DC Flowers

I spent most of the day in bed feeling tired and recovering from my
cold. I did manage to muster enough gusto to go for a late afternoon
walk. I stopped to photograph this along the way.

C-Span Coverage of the White House Correspondents' Dinner

Obama's remarks begin at about the 20 minute mark in the video. You can slide the video marker about a third of the way over to skip the opening. Wanda Sykes speaks right after the President.

Yet Another Game Night

Archer and the Boyfriend beat us at Trivial Pursuit at our game night
at out house Saturday night. Here they are looking victorious and
adorable.

Jon Stewart on Gay Marriage and Marion Barry

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
Gaywatch - Marion Barry
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Scene of Baltimore

Taken heading south just before entering the tunnel before Penn
Station in Baltimore.

Riding On the Train

Passing through Baltimore and bored.

Heading Home

I'm at the Perryville, MD, train station sitting on the Marc Train
heading home. I have a cold and am worried others may assume it is
the Swine Flu. I hope it isn't. I'm pretty sure it isn't.

New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #192

Stimulus Package? You're staring at them!

The above is the cartoon for New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest for week #192. Let me know if you come up with a caption. Click on the link to enter your caption.

Mom's Stash

This is my Mom and her cat, Rudy, along with part of her stash from
the garden center we went to today.

Pink Dogwood

This is a pink dogwood tree in my Mom's front yard that I gave her
years ago for a previous Mother's Day.

Happy Mother's Day!

I took the train from Philadelphia to Aberdeen, MD, early this morning
where I was met by my mother. From there, I drove her to Valley View
Farm, a garden super store in Hunt Valley, MD. She was like a kid at
Disney World. This is her Mother's Day gift. I bought her a variety
of plants and herbs. She seemed to have a good time.

Cezanne @ the Philadelphia Museum of Art

I went to the Cezanne exhibit. The "Beyond" part is other artist inspired by Cezanne. It really was a very cool exhibit. Beside the painting by Cezanne would be a similar painting by Picasso and Matisse and a variety of other artists.

In addition, the museum has an amazing collection. Van Gogh, Renoir, Monet, Manet --and many more! And that is just the European wing, which is half of one floor. I'm about to hit the American wing.

Here's a very small example of what you can expect to see. Below is "The Bather" by Cezanne.

The painting belolw is by Marsden Hartley called "Canuck Yankee Lumberjack at Old Orchard Beach, Maine" done in 1940-1941. Hartley was a nice homosexual boy from Lewiston, Maine (1877-1943).

Evening Walk in Philly and Chinese Food

Shane had to work all day, but wanted to see some sites when he was finished.  We took an evening walk so he could see the Liberty Bell (from the outside of the building) and Independence Hall.  Below are a few photos from the walk.  It began to rain on our way home. 

We came upon this sign near the Liberty Bell site.  I was not aware of these Demonstrations before.

 

On the way back, we stopped at Chinatown for dinner.  As always, Shane had Sweet and Sour Chicken.  I had Broccoli in Garlic Sauce.  I was given the choice of regular broccoli or Chinese broccoli.  I chose Chinese broccoli, which is much different than regular broccoli.

Kids! What's the Matter with Kids Today?

Every school in PA and the surrounding states has a school trip here
today. It makes me turn into Paul Lynd in Bye Bye Birdie. They
couldn't be less interested in being here -- just like me when I came
here about 35 years ago.

Darwin Exhibit Closed

To get to see this exhibit, I'm going to have to come back tomorrow
evening. It will be open from 5-8 pm. It is the American
Philosophical Society Museum, which is adjacent to Independence Hall.
It includes Darwin's handwritten pages from On the Origin of Species.
Go to their website at www.apsmusuem.org.

Waiting to Tour Independence Hall

It is a cool, damp day in Philly, but the rain is holding off. I'm
outside Independence Hall waiting for my tour.

Liberty Bell

Yesterday I posted a photo from the web of the Liberty Bell, but I
took this one in person. Independence Hall is in the background.

On the Train to Philly

I'm on the train to Philadelphia. This is Havre de Grace, MD, which is
about 15 minutes from where I grew up. I grew up in Rising Sun, MD.
Havre de Grace is a cute little town with lots of antique stores and
an amazing candy store (Bomboys). It also has a cool decoy museum.

Off to Philly

Shane has a business trip to Philadelphia and I have lots of leave, so I decided to go with him and visit the City of Brotherly Love. We're taking the train up this afternoon. I haven't been there to see the historical sites since a school trip as a kid. I didn't really appreciate what I was seeing then. I plan to be doing some postings this week using my iPhone.

11 Years Together Today

Today is our 11 year anniversary. This is not a wedding anniversary obviously. This is the date we've always considered our anniversary. It was 11 years ago today that we had our first date. We met online (I know, how sleazy) and Shane drove down to the DC area from Connecticut. He had car trouble and was very late. We saw a play at the Kennedy Center and went to the Holocaust Museum (I know, very romantic).

It wasn't until several months later that we actually moved in together. The photo above is from our third date. We had been to Provincetown, MA, for a long weekend and this was taken on our way home when we made a stop-off in Rhode Island.

We've had our ups and down, but I never thought I would find someone that would make me this happy. Maybe one of these anniversaries we'll be able to actually get married. I love you Shane!