Space Shuttle Discovery hitched a ride on the back of a 747 from Florida to the National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. NASA was gracious enough to buzz the DC area a few times for photo ops. I met two friends near the base of the Washington Monument on the morning of April 17th in the hopes that we could get some pictures, and we were not disappointed. It was a great start to my day. The full set is on Flickr.

Space Shuttle Discovery over the Capitol Building

Space Shuttle Discovery, F-16, and the Old Post Office Building tower

I took the camera for a walk from Capitol Hill down to the new Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial, to the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, and then up the Mall. I reached the Capitol building just in time to catch some pictures of the sunset. The full album can be viewed on Flickr.

The Jefferson Memorial across the Tidal Basin

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial

Flags at the Washington Monument

Pansies in front of the American History Museum

Sunset on the Mall, from the Capitol steps

One of the happiest days of my life. The full album is on Flickr.

I mean Artist in the way this party presupposes. Sure, I make a piece of music; or a fucking dress for that matter—you’d be astonished how similar they are! But I don’t just think you can be that kind of artist any more. Lots of people do things lots better than lots of others; but, today, so many people do so many things very well, and so many people are seriously interested in so many different things people do for their own different reasons, you can’t call any thing the best for every person, or even every serious person. So you just pay real attention to the real things that affect you; and don’t waste your time knocking the rest. This party—it’s ritual attention, the sort you give a social hero. I guess that can be an artist if there’re few enough of them around—

—Lanya

Dhalgren, by Samuel R. Delany, is a frustrating book. But I enjoyed it.

Roosevelt Island is directly under the flight path for National Airport.

I took Bryan to Roosevelt Island for his first time. The island is one of my favorite things about DC. It’s a different place each time I visit, it gives me a nature fix that is very close to home, sometimes I get to see deer, and it honors one of my favorite heroes. We walked all along the perimeter of the island and then to the monument in the middle.

The deer kept themselves hidden this time, but we still got to see lots of zebra swallowtail butterflies (though none were cooperative about being photographed), dragonflies, birds, lizards, fish, and flowers. The entire photo set can be viewed on Flickr.

We got an invitation to join friends last Saturday at a swimming hole in Maryland. We were given only a street address. Unfamiliar with the Beaver Dam Swimming Club — a very cool spot in a former rock quarry — I entered the street address into Google Maps and was directed to Laurel, MD. We drove to the address and found nothing. A short drive down the road led us to Perkins Cemetery, so I seized the opportunity to take some pictures before we realized we were 40 minutes away from where we were supposed to be. We finally made it to the Swimming Club and had a great time. More pictures are on Flickr.

The IRC's recreation of the US Capitol building, circa 1800.

UMBC’s Imaging Research Center (IRC) is working on an incredible project that will bring to life Washington DC as it looked around 1790-1820. One of their first steps is to recreate the grounds of the Notley Young Plantation, in what is now SW DC around Benjamin Banneker Park. The images you see below are recreations of two of the plantation’s structures. These models are for geometric purposes; textures will be added later.

Notley Young Mansion

Wharf at Notley Young Plantation

The implications of this project are fascinating, especially when you consider that they have plans to integrate the fruits of their labor with location-aware mobile phones. Years from now, when you enter a holodeck and walk around early 19th-century DC, you can thank these guys.

More Information:
Visualizing Early Washington DC
The Beginning of the Road (Washington Post, 08/31/08)

My gentleman friend and I made a trip to Harpers Ferry, WV last Saturday. I’ve been going there at least once each of the past several years, but this was the first time that I got to see the Potomac and Shenandoah so colorfully mixing together. It was a hot day and the hike up the mountain isn’t easy. The view from the cliff makes it all worth it. A sample of my photos from the trip are below, and you can see the whole Flickr set here.