Spring Semester Outtakes (II)

On the way to Washington D.C.
(AWP Conference)










Daily Choices
(Georgetown Cupcake)











The Whitehouse
(Oft not photographed backside)












Vietnam War Memorial

D.C. Revisited

(Honest Abe posing for the Camera, 2/5/2011)

It was a crazy time. So crazy I still haven't had a change to really write about it...but now that I have a lot of school work to finish I've found a few lines.

Being surrounded by 10,000 people who are just as strange and awkward as you are is overwhelming (to say the least).

Finding panels you want to attend is easy, getting to them in time is another story. But I was able to see a few awesome authors including Joyce Carol Oates, Junot Diaz, and Mr. Richard Bausch (who has a new website).

I learned the ends and outs of riding/taking the Metro. I wish I would've taken a photo of an escalator "ride" at Dupont Circle. Talk about VERTIGO!

But as you "leave" the darkness and enter the light via the escalator (north entrance) you're greeted by Walt Whitman lines:

Thus in silence in dreams' projections,

Returning, resuming, I thread my way through the hospitals;

The hurt and wounded I pacify with soothing hand,

I sit by the restless all the dark night - some are so young;

Some suffer so much - I recall the experience sweet and sad,...

By the end of the trip, we realized that four people in one Taxi was similar in price...plus the "cabbies" were 100% awesome, knowledgeable, and friendly!

Apparently we (as a group) crave Mediterranean food, because that's what we always wanted to eat--not only delicious, but affordable.

Wearing "new" shoes and walking all over the city then all over the conference hotel does still equal the largest, most painful blisters. You're lucky I didn't take any pictures of them.

The only day we had time to sight see, it was misty. I couldn't even get a picture of the top of the Washington Monument. The dampness and starkness made the D.C. seem ghostly, which is very appropriate.

Despite the rain, we were able to find and sample six different cupcakes at Georgetown Cupcake. They are heavenly. No, really. I'm not kidding or JUST saying that. My personal favorite? Coconut was to die for...

Oh yeah, and all of the people who have said I would love D.C. were right. It's my favorite "district" in the entire country!

~~J

In a Landscape.

(Corot: Woman Reading in a Landscape, 1869)

The current landscape is shaky--filled with packing and repacking borrowed carry-on rolling bag in various geometrical patterns in order to find the perfect combination that allows me to bring all that I need in D.C.

AWP Conference Time (whoop whoop)!

I've never been a fan of flying. The thought of being trapped on a metal bird makes me want to vomit (yes, my fellow flying classmates are aware of this)...It has been quite some time since I've flown...I'm talking prior to 2001.

Therefore I've visited the TSA website so much, trying to figure out what I can and cannot bring on board:

Throwing stars? No.

Liquid bleach? No.

Snow globes? No.

Gel inserts? No.

Note: You can bring pies and cakes through the security checkpoint, but please be advised that they are subject to additional screening.

Imagining a gaggle of MFA students each carrying a pie aboard our flight to D.C. really sends me into hysterics. Apple? Pumpkin? Rhubarb? Pecan? What would they say? Would we have a pie party in flight?

But really, the schedule is hectic--being with 10,000 fellow writers, students (professors, professionals) and the likes is both exciting and scary. At least I'll know everyone from our program and a few from my undergraduate program as well.

To D.C. and Beyond!

~~J