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As I mentioned earlier, last week Thom’s mom and one of his nephews were in town, and we all went sightseeing. The earlier humidity fortuitously gave way to pleasant weather, perfect for walking about. Here’s the rundown, and most of these were places I hadn’t visited before, so I was kind of a tourist as well. Saturday: Arlington National Cemetery, and then Wolf Trap in the evening (“Bugs on Broadway” symphony concert: fun!). Sunday: Mount Vernon, George Washington’s estate. Monday: Baltimore, where we went to an Orioles game and the Aquarium. The next day I went back to work, while the others visited a couple of Smithsonian museums, American History and Natural History.

I took a bunch of photos–ever since I got a new, more spacious memory card for my digital camera, I’ve been snapping pictures with abandon–and most of them turned out rather well, if I do say so myself. I’ve yet to decide how I want to manage photos on my site, so for now I’ve put them up on a Yahoo Photos page. Check them out.

Below is the Memorial Amphitheater at Arlington Cemetery. Right now I’m using the full-size version of the photo as the desktop wallpaper on my laptop.

So how ’bout them Olympics? My favorite part of the opening ceremony was the historical pageant, with Eros flying over tableaux vivants depicting various scenes of Greek art and history. The whole thing–costumes, makeup, movement–was cleverly done and had great impact. (Ah, yes, the kouroi. “There were burning questions here. How are they made? What company manufactures these pants of manhood? And can I order some in time for Halloween?”)

The parade of nations, usually a bit predictable, was less so due to the Greek alphabet dictating the order of procession. I kept an eye out for the Philippines (Φιλιππίνες), but as its Greek translation starts with phi, it turned out their delegation was one of the last to enter the stadium. (My interest in languages extends to how country names are rendered in foreign languages. In my work I come across this a lot, mostly in French or Spanish. And in EU documents, countries are identified by abbreviations in each native language. For example, Greece is EL for Ελλάδα. It’s kind of cool.)

And another comment about the opening ceremony: the running commentary by Bob Costas and Katie Couric didn’t add much. In fact I wish it had been on a separate audio channel that I could mute. Bob, during the parade of nations, on the Central African Republic: “…which is, as we always duly note, in central Africa.” Oh, touché, Bob. Touché. Later on: “Belize, the island nation…” Umm, island?

Oh, right now women’s synchronized diving (springboard final) is on TV. Gonna go watch. And later on: among others, men’s synchronized diving (platform final) and gymnastics (qualifying competition). You know I’m there.

Tonight we (along with AGLA) will be watching Washington Shakespeare Company‘s production of The Tempest, and appropriately enough, dark clouds have gathered and it’s been pouring rain for the last hour or so.

Be not afeard. The isle is full of noises,
Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices
That, if I then had wak’d after long sleep,
Will make me sleep again; and then, in dreaming,
The clouds methought would open and show riches
Ready to drop upon me, that, when I wak’d,
I cried to dream again. (III.ii)

The Tempest is one of my favorite Shakespeare plays. (I’ve seen and/or read only a handful of them, mostly the major ones on typical high-school reading lists. Sometime last year I bought the complete works of Shakespeare in a single volume, thinking I would re-read the standards and get into the more obscure stuff, but still the book sits patiently on the bookshelf, waiting to be opened.) I’ve seen The Tempest performed once thus far, about ten years ago–was it that long ago?–at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. I was a senior in high school, and our English class went on a two-day field trip to the festival in Ashland, Ore., about 350 miles north of San Francisco. I remember being quite impressed with the production, which was held in festival’s flagship venue, the open-air Elizabethan Theatre. Definitely a perfect play to watch under the stars.

Or with the thunder roaring and rain tap-tapping outside.

[Addendum (23 Aug): There’s an article (“Room and Bard“) about the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in the travel section of Sunday’s Post.]

Today the California Supreme Court will file its decision on the same-sex marriage licenses issued in San Francisco earlier this year.

Most legal experts expect the court to find that Mayor Gavin Newsom’s actions violated state laws, but it’s unclear whether the seven justices will invalidate the 3,955 marriages that took place between Feb. 12 and March 11. The court will not resolve the question of whether same-sex couples have the right to marry under the state constitution.

The ruling will be posted on the court’s website at 10 a.m. PT.

[Update (12:56): From the opinion, posted minutes ago:

[W]e agree with petitioners that local officials in San Francisco exceeded their authority by taking official action in violation of applicable statutory provisions. We therefore shall issue a writ of mandate directing the officials to enforce those provisions unless and until they are judicially determined to be unconstitutional and to take all necessary remedial steps to undo the continuing effects of the officials’ past unauthorized actions, including making appropriate corrections to all relevant official records and notifying all affected same-sex couples that the same-sex marriages authorized by the officials are void and of no legal effect.

To avoid any misunderstanding, we emphasize that the substantive question of the constitutional validity of California’s statutory provisions limiting marriage to a union between a man and a woman is not before our court in this proceeding, and our decision in this case is not intended, and should not be interpreted, to reflect any view on that issue. We hold only that in the absence of a judicial determination that such statutory provisions are unconstitutional, local executive officials lacked authority to issue marriage licenses to, solemnize marriages of, or register certificates of marriage for same-sex couples, and marriages conducted between same-sex couples in violation of the applicable statutes are void and of no legal effect. Should the applicable statutes be judicially determined to be unconstitutional in the future, same-sex couples then would be free to obtain valid marriage licenses and enter into valid marriages.

Full PDF or Word document available.]

Thom and I are planning to visit Hillwood, the former estate of Marjorie Merriweather Post, now a museum with extensive Russian and French art collections and surrounding formal gardens. Neither of us have been there before, but I’d read in the Blade that Hillwood is holding its third annual Gay Day this Saturday, and I figured, hey, a perfect opportunity for a first visit. Looks like there’s a lot planned, including a performance by The Rock Creek Singers (an ensemble of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington) and a number of talks, including a lecture discussing gay members of the Romanov family. Should be neat.

This is cool: you can turn your photos into real postage stamps at Stamps.com. I’m not quite ready to plunk down $20 for a sheet of twenty 37-cent stamps–maybe they’d be nice to use for holidays or special occasions–but just playing with the interface and seeing what your photo would look like on a stamp is kind of fun. (Link via Josh Rubin: Cool Hunting.)

Hey, kids. Yes, I’m still here. (And so is Thom, despite his not having posted a new entry on his blog for, oh, almost two months now.) Thom’s mom and nine-year-old nephew are in town, so the past few days we’ve been out and about, hither and yon, having a grand time visiting some local sights, most of which I myself had never been to. Details and photos are forthcoming.

Once again, good things come to those who procrastinate. I never did get around to buying new clothes last spring, but now here’s an ounce of motivation. Washington, D.C.’s sales tax holiday runs this Sat., Aug. 7 to Sun., Aug. 15.

The Sales Tax Holiday provides buyers an exemption from the 5.75% sales tax for shoes, clothing, accessory items, and school supplies. The exemption covers each item costing $100 or less.

During the nine-day, two-weekend break, the sales tax exemption will apply to each eligible item regardless of how many items are sold on the same bill to a customer. It will also apply to layaway sales, if the retailer and customer enter into a layaway agreement or the customer makes the final payment on the layaway order during the exemption period.

Another sales tax holiday is scheduled this November, beginning the weekend after Thanksgiving. (Link via Commissioner Moose.)