Family Matters and a walk around Woodley

A few months ago I was told by some relatives that they would be taking a trip to D.C. while I was here on my internship.

Then last night I found out they'd be here today. Ain't that nice?

I got a phone number at which to call them, and made an attempt early this afternoon. They answered, and said they'd call me back later since at the time they were on the bus. That was about 9 hours ago, and the ball is still in their court as far as I'm concerned.

I got some stuff done today. I got out of bed (more than some can say on a Saturday), did laundry, and I shipped a package to a friend back home who had his birthday today. I got him a "space pen," -- you know, the ones that write at any angle, humidity, or temperature-- which was decorated with the Senate logo, and a T-shirt from a stand that I thought was rather funny.

What did it say? Crap, I can't remember.

After all that, I sat down and watched "Catch me if you can" on DVD; it was a Christmas gift that I tucked into my suitcase just before I left. Twas a good movie, and it was strange find myself liking Leonardo diCaprio. Back in the days of Titanic, I hated the guy for, well, it just felt like the right thing to do.

But now, oh crap, I can't believe I'm saying this...

I like his work. He's good.

Dammit, I guess I'll have to watch "The Aviator" now.

After that, I went for a nice little walk with my iPod to keep me company.

Now, I don't think my iPod itself makes me happy, oh no. I'm not one of the real nuts who go so far as to name their device.

Now that I think of it, mine sure seems like a Mary, or a Shelby, perhaps an Abigail... Aw crap, I can't believe I'm actually looking at names. Now I'm going to have to start wearing maroon turtlenecks and light blue sunglasses like... nevermind, back to the rave-in-progress:

It's what it does that makes me glad to have it. You've seen people carrying Walkmans and CD players and such, but this thing is worlds better, you carry your entire music collection in it.

But no one, myself included, really understands what that means until trying it. It used to be that you just took the album you knew you wanted to listen to where ever you were going. This lets you take every single one with you, and thus you can, at any moment, listen to any song your heart desires. Even better, the shuffle function keeps a continuous flow of variety going.

(Good God, this is turning into an Apple advertisement way too quickly, moving on...)

The result: the the destination matters even less while the trip becomes even more precious. You go for another lap around the block when you're walking home from work or down another road while out on the town, just so you can hear some more of the stuff.

I think it may prove itself a weight-loss device in the future.

The walk was wonderful. My feet were still a little sore from my having galavanted all over the Capitol yesterday, but they actually feel better now.

But nothing can do justice to today's sunset. South of my apartment is deep creekbed with the great Taft bridge linking Woodley Park (My neighborhood) with Dupont Circle (the one south of us). While you're on this bridge you can see just about forever because the treeline drops with the creekbed.

The clouds were brilliant and majestic; the National Cathedral in all its glory turned purple in the waning light while U2 gave a private performance of "Grace" inside my head as I walked home.

Yes, it was wonderful, but words do not provide a just description to its grandeur. Cars were speeding by, people hustled along, and there I was sauntering about, stopping every so many steps to stand at the ledge and take it in.

I wondered if I was the only person who could actually see, because no one else seemed to notice the sunset at all.

And with so many cars roaring by just a few feet from me, I became deeply worried.

So I told myself they were all merely colorblind, and was content.