Vintage Swatches

Matt and I purchased "new" vintage Swatches at Union Station in DC.

Mine is called Vintage 1995 SWATCH WATCH new Kimiko GR123
Here's what Matt found out about my Swatch:

"Kimiko" is Japanese for "your girl". So the Japanese lady on the top part of the golden strap is your girl. On the bottom side a Japanese text and a red design are depicted. The red transparent case has a golden sunbrushed dial with no further markings. Blue hour and minute hands and a red arrow second hand mark the time.

Here's info on the artist, Jennifer Morla of San Francisco, who created Matt's Swatch Dotchair GR115.

We scored in a very big way as we only paid $35 for these watches.

Beautiful Blue

Just an observation but it seems that JetBlue has more than their share of beautiful, gay, flight attendants. Perhaps it is because I'm flying between DC and Oakland/SF, two of the country's gay meccas. Eye candy supreme.

Caterpillar Garden

US Botanical Garden's caterpillar train setup for the holidays.

Familiar Ceiling?

The enclosed courtyard in the Washington, DC National Gallery of Art looks a lot like the British Museum.

Inauguration

Getting the stands ready!

Change of Scene

You may be wondering why my family is now in the picture. I neglected to mention that we are all in Washington, DC for my brother's wedding on Saturday. It is an all-hands-on-deck affair as we are doing almost everything except the catering, with the exception of cupcakes of course.

Yesterday we were at Rachel's (Matt's partner) Mother's house, the location of the ceremony and reception. The tent is setup and we were working on the flowers, rolling silverware in napkins and generally spending time together. Then the cupcake baking in the afternoon at Teaism. Today it is back to the house for more flower arranging, hanging lights and setting up tables and chairs. This evening a party at Rachel's brother and sister-in-law's house.

My mom arrived on Monday. I got here Wednesday. Dad and my two grandmothers arrived yesterday afternoon and today the Plotkin side of the family (mom's kin) arrives in full force.

More photos to come.

Dad and Grandma Explore the Crackberry

Of course my dad is the original crackberry addict. Here he tries to get his mother addicted.

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Americans are Visual

I keep noticing that Americans like to look. This is in direct contrast to my experience with Britains who avoid eye contact, at least in London. This difference is especially noticeable on public transit and in crowds. Our eyes are curiously scanning people and we even feel free to chat with folks.

This culture of looking works for visual folks like me who love soaking up details. In the UK I felt odd diverting my eyes and noticed that no one even sneaked a peek at each other.

Sitting on this Southwest flight heading out to DC there is lots to look at because we Americans are so visually interesting.

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Secret Treasure: Meridian Hill Park

Marlene took me to one of her favorite hidden DC treasurers Meridian Hill Park located in northwest Washington, D.C. and is bordered by 16th, Euclid, 15th, and W Streets. It is a 12 acre site situated on an almost perfect north-south axis.

This is a beautiful secret garden much loved by its community. Who would ever guess it is smack dab in the middle of urban DC?

Art-O-Mat

At the Tenleytown Whole Foods in Washington, DC there is a fantastic old cigarette machine that now dispenses pieces of art instead of cancer sticks.

The machine is called an Art-o-mat and in it are the mini works of 30 or so emerging artists.

Marlene and I pondered all the possible art choices and settled on supporting a pinhole photographer Emily Long. For $5 I now have one of her original pinhole images abandoned shed, southern cook county, il carefully adhered to a block of wood the exact size of a box of cigarettes.

DiverseWorks in Houston, TX has one of these machines but I never made a purchase when I was there. Now when I see these machines I'm going to make a purchase.

Memorial Day in the City of Memorials

Washington, DC is filled with memorials. Being here on Memorial Day was a special opportunity to honor heroes as opposed to just seeing it as a day off. I headed down to the Vietnam Memorial and then watched the parade along Constitution Avenue. Makes you really appreciate bravery.