Yes, My Friends, We Can Check That Box 18 January 2009

I realized more than decided that I would vote for Obama probably a week or two before the election. I always liked him, but was never a big supporter or a fan. And with DC’s political demographics what they are, I thought I might vote for a third party candidate rather than slathering more icing [...]

C.R.E.A.M. 21 September 2008

I have a friend that grew up with a good amount of money.  As a young man, though, he rebelled against his upbringing, his family, and the lifestyle generally.  For about five years, he did a whole lot of nothing; hung out, wandered around, smoked, thought about life.  I suppose he was the recipient of much [...]

Everybody Wants to Rule the World 11 August 2008

Along with much of the rest of the world, I spent my Friday night watching the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics. And I loved it. I should start by saying that I know the point of these very elaborate performances was to reintroduce China to the world; to provide an alternative to the Party’s [...]

Captains America 4 August 2008

A friend and I went to see a movie about Patti Smith recently at the Lincoln Theatre. It was playing as part of the DC Film Festival, and Patti and the director, Stephen Sebring, were both there. The movie was mostly images of Patti: singing, walking around, visiting the gravesites of poets she liked. Patti [...]

Gross National Happiness, Pt. 1 1 July 2008

The annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival in DC is featuring Texas, NASA, and Bhutan this year. Even more intriguing to me than the fact that NASA has been included as a folklife specimen, was the focus on Bhutan. I’ve read a couple of articles on the country recently that really peaked my interest. Isolated from the [...]