I have had a very busy week/weekend, and I have about three different personal posts brewing in addition to possibly one or more news/political posts. I think this will be it for tonight, though…

I spent three days last week in the Washington, DC area attending a workshop. I also got to see some friends and a colleague. All around, it was a very good trip. On Tuesday evening, with my plans slightly altered, I rode the Metro into the District for the primary purpose of seeing the WW II Memorial.

I’m no architecture critic, but I found the memorial to be excellent. It was much more intimate than I expected. The pictures in the newspaper made it seem really massive, but most of the memorial is below grade which seems to make it feel much less imposing. It is, I think, a fitting tribute to those who fought and died in the second world war. May God save us from a third…

This is probably the best picture I got of the memorial itself…

Much of the controversy (at least in DC, thankfully most of the rest of us were spared) about the memorial had to do with its site on the National Mall. Many feared that it would disrupt the sight lines between the Capitol and the Lincoln Memorial. As it turns out, these fears were (to my mind, anyway) entirely ungrounded. The memorial is very stealthy, being almost invisible as you look down the mall. It is hard to say exactly what it will look like when all is said and done (there is currently a ten foot high construction wall around part of the Washington Monument which is doing a fine job of disrupting sight lines all by itself), but I can say with confidence that I don’t think the mall will be any worse off.

Furthermore, the surrounding monuments put the war within the context of US history, as you look out upon the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument. This photograph is an example of that, looking out of the memorial at the Washington Monument.

After leaving the memorial, I walked up towards the White House. I was disappointed at how little I could see from the back, but apparently it has always been that way. (I got one shot from the far side of the Washington Monument, but with Washington Monument construction in the foreground.) I was quite surprised, though, when I got around to Pennsylvania Avenue to find this. So much for the people’s house…

A final question for those of you in DC. What the heck is this? I think I saw at least one other similar statue. First of all, what’s with the “I Love NY” knockoff? Can’t you find your own slogan? Secondly, why on earth is this bear wearing a belt buckle shaped like Mickey Mouse? What is this, Disney World?

We are pondering the idea of maybe spending a semester or so in DC at some point. I think it would be fun, and Becky seems open to the idea. At the earliest, it would be during the 2005-2006 school year, but the idea is now brewing. I’m not even sure if Blacksburg faculty spend semesters in NoVA, but NoVA faculty seem to spend semesters in Blacksburg on occasion, so maybe it is doable. I’ll broach the idea with my mentors at some point, and see what they think…