I'm sitting at a WiFi spot at Georgetown University, having a wonderful time with my new but used computer, a Dell Inspiron 700M. Yes, my old trusty and reliable (if slower) Dell Latitude C600 has a problem which renders it too inconvenient to use for any length of time; the power input jack is caput, which means I could only run on the battery, which has to be pulled and recharged for hours in an external charger. Naturally, this became very inconvenient, and as replacing the jack would have been costly, opted to move up from more or less three generations (five years) ago to more or less one generation (two years) ago.

It's hard to believe my "new" computer is already this old, but it's been two years since Glenn Reynolds gave his 700M a good review, and late as I am in catching up, I can see why. This thing is fast, compact, and esthetically pleasing. My old one really looks like a clunker in comparison. Two years old or not, this machine flies -- and it just seems new.

I love the built-in SD card reader, as I don't have to run my camera battery down with the slow cord-connection.

Now that I've mentioned that, I might as well upload a few DC photos.

Here I am, an hour ago, standing in front of Georgetown's Healy Hall:

The newspaper in my hand is the Georgetown Federalist, and it's too bad it isn't online, as there's a great piece by J.P Medved about declining student literacy titled "Georgetown Flunks American History." (For starters, American history is no longer required, I guess because students learned all about it in high school.)

Art is always of paramount interest, so the first thing I did yesterday was visit the Societe Anonyme exhibit at the Phillips Collection.

None of the usual "tour the capital" stuff for me. I don't think politicians especially want visits from bloggers anyway, and I suspect most or my readers have already seen photos of the nation's capital. However, I couldn't help but notice that the fire hydrants (at least the ones in the Dupont Circle neighborhood) are still of the old neoclassical design, with that same characteristic Pantheon style dome remarkably imitative of the Capitol building:

What I don't know is whether the fire hydrants were imitating the Capitol, or whether the Capitol was imitating the fire hydrants.

And no, I am not making a moral equivalency argument, as we need fire hydrants. Besides, unlike the Capitol, their flow can be turned off.

The water theme continued to haunt me this morning, when I noticed that someone (maybe the federal government, maybe the lawyers) is now more preoccupied than I am with my shower habits.

Sigh.

Sometimes I wish that reckless risk takers like me might be allowed to just sign a General Waiver And Release Of All Liability and be done with it. But the powers that be are not about to allow life to have risks. If risks were allowed, people might have to start thinking for themselves, which would be a direct threat to the helpers of the helpess.

Not all signs are bad, though. As a longtime Deadhead, I couldn't resist this lovely little psychedelic flyer staring at me from the ground:

A few lonely black beans are scattered around the flyer, as if I needed any further reminder that Global Warming is a dire issue which dazed and drugged out Deadheads are probably not taking with the seriousness required. Almost in response to the gaseous reminder, the roots of a tree beckon ominously from the right.

There used to be a slogan "You are what you eat!" Now that the very atmosphere is is poisoned by what each one of us eats, you are evil because you eat.

This makes eating a form of raw power.

Taste the malevolence!

UPDATE: I stand corrected. I was standing in front of Healy Hall, not Copley.