The Longest Day
The summer equinox may have been 2 weeks ago, but today definitely felt like my longest day of the year. I was up at 3:30 AM central standard time to catch a 6:25 AM (CST) flight back to Houston. I was at the lab well before lunchtime, and although I planned on working the entire afternoon, I found myself utterly tired and lacking substantitive work to actually complete. I left and ultimately wound up napping from 3:00 to 5:30 PM. After waking up and showering (again), I wasn't sure what day it was anymore. Suffice it to say that I am going to sleep in about 10 minutes, and it's going to feel terrific!
The conclusion of my visit to DC was phenomenal. I attended a BBQ on Sunday night that was hosted and attended by a bunch of law students who are interning at the ACLU. While some of them were a bit pompous at times, they were all nice people with their hearts in the right place -- and they had a cool house with great food. We woke up before 9:00 on Monday morning to start our Independence Day off right. We braved the crowds, the heat, and the long walk to the National Archives to see a reading of the Declaration of Independence (televised on PBS). A fife and drum corps performed, a patriotic video was presented, and 2 wounded Iraq vets and 4 actors read the actual document. I hated the injection of current politics (Operation Iraqi Freedom vets) into the celebration, and the soldiers weren't nearly as good public speakers as the actors who portrayed the historical figures. Most of the crowd didn't care, because they don't understand the original document anyway. Next, we watched the beginning of the parade down Constitution Avenue. It was really long, overly patriotic, and utterly devoid of theme or content, so we soon left to hit up another BBQ with ACLU people. With our stomachs stuffed, we trudged home and collapsed into bed for a power nap before the fireworks.
Stocking up on goodies at 7 Eleven, we set out for the Mall once again. We walked the entire length of the Mall all the way down to the Capitol, where we braved fierce crowds and airport-style security to stake out a tiny piece of grass for the national concert. The first act was the Beach Boys, after which we immediately left. How can you top the Beach Boys? They were good, although without Brian Wilson I question whether they should actually call themselves the Beach Boys. That's the equivalent of the Who without Pete Townshend. "Good Vibrations" was my personal favorite, but the sound system needed to be turned up about 80 decibels. We walked halfway back down the Mall in the direction of the Washington Monument. By now, the entire mall area was packed with people. No joke, there were so many people that we couldn't find a place to sit. I'd estimate that there were at least 1 million people on the Mall by 9:00 PM and another several hundred thousand watching from various rooftops and balconies across the city. We stood in the middle of the street in the exact center of the Mall -- an absolutely perfect view of the fireworks exploding behind the Washington Monument. The show started about 15 minutes too early (night had not completely fallen at 9:15), but the length and quality of the show made up for any other deficits. The fireworks were beautiful -- the best that tax dollars can buy! I'm so glad to have done the obligatory tourist Fourth of July in the nation's capital; now I have no regrets and will never have to brave the crowds again. Despite a rumored emergency evacuation drill, we walked calmly and quickly back to the dorm without incident and slept for a good 3 hours before heading to the airport (go to beginning of entry).
I hope everyone had a good Fourth. I look forward to catching up with people now that I'm back in Houston until Thanksgiving.
Music of the Moment: "Getting High On The Down Low" by NOFX
The conclusion of my visit to DC was phenomenal. I attended a BBQ on Sunday night that was hosted and attended by a bunch of law students who are interning at the ACLU. While some of them were a bit pompous at times, they were all nice people with their hearts in the right place -- and they had a cool house with great food. We woke up before 9:00 on Monday morning to start our Independence Day off right. We braved the crowds, the heat, and the long walk to the National Archives to see a reading of the Declaration of Independence (televised on PBS). A fife and drum corps performed, a patriotic video was presented, and 2 wounded Iraq vets and 4 actors read the actual document. I hated the injection of current politics (Operation Iraqi Freedom vets) into the celebration, and the soldiers weren't nearly as good public speakers as the actors who portrayed the historical figures. Most of the crowd didn't care, because they don't understand the original document anyway. Next, we watched the beginning of the parade down Constitution Avenue. It was really long, overly patriotic, and utterly devoid of theme or content, so we soon left to hit up another BBQ with ACLU people. With our stomachs stuffed, we trudged home and collapsed into bed for a power nap before the fireworks.
Stocking up on goodies at 7 Eleven, we set out for the Mall once again. We walked the entire length of the Mall all the way down to the Capitol, where we braved fierce crowds and airport-style security to stake out a tiny piece of grass for the national concert. The first act was the Beach Boys, after which we immediately left. How can you top the Beach Boys? They were good, although without Brian Wilson I question whether they should actually call themselves the Beach Boys. That's the equivalent of the Who without Pete Townshend. "Good Vibrations" was my personal favorite, but the sound system needed to be turned up about 80 decibels. We walked halfway back down the Mall in the direction of the Washington Monument. By now, the entire mall area was packed with people. No joke, there were so many people that we couldn't find a place to sit. I'd estimate that there were at least 1 million people on the Mall by 9:00 PM and another several hundred thousand watching from various rooftops and balconies across the city. We stood in the middle of the street in the exact center of the Mall -- an absolutely perfect view of the fireworks exploding behind the Washington Monument. The show started about 15 minutes too early (night had not completely fallen at 9:15), but the length and quality of the show made up for any other deficits. The fireworks were beautiful -- the best that tax dollars can buy! I'm so glad to have done the obligatory tourist Fourth of July in the nation's capital; now I have no regrets and will never have to brave the crowds again. Despite a rumored emergency evacuation drill, we walked calmly and quickly back to the dorm without incident and slept for a good 3 hours before heading to the airport (go to beginning of entry).
I hope everyone had a good Fourth. I look forward to catching up with people now that I'm back in Houston until Thanksgiving.
Music of the Moment: "Getting High On The Down Low" by NOFX
posted by Yours Truly at 8:41 PM
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