Greetings from Fairfax, Virginia. After the office trip to DC (for the Council of Opportunity in Education national conference), I stayed a few extra days to see the city and hang out with my wife, who came up here to visit her friend Amy (were at Amy’s right now, in fact. Gina’s asleep on the couch). The highlight of the conference was a tour-de-force speech by Ted Kennedy. The low point was the excessively long awards banquet.
A quick litany of DC impressions: for a big city, it’s an amazingly clean place. The subway trains are carpeted (no food or drinks allowed, no spitting, no radios). People are friendly. There are book shops (actual shops, not huge book warehouses like Barnes and Noble) and good ones at that. Lots of ethnic food (had some great curry chicken). Lots of gay men. Lots of older men in much better shape than I’ve ever been in. Lots of dogs. Monuments and sculpture everywhere. Great museums.
The IT market is strong here. It might be a good place for me to wind up eventually (any tips on that are welcome). But I tried to stay away from IT this week. I’ve only rarely checked my mail and didn’t even bring a lap top with me. Mostly, I’ve been trying to fight off my desire to watch TV by substituting my (rediscovered) desire to read. I’m still working on The Name of the Rose, and I’m liking it quite a bit.