On the road again...

DC was incredible, as it always is. I simply love getting to see J, and spending time in that city, which I've grown to love as well, is always a pleasure for me. Here are a few excerpts from my journal about the time I spent there, as always if you have any questions, please leave them in the comments, and I'll get to them as best as I can.

From Thursday:

I checked out an exhibit in the National Portrait Gallery about The Running Fence, this cool art installation done in northern California for two weeks in the seventies. If I ever have time I'd like to find out who catered the meal that they held to convince all the ranchers to allow them to build this piece of temporary insanity on their properties. It was especially fascinating in that they managed to convince all these people to be a part of this big huge group hallucination, that lasted for two weeks, and then was gone, save for the impact it made in the lives of everyone who participated, or got to see it, or even people like me, learning about it decades later.

Also on Thursday, while glombing WiFi at a coffee shop I found out that there was a show that night, an indie rock/pop act by the name of Owen Pallet. He plays the violin, and uses a whole battery of loop petals to create really beautiful complex music, all by his lonesome. It was a cool show, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself, though I'm sure the music would not be to most people's taste.

From Friday:

I went to the air and space museum; when we were kids it was my favorite. I thought it was named, if not for me, then at least the same as me. It was not my favorite as an adult. Like the natural history museum, it just seems a better environment for children, which is cool, and absolutely what they are meant to be, but I kind of wish there was a way to amuse adults as much as the young burgeoning scientists and engineers.

I also saw another indie rock show that night, one that I had been looking forward to, before I even left on this trip. It was amazing, and I'm not even going to try and convey the sheer energy of the band I was there to see, but I will quote these snippets about the night as a whole:

I really liked the first band, good personality, fun music, and great repartee with the crowd, but after their set, when I went looking for merch, the table was bare. It was weird. Here I was, ready to shell out hard earned dollars for a CD, and there wasn't one. The guy had made a bunch of anti-commercial statements during the set, and had talked about how great the venue was for allowing them to do a show, that really was all about the music, and I guess they actually meant it. Also, as an aside, there was no beer at the show, which was actually kind of cool, save for the few who thought it meant they had to get drunk before the show, thus ensuring that they were on their worst behavior the whole time.

And after the show:

I followed the crowd back to the metro station, the area being more obviously pre-gentrification at night (it hadn't seemed so bad in the light of day). The young black folks on the street corners bewildered at the chain of young white folks stretching into the night.

And to finish off Friday:

I made a late night impromptu pizza out of a quarter of the baguette dough, and given the thrown together nature of the thing it was pretty fantastic. Sauteed onions and yellow peppers, little cheese, couple of slices of torn up salumi toscana from J's friend in VA, and a couple of handfuls of spinach dumped on at the end.

Saturday was relatively low-key. I hit up a few art museums, the Freer and the Hirshorn, and then I ate a fabulous meal, that J ordered for me at Rasika. If any of you ever get the chance, go see J at the restaurant, and get the spinach, it's so good.

Sunday was bittersweet, but it was such a good day, that any sense of regret that the DC part opf my trip was coming to an end was completely quashed. Me and J went to a trio of markets in the morning, and then i got to meet Sarah, in the evening. She was perfectly lovely, and as pretty as he has always said. I really enjoyed meeting her, and she seemed like a really great person, and great for him. I look forward to getting to spend more time with them in the future.

We ate at Central, and it was a great meal, everything I expected. I'm not going to do a full run down, because that would take forever, and the barista is fixing me with a baleful stare for sitting in her coffee shop, and doing all of my writing for the day.

I've got to go, and get back on the road, but I'll try and keep the updates coming, so that you can all keep up with any adventures I might have. Once more, let me reiterate, that I love you all, and I treasure the support you've all shown, and I can't wait to get out to California to see Grandma Pooh and Saba.