The DC Trip

Mothman
Originally uploaded by christina85

Ok, so I arrived in DC on Friday night. We decided to get beer. We hung out at the house & watched Fight Club since I had never seen it before. It was very weird... which was to be expected from a Palahnuik. We went to bed.

Well, I slept on the loveseat and I actually got a good night's sleep.

All the girls in the house are lovely.
Oh, and I was in love with the bathroom... maybe not the dirty shower curtain, but whatever. It wasn't disgusting, haha.

Anyway... Saturday we left the house around 11:30. I rode the Metro. This was quite an experience. I've never ridden a subway before -- The cars sway. I was not a huge fan and made a note of this for next time: bring dramamine.

We got off the metro and took a bus to shop in Georgetown. I spent way too much. It was fantastic. I spent approximately $20 on a few sheets of big paper at Paper-Source. (Hopefully I get a creative streak soon... on a day off so I can draw or paint on this. The paper is awesome and natural and it will be so much fun to work with.) I also bought a cute reusable bag that rolls up real small to fit in your purse. This will come in handy whenever I go shopping. No more plastic bags! Save the environment! GO GREEN!

Another highlight was this cute little used bookstore where I found an artist book on Egon Schiele.

OH, and if you're EVER in DC, you must must must find Raku and eat the Pad Thai. AMAZING. Seriously. I will eat there next time I visit.
There was also a yogurt place we stopped at... and I cannot remember what it was called for the life of me.

Let's see, what else happened? Oh, yes. LUSH!
I stumbled upon a Lush store in Georgetown. I said "Ohmygod, wehavetogoinhere." Both of us spent far too much on soapy products. It's so worth it though, my hair smelled delicious after I wiped Godiva all over it. I also love Karma and Sexy Peel something or other soap.

Anyway, until we were done shopping, most of the museums were closed, so we headed back to the house and we hung out again... went to a mall to grab some food and Noodles and Company (I love this place simply because they sell buttered noodles). Then we went back to the house and watched The Little Mermaid and discussed life in general.

I was up until 2 am. This is both unusual and awesome.

Sunday, I was awake at 6:45. The sun was beating in the window at me. It was lovely, but it was way too early. I couldn't fall back asleep, so I watched some news until someone else woke up. We went to get brunch with a few other people and I paid $18 for an omelet. It was a good omelet, but I'm pretty sure this purchase was the only shocker.

After being raped for an omelet, we hit up the Hirshhorn. I love modern art. Jasper Johns, Alberto Giacometti, Robert Rauschenberg, Alexander Calder, Sol Lewitt, Willem de Kooning, so many others. Oh, it was a mindgasm. I loved the fact that you can see imperfections in the actual artist pieces. It makes me feel better that it wasn't perfect... it only looks perfect in a textbook because they have to shrink it down.

The Hirshorn was fantastic.

I didn't take many photos while I was in DC. When I was at the Hirshhorn, I turned the camera on and all of the sudden my batteries were low. Besides, most of what I looked at was inside and there were museum workers everywhere! I didn't really feel like being chastised for taking photos. I wasn't sure of the policy.

After the Hirshhorn, we hit up Eastern Market. I found some cool little glass slides for my photographer of a father, but I think I appreciated them more than he did. Anyway, I kind of thought that make they'd make good coasters too. Useful art. By the time we got back to the house, it was time for me to hit the road.
It was a fantastic weekend. SO much fun and just what I needed.

This whole trip reminded me that life is only as fun, exciting and fulfilling as you make it.
Not a bad lesson learned for a two day trip. :)

PS: There were so many people everywhere! I felt so small town. No one makes eye contact or really interacts with anyone spontaneously. It was strange for me, as a small town girl, to be walking down a street and not smiling and greeting everyone I passed.

(click here for more p365 photos)

Goodbye funk, hello adventure!

I'm going to drive myself to D.C. this weekend.

Why, might you ask, would I do something silly like that?
Because I should.
Because I have a weekend!
(Weekends don't happen in my world. Not often. )
Because I've been in an inescapable funk for the past, er, month and I needed to snap myself out of it.
Because a lovely girl (from here on out will be referred to as LG) who lives there sent me photos of the paper at Georgetown's Paper-Source.
Oh, and because LG rocks and has also offered me a roof to sleep under. :)

So far the only two planned things are a trip to Paper-Source, where I will inevitably fall in love and want to live/work there. I will also charge WAY too much paper to my credit card, I'm sure.

Eastern Market (I believe is the name) is a flea market there. LG hasn't gone yet and it looks pretty fun, if you ask me.

Also, I'll be on the lookout for used book stores. I'll be spending too much there too.

I'm excited. A little scared out of my mind for the drive, but other than that, I think it's going to be a good weekend. I need this. :)

Interior design inspiration.

Anyone who wants inspiration for sprucing up their home... check this out.

Wow.

I'm pretty sure I used to have things to write about...

Right now I'm just crossing my fingers for July and hoping to figure out a way to move out in November-ish.

Life is kind of boring right now.
July could really perk things up for a few days.

I wish I had something to write about... I really do.
I'm not going to ramble on though... I'll just leave you with a link to elsewhere.
Much better writing than what's happening here at the moment.

My brain wants something visually and intellectually stimulating.

I requested some information from Mansfield regarding their [online] Art History degree. There's no way I can do the on campus school thing anymore because the real world beckons and it requires me to grow up and take on more responsibilities. This is why I think the internet is so freaking wonderful. Theoretically speaking, I should be able to transfer 67 of my 100-something credits to Mansfield. I would need to take 30 credits of Art History classes (so, about 10 classes). Sadly, one class with tuition and fees will cost over $700. I'd also need to take a few more gen. ed. classes/minor classes to bring me up to the 120 credits required to get a bachelor's from the university.

I'm thinking about applying though and starting with one class. I don't know what the workload would be like and I don't want to overburden myself. Really, I'm not in a huge rush to get this done, although I would probably be able to get financial aid a bit easier if I were taking more than one class. I'm sure they're not going to give me money for 3 credits.

Being a woman doesn't seem to get me very far in the applications for grants and all.

Anyway, it's probably an endless quest for me. I don't like feeling stagnant or like I don't have any goals to meet. I don't like feeling like my brain isn't absorbing new and stimulating conversation and information. There's also the fact that I miss analyzing and writing about pieces of art. The history, the philosophy of the artist, how their lives/faith/culture affected their art... or even how their art affected their culture. It's all so interesting! I miss writing papers! That almost sounds like crazy talk.

My eyelids are heavy again... already.

I should probably call the school today to tell them about the damn letter I got (stating I didn't pay my Occupational taxes). I need to remember to print off the proof that I did, in fact pay the taxes and the check was cashed/deposited.

... I'm still angry.

Yesterday I felt particularly violent. There was some asshole driver on my way home. I drove 5 miles over the speed limit because there were cops EVERYWHERE and that's about as much as you can get away with. Well, this IDIOT rode my ass the entire time he was behind me. Then he passed me and rode the ass of a school van for another couple miles. When the van finally had enough of it... it slowed down so it could pull off the side of the road and let him pass. What does the asshole do? He lays on his horn. GOD, I HATE PEOPLE. So I sped up and I made sure that as he was slowing down to turn, I was on HIS ass. I would have laid on my horn but (1) I don't want to die in a fit of road rage and (2) my horn is high pitched and silly sounding. It would have sounded totally funny... a high pitch "Eeeeeeeeeeeeep."

I'm going to have to sit down and discuss potential vacation plans with her.

... I just saw there is a show called "Dance Your Ass Off" on Oxygen. Oh dear god, that is stupid.

I didn't know it was supposed to rain today, and that's what I woke up to. There's more on the way. Yesterday, I could have sworn, it said today was supposed to be partly cloudy. All week, in fact. I don't know why that matters. It doesn't. I'm just tired and I wish I wasn't awake right now.

In fact, I have no idea why I did wake up this early... I showered last night. There is no need for me to be conscious yet.