Quick Hit: DC, Day 2

We began the day by heading to the Holocaust Museum to see about tickets, but the line was way too long, so we decided to put that off until tomorrow.

We sent the girls back to the Natural History Museum, because they felt they didn’t get enough time there yesterday, while we meandered through the Freer and Sackler Galleries.  I was delighted to see all the Buddhas and Bodhisattva, but was deeply disappointed that the gift shop didn’t have ANY reproductions to purchase (I really want the Bodhisattva of Compassion; I’m going to go online to see if the Smithsonian website has it).

From there, we picked up the girls and headed to Teaism to have lunch.  It was a place unlike we’ve ever been to, and it had Sweet Pea-friendly food (she’s a veggiesaurus).  It was quite yummy, though ridiculously crowded at exactly lunchtime – if we were smarter (which we clearly weren’t), we’d have avoided the rush.

After that, we found our way through the Naval Memorial (something I wasn’t expecting to see; we happened upon it as we were walking back to the Mall) and then spent a little time at the Old Post Office.  I got some ice cream (because today is an ‘off the books’ day – I don’t have the first idea how to log the bento box I had for lunch) and then we took the Tower Tour.  If you’ve never done it, do; it’s free, and the view from the top of the Tower is stunning.

Once we got back to ground level, we made our way to the American History Museum (which, so far, is my favorite).  We set the girls off to explore on their own while we headed to the First Ladies and Presidents exhibit.  While I’m not one for fashion, I really do love the inaugural gowns, especially the really old ones.

We also saw (again) the Emancipation Proclamation and March on Washington exhibits (which I love), and the American Story exhibit, which is where Dorothy’s ruby slippers and Archie Bunker’s chair reside.  I distinctly remember there being an exhibit of all the artifacts left at the Vietnam wall, but I couldn’t find it.  Perhaps it’s part of the section of the museum that’s closed for renovations; it opens again in 2015.

After that, we headed back to the hotel to pick up the car and make our way to our apartment.  We’re staying at National Harbor, which is about as upscale a place as I’ve ever been.  The point of the complex is that one never leaves – there are shops and restaurants and just about anything anyone would want – but we’re going to be back in DC tomorrow for a self-directed tour of monuments (Jefferson, Lincoln, Vietnam, Korea, Washington (scaffolding and all), and just about any others we can find) and a trip through the Holocaust Museum if we can get tickets.  A friend wen to the Newseum today and said it was fantastic; we’ll likely go there if we can’t get into the USHMM.

And now?  I’m exhausted.  I’m going to bed.  More tomorrow!

Quick Hit: DC, Day 1

We left Dudley this morning and made our way to our hotel in Alexandria.  We’ll only be here for tonight; Mr. Chili found an apartment that we’ll move into tomorrow afternoon.

After we left off our luggage, we hopped on the Metro and made our way into DC.  We were pretty hungry, so we headed to the National Gallery of Art, which has a very nice cafeteria.  After lunch, we split up – Mr. Chili and Bean headed for the modern art exhibits while Sweet Pea and I made our way to the main building and the classical art.  The most memorable pieces I saw were some lovely Monet paintings,

Ophelia by Sir John Everett Millais,

and a casting of the memorial for the Massachusetts 54th Regiment,

which holds a special place in my heart.  Oh, and there were some lovely presidential portraits, too, though I’m hoping to get to the National Portrait Gallery later this week.

I love DC.  I’m very glad we’re here.

 

*In other news, we’ve heard from Punkin’ Pie.  She landed safely in England, got to do a little visiting with the British branch of our family while she was in Oxford, and is now in Edinburgh with students from the Trinity School, which is our school’s exchange partner.  All accounts are that she’s having a wonderful time.

Quick Hit: Antietam

Today was a good day.  After a yummy breakfast out with us girls, Mr. Chili and Dudley did some golfing while we ladies hit the outlet mall (I got a cute denim jacket at 70% off; I paid a whole 20 bucks for it!).  Later, we all piled in the car and spent the rest of the afternoon at the Antietam National Battlefield.

Tomorrow, we bid goodbye to Dudley and make our way to Alexandria for a night, then on to our apartment.  We’ll probably spend some time in DC, too; watch this space.

Quick Hit: Moving

We’re on the road today.  More later.

Thought for Thursday: White Privilege

My husband doesn’t have a facebook profile, so as a consequence, he rarely sees the memes that make their way around the web (unless I send them to him, of course).

Yesterday, I came across this one, and I remember thinking (with no small dose of bitterness) that truer words have rarely been spoken.  I’ve been engaged in a couple of different conversations about the use of the word “terrorist,” and about how that word has become synonymous with “Middle Eastern” in the last decade or so, and in the most polite of these discussions, I’ve been accused of being a “guilty liberal” who is afraid of language (which I think is kind of ironic, given what I do for a living, but whatever).

My beloved came home from work yesterday on a tear.  There had been numerous – and patently false – reports that a suspect had been arrested in the Boston bombing case.  Several of those reports indicated that the suspect in question was of Middle Eastern extraction (in fact, seemingly moments after the blasts, there were reports of a Saudi man being detained for questioning (which also turned out to be false) and this lovely little exchange on Twitter – notice the time stamps)

The truth is that we’re just as good at creating terrorists here as we are at encouraging them abroad.  Let’s not forget that James Earl Ray and Byron De La Beckwith were white guys.   Tim McVeigh and Terry Nichols were white guys.  So was Jarred Laughtner.  So was Scott Roeder and Jim David Adkisson and James W. Von Brunn and James Holmes.  So was Ted Kaczynski and Bruce Edward Ivins.

Shall I go on?

The fact of the matter is that one’s national origin has exactly zero to do with one’s propensity to commit acts of terror.  That we continue to allow the kinds of associations that I’ve been seeing (and continue to see) only perpetuates the violence, fear, and hatred.  Stop it.  Stop making assumptions about facts not in evidence.  Stop lumping people together because of how they dress or their accent or their immigration status – and stop others from doing that when you witness it.  We’re better than this; we HAVE to be, or we’re going to destroy ourselves.  If we can’t figure this out, perhaps that’s no less than we deserve.

 

Nearly Wordless Wednesday

Alternately titled, “2014 Can’t Come Soon Enough.”

Fuckers.

Ayotte (R-NH)
Barrasso (R-WY)
Baucus (D-MT)
Begich (D-AK)
Blunt (R-MO)
Boozman (R-AR)
Burr (R-NC)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Coats (R-IN)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Crapo (R-ID)
Cruz (R-TX)
Enzi (R-WY)
Fischer (R-NE)
Flake (R-AZ)
Graham (R-SC)
Grassley (R-IA)
Hatch (R-UT)
Heitkamp (D-ND)
Heller (R-NV)
Hoeven (R-ND)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Johanns (R-NE)
Johnson (R-WI)
Lee (R-UT)
McConnell (R-KY)
Moran (R-KS)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Paul (R-KY)
Portman (R-OH)
Pryor (D-AR)
Reid (D-NV) {changed vote from yes to no for procedural reasons only so he can file motion to reconsider}
Risch (R-ID)
Roberts (R-KS)
Rubio (R-FL)
Scott (R-SC)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Thune (R-SD)
Vitter (R-LA)
Wicker (R-MS)

Ten Things Tuesday

I am a contained mess today.  Here are ten things that are on my mind:

1.  We still know practically nothing about what happened yesterday.  I’m begging everyone to not speculate about the perpetrator(s) or the motives, and to politely but firmly shut down anyone who does.

2.  When you feel helpless and small, go DO something, even if you don’t think it makes a difference.  Donate blood, or give some money to the Red Cross.  Volunteer somewhere in your community.  Every kind thing we do ripples out, and we could all use some ripples right about now.

3.  Boston is my city; I grew up very near Boston proper and I consider myself a native.  I know the landscape, I understand the language, I feel kinship to the people.  Having said that, though, I find I’m not taking this attack any more personally than I took Oklahoma City, or 9/11, or the bombings in Madrid or London.  I am a human being and a citizen of the world; whenever and wherever something like this happens, it happens to me.

4.  I am flooded with emotion.  I’m sad.  I’m frightened.  I’m ragingly angry.  I’m simultaneously motivated to go out and DO something and tempted to retreat.  I feel a need for kindness and a desire for vengeance (which I’m not at all proud of).  It’s going to take a while to settle back down.

5.  I pause to honor all the people whose first instinct is to run TOWARD danger.  I am grateful, as I always am, to police and fire fighters and EMTs and military personnel and regular, everyday people who put themselves at risk to help complete strangers in need.

6.  I’m also pausing to remember that far too many people in the world live with the threat of shit like this as part of their day-to-day.  Americans have a “this doesn’t happen to US” mentality; suffering on this scale is always something that happens somewhere else and to strangers.  I think it’s high time we abandon that exceptionalist attitude and come to understand that it can happen anywhere to everyone.

7.  I’ve just about had it with the “false flag” bullshit, and the assumption that the perpetrators of this horror are from the Middle East.  Enough with the hate-mongering.

8.  We can – and should – call this an act of terror, because that’s what it is.  What I object to, though, is that we have gotten so cozy and comfortable with the idea that “terrorists” are automatically “Arab.”  “Terrorists” are everyone BUT us.  Until we can separate racism from “terrorism,” we’re going to make situations worse by calling them “terrorist acts,” because that gives the frightened and the bigoted and the angry justification for their hatred.  We’re only going to continue to foment hate and bigotry and violence in our fear, and the only thing that will accomplish is making more incidents like this.  We have a deep and pernicious cultural problem.  We need to get a handle on that, and right fucking now.

9.  I am selfishly relieved that Eddie and his wife were untouched by this tragedy.  That doesn’t make me any less horrified or saddened by it, but the relief I felt when I found out that my people were safe was profound.

10. 

We teach. We treat each other kindly. We refuse to be silent when we see injustice. We promote equality and justice. We never shut up.

Quick Hit: STOP IT

We know practically NOTHING about what’s happened in Boston.  We have almost no information at all, yet I’m already seeing “Bomb Saudi Arabia” and “too bad it happened in Mass where there’s no death penalty” posts.

If we keep this shit up (and there’s no indication that we’re even slowing down), we’re going to destroy ourselves.  It will be no less than we deserve.

Quick Hit: Excitement Turns to Panic

Eddie finished his run.  My understanding is that he was in the elite men wave and so finished well before the time of the blasts.

I was completely panicked when I heard about the blasts and couldn’t reach him.  He sent me a text a few minutes ago from the airport, though, so I know he’s okay.  Many people aren’t.  I am bereft.

Weighty Thoughts

Two things.  First, I’m struggling to come to true terms with this idea:

Despite some focused and concentrated effort, my relationship to gravity isn’t really changing much.  I’m trying my best not to be discouraged by that.

Second?  This cracked me up.  If you’re not familiar with Text from Dog, do yourself a favor and sign up to get notifications of new posts.