Capitol Hill. Then we walked around after dinner and saw the White House, the Washington Monument, the brand new WWII Memorial (where the card in the picture was placed), the Korean War Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Vietnam Wall and Memorial. It was a good walk for Father's Day. My sister, my niece, and me have all lost our fathers. My two older sisters and older brother lost their father on my birthday the year before I was born. My Dad died while I was in the Marine Corps stationed at Camp Lejeune, NC, but deployed on a two-month training exercise in California's Mojave Desert. My niece Carol lost her Dad when she was pretty young. I am her godfather though.
I covered a wedding at the Torpedo Factory in Old Town Alexandria last night. It is a large multi-level galleria of artists' workshops right on the waterfront. When I received the contract to cover the job over two months ago I made the important decision to freelance all summer. The wedding was great with many very interesting, happy, laughing, and dancing guests. Toward the end of the night, I finally gave into the bartender's drink offers which worked out better for everyone. I think I stuck around for an extra hour drinking "Rocket Fuel," talking, and taking photos.
Today'sWashington Times critique of the "slap-stick" comedy Dodge Ball was a lot nicer and more grandiose than the Washington Post's disappointed review. I cut out the Times' banner photo of Ben Stiller who received as much coverage today as President Reagan did in last week's "Reagan Edition." Ben Stiller was on every page of the Times. Now he hangs in the bathroom closet of Swing's Coffee Shop, a neo-cultural symbol of some lay-out designer's spiritual expression, a less-traditional, less-obvious hex. I have become over-entertained and forget that there might be something more important, so I am boycotting the entertainment industry.
