Thursday, June 30

National Arboretum

It's strange to think that you can live practically right next door to something of great historical importance, and end up not seeing it for the years that you are there. While others may visit it from around the country, or around the world, someone living so close by just never goes to appreciate it.

I am one of those people.

I had a bunch of family in town this weekend, and we were looking for something to do that didn't involve a museum. So we ended up going to the National Arboretum. I seriously had no idea that this place even existed, but it has some fascinating artifacts/collections.

-The original columns and stairs from the Capitol building, which Abraham Lincoln stood on!


-The best collection of bonsai outside of Japan - some of them are more than 100 years old.

-A lemon tree with the biggest lemons I have ever seen.

-Very hungry koi fish that you can feed.

-Lots of other things that I didn't have time to check out, like the National Grove of State Trees, the trolley that takes you around to all the different areas, and the azalea gardens.

Another great part about it: it's dog friendly! And I really like being able to take my dog places.

Wednesday, June 22

This American Life

If you've never listened to This American Life, there are a lot of amazing and powerful stories that you're missing out on. You can listen to all of their past episodes for free on the website, or put them on your ipod. What I like so much about this program is that I feel like I am getting something important and interesting out of it every time I listen. Some stories teach about important topics (like detailed explanations of what exactly caused the financial crisis), and others spark a lot of emotion from hearing about someone's story. Although I haven't had the chance to listen to all of the series (some of the recordings go all the way back to 1995), there are a few that I have heard that stick out vividly as the most compelling:

Stories about people who have the right to remain silent... but choose not to exercise that right—including police officer Adrian Schoolcraft, who secretly recorded his supervisors telling officers to manipulate crime statistics and make illegal arrests.

A kidnapping victim in Colombia spends his nights listening to a radio station that plays messages from the families of the kidnapped. That and other stories of people held captive—by criminals, by paperwork, and in one man's case, his own body—and the ways they try to cope. 

Five reporters stumbled on what seems like a basic question: What is money? The unsettling answer they found: Money is fiction. 

Stories about people who take the bait, and those who place it. Including the story of man who tries to investigate a neighborhood crime and ends up in jail himself. And the story of the pitfalls of luring customers to a make-believe pizza delivery place.