April Flowers

When smoke starts billowing from the dishwasher..

You know its a bad sign. Not that I don't mind returning to the wash-yur-own dishes days. That was childhood. But it is just such a good metaphor for life these days. As the month races away, I'm left running around trying to pick up the thousand loose ends while everything is self-destructing. Sigh. But there are few neat things that have happened.

Like this amazing front page Washington Post story about my guerilla gardening class and food justice justice projects in the city. Well written and researched, it was a relief to not sound foolish in another newspaper article!

How about this incredibly thoughtful piece in the newest Atlantic about loneliness and Facebook? Which I could also see connections to the larger internet, including the blogosphere. It can sometimes be just another narcissistic way to carefully curate your image and put more distance (both real and digital) between you and others. I have to be careful about the amount of time I spend ogling other people's seemingly pretty and perfect lives and remind myself that it is only a small portion of their reality. And the voyeurism thing is what turned my off about Facebook in general, so that is also something I am overly conscious of.

Anyways, that is all. I shall leave you with this:

But the eyes are blind. One must look with the heart.

Recent photos. (1&2) A couple of pretty wall papers. (3) A neat-o light display from Saint-Ex, a bar dedicated to the author of The Little Prince. (Which also has a rocking late night dance scene.) (4) And from the Kennedy Center, where I saw a rousing performance of Mendelssohn's Elijah this week.

Also, I'm hoping to catch this movie tomorrow on a peaceful Easter Sunday. It looks delightfully goofy.

April Days in DC

So as much as I like to hem and haw about Washington D.C., I have to admit that there are times I love living here. Yesterday, I attended an event at the AFL-CIO building, which has this beautiful mosaic.

And some encouraging words on the wall.

The event was a celebration of a new book called Hands on the Freedom Plow, in which the women of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) told about their involvement in the civil rights movement. It was quite moving. Bernice Johnson Reagon was there and she talked about her epiphany of changing the words of spirituals into freedom songs. Here is her singing in the 1960's:

Then I had lunch at Busboys and Poets. Which is not much of a bookstore, but is a tasty restaurant with values I admire, like paid sick days. 

And I walked by the Occupy folks. I've always loved this quote by ole Abe.

And then I was off to the first farmer's market of the season, where I work for Jim of Sunnyside Farm in Charles Town, WV. 

And these have been on my camera for a bit and so I'd thought I'd share. Kitty sleeping on my records..

A new journal I bought recently.

Bleeding hearts from my garden.

My great grandmother's mirror which I used on a daily basis and which is in serious need of a polish.

One Month and Counting

Bought my plane ticket for one month from today. I'm packing up most of my things to be taken cross country in my friend's car.  Can't forget Catan!

Looking forward to feeling the rocky sand between my toes.

And waking up to this everyday:

Also, my guerrilla gardening class went fabulously. We made moss graffiti:

And seed bombs:

And said aloha, not goodbye to the March session!

Oh and saw the Bowerbirds play an amazing show at the Black Cat:

The end!