On the IJ Side of Life
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December 2nd, 2009
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| I had a really awesome birthday. Mom and Dad's trip was great. We hit up the National Archives, the Natural History Museum, and the Kennedy Center to see A Streetcar Named Desire on my birthday. Cate Blanchett was amazing as Blanche DuBois, and the rest of the cast was equally powerful in their roles. I got her autograph after the show, and she's just as beautiful and gracious as she seems in interviews. The next day we visited the DEA museum which is hardly ever open. It's more of a history of drug use in the US than a history of the DEA which was vaguely disappointing but still interesting. We also went to the American History Museum, the African Art Museum, and the Smithsonian Castle. There is one large display room in the castle that is a really brief overview of the contents of all the Smithsonian museums. We spent most of that Saturday at the zoo enjoying the cool weather and the many active animals. Before they flew out on Sunday, we went to Arlington Cemetery and Arlington House (under renovation). The weather was incredible, and the fall colors looked amazing against the blue, blue sky. Pictures from their trip can be found here. After they left, I started on my most recent volunteer assignment at the zoo, data entry for a sloth bear behavior project. I don't know how they let data entry get so behind on these things. It's like they've never heard of grad students (aka slave labor). I did end up auditioning for The Vagina Monologues, and I was cast for two monologues and one intro. Since we're performing this as more of a staged reading, practices don't start until January for Feb. 13 and 14 performances. I'm looking forward to it. The Amanda Palmer show in Falls Church was fantastic. Her opening act/back up band was really good with a strong horn section. Amanda did a chat before the show started and signed after the show until everyone who wanted an autograph and a picture got one. She has mad levels of energy. The week of Thanksgiving, Brooke and I saw The Nutcracker at the Kennedy Center and enjoyed it very much. It always seems so much better with a live orchestra and choir. Marzipan, the Sugar Plum Fairy, and the Cavalier were my favorite dancers. For actual Thanksgiving, we were in NYC visiting Natalie and Judith. It was a nice, low-key, low-stress trip. There was almost ice skating, but the line was too long at the Bryant Park rink owing to the bizarrely warm weather. There was delicious tea and cake and waffles at a place called the Rose House that I really want to go back to on all future trips. Lots of exciting things are coming up soon. Zoolights at the National Zoo starts this weekend, and I'm volunteering several days. Karen's visiting next weekend from Dallas. Several days after that I will be visiting Dallas for work. Then I will be home for Christmas Dec. 19-28. Anyone in the Baton Rouge area on December 19 is invited to my Uncle Jim's big Christmas party. Let me know if you need directions or details. | ||||||||
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October 26th, 2009
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| I helped out at Boo at the Zoo Friday and Sunday night. It was fun but a bit overwhelming in terms of the number of people and how snotty some kids got about what/how much candy we gave them. I'm glad I wore my renfaire outfit Friday because I was at a much quieter station than Sunday and did not need to bend and lift and carry as much to refill our treat supply. There were lots of Optimus Primes, Bumblebees, Spider- Super- Bat- mans, and Disney princesses. My favorite was an adorable blond girl wearing a Wolverine costume, complete with fake muscles. I totally made one boy's night by immediately identifying him as a hobbit. Apparently I was the first person to do so the whole night. This was somewhat disconcerting to me as I thought the green cloak with silver leaf clasp would have been a dead giveaway. Maybe the other zoo volunteers are not quite as geeky as I am. Such sad lives they must lead. Sunday night I wore this. I can't decide if I was an eccentric artiste clown or a really ironic hipster-indie-scene person. Sunday I was at a much busier treat station with only one other person even though there were supposed to be 4 people working that station. The only breaks I got were when I paused to restock our treat supply. I'm really glad the weather was fair both nights I worked. I think the Saturday crowd got rained on a good bit. I managed to avoid the rain Saturday when visiting ![[info - personal]](http://s.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small} ell and temve as they prepared for the Marine Corps Marathon and 10K, respectively. We had delicious food with some of Ell's friends and family. There was also a rousing game of Apples to Apples which resulted in a 3 way tie for first because we had to stop playing to eat dinner. After dinner, I went to the Sahara Dance hafla. It's been a while since I've gone out dancing (Wedding receptions don't count.), so I really enjoyed myself.Tomorrow I'm meeting up with ell and temve for dinner and DC's Drag Race. I look forward to seeing men in fantastic costumes and high heels sprinting down the street. | ||||||||
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October 2nd, 2009
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| So things have been going really well for me lately. Yay! ( Job ) ( Mt. Vernon ) ( Book Festival ) ( Zoo ) ( Nano ) For future awesome things, I will be home October 16-19 for my cousin's wedding. I'm looking forward to it as I am particularly fond of this cousin, and I know the reception will have good food, good drink, and good music. Any Baton Rouge people want to try and get together Friday night or Sunday, let me know. Saturday's fully booked with wedding and other family stuff, but I'd like to see friends if I can. Brooke and I are going to NYC for Halloween. We're staying with Natalie and Judith and plan on having an awesome time at the Greenwich Village Halloween parade. I'm pondering costumes and welcome any suggestions on the matter. | ||||||||
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On the IJ Side of Life
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