Folksy and festive
Did the Smithsonian Folklife Festival yesterday. It was just me and the digital camera, for the most part. But even though I started out alone, I found myself some friends during lunch in the Haitian Market section.
I was kind of bummed at the lack of shopping — well, affordable shopping, anyway. I love to go to festivals and pick up a silver ring or a bracelet or something — the only things being sold were pieces of artwork, jars of spices and CDs of Mexican music. Bah.
Anyway, I spent the better part of my day looking and sounding like Eric Cartman from “South Park,” thinking, “Screw you, hippies!” LOL. Not that I have a thing against the hippies; in fact, my favorite part of the festival was the “Why the Jesus Movement Never Got Off the Ground,” where there was great documentation on the ’60s and how hippies of days past have had to return to capitalism, effectively becoming “hippie-crits.”
Anyway, I chose not to purchase their granola or their hibiscus drinks, but I have to admit they did make for the most entertaining and photogenic group. And before I hear a word from any of you, let me just say that when I see white men with long hair, I assume they are straight and that I might have a chance with them. 😉
The women were the only comfortable ones there — those of us who showed up were in our standard trendy attire, and I’d sweated off my makeup within the first hour of arrival. Of course, one day I am going to realize that wearing black on a hot summer’s day is just plain stupid!
I befriended some gals from North Carolina, who were presenters in the “Water Ways” section. Connie and Pam made some Youpon Tea and told the story of it. They will also be presenting on Friday. When they got on stage, they introduced themselves and me. The audience thought I was famous or something — people actually asked me who I was and how I knew them! (We had simply eaten some Haitian cuisine together and had a really good time talking!).
I tend to go to these shindigs to people-watch, but you could hear crickets shitting there yesterday, it was so quiet. But I did take a lot of requisite scenery shots, not the least of which was of an Andy Warhol-inspired panda at the Smithsonian Castle:
Here’s just a quick mid-festival shot that I took while I had Mom on my headset — it’s like she got to walk around the National Mall with me while she is still in Pittsburgh! I still think the Pittsburgh Arts Festival (in its heyday) was the best festival I ever attended (mmm, banana crepes), and I miss going to these things with Mom, but I take her along whenever I can, even if it’s only via cell phone.
I’ll spare you the rest of my shots, but this one I found funny because it describes my workplace so much more than adequately, how people have it good and get lazy. The text blurred when I converted the images to RGB, but suffice it to say that my workplace, like Rome, will fall because when times were good, everyone got to sit back and enjoy and be spoiled. And that bred insolent little shits who like to sit on their fat asses and get richer as the company — or, in Rome’s case, the city — fails.
Speaking of work, during my hour-and-a-half performance review, my supervisor had a giant thing hanging out of her nose. I tried hard to give her the signals to wipe her snout, but all I managed to do was wipe off all my makeup and have a very red nose by the time I left. *sigh* How can you take anyone seriously when they’re criticizing you and they’ve got a big ol’ booger doing the mambo on their face?!?!
On iTunes: Melissa Etheridge featuring Jewel, “You Can Sleep While I Drive (Live)”