My diary for the last five days looks like this. I had Thursday and Friday off of work so it was an extra-long weekend for me.
On Thursday, I took Wendy’s advice and went to see the Hirshhorn Museum’s Visual Music exhibition. Interesting stuff. I was only disappointed that they weren’t playing “Dark Side of the Rainbow.”
Here’s a pick I took of a some swirling lights projected onto a screen:
Then I strolled down to the National Museum of the American Indian. An absolute disappointment. A bunch of crap crammed into a funny-looking building. I couldn’t tell one exhibit from the next — it was as if the building were jammed with relics and dioramas and video displays, turned upside down and shaken about, and then set back down again for visitors to pick through. Talk about cognitive dissonance.
The weather was gorgeous on Friday, so I went out to hike the Billy Goat Trail in Great Falls, Maryland. Nice to get outside. I snapped this pic:
That night I went out with some friends to Local 16. Nice place. But very crowded.
On Saturday I had lunch with my grandmother in Falls Church, VA, and then went to meet my old pal Mike F. for lunch. You’ll recall that Mike has provided commentary on these pages regarding Ecuadorian politics; he and I taught English there, and he recently returned to the States. We hadn’t seen each other in nearly two years (for those of you who don’t know me, Mike’s on the left):
Then, that night, I had the pleasure of going to a neighbor’s BBQ and watching the exceptionally funny “Team America: World Police,” a film I’d been meaning to see for a while. Warning: steer clear of it if you’ve got a problem with graphic scenes depicting marionette sex.
I got to see another great movie — one of a much different ilk — on Sunday night: “Born Into Brothels: Calcutta’s Red Light Kids.” The director, a photographer, gave cameras to prostitutes’ children; the movie’s about the photos they take and their struggle to escape the slum. Worth checking out.
And finally, to cap off a fine weekend, I had the pleasure of dining yesterday at Five Guys, purveyors of the best damned cheeseburgers I’ve ever tasted. Here’s what my meal looked like (click the photo for notes):
Sigh. Now I need a vacation.