1,001 Words

Blame a lack of sleep and a self-imposed hectic schedule for a lack of posting.  I was looking for photogenic things while at my sister’s graduation (so proud of her) and a Memorial Day trip to Boston, but nothing in particular caught my eye.  So today I hopped on my bike (a day after I really wanted to, although it was 10° cooler), and rode down to Old Town.  Here’s what I found, albeit it’s not all that interesting.

Where: Founders Park on the Potomac in Alexandria, VA

When: Wednesday, May 31, I think some time around noon.  The sun looked like it was directly above me.  Then my eyes hurt after I looked at it.

Why: This is a mockup of the Godspeed, the boat which the original settlers sailed on from England to land in Jamestown, which as history dorks know, was the first permanent British settlement in the United States.  Sir Walter Raleigh, Virginia Dare, all that good stuff.  2007 is the 400th anniversary of the Jamestown settlement, so the Godspeed is tooting its way around the East Coast.  I like tall ships.  I think they’re neat.  I fell in love with them during Sail Boston 2000, when I watched the Parade of Sail from the deck of the USS John F. Kennedy, and then again on a 2003 trip to Chicago when they had some big boats there too.  So I definitely wanted to check out the Godspeed.  I was sorely disappointed.  First off, the boat was small.  I know, I know, it was only 1607, and it was just a hearty band of people who hated England.  Still, I expected more boat.  Secondly, I expected to be able to go right up to the boat.  The wait for a tour was about 30 minutes.  After biking about 10 miles to get there, I really had no desire to wait in line.  I’m sure I was effervescent too.  So I took some crappy pictures from the bank, watched a few baby ducks go by, and hopped on my bike and headed home.  Thanks for coming over here, British dudes, but next time bring a bigger ship.

Title from the song "Sail Away" by Styx

So I skipped out on a meeting at work today.  Well, technically I didn’t skip out.  I was told by my first boss (aka ED the EavesDropper) that I didn’t have to go.  Meetings are stupid anyway.  I got very little sleep Tuesday night, and I think I looked like it.  So I skipped out on a 10am meeting, getting home around 8:15, planning on taking a nap.  But I didn’t.  And about 10:30, I decided I should do something so I hopped on my bike and went to Best Buy in Alexandria.  On the trip back, I came across this.

Where: Gravelly Point, Arlington VA - looking across the Potomac into DC.

When: Wednesday, May 10, about 12:15pm.  The meeting would have definitely been over by now.

Why: I have a thing for ducks. I admit it.  It started back when I was 7, and would sneak out of my house in NJ to go feed ducks at a nearby pond.

Since then, me and ducks have gotten along.  Just north of the airport, I saw these two ducks just sort of meandering by.  I pulled over, and got down on the ground to take a picture.  Lo and behold, these ducks just started walking towards me.  I was not weilding bread or anything.  They crossed the bike path, took a sniff at me and my bike, and just went on their way.  If I had a good camera, I would have been able to show you the looks in their ducky little eyes.  Instead, you’ll have to settle for this.  Always Mr. Juxtaposition, I like how in the first picture, you can see the Capitol Dome in the background, and in the second one, you can see the Jefferson Memorial and Washington Monument.  A good day to be a duck, a llama, a graveyard shift worker, etc. -dg

Note: If you want to take a closer look at the photos, right-click on them and open in a new window.  That might work out better for you.

Title is a play off the song "The District Sleeps Alone Tonight" by The Postal Service

Okay, so I was talking out the mouth the other night about starting a blog so as to share some photos.  The main priority being this is something I could do to force myself to take better photos.  I was spurred on by DCist.com’s photo of the day, and since my photography skills have been suffering as of late (you keep breaking cameras, and that happens), I thought I’d try this.  So I’ll try to post some new stuff, and maybe if I get slow, post some older photos.  I’ll describe them, and please feel free to weigh in.  If nothing else, I’m writing this for myself.  Because who doesn’t like to hear themselves speak.

Where: Key Bridge, Georgetown, Washington DC - looking north along the Potomac

When: Saturday, May 6, about 4:40pm

Why: This one is definitely inspired by a DCist photo.  I was biking over the bridge, and looked down to see the boathouse below, and all the multi-colored canoes sitting on the dock.  As I biked along a bit further towards Rosslyn, I really liked the way the sun hit the water, something I rarely see in DC, but really enjoy in South Boston.  I snapped a few shots as these canoes started heading up stream.  I thought it was cool, and despite my lackluster camera (which I am glad Santa brought a few years ago, but I should splurge and upgrade), you can see three or four canoes paddling away.  Up in the distance, you can see the Three Sisters Islands.  To the left is Virginia and the GW Parkway, to your right is Georgetown.  It was an awesome day to bike around town, even if I had to resist the urge to mow down tourists. -dg

Title is from the song "3×5" by John Mayer