Turning a Blind Eye to Steve Bannon -- Now Who Lives in the Bubble?

There's been a lot of talk of the liberal elite bubble in the last week. But what about the rural, white bubble? People are genuinely concerned about the economy, I get that. But does that mean there's no room to be concerned about racism and sexism as well? Just because these things don't happen in one small town doesn't discredit them as being national problems.

Steve Bannon is going to be toxic as the strategist who is crafting the message for our next president. Calls from the left for his removal from President-elect Donald Trump's administration will not be taken seriously unless we have support from the right as well.

Mitch McConnell literally said nothing when asked about Bannon in a press conference earlier this week. He just started ahead awkwardly until the reporter gave up. This is unacceptable. Conservative leaders have to say something, otherwise they are condoning this placement of Bannon in the administration. He's not an appointee who's going to be approved by Congress so the only course of action against his being hired is to put pressure on Conservative leaders to put pressure on President-elect Trump.

Even if you believe the alt-right is a fringe group, putting its megaphone to the ear of the president like this surely must signal to you that something bigger is going on. From National Review:

The problem is not whether Bannon himself subscribes to a noxious strain of political nuttery; it’s that his de facto endorsement of it enables it to spread and to claim legitimacy, and that what is now a vicious fringe could, over time, become mainstream....

Principled conservatives, especially those in leadership positions, have a political and moral duty to condemn, and to work to eradicate, the animus that is the alt-right’s raison d’être.

You don't have to leave a comment here, or on Facebook, or anywhere else. But if this bothers you, call Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell and any Republican senators and congresspersons who represent your state and your district, and tell them you are not okay with Steve Bannon being so close to the president.

If this does not bother you, then you are the one who is living in a bubble, not me.

Nineteen Miles

Today I ran nineteen miles. (I ran and am writing this on Sunday, but posting it Monday. I'm too tired to think into the future and change the tenses to match when this will be published and read.) It's my longest run to date. It was a lot harder than my seventeen-mile run two weeks ago. When I left early in the morning I was thinking a full marathon will be difficult but I can definitely get it done. By the time I hit mile eighteen I began to question that. I couldn't tell if I was hitting the wall or if I was simply hungry or thirsty. I cursed myself for choosing a route that had an uphill for miles fifteen through seventeen. When I checked my stats later, though, mile fifteen was one of my fastest; I don't know what came over me. I have a twenty-mile run in two weeks. I guess I'll see what happens when I keep ploughing on for one more mile.

The Marine Corps monument (pictured), also known as the Iwo Jima monument, is eleven and a half miles from our house. This is the second long run that I've passed it. It's the finish line for the marathon. It's an inspiration. I like stopping for a moment when I get to it to have my snack and contemplate what others have done and why I'm out doing this.

I've mentioned before that I'm raising money for Soldier On, an organization that provides services for homeless veterans. I need your help, guys. I'm six weeks out from my marathon and I'm going to start annoying everyone to donate. Click here to do so. Thinking about helping this great organization has been helping me through the tough miles. Thank you so much for helping me.

Back-to-School Edition

Ahem.

We moved to the Washington, D.C., area. We are still surrounded by boxes but the place looks a little more put together every day as each box goes out. Mike started his job. Muffin has started school. I've started two volunteer jobs and a part-time job.

I'm still marathon training, slowly but surely. I have to run nineteen miles this weekend, my longest run ever. I ran seventeen miles two weeks ago and I have no reason to believe I can't complete a marathon in, what, seven weeks? Six weeks? I'm measuring my time by days between long runs right now. Nineteen miles, ten miles, twenty miles, ten miles, etc., for the next few weekends. It looks like the heat has broken, so that's something. There were many miserable miles run this summer by me and others and I'm ready for some cooler weather. You can still contribute to my fundraising for Soldier On, if you'd like. Click here.

Muffin has been in public school in Virginia for all of two weeks and we are dealing with a kind of culture shock. I feel like we have to be on top of everything to keep politics, gender stereotypes, and helicopter parenting at bay. I feel like we are definitely the weird parents with the weird kid because I don't care that Muffin pokes around in the dirt at the bus stop (other parents don't let their kids play before school) but I'm concerned about political parties handing out leaflets on school grounds. (I posted about my encounter with that on Facebook -- in the near future I'll modify it for posting here.)

I've got an idea for NaNoWriMo this year, too. I'm researching and planning right now. More to come on that later, as the event grows closer. It starts two days after my marathon. I'm a sucker for long, slow, arduous tasks, apparently.

And that's about it for now. How are you doing?

Book Review: Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell

After you've read something, please consider leaving a line or two on Goodreads and Amazon. The authors appreciate it!

Here's my review as it appears on Goodreads.

Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is the first Sarah Vowell book I ever read and while I've read all her others, I've come back to this one several times to reread. We move in and out of the Washington, D.C., area every few years and I usually read it when we're heading back there in anticipation of seeing some of my favorite monuments and hearing some of my favorite stories. I of course had to read it again this summer since I'll be starting a job as a tour guide with our next move there this fall. I wanted to refresh my memory of the funny and interesting observations Ms. Vowell shares.

Assassination Vacation gives us a look at the assassinations of three presidents -- Lincoln, Garfield, and McKinley. Students don't learn much about he presidencies of Garfield and McKinley these days but they are definitely worth a look. At the time she was writing, Ms. Vowell makes comparisons to the McKinley and Bush administrations. I'd make similar comparisons to a possible Trump administration this year.

Ms. Vowell makes American history accessible and points out how American history and politics have always been mired in scandal and downright silliness. I love how she goes into the lives of the assassins as well. Everyone knows John Wilkes Booth, but Guiteau and Czolgosz rarely get much mention. Ms. Vowell points out that many people were relieved to hear that Czolgosz had a foreign name because it made them assume a foreigner had shot the president. But Czolgosz was an American citizen, born in the Midwest to immigrant parents. Sound familiar to the fears one of our presidential candidates is helping to fester this year?

I do not want a presidential assassination. But I think it's worth learning about what drove others to do it in the past and take a look at the atmosphere of politics and the entire country surrounding those events. I recommend this book to anyone who has even a passing interest in American history, politics, or current events.

View all my reviews

• And, yes, I'm really going to be a tour guide in Washington! I'll be with City Running Tours. I'm so excited. I'll share more details once I'm down there getting started.

The Importance of Apple Pie in Running

Recently Facebook reminded me that about two years ago my friend Running While Mommy shared this article with me, The REAL Best Foods for Runners, with the note that number eight reminded her of me. Apple pie. I'd had apple pie for breakfast one morning before we ran a ten miler together. And I was just fine. I ran the miles at a decent pace and I didn't get sick.

I thought of saying here, “I wouldn’t recommend this breakfast for every long run,” but I won’t. It’s none of my business if you eat apple pie for breakfast. You (hopefully) know your body better than I do.

I love reading about sports nutrition. I devour cookbooks, articles, research. But I can’t bring myself to follow all the advice, all the meal plans, all the tips about how to increase kale in my diet. I’ve tried that. I’ve monitored, written down, and analyzed every bite. I’ve counted my servings, measuring them on a kitchen scale. I’ve kept food journals.

It’s frickin’ exhausting. It takes the fun out of eating. And it takes up time I'd rather spend sleeping.

I’m forty and I’ve been running since I was fifteen. I’ve learned what works for me and what doesn’t. I’m willing to try new things but I love my old habits. I know that after a run of ten miles or longer, my favorite enchilada platter and a margarita will be waiting for me at the neighborhood Mexican restaurant. I stick with my old-school lemon-lime Gatorade for exceptionally long runs in warm weather. I'll take real chocolate milk, thank you very much, rather than a shake with chocolate-flavored protein powder.

My attention turns to food now for two reasons. One, I've put on a few pounds from winter comfort food and while I am in no way dieting, I am cutting back on my portions of chocolate and potato chips. But, two, as I've announced on Twitter and Facebook already, I'll be running my first marathon this this fall and it will take a lot of food and miles to get me to the starting line.

I entered the lottery for the Marine Corps Marathon and I got in. So you can expect more running posts from me here as my training gets underway. You all know I don't count calories and blog every bite. You know I don't track every mile, every mile split, publicly on this blog, and I won't start now. But I will increase the number of my posts about running as I get into training and need a platform to hold myself accountable.

I started planning to run this marathon last October when I was reading about other friends and acquaintances running it. I already knew we'd be coming back to the United States in 2016 so I made it my goal to run it as a "Welcome Home" event. Sure, I came home several months sooner than planned, but this is still my year of being back home. I'm excited for the race.

Now, if you'll excuse me, there's a huge ball of fresh mozzarella in the fridge with my name on it. And I need to make an apple pie for this week's long run.

Pet Assistance for Egypt Evacuees

If you live in the D.C. Metro area and can lend a hand with Americans who are trying to evacuate Egypt with their pets, please contact the Foreign Affairs Friends of Animals Network: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=298021694910

From the group's note:

...AFSA and the Foreign Affairs Friends of Animals Network to help with contingency planning on the DC end. We don’t know how the situation will evolve in the coming days, but one scenario may possibly involve flying the pets to the DC area, in which case a network of volunteers would potentially be needed to provide short-term care for some of these cats and dogs.

Are you in the DC area and interested in lending a hand?

- Let us know if you can meet at the AFSA office, 2101 E Street NW in DC this Saturday or Sunday Feb. 5 or 6 at 2 pm.

- If you can’t come to a meeting this weekend, but are potentially available to provide short-term fostering in the DC area for a USG dog or cat, please let us know that too.

Granted, we should consider these possibilities before we head overseas with our pets, but that doesn't make the decisions any easier once the situation arises. You rarely expect something like this to happen in "your" city or country.

Baby's First Passport

We are getting settled, or as settled as one can get for six weeks, here in D.C. Mike's back to work and I'm spending my days with Sophie. Babies are miracles and all that, but they're also kind of boring. Yet somehow I don't have any time for reading or writing. Even the boring parts of the day are baby time-consuming. (We also have some internet issues that limit my time online even more.)

Yesterday we submitted the forms for Sophie's passport. We went to CVS for her passport photo. She was amazingly patient as Mike held her up in front of the screen. Pretty much everyone in the store stopped what they were doing to watch the six-week-old baby get her passport photo taken.

In other news, I'd like to buy a new phone for going to India. I'd really like to treat myself to a smart phone, something I can use for internet, twitter, facebook, skype, etc. (My phone in Burundi didn't even do text messaging. I crave more technology.) I know so little about the newest  phones, is all that even possible? I've been told I should look at unlocked quadband phones. Can anyone out there in international blogland give me any advice?

Another Packout

Hooray! We recently found out that we are authorized another small packout from our vacation location in Rhode Island to Mike's training location in D.C. This solves our problem of how to get everything to D.C. But it also means quite a bit of work in figuring out what to put in this shipment and what will fit in the car. (Our previous plan was to rent a trailer and shove everything in without thinking about it too much.) We've had a rough couple of nights with the baby, but with movers arriving on Friday morning -- hopefully well ahead of any hurricanes that may be headed our way -- we are powering through the organization of crap.

As it's the last week of summer vacation, we're also trying to do all the summery things one last time, plus visit as many people as possible since they won't see Sophie for a while.

And we're doing it all during a heatwave and impending hurricane. Yay summer!

Family Planning

As in, how do we plan to get our family from Rhode Island to Washington, D.C., in two weeks? Coordinating trips like this seemed hard enough when it was just Mike, me, and a cat or two. Now we have a baby and all the baby stuff (plus one cat). The car seat alone takes up so much room in the car -- valuable real estate that previously went toward suitcases and cat carriers. And not only do we have to solve the problem of where all our stuff goes, but there's the little issue of babies needing to eat every once in a while. Mike and I can grab some cheese sticks and coffee and power through a drive. But the baby's not old enough for cheese sticks yet, so that won't work.

Despite not looking forward to the drive, I am looking forward to spending the fall in Washington. I've grown to enjoy a furnished apartment next to a metro stop, at least for short-term living. We'll be in a neighborhood I'm familiar with, walking distance to coffee shops, grocery stores, and some of our favorite restaurants. Favorite restaurants that deliver, which is such a nice, big-city convenience.

I'm also looking forward to all my time with the baby. Right now I still consider myself on vacation/maternity leave, but once we get to Washington I'll feel officially unemployed. It's the first time in my adult life that I won't have any sort of employment, and I'm planning on not working for a while. I don't even have any freelance projects in the pipeline and don't know when I'll start sniffing around for more. And because of our crazy schedule in advance of moving to India, I won't be going back to my online courses right away, either. Being a mom will keep me busy enough.

Argh. Just let me get to Washington. I don't have the energy to worry about moving to India quite yet.

Great Caesar's Ghost!

Wednesday night Mike and I went to the Shakespeare Theatre Company's production of Julius Caesar.

Caesar is a Shakespeare play that I'd never seen or even read before. It was pretty good! The production wasn't that impressive. It was what I think of as traditional American-style Shakespeare, with guys all wrapped up in white sheets and leather sandals. And the fighting was bad -- it was like modern dance interpretive fighting.

But there was a stand-out performance by the actor playing Antony. He was fantastic. You don't think of Antony as the comic relief, but he injected some humor into the role while still maintaining himself as a serious military man. And I enjoyed the actual play. It's hard going into Shakespeare when you don't know the play, but this one really wrapped me up and kept me intrigued throughout the evening.

Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra are playing throughout the spring at Harman Center for the Arts Sidney Harman Hall. (The theatre is across the street from the Gallery Place/Chinatown Metro stop.) The Shakespeare Theatre Company's free Shakespeare in the Park production is Hamlet.

Confidence Man 2

On Sunday Mike and I went out to hike Old Rag, a small mountain, but a toughy. We did the circuit route, starting with the Ridge Trail rock scramble up to the summit. Mike's done the hike twice without me and thought that the rocks would build up my wilderness confidence. I have to admit, I was freaked out in a couple places. You can't see all the footholds and have to just put your foot down and hope it sticks to something. I didn't have the arm strength to pull myself out of every crevice. At one point boy scouts gave me a boost from behind. (Thank you, nice boy scouts!) Eventually you get to a beautiful vista, only to notice that there's yet another pile of rocks in your path. You're not at the top yet. (That happens at least 3 times.) But eventually I got to the top. Mike was proud of me and I was glad I did it.

The trail was crowded and there were lots of back ups along the rocks. We decided to take the easier path back down toward the fire road rather than climb down through the rocks. It was kind of a long and boring walk though, after the trek up.

Two days later and I'm still a bit sore, but in a good way.

Old Rag is less than 2 hours from D.C., in the northeast part of Shenandoah National Park. The entrance fee is $8/person and you get a permit good throughout the park for 7 days .The circuit route we did is 8.8 miles, not including the walk from the parking lot to the trail head. It's challenging. You need a small pack (for squeezing through narrow passes), but lots of water and snacks. Long pants are good for protection from the rocks. You can do an out-and-back route of the fire roads if you prefer to skip the rock scrambling.

More pictures at flickr.

("Confidence Man 2" is a part Tobias auditions for on Arrested Development.)

Programming Note: This afternoon I'm getting my Burundi vaccinations! Stay tuned for news on how that goes. There's bureaucracy involved, so I'm sure it will go smoothly.

Hiking and drinking wine!

Yesterday we headed to Maryland for sugarloaves... Sugarloaf Mountain and the vineyard next door. Sugarloaf is a small mountain about 40 minutes from D.C. You'd think that on such a sunny, but not too hot, day, the trails would have been crowded. No so. We were surprised at how few people there were. We hiked the blue blazed trail around to the White Rocks (which is the view in the photo). There are some hills and the trail is a little over five miles long. It was a very pleasant hike. In summer it's mostly shaded by trees. There are lots of bugs and critters and birds. I wore my new hiking boots (and new hiking socks and new hiking shorts) to start breaking them in, in preparation for our Kilimanjaro trek.

After our hike we traded our boots for flip-flops and stopped at the Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard. They have tastings with cheese plate snacks. We tasted all six wines and had some delicious cheese from a local goat farm. We ended up buying two bottles of wine and they wrapped up the rest of our goat cheese to bring home. It was a great way to end our excursion.

Sugarloaf Mountain and the vineyard are just off of I-270 at the Hyattstown exit. The mountain is on private property and there's no admission fee. Tastings at the vineyard are between $2 and $4 and cheese prices vary.

More mountain pics at flickr.

Movie -- Young@Heart

Last night we saw a truly heart-warming film, Young@Heart. It's a documentary about a senior citizens' chorus from Northampton, Massachusetts, that changed its tune from more traditional "oldies" pop music to classic and modern rock songs from artists like Jimi Hendrix, the Ramones, Talking Heads, the Clash, and Coldplay. The film opens a few months before their next big tour and the exasperated chorus director is trying to teach the group some new songs. We follow the chorus's progress over those months as they struggle with Sonic Youth and James Brown. Can they pull themselves together in time for the big show?

There is nothing bad to say about this film. It's innocent fun. You'll laugh, you'll cry... all that good stuff.

I've been trying all day to embed the trailer from YouTube but either something's wrong with my copy/paster, Blogger, or YouTube. The next best thing is a link to the trailer: Click Here.

It's still playing in D.C. at the E Street Landmark Theatre, next to Metro Center.

Catching Up

Last night, about a week after leaving our little studio hotel room for a two-bedroom apartment, we found ourselves crammed into one room. Me in bed reading, Mike at the desk online, and the cats dozing nearby. So why did we upgrade to a bigger, better apartment if we're going to continue all living together in one room?

Oh yeah, because now we live in Georgetown and it's so much better than Falls Church. There's stuff to walk to! Metro stops, restaurants, post office, Dunkin Donuts... the possibilities are endless.

We are just beginning to feel settled here. The day after we moved in Mike's mom arrived and we accompanied her on a road trip to Roanoke for a couple days. Then Mike headed north to spend some time with his brother and friends in Philly and New York. Last night was only the third night Mike has spent in our new digs. I spent my time alone scouting out the neighborhood but by yesterday I was so incredibly bored. I wanted Mike back to show off all the stuff I discovered.

Now he's back, but had to go to work this morning of course. And I'm bored again. And it's raining. And I'm bored.

Cherry Blossoms!

It's that time of year when people go bonkers for trees with little white and pink blossoms. Cherry blossom time in Washington, D.C. Yes, we went down to take a look and yes, it's very pretty. We actually went last Friday afternoon, the day before the festival started. We wanted to avoid as many people as possible. We like to Metro to Arlington Cemetery and walk across the bridge to the Tidal Basin. It's a great walk. You get a nice overview of the trees from afar. And it gets you off a crowded train sooner than if you took it all the way into the city. (I've been trying to map our walks around D.C. See here.)

Officially, the National Cherry Blossom Festival runs through April 13, but the blossoms are at their peak right now. The festival includes activities for kids and traditional Japanese food and drink. (Like a Sapporo beer garden?) There is very little parking available and isn't driving in D.C. a pain in the butt anyway? You can take the Metro to various stations and take nice walks through D.C. and around the Tidal Basin.

You can see our photos at flickr.

Trail Running: Fountainhead Regional Park

A few weeks ago we drove down to Fountainhead Regional Park for some trail running in the brisk chilliness. This was the kind of wooded, hilly trail that brought back a lot of East Coast memories. Trails in California just aren't the same as the wooded East Coast trails. We were plodding along talking and not really paying attention to the time or the hills. Eventually we reached water, the Occoquan Reservoir, and we stopped to look and realized we'd been out for nearly and hour. And suddenly we remembered all the hills! So we decided to head back to the parking lot, plodding and shuffling up those hills.

We could hear a lot of birds out in the forest and at one point we came to an area where the trees were covered in black and the bird sounds were deafening. There were thousands of black birds perched in the trees and when they noticed us running toward them they started to take off! We felt bad because the trail we were on circled their patch of trees so they probably thought we were chasing them. We tried to slow down and be quieter and less threatening.

There are few services at this park, at least from what we could tell. We were there before the bathrooms opened for the season so I had to use the woods. One of the parking lots was closed as well and the trails weren't open to bikers yet. I can't remember if there was an entry fee or not. If there was, it was something like $5 per car.

Trail Running: Manassas Bull Run

One area where my and Mike's workout interests overlap is trail running. We've been trying to spend nice Sunday mornings exploring local trails. Yesterday we ran the 5.3-mile First Manassas Trail at the Manassas National Battlefield Park. The trail circles a good portion of the field and woods where the Civil War's First Battle of Bull Run took place. It was pretty cool to be outside in the sunshine, running, and learning some history. It took us a long time because we kept stopping to read historical markers and look at deer and just enjoy the nature and history. We weren't there to be speedy; we were there to have fun.

The trail is pretty flat. I remember only two real hills, and they weren't that big. They're historical, so you can pretend to be a soldier charging up. Most of the trail is along open fields, so sun protection is a must. When the trail gets close to the actual Bull Run, it gets a little muddy and squishy, so be careful if you're there after it rains. There are some benches and even a picnic table or two, so you could have a very nice day of walking or running and lunch.

There's a small visitor's center with an interactive battlefield map, a book store, and restrooms. The park entry fee is $3 per adult for a 3-day pass.

I found this great map at HikingUpward.com, which is where I learned about this Manassas trail. Hovering over a number will bring up the trail name and a brief description. Clicking on a number will bring you to a new page with more detailed information.

Macbeth at Folger Shakespeare Library

On Tuesday night Mike and I went to see Macbeth at the Folger Shakespeare Library. It's been extended to April 13 and they only have standing room available now, but if you have the chance you should go. It was awesome. One of the producers is Teller, of Penn and Teller, and he's incorporated some terrific illusions into the production.

When I first heard "magic by Teller," I'll admit I was skeptical, expecting flashpots and obvious trap doors. But I watched carefully and couldn't figure out the tricks! And he has a sense of humor with his magic, too. At one point all the actors on stage crowd around a certain area and I thought, "Oh that's so obvious that's where the ghost will come from," but I was fooled! The ghost came from the other side of the stage.

This Macbeth is a very hip, very accessible interpretation. Many of the lines that come off as stuffy Elizabethan in other productions are delivered comically. And Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are making out nearly every time they're on stage together. She was one sexy Lady Macbeth who commands anyone's attention. I liked the stage fighting; Mike thought it wasn't quite violent enough. There was plenty of blood though. They can only spill so much blood onstage before it becomes a hazard for the actors jumping around.

The Weirds were a little scary and the "Double, double toil and trouble" scene was a real show-stopper. Often it's overdone because it's what so many people are waiting for that it's a disappointment. This was certainly overdone, but in a fantastic, loud, musical, over-the-top way that I was staring wide-eyed, not sure if I should laugh or be frightened, or maybe clap and chant along. It was a very satisfying scene.

When we bought tickets, only "partial view" seats were available and we had to buy seats one behind the other. The view was still pretty good, though. I had to lean forward a few times to see the left-most side of the stage, but it's a small stage and a lot of the action happened right in the middle. No one showed up to sit next to Mike so for the second act we sat next to each other. I imaging whoever came in with the standing audience decided that where they stood had an even better view than my vacated seat. I'd say it's worth standing for. Wear comfortable shoes; it's 2 hours and 15 minutes long (including intermission).

If you can't make it to the show or you're a Shakespeare-ophile with no money, you can still visit the Folger Shakespeare Library. They have a small exhibit hall that's free, they do lots of educational programs, and there's a book store. It's a few blocks from the Capital South Metro station.

Iwo Jima in Lego and other stuff

My dad was in town this weekend so we treated him to a tour of tourism delights. Saturday we drove South (in to The South) to visit the National Museum of the Marine Corps at Quantico. It is so awesome. If you have even the slightest interest in American history, you should check this out. The exhibits now focus on WWII, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War, because it's the veterans from those wars who are getting older and they wanted to show those folks their exhibits before... you know. They're expanding into more modern events.

It's totally interactive, and fun for kids and grownups. You start off as a Marine recruit, standing in line for the barber's chair and getting on the bus. You can simulate drill instructors yelling. You have to examine a uniform and find the infractions. You can even take a crack at the shooting range.

Then you move through the wars timeline. The exhibits are incredibly realistic. They used as much original machinery (jeeps, planes, tanks, etc.) as possible, and you can smell the oil and grease and mustiness. There's a living room set up where you listen to FDR's radio address about the bombing of Pearl Harbor, complete with a woman who dropped her teacup when she heard the news. You walk through a battle scene at Chosin and the air conditioner is pumped up because it was so cold there. You walk through Khe Sanh and the heat is blasting. Unfortunately the interactive landing at Iwo Jima has been broken, but the docents will still bring you in to the mess and give you a briefing on the invasion. They rotate between displaying the two flags that were raised at Iwo Jima. (The gift shop has the Lego display of the Iwo Jima memorial.)

The museum is free and you don't have to go through the Quantico gate to get to it. There's a mess hall and Tun's Tavern for food. It's just off I-95.

After the museum we headed another 15 miles or so south to Fredericksburg. The sun was warm, the dogwoods were blooming; it was just a great afternoon to be outside. First we stopped in town for lunch at an olde-timey drugstore lunch counter. This place, Goolrick's I think it's called, hasn't changed its format in at least 50 years. You get simple sandwiches, real cherry Coke, and ice cream sodas. And everything is served with a handful of chips and a limp pickle.

After lunch we went to the site of the Battle of Fredericksburg. It was my first Civil War battle site. There's a trail that's a nice short walk with signs along the way to tell you what you're looking at. Suburban sprawl has covered part of the battlefield, but you can still get a sense of what went on. If you feel up to it, you can continue walking up the hill to two cemeteries. One is a family plot that was in place long before the battle took place and some of the original headstones are still there. During the battle it served as a field hospital, due to its thick brick walls. The second cemetery is of Union soldiers who died during the battle. They gathered up the remains and identified as many as possible. Even if they couldn't identify the person, each body got a headstone. It was quite impactful.

Even though we uncovered some pretty grim themes throughout the day, it was a great day. And easy to do without too much time and effort. The Fredericksburg site is also free, so you're only paying for lunch and gas. We left Fall Church at 8:30-ish to hit the museum when it opened at 9:00 (good idea, since on a weekend it fills up quickly with tour busses). We were home from Fredericksburg around 4:00. (Plenty of time for a nap before dinner--which was at Arlington Cinema and Draft House while we watched No Country for Old Men.)

D.C. photos on flickr

Cartoons! Persepolis and Oscar-Nominated Short Films

Last Thursday we had hoped to see a special screening of The Princess Bride but it sold out. So we turned to Persepolis. It is amazing. It's funny, whimsical, and tender, yet tells a very serious story. It's the autobiography of a young woman growing up in Tehran in the 1980s and 90s, during the Revolution. She struggles with her veil and her manners. She covets Western punk and pop music. Girls in their teens are being arrested and imprisoned (and often executed) for wearing lipstick and nail polish and letting too much hair show from the veil. Eventually Marjane's parents decide to send her to boarding school in Europe because she is too free-spirited to live safely in Tehran. She struggles in Vienna as well, unable to fit in anywhere. She returns to Tehran, where the political situation isn't any better than before, but at least she has her friends and family surrounding her.

I was almost finished with Reading Lolita in Tehran when I saw Persepolis and what strikes me is that these are not unique, isolated stories of a handful of women. This is the way of life for thousands of women. Women who want to go to university and read any books that they want. Women who don't want to be molested or raped and then be arrested because they broke the law by tempting men. Women who want the choice of wearing the veil as an expression of their religious beliefs.



We saw it at the Cinema Arts Centre Theatre in Fairfax. (It's a decent little arthouse theater. Good hot chocolate!) It's still playing there and at a handful of other theaters in the metro area.

On Sunday after witnessing the robot uprising we went to the Landmark E Street Cinema to see the five animated shorts that are nominated for the Academy Award. (They also have screenings of the live action short films.) One of the stories, "My Love," a Russian film, left us wanting to tear our eyes out. The animation was cool at first, in the style of a Monet painting, but was headache inducing by the end. And the story was so sappy and sentimental. I also think it was the longest of the five. Maybe it just felt like the longest. "Madame Tutli-Putli," "Even Pigeons Go to Heaven," and "Peter and the Wolf" had fantastic animation. "Madam" and "Pigeons" had bizarre stories though. And now that I think about it, the ending of "Peter" was a little lame. But I still really liked all three of them. The last one, "I Met the Walrus," had simple pen and ink-type doodles, but it was an awesome concept. Many moons ago, 1969 I believe, a 14-year old met John Lennon and recorded their discussion. The film is this conversation animated. When you stop and listen to John Lennon in context, he sounds perfectly reasonable and rational in his message of peace. I really can't decide which of these I'd pick for the Oscar winner. For message, "I Met the Walrus." For animation maybe "Madame Tutli-Putli." However they made the eyes for those puppets was completely creepy.

The Landmark E Street Cinema is about three blocks from the Metro Center stop.