A little Culture, A little Theatre, A dash of Insomnia, And Smidgeon of Ranting.

We've been busy little bees here in the land of the Walsherstone. We made it back to the National Museum of Women in the Arts. Which, by the way, totally kicked ass. While obviously underfunded, they have an incredible collection in beautiful surroundings. Both Robin and I were pleasantly surprised by their collection of silverware by 17th and 18th century women silversmiths of the UK. Actually their entire collection was very engaging, and it was once of the few museums here in DC where we both looked at every piece on display. One collection that particularly interested Robin and I was the special exhibit on book arts called "The Book as Art". It was pretty sweet, and you should definitely check it out online. just follow the link from the title.
Robin convinced me to go see Pan's Labyrinth with her last night. It's a Spanish move by Guiermo Del Toro that's been nominated for pretty much every award under the sun. It's a helluva movie. A fairy tale in the style of the brothers Grimm, it's exceptionally well executed. There are scenes of violence that Robin was fine with that I found disturbing. It's hard to describe, as it's a dark movie. But neither robin nor I found it depressing or disgusting. It was disturbing in it's violence, but not gratuitous. The violence served the story line. It's an effective tool to establishing one of the characters. It's an incredible combination of the hyper realistic and fantastic. Check out the trailer for the movie. Both Robin and I loved it, and think you should each take a look at it and consider seeing it. I'm not going to lie, there were scenes when i had to look away, but the medical librarian was fine. Take a look at the reviews and press, and consider giving it a chance. It's one of the better movies i've seen in recent years.
Robins old Prof from Dalhousie contacted us a few weeks back and has invited me to be a guest speaker for one of his online classes. It's fairly exciting for me as it's an opportunity to promote the Freer and Sackler Galleries where I worked during the exhibit. I have to put a power point together and half hour talk and then answer questions about the exhibit and Smithsonian via a message board program the school has. It's pretty exciting in many regards for me, and I got the blessing of the Galleries, which is great. But I find I'm thinking about it a lot, and combined with my random shifts working late at night at the bookstore, i'm back into night hawk mode, which is a bit poopy. At least i'll be able to keep the blog up to date =)

Well...SOMEBODY loves the futon...but we aren't exactly impressed with how she's using it...

Is that what a giraffe is supposed to look like?

It is my opinion that Colin and I have been DUPED! While I don't necessarily mind the circa-1970's-sex-worker style of our new futon cover, it looks nothing like the cover we ordered.

Exhibit A:

The "Giraffe" pattern futon cover, as shown on the website

Exhibit B:

The same "Giraffe" pattern futon covered, as delivered

What happened?!? Did our cover have some sort of jungle cat identity crisis a la Jocelyn Wildenstein?

Exhibit C:
Did it get some sort of botched plastic surgery from a hyena and decide to give up on jungle life? Did it think that life as a futon cover was somehow better than being a European socialite?

Anyways, you'd think any sane person would return this botched hyena-giraffe blended monstrosity to Futon Covers Online. Well, despite my anger over the false advertising, I hate to think what would happen to our poor cover if we sent it back. Who would want it now?

No. It's about time someone showed this identity-confused object some love.

Plus, I just can't be bothered.

We know the Reverend Al Green would approve of our new FANCY Futon cover!

YYEEEEEEEEEOOWZAHS!!!!!!! SO HOT!!!! SO SO FUNKY!!!!!!!!!! YEAAAAWWWWHHHH!!!!

News. Hmmm. Well, be careful what you ask for. Here's the whole kit and kaboodle.

Robin is not pregnant, and continues to be not pregnant. We are in agreement that this is an exceptionally good thing overall. And should likely remain the norm for the foreseeable future. Probably a year or two at least. This, is good news. Babies are great and all, but we've got two cats, and until we get them under control, there will be no more additions to our ranks.
My Contract at the Smithsonian has ended and the exhibit has closed. It's a total bummer, but I'm hoping to get involved with them again in some capacity in the near future. My fingers are crossed.
I am down to one job. This job offers fewer hours in a week then my cats spend licking themselves. Being particularly clean wee beasties, this puts me at about ten working hours a week. I figure the cats spend at least 1.5 hours a day devoted strictly to tongue bathing themselves, adding up to only marginally more time in a week then i spend flogging books.
The Holidays now being over, and the last of our visitors safely returned to their homes (exception of course being Caitlin, who we imagine to be either staggering around a jungle in extreme peril completely ill prepared and lost, or she's sitting comfortably in some climate controlled internet cafe in Bolivia debating whether to email home or just peruse www.stuffonmycat.com instead.) Robin and I have now returned to our normal schedule of trying to squeeze a gallery or local landmark into the weekends. Today, MLK day, we managed to walk for about four hours, all in and around Downtown DC from the White House to Georgetown and back to the White House again via a different route.
Managed to hit the Watergate hotel and the National Museum of Women in the Arts, although we only spent about 15 minutes in the gallery because we arrived there too late. That fifteen minutes was actually spent in the gift shop. $16 to get in to the museum, and we'd only have had an hour to be there. We figure we'll do it proper next weekend. So we just went to the shop. For that kind of money, I want to pull myself through the museum by my elbows and make sure I see everything there is to see. I want to know the guards grand children's names by the time we're getting outta there at $16.
Robin and I have found the worlds greatest Key Lime Pie. It is without peer. It is the Peerless Perfect Key Lime Pie. We actually discovered it at one of our favourite restaurants while Ann and Grenfell were here visiting. After having dinner at home the other night, Robin and I found ourselves heading out into the night, looking guilty, needing that Key Lime Pie. We were fortunate enough to find the place still open, and got our late night fix. Should keep us going for at least another day or two.
Our cats now have their own jacuzzi tub. Well, sort of. It's their new drink bowl. It circulates their water and filters it as well. I realize that it sounds decadent and am sure that if my old man ever reads this, he'll be convinced i've turned into a complete dips**t, but it was an essential purchase. The cats are used to drinking out of the bathtub faucet. it leaks, and they like it. Problem is, one of them seems to have developed the habit of forgetting not to poop in the bath tub. This perturbs Robin and I to no end. So, we started locking them out of the bathroom. Since then, they have begun to drive us crazy with their constant irritable catness. So, in a move designed to give them water and robin and I rest, they now have a lovely spa for their delicate cat palates.
There has been talk of an automobile in the future. We've noticed that a Honda Element (2004) is about $14000 here, while they're over $23000 in Canada. A brand new one is about $24k here and $38k in Canada. If we end up in Connecticut, it may make sense for us to get a vehicle. This seems to be the one that makes the most sense for us, but this is all theoretical. We want something safe, that can accommodate moving, be used for travel and site seeing, easy to maintain, mechanically sound, and great on gas. We also want a great warranty. Every sign points to Honda it seems. We also know how fond Big Red and Marie are of theirs. Just another thing to consider in the grand scheme of things. Again, before the advice starts flooding in, this is just a can we are kicking around for this time next year, and not something we're in the process of pursuing. It's a pretty substantial difference even with the exchange rate being what it is. At the current rate, it's a difference of $10,304 cdn. So big enough to think about at least.
In unrelated news, I found a picture of my dad in a travel book at work the other day. It made my day really. Page 44.
Robin and I will be heading back to glorious Halifax in April to see Matt and Mitz get Married. It's a great time and great excuse to head back to Nova Scotia. We have some minor details to address like where to stay and exact dates, but it looks like the clearance from Immigrations will be coming and that was the biggest obstacle. It'll be great to see everyone again, and what better time to see friends then a wedding? We're taking some extra days off for while we're there so we can be sure to see everyone, and we'll be renting a car as well. With a little luck we'll be able to get up to Cape Breton.
That is all the news we have for now. Oh, and for the curious, the flower tosser is a stencil by Banksy.

Get ready text lovers....

'cause this update is image-free! And surprisingly low in fat.

After a veritable parade of visitors, Colin and I are alone (together) once again. Most recently we hosted our friend Caitlin, who was stopping by on her way to Bolivia.

Here are some fun, quick facts about Caitlin (who I hope will never read this post..... :)

• Early 20s, 5' 0", recently injured in freak, hand-blender attack
  
• Is traveling from Lima to La Paz on her own (by bus)
  
• Cannot speak Spanish
• Cannot carry her own backpack
• Is loaded down with digital camera equipment

Dear god, please take care of our little girl.

Colin and I strongly urged Caitlin to register with the Canadian Embassy. Thank goodness I'm not her mother! But, as we said goodbye to our lovely little unequipped friend, I suddenly grasped a sense of what I have been doing to my mom for the past decade. Every time I left home on another long distance adventure, she saw guerrilla forces in the jungle kidnapping her baby. Of course, in my case they would have been disgruntled Republican congressmen, disbanded IRA militiamen, and disillusioned FLQ separatists..... but still, the risk was there.

So, as our friend abandons reason on another attempt to find herself in the jungles of the third world, I am left feeling worried and somewhat guilty.

I suppose the only fitting way to end this post is to say:

sorry mom.

The End of the Begining.

Today marked the end of the exhibit I was participating in at the Sackler Gallery of the Smithsonian.
"In the Begining: Bibles Before the Year 1000" was an incredible experience, and a delight to work/volunteer. The people I got to work with and for, as well as the people I had the opportunity to meet every day, made it an incredibly enriching experience. The last day was a bit hard, but not because of the huge line that lasted all day, or the non stop running (all made bareable by incredibly dedicated volunteers that never got snarky and made it all go as as smooth as butter), but because I simply didnt want it to end. I knew when I first got involved that I was lucky to be a part of it. I'm posting some photos of the last day. I really wish I could have gotten more photos of the volunteers throughout the entire exhibit and today, but I never did manage to.

Happy 2007!

To ring in the new year, I'm going to indulge with an image-rich message of very little content.

These pictures are from our New Year's Eve celebration at an Argentinian lounge called Il Divino in Bethesda.


Love,
Robin and Colin