Absence Makes the Blogger Founder

So...I was in Chicago over the long weekend with J and didn't write diddly-squat in the blog.  I promise to make it up to you soon.  Soon, I say!  In the meantime, look at this unfortunate bit of news:

National Christmas Tree Casualty of High Winds

and also this funny one:

Le Poopshack Historique

(The only way you'll find out what it means is to click the link!  Thanks to DCist for both stories.)

Watch the Space...

...for lots of pictures from the National Air and Space Museum, artisanal cheese from Wisconsin in an upscale boutique in Penn Quarter, Moorish architecture on K St., and other products of an exciting - and tiring - day.  I say "watch this space" because right now I need food and shoes off.  And possibly a beer.  I'll write later.

What a Difference Two Hours Makes

You will be pleased to know that, after missing out on the two hour delay last week, I got one this morning - and slept until 9 until 6:30, as usual.  Gawd, was it ever glorious.  I then walked to work and was late, but it didn't matter because I was one of five people in the office - everyone else decided to telework.  I also walked home - I'm feeling healthy! - and thought a bit about the blog as I passed through the Smithsonian complex for the fourth time this week. 

I realized that I haven't actually been to any of the Smithsonian facilities on the Mall (I have been to the National Portrait Gallery, as you'll recall), which means I'm missing out on ten museums, according to Smithsonian's website.  This is an unforgivable sin on my part and I feel culturally impoverished just thinking about it, but it also offers me a great opportunity for this blog.  You see, church reviews are drawing to their natural end, because I've visited most of the Catholic churches within easy reach.  Yes, there are one or two others in the "DC core" that I'll go to eventually, and I haven't been to the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception yet, but the days of a new church review each week are over.  But there are plenty of other things to review, which is what I realized as I walked across the Mall.  This is a city full of museums of monuments, and although I've given some attention to the major monuments, I've said precious little about any of Washington's many museums.  I've also intended since this fall to do a bit on minor monuments - the ones hardly anyone knows about (you'd be surprised how many I've been able to run over without even trying).  Add some more concerted efforts to find new and unique retailers (I already have one in mind), and I've got all sorts of things to write about.  Since this blog is not intended as an exercise in navel-gazing, this is excellent news.  This also means that I can finally start making us of the "DC Guide" tab which I had (and now have) such grand plans for.

Of course, I'm always happy to take requests.  In fact, I might even relish to challenge.  Want me to find something within the borders of the District?  Leave it in the comments, and I'll see what I can do.  And bring photographic evidence back as proof, of course.

Sunday Digest

I have been remiss this week, but I hope to make up for it!  I'm sitting down this afternoon to do my final catching up while the laundry is in, with one eye on the Packers-Bears game.  At the moment we're leading 14-0, with a shot at the Superbowl hanging in the balance.  I needn't clarify who "we" is, right?

I went up to Sagrado Corazon this morning for Mass and must report that it's due for a downgrade.  I finally got their pastor (as opposed to the various guest preachers I've seen at prior Masses) and the sad fact is that this roly-poly Salvadoran dumpling man, who is undoubtedly jolly and friendly and all manner of things, is a mediocre (at best) homilist.  And this before he attempted to shove a "respect for life" message into his sermon (tomorrow is the March for Life, after all, so avoid the Mall, those of you who support people having access abortion, even if you never want one yourself).  I won't rant too much on it, but I'm mystified as to how "the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light" somehow translates into a demand for obedience.  Really?  Points off, sir.  (For those of you keeping score, I'm knocking three points off the Liturgy score, down to two, for a recalculated average of 3.75.  Not so impressive now.)

OK, enough of that.  You want to know what I've written up that you've been waiting for for a week now, don't you?  Well, just look below.

New Posts
Jan. 12: The Battle of Gettysburg
Jan. 13: Raging Kitsch
Jan. 18: [Have an] Ice Day
Jan. 22: Lembas?

EDIT (8:00pm): HA!  Superbowl for the Packers - the first in more than a decade!  I am pumped!  But who will we be playing?  I don't know, but what I do know is that I need a Packers flag to fly from my balcony.  Photos to come, should I be able to find one!

Happy MLK Day!

I must confess that I don't really do anything special on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.  I never have.  This is not because I don't respect and admire Dr. King - I do - but because for as long as I've been aware of it (that is, since college), I've always found myself with piles of work to do, so I do that instead.  When I was still in school, it was academic work - now, it's housework.  Bluh.  So I've spent about an hour and a half doing dishes and cleaning the kitchen - after a breather, I'm off to clean the bathroom.  Then maybe I'll vacuum everywhere, make dinner, and bake cookies.  Oh, and I need to run over to the grocery store for lettuce.  And do Pilates, since I haven't walked today.  That's what I get for sleeping in.

I anticipate, either tonight or over the next day or two, finishing the posts on Gettysburg and last week's church review, and perhaps some other things.  You'll see them show up further down the page, but for your convenience I'll link I have linked to them below.
 
Jan. 8: Church Review: Immaculate Conception

Oh, and don't forget what today is supposed to be about!

Off to Battle!

I'm headed off to training in Gettysburg, PA this morning, and will remain there until midday on Friday.  I don't think I'll be able to post during that time, since I probably won't have internet access, but I'm going to the battlefield (or, should I say, The Battlefield) tomorrow, so I'll take pictures and post them here once I return.  In the meantime, check out the post below this one - there are some new [backdated] posts for December that I've written since I got back from Wisconsin, and I owe you all a church review from Saturday.  Ah well - maybe I'll get caught up to myself some day?

On an unrelated note, today is 1/11/11!  So at 11:11 today (am or pm, your choice) do something special - like take a screenshot of your computer clock [1/11/11 11:11] or something like that.  This sort of thing doesn't come around often!  (Don't worry if you forget, though - you'll have a chance for redemption/even greater success in November!)

Happy [Belated] New Year!

I'm late, yes, but traveling over a thousand miles and coming back to a disorganized apartment (pack in haste, repent at leisure) tends to eat up one's free time, and making one's first student loan payment tends to eat up one's will to live (I exaggerate), so I haven't paid much attention to the blog.  I salute those of you who came by and visited in the interim - either you're very loyal or very bored.  Since there's little worth reporting about my first three days back in Washington, I'm instead going to focus on catching up from the end of December.  New posts are listed below:

Dec. 14th: Capitol South
Dec. 15th: Capitol Hill Books
Dec. 17th: First Proper Snow!
Dec. 18th: Navy Yard 
Dec. 25th: Merry Christmas!

Read and enjoy - tomorrow is Twelfth Night, and I may well have a culinary adventure to report!

Christmas Vacation!

It's been a long time coming, but tomorrow I leave DC for the wilds of frigid Wisconsin.  I realize that I leave a number of promised posts (see yesterday's entry) unwritten, but I promise to write them in between meeting up with family friends, playing with the cats, and enjoying not having to get up at 6 every weekday morning.  I will only have intermittent internet access while away, of course, but hopefully I'll be so fully recharged after a week off that I'll be able to write all the remaining December posts and then start into January on time, rather than lagging behind!  And pigs might fly, but you know, around about this time last year swine flu.  (Hee hee!)

Enough of that - I've got to finish packing so I can get to bed.  I'm very worn out today, but the anticipation of vacation has put some wind in my sails - enough to wrap presents and shove things in my suitcase, at least.  But hey - the nights are getting shorter now, and I don't have to do anything substantive at work until January 3rd.  Things are looking up!

Tardy!

I've been remiss this past week, although I claim to have a good excuse - too much going on.  Multiple things came to a head last week, from extra tasks at work to baking for a bake sale, to cleaning, to Christmas shopping, to guests, to masses of dishes to do (several times over, in fact).  Rest assured, I did some fun things this weekend, and will write posts soon (hopefully tomorrow evening).  After all, I have another church review to share, along with photos of the craziest used book store I've ever encountered, a crafty project or two to share, and adventures in a new neighborhood.  It's not like I haven't been doing anything - but finding the energy to write...well, that's another question entirely!  I'll do my best to summon it up tomorrow as much for me as for you, dear readers, because (Heaven help me) my Christmas shopping isn't done yet!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I've just returned from dinner and Battlestar Galactica with K&R, but I wanted to take a moment to wish Happy Thanksgiving to all my readers!  You'll probably have noticed that I've fallen a bit behind, but while J was here I spent my time with him, not writing (sorry, but can you blame me?), and this week has been excruciating.  I'll catch up shortly, I promise - I've done it before (remember October?) and I'll do it again.  In the meantime, though, I'd like to send Thanksgiving greetings to all my readers around the world.  They're a  diverse group:

Austria, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Denmark, 
Egypt, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Japan, 
Poland, Russia, Slovenia, and the United States

I don't know all of you (or at least, I don't think I do), but thank you for reading.  I never thought that I'd have readers from multiple continents when I started writing - I had just intended it as a sort of visual diary for myself!  But even so, I do hope you're enjoying the reading as much as I enjoy the writing and the exploring which stimulates it.  In thanks for your attention, I have a pair of presents:

• If you'd like to make keeping track of my exploits easier, I've added a "Subscribe" feature on the right, beneath the bagel (ha!).  
• I've also added a "Cast of Characters" section on the right, under the labels.  Since it's my policy not to identify people by name or otherwise make their lives public, I only use first initials.  This means you might get confused as to who I'm talking about, so read the "cast list" to get sorted out.

Happy Thanksgiving!