My Life: Beautiful

I honestly dread the days when I have to/ought to/want to I carry my camera around. Just under five solid pounds of weight banging my hip with each step leaves me with nasty bruises, sore shoulder and sweaty self. It also doesn't fit all that nicely into a purse, so I either have to shove it in (and worry about ruining my bag) or carry a backpack/waterproof bag if I want to make sure I have alternative ways to carry it. Most of the time I end up just holding it in my hand with the strap wrapped around my wrist.

But these are the days I take time to document things taking place around me. And right now, D.C. spring is definitely a happening worth recording.

Look how pretty those eyes! Even if my photo is blurry.

After eating pineapple for lunch, it was off to downtown! For, embarrassingly, the first real time since I've gotten here. I was so lazy. Aiyah. I knew I'd regret it. I prob needed the sleep, though.

It always takes me forever to walk to the metro stop from where I live (1.7 miles or so), because I get distracted along the way. This was true back in the fall - I was cold and sluggish - and it's way the hell more true now because... man, it's pretty outside. Even if today did hit 90.


This grows on this...

Speaking of 90 degrees... I feel seriously shortchanged here. All along, I'd always assumed Texas was pretty ugly because the weather made it too hot for "pretty" plants to blossom and grow very much. But no, here in D.C., it's much the same temperature and humidity as it is out there. And look at all this abundance of flowery awesome. I feel much the same way I imagine Asian parents do when they find out their child is capable of more than they previously though possible. I've been demanding way too little, man.

Anyway, I was walking along, minding my own business (playing Words with Friends, if we're completely honest) - when I randomly passed this. THIS. People could not pay enough to have similar splendor at a king's wedding. And here it is, growing haphazardly by the side of a lowly highway exit. The lilies of the field toil not, eh?

I actually have yet to see cherry blossoms. I keep seeing so many of the other pinky-white flowers. I reaaaaally need to make it out to the memorials.

This one is blurry, but I really loved the colors and bokeh.

Look at those petals! Unbelievable.

I dunno why I was so enamored with shooting single stems of flowers against blue sky, but I spent long enough doing this that some passerby asked me if I wanted a picture with the flowers. (I declined... not sure why)

This one is pretty.

My eventual destination was my favorite Chinese food restaurant in D.C. (and maybe anywhere in the U.S.; haven't been to that famous NYC one yet) - Chinatown Express. You know it's authentic when, pardon the crassness, you go to wash your hands in the bathroom like I did, and it's as gross as the ones in China. :| The restaurant is dirty. The bathroom smells like pee. The seating area is ridiculously ghetto. BUT I DON'T CARE.

So close your eyes as you eat the most amaaaaaazing food ever. Seriously, I love it - this is the beef noodle soup, and it was only $6.55. Maybe it's a perfect blend of the Chinese/Taiwanese flavor I was raised to appreciate, but my mouth waters whenever I think of it. Today was no disappointment. Mmmmmm.

...I think I'll go back tomorrow. I've been wasting my time these last two weeks, not trekking in daily to get there! Hrmph. (It's such a far waaaaaalk, though!)

Sunset. I kinda like this image... proud of myself, too - not easy to capture that kind of dynamic range without a point-and-shoot. I did have to tone-curve it quite a bit, though. Still, I rarely get sky and city scenery in the same photo. I almost got run over by a car for this. Worth it.

Going back to my narcissistic traveling ways (I did lots of these kinds of photos in 2008, since I carried my camera around a lot). Something about wearing shorts again puts a spring in my step. It's probably my rebellion against restrictive norms - but shorts + flip-flops are my go-to gear for summer travelwear.

Offhand, you wouldn't really recognize this to be the nation's capital, would you?

After food, it was off to Starbucks. I did a logic games LSAT section... and found my failure disheartening. I've been doing decently well on logic games for a little while now, but every now and then my concentration just doesn't quite cut it - or else I get a batch of hard questions, like today - and then it's all downhill from there. :P

And after disheartenment, it was happy hour time. I shot this while walking to meet up with Pei's friend Seth at RFD. Silly me, RFD is about 3 buildings down from Starbucks. Instead, I accidentally walked around in a massive square trying to find it. I read the map wrong because I was in a hurry to get back to my Words with Friends game. :|

Look how absolutely stunning those leaves look. Green was my favorite color as a child, and this totally reminds me why.

I wish Austin had a pedestrian-accessible Chinatown. Heck, I wish we were more metropolitan, period.

I came home to this cutie on my bed. She had this look of disgust: "Hey, I was here first."

Random: I'm totally addicted to Words with Friends. I downloaded it last night - bad mistake. I was up until 6 a.m. playing with random strangers. :| Add me if you like! chix0rgirl <-- that's a zero.