There's always something to eat if you have bacon.
I signed a freelance contract with Getty Images today. To celebrate I went to a show at the Black Cat to drink beer and yell all night with some friends. By the time Lungfish, the main performance, came on the set I was no longer in the state of mind needed to judge music. I always have fun at the Black Cat.
I know there's a really good quote about knowing the state of the people of a country by the writing on the walls. I visited some foreign ports while I was in the Marine Corps. A lot of the time the locals would make big signs on the walls entering the city from the port, "Go Home Americans" and "@#* the U.S." Of course it seemed to us the very same people loved to service us, and take our money. Certain vendors would even come on the ship and sell us gold, watches, blankets and whatever. This made me ask myself, "Is there really anything wrong with our mayor" when I saw this display. A minute of internet research told me he was a respectable mayor. Maybe we should try an Athenian Democracy instead of this Democratic Republic we've been living in.
If you want to read the 7 ... now 8 strangest pages on the internet that have no real relationship other than that they contain the words washing windows in the rain, then google "washing windows in the rain."
Richard C. Holbrooke discussed ways to "end ethnic conflict, expand humanitarian access, and increase the role of the African Union," Tuesday afternoon at the Brookings Institution. He was part of a panel of speakers which also included Sen. Jon S. Corzine (D-NJ), and Brookings' Project on Internal Displacement Co-Directors Roberta Cohen and Francis M. Deng. I really wish my favorite activist Danny Glover could have made it. The down-to-earth Hollywood star was arrested less than two weeks ago for protesting in front of the Sudanese Embassy.
Now that I am teaching photojournalism two or three days a week at Sandy Springs Friends School outside of DC, I will be riding the bus from the school to the Metro train station. Pearl is my bus driver. She's not only the bus driver; she is the guardian on the ride home. Two teachers got on the bus to check off a list of students who should have been riding. Questions arose about missing students and soccer practice. The children kept talking. As soon as Pearl started asking question the students were quiet. "When two adults are on the bus asking questions you have to be quiet and listen," instructed Pearl. We pulled away from the school with the soccer kids accounted for, the bus remained quiet.
Today I invited some friends out to eat with my niece and mom. Our plans digressed from Italian to Greek to Chinese. Finally, we ended up at Young Chow's 312 Pennsylvania Ave SE. I always have a good time talking and eating, but it felt a little surreal with my mom and my friends at the same table. They got to know my mom a little and my mom got to know them. Casey Smith, my former professor, even told my mom I was a good student in his class. Becky talked about charismatic baby squirrels. I talked about nursing baby rabbits with an eye drop bottle. Andrew talked about the niceties of living in Capitol Hill. Maris, about France. My mom, about being in DC fifty years ago. We all walk away with only one burning question ... what is the difference between Orange and General Tso's Chicken?
I went to see an improv comedy act at the District of Columbia Arts Center on 18th NW, in Adams-Morgan. The troupe that played tonight was known as Jackie's Pronto; when I laughed beer came out of my nose. It was a unique experience because I had met a few of the players before but never knew they acted. Because I was introduced to them by my smart friend Matt I took them for strictly scholars. If you haven't taken in a show go now while it's inexpensive ... once they've broken a certain amount of legs (theatre talk for performing) expect to pay Broadway prices. Either that or they'll move to the crowded improv neighborhoods of Manhattan, where there's so many actors I forgot to laugh.
My niece Becky has been getting cabin fever in my apartment since she came up here from Florida with my mom to escape the hurricanes. She wanted to get out and go have a drink somewhere in DC. I took her to a few bars. First we walked down to the Xchange at 17th and G Sts NW. After there we stopped by my friend Don's in Washington Circle, Lulu's on 20th, and the Brickskeller at 22nd and P (over 1,000 beers available). I also took her to my new favorite joint in DC, the Big Hunt on Connecticut just south of DuPont ... this place has never been so friendly to me until recently (best hot wings). Finally, we stopped off at Kramer's Books to get a last drink and check our email at the bar. For your knowledge Kramer's is not the place to use the restrooms. They should have their Zagat rating revoked just for this reason ... great place though.
One of my friends, Mike was throwing the 'ol silver Frisbee around today.
My mom, niece, and me woke up early this morning because that's the best time to visit the Smithsonian National Zoological Park. If you're not there before 8am you miss the freedom of walking through the zoo with only morning joggers to compete with for a view. I took them to my favorite group of friends in the center of the zoo ... the Pandas, giraffes, and elephants. The zoo keepers suspect the female Panda is pregnant. We started some friendly conversation with one of the keepers and we were invited into the Panda House hours before it opened to get an up-close view of the male Chin. The elephants are very close to the Pandas. The nearly-3-year-old baby elephant Kandula might be more affectionate than a Panda. I took this picture while he was under behavioral observation by a zoo volunteer. Kandala is so special they even record how many times he poops.
