DC Trip: The It's So Amazing Edition.

How Lucky Am I to Have Seen All This With My Own Eyes???

(I was going to give this a title about things bringing tears to my eyes, but that would only be true for two of them.)

Say it with me now in a Nicholas-Cage-ish voice of sheer amazement, "It's the Declaration of Independence!"  (And actually, is it?  We took photos of The Constitution and the Bill of Rights as well.  I'm feeling too lazy to zoom in and figure out which one is in this picture.)

This was the first thing to bring tears to my eyes.  It's a Monet from 1894.  Rouen Cathedral, West Facade, Sunlight.  This photograph does not do it justice, of course.

Leonardo Da Vinci's Ginevra de' Benci from 1474.  According to the gallery description, this is the only Da Vinci located in all of the Americas.  IN ALL OF THE AMERICAS!

The Hope Diamond (currently displayed as a stand-alone gem).  It might not have been the most impressive of all the gems in the National Museum of Natural Science, but certainly the one I'd heard the most about before my visit.  And, you know, it is pretty gorgeous... if you're into that sort of thing.  ;-)

We went out at night to see many of the memorials and monuments and such.  This is the National World War II Memorial.  Beautiful!

Apparently, there are only four places in the U.S. where one can see giant pandas:  San Diego, Atlanta, Memphis, and Washington DC.  During this trip, I was moved to tears seeing them for  the first time ever.  Dwayne and I spent about 45 minutes watching the three pandas as they devoured bamboo leaves, lounged around, and, in the baby's case, took a nap.  I got tears in my eyes again when it was time to leave them.

DC Trip: The Andy Warhol Edition

Andy Warhol. Andy Warhol & Me.

Whenever Andy Warhol is discussed, I always insist that "I'm not all that into Andy Warhol." Whenever I see someone playing him in a movie, I find the character utterly creepy and bizarre. And yet, while in DC, I discovered that I was exceedingly pleased to get to view previously-unseen-by-me Andy Warhol pieces.

SIX! I saw six of them!

So excited was I that my only keepsake purchase during the trip was a postcard book of Andy Warhol art.

I guess that might indicate that the truth is, yeah, I'm maybe kind of into some of his stuff.

DC Trip: The Dork Edition

Dwayne complains that every time we go on a trip, I say I'm going to post about it and then I never do. So, I told him that I'll do posts all week mostly of photos of our going-ons.

(We'll see how long I actually keep this going...)

Mindi & Dwayne Scott: As Dorky As We Wanna Be

At an IMAX film in the National Air & Space Museum:

At the Hirshhorn Museum:

In the Metro Tunnel:

At the Museum of Natural History:
    

Ta-da!  Stay tuned for tomorrow's edition: "Me & Andy Warhol."  (Well, maybe.)

Heads up for you querying writers!

Agent Jim McCarthy posted a few things he'd like to see come across his desk here.

It sounds to me like some of the stuff a few of you are writing!

I'm just sayin'...

Going on vay-cay.

Tomorrow, my husband and I are leaving for a nine-day trip.  We'll be in Washington DC for the first half where we will do site-seeing stuff.   For the second half, we'll be in Baltimore for my editor's wedding.   Yay!

I'm excited about all of it, but I am especially looking forward to getting to meet  four of my critique partners during the trip.  I'll be having drinks and dinner with John and Gina in DC, and then dinner with Gina, Michelle, and Kim in Baltimore later in the week. 

I originally connected with all of these writers through a MediaBistro YA novel-writing course in 2007--which is also where I first worked with my editor, come to think of it.  What a life-changing class, huh?  

I'm trying to decide whether I should even bother bringing the hard copy of my marked-up manuscript along.  Will I have time to work on it?  Will I even want to?  My idea is that if I keep it with me and read through it during the week, maybe I'll be able to work out the elusive Climax Situation.  After I'll get back from my trip, I'll basically have that last week of October and all of November to complete my revisions.  But there's this one huge thing for which I still don't have a game plan. 

I probably should bring it along just in case--although luggage space is kind of a problem.  This is the first plane trip I've have taken for YEARS (or maybe ever?) where I'll have to pack over a weeks' worth of autumn clothes.  Usually, our longer trips are to warm places, so I get to fill up a small suitcase with just swimsuits, tank tops, and skirts!