Back... Barely

I don't remember school being this time consuming. Could be because I was drunk more often the last time I was in college. Could be because I am working more this semester than I did back in 1994 - 1998. Could be because my post 30-year-old brain struggles to care about the minutia that some of my classes are testing on, because I already know that after the class is over I will only remember and require the major themes of a course, not the specifics. Whatever the reason I am swamped.

That said, it didn't keep Rick and I from a fabulous trip to our Nation's Capitol last weekend. We took the Amtrak train from Williamsburg to DC Union Station. Only took 30 minutes more than the drive would have, and allowed me to study and work. Ate average Ethiopian food, which is still better than no Ethiopian food.

Went to the National Portrait Gallery, and spent a good 90 minutes in the Hall of American Presidents. Loved it. I was surprised that only Kennedy diverged from classic oil painting for his official portrait. He has a de Kooning and it is a gorgeous wash of grey and green, and still manages to convey a man plagued by doubts and weighed down in his body and brain. The Lincoln is strange, as he look neither tall nor homely which are two qualities I thought Lincoln's portrait would convey. The Clinton is possibly the strangest. The scale is off. He looks short and incredibly thin. His neck is a toothpick. My favorite painting was a Leslie B. DeMille of Reagan that was done for the National Cowboy Hall of Fame (there are two Reagan's in the gallery) - I tried to find a jpg, but wasn't able.

Had a very interesting dinner, followed by a hookah bar (which I mostly was disgusted by how unsanitary it is to share smoking apparatus with strangers, I didn't partake). Got back to friend's place at 2 AM ish (good night for me).

Ansel Adams exhibit in the morning. I couldn't believe what an easy, very fun trip it was. Next time I want the tour of the White House.