DC Day 2

My bestie cousin spent the night last night, since her mock Bar exam was very close to my hotel this morning and she could use the a/c to cool her for the big day. It was like olden times, when we would spend the night as kids. Best part is that I totally forgot to bring pajama pants, so I only have my Birthday Girl/29 Forever t-shirt to wear to bed. Kristin definitely got some sneak peaks at my hoo-ha (don't worry I had undies on). So like I said, like old times.

I woke up today, checked in at the conference, and came back to drop off all the crap they give you back at my hotel. If there's one thing that irritates me about librarians at conferences, its the hordes of people weighed down with dorky library freebies. This is my fourth conference, and my 'peers' never cease to amaze me in their goofiness.

Kristin called me to get lunch, and we walked up to Dupont Circle for food at Teaism. I had a tofu noodle salad and some Moroccan mint tea. It was very good and very refreshing on a hot day. I was glad to have K with me to point out various spots along the way. She walked me back to the National Mall and I wandered around all the sites.

I went to the Vietnam War Memorial, WWII Memorial, Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, White House, and the reflecting pool. I sat in the shade at the top of the stairs of the Lincoln Memorial and listened to my ipod for a half an hour to cool down a bit and just enjoy being somewhere different.

There were kids everywhere, and I thought "wow DC is a bad vacation for kids." My parents brought me here in second grade, and I came again in 8th grade with my school. At that age I had no interest or appreciation for what I was seeing. Today, I saw little kids running around also with no clue why they were there or what the monuments represented. I heard parents saying "Johnny this is very important, lots of people died in this war, pay attention this is history!" and Johnny just sitting there wondering when he'd get more ice cream. Some dad was asking his pubescent sons what the speech in the Lincoln Memorial meant and they mumbled an "I dunno," so the dad was like "well read it again." Yeah lots of fun. The kids should come when they are older and really get it. Until then it seems like sort of a waste of money for the family. For me as an adult today, I was able to really comprehend and digest what I was seeing in the context of the knowledge I have.

Along the way I realized, "hmm I should probably have brought sunscreen" and wow was that thought correct. I am super red now, which is embarrassing for when I have to go to my various meetings over the next few days. I bought some sunscreen later but it's probably too late now.

After playing tourist I stopped back in my hotel to rest a bit. I ended up passing out for a few hours because my bed is super comfortable and it is nice and quiet in here. When I woke up I walked over to Chinatown for dinner. Kristin said Chinatown here isn't like Chinatown in Chicago or SF or anywhere else - that its pretty bland. She was right - the buildings were boring and plain. I ate at a cheap restaurant that looked like the type of place where I wouldn't feel like a douche eating alone. I brought along Jacob's book and read it while I ate and pretended I was reading a legal briefing or something else important. After dinner I walked back slowly, and here I am itching my burnt skin and watching tv in bed.

So my thoughts on DC so far: I know there are "bad" neighborhoods in DC but so far everything I've seen has been very clean and polished. The shops I've seen so far don't have a whole lot of character, but then again I'm only in the downtown area. Sunday I'll see more of the city. I do like all the massive government buildings though. It's pretty intense when you are walking around and thinking "whoa this is where all the big decisions are made" and you are just walking around through it all.

People here are really preppy. I haven't seen this much khaki or this many chinos in years. Not my style. But everyone seems super intelligent and political (duh) which makes eavesdropping fun.

Perhaps one of the highlights of the day was when we were crossing an intersection and Kristin grabbed me and was like "omg there's Robert Novak, he's crossing the street right next to us!" We giggled about my first 'star' sighting and acted like dorks when we passed him. We wanted to boo or hiss at him but figured that was probably a bad idea.

Tomorrow I'm going to a presentation on racism in academic libraries, dropping some stuff off at exhibits, and getting dinner with my old SF coworkers. I'm looking forward to seeing them despite my cooked lobster skin tone.