ambivalent images

Train Boarding

One of the D.C. Metro's old displays shows its new (and newly accurate) information. The Metro recently upgraded the signs to show more information so they'll be more useful to riders. I thought I was going to get a “scoop” on photographing this, but alas, DCist beat me to it.

MoreSnow

Snow covers the mostly decorative benches outside the World Bank building. It snowed late yesterday—a Saturday—and the snow is coming down heavily right now. Sadly, the forecast is for the snow to end soon and everything should be clear for tomorrow morning. Last weekend was the same—heavy snow on Saturday that was all cleared up by Monday. I'm getting a little tired of this. Why can't it snow on Sunday or Monday so we can get a day off from school and work!? ;-)

Professional Stilts

Two workers at GW's Marvin Center pause to allow me to take their picture. I wanted to ask them where I could get some cool stilts like theirs, but I didn't want to keep them from their work. I did find a bigger picture of a similar professional stilt that apparently costs about $150.00. Although that's pretty expensive, I think I'd feel safer on the pro stilts than on these.

GW Flat Panel

A very large flat screen monitor inside the GW law school attempts to gives visitors some of impression of GW's technological prowess (or something). There are two of these monitors on the first floor of the law school. I have no idea why anyone thought these things were necessary, but I know they never have anything helpful to tell me, so I'm not sure if anyone else looks at them either. I imagine someone thought these things would make a nice impression on visitors, and law school has become as much about image as anything, so I guess good impressions count.

Construction Canisters

Canisters of some kind of gas sit outside a construction site next to GW. The site is home to a new office building across the street from the WTO on Penn. Ave. Apologies if photos for the next little while are less than exciting. I don't have much time for taking pics these days...

Lentil Soup

Ingredients for lentil soup, just before they all go into the pot. This was my first time making it, but I was pretty happy with how it turned out. It would have been better with fresh parsley instead of dried, and maybe some garbanzo beans or something (I don't know why, it just sounds good). Next up: I'd like to make a good barley soup, preferably vegetarian. Any recommendations for a good recipe? ---- Great pics: Goggle Dog. You won't be sorry you visited, but it might not be “work safe” b/c I know you'll laugh out loud.

Snowy Vigil

The anti-nukes vigil in Lafayette Park behind the White House. According to this fascinating history, Concepcion Picciotto, the woman responsible for this protest, has basically been here since 1981. At the anti-war rally last Thursday we were told that, because of the inauguration, she was forced to move for the first time since 1981; however, it looks like the Park Service also forced her to move in the 1980s, at least from the sidewalk behind the White House to the sidewalk in Lafayette Park across Pennsylvania Ave. I didn't read closely, but it also looks like the protest paused at that time while she regrouped and figured out what to do. She *has* become an institution in D.C. Funny how a pro-peace message is always relevant and necessary in a country that seems almost perpetually to be fighting (on some level) with someone.

Tunnel Snow

The Rock Creek Parkway tunnel in a blanket of snow. I took this during about the heaviest snowfall last Saturday. Compare to the same view pre-snow. It basically snowed for two hours, and then it was over. I wanted about two days of snow so I could get another day off, but alas... The thumbnail at right is just a little red berry I spotted. I tried a couple of shots to get the berry itself in focus, but it wasn't working and I was in a hurry, so the leaves are in focus. Auto-focus is not always so cool. ------ Cool Pic: The VW Ragster at the Detroit Auto Show (by jose)

Digging Out

A worker blows snow from the sidewalk along Pennsylvania Avenue yesterday after D.C. got about three inches of snow. NPR said that some meteorologists are saying this could be one of the biggest storms in a decade, but I think that will apply more to Philadelphia, New York, and Boston, all of which got more snow than D.C.

Showers 4 Dirty Peeps

A bit of graffiti on a phone box near GW law school. I took this before all the inaugural hoohaw, but from what I've seen the city has calmed down and largely returned to its pre-hoohaw state. Oh, except now everyone's getting all anxious about a “major snowstorm” that may bring us 6-8“. Snow is falling now. Why can't the snow dump down in the middle of the week (so that we could get a snow day off from school and work), rather than on the weekend?

Counter-Inaugural '05

A discarded sign sits forlornly in the dirty snow of Malcolm X Park prior to the DC Anti-War march. Do you think the sign's owner decided this statement was too extreme? Probably not. There were signs everywhere in this condition, and presumably most of them were dropped on accident. But the D.C. Anti-War crowd seems to contain a good mix of the more radical “Bush = Satan” crowd, as well as the more mainstream “I'm against this war because it's unjust.” The rally before the march featured some great speakers saying many of the things you just don't hear unless you search it out—that John Kerry was a corporate-sponsored war-supporter, that we need instant run-off voting if we want to take our democracy back, and more. The rally also featured music by David Rovics. He's been kind enough to make all of his music available online for free download. I highly recommend “Election” and “Operation Iraqi Liberation,” but be sure to leave a donation. He more than deserves it. I took a bunch of pictures yesterday, a large selection of which are available here. I also made a tiny little QuickTime movie of some of the chants I heard and chanted yesterday. It's 4.6MB so it'll take a while to download if you're on a slow connection. Also, since it's been compressed to such a small size, you can't see so much; the only real value is just in hearing the chants. Probably only worth it if you're on a fast connection. More on the day from DCist here and here. Also, more from the WashPost Inaug-Blog and D.C. Indymedia (if you can get through). UPDATE: For some really excellent pics of yesterday's counter-inaugural events in D.C., head to Centricle.

Cold, Hard Truth

A pair of homeless men sleep beneath some stars and stripes on Pennsylvania Avenue half a block from the White House and behind some of the many bleachers set up for ticket-holders (mostly VIPs) to view the inaugural parade. I took this picture last Sunday when L. and I were downtown to observe the ways in which the 2005 Inaugural Committee has prepared to make sure all dissent is invisible or silent at this inauguration. I took many pictures of what we saw, which you can see here. I also added some pictures I took yesterday—the pictures at the end with the snow. Pennsylvania Avenue, a main street in our nation's capital, has basically been privatized for the day, given to the inaugural committee to do with as it pleases, with security being enforced by the secret service and many of its 22 fellow police agencies in the city. These people have the authority to exclude anyone at will, but they probably won't need to do much overt exclusion because they've set up their checkpoints to create bottlenecks at the entrances protesters are likely to use—long lines will probably mean many of the “unwanted” will simply never make it anywhere near any of the inaugural festivities. There are also rumors that the parade will deviate from its traditional route so as to avoid driving by the one block where demonstrators actually were given a permit to demonstrate. Today, Americans enjoy the right to free expression, just so long as any dissent stays far from the eyes and ears of the president and his supporters. God bless America.

Lawbrary

Looking down the stacks of Federal Reporters in the GW library. I spent a day in the library last weekend and actually enjoyed it.

SUV Ribbons

Two magnetic ribbons on the back of a full-size pick-up in downtown D.C. I would suggest this is ironic, but I would guess there are people who would find such a suggestion offensive, which is not really my goal. I mean, I'm deeply offended that the elected leaders of this and other nations rushed to war against Iraq so that we have troops in danger and in need of support, but, well, there you go. So we have pick-ups driving around cities with magnetic ribbons. For the record, these ribbons have been the subject of previous exchanges here and here, with extensive replies here. There's also a bit more related to this topic over at Buzzwords, this was discussed on the Left2Right blog over a month ago, and there's bits more at Magic Cookie, Blonde Justice, and Andrew Sinclair. Sinclair points to a bit of history about the magnets. I was glad to hear that they originated as an attempt to raise funds for soldiers and their families, even if that's not so much what they are now. Also worth noting is the discernible history of the yellow ribbon as a symbol, which may be a little less clear than some seem to think. There may be some irony in the fact that the song that really put the ribbons into the contemporary popular consciousness described the ribbon as a symbol used by a convict returning from prison after serving his time.

Green Spires

The National Cathedral at Night as seen from the car driving by. The photo is green b/c that's what iPhoto does when you click “enhance” on a photo that's really dark and lacking in contrast—the lighter parts become greenish. The new iPhoto (released comes with more advanced editing tools, so maybe it will be able to tweak dark photos w/out making them green. And sure, I could open Photoshop, but, well, nah. Anyway, I kind of like the green effect. It looks a bit ghostly and spooky, doesn't it?

Sisu Smiles

Sisu smiles as L. rubs her head. If you look closely, you'll see the corners of her mouth are pulled up toward her ears and eyes, just like yours do if you smile. Sisu does this almost any time you rub her head, but this time she was smiling so much she couldn't seem to keep her eyes open. It's nice having such a happy dog. At least I hope this is a sign of happiness. I think it must be, because if it was a grimace of pain or something unpleasant, I don't think she'd be content to allow us to rub her head as much as we want. I could be wrong, though.

Rock Creek Parkway

Traffic emerges from the tunnel on Rock Creek Parkway as seen from the Duke Ellington Bridge on Calvert Street above the park. If you click the thumbnail at right you can see a map of this area. This picture was taken from Calvert street above Rock Creek, which is in the center of the map, about where the “w” is in “Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway.” The tunnel noted on the map is the tunnel from which these cars are emerging.

Coffee & Burritos

A vendor selling an unlikely combination of items near the corner of 17th and K Streets in downton D.C. I wonder how many people actually get both at the same time. It's just not a combo I can appreciate...

Bug Eyes

Three new VW Beetles recently parked on our street. The Beetle has lots of great lines that make for potentially nice pictures—both inside and out. The picture at right is a view of the “cockpit” of my mom's Beetle, which she kindly let me drive while I was visiting her over the holidays. Her Beetle (a TDI) was a pleasure to drive—very peppy and responsive. Yeah, owning one would be pretty darned cool. (Note: This is three pictures integrated into one. Now that I see it like this, I realize I should have tried three stacked horizontals, instead of three parallel verticals. Next time.)

Crossfire At GW

A sign at the GW campus directs visitors to the Crossfire studio at 21st and H. I wonder what's going to happen to this space now that Crossfire will be no more.

Mirror Mirror

Buildings on Pennsylvania Avenue reflected in the windows of the World Trade Organization building. Or is the it the World Bank building? I can never remember, since the two of them are side-by-side in downtown D.C.—partners in crime, if you will. That said, I do like the looks of this building, regardless of what's inside. Just across 18th street from here is the most hideous building in downtown D.C. (well, that may be an exaggeration, and it's just my subjective opinion), so compared to its neighbors, this flashy number doesn't have a lot of competition in the area (at least as far as relatively recent office buildings go; the old victorians and early 20th century office buildings downtown are also very cool).

Midwestern Smoke

An industrial plant sends a steady stream of steam or smoke into the winter air, somewhere in Ohio. I took this photo last week on our drive returning to D.C. from Michigan. This is the final “vacation” photo for now because school starts again today. (Oh, thanks to my sister for the cool new shoes you see on my feet in the thumbnail at right -- everyone loves them and they're very comfy and handy to slip on and off for traveling and walking the dog. Thank you, W!)

Holiday Baubles

Colorful ornaments with family names painted on them make another striking holiday decoration. (Sorry, I didn't have pics like this before the holidays when they might have seemed more appropriate, so you're getting them now instead. We will return to our regularly scheduled programming very soon.)

Nutcrackers

A row of nutcrackers at L's parents' house. L's brother has been collecting these little wooden bad boys for many many years now, and as you can see from the smaller pic at right, the collection has grown quite extensive. (There are at least two more 'crackers that didn't make it into this shot.) I don't know if any of them have ever been used to crack nuts, but they certainly make a striking holiday display.

Freezing Rain

A tree coated in ice after a night of freezing rain in Michigan. This seemed like unusual weather for late December in Michigan, but now things there look like they should be again—temperatures below freezing with plenty of snow on the ground.

Waiting Planes

Planes wait at the gates outside a Detroit airport terminal on New Year's Eve, 2004. I flew from Montana to Michigan on the 31st, and everything seemed to be running smoothly. I felt lucky for that, since Northwest frequently cancels flights between Detroit and the little airport that was my final destination. The little picture at right shows rural Michigan from the air as we went in for a landing at MBS (Midland, Bay City, Saginaw).

Drive-Thru Espresso

A drive-thru espresso stand in Billings, Montana. This is one of many similar stands of the Mountain Mudd “chain.” I mean, I guess it's a chain. I hate to say it (because I don't really like to enjoy or encourage our car culture), but I love these things. The world needs more of them. They are a very, very good idea. Except, we shouldn't be driving so much, right? Right. So no, bad idea. But if you have to drive, and you like coffee, these kinds of things are a no-brainer!

Doormat

The doormat at my mother's house. This rug goes way back in our family to I don't know when, but I have vague memories of it from a long long time ago. Strange the things we remember...

Post Holiday Detritus

Rimrock Mall (in Billings, MT) a few days after Christmas.

Agate Forest

A slice of agate appears to present a late afternoon forest scene. Can you see it? The trees along the bottom in a shallow valley, something dark in the background—perhaps a mountain range—and the the sky light gray and hazy as the sun sets on the left. Or something like that. Maybe the dark top is storm clouds gathering. Anyway, it's all natural; look and see what you can make of it, kind of like seeing pictures in clouds, but more permanent. This was a piece of agate that my uncle gave to my mom; I'm not sure where my uncle got it, but some people spend a considerable amount of time wandering the plains “hunting” for rocks like this. Maybe it's mostly a western thing. Many of the same people also hunt for arrowheads, which are plentiful (or used to be) in certain areas where native tribes hunted or lived. Oh, and just so you know, there's also an Agate Fossil Beds National Monument in Nebraska, near Scottsbluff on the western end of the state. It might make an interesting stop on your next cross-country drive.

Bingo! 2005!

Two nearly-full bingo cards up close. My grandmother likes to play simple games, so we played one game of Bingo, many games of Scrabble (the original game, not the “super” version), some Uno, and even Old Maid. We also took her to see “The Incredibles,” and she disliked the movie so much she couldn't stop warning people to save their money and skip seeing it themselves. I liked it a lot, myself, but I can see why someone raised without television or cartoons might not really appreciate it. Oh, but Happy New Year, everyone! May 2005 bring you health, wealth, and wisdom, or at least one of the above.