As you’ve probably guessed, due to the heinous lack of posts lately, I’ve been really busy! But yet again, it’s all good busy-ness. This past weekend was occupied with entertaining Cameron, who came for a visit on the tail end of a business trip that just happened to grant him two extra days in the DC area. He and I went to the new Air & Space Museum, all over downtown Washington, and yes, we even made a stop at Sweetwater Tavern for some root beer. It was a great weekend and I had a lot of fun. I also came to the realization that I’m stupid for not going downtown more often; it’s fantastic down there! So full of history, importance, and a great way to smack myself upside the head with a humility stick. Believe me, it’s a really humbling experience to stand next to that mammoth statue of Abraham Lincoln, or look up at the face of Thomas Jefferson, and realize just how much a single person can accomplish, and that I’m not even close to that yet. I don’t mean that in a depressing kind of way, more as in a Moses-esque statement of, “Look how puny I am, and yet, I’m still important!” That whole feeling of yes I’m small, but I can grow, I can learn, I can still do so much. I’m just not there yet.

I’m not sure that made any sense. Oh well. To make up for the lack of sense-making, I did manage to take a lot of really nice pictures while I was downtown. I’ve spent many (many, many…) hours picking out my favorites from the whole weekend, turning them into web galleries, and uploading them. In one weekend I ended up with enough pictures to fill ten web galleries – I could have condensed them to five, but I thought I’d make each invidiual web gallery a bit more petite so they aren’t quite so daunting. If you’d like to see them, you can get to all of them from the new and improved Photos page. Be sure to post a comment here and let me know what you think. Oh, and I’d like to add that the Korean Monument gallery is my favorite out of the lot.

Also, while you’re at that photo page, take a look at the pictures of the new WWII Memorial. It’s not quite done yet, but I managed to get a few pictures that are free from construction equipment. That memorial is going to be incredibly gorgeous when it’s done, and very moving. Actually, I was so inspired by seeing it that I’ve decided to volunteer to help out with the four-day dedication ceremony events. I faxed in my application today; I really hope they accept me and let me help. I don’t care what I end up doing, just so long as I can be a part of it. I think it will be a great memory, to have participated in dedicating a memorial 59 years in the making.

I had a nice time getting to know Cameron. It was pleasant to have someone who liked going around downtown and who moved at the same speed I did. The last few times I went through DC were at marathon speed and that cuts down on the enjoyment, the introspection, and the chance to get really good pictures. Plus, hey, he was just fun to talk with; how many people will walk with you near the Washington Monument and discuss things such as how to plan the perfect murder? It was great! Weird, but great!

What else have I been up to? I finally got my drivers license switched over from Colorado to Virginia. I drove past the DMV yesterday and noticed that the parking lot was only half full for a change, so I decided to waste the afternoon waiting in line. Fortunately the whole process only took me about half an hour, which was amazing. Now I’ve got a perfectly legal and wonderful license with the mandatory goofy picture.

So, you may be wondering by now, ‘what the heck does that quote up there have to do with this blog entry?’ I’m getting to that, I promise. 🙂

My brother Steve (not the same as the Zealous Man, Stephen – that’s a different Steve) downloaded a hilarious song from the 80’s that I’ve been so addicted to it’s almost sad. Apparently it was a Doctor Demento regular by Julie Brown, the same musical genius who created classics along the lines of, “The Homecoming Queen’s Got a Gun.” This one, though, surpasses all of her previous work; it is the opus of her collection. It is, “Cause I’m a Blonde.”

Seriously, I’m tempted to bleach my hair just so I can sing along with this song with all my heart and soul. Unfortunately I’ll have to settle for the 30% of my hair that’s naturally blonde, because if I became any whiter I’d probably be invisible. The song is full of remarkable blonde wisdom, such as, “I can’t spell VW, but I’ve got a Porsche”, “I see people working, it just makes me giggle; I don’t have to work, I just have to jiggle”, “I know lots of people are smarter than me, but I have this philosophy: so what!”, and – my favorite – “I’m a freshman in my fourth year at UCLA, but my goal is to become a veterinarian, because I love children.”

I think 30% blonde is enough for any girl in this life. If I had a higher percentage, I think I might be braindead, because I already have enough blonde moments as it is. The best blonde moment I think I’ve ever had was about a year ago, around three in the morning, and I was watching Katharine Hepburn in ‘Mary of Scotland.’ As I was half paying attention to the movie, my mind began to wonder, and I thought to myself, “I wonder if, way back in Elizabethan times, people ever stopped and thought to themselves, ‘Hey, someday, people will make movies about us.'”

Um. Yeah. Brilliant. 🙂

Now, about the quote up there at the very very top of this entry. I was at Wal-Mart recently (Gag me with a spoon!), digging through the DVDs for $5.50 bin, expecting to find absolutely nothing of value but looking just the same. Turns out I found something that I’ve actually been wanting for a long time, but didn’t want to pay full price for: “True Stories”, the amazingly weird mockumentary by David Byrne of the Talking Heads. If you have a strange sense of humor, have a thing for meek geeks in cowboy hats, and think that fake towns in Texas are your idea of a good time, then “True Stories” is the movie for you. I bet you didn’t know that it was John Goodman’s first film, either.

“True Stories” is a fake documentary about the 100th anniversary of Texas, as celebrated in the tiny town of Virgil, Texas. The citizens of Virgil are getting ready for their Celebration of Special-ness, and David Byrne plays tour guide to this strange and beautiful display of southern oddities. The best thing about the movie are the throw-away lines that David Byrne comes up with while he’s driving around the Texas countryside in his awful red convertible, wearing his big ten gallon hat. I’m actually going to make myself a tshirt with a picture of David Byrne in just such a hat and a horrible yellow cowboy shirt. I can’t decide which quote to use. I’m torn between three: “I have something to say about the difference between American and European cities… but I forgot what it is… I have it written down at home somewhere.” Then there’s, “Do you like music? Sure, everyone says they do. But personally, I believe… I can see Fort Worth from here!” And then there’s the one I used as today’s blog title. It was delivered quite interestingly by David Byrne as he walked through a bleak 1980’s shopping mall, but it loses its effect outside of the film I think. But it does look good on the tshirt. Ah well, I guess I’ll have to give it some more thought.

Has anyone else seen the movie? Thoughts? Comments? Surely I’m not the only person who’s seen this quiet classic movie. I think Netflix has it if any of you care to rent it. Of course, if you have no idea who David Byrne is, the movie may lose some effect. The reason it’s so funny is because of David Byrne, his strange lilting voice, his whole demeanor of being so serious you know he can’t be serious. Gotta love him for being his own kind of person, you know?

Okay, I think I’m finally all caught up now on the latest happenings, thoughts, and randomness. That means I should finally be done with the Dostoyevskyesque posts. (How’s *that* for a word?) Sorry they’ve been so long lately, but I’ve just been so busy, so much going on, so much to see, so much to talk about. Ah, life is good. 🙂