New Neutrality on The Daily Show, with Jon Stewart

Yesterday Russell, Kathy, Kathy's mom, and I went to a taping of the Daily Show. After a two and a half hour wait in line we got into the air conditioned studio and got our seats. Jon Stewart's desk was much smaller than it looks on TV...maybe to match Stewart's smallness.

The guest was Dick Armey (watch the interview here)- some right wing Tea Party supporter and author who was a congrassman as well as a lobbyist - great combo there. He was basically talking jibberish the whole time, like most Tea Partiers. He also was a hypocrite, and prooved himself wrong with his own reasoning a bunch of times as well - again, like most Tea Partiers. I often shook my head - or laughed out loud - in disbeleaf.

Stewart also spoke about net newtrality - and the flip-flopping of Google on the topic. Hillarious commentary, yet what he said is both sad and true. This clip made it onto the Huffington Post. You can read the atricle here or watch the video here.

Goodbye Bronx. Hello Harlem!

West Harlem Piers Park

On Tuesday I moved from The Bronx into the Morningside/Hamilton Heights area of Harlem. People who don't live in New York often say, "Um, isn't that area dangerous?" while people who live here say, "Oh, that's a really nice area." Although Harlem is predominately a black neighborhood it is still very safe. There are kids playing on the streets and people come out once the sun goes down to sit and chat on the sidewalks.

Our new place is really great. It is a one bedroom with a living room, kitchen, and bathroom, on the top (3rd) floor of a brownstone walkup. Right now brownstones are very popular so I am excited that I get to live in one for the next two months. The place is furnished very nicely with all the things that have been brought back from the subletter's travels and the couple's book collection is large and very interesting!

Harlem Home

Our new place is also one block away from Wast Harlem Piers Park - a lovely park overlooking the Hudson River - where Russell and I walk to every day for sunset. There is a path that runs along the Hudson that you can take all the way to the southern tip of Manhattan. This is also the park I walk through to get to work - yes, now I am close enough to walk to work (an easy 1.5 mile walk each way).

Like my Bronx home the subway is only about two blocks away (now I am near the 1 train, rather than the 4 & D). Unfortunately the new stop is not an express train (Bronx had two express trains that stopped by my house). No matter, it is still very convenient and if I need to get somewhere that is far off I can always transfer to an express.

Also, although I am yet to see a delicious place for pizza by the slice, there is a great Italian place down the street as well as a GIANT natural food store called Fairway Market (with free olive samples!).

My new home in Harlem is certainly growing on me!

Breakdancing in Central Park

Finally I am having some time to go through my videos and spruce them up a bit. Here is the first one:

Slackline at the White House

Note: I was told by an internet guru that I should break up long posts into several shorter ones. I will try that out for a while. Let me know what you think.

Russell jumps over The White House on the slackline

Early Saturday morning Russell and I made our way to Penn Station to catch a bus to Washington DC for the weekend. On the way to DC we took a bus operated by Bolt. I was a great experience - tons of room, reclining seats, and a hilarious driver. The driver's introduction was super funny and when we took Megabus home (terrible) I was wishing he was there to remind people that the whole bus can hear your phone conversations, and to please refrain from extended chat time.

Erica in front of The White House

After an easy bus ride, Russell and I arrived a half hour early in DC. I called The Quincy, the hotel we stayed at, for an early 11am check in (normally it is 3pm). On our way to the hotel we made a short detour to The White House for some photos. Russell really wanted a photo of him jumping over the White House, so I scouted out two trees where we could set up the slackline for the photo op. We assumed that we would have a maximum of 5-10 minutes before someone would come and tell us that we weren't supposed to wrap things around the trees, so we had to be quick. That estimate was correct; we got in about 5 minutes. In that five minutes I grabbed a great photo of Russell jumping over the White House and some photos and video of me walking the line. Slcaklining in front of the White House - priceless!

Once we took the slackline down we headed to The Quincy to drop off our stuff. The room was excellent, especially considering the fact that I got the cheapest hotel within walking distance of the sights. I am really pleased with The Quincy, for sure.

National Museum of Natural History & the National Gallery of Art

Knocking on the doors of the Justice Department

Russell and I were thinking about renting bicycles to tour Washington DC, but instead opted to walk everywhere, and man did we walk! First we walked to the bus terminal to see if we could buy tickets there - no, only online. Then we headed towards the National Museum of Natural History but got sidetracked by the Department of Justice building and the National Archives. Eventually we did make it to the Natural History Museum, which, thankfully, is free. The National Museum of Natural History was a total letdown and is not even comparable to the American Museum of Natural History here in New York - of course the one in NYC costs $12, but it is totally worth the cost.

Since nearly all of the museums in Washington DC are free we decided to also check out the& National Gallery of Art, which is home to the only Leonardo Da Vinci in the United States. As an added bonus, the art museum was not filled with cranky children, in fact it wasn't full at all, and it was a nice break from the sweltering afternoon heat. The museum was very nice, although I have to admit that all I really wanted to do was head straight for the modern art section to see Monet, Picasso, and van Gogh. It is interesting, when I saw my first Picasso I wasn't really struck by it, but now his work has really grown on me. The Da Vinci, titled Ginevra de' Benci, was nice, but I think I came in with too high expectations. After walking around the museum for a while we finally made it to contemporary art - where, interestingly enough, I ran into Maryam (a lovely gal from my MA program)! Of all the places to run into someone! Apparently she is doing her internship in DC. Small world.

Russell and I outside the National Gallery of Art

Anyway, this was Russell's first time seeing any paintings in real life and I think he really enjoyed it. His favorite artist was van Gogh, although he enjoyed Monet as well - either great minds think alike or my excitement for the two was contagious. The National Gallery of Art had a lot of Monet paintings, many that I have seen on postcards and calendars, but my favorites were Banks of the Seine, Vétheuil, Jerusalem Artichoke Flowers, and Japanese Footbridge. I also enjoyed Roses and The Olive Orchard by van Gogh, and Harlequin Musician by Picasso. Beyond my favorite painters I also liked Houses in Dresden and Bicycle Race. You can see more drawings and paintings that I enjoyed by checking out my flickr album here.

United States Capitol Building

Erica at the US Capitol Building

Once Russell and I finished walking through the National Gallery of Art, we walked to the United States Capitol Building. By reading this blog it may not seem like we had walked a lot by this point, but all of these things are pretty far apart, plus that walk to and from our hotel and walking through the museums. In short, we were hot and tired by the time we arrived at the Capitol Building. Of course we still enjoyed it, though. I especially liked the Capitol Building Reflecting Pool and all of the ducks that hang out there. After taking some photos and relaxing by the reflecting pool we headed back to to the hotel for a rest since I knew I wanted to see some sights lit up at night.

Washington DC at Night - Washington Monument, WWII Memorial, Lincoln Memorial and Reflecting Pool

Washington Memorial

After lounging in bed and watching Ocean's 12, Russell and I headed out to see the Washington Monument, the World War II Memorial, and the Lincoln Memorial and Reflecting Pool.

The Washington Monument is huge - you can pretty much see this giant phallic obelisk (tallest in the world, actually) from anywhere in the DC area. After seeing it at night and during the day, I think it it much more beautiful at night, specifically at twilight.

World War II Memorial

Once Russell and I took a stroll around the Washington monument we headed to the WWII Memorial. This is my favorite memorial. It is so beautiful and relaxing, and looks gorgeous lit up at night. Apparently there were some groups opposed to the location of the memorial - between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial - arguing that it would obscure the view of the Washington Monument in the Reflecting Pool, but really you can't even tell because the monument is so much larger than the WWII memorial. I think it is perfectly located and very beautiful.

Next we walked along the Reflecting Pool towards the Lincoln memorial, eating a mouthful of bugs in the process (the bats were also swooping down for some delicious bugs as well). The Reflecting Pool is also very beautiful at night, more beautiful at night than in the day, in my opinion. The water was still and there was only a few people around.

Lincoln Memorial

I can't say the same about the Lincoln Memorial - it was stunning at night, but there were people everywhere! Camera flashes going off every 3 seconds - probably because the Lincoln Memorial is so beautiful at night. There were so many people around that I just took one photo and left. But Lincoln's hands really are sculpted in the American Sign Language letters of A and L.

Afterwards, Russell and I headed back to the hotel, ordered pizza (total letdown after eating Jerome's all the time), and relaxed our feet in anticipation of another day of walking - the time to Virginia!