Laura Time: DC

As an only child, I got used to being by myself at an early age. So I don't have much trouble being a loner today. I LOVE being with my friends, but entertain myself just as well. Once, in the dining hall, Mike asked me if I was sitting by myself, which I affirmed. "Wow, I couldn't do that," he replied. Well, the point here is that I can and often do (though I also search obsessively for people I know, just in case).

When I go out and do something (fun) by myself, I reconcile the singletom by calling it "Laura Time." Going to the mall? Laura Time! Going out for coffee and fizzy juice? Laura Time!

So yesterday afternoon--at the end of a very long work week--I was scoping out some museums online when I came across "The Darker Side of Light: Arts of Privacy" exhibition at the National Gallery (privacy suddenly seems a fitting theme).

Fact: I've wanted to see this exhibition since last summer.
Dilemma: It leaves DC on Monday.
Solution: I planned an impromptu trip to the city today. Alone. And it was so much fun!

The exhibition was fantastic. Everything was dark and a little eerie. If I could have spared $50 to purchase the catalogue, I would've. I wandered around the museum for awhile, and then visited the Hirsshorn (modern/contemporary art) and the Freer Gallery (Asian art). Then I made my way north toward Chipotle and Red Velvet Cupcakery (which has locations in DC and Tuscon, if you're interested) for deliciousness.

The Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company is on the way to these dining locations, so I stopped in to see what was playing. Wonder of wonders, it was Mike Daisy, the monologist who once performed at our school. His show, The Last Cargo Cult, is about Polynesian islanders who literally worshiped (and still do) the power of American cargo deliveries, which were prevalent in WWII. Daisy mixes his own experiences with stories of the world, and it's fascinating. The show was only $15 for a student ticket, but I would not have gotten home until midnight tonight, and I didn't relish the idea of wandering the Metro station alone that late.

Actually, reading the review that I linked above rather makes me regret not staying...but anyway,

A few low points of today: the Metro having technical difficulties and spitting everyone out to wait for the next train; my running out in the street in front of a police car; several favorite paintings not being on display; losing my purse.

But overall, a fantastic, fantastic day. Laura Time was a success.