DC

I'm back from a too-quick trip to DC. Usually when I visit, it's going to see my friends Winter and Cora; they're lovely and gracious hosts, and I always enjoyed my trips to see them, before they moved out of the city. This was lovely in a different way: just walking the DC streets, with few plans to make or people to meet, simply a wanderer. (A special shout out to Kramerbooks, still open well after midnight.) I'd forgotten how good the museums in DC are, and all free: even the Ford theater (the site of Lincoln's assassination), where I had expected to pay admission, simply lets people in. (I'm rather chagrined that the batteries in my camera chose that moment to die: I visited that, and the room in the Arlington House where Robert E. Lee decided to leave the Union army, and took nothing but memories from either place. As something of a student of the Civil War, I am chagrined; clearly, a revisit is called for.) I saw a lovely exhibit of WPA-funded paintings, which ranged from mediocre landscapes, to works that displayed, to my eye, a fascinating graphic resemblance to Soviet posters of the period; then again, the Russians were rather more acceptable as cultural influences back before WWII. Muhammad Ali's gloves; Archie Bunker's chair; Kermit the Frog; the Spirit of St. Louis; the Apollo 11 capsule; the Wright brothers' plane (did it have a name? If so, I forgot to note it), all laid out as though my childhood were on shuffle. The Mall, from Washington Monument to Lincoln Memorial. The Wall.

Too, I got to visit feyandstrange, which was a definite delight, albeit tinged with sadness (her father had recently passed away). She's staying in a town I remember from my days with the Big Apple Circus; odd, to randomly remember bits from almost twenty years ago, buried among the onrush of time, as I pushed her wheelchair around the town center. We ate ice cream, and sushi; we saw a praying mantis, and talked the good Harry Potter geek talk¹ (dementors on ice! Will the whole Barty Crouch Jr. business ever make sense?), and had a lovely afternoon. There are more people in DC I'd like to see (next time for sure, soloadventure!), and more places I'd like to visit, but it was a lovely way to spend the end of my summer.


¹A quick bit of HP movie trivia: George Harris, who plays Schacklebolt, also played Katanga in Raiders of the Lost Ark and Prince Thunn ("Death to Ming!") in the throne room scene in Flash Gordon.

(no subject)

Apparently, the week of September 14-20 is National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week. My apartment mate suffers from chronic fatigue syndrome; I've dated several people who suffered from one form of PTSD or another; I know many, many people who have to deal, every day, with illnesses that aren't immediately noticeable as, say, a missing limb, but that can be just as debilitating.

(no subject)

Has anyone heard any advance word about Chicks Dig Time Lords? Apparently, it’s a collection of essays about being female in Doctor Who fandom, including pieces by John Barrowman’s sister, as well as matociquala, yuki_onna, and many others.

Amping the signal

Cut and pasted from nex0s:

OK - so my Dad passed away and I am in Vermont until Thursday morning. He left almost no money, and right now the cost of his cremation ($2155) rests entirely on my shoulders. He owned almost nothing of value and had very little in his bank account.

I'm selling off the three things he had to try and recoup the cost of of the cremation.

If my flist could help me out by amping the signal on these items, I'd REALLY appreciate it!

Invacare Pronto Electric Wheelchair
Selling for $2000 OBO (serious on that OBO) - retails for $5000. 1 year old and in good condition.

Sony 43" HD TV
Sells used on Amazon for $500. Asking $250 OBO.

Standing A/C Unit
2 months old - on sale at Home Depot for $360 right now - asking $180 OBO.

Interested parties can comment here, or email me at nex0s.now@gmail.com

Thanks.

N.

points to ponder

Now that Disney has bought Marvel, will we be seeing Donald Duck smoking cigars?