free in DC
This weekend I went into the city to experience two of DC's coolest free offerings: Artomatic and the drum circle. Artomatic is an art show that happens every year in an office building that is in the process of being constructed or remodeled. It's open to anyone who is willing to pay some reasonable fee for about 20' of wall space, so it's 9 glorious floors of everything from professional, high-quality work to portfolios of high school students or lawyers who like to doodle in their spare time. There's a tattoo parlor, stages with live music, food, and workshops. Almost everyone puts out a notebook for people to leave comments, and some artists incorporate visitors' words into their displays. One example is an artist who documented the long saga of a mouse infestation through collage and painting:
She then left out sticky notes and asked people to share their own mouse and rat experiences. There are notes reminiscing about a beloved class pet, as well as rodent horror stories:
(I Love Mice)
(In the office - he saw the mouse and dropped a phone book on it. We all screamed. One girl cried.)
One display that appears every year contains the dioramas from the Washington Post's Peeps diorama contest. They can be quite elaborate:
After Artomatic, I met up with Kaitlin and Rebecca at the weekly drum circle in Malcolm X Park. There was a loosely organized potluck going on, as well as the usual slacklines, juggling, hula-hooping, capoiera, dancing, and of course, drumming. This really has to be one of the best things going on in DC. It's a carnival atmosphere, but no one is charging money for anything. It's a diverse crowd, but unlike most "diverse areas" in DC, people here are actually interacting with each other. I know I've posted a video of the drum circle before, but here's another poorly-shot video, along with the recommendation that if you're in DC on a Sunday afternoon, go to Malcolm X (Meridian Hill) Park, and follow the sound of the drums:
Rebecca, who works for Heinz at the farmers market, is going to be joining us on the farm for three weeks, starting on Wednesday. She was asking me questions about bugs, mice, snakes, sun, poison ivy, and anything else that she should prepare for. I assured her that I had never found a snake in the house, so naturally, today when I was baking cookies, I sat down on the couch and discovered this guy:
I think it was about 4 feet long. I called Xochi and she bravely used a spatula to flush it out from behind the shelves where it was hiding. Once it was out on the open floor, it started moving surprisingly quickly, but with the aid of a broom and a pillowcase, we prevented it from going under the stove.
She then left out sticky notes and asked people to share their own mouse and rat experiences. There are notes reminiscing about a beloved class pet, as well as rodent horror stories:
(I Love Mice) (In the office - he saw the mouse and dropped a phone book on it. We all screamed. One girl cried.)One display that appears every year contains the dioramas from the Washington Post's Peeps diorama contest. They can be quite elaborate:
After Artomatic, I met up with Kaitlin and Rebecca at the weekly drum circle in Malcolm X Park. There was a loosely organized potluck going on, as well as the usual slacklines, juggling, hula-hooping, capoiera, dancing, and of course, drumming. This really has to be one of the best things going on in DC. It's a carnival atmosphere, but no one is charging money for anything. It's a diverse crowd, but unlike most "diverse areas" in DC, people here are actually interacting with each other. I know I've posted a video of the drum circle before, but here's another poorly-shot video, along with the recommendation that if you're in DC on a Sunday afternoon, go to Malcolm X (Meridian Hill) Park, and follow the sound of the drums:
Rebecca, who works for Heinz at the farmers market, is going to be joining us on the farm for three weeks, starting on Wednesday. She was asking me questions about bugs, mice, snakes, sun, poison ivy, and anything else that she should prepare for. I assured her that I had never found a snake in the house, so naturally, today when I was baking cookies, I sat down on the couch and discovered this guy:
I think it was about 4 feet long. I called Xochi and she bravely used a spatula to flush it out from behind the shelves where it was hiding. Once it was out on the open floor, it started moving surprisingly quickly, but with the aid of a broom and a pillowcase, we prevented it from going under the stove.
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