MD Day 7 - Dali, DaVinci, and Darth Vader: A Great Day of Art
I started today by driving Scott to the Airport. He's meeting his uncles in Paris and I'm very excited for him, but it did mean waking up pretty early. I then drove into D.C. proper and had coffee at an Ethiopian Cafe called Sidamo. I read that they had good coffee and healthy breakfasts, so I got their iced coffee and an egg and cheese bagel sandwich. They both did not disappoint, but the best part about the place is that there is a not-quite secret garden in the back of the restaurant which was really lovely.
After that, I went down to the national mall but it was still too early for any of the Smithsonian Museums to be open, and parking is free on Sundays so I ended up taking an hour long nap in my car.
Re-energized I went to the National Gallery of Art. My intention was to see multiple museums, but the National Gallery is actually two buildings connected by an underground tunnel so there was a lot to see. The East Building has pre-dominantly modern and contemporary art, and the West Building has a little bit of everything up to the Impressionists. If that sounds like a lot of art, you better believe it was and the West Building in particular is absolutely gigantic so if you want to see everything, give yourself plenty of time and bring comfortable shoes. If you do have the time and the proper foot wear it will be well worth your time.
I started with the East Building. All my favorites were there Picasso, Max Ernst, Joan Miro, Dali, and of course Edward Hopper. There was an exhibit by a guy named Saul Stienberg that I really loved.
I'm just very impressed with his ability to work in totally different styles in the same piece of work.
Another exhibit was on the works of Alexander Calder, whose mobile like structures I'd seen before, but up until know I'd never really known or appreciated the range and magnitude of his talents.
From there I walked the underground tunnel to the West Building which was really cool
The West Building as I already mentioned was stunningly large. I like that the museum that had more modern art was also designed in a more modern way whereas the West museum is very classic, filled with huge stone corridors and beautiful courtyards.
The special exhibit that really blew me away was a feature on Edvard "The Scream" Munch (his wrestling name). The exhibit was intended to highlight his use of color which really was weird and beautiful and was used to heighten emotionality in his works.
The rest of the museum was great too, and the highlights for me were works by Rodin, Degas, El Greco, DaVinci, and Hieronymus Bosch. Their was an exhibit highlighting sketches by the medieval Dutch and Flemish artist, which was really cool because it's incredible how densely filled in such small spaces could be with careful penciling.
After the museum, I went to the Lincoln Memorial. I'd gotten a peek earlier in the week, but I wanted to really go and experience seeing a giant Lincoln and feel like people can really be good sometimes (I know that Lincoln is complicated morally but for the most part it's kinda insane how good he was).
After that, I went to a cool cafe for lunch called the Songbyrd Music House and Record Cafe. It's a bar, cafe and record store all rolled into one with a dance club and concert venue in the basement. It was super cool, and the pork shoulder sandwich with red wine dipping sauce felt like the classiest meal I've ever gotten for just $10. The coffee was quite good too.
After lunch, I went to the Washington National Cathedral. I was excited to see it because one of the gargoyles is Darth Vader just tucked away near one of the upper windows. I took some pictures but it was really high up so here's a close up I just copied from a google search:
I walked all around the Cathedral trying to spot it, and I hadn't even realized that it was a Sunday evening so church goers started filing in at some point. It was kinda funny to me that they were all looking for God, and I was just looking for Darth Vader.
The other cool thing about the cathedral is that one of the stained glass windows has a little piece of moon rock in the center.
After the Cathedral, I started driving to Philadelphia, but I got a phone call from an ex that ended up being a really difficult conversation. Basically the final nail in the coffin of us getting back together, which I wanted and she didn't. I don't mention this to shame or blame that person (her feelings and opinions were all very valid), but just to share some insights that I have gained on the road. You can do what you love and are good at everyday and still not be happy. Happiness comes from inside you. It can be very much affected by what happens outside you, but how you think about and process things will always be the final say in whether you are happy. That is not to say that this is easy, but just that looking for happiness completely outside of yourself is a doomed endeavor. You can surround yourself with incredible people and do wonderful, fulfilling work, but if you are not present enough to appreciate it, you still won't be truly happy. I think this is why some people who have nothing are still happy, and some people who have everything are still miserable. This is not a particularly original insight, but one I hope means something to someone. Plus after the phone call, I got to have my first ugly cry and vomit of the road trip, sooo Milestones!
I did make it to Philly safe and sound though and promptly passed out at my Air BnB from exhaustion both physical and emotional.
Favorite Random Sightings: Ray's Hell Burger; Fatty's Tattoo and Piercing; A bar in the Adams Morgan neighborhood called Madame's Organ
Regional Observation: It's so strange just being in a place where the head of an entire country is, and everyone still has to just go about their normal days.
Albums Listened To: Fear of a Black Planet by Public Enemy (alarmingly still relevant social commentary on race with one very outdated song on homosexuality); Fear of Music by Talking Heads; Feature Magnetic by Kool Keith; Feels Your Pain by Slothrust
People's Favorite Jokes:
"I hate jokes" (easily the strongest negative response I have gotten to that question but also kinda hilarious)
Maryland/D.C. Superlatives:
Favorite Coffee Shop: Pure Taste- Peregrine Espresso in D.C.; Best all around- Baked and Wired in D.C.
Favorite Ice Cream: The Charmery in Baltimore
Favorite Bar: Right Proper Brewing Shaw Brew Pub in D.C.
Favorite Beer: Dirty Little Freak by Duclaw brewing (weird name but a great beer)
Favorite Crab Cake: Faidley's in Baltimore
Favorite Restaurant- Iron Rooster in Annapolis
Favorite Meal- Songbryd Cafe in DC
Favorite Open Mic- Reliable Tavern in DC
General Impression of The Comedy Scene- More political than most places but as one comic said "Our local jokes also happen to be political jokes". Very supportive community, but I'd say it'd be a little bit tougher to get started there then some other places because a lot of the mics aren't show up and go up style, but once you know somebody and you have a little experience it's a very good scene
Song of the Day:
