It's a strange city. Southern, yes, but in good ways. The people here are outgoing and polite.
Black people, that is. Most of the whites I encounter work for the USG in some capacity. Most are cold, aloof.
Black people make up my neighborhood's majority. Many sit on their front stoops or tend their gardens. They say hello, ask how you're doing, etc.
It's a refreshing change from Ann Arbor. Campus town liberals are a frosty lot.
The museums are great. There are some beautiful neighborhoods. I'm quite comfortable here.
Of course, you're daily reminded of empire. DC is the belly beastie, after all.
The big dower is the crushing humidity. I've never experienced summers like these.
Happily, my son is visiting for a month. He's in an acting conservatory that trains six hours a day in a nearby theater.
Given the heat, I'll be taking more cabs than riding the Metro, that's for sure.
Dennis
----- Original Message ----- From: "Jim Farmelant" <farmelantj at juno.com> To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org Sent: Saturday, July 13, 2013 7:15:11 PM Subject: Re: [lbo-talk] Washington DC
I have been to DC once. It's no London or Paris. It's not even a NYC or Chicago. However, it does have its interesting aspects, being the nation's capitol. And yes, the National Gallery and the Smithsonian museums are well worth seeing. The National Air and Space Museum is pretty cool
Jim Farmelant http://independent.academia.edu/JimFarmelant http://www.foxymath.com Learn or Review Basic Math
---------- Original Message ---------- From: "JOANNA A." <123hop at comcast.net> To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org Subject: [lbo-talk] Washington DC Date: Sat, 13 Jul 2013 23:07:27 +0000 (UTC)
Andy writes: Chuck once described his experiences in DC as Southern in an ugly way, but my search-fu is no match for the post I'm thinking of. Chuck, would you care to comment? ----------------
My experience in DC is limited to four trips. A couple of times I stayed at a four star hotel (on the govt's dime); once at a corporate hotel; and once at a boutique hotel -- all within walking distance of the white house/capitol.
I saw an eighteenth century city, which was nice, surrounded by some of the grimiest ghettoes I've ever seen, and served by the most professional kinds of servants I've ever been served by, many of them black.
I did not find the city very interesting as a city. It's more a bureaucratic than a cultural center.
I will say that the National Gallery has one of the finest collections in the world, and it's free. Also, if you're into that kind of thing, they have a Textile Museum that, for me, would be reason enough to move there.
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