I keep putting off posting an update. I find myself walking and writing posts in my head but when I get home I find about 20 other things to do. I just want it to be made known that I am officially old: I used a Q-tip at Einstein Brothers Bagels the other day and didn't care that I might be grossing out patrons. I wasn't cleaning, just itching. But my fellow ear-sexing bandits will understand the need to do so when the urge hits (I think! I hope!) I also have been wearing a sweatsuit out and about when doing errands, etc., and I don't care. Patrick reminded me of the Seinfeld episode when George was wearing them too much and how Jerry told him that the sweatsuit tellls the rest of the world that you've just given up; that you can't cope in normal society anymore. Hilario. I'm not worried, though. I can cope. At least til I find it's time to hibernate again. I did it a couple weekends ago when I was sick w/ a terrible cold. I, JLK, actually STAYED HOME for an ENTIRE WEEKEND in my pjs and watched movies and read and relaxed. It was great. I'm a convert.i haven't been w/ my family on thanksgiving in quite a while; i usually spend the day cooking it and chowing it up w/ my family of friends. but this year i went to michigan, and patrick came along w/ me. it was an awesome time. lotsolaughs. there's no pictures of dad...hmmm...
Gram in the kitchen - she cooked EVERYTHING.
jon...
patrick in one of a series of poses where he's not too thrilled that i'm taking his picture...
amy, gina and i being silly (kinda trying to forget how frikkin hot it was!)
yo! word to your feminist/femme-uhn-ist/womanly/womynly sister
the beautiful path i walked to get to the downtown area of festival
seating area for eating the vegetarian grub
gina, sandra and i all had to take advantage of the foot soak while amy worked her shit in 'the womb.' my feet felt brand new after this...
my new cousin theresa w/ her giant puppet, miss lizzie!
jessica! we hung out mostly on sunday...
the money w/ LEZ ZEPPLIN. these chicks kick serious rock ass!!!!!!!!!!!!!
peaceful me...
D.C. is not
I was there for four days attending a teacher conference. And although it was nice, I was homesick. Well, not the entire time, but a lot of the time. It’s been a long time – I think, forever – that I’ve lived in a place I actually prefer over places I travel to. Last summer doesn’t count… I was going through something. But now? I’ve been noticing more and more how much
2) They run in couples.
3) It’s flat!
The fat people thing is self-explanatory. Everywhere I went I noticed that everyone was thin. Fit, even. Then I started looking for overweight people specifically and there were none. It was weird.
On my second night I went exploring (as the first night I got in late so I just walked around the neighborhood and just ate dinner at the nearest restaurant that wasn’t busy – a Thai place. I had chicken wings stuffed w/ ground chicken and herbs, lightly breaded w/ a sweet sauce. Very inventive. Also, Pad Thai. I haven’t eaten Pad Thai in ages and ages. Anyway.) I was thirsty and hungry but picky. The answer came to me when I ran into a French bar w/ Delirium umbrellas all over the patio. Delirium is one of my latest favorite beers. 9% alcohol. Very Yummy. BUT, it was warm. My second choice was “too cold.” I started feeling like Goldie Locks. The bartender said beer that’s too cold will just foam up. *sigh* So I was given something… I don’t even know what. But it was good. I also ordered a ham and guyere (sp?) crepe w/ a nice mixed salad.
Next, I’d read about a black box, modern rendition of The Tragedy of Dr. Faustus being presented at the District of Columbia Center for the Arts. I found the establishment, walked the long stairs up and was greeted by BLASTS of COLD AIR and very cool art. I stood there for a long while… checked out every piece of art, looked at the shirts 4x (since the air was also blasting on top of the t-shirts) and at the right time proceeded to the black box area. For $10 I was stamped w/ DAMNED on my hand and given a bottle of PBR and a bag of popcorn. Now, this is where I really noticed the hetero couple phenomenon. I was the third person to take a seat in the tiny theatre, after the couple in front of me. I sat there for 10 minutes watching the short stream of people enter and all of them – hetero couplings. There were 23 people at the show and I was the oddball. Uncharacteristically, I was so relieved when someone sat next to me so I didn’t feel or seem like the strange fat obviously single, obvious tourist.
The show was a real entertainment deal. Besides the free beer and snacks, Dr. Faustus was amazingly funny and deep at the same time. At intervals the devil and his cronies told bad Jesus jokes (“How much does Jesus love you? THIS MUCH!” *stretching out arms* and “Why did Jesus cross the road? B/c he was nailed to the chicken!”) and, I have to admit, I was even a but shocked by them. They tried to win over Faustus by giving him special powers “w/ which he became the hot dog eating champion of the world!” (Faustus was played by an Asian actor) and he was credited w/ electing George the Second for another term. When given these special powers the cast broke into the Greatest American Hero theme song. Hilarious! Plus – you see, Faustus goes back and forth “Should I stay w/ the devil or go w/ God?” – when Lucifer had to really work to win over Faustus, he broke into an evangelical performance in which he a) passed out more PBR and b) made audience participants come up to the stage and admit their sins so they could feel good in his acceptance and, you know, go to hell. That was the best part, I think. Anyway, it was more fun than I thought it would be and I left feeling fabulous – like, why don’t I do this more often?? I bought a cool ass DCAC t-shirt.
The next evening I took the Gray Linen “Washington After Dark” bus tour. I got to see a bunch of monuments and learned that the city cannot, by law, build any structure that will end up taller than the Capitol. So that explains that. The tour was cool… I was wishing I’d taken a different tour, though… one that let us check out the monuments a bit longer than 7-25 minutes. I don’t mind timeframes but we were rushed. I would’ve liked to get out and walk the steps of the Capitol, for instance. We saw the White House from very far away (Sorry, Dad. George wasn’t out in the yard so I couldn’t give him the bird for you). The best place was the Lincoln Memorial, wh/ was immense, and I stood in the spot Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his “I Have a Dream” speech and listened in to a Grandmother recounting her experience to her teenage grandson. That was cool. It nearly brought tears to my eyes.
But the monument that truly did move me was the Vietnam War Memorial. It was a lot longer than I’d imagined. It was intense. Half way through the walk, looking at name after name after name, overhearing a little boy about 6 or 7 yrs old tell his mom, “That’s sad…” I burst into tears. I’m sure it had a lot to do w/ the fact that I was looking at over 50,000 names of people who died that didn’t need to die… but it also made me very grateful that my dad came back from the war. So many kids didn’t have the opportunity I did to get to know their fathers. I cried all the way back to the bus. I had about five minutes to check out the Korean War Memorial but I just couldn’t do it. One last stop at the Imo Jima Memorial (vast, awesome) and I was ready to go back to the hotel.
I was, actually, ready to go back home.
But I had one more day left and I skipped the conference breakfast and last workshop to sleep in, get in a workout at the fitness area, pack, check out and get some coffee. After the conference closing address, I went for my first pedicure (inspired by my colleague who gushed over the woman who did hers the day before) and then my last D.C. dining experience at the Open City Café down the street.
Open City Café is totally my kind of place. It reminds me of something I’d find in
Friday I treated myself to getting my mermaid tattoo re-done. She needed color - badly! Esther, a fabulous person and tattoo artist with her own studio called butterfat studios, added blue/green water and created a whole new tattoo in the process. If you are in the Chicago area, I highly recommend her!
Saturday I went on another fitness adventure. I rode my bike half way to Navy Pier and walked the rest. When I got to the beach near NP, I stopped and waded and sat on the beach for a piece. It was marvelous. No agenda. No urgencies. The only thing that sucked was that I couldn't swim b/c of the tattoo (2 weeks!)
View of the city from where I sat on the beach.
I was soooooooooo envious of the swimmers!! 
Part of the Lake Shore path I walked and biked.i met a goal today.
