So, The Loved One and I are back and safely ensconced in our critter palace after enjoying a quickie trip to Washington DC. And get this: We rented bicycles and toured the city like ten-year-olds. The kiddie analogy held from the moment we hit the Allegheny Mountains of West Virginia and Maryland until we came back down to Earth in the rolling hills of Kentucky a few days later. We were, to paraphrase Rogers and Hammerstein’s line, as giddy as babies on a swing. As we approached the city on the George Washington Parkway Saturday evening, we caught our first glimpse of the Washington Monument in the distance and both started shouting, “Look, look! There it is! Wow!”
Washington’s the densest city I’ve ever been in — I mean, there’s no freakin’ room to breathe in the place. But the history and the grandeur of it all! Sunday evening we drove back and forth and all around the Pentagon, just to convince ourselves that what we were seeing was real. That structure is beyond big. And, natch, considering that this holy land’s primary exports are Hollywood films and TV shows and war and weaponry, it’s only fitting. I’d imagine the production studio lots in and around LA are equally titanic. (And I use that term in all possible connotations.)
We spent a lot of time around the White House. I dunno about you, but once or twice in my life after particularly wrenching breakups, I’d do occasional drive-bys past my ex’s homes, sort of a ritualistic catharsis. In other words, I was so sad that I didn’t have my true, one-and-only-love in my life anymore that I had to at least gaze at her front door now and then — it was all I’d have left of her. That’s the way I felt about the White House. My cool guy president is gone. All I’ve got left is the crib he vacated on January 20th.
And, no, I did not catch a glimpse of President Gag. Thank heavens.
Anyway, what with packing and wrapping up loose ends before embarking Sat. AM and then assiduously avoiding all biz contacts and responsibilities while in DC, it’s been a week since I’ve posted here.
Now’s your chance to catch up with last week’s Big Talk. My guest was food blogger and cookbook author Shelly Westerhausen. Her new book, Vegetarian Heartland: Recipes for Life’s Adventures, hit the streets on Tuesday, the 20th. And catch her foodie prose on her blog, Vegetarian Ventures. Listen to the Big Talk feature with Shelly here.
Westerhausen
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Tonight, my guest is Phil Ford, musicology prof at the IU Jacobs School of Music. He’s written the book, Dig: Sound and Music in Hip Culture. He’s now working on a new tome dealing with magical thinking, with a particular emphasis on how it relates to music. So tune in tonight on WFHB, 91.3 or listen online And come back here tomorrow if you miss it; I’ll post links to the podcasts of my interview with Phil.
Ford & Friend
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