On that last post...

I have no idea what's wrong with the font. I've tried normalizing it several ways, and it only got worse. Perhaps my blog is playing an April Fool's trick on me? Anyway, I hope you can still read it!

ONE MORE WEEK!

I am sitting inside my room alone with the window open, enjoying the lovely sound of rain falling on the roof. Ahhhhh. Valerie spent last night at her father-in-law’s, in order to go hiking at Shenandoah today. I wonder if it’s raining there.... Hmm.

Well, after spending the last two days exhausting myself in single-all-day adventures, I decided to take today easy, catching up on my blog writing, exercising indoors, probably walking to the Mall or the Jefferson Memorial later to see some of the remaining cherry blossoms, maybe going to Barnes & Noble in Georgetown to browse some books...etc.

I’ve had a nice week, and I’m really excited to think that in just one week, I’ll be on a plane flying home! The time really went by way too fast. But on the other hand, I can’t wait to see everyone, I’m super excited for the spring and summer in Utah, and I—yup, I’m gonna say it—am SO ready to move on from this internship! Don’t get me wrong, it’s been great, my supervisors are awesome, I really like the museum—BUT I am DONE with phone duty, with doing the same thing every day, with sitting in the same chair all day, and with trying to come up with new things to do now that my real tasks are done!!!!!

My goals for this upcoming week include – celebrating Easter (the Blanchards are throwing a party—which they do with practically EVERY occasion), going to Arlington Cemetery and seeing the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, going to Old Town Alexandria, going to the Phillips Gallery (I’ve been thwarted in my first two attempts to go there, and I’m not going today because they FORCE you to pay the special exhibition admission price on the weekends), going to the Old Post Office (Marie went and said it was pretty neat), going to the Museum of African Art and looking at the designs for the new African-American museum in the Smithsonian Castle, going to..............as many of the Smithsonians on the Mall as I can......trying again to get inside Ford’s Theater, and walking around in Georgetown (just to say I did it, y’know). Sounds like it’ll be a fun week!

Oh, yeah. I also have to clean my room and whatever part of the Barlow Center falls under my jurisdiction, do all my laundry, clean out all my stuff and re-pack it, figure out how to mail my big box (it’s still here in my room, so I’m hoping to use it again!), get my supervisor’s evaluation turned in, go to the Library of Congress to look up info for my research paper, and finish all the last-minute internship stuff I have to do at work, including my VERY LAST phone duty assignment. Whoopee! Though I must admit, last Tuesday was the slowest phone duty day I’ve ever had. I only got maybe three calls in the entire hour, and only one of them was mildly frustrating/awkward/embarrassing.

Ok. Time to get on to the meat of this entry. I’m sorry for not writing about the past two days, because they’ve been really great. But also really busy.

On Thursday, I went to work and left early, presumably so that I could go to the Phillips Art Collection. However, since my workplace is close to the National Museum of Crime and Punishment and I had been wanting to go there for a long time, I figured I could check it out first, and then still make it to the Phillips before they closed at 8:30 p.m. that night. Wrrrrong!

I spent $15 to get admitted to the museum (which made me determined to get the most out of my trip by missing NOTHING), and THAT was a student discount from the regular $19. Then I spent 6 1/2 hours walking through the museum. It looked small from the outside, but looks can be deceiving—that museum was HUGE! The twisty winding walkways went on FOREVER! Twice I walked my way to what I thought was “the end” of the museum, to gage how much time I could spend browsing up to that point, only to discover when I got to what I thought was “the end,” that the exhibits merely turned a corner or went down a flight of stairs!

There were three floors overall. The first one, the one where I spent most of my time (since I thought it was “the end”), and the most interesting in my opinion, was about the history of crime from medieval times to the modern era. The second floor was a hands-on CSI “Investigate the Crime” sort of deal. It was mildly sort-of interesting, but I was too tired to really get into tracing the 100 steps that must be taken to determine how this hair sample and that knife-wound and this blood sample can be used to catch a crook. The third floor was about the show America’s Most Wanted, which I knew next to nothing about, but luckily, the floor was a little less “dense” than the first two, and full of video clips rather than small print text, which made it easier to get through. I was completely exhausted by the end of the trip, but also happy that I had gone, and not at all disappointed with the museum. It was interesting, it was interactive, it was big, and, despite going by myself, there were plenty of friendly people around who were happy to take pictures of me in the “obligatory poses.” You’ll see what I mean when I post the pictures ;)

Also, before I wrap up the post, I just have to say that the April Fool's tricks between Valerie and me are going on splendidly! Really, it's so much fun I think I might establish April Fool's Month as a tradition in my own family... She recently put a lot of round paper circles (such as one would acquire from a hole-puncher) in my rolled up bathrobe sleeve. I put some Easter eggs from our last FHE in her shoes. Then she put them in my shoes and bathrobe pockets. Then I used them accordingly:

I can't wait to hear what she has to say when she gets back. Oh, I also taped her closet door shut. Don't feel too bad - she turned one of my shirts inside out before leaving yesterday!

Another Random Picture Post!

I was not sure what to make of this contraption outside the Hirshhorn Museum. It's big and red, but IS IT ART!?

These are my two supervisors, Vivian (Publications, on the left) and Michelle (Communications and Marketing). We celebrated Michelle's birthday with cake, lots of chatting and socializing (something unheard of while I was living on the 4th floor!), and a trip to Chinatown for yummy Chinese food.


I came across this walking down Pennsylvania Avenue one day. It seemed kind of dumb when I saw it - seems like the last thing we need is another monument for FDR after the humongous conglomeration of statues and waterfalls and walls created in his memory down by the Tidal Basin - but after reading the enscription, I decided I rather liked it after all. What do you think?

After Conference on Sunday, a group of us went walking down by the waterfront in Georgetown. It was a very nice day, and the walk was very lovely. Here's a view of the Kennedy Center across the Potomac River. Pretty!

It's like a cross between the beach and the city! That's the Watergate Hotel in the far off right.

Someone got an official picture of us smiling and standing together in front of the river, but I decided to go for the natural, un-posed look.



I walked past Ford's Theater and the House where Lincoln Died, but there were such long lines to get into both of them that I decided to bypass them for today. Maybe another day... or maybe not. The House wasn't THAT impressive when I went in it, and Ford's Theater...I can always watch National Treasure 2. Ok, ok, maybe I will see that one. Anyway, in the meantime, I took pictures of the outside of both buildings.

I went to the National Gallery of Art today, and couldn't help taking pictures of this gorgeous main room, even though I think I've already taken two other pictures of it on two separate occasions. It's just begging to have its picture taken, really.

I think we have a winner for the biggest calf muscles ever seen on a female sculpture!

Cute baby sculpture! Eddieflooskers reaching for a pine needle...

There was one room with four huge pictures - Thomas Cole's "The Journey of Life." Cole is one of my favorite paintings, not only for the beautiful colors and details in his paintings, but for the themes and deliberate planning he puts into his paintings. I love his series about the growth and decline of the world as an empire, and this one is just as beautiful and symbolic. I took pictures of all the paintings, but some turned out blurry. This one is my favorite - it's the first one, and represents the beauty and innocence of childhood.

A memorial to Robert Shaw and his troops during the Civil War. I remember having to put this one down in a powerpoint slide for the Humanities 262 class, but I thought it seemed pretty boring at the time. Seeing it in life is MUCH more impressive, I must say. It's huge and very shiny, almost golden. And it brought back memories of Gettysburg (the most touching of all the historical sites I've seen) and of the "Glory" movie Joseph and I watched together for AHtg 100. So I really liked this piece. When I'm a teacher, it's going on the test!

James Whistler's Symphony in White. It's a little larger than life-size, and they had it hung up pretty high - it was easier for me to meet eyes with the bear than the girl.

This is what I spent the last half of my afternoon doing....

Just kidding! Things are starting to wind down at work, however, as you can probably tell from the fact that I spent a good two hours at the National Gallery of Art (on “lunch” break) and had time to give my professor an hour-long tour of my museum today!

The rest of the day was pretty quiet. I walked home, went shopping, and went to Institute. It was supposed to be on the presidents of the Church and the United States, but since we had just had General Conference, we talked about our favorite talks instead. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland’s was the first one mentioned, as I expected. If you haven’t listened to it yet, go to this link (http://lds.org/conference/sessions/display/0,5239,23-1-1032,00.html) and scroll down to the Sunday Morning session. It’s a wonderful talk for anyone wanting to know how Latter-day Saints feel about Jesus Christ and the Atonement!

Well, that’s it for tonight! Thanks for keeping in touch and supporting me, through the comments, phone calls, Gmail chats (well, to Daniel, anyway!), and everything else. I’ll try to do and write more tomorrow!

P.s. By the way, it looks like the last three paragraphs ended with exclamation points—that ought to tell you something about my state of mind right now ;)

Saturday and Sunday Recap!

Yesterday was a fun day. It began around 7:30 when I woke up and took a shower, then went with Valerie, Mike Bean, and Andy to Eastern Market to get their “famous” blueberry pancakes for breakfast. Unfortunately, after visiting the HUGE Food Market in Philadelphia, I was not too impressed, either with the food or the place itself (outdoors, there were a number of stalls with oriental—y’know, EASTERNish—merchandise for sale). I mean, sure, the pancakes were good, but $6 for 3 regular blueberry pancakes with a spoonful of butter and regular maple syrup on them? C’mon. The pancake place—named the “Lunch Market,” I believe—was the only busy place at the market, and we had to sit outside on a table—or rather, the frame of a table. I was the only one who didn’t grab a tray to eat my meal on, but I was lucky that the plate was a little too big to fall through the cracks. We also didn’t get any complimentary cups or water, and, against my better judgment, I didn’t bring my water bottle, so... yeah. Andy and Valerie ordered bacon (3 pieces each for a full serving—whoopee!) and shared it with Mike and me. It was windy outside and I had syrup on my hair afterwards from the wind blowing my hair into my mouth while I was trying to take a bite. And I WOULD have had my hair in a ponytail but I had just taken a shower, and it’s a little difficult to put up my wet hair. I’m not really complaining, since the pancakes were at least satisfying and it was a perfectly nice sunny day and I really do like wind...but at the time I was feeling thirsty, sticky, and a little stingy.

After our breakfast, we walked to the Mall to see the parade. We stopped somewhere in the middle of the Mall, where it looked like groups from the parade were standing around, and then found a nice shady place by the curb to stand or sit and watch. We stayed there for a little over an hour, taking pictures, videos, cheering, and eventually shivering as the wind got more boisterous. My hair was a lost cause by the time we left—it took me about 20 min. to brush and comb the tangles out!
The British are coming! Actually, they told us they were American soldiers... but the accents were a little fishy.

Some random old guy in a car led the parade. I mean, whoa! Wow! Yikes! Hey----it's ALEX TREBEK!!!!!!!!!! OMG OMG OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He didn't shake hands with any of us, but he waved and smiled and leaned in for lots of pictures.

Some clowns and a fire truck. Is this a parade or a circus?

One of the Maryland Rough Riders! They didn't do much rough riding, but the prancing was still pretty fancy. And I much prefer watching horses to cars in a parade, anyway.

I think this float was Miss America and two finalists, although I was not sure at the time which is which.

After seeing the parade, we walked to the Smithsonian Metro stop, stopping at Valerie’s workplace on the way just for fun. She works below the Ripley Center building, next to but not exactly in the Smithsonian Castle. I took a picture of her standing in front of her locked office – I think she thought I was kind of a dork for taking a picture of her in the dark room in front of her dark office, but oh well. I had one picture left on that camera and I was NOT gonna go home without taking one.

We got home just in time to see the start of the first session of General Conference. It was set up in the Barlow Center Great Room, but unfortunately, it was dubbed in Spanish. Yikes! Drew tried to translate for us at first, but then we heard that the basement TV was playing it in English, and most of us took off to watch it there. I got a nice comfy couch chair up in front :)

For those who don’t know, General Conference is a twice yearly meeting held for the leaders (including the Prophet—or President—and all twelve of the Church’s apostles) to address members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints around the world. The conferences are held in Salt Lake City, Utah in the Conference Center, and broadcast to churches and buildings throughout the world. There are five sessions over the weekend, four for the general church and one for the men and boys who hold the priesthood. Check out http://www.mormon.org/ or http://www.lds.org/ if you want to know more!

I loove Conference. When I was little, the experience of going to church together, playing at the playground, spending all day together, and eating special food probably had a lot to do with it. I listened to the talks and took notes, but also drew a lot of pictures and enjoyed doodling and playing games during the “boring” parts. But now I just love listening and basking in the Spirit that attends every session. The music is beautiful and the talks are just so....TRUE! Every time it gets better and better. I can’t imagine spending a more productive afternoon than listening to the wonderful, inspired words of men and women called by God to lead His church.

This Saturday, the talks were absolutely fantastic. Each one felt applicable to me in some way, and some of them (Elder Robert D. Hales and Elder M. Russell Ballard, in particular) seemed to have been written just for me. I definitely have a greater resolve to live the gospel and serve the Lord after listening to the testimonies born by these wonderful prophets of God. The music and every other aspect of conference was equally inspiring. I had forgotten that there would be a new apostle this year, due to the death of Joseph B. Wirthlin, but was excited to learn that it was Neil L. Andersen—he spoke once at a stake conference in Utah that I attended, and he seems like a very wise and humble man.

It’s Sunday now, and I finished listening to the 5th and final session of conference. It’s always a little sad...but the talks were fantastic, and I have a lot to think about and get to work on now! My favorite talks from the last two sessions were also the first speakers—President Uchtdorf and Elder Oaks. A coincidence? A miracle? I have to add, though, that Jeffrey R. Holland’s talk was one of the most emotional and powerful addresses I’ve ever heard. It was absolutely beautiful, and I absolutely cried like a little girl. Please, PLEASE read it or better, listen to his recording if you missed the session somehow.

In between the Sunday sessions, we celebrated March and April birthdays with cake, lasagna, salad, and rolls provided by the Blanchards. It’s not the traditional Conference fare we have at home, but, well, it was still pretty yummy! It was interesting to see how Conference was done at the Barlow Center—most people wore Sunday clothes, but some didn’t, and some (aka me) did both. I wore Sunday clothes for the 4th session, when I was in the Great Room with everyone else, but after dealing with the problems of people whispering and laughing and making jokes around me, I decided to watch the 5th session on the TV downstairs. I did NOT regret the decision—I was the only one downstairs, with a couch all to myself and absolute silence for the talks! It was HEAVEN! And I changed into more casual clothes, too.

In fact, I would have watched the 4th session of conference downstairs, too, except that when I went down, one of the guys was there watching a movie.

After conference today, some of us went on a walk to the harbor by Georgetown. It was a nice sunny, windyish day, and the waterfront was bustling with activity. In fact, it was so crowded I thought there must be an event going on (there’s a lot of events taking place with the Cherry Blossom Festival), but nope, it was just people out enjoying the view, drinking, eating, walking their dogs (soooo many dogs!), and boating. It reminded me a bit of the oceanside houses in North Carolina, but with the types of crowds at the Florida beach, and all around a river that looked kind of like Boone Lake in Tennessee... very cool!

That’s all I have for tonight – have a great week everyone, and keep commenting! I love to read ‘em!

P.s. Forgot to mention that for “Girl’s Night Out,” we all ate chocolate downstairs and watched “27 Dresses.” Blech. I much preferred my weekly viewings of “Lawrence of Arabia” and “3:10 to Yuma.”

P.p.s. Enjoy my short little video of the Scottish band at the Cherry Blossom Festival!

Random Picture Post

I got tired of not posting any pictures just because I don't have time to write about all my adventures in as much detail as I want to, so I'm going to break with tradition here and just post some of my favorite pictures from the past three months.

The incredible cupcake mosaic at the National Portrait Gallery, made in honor of Abe Lincoln's 200th birthday. I'm sorry for the weird angle and the missing cupcakes - I wasn't quick enough to get to a good spot before the cupcakes were divvied out, and I had to turn the camera upside down.

Taking a bite of Obama.
In the "Big" exhibit at the National Archives, one of the items on display was a size 22 shoe of Shaquille O'Neal's, given to George W. Bush. Suddenly my feet don't seem all that big!
Here's an interesting item on display at the National Archives. Save your documents for when I become a famous author, Charles Miller!

I revisited the National Portrait Gallery and got a picture of my candidate for the most handsome general in the Civil War. Any guesses as to his identity?

This banner in the National Portrait Gallery really makes me think of Unc. I have two questions: First, does anyone else feel the same way? Second, does anyone know who this is?

Adorable sculpture of a baby at the National Portrait Gallery. It reminded me of little Eddiefloofsters, so I had to take a picture.
And this one, next to it, would be Kirsti, naturally. Can you see the resemblance?

Me in Christ's Church in Philadelphia. This is where several founding fathers, including Benjamin Franklin and George Washington, went to church.

Mike Bean trying to distract me from the historic moment. *Rooooll eyes* I'm sitting in George Washington's family pew, by the way!

It seems like such a long time since I was afraid to walk by myself to the Lincoln Memorial. Now I go there every Sunday.
Did you know they have to mow the lawn at the White House? Well, they DO!

Me in one of the interactive mail trucks at the National Postal Museum. I really like how I look in this picture, particularly since you can't see how I look. Note the beautiful red, white, and blue colors in the composition. I can't decide - should I be a photographer or a mail(wo)man?

Did you like the random picture post? Should I do more, or just wait until I get the time and energy to write a real post?

Happy April Fool’s! A day late—what a brilliant trick!

I woke up yesterday knowing it was April Fool’s, and then promptly forgot about it all day as I went to work, spent the day in a very boring manner (wrote a paper and did some miscellaneous work-related stuff at work...), and came home.

Valerie came home with an equally boring story to tell, and it wasn’t until that evening when I was ready to go to bed that the shenanigans began

First trick goes to Val – she remade my bed so that the tag was at the top (that’s when I realized something was not right...) and the sheet didn’t come down to the end of the bed. It took me a little while to figure out that it was a trick, and then I laughed at it for about five minutes. Definitely worth the time that it took to remake my bed, and a terrific trick for a neat-freak such as myself! I firmly believe that I could have messed up her bed and neither of us would have been able to tell the difference...

Naturally, I had to get her back. My talents were somewhat limited by the lateness of the hour and the fact that she was in the room for almost the entire rest of the evening, but I did manage to

a. turn her pajamas inside-out

b. give our mirror a make-over

c. rearrange the cards Noelle and I made her for her birthday

After Valerie discovered all the tricks and had a good laugh, I thought the festivities were over, but it was not so.

This morning, before making myself some oatmeal for breakfast:

This afternoon, after coming home from work:

So far I’ve managed to change her bookmarks in her scriptures, hide her pajama pants in her pillow, and re-hide the “face” on her computer screen. It’s 11:25 p.m. now and she has two of the three tricks left to discover, so this may well turn into a month-long event. I sort of hope it does—nothing like roommate tomfoolery to reliven things around here!

By the way, every time now something seems a little bit out of place - such as my pajama shirt being turned inside out this evening, or Val's phone charger making its way into her makeup bag, or my own bookmark being put in another spot - we give each other suspicious glances. Both of us deny any involvement in these three specific cases, but they really are too quirkily appropriate to be coincidental. A magical elf, perhaps?

How was your April Fool’s Day? Any good tricks?

Shamless Plug

Want to see my latest publication? Check out the description I put together for our web site on the Louise Dahl-Wolfe exhibition! I even chose the picture!!!