Day 280/365 - Playing Hooky with Harry Potter

Thanks to my subversive instigation, nearly my entire office (including both our interns) snuck off to catch a noon showing of the new Harry Potter movie today. Don't worry, we used our vacation time to go so there's no issue of tax dollars being squandered while federal employees go AWOL.

Given that it's summertime I was expecting the theater to be packed with kids, but it was almost exclusively a crowd of nerdy adults. Comme nous. The movie was good, but as usual there was a lot they left out. They kept most of the comedy and romance bits intact, but surprisingly they cut a major action scene from the book. Still, it was a satisfying film and skipping off in the middle of the day to go to the movies was great. Coming back to work afterward, not so much.

Surely there has to be a magic spell to chase away work. Some variation of expelliarmus perhaps, or maybe this calls for a patronus.


(Taken with my Nikon D90)

Day 268/365 - Summer Reading List

This is the stack of books I'm planning/hoping on reading this summer. I've already finished "The Miracles of Santo Fico" and I'm nearly done with "The Angel's Game." Like everything else about me, my taste in books can be pretty eclectic. There's a mix of fiction and non-fiction, class and trash in this stack. Not to mention the obligatory pirate book. Arghhhhhh...

(Taken with my Nikon D90)

Day 263/365 - International Gentleman of Leisure

After a day spent wrangling dogs and a night in Adams Morgan I decided today called for something a little more leisurely, so I grabbed blanket, book, and iPod and headed to my secret spot. Down the street from my apartment there is a little park filled with fountains and other water features. On weekends there are always people standing in front of the fountains having wedding/prom/quinceañera photos taken. At the back of the park, a paved path winds its way up and around a grassy knoll. Few people go up that way.

I like to lay there on the hill and forget the world exists. The feel of the pages under my fingertips, the fluid poetry of Puccini on my iPod, the softness of the blanket, the smell of the grass, the coolness in the air, the sound of the water from the fountains, and the thrum and rattle of trains passing on the backside of the hill all formed a perfect equation of relaxation.

For a few hours today, this little patch of grass was my own private desert island.

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

Day 236/365 - Self Portrait at Sea

We are currently steaming our way toward Juneau, Alaska. We’re going to be at sea this entire day. I spent the first part of the day sitting near various windows in sundry parts of the ship looking out at the passing scenery, listening to old radio programs on my iPod, and reading (as you can see in this week’s self-portrait). It was deeeelicious. Then this afternoon, my brother and I went bowling (there are four bowling lanes in one of the bars onboard the ship) and played a game of Scrabble whilst seated at the stern as the mountains rolled past on either side. We have port calls the next two days and then another full day at sea, followed by two more port calls before debarking in Seattle. I think my brother and I will try out the rock climbing wall on our next day at sea. Gotta do something to burn off the steady stream of desserts.

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

Day 225/365 - Zombies!

I've been thinking about buying this book for a while now. Given that I have a Y chromosome, I've never read any of Jane Austen's stuff. I thought I should probably read the original before I read the spoof, but then I figured when am I ever going to read the straight version? So screw it, bring on the zombies!

I like a lot of chick flicks but I've never gotten into chick lit, either contemporary or classic. (Hopefully my use of the term 'chick' here doesn't offend anyone. I don't mean it to be condescending. I just use it as the female equivalent of dude.) Never read Austen or whoever it was that wrote the "Litte Women" books. I have toyed with the idea of reading "Bridget Jones Diary" though. That sounded like it could be pretty entertaining. I've always had a secret urge to read the Nancy Drew books, too. One of these days I'm going to break down and order them off Amazon.

I did have to read "Wuthering Heights" in college once and hated it. Everyone in that book was annoying. I just wanted to kick them all in the shins and tell them to get over it already. Now that was a book that could have seriously used a few zombies. Or at least a vampire.

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

Day 224/365 - Driving Me to Drink

The Nats dropped their seventh straight game tonight in a 2-1 loss to the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates and their record now stands at 11-28. It's looking like another 100+ loss season is in store for them (and thus, by extension, for me). Fannnnnnnnntastic.

I went to the game but I had to leave after the fifth inning with the score knotted at 1 because my allergies were making me miserable. Like an idiot, I forgot to take any allergy medicine to work with me today. I had gotten pretty lucky thus far this spring with my hayfever, but today it caught up to me. I must have sneezed a dozen times just on the short walk from the ballpark to the Metro. With the way my eyes were puffy and red and watery and my nose was running I must have looked as though I'd been bawling. The way the Nats are playing is certainly enough to make a grown man cry.

As you can see from the photo, I always take a book on baseball to the ballpark with me. Usually it's a book on DC baseball history. There are a surprising number of them out there. There are even a couple DC baseball novels. I like to read before the game starts and then in between innings. I'm also one of those nerd boys who brings a portable radio to the ballpark with him to listen to the broadcast of the game. Yeah, I'm cool like that.

I got home tonight in time to catch the ninth inning and hear the Nats let the Pirates score the go-ahead run and then fail to even things up in their half of the final frame. I turned off the radio, fixed myself a rather stout bloody mary, and put on some Billie Holiday. It's good to remember at times like this that even the blues can be beautiful.

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

Day 191/365 - Lunch al Fresco

Today was a perfect weather day in DC, which meant I absolutely had to have lunch somewhere with sidewalk seating. I opted to walk to a little Thai place on Capitol Hill and had the red curry duck, coconut ice cream, and two Thai iced teas. I love Thai iced tea.

So, to recap -- Friday afternoon, Thai food, sunshine, 70 degrees, interesting book, and hot Hill staffers strolling by. Yeah, I've had worse lunches.

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

Day 153/365 - Bibliophile

For this week's self-portrait we have me reading a book (whilst standing in my kitchen -- it has the best light and least distracting background). I think I've always loved to read. My sisters liked to play school with me as the student and so they taught me to read before I started going to real school. It made it tricky for my parents though because then they couldn't spell out the things they didn't want me to know about.

I do most of my reading on the Metro, at lunchtime, and for an hour or two before turning in for the night. I read fairly quickly, which was always a definite plus when it came to taking exams. Mostly I read for enjoyment rather than edification. I have to 'read to think' at work, so at home I 'read to escape' instead.

Mostly I read exciting, atmospheric, mysterious, fluff. Anything with adventure, intrigue, and a dash of romance. I really like Alan Furst's books. That's his "Night Soldiers" I'm reading above.

His books are always about spies (typically ordinary people recruited to serve as spies for a variety of reasons) operating in Europe in the years just before and during WWII. They're very langorous and moody and world-weary and reading one is like slipping inside a really good old black and white movie.

I've read three of his books so far. This will be the fourth. They're all excellent, but I think my favorite may be the first one I read -- "Kingdom of Shadows." When I travel I like to read books set in the places I'm visiting. That book is set in Hungary and I found it while browsing through a bookstore looking for something to take with me on a trip to Budapest. It turned out to be an excellent choice.

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

Day 109/365 - Busy Making Big Plans

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, exactly five weeks from today I will be on a flight to Venice, Italy. For several years now I've been aching to visit Italy in general and Venice in particular. Originally the plan was to take three weeks off and wander the length, breadth, width, depth and height of the country. Last year, however, I decided that I'd like to carve Venice out and make it a separate and exclusive trip. No other cities, just Venice.

I was fortunate enough to see New Orleans and Mardi Gras pre-Katrina and now I'd like to experience Venice before it's oft-predicted demise comes to pass. So after several years of dithering, last week I finally made flight and hotel reservations for a six-day stay in Venice. I depart from DC on the evening of Sunday February 22nd, arrive in Venice the following afternoon, and don't come back until Sunday March 1st. I've heard both good and bad accounts of Venice -- it's beautiful/it's filthy, it's romantic/it's smelly, it's a delight/it's a hassle, etc. Time to find out for myself which it will be to me.

It's all very exciting and intoxicating. I've been going through guidebooks, looking at maps, checking websites, and digging out the Italian language CDs I purchased several years ago when I first considered traveling to Italy. I think I picked out a great hotel, but you never know for sure until you get there. I'll be staying at the Hotel Abbazia in the Cannaregio sestieri, a neighborhood in the northwestern section of Venice. It was built as a monastery in 1379 but has since been converted in a small, 50-room hotel. Although it's only 100 meters from the train station, it's supposed to be in a very quiet and peaceful neighborhood.

This will be a bit of a different style of trip for me. Normally when I travel I spend no more than two to three days in any one city and try to squeeze in as many things to see and do as I possibly can. I've never spent six straight days in one city before. My tentative plan is to cover one or two sestieri per day and try to traverse every canal, street, and alley in Venice by the end of my stay -- all the while taking absurd amounts of photographs. I'm also considering setting one day aside for a train trip to Verona or Padua, both of which lie relatively nearby.

This morning I ordered a Venice tourism card that will cover my admission to a host of museums and churches, as well as allowing me to make use of public transportation and pay toilets. I also ordered myself a pair of galoshes so that I'll be prepared for the Acqua Alta -- the high tides that can partially submerge areas of the city for a few hours a day during the winter months. That takes care of the basics. With regard to the luxuries, yesterday I purchased a ticket to see the opera Romeo et Juliette at Teatro La Fenice on the night of my birthday. Should make for a memorable evening.

My trip to Venice coincides with the last two days of Carnival, but I haven't decided yet whether or not to attend one of masked balls going on in the city during that time. Between the cost of admission to a ball and costume rental it would be more than a little pricey, especially after splurging on the opera. On the other hand, it's Carnival in Venice -- when will I get another chance to experience it?

Decisions, decisions... it's something I may not make my mind up about until I get to Venice. The other big decision -- whether or not to buy a Nikon D300 before I go. I already know the lighting conditions in Venice will be challenging, especially if I want to take photos of the costumed revelers afoot in the city at night during Carnival. The D300 would certainly work better under those conditions than my D80. Hmm, this is not shaping up to be a trip for the budgetary faint of heart.

(Taken with my Nikon D80)

Day 89/365 - Enter Sandman

Borders sent me a coupon good for 40% off one book today, so tonight after work I detoured by the store to pick up the first 'Sandman' graphic novel. I had a couple people recommend it to me yesterday and with the coupon it only came to $12.50, so that gave me two good reasons to get it.

I was pretty heavily into comics and graphic novels when I was in high school and college. When I left for the Navy though I gave my collection of several thousand comics to a couple of my cousins. Since then, apart from reprints of old newspaper strips like 'Dick Tracy,' 'Jungle Jim,' and 'Terry and the Pirates,' the only comics I've read are a few issues of 'Indiana Jones' and 'The Shadow.'

I'm looking forward now to dipping my toe back in the waters of the illustrated world.

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)