Library of Congress

We went to the Library of Congress today. Nothing of interest to report, with the exception that I got to see one of the original Guttenberg Bibles. Oh yeah, and I have a Library of Congress Library Card. Now if I could only find the time or will to use the thing.

School Work Alert, Casual reader beware: Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonder Reading and accompanying field trip

Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonder, by Lawrence Weschler, takes a very unorthodox look at museums. The museum the author focuses on, "The Museum of Jurassic Technology", is a hodge podge of exhibits who's only common trait is the ability to inspire wonder among the museum's patrons. The book's focus on the exhibits' ability to invoke curiosity and wonder among the museum's patrons is an uncommon approach to museums in general, but it did cause me to re-evaluate why something is in a museum in the first place. I always thought of a museum as a collection of interesting visuals of important things in a particular subject field, so the idea of a museum with exhibits selected solely for their wonder producing abilities seemed a little far-fetched. But then we went to the National Museum of Health and Medicine on the Walter Reed medical center campus, and I found out these museums do actually exist. I saw skeletons of humans with all forms of rare deformities and abnormalities as well as a variety of other medical maladies. While the exhibits all pertained to the area of health or medicine, it's apparent that they were chosen for display for their head and in some cases stomach turning abilities. If you're tired of the same old mundane exhibits at today's conventional museums, I suggest you check out the National Museum of Health and Medicine. If nothing else you'll pass by the run-down outpatient building that led to the Secretary of the Army getting the boot.

Langston Hughes's The Ways of White Folks

This was another book I read for class up here. An excerpt taken from the paper I wrote pretty much sums up my thoughts about the book. "Langston Hughes uses his gift for story-telling to call attention to the injustices that he and other blacks suffered at the hands of whites during the Jim Crow era. The mere fact that Hughes, who is black and thus is supposed to be an inferior writer, is capable of writing such riveting and motivating stories helps disprove the myth that blacks are somehow less talented due to some inherent flaw stemming from their color. His book and others like it went a long way in showcasing the intellectual ability held by blacks, and in so doing, it helped in the eventual demise of the Jim Crow."

Catherine came up to visit a few weekends ago. I took her to Eastern Market and a nearby used bookstore called Capitol Hill Books. In that particular store there are 3 floors of books. Wall to wall, floor to ceiling. There were even piles of books in the bathroom. Needless to say, Catherine, who is an avid reader, thought she had died and gone to heaven. And when we went ice-skating later that day, I thought I had died and gone to a cold hell. Ice skating was actually pretty fun, mainly because there were several others guys falling all over themselves and their girlfriends. Solidarity guys!

The Capitol Tour

One of the participants in the UNC in DC program, Daniel, and the graduate assistant to the program, Bradley, showed us around the United States Capitol. There weren't any particularly interesting things to see/occurences with but one exception. When we were exiting the Capitol, we did so through one of the Senate Office Buildings. Because it was a Federal Holiday, Daniel was having a hard time finding a door than was manned so we could get out without setting off an alarm. Eventually we tried to go through an emergency exit, and lo and behold we set off an alarm. Our group proceeded to walk out the Emergency Door as if nothing had happened, and we got maybe 20 yards before a cop car came around the corner and headed towards us with his lights on. Probably not one of the UNC program's finer moments in DC. After the cops ran our names through interpol, strip searched us, and checked our clothes for radiation, we were free to go. Ok, so maybe they just asked us a few questions to make sure everything was on the up and up, but I'm just practicing my story for the Capitol Hill gang I'm trying to join. They call themselves the Lunch-Getters. But enough about that. Hopefully we won't be having any more run-ins w/ the police.

The Lincoln Memorial and accompanying readings

We read Lincoln's biography by William E. Gienapp. I felt the book was very insightful, not to mention interesting. I already knew that Lincoln came from humble beginnings, but I had no idea just how humble they were. Not only was he an extremely intelligent individual, but he knew the meaning of a hard day's work. This is more than can be said for most politicians of his day. I think the hard labor he did as a child may have influenced his negative opinion of slavery as an adult. I mean enduring back-breaking labor to help your family is hard enough, but imagine working all day for someone else's benefit.

Lincoln's military strategies, while elementary, were also impressive considering he never had any formal military training or instruction. His realization that limited war was not going to be enough to defeat the Confederacy probably saved the Union. His decision to place Grant at the head of the Union Army also served the country well. He once answered criticism about General Ulysses S. Grant's drinking habits with the reply "I can't spare this man, he fights." And according to Lincoln's biography, Grant and his second in command, William Tecumseh Sherman, were two of the few Union Generals willing to take the fight to the Confederacy. And thank goodness they did!

But I won't bore you with too many more details about Lincoln's military mind. Back to the Memorial. Our class went to the Lincoln Memorial on Lincoln's birthday. This should explain the flowers in the picture. That's my friend Kareka in the picture with me.