DC Cultural Highs

Sorry, friends. I'm still learning how to operate this blog. A few days ago, I mistakenly sent only half this message. Here's the rest.

DC Cultural Highs

Now for the good East Coast news.  Washington has the most amazing mix of people -- Caucasian and Afro-American lifelong residents, newer residents from Asian, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America, and tourists from everywhere in the US and abroad.  People watching is a full-time job.

Add to this extraordinary cultural offerings.  Usually, I hit the Smithsonian museums (free and fabulous) but this time I paid $20 to see the Newseum, DC's newest museum that is dedicated to the world of journalism.  The New York Times gave the museum a mediocre review but that had to do mainly with its architecture which is quite boxy.

The Newseum's contents more than make up for its architecture.  I started out at the 4D theater which brings screened images so close to your face that you cringe in your moving seat. Even more, I thoroughly enjoyed the museum's many exhibits because the emphasis on twentieth century news brought back history I have lived.

The exhibit of Pulitzer prize winning photos was breathtaking and upsetting.  I hadn't expected to be moved by the 9/11 exhibit because we've been exposed to that event over and over, but surprisingly the exhibit brought tears to my eyes.  As did the commemoration of journalists who died in action.  My only complaint about Newseum beside the price was that it was hard to find the stairwells in order to move from floor to floor.  Otherwise, there is much to see and INTERACT with at the Newseum, another educational opportunity to add to so many others in DC.

Eating

Washington boasts every nationality of cuisine and every level of service from extremely elegant and expensive to street corner convenient.  One unusual eatery is a bistro named Busboys and Poets on 14th just above U Street, NW.  The bistro is large and flanked on one side by a bookstore and on the other by a theater.  The political ethos of the restaurant is progressive to radical  -- it's a place where you can find left-wing reading material, performancesand people.  Most unusual is that the bistro's clientele is mixed -- by race, age, nationality and professional background.

Busboys and Poets was created by Andy Shallal, an Iraq-born activist involved with many issues but most especially Middle East peace.  He has close ties with both the Jewish and Arab communities.  Shallal also knows how to design a neighborhood restaurant that people can afford.  Entrees range from $10 - $20 and wine is served in a glass goblet large
enough to keep you sipping through an entire meal.  Best of all, the food is creative and varied.  Riding success, Shallal has created a second Busboys and Poets in Virginia.  My only complaint was -- again -- noise -- too many people in too large a space.

Transportation and Art

On my second day in Washington, I discovered a new way to get around town -- the Circulator Bus. The new, bright red bus travels to places that were previously difficult to reach by bus such as Georgetown and Union Station.  It costs only $1 compared to $1.35 for regular bus fare and accepts transfers. Thought up by a young advisor to Mayor Fenty, the Circular belongs in every American city.  I took the Circulator to Georgetown on a day when the neighborhood's boutique shops were putting on a sidewalk sale.  I found extremely expensive surplus stock on tables lining Wisconsin Avenue.  How could I resist $5 silk ties?

My last cultural stop was a visit to the National Museum for Women in the Arts where I was exposed to two fierce and exciting women artists. While I had seen Loise Nevelson's work before, I had never understood her technique. The woman collected wood scraps and other materials from garbage dumps and transformed them into stunning Cubist scultpures. She was a total original.

I also encountered Paula Rego, a Portuguese painter who workedmost of her life in London and is well-known in Europe but has never before had a museum show in the U.S.  Her painting can be surreal or figurative.  Its subjects are often conventional figures transformed into haunting monsters. Whether she is depicting Jane Eyre, Disney's Fantasia or Peter Pan, Rego's women are embattled and dangerous.  She gave me a whole new way to look at women.

My cultural highs came to an end when I headed off to a meeting of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. 

I'll share some stories from that experience the next time I blog.

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