the fun never ends

Wow! Nearly a week has gone by with nary a post on my DC comings and goings!

According to my daily planner, on Tuesday I attended the first of my Brown Bag lunch series (which I put together for the professional benefit of the interns). The first speaker I invited was the department head with the most confusingly named department! I learned a heck of a lot about research projects going on at our museum, our use of technology, and our digital catalog. As the only graduate student in attendance, I was of course the only intern with any questions for the real, live museum professional, but that's okay.

On Wednesday, I was sent to a meeting on eldercare with a mission: determine organizations and people to whom we can contact group tours. I have an extremely vague new project, to "market group tours." Those really are the sum total of my instructions. So, away I go! I'm sure that the elderly are a great place to start, don't you? Who else has the time and interest for an activity that happens at either 11:45 am or 3:30 pm?

On the upside, I visited the National Museum of African Art. It was great! It's one of those SmAthsonians that you have to really hunt down; it's subterranean, to begin with, and sort of lost in the Castle complex. I literally ran into it by accident, actually, and I'm so glad I did. There was an amazing exhibit up, which closes this coming week -- the mythology of Mami Wata, an African water spirit whose presence has heavily influenced diaspora art. AKA, mermaids!! Very exciting stuff, and my computer is denying my ability to directly provide a link to the site, so check it out.

On Thursday, I failed to attend a screening on Handmade Nation, followed by a book signing by the author. I missed it because the event was held at the Renwick Gallery, not at the American Art Museum, which promoted the event. I know they are related, and I guess I should have double-checked on the room more than 10 minutes before I intended to leave the office, but still. It's sad. But why did they schedule it for 12:00 pm anyway? What a dumb time! The prime demographic -- crafty young women such as myself, I presume -- are also working ladies who would have to sacrifice their lunch hour in order to attend, so it's doubly strange that the event happened in Foggy Bottom as opposed to the centrally located, downtown museum... whatever. Wouldn't it be interesting to ask the public programmers what they were thinking?

On Friday I only popped in to the office for an hour. My supervisor gave me the OK for this, so I conducted an extensive self-guided tour of the National Gallery of Art. Yes, I've been in before, but it's huge and to know you can spend all day inside is just amazing. If you're a geek like me. Anyway, I made it over to the East Building for the first time; home of "modern art" and an incredibly weird waste of space. Literally; the building is amazing but also amazingly empty. I learned that I hate Philip Guston and adore Stanley William Hayter. It rained. I attended another IMAX film, on dinosaurs. The fun never ends.

Saturday: The Phillips Collection turns out to be one of the absolute best places in DC, hands down. I loved the collection, the philosophy, the exhibits -- Paint Made Flesh is the title, I believe -- and the fact that I got in for free. It's in Dupont Circle, which is a great neighborhood with a tiny bookstore named Kramerbooks. People here seem to be very excited about Kramerbooks, with good reason; it's not pretentious at all and has lots of lovely books / a bar. However, it's the size of my appartment (back home). If they ever visit Powell's, they will never again be content with their lifestyle, I thought to myself, pitying the East Coasters.

But it was nice, and I attended a BBQ full of international relations workers. Boy. I can't remember rightly what me and my friends back home discuss during a Saturday night BBQ, but it's rarely abortion and the implications of ostentatious gay pride parades (does it help or hinder the gay rights movement? Discuss!). I, meanwhile, wonder if anyone in the party is interested in Ovid. I can talk to you about Ovid. The Venezualan economy? After three drinks? Boy. After awhile, my inner anthropologist just kicks back and enjoys the show.

Gosh, I really need to update more, because I'm tired of writing... but STILL NOT DONE!! Because in DC, the fun never ends.

Today I crawled all over Georgetown. It's so cute. I love the architecture and the tiny little houses, and upscale shops and wholesale snobbery. Rich people do some things right, after all, like Dumbarton Oaks! I just kind of ran into it -- that happens a lot, I guess -- and lo and behold, there's a museum inside full of Byzantine, Greek and pre-Columbian art! Right up my alley, folks! I was very excited, of course. And of nearly equal excitement is the fact that for a mere $5, you can frolic on their extensive garden grounds. I felt very Elizabeth Bennett about the whole thing, and read my book whilst overlooking the Lover's Lane Pool, as the summer sun sank into the embrace of an azure sky.

Up next: am I going to New York City next weekend? Am I??