Doctor of Fine Arts

SAAM 2-9-08

I had some free time today, and decided to make the most of it and take a quick jaunt into the district. I went to one of my favorite museums, the combined Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery.

They've completed the courtyard renovations since the last time I visited. It is a great public space - comfortable, lots of activity without being overly crowded. The two signature elements are the undulating glass canopy and the shallow pools. The pools are merely sheets of water, and are constantly in motion - pumped in on one end, flowing down a barely perceptible slope into a drain. Since it is barely a puddle, kids run through them constantly. It livens the place up quite a bit.

The entire museum has good exhibits, but the most popular single work today was the recently installed portrait (or is it portraits?) of Stephen Colbert. It is just outside the Hall of Presidents... in the antechamber of the restrooms. There's a photo in the album linked above. I walked by a few times, and there were never less than a dozen people crowding around for photos.

Vile Weed!

It's been quite some time since I've done any real cooking. Since well before the holidays, even, I've been making very simple stuff. Pasta with store sauce, quickie grilled chicken. And those were the fancy meals. There have been many servings of buttered noodles and grille cheese.

So this was an itch I've been meaning to scratch. Luckily Zina, Sarah & Paul, and Jane were able to come over tonight for dinner and give it a sense of occasion. This did require some adaptation on my part; I had to add some vegetarian options, and even made a bowl of foul broccoli. But it all worked out pretty well; I went so far as to get wine, which I almost never drink myself (though it was left untouched this time).

It was a surprisingly easy meal to make. The entree was Monster Pork Chops, accompanied by Coconut Rice, Fettuccine with Brussels Sprouts and Pine Nuts, apple apricot sauce from Trader Joe's, and the aforementioned vile weed. Dessert was Gingersnap crumble ice-cream tart, with reinforcements from various other cookies. It seemed like the entire meal was well-received. But I especially enjoyed the evening for the company; it's been a while since I've had people over, and it was a welcome change. It helps that this was an especially fun group of people to bring together - very similar senses of humor, and all quite clever.

On a more professional note, I've started looking for symposia and calls for papers that I could submit my (still hypothetical) paper to. One good candidate came up in the latest Naval Engineers Journal: the West Coast Combats Systems Symposium. I checked the Call for Papers, and it says abstracts are due on February 31st. I assume that means they must be in their offices by a quarter past Never on the Eleventeenth of the next Triple Leap Year.

I'm Learnding

Here in DC it feels like spring is coming, a season for change. And if you recall your Romance poets, growth, passion, and the like. It seems like many of my friends and family are acting accordingly. Ryan is talking about taking education classes, looking into teaching. Kirk has submitted his letters to leave active duty and become an FBI field agent. I just found out Sara is applying for a doctoral program in Nashville. Jane is setting up a study group for the professional engineering exam.

I am thinking of following suit - if smart people are all doing it, it must be the smart thing to do, right? I've already applied to take the PE exam, and plan on getting Jane to teach me everything at the aforementioned study group. I should start asking questions at work about getting tuition assistance for enrolling in the ocean engineering master's program from VTech. I regret not starting that sooner; if I had just dove in when I first started working, I could have my master's by now. Learn from my example, O People of the Internet! Don't put off until tomorrow, seize the day, children are our future, etc. etc.

I've also started some literature review and outlining for a paper. If I could get it published, that would mean a resume bullet and the publication bonus at work. Though the more I work on it, the more I wonder if I have enough to warrant a paper. The deeper in I go, the shallower it seems. Without going into the technicalities, it is an interesting topic to me, I'm not aware of any papers on it to date, but any real research would require a massive effort - lots of research, modeling, and simulation. What I have in mind is more of presenting a methodology that could be used for analysis in my field. I guess I'm wondering if my idea is self-evident and obvious to others. I think I may have to get some other smart people to talk to me about it.

I may be a little more enthusiastic about writing than usual, since we have just wrapped up a big effort to write a deliverable for a client. It ended up at almost 500 pages. We all put a lot of effort into it, and I think everyone ended up working a healthy chunk of overtime. Times like that are the ones I find the most professionally satisfying. Humility aside, writing and editing engineering text is something I've always thought I was good at. I wouldn't want to do it all the time - I like being an engineer first and an editor far less - but it is satisfying when I get to do it.

A Steady Decline Followed by Death

Today is my birthday, my 30th. I've known a few friends who have gone all-out for their 30th - pub crawls, private rooms at restaurants, trips to Vegas. Mine was far less grand, but I definitely prefer it this way.

Last night, I went to my friend Abby's birthday party in DC, which was held at a bar called Stetson's. It was a great place for this celebration; Abby doe a joint party with her friend Esmerelda, and between the two of them something like 150 people were invited. I'm not sure I know 150 people, or even half that, that I would invite to my birthday party. But Abby is much more sociable than I, and was in her element from what I saw. It was a lot of fun, especially since we have many friends in common that I have not seen in some time. And I had a few nice conversations with folks I hadn't met before; the highlight was probably when one taught me how to play craps. I think all I actually learned was enough to lose a great deal of money if I ever try to play craps.

Before giving me a ride to the Metro to go to the party, Sarah & Paul presented a freshly-made marble cake. Before we left for the district, we enjoyed a few slices. Made from scratch, and extremely tasty. I thought it was very sweet and generous of them.

Today, I met with Meg & Rich and Jane for brunch at Fireflies. I hadn't been in what felt like ages, and was looking forward to treating myself to biscuits and gravy to celebrate. But they were all out, so I ended up getting the also-excellent breakfast club. After some very nice presents, a nice meal, and some subterfuge, the waitress brought out another cake that Jane made (from The Joy of Cooking I gave her for Christmas). It was also delicious.

I'm amazed at how generous everyone was, and I feel very lucky. All of this - invitations out for very enjoyable evenings, cakes, presents, and most importantly the friendship that accompanies them - gives me pause. It is an embarrassment of riches, and if I have to turn 30 and grow old, I am grateful I get to do it in such estimable company.

And to explain the video embedded above, it is one of my favorite gifts this year. Meg brought it back from her trip to New Zealand. It is a small tin boat that contains a very simple steam engine jet-drive. Basically a boiler, heated by a candle, that exhausts heated water, creating a vacuum in the chamber that sucks in cold water, which is then heated, repeating the process. We ran it in my tub after lunch, and it is a riot.

San Francisco

DC to SF, Thursday

San Simeon to San Francisco

DC to SF, Wednesday

Tusayan to San Simeon

DC to SF, Tuesday