the Dalaverse

Back from the weekend at home. Brief recap:

Friday: rose at a reasonable hour to trek downtown on the Metro. Wandered around Dupon Circle until I found the Beadazzled shop, where I bought supplies to make a necklace for my mother, which cost way more than I thought it would. Then I went bookstore-hopping -- Kramers, which is Bethie's favorite, Books-A-Million (your standard chain), and Olsson's, which is my new favorite. Apparently there's also a Second Story on 20th, but I haven't looked for it yet. No purchases, although I had a freakout upon learning the third Traveling Pants book is out. Next thing on the to-buy list. Had excellent wraps with fairestcat, and I'm STILL bitter that I had to buy a whole freaking SmarTrip card to get out of the parking lot. Assembled the necklace to much success while watching old "Gilmore Girls" episode (took a picture of it, but the film needs to be developed).

Saturday: the Mall with Dad. We hit up the American History this time, looking for the sports exhibit, which was unfortunately closed. On our wandering search, we did come across the poufy pirate shirt from "Seinfeld," which I think is new, and was kind of tucked away in a corner with the ruby slippers. So then we went looking for the weapons and I took a crapload of pictures of the gunboat Philadelphia, even though it creeped me out. Really big stuff in dark corners of museums, completely bare of any context, always does. The trains don't bother me, but they're brightly lit and that part's always crowded. I used to be terrified of the blue whale in the Natural History, though. Fucking scary the way it was just hanging all still and silent from the ceiling. I hear they're redoing it because it's not terribly accurate. They need to redo that whole room, in my opinion.

Anyway, moving on. Gunboat, and stuff in glass cases that probably won't come out because a. I used my flash or b. I didn't use my flash. These really tiny handguns were awesome, though. We were a bit apprehensive about the new America at War exhibit because it seemed like a cheesefest, but there wasn't much else to see, so we checked it out. And man, I cannot recommend this exhibit highly enough. It's a history buff's dream, fresh and dynamic and engaging, but it's also good for antsy, bored little ones. That's where a lot of the weapons went, and they're awesome, and there are uniforms, and lots of videos and creative displays and stuff for Dala kids to touch and explore. Including a bit on what (Revolutionary War?) soldiers' diets, where you could smell a barrel of rum. That was my favorite. I also took a picture of Custer's coat, where you could see what looked like dried blood (though I don't know how well it'll turn out, as it was behind a case) and a wall-mounted picture of an American and a Russian soldier giving each other the look of Historical Military Slashly Lust after one of the world wars. As well as pictures of tons of other stuff. I was very touristy.

We skipped over the Natural History for once and walked the couple blocks to the National Gallery. Again, fabulous exhibit = the temporary thing on Islamic art in the smaller wing. Really beautiful pottery and textiles, plus a decent crash course in Islam and Islamic history. Crowded, but worth it. The other temporary exhibits in that wing were small personal painting collections. We went hunting for the Rembrandt religious paintings exhibit in the bigger wing, but I swear to god, I could not find my way out of the regular galleries, and Dad was getting tired. After shopping for Vanessa's birthday/Christmas present in the main shop, we bought the requesite dosage of freeze-dried ice cream and headed home.

After Mom got home, the three of us went to see "Million Dollar Baby," which was absolutely amazing. Of the five best picture noms, I would go for this one, though I think "The Aviator" will win. Sincerely hoping Hilary Swank will kick Annette Bening's ass (again), because she just...lit up. I'll try not to spoil, but because of the movie's themes and the stuff from over the holidays, my emotional reaction was somewhat out of proportion. It was kind of like ripping off a scab and discovering you'd forgotten how much you can bleed. I didn't just cry. I cried so that my nose stopped up and I had to cover my mouth with my hand to keep from making any noise. And I couldn't stop crying after it ended, and I cried in the car after I took a walk in the cold air by myself, and I cried when I went to bed, and I cried in the shower this morning. I loved the movie, but I wish I hadn't seen it. I would have been fine two months ago. I might have been fine in several months when it's released on video, or at least I could fall apart in the privacy of my own home.

After the movie, I did laundry and watched the first half of "Titanic," extremely disappointed to find out that I don't remember where Ioan is anymore, and I totally missed him. I used to know exactly which glorified extra he was and when he appeared.

Today, I drove back in time to catch "Ray," which was great and Jamie Foxx totally deserves to win Best Actor, although I really disliked the way the movie went all documentary at the end. Now I'm half-listening to the Super Bowl and putting off doing the work I should have done this weekend.

Yay for New England's being ahead, but this is one boring game.

This was totally supposed to have Elizabeth in it, but she refused to play a part ::shrugs:: Women.

Sparrington, with...other pairings. R to mild NC-17.


( Flights of Fancy )