on the road in d.c.

i landed in d.c. late on thursday night after a long, long aggravating day of travel. there are many problematic things about living where i do, but perhaps the principal one is the distance to the airport and the bad market. it is no aerotropolis. i flew through ATL and it was just a mess there.

anyway, i tucked into barb and mike's home on thursday and hung out with them until saturday morning when i trundled to mindy and mary's.

the holiday has officially begun. yesterday, i went to two classes and flow and saw two shows including recognize, a hip hop show at the portrait gallery and the aaron douglas show at SAAM. in recognize, jefferson pinder, an erstwhile colleague, presented several of his videos including the one with the pole procession that i quite like. in another gallery, in an installation piece, nikki giovanni's poems accompanied a sculptural installation. later, as i was daydreaming in the SAAM gallery, marveling at aaron douglas, i greeted nikki giovanni as she took in the show with a pal of hers. some of the older blacker people in the room recognized her too but not many. i was so tempted to ask her to sign my sketchbook, but i am kind of scared of her so i didn't.

i then dared to eat a peach under sir norman foster's screen between the buildings.

i like taking the bus places. it is one of the principal things i miss about d.c. add it to the list of the things that i don't like so much about living where i do. that and it is so monolingual and racially homogeneous.

i cried in leticia's flow 2.5 yesterday during the handstand exercise. not big tears and sobs, but i welled up because i was swollen with fear, happiness and trust. when i go to flow, i really feel like i am at home. the teachers and the staff welcome me back with such a sense of regard. it is a pleasure to practice there. people really see me there in a non-threatening, really comforting way.

it's also been sucha pleasure to pad around with mike and barb in some of our favorite places ... the volta pool, the studio, etc. i like making the talk with mike and with barb. we went to see "american teen" in georgetown and searched all over for an MIA "wallet". i have a terrible habit of misplacing that particular green mesh pouch in georgetown in the summer and each time, i think that it is in a trashcan. thank goodness that i was with mike and barb who calmly confront the challenge of delusional thinking.