A visit to Washington [UPDATED]

The Washington monument, as seen from a taxi window as I rode to the National Press Club on Thursday evening. 

Here is a synchronicity: I live in Ohio and I formerly lived in Oklahoma, so I only make it to Washington, D.C., every few years. Yet a few days after I read about the Washington Monument in the Illuminatus! trilogy, I found myself going by it. (The current section we are reading this week refers to the Washington Monument, a single finger pointing upward in an eloquent and vulgar gesture which only the Illuminati knew meant "Fuck you!")

I know I'm supposed to insert some libertarian boilerplate here about how much I hate Washington D.C., but the fact is that while I dislike much of what the government does, I like Washington. I like the Smithsonian museums and I like the way the subway makes it easy to get around and to go to places such as Chinatown, where I had deep fried shrimp in the shell for lunch Thursday.

Su-Mei Tse, L’Echo, 2003. Courtesy of the artist and Peter Blum Gallery, New York. © Su-Mei Tse From the Hirshhorn Museum's "Days of Endless Time" exhibit

UPDATE: Friday afternoon, when I finally had some free time, I got to visit my favorite art museum, the Hirschhorn. If you get the chance, check out the video installation exhibit at the museum, Days of Endless Time. It's very trippy. (It runs through April 6.)

The Hirshhorn is part of the Smithsonian family of museums, which has material to appeal to every interest and taste, if modern art is not your thing.