W | The Alphabet Julen

Washington, DC

Washington is an odd city: museums full of unimaginable treasures rub elbows with the white marbled majesties of our executive, legislative, and judicial powers; the stiff-necked monuments and public spaces fill the landscape. And the people of the city - governmental ramora, university folk, the hip young, the families, the residents of Washington DC who have no voting representation in Congress. (Taxation, yes. Representation, No. ) - are wonderful. It's a pity that "Washington" has become a short-hand for the incompetent, incapable boobs in Congress.

When you come, you should see the Korean War Memorial, and walk through the FDR one; walk around the Tidal Basin, and stare over the river at the Pentagon, standing there still. You should visit the Building Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, and the Museum of the American Indian. Oh, and there's Pandas for the looking uptown - and baby elephants, too. Eat in Chinatown, people-watch in Adams Morgan, and loll on the Mall.

Water

When I relearned to swim at the age of 8, I also fell in love with water. I like the way it feels on your skin as it rushes past and as it lingers. I'll walk home in a spring rain just to feel the water all around my face. I go to the beach for the ocean and the waves. I could spend the whole day jumping waves and finding sand dollars with my feet and floating mostly-submerged.

Water Garden

When I was sixteen, my parents put in a long water garden (10 feet by 25 feet). We filled it with water lilies and lotus, water iris, and various floating pants. We put a bog garden in along the side. Several frogs took up residence almost immediately. There's nothing like the feeling of being thigh-deep in cool water weeding a water garden...

Watercolors

The medium in which I used to be the most comfortable. Oils are too heavy for me, but I like the flexibility of acryllics. I think that makes me Not A Real Artist (tm). What drew me to watercolors were the translucent layering possibilities of water color and their flexibility in mixing shades, tones, and colors.

Website

This one has existed in one form or another since 1993. You can see some of the images used in previous versions of the website.

WebType

The short-lived weblog dedicated to discussion of typography on the web - I was invited to join a few months before its disappearance, and enjoyed every minute of it. I miss it still.

West Virginia

Driving into West Virginia, you cut though the mountains on twisting interstates, following the rises and falls of the mountains. Rivers snake alongside, and trees jostle for color on the sides of the road. It's a state rich with history and with art, and I really loved my vacations there.

Whiney McWhinerson

When I next change my name, this will look absolutely smashing on my stationary.

World News Now

Once it was the best overnight news program on the air, even in the non-Anderson Cooper (mmmm) years: full of character and personality, good newscasting, and Barry Mitchell's unique takes on the world. How can I explain what the Thalia era was like? WNNers knew how terrific Aaron Brown was before the WTC-Pentagon Plane-Bombing coverage. Kevin Newman and Lisa McRee were fabulous as anchors on WNN (you'd never know it by the hackneyed GMA they "hosted".), and when Nissen was guest-anchoring ... Good Times, Good Times. And Dick Schaap's theater reviews were a delight.


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