We spent Saturday in New York to check out art in Chelsea and meet up with a friend. (Sorry to all our other New York friends, there was really no time for all of you!)
Here's some of the art we looked at in Chelsea: (and at right, a cute domesticated cat we saw lurking in the halls of a gallery building)
We also dropped by the New York Central Post Office, shopped around Union Square and the Strand, and I found an excellent new messenger bag at the Penn Station Kmart, of all places.
More photos from the day, including a "PHILATELIC" sign at the Post Office, Michael Scott's favorite New York pizza place, the lights of the Strand, and OMG Jeans Store:
I brought my shoulders and the X-rays to an orthopedic surgeon last Wednesday and he tells me it might be tendonitis. I still have more mobility and less pain than a rotator cuff tear would give me, and the gradual development of the pain points to a growing inflammation causing painful impingement.
A very long-needled syringe was then used to inject Triamcinolone acetonide directly into my right shoulder. In two weeks the joint should be unswollen enough that I can restart strengthening exercises and get more Triamcinolone in the other shoulder, without needing surgery or therapy. (Hopefully.)
It's been an interesting week to photograph clouds, what with the clear skies and clashing cold and warm fronts of early Fall over DC. Still no new camera after the catastrophe so I just shot these with my cellphone: Altocumulus (possibly perlucidus?) ethereally lit from slightly below by the morning sun over Union Station, Altostratus thinly diffusing a river sunset, Cirrus (fibratus?) clouds over Kennedy Center, and Cirrus spinatus over NW DC.
So as I was saying in my last entry, suddenly, disaster struck! As I was maneuvering between tourists to get a photo of the giant squid, my camera slipped out of my hand and crashed to the hard marble floor, bouncing spectacularly as pieces of plastic flew off the camera lens ring and battery cover. I picked up the camera (a Canon Powershot SD1000) with a sad "Argh," and finding the electronics and screen still working, tried snapping a test photo:
Looks like the CCDs might have gotten messed up in the fall; any photo I take now comes out slightly fuzzy with horizontal lines all across, and the exposure bias seems to be permanently stuck at a very bright -2/3 EV, giving any subject an unearthly bloom of glowing brilliance.
So that's it for this camera. It's lasted me just three weeks shy of a year since I got it, and snapped 3,512 photos in that time. For a replacement I've got my eye on the Powershot SD1100IS, mainly because it's almost the same camera, just slightly upgraded, for cheap. Plus, I should be able to use the SD1000's battery on this one, so I effectively have a spare battery and charger to go with it. Still, that SD880IS is tempting too...
Amy and I checked out the Union Station Centennial last Saturday. There were historical exhibits, memorabilia, model train sets, and best of all, historic train cars and locomotives out on the tracks. We got to look inside a 1957 Rosa Parks-dedicated Metrobus, pester the guys at NARP to send our membership cards, and walk inside an old Chessie Club Lounge Car, a Gadsby's Tavern Dining Car, the Cannon Ball, and other luxury parlor-and-sleeper rail carriages from the early to mid-20th Century.
After a lunch at Uno Grill (formerly Pizzeria Uno), we walked over to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History to see the new Ocean Hall. It had been just a week since its grand opening, so the hall was still crowded with locals and tourists alike. Eventually we beat a retreat to the ground floor cafe to get some coffee and catch our breath, but I got a few photos:
Half an hour later we returned to the Ocean Hall (now slightly-less crowded) and were able to browse the prehistoric displays at leisure and catch a glimpse of the Giant Squid -- when suddenly, tragedy struck! (But that's another post.)
After dropping off my parents at National Airport, I went on the long walk from Terminal A (the original 1941 airport building) to Terminal B/C (the newer, larger airport) to catch the Metro to work, stopping in the historic lobby to check out the exhibit hall and watch a plane take off:
There's a somewhat kitschy 9/11 commemorative painting hanging in the terminal hallway, which I've been meaning to get a picture of. I post it here now with a detail closeup, without further comment:
I also dropped by the DCA airport chapel to get some photos to add to my collection. Especially fun was this closeup of the chapel phone by the Master Switch. Can you spot the typo?
Does he come in with his bowler hat, cane, and Führer moustache to do a vaudeville-style routine in which he eats his shoe?
My parents (that's them at right) have been going around the U.S. on some business, and they dropped by DC for the weekend to visit, staying with my uncle and aunt in Arlington. (Unfortunately our 1BR downtown DC apartment does not have guest space).
Funny thing is, they've done the whole "DC thing" for decades, so the first thing they wanted to see wasn't monuments or museums, but shops: Gotta Run at Pentagon Row, the Bailey's Crossroads REI, an Apple Store at Market Common, and other retail outlets you don't get in the Philippines (at least, not without paying extra for steep import tariffs). Even a plain old CVS was like a Disney theme park. That made the weekend shopping fun in its own right.
Besides all the suburban mall-hopping we also attended a reception at Workhouse Arts Center in Lorton (with a performance by Barbara Cook who is astonishingly spry for 80), went to mass at St. Charles, and had burgers at Whitlows. I dropped Mom and Dad off at the airport Tuesday morning; next we see them will be after Christmas.
Some quick snapshots from the weekend, including a Jelly Belly carrot, a Star Wars Tooth Tunes toothbrush, and a box of recorders sitting in a corner at Saint Charles:
I picked this up at the church rummage sale last weekend before it got thrown in the dumpster with other unsold items at the end of the day. Yes, that is the official novelization of Ferris Beuller's Day Off. It was just too campy a find to let go. At some point I might even read it, considering I've never seen the film in its entirety beyond snippets seen through peripheral vision on a TV in the same room while I was doing something else.
Pandora had a vet visit yesterday, for a general checkup and nail-trimming. Due to my shoulder injuries I wanted to avoid hefting around her carrier, so I got a Kittywalk Stroller to roll her over to the vet in style. The stroller frame and wheels snap together easily, and fold into a compact and easily storable configuration, and the detachable carrier (attached to the frame with two hooked elastic cords) comes with a nice soft cushioned floor and a sheltered "cave" half. Here's the stroller and Pandora in the carrier:
One caveat about the stroller: it doesn't respond too well on rough or cobbly sidewalks. Pandora had a bumpy ride, and a spring-restraining plastic cover fell off one of the wheel attachments, and now that wheel won't turn properly anymore. I'll probably have to ask for replacement parts.
Here's some of the art we looked at in Chelsea: (and at right, a cute domesticated cat we saw lurking in the halls of a gallery building)
I'm 
