Halloween Party 2004
I went to a Halloween Party at Curt & Tom's house and had a wonderful time.
I went as Woody, The Gay Cowboy. The following is what I managed to capture digitally.
The Hosts Curt and Tom.
Angels in America
I watched all 6 hours of the HBO mini-series, Angels in America this week.
I loved it, I can easily see why it was nominated for so many Golden Globe Awards. I highly recommend it.
Georgians Against Discrimination
Georgians Against Discrimination is a statewide coalition of diverse organizations working together to defeat the anti-gay constitutional amendment, which will be on our state ballot on November 2nd.
Shopping and Nightlife
We haven't done much today. We were all up quite late. We watched the Kerry-Bush debate Anna recorded on her DVR.
We've eaten breakfast but now Anne is snoozing on the sofa, Anna is on the phone and I'm typing this account of my weekend so far. Hopefully we'll get it in gear and go out and do something soon.
Weekend in Washington DC
I'm sitting here listening to The Smith's Hatful of Hollow and recalling my weekend in Washington DC with my friends Anna and Anne.
Here we go...
Friday, October 8, 2004
I'm in our country's capital this Columbus Day weekend. My friend Anne flew in from Charlotte and I flew in from Atlanta to meet up with our friend Anna who lives in Fairfax, VA.
I love DC for there is a palpable feeling of patriotism and civic pride when you're here. Today we went to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. I ordered tickets in advance which did seem to make entry easier. There was quite a security line, so if you go, be prepared to wait, even if you have tickets. Now we didn't plan very well. It's about a 10 minute drive from Anna's place to the Vienna/Fairfax Metrotrain station. Then, it's about a half hour ride to the Smithsonian station near the museum.
We got there just after 11am without having eating breakfast. After 4pm when we emerged from the museum we were not only emotionally but physically drained as well. The Holocaust Museum is an
extremely moving and powerful place. It recalls the events of that atrocity, with incredible detail and honestly. It successfully maintains the dignity of those Jews, Romas (Gypsies) and homosexuals who's basic human rights were wrongly and violently stripped from them.
There were a couple of events during that time which I was unaware of. First the voyage of the St. Louis, which was a ship whose purpose was to transport jews from Europe to Cuba and
safety from Hitler.
Unknown to the jews on that trip, their destination visas were denied before they left Europe. Ultimately they were returned to Eurpoe after being denied to dock in Cuba and the US.
I knew about homosexuals being held in camps alongside Jews but I didn't know the number was over 10,000 and 90% of the homosexuals imprisoned were men. They were identified with a pink
triangle which is why an upside-down pink triangle is now a symbol of gay pride.
And, unlike the Jews, the homosexuals were kept in prison after liberation. In fact, Hitler's awful laws kept persecuting homosexuals until 1969 in Germany. There are so many artifacts and historical pieces which make the permanent exhibit so powerful. I won't go into more detail about the sections of the exhibit because I think everyone needs to visit this place at least once to know what really happened.
I couldn't avoid being overwhelmed several times by what I saw. Tears ran down my face on more than one occasion out of sheer reaction to the images and situations presented. And all
of the exhibit is presented so tastefully and devoid of political propaganda.
We were hungry and wanted to grab a quick bite to eat. We decided to grab a sandwich at the subway in the Museum of Natural History so we could do more sightseeing. This sculpture was outside.
This is the flag draped over the Pentagon on September 11, 2001.
I actually forget what building this is.
Here I am with one of my favorite monuments.
They may be prohibited now, but we'll get to the drinking part later.
After the Holocaust we walked past the Washington Monument and the White House. We made our way to the World War II
memorial which is brand new and is situated between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument.
If you look closely you can see Anne and Anna chatting just under where the Capital building is seen.
The veterans seen below were discussing their experiences in the war.
Winner for best hair of the day goes to...
Then we went to the Vietnam Memorial. I've known about it but had never seen it. There is something about seeing all those names on that dark wall for yourself and knowing each one represents someone who was killed that gives you a chill.
The Lincoln Memorial is also another place of great impact. It majestically stands on that hill. After you climb up all those steps, and standing before the larger than life seated Lincoln: it makes one feel insignificant and childlike in the face of freedom. Then turning around and seeing those giant columns andlooking out onto the reflecting pond, the WWII memorial, the Washington Monument and the Capital in the background is
all quite a sight to behold. The weather has been incredible. It's been in the 70s during the day and the low 60s at night with not a cloud in the sky - lovely.
Planes flying into Ronald Reagan National Airport fly REALLY, REALLY close to all the monuments.
From the Lincoln Memorial we visited the Korean War Memorial which was eerie. The ghostly figures are haunting.
The image below is of the wall in the picture above. The flash reflected the skyline behind me and produced this
great image.
There are some unique squirrels running around here. We saw white ones but only one black one.
I had to take advantage of the great light and the time on the camera.
I have yet to actually see the Jefferson Memorial up close but I did snap a few pics of it.
After getting home we had to all take showers and get ready to go back in the city to check out the nightlife.
We wanted to take some pictures while we still looking good.
We made it to Dupont Circle and ate a Japanese restaurant called Raku. It featured Asian tapas and was very tasty. I had a passionfruit limeade drink with citrus vodka which was heaven.
We then went to a bar that Anne had been to the last time she was in DC and struck up a conversation with these nice straight guys, Craig and Steve.
After a couple of drinks there they directed us to a very gay bar called JRs. It was there I met a very nice 'bloke' named Ian who was in DC on business. It's always great to meet cute, down-to-earth guys, I just wish I could meet more that live on the same continent I do. Anyway, it was a pleasure to have crossed paths with him and who knows I might see again sooner than I think. Life is funny that way.
I love this picture of Anna and Anne - looking good girls!
