How Capitol!

Did not die on the Amtrak train. In fact, I was very pleasantly surprised - I had more room than I did on the plane to Newark, and let's just say Greyhound doesn't hold a candle to trains.

D.C. itself was wonderful. Jim's condo is just as nice as he'd hoped, and Jim is, well ... Anyway, we trekked around the city on Saturday. I recommend Kramer's Books and Rocket Bar. We stopped by the National Gallery for an hour, but we could have spent days there. The Smithsonian Folklife festival was disappointing, and not just because it was hot as a baker's balls. What exactly does NASA have to do with folklife? But I was happy just to sit in the shade and watch people walk by. Creeper? Perhaps. Anthropologist? Definitely.

In other news, my university just gave its president an $85,000 raise. They also decided not to build that new medical center they've been planning because it's just too darn pricey. And so Hudson Health Center will remain in a creaky old converted dorm. Though these are the people who give out animal crackers to people with (misdiagnosed) anxiety attacks - putting them in a shiny new building would be like putting a Louis Vuitton collar on a billy goat.