facing east

Spent a relaxing afternoon staring eye-to-eye with a few dozen dead people. I was feeling freer-sackler, so I dropped by my fave museum on the mall to see their new exhibit: facing east. This was a collection of multi-media portraits organized by different interpretations of selfhood.

Just last week, I had dinner with Kathleen, a charming Georgetown student, who took a course called the anthropology of the self: exploration of identity and culture. What a perfect time to visit the collection -- Kathleen had just discussed with me various concepts of selfhood and identity. So I had some theory down when I visited the exhibit. They had three parts to the exhibit: likeness & identity, portraits & memory and projecting identity. My favorite was the idea of how people perceive the resemblance of a portrait to its subject. This idea differs across cultures and time. Some portraits can actually be authoritative in their representation of a subject, despite the fact that the artist may have lived centuries after the subject was dead! Portraits can be based on verbal descriptions. Religious art especially relies on the written word. Pretty neat stuff.

The pic above is a portrait of Jitsukawa Enjaku II, a 17th century kabuki actor. Around his mug are decorated donation envelopes, which fans would give to their fave actors as gifts. This painting was the "Tiger Beat" of its time -- idolizing a handsome star with bold, colorful graphics. Coolness.

sail away (^3)

David took me on his 36-foot sailboat on a sunny Sunday afternoon. I met his friend, Eddie, a handsome russian Jewish guy who had really dark, tan skin. (David and I cursed our heritage, which gave us the delicate, fair skin of the landed gentry! Oh, to be blessed with the ruddy complexion of the other caste -- what a joy that must be while outside braving the elements!)
We launched from a yacht club near here and had a great 4 hours on the bay. We passed this cute little scenic lighthouse called Thomas Point Shoal.

The wind was light at just a few knots and we sailed with most of the tell-tales fluttering in the breeze. David taught me a few sailor's knots and I was happy to practice them when we docked. This was my first time crewing on a boat and I had a blast. To be honest, I thought it would be a whole lot of hard work. Those deck hands on the Melville's Peaquod had a really rough time of it. But I had just a few simple jobs. Chiefly, I was the ship's comedy relief. Kept the crew smiling. Made sure everybody was having a good time.

Was it scary? Nope, although I honestly thought that I might be thrown off a few times when we hit some wakes of passing ships. Somehow, though, I managed to stay onboard. What a relief!

All in all, a fun little afternoon in the sun. Thanks, Dave!