Just One More

The Vietnam Memorial

Tom's Memorial

The number of tries that it took for me to get this shot made me realize that, although my tripod is a pain to drag around, it may be worth it.

A couple of guys fishing in the Tidal Pool. I think they had 6 or 8 fishing rods between them.

Korean War Memorial

A couple of birds bathing in the Memory Pool

The Memory Pool

This friendly squirrel shared my pretzel when I took a break.

Holocaust Memorial Museum

One of my main reasons for making the trip to DC was to see the Holocaust Museum. I have had a mild obsession since I first saw The Diary of Anne Frank when I was 9 or so. It was also my main reason for going on the trip alone. Sure Clay can't get away for the weekend because of work, but it was all about going to the Holocaust Museum alone. I can't say that I enjoyed it, because it's not something to enjoy, but I learned a lot and was profoundly affected by the exhibit, which I spent 5 hours exploring.

The two part sculpture outside.

The sculpture's marker.

This is the magnet that I bought at the museum. It's a picture of the eternal flame in the Hall of Remembrance. I made it through the entire exhibit without any tears, but this is where I broke down. The flame is on top of a block that contains dirt from 38 of the concentration camps in Europe.

Some New Discoveries

In my wanderings I ran across a couple of landmarks that I hadn't seen before...

The Summer House at the Capitol

The Grotto at the Summer House

The Summer House Fountain

There is a Memorial to the Signers of the Declaration of Independence near the Vietnam Memorial. All of the signers' names and signatures are carved on granite blocks. George Walton, Lyman Hall, and Button Gwinnett are three names that I will never forget thanks to 8th Grade Georgia history. Mrs. Rogers suggested that we think of George Walton walking down the Hall while Buttoning his Gwinnett. It worked.

Museum Time!

I'd been to the Natural History Museum and the Air and Space Museum before, but museum going is a very different thing when one is twelve and following a chaperone around. We got lost in the Natural History museum on my 6th grade trip and didn't have time to see the American History Museum. Unfortunately the it is currently closed for renovations so I still haven't really gotten to see it. I guess I'll have to go back someday.

The Castle

Ocean Views was my favorite exhibit. It's like someone sat down and created it just for me!

The manatees in the Mammal Hall

The Crystal Skull!

Thanks to Philip Roth I will never be able to think of Charles Lindbergh in the same way.

World War II Memorial

The World War II Memorial was built since the last time I was in DC so this was my first look at it. I thought that it was well designed and moving. I was glad to see for myself that it does not obstruct the sight lines between the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial.

This dedication left me a bit teary.

The "Field of Stars"

Close-up of the stars

The fountain and Atlantic side from the Pacific

The fountain at night

Just the Beginning!

This past weekend I took a little holiday to Washington. I'd been twice before, once in the sixth grade on a class trip and once in college for about a day. There were many things that I had never had a chance to do as my itinerary has never really been in my hands. As I often do on vacation I took, many, many pictures. On Friday, my first day there, I did the traditional tour of Monuments and Memorials beginning with a trip to the Washington Monument, which I'd never seen close up.

The Capitol looking very cool in the morning light.

The White House from the base of the Washington Monument

The Washington Monument

The Lincoln Memorial and Reflecting Pool

There are signs like this at many of the memorials asking people to refrain from throwing coins in the fountains or not walk on the grass. They all use this sort of language, emphasizing showing respect for those being memorialized.

As the title says this is just the beginning. Tomorrow, the WWII Memorial!

New Moon

I finally got around to continuing with the Twilight series, which was recommended to me by both Stephen and Sylvie. New Moon by Stephenie Meyer is the second book in the, so far, insanely readable series. Standard spoiler warnings apply especially if you haven’t read Twilight.

New Moon picks up in the fall after Twilight left off, on Bella’s eighteenth birthday. After a near miss involving a paper cut and Edward’s “brother” Jasper, Edward decides that Bella will be better off without him and his family around. He leaves and she is devastated. After a few months of nonstop moping, Bella begins spending time with Jacob Black and is rejuvenated by his friendship, until he begins to change.

I did not enjoy New Moon as much as Twilight. The best part about Twilight was Edward and Bella’s relationship and that was absentee for most of the book. The mythology of the series continues to be interesting. We have the addition of werewolves to the “monsters” involved. Jacob, whose information about his father’s beliefs helped Bella to figure out what was up with Edward, turns out to be descended from a line of werewolves who function as the protectors of their tribe. Again Meyer rejects common lore having the werewolves change as the result of anger instead of the moon. The idea of the werewolves coming into existence as a result having vampires in the vicinity is clever. We also learned more about the vampires, meeting the “royal family” the Volturi. Many of them have special gifts like Edward and Alice, although Bella seems to be immune to their powers, like she is Edward’s.

The book is structured as a loose allegory of Romeo and Juliet, with Edward and Bella playing the iconic couple and Jacob filling in as Paris. It would have worked better had Meyer not beat the reader over the head with this information. Still I liked the parallels with Rosalie filling in as Balthasar and Alice as Friar Lawrence.

The continuation of the mythology was good, but it could not save the story which was really subpar. As in Twilight most of the “twists” were obvious from a mile away and waiting for Bella to figure it out was annoying. I did not have much of a problem with Bella in Twilight, but I some trouble with her character in New Moon. She did some truly idiotic things, which is explained away by her desire to hear Edward’s voice cautioning her when she puts herself in danger and like so many heroines who have been dumped by the leading man for their own good; she actually believes that he doesn’t love her anymore. However my big problem with her (aside from having a female protagonist who is so entirely defined by her relationships to men) came at the end of the book. Am I truly supposed to believe that someone who is ready to give up everything and become a vampire to stay with the man that she loves and join his family has a problem with getting married to him? Really?

That said I did generally enjoy the book and once again couldn’t put it down. There is something compulsively readable about the series and some willful suspension of disbelief should take care of most of my problems with the book. There were good moments, such as the beginning when Bella dreams of being an old woman with a still youthful Edward. I hold out hope for the rest of the series and certainly won’t be stopping now.

Lies Across America

Lies Across America: What American Historic Sites Get Wrong by James W. Loewen is a book that I’ve been meaning to pick up and read for quite some time. I recommended and lent my copy of his other book, Lies My Teacher Told Me, to Amy a couple of months ago so it seemed like time to get on it.

Lies Across America is a study of selected historic sites and markers across the country. Loewen looks at the information given for and about the sites, points out incorrect or misleading information and makes suggestions for how they might be corrected. The featured markers and sites are from all 50 states, but the majority deal with either the slavery and the civil war or European settlers and the treatment of Native Americans.

Reading the book brought up some interesting questions in my mind. The chapter on Amerst, Massachusetts, which was named for Lord Jeffrey Amerst who historians say authorized the idea of giving blankets infected with small pox to Native Americans, suggests that it would be a good idea to change the name to no longer honor him. I agree that he is not someone who necessarily deserves to be honored, but I can understand the logistical difficulties of actually changing the name.

As someone who grew up in the South I was particularly interested in the sections on the Civil War. I was fascinated and saddened by the chapter on the Union League Club, which exemplifies the abandonment of the cause of civil rights by the Republican Party in the years following the war. The Union League was begun to “combat the pro-secession sentiment that dominated New York City early in the Civil War.” Over the years the club became more of an elite social club, barring anyone who was not white and protestant from membership.

Is there a bias at work here? Absolutely, but that does not change the fact that all over the country there is misinformation being disseminated. There are monuments and sites mentioned where the argument is purely bias, but Loewen still makes some very good points.