Random Observations

[Guest Kotzenjunge]

Yet another placeholder thread so I'll be made to write it.

 

I figure I'll say some stuff anyway, to keep this from being a total waste.

 

Er, screw it. I'll just leave it at this.

 

Fo sheez,

Kotzenjunge

[Guest Leena]

Post whore.

[Guest Kotzenjunge]

Am not!! It seriously takes creating a thread for my columns for me to actually write them. Makes me feel like it's a pressing matter. And that from someone who called me Spoony!!!

 

Use this as a reference guide of sorts. A square with an M is a Metro station, obviously.

 

When we last left our hero(me), he was entering his hotel room after an arduous journey. Without further ado, the tale of the rest of the 11th.

 

I entered my hotel room and threw my bookbag down, since it’s 25 pounds had been feeling heavier and heavier all day. I looked around the room, and saw that I got a safe! I was also amazed that there were two Pobos, one for Washington itself and another for Northern Virginia. I got a heat lamp in my bathroom too. I guess that’s for people who wanted to create some kind of ghetto-ass tanning booth. I called home to let mother and grandmother know I had gotten there all right, but instantly remembered why I wanted to come by myself as grandmother told me how as soon as I went outside I’d be brutally beaten, murdered, and mugged for no particular reason. I literally hung up on her before an argument could start and headed downtown, as it was getting dark and D.C. at twilight is very pretty.

 

No Metro shenanigans besides me realizing that techno is the perfect Mass Transit music. It was after 7, so I got the reduced fare rate! $1.10 to get to the Smithsonian station! Woohoo!

 

I emerged from the Smithsonian station(which was dedicated to someone, and I have yet to figure out why, of all things, one would have a subway station named in their honor) around 7:40, when the sun was still providing some light from under the horizon, but late enough for the outside lights to be on at all of the buildings. The Capitol was bathed in its gold/blue night glow, and sat to my right as I got onto the Mall itself. Knowing it was closed by now, I just walked generally west towards the Lincoln Memorial. The Smithsonian museums were all closed, but still looked neat in their lights. Lots of girls were around in school groups and stuff. Some joggers were taking advantage of the cool evening. I figured I’d go to the Washington Monument first. Sure it was closed, but it looked so cool at night.

 

As I got closer to it, it actually began to frighten me. The reasoning behind it escapes me still, but the Washington Monument scares the bejesus out of me. I guess because it’s just so straight and tall it always looks to me like it’s going to fall onto me or something. Little kids had no problem looking directly up at it, but I couldn’t. Some terrible panic would fall over me and I’d look back at the ground. I got over it, but it was very disconcerting for a while. I mean, it’s so damn huge it felt like a giant looking down on me. I snagged a few pictures of it in the twilight and went on to see what the things on the Ellipse in front of the White House were.

 

On the Ellipse, there were a pair of big screens showing various 9/11 photos. They seemed random at first, but then it became obvious they followed themes at times, like showing a dog in Washington and one in New York, or a pair of Arabs holding American flags. People sat on the ground and just watched this silent picture show in reverence. I chose a bench myself, and like many others, took a picture when it was a particularly touching pair of photographs being shown. I sat there for what felt like five minutes, but was really more like a half hour. As I moved past the big screens to head for the White House, I thought of how funny it’d be if I ran into Erica there. I didn’t.

 

Very few people were outside of the White House, surprisingly. Every other time I’ve been there, the sidewalk outside of the South Lawn was choked with people trying to get a view, even at night. I like the South Portico much more than the North one, but for some reason, they had to put the North Portico on the new $20 bill. I figured it was time to go back to my original goal of the Lincoln Memorial. I went around the Ellipse this time, and managed to stumble onto a monument I had previously not known about in the process. A monument to the First Infantry Division of the Army. Even had flowers in the shape and colors of their division symbol. I didn’t realize the flower part until I was actually walking through it. Fortunately, no one was around to see my mistake. There really weren’t that many people out that night. Everyone looked up when they heard a plane.

 

I walked past the Red Cross and Daughters of the American Revolution buildings, and it was here that I realized that walking everywhere might not have been such a great idea. I was getting really tired, but I had to see the Lincoln Memorial, or so said a feeling inside of me. I’d seen it many many times before, at night too, but something told me I HAD to see it tonight.

 

Near the Reflecting Pool(but not directly on it due to the National World War II Memorial construction), there was some public concert type thing with a gospel choir singing various patriotic and/or inspirational songs. Candles surrounded the other pool beside the Reflecting Pool whose name I can’t remember. Everyone had a candle/plastic cup thing to carry. I didn’t, and thus felt very left out. I continued walking around that other pool and then stepped onto the island built for the Bicentennial honoring all the signers of the Declaration of Independence. I accidentally disturbed a couple who were sharing an intimate(no, it wasn’t that, they were just together) moment and hastened away to continue my journey to the Lincoln Memorial.

 

I finally reached it after almost getting nailed by several bicycle riders and the trip was worth it. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of certain sights, and this is one of them. I like how they have the “QUIET: Respect Please” signs at certain memorials. Yes, there are some idiots who don’t understand this without a sign. A particularly maddening example of this was some foreign tourists crawling all over the Women’s Vietnam Memorial when I was there in sixth grade. They thought it was a fun ride or something I guess. Some people sat on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial with their candles. A group of college students discussed 9/11 amongst themselves, particularly the religious facets. A lot of people were reading the Gettysburg Address on the left wall. Not as many people recognized the Second Inaugural Address on the right wall, so I was the only guy reading that one. I hung around, just looking around at the grandeur of the statue and the colonnade, as well as the roof panels. It was getting late, and I was hungry(having not eaten a thing since that afternoon in Atlanta), so it was time to hoof it back to the Smithsonian Metro station. I stopped at the Korean War Memorial on the way. I was the only person there. This is a memorial meant to be viewed at night, as the ghostly appearance of the soldiers makes it much more powerful.

 

Walking back East, parallel to the Reflecting Pool, my route was disturbed by the construction of the World War II Memorial. I had to go around it and crossed Independence Avenue to look across the Tidal Basin at the Jefferson Memorial. The steps of the Jefferson Memorial were COVERED in people with candles. At a glance, the steps appeared to be glowing. I got around the construction and negotiated the various weird three-way intersections near the Washington Monument to get back to the Mall. Near the Washington Monument, the first case of what would happen many times occurred. People assumed that because I was some dude by myself walking around that I lived there or something. Good thing I know the city pretty well for someone who doesn’t actually live there. Some dude needed me to tell him where the Lincoln Memorial was, despite it being directly behind me as he spoke to me. The walk back to the Smithsonian Metro station was a killer, because I was getting really tired at this point and the city had shut off random water fountains for some reason. I would walk past three in a row that were off, then encounter one that was working, then two that were off, then three that worked... ergh. Very frustrating. I stopped for a moment to look at the birds flying around the middle and top sections of the Washington Monument, but after finding out from Erica that there are a lot of bats in the area, it doesn’t seem as picturesque as it did then.

 

Finally, that brown post with the big M on it appeared, and I was greatly relieved. I called Erica from the station to let her know I had gotten into town all right, since I hadn’t done so yet. I could barely hear what she was saying over the din of the subway, something about her mother wanting her off the phone. Another uneventful Metro ride and walk back to the hotel. I called my father finally from the room, since he insisted that I call him nightly. He always seemed more concerned about whether I had a good time or not instead of what I actually did when I called him. “Today was the best! I went to...” “Did you have a good time?” “Um, well, yeah, but listen!-” “Good, as long as you enjoyed yourself.”

 

It was 9:50 or so, and I still hadn’t eaten. I went downstairs to ask the person at the front(not the incredibly cool dude anymore, some other lady) to have a remote sent to my room, because they didn’t do it while I was in town either. I also asked her if there were any kind of fast food places anywhere within walking distance. There was a Wendy’s nearby, she said. Just down Court House Road. She neglected to tell me about the SUBWAY~! that was on the way there. I got to SUBWAY~! at about 10:09. They closed at ten. Damn. I looked for the Wendy’s. Aha! A guy inside! They closed at 10 also. He must’ve already been in there. EVERYTHING CLOSES AT 10!! Fine then, I said to myself, I’ll go back to the room and order out. There was a small Pobo of places that would send food to your room as late as 3 AM. I called up a Pizza place and ordered a medium pizza with an order of Mozzarella Sticks and a 2 liter Coke. $21.50!!! It was one of those pizzas that came in square slices, a la the old Bigfoot pizza from Little Caesar’s. It was VERY good, actually good enough to justify the insane price. Odd happening: They said it’d be 35-40 minutes, the dude showed up in ten. For some reason, as hungry as I was, I couldn’t eat much. I ate two of the six pieces of pizza, all of the mozzarella sticks, and was full.

 

I changed into my night apparel(those who know me know what that means) and watched Letterman before I went to sleep. They had Bill Clinton on, and he proved to be incredibly entertaining and even more intelligent than I already thought he was. Gives us southerners a good name.

 

Sleep proved to be difficult, but I didn’t know that at 12:30 as I turned off the television and closed my eyes.

 

I almost forgot!

 

This part's Musical Gem: Your Disco Needs You, by KYLIE~! I've listened to it 34,000,000 times today.

 

Fo sheez,

Kotzenjunge

(Patrick Spoon)

[Guest Tyler McClelland]

It's actually refreshing reading these... even living in DC, you never get the full effect of what people see when they view the monuments and stuff... and if you actually live in the area, you NEVER see them... I guess it's kinda like that thing where if you live near a beach, you never go and stuff...

 

I now wanna go check out the city when I get back home from school. Thanks, Kotz... gonna cost me an insane amount of money

[Guest Incandenza]

When I was in D.C., I saw every monument and attraction you can think of, except the White House. Naturally, I got a magnet with a picture of the White House for my mom, who's goal is to have a magnet from all fifty states (and, in this case, district) before she dies.

[Guest Kinetic]

Get to the part with the girl already! Damn!

[Guest Incandenza]

Kotz is a consummate storyteller. Leave them wanting more, ya know.

[Guest Leena]

That ends Part One. Look out for Part Two sometime in the next few days. It will be posted in this thread.

 

He's also a topic whore.

 

We're through with the 11th, only 10 more parts to go! Seriously though, this is an interesting read. Although, I was expecting more with Erica on the 1st night, but I guess that's because I have too high of expectations from you.

 

I changed into my night apparel(those who know me know what that means)

 

I don't. Explain.

[Guest Kotzenjunge]

Hee hee, I don't think you want to know.

 

I didn't post it in that thread because I was afraid no one would look for it. There are four parts left, and I'm writing up Part III as we speak. The 11th was a school night! How could she have done anything? Sheesh!

 

Fo sheez,

Kotzenjunge

[Guest Leena]

I definitely want to know... and don't tell me you waited til Friday to do stuff with Erica.

[Guest Kotzenjunge]

Ooh! You definitely want to know, eh? Ehh, if you come on AIM I'll tells ya. I don't want EVERYONE to know.

 

Fo sheez,

Kotzenjunge