DC so far...

Airports
Going through security, you have to take off your shoes (boots, in my case), coats, sweaters, and any jewelry (I don't wear any)...plus you have to take your notebook computer out of your case. It takes several minutes to get everything back on or put away. I guess I'm not on the "no fly" list yet, since I had no troubles with that. A connecting flight was cancelled, so I spent lots of time reading in an airport on Saturday, and got in to the Wm. Penn House after dark. I was exhausted, and I'm wondering if dragging around this computer was a good idea.

Wm. Penn House
This is a Quaker house, and overall I like it. It is rather rustic, but clean and the folks are friendly and interesting. Staying in a hostel like this really gives you the chance to meet some new and interesting folks. Only problem is... it is very cold outside, and I am very cold even when sleeping. I guess I am used to lots of heat, and I miss the electric blanket!

Nonviolent Resistance Training
A local DC group held this training yesterday, and I learned a few things...... like I think violence of any form is wrong in nearly all situations, but if I saw someone kicking a dog, I would step in and physically try to stop them.......and maybe escalate the situation. And I don't even like dogs! Imagine if it was a child getting beat on! The people running the program said at one point there were undercover cops there, and I immediately suggested we play "out the cop". They thought that was an exceedingly bad idea. I still think it would have been fun. I think I know who the cop was, too.

Eyes Wide Open
I went to help set up this exhibit, and it is a ton of work unpacking 1300+ pairs of boots, and then separating them by state. The states are in alphabetical order, and you can imagine how that gets to be a mess pretty quick when you don't allocate enough space per state (some have had more fatalities than others). They also have thousands of regular shoes to represent the Iraqi civilians who died. Some even have names attached to them. These are set up in no particular order, so it is easier to do. I put the children's shoes up front. A lot of the shoes are missing their mate, so I tried to match them up. Some of the shoes are for newborns........

It was reading the stories on the display boards that made me cry though.

I go back this evening to break down this exhibit. I'm going to the museums this afternoon, and I hope I can get this computer/internet connection to work... I was having trouble with that yesterday. (guess I got it to work!)