Washington Monument.

It's an obelisk. A four-sided, tapering monument which ends in a pyramidal top; originally from ancient Egypt. It has red, blinky lights at the top like a pair of beady eyes-- just like George Washington had.

We did not have the opportunity to get inside or even up to the ring of flags at the monument's base. And that's a shame. But the thing is, when you're tooling around in the District of Columbia, the monument-- the tallest structure in the city-- is always there.

It quickly became my own orienting point; when getting your bearings you'll probably find yourself making weird directions like, "Walk two blocks from the station with the monument on your left."

Lincoln Memorial:

We had more than one friend suggest we be sure to see the Lincoln Memorial. A focal point of American pride, the temple is, and it conducts a weird electric energy of pride -- but without the ego that one gets at the Jefferson. Lincoln symbolizes for so many in America, honesty, tenacity, and principled virtue. Like the FDR Memorial, this Memorial gets the job done, explaining exactly what the intent of the temple is in big letters above the statue of Lincon: "In this temple as in the hearts of the people for whom he saved the union the memory of Abraham Lincoln is enshrined forever."

I had connected with Lincoln earlier in the week, having seen a couple of -incredible- castings of his face and hands at the Smithsonian-- but the connection to the Greek architecture was amazing. Climbing the Memorial's stairs was not unlike climbing El Castillo, and, just like El Castillo, when you get to the top, you realize that you are sitting at the heart of one of the world's great civilizations.

Sitting at the top of the stairs on the Memorial and looking out across the mall over the reflecting pool to the Washington Monument, across the memorials to those lost war, across the tangled mess of traffic and travelers, you truly realize you're sitting, for better or worse, at the center of the American experience.

Jefferson Memorial:

I hope that when the spirit of Thomas Jefferson looks at how history has treated him, he is grateful. A man truly capeable of incredible rhetoric and amazing word-smithing, the Jefferson Monument is an interesting dichotomy: Directly across from the white house, created at the request of FDR, the monument contains well-excerpted selections of Jefferson's seminal works, some of which he even wrote.

The water at the Jefferson Memorial tastes gross.

Roosevelt Memorial

This monument is amazing. The energy there is palpable. As you walk through the four-stages of FDR's terms in office, you experience not only the amazing and inspirational messages that peppered FDR's rhetoric, but you are moved through the social context of those messages as you explore the site. The park uses water, stone and sculpture to take you through rom the somber struggle of the Great Depression to the chaotic crumbling of a World at War.

It's a complicated memorial: how do you build a something that can compete with the grandeur and romance of Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln, and still remains true to Roosevelt's principles? Even Roosevelt himself said he wanted little more of a memorial than one the size of his desk. But, thanks, I think, to the use of natural features and wide, accessible space, the Roosevelt Memorial manages to capsulize Roosevelts impact on America as we know it today in a subtle, moving way.

Also note, that of the four icons profiled here, Roosevelt's is the only one to have serious consideration of his family as part of the experience. Both First lady and dog Fala are represented in this Memorial. It's also the only one representing not only the greatness of the man, but the American People as well. This Memorial does what others simply do not: It casts the perspective of humanity across the works of a truely great president.

This is a high-speed drive through the Allegheny Mountains of Pennysylvania, Including The Allegheny Mountain Tunnel.

Pennsylvania, if she is to be judged on her Mainline Turnpike, appears to be filled with wonderful and beautiful natural resources as well as well kept rest-stops. Also, the Bob Evans an Breezewood will serve you a Stuffed Cinnamon Pancake that has been stuffed with butter, cream cheese and more cinnamon and topped with whipped cream. And then you can pour syrup on it.* And your four year old daughter will think that your dinner seems a bit childish. But it will keep you awake for the next 9 hours of driving! GO TEAM EVENS!

*And wash the whole thing down with a Carmel Mocha topped with Carmel drizzle and whipped cream, too.

My advice: if you're going to Washington DC don't bother not looking like a tourist. If you're not wearing a name badge or credentials of some kind, you're a tourist. That's how DC seems to roll, anyway. Nobody in DC wears confortable shoes unless they're on vacation. Or crazy. Or both.
The family rolled up on Washington DC about 1 a.m. EDT on July 15th, having followed the AAA TripTik, which is not a Google Map, for 15 hours. On time, in place, and surrouneded by a new city on the cusp of new experiences. The next morning, we took Gaia to McDonalds.

Monuments/Memorials/Buildings that were awesome to behold:

• Lincoln
• Washington
• Iro Jima
• Franklin Delano Roosevelt

We stayed, mostly, for reasons that are unimportant, at the Crystal City Hyatt in Arlington Virgina. It's lobby and lounge were not well airconditioned, but to be fair, it was over 95 most of our visit.
There is a duality in Crystal City, it is both part of the District of Columbia and not at all part of the District of Columbia, in that its in Arlington Virgina, practicaly within walking distance of Ronald Reagan national airport. There was a hotel-run shuttle that circulated from 6 a.m. to midnight between the hotel and the metro station.
I was struck dumb, at one point, overhearing someone complaining at the Crystal City Mall that "this is kind of a touristy mall," and that they'd take them to the good mall in the city where they could better shop for souvenirs.
Crystal City, according to the hotel concierge, for what it's worth, was named after the developer's wife, Crystal. Wikipedia disagrees. But then again, I think it's probably valid to trust the information gleaned from Wikipedia with about the same amount of salt as you would trust the concierge of a mid-level Hyatt within spitting distance of Ronald Regan Airport.
Anyway, point is, you'll never not look like a tourist in Washington DC if you're not wearing some kind of a badge that was issued to you by your employer. There's probably this great thriving scene in DC that I'm just unaware of, but that's OK. I'm from Milwaukee. I really only came out there to look at the monuments and stuff.

Its not often I feel compelled to "pile on" a statment made by Cory Doctorow (Usually he says what says directly) but I think he missed the larger point on this recent Boing-Boing post. He didn't bring out the personal issue, I think. He made a comment on the larger, social issue, but he didn't and call the author of the article a douchebag. This is I service I am only too happy to provide.

In his Chicago Sun-Times column, Terry Savage boorishly tells a tale of how he saw some little kids giving away lemonade, so he and his brother stopped and harassed those kids about the economic and socetal implications of "free leomonade." What a Douchebag!

Here's the scary part: There are people in the world who feel they have some moral obligation to pull over and harange someone elses' kids with their political/economic agenda. And, worse, is that there are people in the world who feel they can serve the world by bragging about pulling over and harrasing some little kids with their political/economic agenda.

This, friends, is why newspapers and old media are dying. These are the kinds of assholes who write for them. Shame on you, Terry Savage, author of the Chicago Sun-Times column wherein the story is told. I hope that next time someone offers you a free cup of Lemonade on a hot day, you do the right thing and say thank you.

There is nothing wrong with sharing something for the sake of sharing it-- in fact, it's outright heroic.

I went for a walk in the woods here at work. I watched the trees as I walked, noticed how they'd bloomed into something nearer summer's splendor in the last few days. Noticed that, yes, the green is here, but it still has a ways to go. It's green, getting greener.

"Surrounded by light, we are." I said.
"Indeed," said one old oak, who's lowest branches wear their bark pushed up the limb like a shirtsleeve rolled up.
"Ready to begin a great work?" one of us asked.
"We're about to find out," said the other.

I hoisted my pack up on my shoulder, and a crow called as I walked.

Thinking about having a t-shirt made: "I'm somebody's embodiment of male virility!"

This is, far and away, the funniest thing I will ever write on Facebook. It seemed a shame to leave it behind that walled garden. And so I'm posting it here.

Far and away. Far and away.

In case you were not aware: The Information Revolution is complete. My father is on YouTube. Don't tell me that the web is not mainstream. My father is giving Garden tours on You Tube. I am so happy about this.

I mean it, I think this is fantastic. This is exactly what I was getting at in this post about the web being for and about real people. My father has enriched many lives by simply (but insistently) walking them through his gardens. Sure, he changed thousands of lives during his 30+ year tenure with the Watertown Unified School District -- he was a great teacher. But it was in his garden where he worked his magic. Friends who I have not seen in 20 years still swing by from time to time and ask "Big Mel" for the Garden Tour. And he gratefully gives one.

That he has a friend who is willing to capture it and put it on the internet is fantastic and is exactly what the internet is all about. Thank you, Farmer Dave!

Also, you can watch Gardner Mel pant peppers without his shirt on.

Squarespace seems to handle the H1 tag differently than I would. I found this post helpful.

#bannerWrapper {display:none;} is the droids you've been looking for.

Obviously this is less than ideal, but it's the only way I've been able to get a logo artwork as the header on every page on the site, and have an H1 tag on every page.

Edit:It would seem that when you use a graphic banner on Squarespace, you don't get an h1 tag. Am I missing something?
Yes. Yes I am. The sentence I have struck is entirely untrue. Which means that there is, as far as I can tell, nothing wrong with the way Squarespace handles h1 tags.

Second Edit:Nope, I'm right. If you use a graphic banner on Squarespace, you don't get an h1 tag. This seems broken to me.

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I guess I'll keep my mouth shut. :)

Third Edit: I guess I'm liveblogging this now. I posted a comment to the Squarespace community to see what comes of this.

Revoking Jenifer's right to complain about my musical selections: Exhibit A

The first in a series.