ambivalent images

Bits of Ball

Pieces of a red rubber ball Sisu (our dog) recently destroyed. I stacked all the pieces inside each other and took the photo at right, then I used the new color adjustment features of iPhoto to play with the image until it looked like you see it above. Photoshop or several other programs could have accomplished the same thing, but I wanted to play w/these new iPhoto features and see what they could do. I frequently use iPhoto's automatic “enhance” feature before I post photos here; it seems to generally turn up the contrast, sharpness, and saturation to make the colors pop more. Obviously, these new tools can do much more than that.

Standing Poop

Fundamental concepts of Constitutional law (or federal courts) written on a chalkboard at GW during finals week. Poop?

My finals are over and I am not exactly sad about that. I'm not exactly thrilled because I don't feel my grades are going to be terrific, but hey, done is sometimes better than done well, right?

FireBook

The old iBook in firewire target disk mode one of the two times the screen has actually come on since it basically died. I'll be finished with finals today, so maybe soon I can take some time to actually investigate this problem and maybe fix it. Better yet, maybe I'll have time to get out and take some better pictures!

A Heart in Spring

A garage door covered with colorful graffiti and framed by a blooming tree.

$32,000 Hamburger

Law students enjoy Deans Jeans Day at GW Law a week or two ago. This is an annual event where the Deans come out and flip the burgers and buy the beer for a couple of hours on the quad. As one of my fellow law students noted, “that was the best damn $32,000 hamburger I have ever had!”

Dusky Downtown

Looking down E street just after sundown from the corner of 8th St. This is part of the “urban landscape” of DC—low and relatively bland buildings. The short buildings can be excplained, I'm told, by the rules forbidding any building from being taller than the capital building, or something like that. The blandness? I dunno. Some buildings aren't so bland, but... Down the street on the left in the above picture you can see a building that looks like it has a gap in it near the top (that dark line). This is some gov't building and I'm sure this design was an attempt at creating architectural interest, but for me it failed miserably; it just makes the building look more ominous somehow. It's probably just me...

Big Bulb

A large light bulb sits ready to illuminate the base of a federal building. There's not much here to provide scale, but this bulb is about as big as a size-10 shoe. It's big. It's appropriate today b/c I'm looking for light at the end of this finals-studying tunnel...

Be Pep

A sticker on a neighborhood street sign gives some great advice for someone taking finals. I think. Is being pep anything like having pep?

Spin

The inside of a clothes dryer. Inspiring, isn't it? I'm studying for finals so this is what it has come down to: pictures of the interior of household appliances. At least it's visually interesting, sort of, don't you think?

Bubba Behind Glass

A cardboard Bill Clinton looks out over Calvert Street. This cardboard Bubba has been in this window for months and months, I think, as you can see from how faded it is. I have no idea what the point is, but I always find it a little amusing when I walk by.

Gilded Sisu

Sisu leaps through the late afternoon sunlight. L. and I are so lucky to have a pretty and sweet dog!

Repair System

A snapshot of the billing screen from a Sears repair person's laptop. Our dryer stopped working a couple of weeks ago, and since it was a Kenmore, we called Sears. (Our landlord doesn't like to be hassled with repair stuff; he just wants us to take care of it and deduct from our rent.) It was not a pleasant thing, but it turned out ok. The first appointment they could give us was about two weeks from when I first called. Fine. But then, 30 minutes before they were supposed to arrive, they called to say they wouldn't be coming. This was after L. had already taken the afternoon off so she could be here to let them in. Great. We rescheduled for two weeks later, they showed this time, the service person was great, and he fixed the thing in less than an hour (for about $150).

I have much worse stories to tell about Sears, but I'll save them for another day. What I will say is that I seriously discourage you from getting a Sears credit card or home maintenance agreement. Trust me, you just don't need that kind of trouble in your life.

Termites?

Little flying things, which I think are termites, have built this home near our dryer. Gross. Our landlord is going to be thrilled to hear about this, I'm thinking.

Dog Food

Bags of dog food sit on the shelves at our nearby large chain pet store.

Please Restart Your Computer

My old iBook gives me the finger. This is maybe the third time I've seen this screen since I bought this computer in December, 2001, so I should have known that seeing it wasn't a good sign. In the two weeks or so since I saw this screen, my computer started behaving a bit strangely, locking up completely for no reason, and without even giving me this friendly little "black screen of death." That also has never happened, except when the hard drive started failing in the summer of 2003. Apple replaced the drive and I had no further problems. Now, I think that computer is mostly dead (not completely dead), and so I've taken its advice and restarted—completely. ambivalent images is now coming to you from a new iBook G4. My pocketbook is still in agony, but the rest of me is very pleased.

Now I'm just wondering: Should a computer have a name? And if so, what should it be?

Graf Wagon

A new Honda Element all decked out in city style. When I first saw this car I figured the paint must be water-washable or something, but on closer inspection, it looked pretty permanent. Who knows? I think it's cool, but I know I would never be brave enough to do something like this to a new car for fear I wouldn't be able to sell it if I needed to. The law student in me also wondered whether the bank that loaned money for this car might have some concern about this paint job. Of course, the car owner might have paid cash...

K Street Traffic

Traffic backs up bumper to bumper on K Street last week. I have no idea what was happening to create all this madness, but I was certainly glad I don't have to drive around D.C. every day.

Falling Up

GW students play in a vertical wind tunnel as part of the GW “spring fling” on the quad last Saturday. I assume this wind tunnel thing is supposed to give people the experience of skydiving, but without the plane ride. The students would suit up, then someone inside this bubble would sort of lift them into the airs tream and try to hold them there so they could “float” on the force of the air. I watched for a bit and it looked like a bit of a disappointment since it was impossible for the students to stay within the air stream for more than a second or two before they spun out to the side and fell down. I suppose that alone could be fun, but not really like skydiving. Not that I would know. I'd love to go skydiving, though. Someday. One thing about this: It was very loud. Not a very cool thing to have sitting outside the law school when you're trying to study. FYI: I posted a couple more cherry and magnolia blossom pics on Flickr, if you'd like to see more of those, plus a couple more spring fling pics. I'm experimenting with posting the same photos here and on Flickr, plus extra stuff on Flickr that doesn't really fit here. I don't know why.

Blossom Water

Thousands of cherry blossoms float in the tidal basin. I had a 45-minute break yesterday so I hopped on my bike and scooted back down to the Tidal Basin in hopes of catching a shot or two that I'd missed last Saturday. In fact, I was hoping to get a nice panorama of the whole basin, but that turned out to be a fool's errand w/out a tripod. Instead, I got to see the blossoms in a much more advanced stage; some of the trees have already lost most of their blossoms, which is surprising since just two days before they all seemed full and bright. So there's another reason the cherry blossoms are such a big deal—they just don't last very long. Other cool things I noticed about the blossoms: They smell nice, though faint, and the trees themselves are fascinatingly gnarly and twisted. On a side note: I frequently complain about GW law school as a big, overpriced disappointment, but one thing that's actually pretty great about the school is its location. Being able to run down to the mall to enjoy the cherry blossoms or whatever in a short break between classes? Well, that's just not something you could do at any law school, now is it?

Cherry Blossoms Sun & Shadow

A closeup of a cluster of cherry blossoms at the tidal basin. On one hand, I don't see why these cherry blossoms are such a big deal; there are lots of flowering trees in the area, and many of them have much more colorful and beautiful flowers than these. Yet, there's no doubt that the tidal basin never looks as nice as it does right now w/all these trees blooming. At right is a panorama of some of the trees and people looking at them last Saturday. It's not the greatest panorama, but it gives you an idea of what you'd see if you were here. For better photos of the blossoms and basin, see Prod and Ponder and his Flickr photoset, more from kimprobable, and the 1800 photos tagged with “cherryblossoms.”

Cherry Blossom Tidal Basin

The Jefferson Memorial framed by cherry blossoms at the Tidal Basin. The area was mobbed with blossom-peepers yesterday, and for good reason—the trees are beautiful and the weather was, too. The thumbnail image at right shows a couple in a pedal boat just after becoming engaged. I was standing in the perfect spot to photograph the whole thing, but moved seconds before I realized what was going on. I was actually looking elsewhere when a cheer rose up behind me and I turned to see the man on his knees in the boat and realized he was slipping a ring onto the woman's finger. By that time all I could get a picture of was the man's back. A few seconds later, the man had settled back into his seat on the boat and the couple turned to smile and wave at the crowd along the edge of the tidal basin, which is when I got this shot. I'm sure it's something this couple will remember happily for the rest of their lives.

Magnolias

A magnolia blossom in downtown DC. The magnolia trees have been in full bloom for the last week and some have already begun to lose their leaves. The cherry trees have been slower in blooming, which is fine for people who were planning to come see them this weekend. I hope to get down by the Tidal Basin today to take some pictures but I'm not sure I'm going to make it—the end of semester is turning up the pressure...

GW EJF Auction '05

This beautiful ballon rainbow framed the GW EJF Auction last night. The auction was a raging success, with plenty of free beer and pizza, some great auctioneering by a great group of professors, and lots of sky high generous bids from GW students. Thanks to everyone who helped make it such a terrific event, and congratulations to the organizers for once more making the auction one of the most memorable events in the GW law school academic year.

Dime Hard Drive

A new 2.5-inch hard drive sits next to a dime for scale. This thing is tiny. Of course, it's not as small as the really tiny drives in iPods; 2.5“ drives are standard in laptops. I just ordered this new 80GB drive to replace the 30GB in my iBook. All these photos for this site take up a lot of space! The new drive is also a little faster, spinning at 5400 RPM, rather than the 4200 of my current drive. One of these days I'll actually try to install it, but I'm making myself wait until the semester is over so that if I destroy my computer in the process I won't be in such a bind.

Office Space Metro

Large posters of Ron Livingston (and Ziggy Marley) decorate the Farragut North Metro Station. So what? Why am I taking pictures of ads? Well, for one thing, can you tell what Livingston is selling here? I'm unclear on the concept, but I think Johnston and Murphy is a brand of shoes. Also, it's just funny to be getting on or off the metro and be greeted by Mr. Office Space. I know Livingston has done lots of other things (most notably for me were his roles in “Sex & the City” and “Band of Brothers”) but still, he's the modern Bartleby and it's odd to be seeing that when you're on your way to/from work. I mean, it's kind of cool, but kind of well, what are they trying to say?

Joseph Shepard's Legacy

A self-portrait by Joseph Sheppard makes an eye-catching banner for his joint show with 11 of his former students at the University of Maryland, University College. L. and I attended the opening exhibition on Sunday, which was much better than I'd anticipated. I liked much of Sheppard's work, but I also particularly enjoyed the sculpture by Akamu (see also da Vinci's Horse), Comas, and Harlow. The trompe l’oeil work by Molnar is also a trip as is the photorealism of Hofmann, Wilson, and Zuccarini. I'm no art critic or connoisseur, but it's always nice to see a good show. By chance, I also got to meet and talk to a fascinating character who retired from a high level government position after a 40 year career that began when he was 20 years old. This man graduated with a PhD in Psychology at the age of 20! His first job was working as a psychologist in Resurrection City, a tent “slum” on the Washington Mall that stood for something like 18 months in 1968-9 (according to this fellow) as an attempt by the nation's poor to draw attention to the problems of poverty and class inequality in the U.S. (See also here.) Have you ever heard of Resurrection City? I hadn't, and it's an incredible story. I got the feeling this fellow might be full of many more stories like this, including some from his time as a White House staffer attending black tie events night after night. DC is full of amazing stories, there's no doubt about that.

Black and Tan Salt Shaker

A Black and Tan pour creates an odd screen for the salt shaker behind it. I drank this tasty mixture at Murphy's in Woodley Park, which is your standard issue “Irish Pub” type place and just about the only option I know of for grabbing a beer in that neighborhood. Sure, if you head over to 18th St. and Adams Morgan your choices multiply exponentially, but if you want to stay, say, near the Woodley Park metro station, are there other options?

Profiteroles

A huge plate of profiteroles topped off our dining experience at Maggiano's last week. The Maggiano's menu describes profiteroles as:

Pastry shell filled with vanilla bean ice cream and topped with our own hot fudge and fresh whipped cream; dusted with cocoa powder and powdered sugar

We're talking good. I have since been told that the “Warm Apple Crostada” is possibly the best desert available in all of D.C.—something I'll have to try to remember if I ever make it back to Maggiano's.

Capitol Steps

Members of the Capitol Steps performing last week at the Reagan Center. The show was hilarious and I highly recommend trying to catch it if you're in DC or plan to visit. We just happened to be there for the recording of the April Fool's Radio Special, so if you heard that, you may have heard me guffawing in the background at points. I particularly liked the Lirty Dies (Dirty Lies—a brilliant monologue of spoonerisms), which included some great insights about those Nox Bews Fraudcasters (Fox News Broadcasters). We also enjoyed many great selections from the Capitol Steps' most recent albums, including:

• Embraceable Jew,
• I Like Big Cuts and I Cannot Lie,
• The Candidates' Debate,
• The Impossible Dean,
• Sunni and Cher,
• Detective Story,
• The Supremes,
• Help Rwanda,
• Ain't No Surplus, Now It's Gone,
• God Bless My S.U.V.

Very very funny.

The Awakening

The sculpture known as “The Awakening” appears to be struggling in the ground at Hains Point. This site offers a bit more info about the sculpture:

“The Awakening” is a five part cast aluminum sculpture created by J. Seward Johnson, Jr. for the 1980 International Sculpture Exhibition and Conference.  Placed in conjunction with the National Park Service, the “giant” is situated on the grounds of Haines Point and the banks of the Potomac River.

It's a cool little quirk of Washington, but then, there are lots of those.