In Which I See Columns

FREEDOM!!! I am all done with students!!!!!

So I went exploring the national arboretum, which is smack in the middle of a rather skeevy neighborhood in northeast D.C. The arboretum itself is quite nice, though not as big as the one in Chicago, I think. Unless I missed bits of it, which is possible. It does have something no other arboretum has: columns. Big marble columns from the original capitol. Standing in the middle of a field. I had to go back to the car to get my camera, I was so struck by it. Who's idea was it to erect a circle of marble columns in the middle of a field? It just seems so out of place.

I also saw the Anacostia River. Now I can say I've been there. There was also a collection of bonsai trees. How do they keep the trees from getting big?

In Which I Love Gummy Bears

Apparently, my current mental capacity is that of a 5-year-old. I have less than 2 weeks left of school, am averaging 5 hours of sleep a night, and am just plain tired. Teachers around the country know exactly what I mean. We are all in survival mode. In order to make it through to the end, I am watching things that make me happy. It started off as nature documentaries and re-runs of Bones, and has gradually deteriorated to old Disney movies (I love The Apple Dumpling Gang) and the Muppet Show, and now I have deteriorated to The Gummy Bear Song. I watched the YouTube video five times today alone.

Several months ago, my sister introduced me to The Gummy Bear Song. I dare you to listen and not smile. I mean, it's a green, animated gummy bear wearing a pair of bright yellow men's underwear, singing techno-pop. What's not to love? And, to make it even better, you can listen to it in Spanish, Czech, Swedish, Hebrew, Irish, Hungarian, German, French, Brazilian, and Slovak! It's also a great song to listen to while working out because it's just the right tempo. I have it twice on my iPod, once in German, and once in English. I'm a bi-lingual gummy bear lover. Gummy, gummy, gummy, gummy, gummy bear.

In Which I Am Crafty

I spent today at the annual Occoquan Craft Show. Occoquan is a small, picturesque, historic town on the Occoquan River. I've never been there before, but I will have to go again. There are a lot of cute little shops and restaurants. There is even a shop called The Polka Dot Diva. I love polka dots; I own 4 polka dot dresses. Disappointingly, the shop had more diva-related merchandise then polka dots.

Even though the weather was in the 90's, it was worth the discomfort. There were all kinds of artisans and creative displays. And free samples..... yum. The first Fair food of the season always tastes the best. It was a lot of fun to walk around, see the displays, listen to the musicians. On the way out, we stopped at Mom's Pies, where I got a delectable piece of almond chess pie. It was a really nice way to unwind from the week, and get a little preview of summer. I took pictures, but I misplaced the cord to connect my camera to the computer. When I find it, I will post them.

In Which Migrating Gets Easier

My wonderful, awesome parents bought me a GPS system for my birthday. It came in handy on Sunday, when I had to drive into Washington by myself. I had to play a concert in the afternoon. Usually, I take the metro, but due to construction, the metro line was taking up to 2 1/2 hours. Even getting lost half a dozen times, I figured driving would be faster. Thanks to my magical GPS, I made it to the concert in just about an hour! I missed two turns, but the magical GPS re-routed me to where I needed to go. It's amazing! When I drive to Boston, I won't have to call my brother for directions when I get to the city limits! I can drive to DC and not get lost! I can have the freedom to drive where I want without the fear of ending up in a different state! I feel a new-found sense of freedom. Migrating just got easier.

In terms of birthdays, Sunday was a pretty good one. I missed my family, but playing a good concert isn't such a bad way to spend the day. Afterward, I went to the annual Memorial Day concert on the lawn of the Capitol building. It was odd, yet rather exciting, to go to something I've only ever seen on tv. There really were around 30,000 people there, but it didn't feel overly crowded. The concert was really quite moving, though I didn't know who many of the musicians were. I must say, though, that the highlight was when a flock of ducks flew overhead during the armed forces medley. It was like a military fowl-up.

And I still had cake. I bought myself a slice of triple chocolate mousse cake from Wegmans and ate it before I left in the morning. So, overall, not a bad birthday.

Happy Birthday to Me

Tomorrow is my birthday. I will turn 34 years old. It is the age when a woman can expect to be "ma'amed" and not "missed". So I find it disconcerting to have gone to the library today and been sweetied by the check out lady. She looked to be about my age, maybe slightly older. It's not a bad thing to look younger, but it throws me off. I "sweetie" my friends and family, and they "sweetie" me back, and that I don't mind. But it really annoys me when strangers sweetie me. It feels like a belittling of my venerable age and wisdom and gray hair. On the other hand, it doesn't bother me to be "honey'ed" by strangers, especially by ladies with heavy southern accents, because you know they "honey" everyone and everything. Maybe I should wear more make-up when I run errands, and then I would look older.

In other musings: I was driving to work yesterday, and I passed a white pick up truck with black lettering stating: "WAKE UP AMERICA - IF THE GOVERMENT IS IN CONTROL THEN YOU ARE NOT FREE". Once again, I re-iterate that I live in the redneck suburbs. The message would be taken more seriously if the word "government" had not been misspelled. It's hard to take protest seriously when it is clear the person in question doesn't care enough about their message to use spell-check. My follow-up question to the person driving the truck would be: if the government is not in control, who is? I certainly hope not this person. Dan Quayle couldn't spell either. Enough said.

In Which I See Presidents

Having had a truly horrid week, and feeling stressed, I escaped to the National Portrait Gallery again this weekend. This time, I visited the hall of presidents. I highly recommend it.

I saw the famous portrait of George Washington, and the plaster cast of President Lincoln's face and hands (oddly enough, there is also a set in the art museum in Rochester). I saw a caricature of George Bush Sr. throwing horseshoes. The portrait of President Reagan looks like him. It even manages to get across his personality. Thomas Jefferson has a portrait and a statue. The statue was a bit scary, as he had spiny, spiky things protruding from him, evenly spaced, all over his body. It was like Thomas Jefferson as a starfish. I'm not sure if it was supposed to be that way, or part of the process of casting.

I also really want to know who wrote the placards next to the portraits. One used the word "brouhaha" twice to refer to a political incident. Another talked about a "political frit". I don't think I have ever seen that word. I looked it up, and it seems a bit obscure. Dictionary.com defines as:

"1. Ceramics. a. a fused or partially fused material used as a basis for glazes or enamels. b. the composition from which artificial soft porcelain is made.

2. fused or calcined material prepared as part of the batch in glassmaking.

–verb (used with object)

3. to fuse (materials) in making frit."

I also saw a president who would look exactly like Alfred P. Newman from Mad magazine, if he had been wearing a red wig instead of a white one, and had freckles. I can't remember which one, though. I tried to google it, but I couldn't find what I was looking for. Anyone know who it was?

I was highly entertained. Who knew that presidents could be so entertaining?

In Which I Respect Chickens

Today is International Respect for Chickens day. Seriously. Did you respect your chicken today? If not, go do it now!