All right, I’m sick of talking about my books. Sick of it, I tells ya. Here’s what I have to say - Give yourself a holiday present - Buy my books. You’ll like ‘em.
On to other things!
I just finished reading George Sansom’s A History of Japan 1334-1615. Great book. Read A History of Japan to 1334 while I was on the East Coast and couldn’t sleep. That’s my big secret. I’m a major history buff. Wrote this paper on Japan in as a freshman in college. My professor got it published somewhere, although I no longer remember where. It was all about adapting Chinese civil administration and the philosophies of Confucianism and Buddhism to Japanese systems and sensibilities.
I had a great trip to Baltimore and D.C. You want to know the really fun thing? Well, there were a bunch of fun things, but maybe the most fun was spending a day in the National Archives. OMG, I could spend a month, I could spend a year in the National Archives. Got to spend an entire day in the National Gallery - loved it! Had lunch in the food court at the Native Indian Museum, and super dirty martinis on the roof of the W overlooking the White House. Watched the sun set.
Did you know Washington D.C. has a fantastic fisherman’s wharf where you can get raw oysters, steamed blue crabs, shrimp cooked with Old Bay Seasoning, and you can eat it all sitting on a cement pier jutting out into the Potomac right around the corner from the Navy Yard and the real NCIS offices??? So effin’ cool!
For those of you who, like me, are NICS fans, think Rock Creek Park. “Gear up. There’s a body in Rock Creek Park.” “C’mon, we got a body in Rock Creek Park.” “Let’s go. A dead marine in Rock Creek Park.” Hey! I spent a whole day in the real Rock Creek Park and the National Zoo. The park is beautiful. The zoo’s baby gorilla is cutest thing ever.
Truly, I love visiting Baltimore and D.C. We’re all depressed out here in what used to be the Golden State. Baltimore and D.C. are upbeat, friendly and affordable in comparison. If you get out to Baltimore, try this restaurant - Pazo. The tapas menu was fantastic. In D.C. I fell in love with The Queen Vic. Go. Eat. Flirt.
Okay, done. My advice: Read books. Eat good food. Study history.
Baltimore is a trip we have planned for next summer.
Crab cakes!
“Read books. Eat good food. Study history.”
This is damn good advice! Lately all my reading has been non-fiction and history.
XXOO Kat
I visited DC a couple years ago and fell in love with the city. I went for 10 days and never wanted to leave. I was all over the museum circuit, too, and still didn’t get to see everything. I’ve actually debated moving there I loved it so much. Glad you enjoyed your trip. Thanks for bringing back the memories!
Ok, Boss, just don’t slap me on the back of the head again! (NCIS)
Great post, who knew you were so intelligent LoL
“Read books. Eat good food. Study history.” My new mantra.
I love DC (my son lives there) and I could spend any given day at the National Gallery.
Great post, love.
Oh Kelly - I only made it to three museums! I skipped the Smithsonian because I’d been there once before, but damn, I have to go back.
Oh Tom! Are you an NCIS fan too? Yay! I have such a girl-crush on Abby! Yeah, I’m smart but I like to keep it on the down low. Must be all that Scottish blood in me!
Hey Natalie, thanks for commenting. I do love D.C. So much fun there.
Oh hey, Tom, the owner of the Queen Vic comped us so much stuff - great wine, some amazing after dinner drink to go with the exquisite chocolate dessert - I think it was espresso vodka. The food was to die for.
Yup, Kat. You know me very well! I do love non-fiction and I’m obsessed with history.
The best crab cakes, Penny - G&M. You can order them frozen on line.
Oh Amber, you will have so much fun. Just watch out for SWAT actions. Make sure to pay a visit to the National Aquarium and the American Visionary Art Museum.
You need to stay there for a month to just scratch the surface… Now walking that far is tougher for me. Museums aren’t as much fun.
Great pics. Looks like all kinds of fun. And yup, I’m an NCIS follower:) Love Mark Harmon.
I do too, Sandra.
Oh Anny girl, I’d love to stay out there for a month or more. I adore Baltimore!
I loved visiting DC/Baltimore
The National Archives was my second favorite (right behind The Folder’s Shakespeare Library) I had no idea there was good seafood there. Next trip!
Oh yeah, Shelly - down a back alley along the Potomac, beneath a bridge somewhere near the Navy Yard. Outstanding stuff! But I guess you gotta know a local to get you there.
I also love the archives. Unfortunately the day I was there was a bus load of school kids there, privileged and undisciplined schoolkids. I didn’t know about that pier.
Vis a vis history. Have you read Parkman? (Francis Parkman : France and England in North America : Vol. 1: Pioneers of France in the New World, The Jesuits in North America in the Seventeenth Century, La Salle and the Discovery of the Great West, The Old Regime in Canada (Library of America) [Hardcover]). Don read all his work and loved it.
I am fascinated by linguistic history and the patterns of words across languages and geography. I am also interested in what we learned in school and what wasn’t true. And anthropology mixed in with history.
TTFN: Steph
Those National Archives! What a yummy place! I’ve read some of Parkman’s works. I especially liked La Salle - but then he is my favorite explorer aside from Lewis and Clarke.
Best advice, evah!
Makes me want to go back to DC for a visit. I loved it there.
Dear Jaye - thanks! I’m so full of advice!