Mr. Shearer Goes To Washington
Dubya was in China so he didn't hear us yelling for him to come out of the White House (WH). With Dennis I did, however, talk to a scruffy bearded guy in the park across from the WH. The park is a designated peaceful protest area and this guy was sitting outside of a rough-shod tent with two big wooden signs on either side proclaiming that an end to violence and nuclear arms was necessary. The guy was actually relieving a woman who has been protesting for 24 years, apparently. Concepcion Piccotto is her name. Anyway, she's supposedly been out there 24 hours a day for 24 years. A lot of good it's done. I wished the guy good luck and Dennis and me met back up with Bly and Marc.
We were all in D.C. for the annual ABCT conference at which I presented my thesis research during a "poster session." This is much like a grown-up science fair. The conference lasted from Thursday to Sunday at noon. We arrived in D.C. at 3:30pm on Thursday. I was at the conference from the time I checked in at 11:30pm on Saturday until 1:20pm that same day. I went to my poster session and that was it; the rest of the time I spent sight-seeing with Bly and my classmates, Dennis and Marc. That's my kinda conference.
We arrived Thursday afternoon. We checked into the Hotel Madera and went up to our room. It was huge! It was more like a one bedroom apartment, which was nice since Dennis, Marc, me and Bly were sharing it. Don't worry, Bly and I made plenty of use of the hotel while Dennis and Marc were out at night. They still party it up until two or three in the morning which left more than enough time to get our shibbity-shoobity on. Thursday night Bly and I went to dinner with Ms. Devine and her sister. The air was frigid cold and the wind was blowing something terrible. I had a burger stuffed with blue cheese and Bly had French onion soup and a chicken sangwich. We called it a night after walking back to the hotel via Krispy Kreme and CVS. Dennis and Marc went to dinner with their major professor, Amos Zeichner, and the other members of their lab. When they revealed to us their plans, we joked that they would be eating Thai or Sushi, both hated by Dennis. When they returned from their night out, Dennis told us that they went to "Thaiphoon" (an actual restaurant) causing us all to laugh riotously (it was late).
Friday Dennis and Marc had to go to the conference for their poster sessions. Bly and I headed out to the International Spy Museum. It was pretty cool, but a person can only look at spy stuff for so long before becoming a little bored with it. It got repetitive. But, we did see 007's car, a wooden U.S. seal with a bug in it given to an embassy by Russian school children, Austin Powers paraphenalia from the films, the details of the Nazi Enigma machine, among other real life spy tools. I was exhausted just from reading about all the displays (there was so much written beside each piece). We ate lunch after the museum at a great wood fired pizza place with the best fried cheese ever (four different kinds in one stick). Out into the cold once again, we walked to Ford Theater to see if we could find any brain matter stains from Lincoln, but the actual theater was closed. We spent some time in the museum attached and learned a great deal, like the fates of all the conspirators against Lincoln (it wasn't just Booth), and saw the Derringer that Booth shot the Tyrant with. Heh. Next we walked to the Natural History Museum. Dinosaur bones, fossils, stuffed mammals, spooky bugs, the Hope diamond (meh); it was stupendous. Apparently, tourists really like elephants. There is a lobby area with a huge stuffed elephant of which many a picture is taken. I could have spent all day in there -- there is still something about dinosaurs that appeals to me in the same way they did when I was a child.
Later that night, in the wind and cold, Bly and I walked from the NHM to the Washington Monument, then to the WWII memorial, then past the reflecting pool to the Lincoln Memorial, then through the Vietnam Memorial and back to our hotel. That is one long-ass walk, but it was worth it.
Saturday Bly went to the National Zoo while I presented my poster at the conference. Marc napped and Dennis went with me to the poster session. We headed back to the hotel at 1:15pm where we met up with Marc and Bly. Then, we headed to the Metro which we rode to the general area of the Holocost Museum. We were hungry so we looked for food -- our search was interrupted by a homeless guy selling T-shirts. There had been some sort of charity walk earlier in the day and the hordes of homeless people in D.C. (and there are hordes of homeless people, many better dressed than I was half the time, but nice and not too pushy until this dude) were selling these shirts. This guy walks up to us and asks, "Hey, wanna buy a t-shirt, it's raising funds for homeless in D.C. It's legit, we had a walk this morning." We knew about the walk from the morning news on TV, but we didn't want to buy the t-shirt. Dude kept pushing the shirt into Dennis and saying, "Buy the shirt -- whatever you got, give it to me and you get the shirt. I can break big bills." He was basically pushing Dennis with the shirt. And mocking us for not buying it. Dennis gave him some change for which he got no shirt and we started to leave. The guy walks to the curb and says, "Hey, you lookin' for food? See that grandfather clock?" He pointed back toward the Mall area, but there were no clocks around. "It's not a trick, man -- I ain't gonna bite you. See the grandfather clock." Eventually we figured out he was pointing to a far off clock tower (not a grandfather clock) and trying to tell us that under it was a shopping area with a food court. Long story short, we walked back across the Mall and ate there.
After eating we went to the Holocost Museum. It was awesome in that massively depressing, humanity sucks, inspiring feelings of guilt for having any fun, human-kind is evil kind of way. I teared-up at least three times while walking alone through the floors. The empty train car used to transport Jews to camps, the shoes/pile of hair rooms, the children's pictures and drawings, and the video of the liberation of the camps which featured bulldozers moving piles of dead humans among the survivors. There was only one Nazi flag that I remember seeing at the very end -- it lay on the floor of a case, torn and tattered, and I really almost lost it then. It was so much sadness, horror, and anger and then to see a physical representation of what caused it all laying there, rendered powerless and defeated, was just too many emotions at once. Human beings perpetrated this against other humans and it still continues to this day. The few moments when you are reminded that people fought against it and aided those who others marginalized and devalued to the point of making them human garbage were there, but they barely registered against the onslaught of violence. I felt so connected just as a member of the human race -- I cannot fathom how it must feel to walk through that museum as a member of the Jewish race or faith. Or how it must feel to walk through, potentially knowing or being related to someone who went through it. It was one of the most powerful experiences I've had.
Saturday night, after the museum, we walked up 21st street and over to the White House, which brings us full circle to the beginning of this post. Dubya wasn't home, Bly got some coffee, Dennis and Marc left us at the Metro station to attend the UGA party / Conference party with their major professor, and Bly and I headed to the hotel to snuggle up and watch a movie.
posted by Russell @ 12:17 AM
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