Rebel Prince

This fall I’m learning Portuguese–mostly for pleasure, and coincidentally for business–and the first class met earlier tonight. It was cool. I’ll report more on that soon. Com licença, I’m off to sleep.

My good college friend (not to mention published plant biologist, congrats) Adrienne is in town, so on Saturday, we braved the early rain and strolled around the Mall, taking in a few sights:

• National Gallery: always a favorite; on this visit I was especially impressed by a couple of pieces I hadn’t noticed before. First, in the sculpture galleries, a work called Gloria Victis (“Glory to the vanquished”). Not only is it an epic image–winged Fame carries a fallen warrior in her arms–but the fact that the entire work stays balanced on such a small point, despite such a complex arrangement of figures, is quite a sculptural feat. Second, a very large, beautiful Degas (Four Dancers), with an interesting use of manipulated focus (to think of it in Photoshop-like terms, say). The ballerinas’ bodies are sharp and delineated, while their skirts and the backdrop are dappled and hazy. A work you definitely must see in person.
• National Archives: we tried to check it out, but apparently the building has been closed for renovation, and as I later found out, will have a grand reopening this Thursday. So our timing was off.
• U.S. Botanic Garden (pictured, bird of paradise): this was my first time there, and the jungle area with canopy walkway, and the collections of orchids, and food plants–like coffee, tea, and exotic fruits–were all really cool. As we came across each plant, it was like, oh, so that’s what a macadamia nut (or papaya or jackfruit, etc.) tree looks like.
• National Air and Space Museum: it was a bit crowded, but we managed to take in a few exhibits, like ones on jet aviation and planetary exploration. G(r)eek alert: in reading one of the plaques about Pluto’s orbit, I thought it interesting to realize that the word “eccentric” has a geometrical meaning, “deviating from a circular path” or “elliptical” (from the Greek ex kentron, literally “out of center”), which of course gives rise to its more colloquial meaning, “unconventional,” “odd or whimsical.” Anyway.

By then, we were pretty tired–note to D.C. tourists: museuming is hard work–so after relaxing over smoothies at Cosí, we called it a day. I think we did rather well.

It isn’t fall yet–but it sure feels like it, given today’s sudden change in weather–and I jumped the gun on my usual seasonal makeover for my website. Tonight I started playing with a few different color schemes and just couldn’t stop. Though I like this current scheme (maroon and gray, featuring Fantômas by Juan Gris), I haven’t made a final decision, so don’t mind me if I periodically cycle through some other potential colors in the coming days or weeks.

Speaking of makeovers, in my rundown of last week’s activities, I was remiss in forgetting to mention my visit to The Grooming Lounge, where I got my hair cut. It’s always a pleasure. Sipping espresso and reading Esquire (coverboy Colin Farrell) made the short wait just fly by. When the stylist washed my hair, she used a conditioner with peppermint (mmm, tingly) that I really liked, so I bought some of that before I left the salon. It’s Anthony Logistics Everyday Conditioner. “You and your product,” Thom says.

Now my hair’s a lot shorter than it used to be, which is good and bad, the latter due to an unfortunate cowlick that becomes increasingly unruly the shorter my hair is cut. Nothing a little product (okay, a lot) can’t handle. Anyway, the new ‘do looks good on the whole, if I do say so myself.

I’ve been waiting for Rufus to announce new tour dates, and on checking his website, I find that next month he’ll be in Europe: Paris, London, Amsterdam, and Stockholm. Now that’s just cruel, tempting me like that. Grr. Hm, I do have some frequent-flyer miles saved up…

In other news, TV spots for the new album, Want, will start airing with Queer Eye on Bravo. Check it out: 56k and high-speed (QuickTime).

I was browsing through the Newseum website just now–they have an ongoing exhibit of front pages from newspapers around the world–and I was reminded that on Sept. 12, 2001, I bought a copy of the Washington Post and saved it. To this day, I haven’t even opened or read it. It’s not so much that I can’t deal with the emotional aspect of it, though that sentiment surely lingers–even looking at the front page on the screen is jarring, as perhaps it should always be–but now the paper has become for me a kind of time capsule. It’s as if I’m leaving it alone to age, to recede into memory, but with the inkling that I’ll rediscover it by chance in the future.

If you’ll permit me another, related thought: there’s something about the lowering of the flag that really affects me. I think it’s the symbolism, the grand sense of “national” mourning that gets to me. Yesterday morning I watched some of the TV news before I left the apartment, and filed away whatever thoughts I had at the time. But I felt a resurgence of emotion as I followed my usual route up Massachusetts Ave. to find all the embassy and other flags at half-staff. It’s a moving sight, I think. And when I arrived at my office, I looked out my window just as the huge flags at the bank building down the street were being lowered. I couldn’t help but stand and take a moment.

I’ve been watching Bravo’s The Reality of Reality, and it’s actually pretty good. I mean, we already knew that a lot of manipulation goes on behind the scenes of so-called “reality” shows, but the extent to which it goes on is pretty eye-opening. The episode I watched today (“America’s Instant Idols”) emphasizes how potential contestants will say and do anything to get on the air, and how TV executives eat it up. Remember Will Kirby, villain extraordinaire from Big Brother 2?

Will: I went to meet [CBS executive] Les Moonves, and they said, “What are you going to do to win the half-million dollars?” And I said, “I’ll do whatever it takes.” And he said, “What does that mean? What will you do?” And I said, “Les, I’ll do whatever you need me to do.”

And he said, “What if it’s [down to] you and a gay guy? What will you do?” And I said, “I’ll f–k him in the ass and go make a sandwich.” The room erupted in laughter, and I was like, “See you in two weeks,” and I walked out and slammed the door.

Narrator: But a CBS spokesperson says that Les Moonves has no recollection of that conversation.

Well, okay, then. (I’ve read that later on Will recounted this story in the Big Brother house, and fellow houseguest Bunky quipped, “What kind of sandwich?”)

Last year on this day I posted this poem, and I think it’s worth dusting off.

I Hear America Singing
Walt Whitman (1819-1892)

I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear,
Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe and strong,
The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam,
The mason singing his as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work,
The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat, the deckhand singing on the steamboat deck,
The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench, the hatter singing as he stands,
The wood-cutter’s song, the ploughboy’s on his way in the morning, or at noon intermission or at sundown,
The delicious singing of the mother, or of the young wife at work, or of the girl sewing or washing,
Each singing what belongs to him or her and to none else,
The day what belongs to the day–at night the party of young fellows, robust, friendly,
Singing with open mouths their strong melodious songs.

Peace.

A phrase I never expected to read (ever), much less from the Times: “exciting new UPN series.” Which of those words do not belong with the others? Well, that’s what they’re calling Jake 2.0, about an awkward NSA tech-support geek turned bionic hero. Entertainment Weekly, however, says, “Kinda sweet, for a UPN action hour that has about as much of a chance for survival as last season’s Twilight Zone remake.” It stars Christopher Gorham, whom I loved in the late WB series Popular (a show that I hated at first, but eventually warmed up to). We’ll see. It premieres tonight at 9 p.m.