a blog post in two parts

part I: patriot

first of all, i am not a responsible citizen. i am not registered to vote. i hate the news. i think most of what's going on with the politics and government pretty much sucks, and i prefer to bury my head in the sand than to be pissed off all the time. that said, there are times... times when i can't get enough of reading about history and politics and the law. it's like a sickness comes over me, and for a few weeks, that's all i think about. a few years ago when this happened, i read don't know much about history (quick and easy) and alexis de toqueville's democracy in america (neither quick nor easy). i have, in similar fits, read the constitution and all its amendments, the sunday new york times religiously for a month or so, and various other things that caught my interest. and let me tell you--going to washington dc when i am feeling this way is only adding fuel to the fire. i have abandoned my fiction and knitting books to read a little book on the lives of the presidents. who knows what will be next. karen, my friend of many years, humored my patriotic urges by taking me to the national archive where i got to see the declaration of independence first hand (i bought a copy) as well as the magna carta, the constituion, the bill of rights, the emancipation proclamation, the warrant for susan b. anthony's arrest (for voting when women had no such right) and the subsequent document giving the right of suffrage to women. and people--it was amazing. crowded, hard to see, but amazing. since the museum of american history was--sadly--closed for renovations (till 2008!!!) we walked all over the place instead: around the washington monument, through the WWII memorial, along the reflecting pool, and to the lincoln memorial (for which i have a greater appreciaton after devouring sarah vowell's assassination vacation. a glorious day of patriotism was had by all. don't worry--i'm sure it will pass. :)
pictures from the trip can be found here.

part II: ridin' the rails

on an utterly different note, i took the train! i was going to drive, but man--the train to DC is only 6 hours when driving can be 5-7 at LEAST. plus, who wants a car to deal with in downtown DC?? plus, 6 hours of uninterrupted knitting??! sign me up, baby! and it was pretty freakin' awesome. scenic and relaxing and not stressful at all in spite of a few delays. on the way up, i met a girl from raleigh who's traveled all over the world and was enough of a talker to keep me entertained--very cool. this meant no sock knitting, however--socks take CONCENTRATION! instead, i finished up my dream swatch (pictures after i get it blocked) and most of kerstin's christmas bag. on the way home, i was seated next to an EXTREMELY bitchy woman who sat in frosty silence after a) informing me that i was not allowed to use my cell phone, and b) asking the conductor to move her approximately 10 times. however, the gigantic (italian?) family in front of me was so entertaining i didn't even care about that hag! they were traveling by train from NY to FL where they were getting on a cruise ship to nassau--all 25+ of them. and they were LOUD and BOISTEROUS, and FUN! they ranged in age from 1 to older than dirt, and had names like angelo, carmella, auntie anne marie, mikey, nicky, dominic, uncle jim, natalie, gabriella, auntie kathleen, grampa, uncle dave, uncle steve and danielle. can you tell i was listening? and two of the boys got in a fight in the cafe car, and dominic punched nicky in the mouth, so nicky punched dominic in the nose. and then i guess dominic was bleeding all over the place because he got blood on mikey's cheeseburger, and mikey had to come back to get five bucks from his mom to buy another one. and then mikey (who's 15) gave uncle steve some tips on how to get laid. and you know--they were good tips. by the end of the trip, i was actually kind of sad not to be going to nassau with those guys.