Day 108/365 - I've Got Mail

I like getting mail. It's always good to have the world acknowledge the fact of your existence. Granted, at times it seems as though it's mostly marketers, junk mailers, and creditors that are aware I exist, but even that level of acknowledgment can be somewhat satisfying. Even on the bad days, to be alive is to be alive.

Days that I open my mailbox to find it empty are a bit of a downer. It's then that you know how Charlie Brown felt when he checked his mailbox at Christmas or Valentine's Day only to discover that no one had bothered to send him a card. Some days not even the bill collectors love you.

Those days are pretty rare, however. Given the absurd amount of stuff I order through the mail, the catalog companies are like my own private harem -- they constantly send me all manner of glossy, full-color love notes in the form of catalogs for clothes, travel gear, and a mind-boggling array of knick-knackery.

It's good to be loved.

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

Day 107/365 - What Ails Me

Dang you Barack Obama! Being out in the cold for your concert and swearing in have left me with cooties. What started out Tuesday night as a scratchy throat has now added sniffly and sneezy to its repertoire.

Like most guys, I'm pretty much useless when I'm sick (and only slightly more useful when I'm well). I emailed in sick this morning (sure beats calling in sick) and now I plan to spend the day swaddled in my bathrobe and curled up on the couch watching movies and napping.

This better get better soon. There's another roller derby match at the DC Armory tomorrow night and I want to go. Come on, DayQuil!

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

Day 106/365 - Disposable Society

Evidently they don't choose to recycle, however. This was the scene that greeted me as I rode down the escalator into the Federal Center Southwest Metro station. Today was the day for the anti-abortion protesters' annual migration to DC.

Given my choice, I think I'd rather have Capistrano's swallows or Pacific Grove's monarch butterflies. I guess this is one area in which change has not come to Washington.

“Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.”

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

Day 105/365 - Hosanna in the Highest

Glory hallelujah, my internet access has been restored! The internet in my apartment has been out for a week. For seven straight days the little green light on the far right in the picure of my modem above had been blinking and mocking me with the fact that I had no DSL signal. I didn't get around to reporting it until Friday afternoon, and with the extended holiday weekend the earliest they could send a technician around to look into it was this morning.

Not having internet access sucks. It's like there's a big party going on somewhere and you're not invited. There's an internet cafe in the lobby of my apartment building so I was able to check my email periodically and I lugged my laptop over to the Sports Pub and Starbucks a couple times just to get my fix. It's just not the same though as being able to hop on the net whenever you want.

The Verizon guy came by around 11 this morning. He was really cool and honest. He couldn't figure out what exactly was wrong because everything was doing what it was supposed to be doing, so he went ahead and changed out some wires leading up to my apartment just so he could feel like he was doing something, even though he didn't think that was really the problem. Whatever he did, it was enough to propitiate and placate the spirits of the internet and now I have my connection back. Hurray, I can upload photos and update my blog at will.

It's good to be back in the 21st century again.

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

Day 104/365 - The Great Purple Ticket Fiasco

Well, I was supposed to be in the North Standing section on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol today witnessing firsthand Barack Obama’s swearing in as the 44th President of the United States. So much for ‘supposed to be.’ I had one of the purple tickets, which could have more been accurately called the chaos and torment tickets. The purple gate was scheduled to open at 9 a.m. and at 7:30 I was there one block away from it amid a seething mass of frustrated humanity that could in no way be termed a line.

After waiting there for an hour, the cops told us we had to move down to the 2nd street tunnel instead and wait there. So I diligently headed off and proceeded to walk for 20 minutes without ever seeing the end of the line. It stretched all the way through the tunnel and down the highway farther than my eyes could see. By the time I emerged from the far end of the tunnel it was 9:00 and I knew that even if I did eventually find the end of the line, there was no way I was going to make it through the security gate in time for the swearing in. At that point the line stretched for more than a mile from the security checkpoint. And that’s when I decided to cut bait and head home to watch it on tv.

First I tried to enter the Capitol South Metro station, but after fighting my way against the tide of people coming up the escalator I reached a Metro cop who told me it was an ‘exit only’ station and that I’d have to go back up the escalator and hoof it over to the Eastern Market station instead. That had to be the low point of my morning. I finally got home at 10:30 and watched the swearing in from the peace and comfort of my own living room.

If I’d had any sense, once I gave up on the purple line I would have just trudged over to the National Mall to watch the ceremonies on one of the jumbotrons there, but I thought there would be security gates to get through on the Mall as well so I’d just be trading one impossible line for another. Turns out there weren’t any gates or checkpoints on the Mall and some of my friends who got into town just as I was leaving were able to watch it all from the Washington Monument. They had a great time and a moment of history to remember and I had sore feet and a bitter heart.

Serves me right, though. Originally I had planned to volunteer to help out at the inauguration. My assignment would have been crowd control along the parade route and I’d have been able to see the swearing-in on the jumbotrons and have a front row view of the parade. But instead I chose to be selfish and passed up on my opportunity to volunteer when a ticket to the swearing in became available. That’ll teach me.

Oh well, there’s always the next Obama inauguration in 2013 (God willing).

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

Day 103/365 - The Emperor's New Clothes

The title of today’s entry is utterly tongue-in-cheek, btw. I can barely keep myself in line, heaven forbid I was ever actually put in charge of anything. Pia invited me to tag along with her tonight to the presidential inauguration cocktail reception being hosted by the South Dakota State Society and since the dress code was semi-formal and I didn’t own a suit, I went out on Saturday and bought myself one. Being a lawyer who doesn’t own a suit is a bit like being a cowboy who doesn’t own a horse, but I’m a government lawyer. That means I don’t go to court and I spend most of my workdays sitting in my office reviewing documents and drafting legal memoranda. As such, a suit is wholly unnecessary.

I figured it would probably be a good idea to own one just on general principles, though, and going to this cocktail reception provided me with a perfect excuse to do a little shopping. So I drafted my friend Des to help out and away we went to the mall at Pentagon City. We tried Marshalls (not much selection), Macy’s (nothing in my size), Joseph A. Bank (nothing in my size, cheap materials, and grossly overpriced), and even a tuxedo shop before finding the guy equivalent of my glass slipper at Nordstrom’s.

Turns out I’m a 46 short in suit sizes and apparently that is a tough size to find, which basically means I’m a weird shaped dude. We hit the jackpot at Nordstrom’s though and they had three in my size – black, blue, and grey. I went for the black pinstripe. The sales lady was super helpful and friendly and really on the ball. When I told her I needed to be able to wear it tonight, she grabbed the tailor, had him mark it up, and told him to have it ready for me to pick up this morning. She was awesome. If you’re ever in the market for menswear, go to the Nordstrom’s at Pentagon City and ask for Lysa. She’ll know exactly what you need, even if you’re as completely clueless about clothes as I am.

So this week’s self-portrait is me in my new big boy suit. It’s made by some guy named Joseph Abboud, whom I’d never heard of but whom Des said does good work. I felt all growed up and sophistimacated and everything when I put it on this evening. The cocktail reception was nice. It was held at historic James Monroe House and there were hors d’oeuvres and bars and a violinist and pianist and swanky heated tents in the garden and everything.

I drank champagne, stuffed my face, and wandered around checking out the architecture of the house and the artwork therein. Monroe House is home to the Art Club of Washington, DC and it has some very nice paintings hanging on the walls. The First Family-elect didn’t put in an appearance at the reception (drat the luck), but both of South Dakota’s senators were in attendance. They seemed like nice enough guys, even though they are politicians.

(Taken with my Nikon D80)

Twice on Sunday Bonus Photo - Academical Village

This week's bonus photo from my archives is a view from the rear portico of the Rotunda on the grounds of the University of Virginia. This portion of the university was designed by UVA's founder Thomas Jefferson, who pictured the school as an "academical village" with students living on one side of the lawn and professors and classrooms on the other. I took this shot when I went down to Charlottesville last February.

(Taken with my Nikon D80)

Day 102/365 - We Are One

In honor of the impending presidential inauguration, they held a free “We Are One” concert on the National Mall today featuring a diverse, star-studded line-up of performers and celebrity presenters. I was there along with about 400,000 other people, including my friends Chris and Adriana. We arrived about 90 minutes before the show started, but by that time the area down by the Lincoln Memorial where the stage had been erected was already full of people, so we settled for staking out a spot at the base of the Washington Monument hill just across the street from the WWII Memorial.

The concert organizers did a good job of making sure there were plenty of jumbotrons and speakers spread throughout the Mall so more people could take part in the experience. The best parts of the concert were Herbie Hancock, will.i.am., and Sheryl Crow doing Bob Marley’s “One Love,” Garth Brooks singing the Isley Brothers’ “Shout,” and Stevie Wonder, Usher, and the “she’s so hot my eyes have blisters on them” Shakira performing “Higher Ground.” Not bad for a free gig.

The worst part of the concert was Tom Hanks’ interminable and buzz-killing “Abe Lincoln said” speech that sucked all the energy out of the crowd and droned on and on like a never-ending funeral dirge. He was a lot more entertaining when he was wearing a dress on “Bosom Buddies.” He did provide us with hours of fun afterward though spoofing his speech and generally ragging on him relentlessly.

Although the temperature was only in the 30s, it didn’t feel that cold out. We were all smart enough to layer up and I think that combined with the lack of wind and the body heat generated by the mass of humanity that was the crowd help stave off the chill. That gives me hope for the inauguration on Tuesday. Even the lines for the port-a-potties weren’t too bad. It was definitely a madhouse trying to leave the Mall, though.

Rather than trying to fight the crowd pouring into the Metro, we decided to hang out at Starbucks for a while to warm up and let the huddled masses thin out a bit. After the swearing-in on Tuesday I think I’ll just suck it up and walk home. Who knows, I’m liable to be feeling so high after my man the Big O takes the oath of office that I might not even need to use the bridge to cross over the Potomac River. I may be walking on air instead.

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

Day 101/365 - The Raveonettes at the Black Cat

Tonight Pia and I caught The Raveonettes concert at the Black Cat. The Raveonettes are a ? four-piece band (three women and one man) who play moody, slightly dangerous-sounding rock and roll with an early 1960s vibe to it. I love the distinctly unpolished, decidedly unglamorous nature of the Black Cat. It looks exactly like what it is – a no frills rock and roll club. Pia had never been there before and she said when we went inside that it didn’t even seem like we were in DC anymore. She said it felt more like Philly in there.

The crowd was mostly 30 and 40 year-olds and took a while to trickle in. Pia and I got there when the doors opened, so we were able to snag a seat at one of the very few tables at the back of the room. It was a good thing too because it took forever for The Raveonettes to come onstage. The opening act was a band called Nickel Eye, which took me a while to figure out was probably done to sound like “Nikolai.” They were so-so. They had some good numbers and some mediocre numbers and had a bit of an 80s feel to their sound.

When The Raveonettes finally came onstage Pia and I moved down to the floor to get closer to the action. They played a great set, very lively and earnest with the kind of thumping rock you can feel in your chest. It was a rather short gig, though, and Pia was bummed they didn’t play her favorite song of theirs. Oh well, maybe they’ll play it the next time they come to town.

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

Day 100/365 - Brrrrrr!

No more grumbling from me about it not feeling like winter ‘round these parts. It was flat out cold this morning as I was walking to the Metro station, especially with the wind blowing the way it was. It’s the kind of winter weather that will turn your ears into ice cubes in a few minutes if you aren’t wearing earmuffs.

Now if it would just snow.

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

Day 99/365 - Curious Case, Great Movie

Tonight I met up with my friend Adriana and we went to the movie theater in Chinatown to see "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button." It was excellent. Although it's a fairly long movie (2:47), it never seemed long and didn't drag at all. The story kept moving and kept you interested in learning what was going to happen next.

In case you are unfamiliar with the plot, the movie concerns a guy who is born backwards in time -- he starts out as an old man with arthritis and cataracts and then grows younger as he 'ages.' It's based on a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald and although it's a bit of a "high concept" premise, the movie never feels contrived. It's engrossing, adventurous, dramatic, romantic, melancholy, and -- in quite a few spots -- flat out funny.

The performances were good. Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett did a nice job with their parts, but the movie was absolutely stolen by the actress who played Pitt's adoptive mother. The actor who portrays the tugboat captain did quite a good job as well. They also did an amazing job with the make-up and computer animation, so that it never looked fakey as the characters either aged or got younger.

The movie definitely has echoes of "Forest Gump" in that it deals with a boy growing up with the stigma of being 'different' who is very close to his protective mother, who comes of age traveling the world and serving in wartime, who has a star-crossed romance with a woman he's known since childhood, and who fears that any child of his will suffer from his condition. Despite that, though, it doesn't feel like a retread or a knock-off of any other film.

Two things to look out for if you decide to go see this movie -- the guy who pops up occasionally to discuss being struck by lightning and the moment every woman in the theater sighs simultaneously. Here's a hint, it features Pitt riding a motorcycle and seemed to have a pretty universal effect on the distaff portion of the audience (including Adriana). The guys were less impressed. It was a cool motorcycle, though.

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

Day 98/365 - Make-Believe Champion

This is the view I have from my desk at work. There are no windows in my office, so I make do with an enlargement of a photo of mine that I like and the sad vestiges of geeky loser glory -- in this case, fantasy sports championship banners and pennants.

Each year my brother, a few of my nephews, and I compete against each other in fantasy baseball, football, and basketball leagues on ESPN.com. It costs about 25 bucks and if you win your league, they send you a championship banner. Or at least they used to, anyhow. Now you just get a cheap, crappy pennant. The banners were much cooler.

So far I've won fantasy baseball twice (2001 & 2008), basketball once (2008), and football once (2005). We were playing in a free fantasy football league the year I won so I didn't get a banner for that one. Bummer. Since I don't have a banner for it, my brother argues that one doesn't count. Of course, he'd take just the opposite position if he had won that year.

He's won baseball three years in a row (and then boasted about his 'dynasty' to no end) and football once. Neither of us did that well in football this year, although he did make the playoffs at least. So far we're both struggling in this year's fantasy basketball season as well, but there's still time to turn it around. Hopefully.

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

Day 97/365 - Rockin' Out

This next sentence will sound like it's written by a fourteen year-old rather than a forty year-old. My friend Chris got Rock Band 2 for Christmas for his Wii, so last night I went over to his house and we played it for a couple of hours. It's more fun than the first Rock Band game for Wii was. In this version you can make your own band member and customize their appearance, plus it has more of a story to it. You start out a struggling band with no fans and no money playing seedy little clubs, but as you play more gigs you gain in money, fame, and fans and move up to traveling in jets, wearing elaborate costumes, playing flashy instruments, and performing in huge arenas.

It's pretty awesome. I can't remember exactly what the name of our band was. It's something-something Tree Frog, I think. Chris is on guitar and I'm on drums, which is a bit of challenge given my general lack of rhthym and coordination. Chris' wife Des was our vocalist for the first Rock Band game, but she was out running errands and tending to business last night so we made do with a computer-generated singer. We tried to rope our friend Adriana into taking over the microphone, but she wasn't up for making a fool of herself like we were.

Chicken.

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

Day 96/365 - Tools of the Trade

These are my current flames – a Nikon D80 and a Nikon Coolpix S200. I didn’t set out to become a Nikonist, it just sort of happened that way. My first camera was a cheap little snapshot camera that used 110 film. I don’t even remember the manufacturer. The first camera I clearly remember owning was the Polaroid One Shot instant camera I got for Christmas when I was in the sixth grade. At first I had the old school flashbulb strip for it, but later I got the battery operated flash module.

The Polaroid was kind of inconvenient, despite the fact that you got instant prints. It was a bit big and clunky and you wound up having to walk around with a pocketful of photos. After I got tired of the Polaroid I don’t remember owning a camera for a while. I think I just borrowed whatever my parents happened to have at the time. Then in my senior year of high school I took a photography class and had to get my first SLR.

I decided on a Pentax K-1000 because it was cheap and I could get it at the Sears down the road from my house. It was a primitive chunk of metal but I grew to love that camera and took some pretty good pictures with it. In some ways, I think I took better photos with it than I have with any of my subsequent cameras. It had the most basic light meter imaginable – a scale at the side of the viewfinder with a plus at the top, a minus at the bottom, a notch in the middle and a needle that drifted up and down. I had that camera for years until it was stolen from my Jeep while I was in the Navy. After that, I used a crappy little Kodak 35mm point and shoot until I bought a used K-1000 off eBay when I moved up to DC after law school.

It was during a trip to Montreal that I decided maybe it was time to try an automatic SLR. I was sitting beside a trail in Mount Royal Park with some peanuts cupped in my palm as a quartet of squirrels would take turns creeping up and eating out of my hand. That was when I made the brilliant realization that trying to focus a manual SLR one-handed wasn’t easy. I kept leaning forward and backward to try and get the squirrels in focus, with mixed results. I went through a roll and a half of film and got six or seven decent shots. So later after I got home I bought a Nikon N65. I never did get the hang of that camera and I didn’t take very good photos with it. It was a tough camera to warm up to. I only got a Nikon because that was the brand of camera photographers on tv and in the movies were always using.

My first digital camera was a Canon SuperShot 400. It was only 4 megapixels, but it was easy to use and took good pictures. It was too fat to fit easily in my pocket though, so that was annoying. After getting exposed to digital photography I decided to take the plunge and get a digital SLR. I opted for the Nikon D80 because I could still use the flash and zoom lens from my N65 with it. I wonder sometimes if I’d been better off if I’d started down the Canon path instead. They seem more intuitive and user-friendly, but once you pick one and start buying accessories it’s hard to switch to the other and see your investment fall by the wayside. I’m certainly more comfortable with the D80 than I was with the N65 (which I promptly boxed up and mailed off to my youngest niece so she could use it for her photography class) and I think I’ve gotten some pretty good shots with it.

When the memory card door on my SuperShot 400 broke off, I decided to get myself a new point and shoot. I opted for the Nikon Coolpix S200 not through any diehard devotion to Nikon, but because it was really thin and would fit in my pocket more easily than the other cameras at Best Buy. Plus it came in red and I really wanted a red camera. It’s a rather silly reason on which to base a camera buying decision, but still. I took dreadful pictures with it at first and was really frustrated with it. I came close to chucking it and getting different point and shoot, but I kept working with it and I’m finally at the point now that I’m fairly comfortable with using it. It’s a good thing I have it because otherwise I wouldn’t be doing a 365 Project. There’s no way I’d lug my D80 around with me everywhere I go, but with the S200 I can just slip it in my pocket or bag and I’m always ready to shoot.

As for future flames, I’ve been really mulling over the idea of getting a D300. They work well in low light situations and also are good at handling shooting environments that are a mix of shadows and bright light. The D80 definitely has troubles in those situations. Just take a look at Sunday’s 365 entry for evidence of that. My jeans are fine, but the view out the window is overexposed and burned up. There’s no guarantee that shot would have come out better with a D300, but the thought that it might is what keeps lurking in my mind.

I hate missing a shot.

(Taken with both my Nikon D80 and Coolpix S200)

Twice on Sunday Bonus Photo - The Sea Inside

This week's bonus photo from my archives is a shot I took at the aquarium in Chicago when I went there to see the Nats play the Cubs in May 2006 (they lost, go figure). Chicago is a terrific city and a place I wouldn't mind living (although, granted, I've never been there during wintertime).

In this shot, I liked the way the aquarium pool verged on Lake Michigan with (seemingly) only the glass wall to separate them.

(Taken with my old Canon SuperShot 400)

Day 95/365 - Another Naptastic Sunday

For this week's self-portrait we have my legs and feet (and laziness). There are few simple pleasures in life that are better than stretching out on the couch on a Sunday afternoon to take a nap with a football or baseball game playing in the background.

(Taken with my Nikon D80)

Day 94/365 - Volunteerism

This was the scene at the Washington DC convention center where training of volunteers for the Presidential Inauguration was being conducted. At this point in time, I can neither confirm nor deny that I took part in said training or that I may be volunteering to help out in some teeny tiny way at the Inauguration.

There may possibly be more details to follow in about ten days. Or not.

(Taken with my Nikon D80)

Day 93/365 - Lunch at a Washington Landmark

Despite the fact that they've lived in the Washington, DC area for years, a couple of my coworkers had never eaten at Ben's Chili Bowl. This was a travesty that could not go uncorrected, so today a group of us enlightened these poor, misguided souls by ushering them over to U Street with us for lunch. I'd never been to Ben's for lunch before. Normally when I'm eating there it's because I'm grabbing dinner on my way to a show at the 9:30 Club. Boy does it get packed there at lunchtime.

We all ordered chili half-smokes and then split a few orders of cheese fries. Half-smokes are the only thing I've ever eaten at Ben's. One of these days I'll have to try some of their other fare. In case you're unfamiliar with DC gastronomy, a half-smoke is a small smoked sausage that you eat on a bun like a hot dog. It's a local delicacy and Ben's has the best.

When we got to Ben's we plunked our butts down at a table that we didn't realize had been reserved. The waitress let us keep it though and said they'd just shift the reserving party to another table and besides, they weren't due to arrive there for a half-hour yet and the odds were we'd be done and gone by then. In case you hadn't deduced it, the service is very fast at Ben's. Within minutes of placing your order you're trying not to dribble chili all over yourself as you slip into bliss.

We were just finishing up our lunch when we noticed a group of guys standing over along the wall waiting to be seated. Turns out they were the party who's table we'd bogarted and then someone pointed out that Steve Largent -- NFL Hall-of-Famer, former Seattle Seahawks receiver, former member of the House of Representatives, and current high-priced telecomm lobbyist -- was among them.

Take that, Steve Largent! We just intercepted a table intended for you!

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

Day 92/365 - Put Me In Coach!

Tonight I went over to my friends Chris and Desiree's place to watch the OU-UF matchup in the BCS Championship Game. I wasn't that bothered about the game, really. Mostly I just went over to hang out and support my friends. They both went to UF and are huuuuuge Gators fans.

They did their part to bring good luck to their team by putting on their Gators gear and decking out Chewie, their miniature Australian shepherd, in a UF shirt and bandana. It must have worked because the Gators wound up beating the Sooners 24-14.

I think Chewie really wanted to be subbed into the game at running back.

(Taken with my Nikon D80)

Day 91/365 - Delayed Gratification

Today the Christmas presents my sister ordered for me from my Amazon wish list arrived! This year's bundle of boodle consists of a 221B Baker Street mystery board game, a Tarzan movie boxed set (Tarzan the Ape Man/Tarzan and His Mate/Tarzan Escapes/Tarzan Finds a Son/Tarzan's Secret Treasure/Tarzan's New York Adventure), a Gene Kelly-Frank Sinatra movie boxed set (On the Town/Anchors Aweigh/Take Me Out to the Ballgame), a pair of John Wayne movies (The Horse Soldiers and Hellfighters), the last Speed Racer DVD I needed for the full set, and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Score!

I've been wanting that 221B Baker Street game ever since I was in high school and now I've got it. Man, I love getting packages. I'm forever ordering things from catalogs or websites. I think it would be great to be a UPS delivery guy. In my head it would be just like being Santa Claus everyday of the year. Not everyone enjoys seeing the mailman given that his daily delivery often consists largely of bills and junk mail, but who doesn't love getting a package? It seems like everyone would be happy to see you if you were a UPS guy. Plus you get to wear shorts to work. How awesome is that?

(Taken with my Nikon D80)