Climate Strike, Washington, DC, September 20, 2019

For the past couple of years a Swedish teenage girl named Greta Thunberg has been going on strike from her school each Friday by heading over to the Swedish parliament in Stockholm in order to raise awareness of climate change and why it has been such a major crisis. Over time her movement has grown as more and more kids have been skipping school in order to raise awareness of the climate and how catastrophic it could be if the adults continue to ignore it.

So her movement has grown to the point where there have been widespread climate strikes every Friday. Sometimes these strikes have included adults as well as children, especially if these strikes coincided with a major event. The strikes on September 20, 2019 was one of those multi-age strikes that was timed to coincide with the United Nations Climate Summit.

I was doing work for the Census Bureau where I was sent to Southern Maryland on a regular basis. The good news was that I could set my own hours as long as they were between 9 a.m. to sunset. I could even request a day off if I electronically transmit what days I was available for work ahead of time.

Basically I’m concerned about what’s going on with the climate situation but I also wanted a rest from traveling nearly 90 minutes one way to Southern Maryland. Since this upcoming march was encouraging adults to attend and go on strike by not reporting for work, I decided to take part in it. Technically I didn’t really go on “strike” since I filled out the electronic schedule ahead of time and the work was starting to dry up during this phase of the census work. (I took park in the preliminary phase of the 2020 census.) But since I didn’t go to work that day, it’s close enough to a “strike.”

It felt good to take a Metro trip to the Gallery Place-Chinatown Metro stop. I didn’t have to drive and the trip was shorter than going to Southern Maryland. The weather was warm but it wasn’t too hot and the humidity was relatively low. All in all it was a perfect day for a protest.

I walked past the It’s Sugar store where I saw this cool window display. It’s devoted to President Donald Trump but it’s not really very flattering to the current president, which was why I found it hilarious.

It’s especially genius to put rolls of Donald Trump toilet paper near signs saying “I’M DEAD INSIDE” and “GO AWAY!” LOL!

Then there are the President Trump troll dolls that are located between the Trump toilet paper and the Ruth Bader Ginsburg action figure.

I also walked past the Daguerre Monument, which is dedicated to Louis Daguerre, who invented an early form of photography known as the daguerrotype.

I eventually reached John Marshall Park, where the protest began. I shot this video of the protest as it went from that park to the lawn outside of the U.S. Capitol building.

Here are my still photos I took of that march on that day.

Washington, DC, February 9, 2019

I celebrated the fact that I had been employed at a day job for the past month by doing something fun. A few days earlier the weather was getting warmer and the temperature had even reached 60 degrees on some days. Sadly the sudden burst of warm weather was only temporary and it was bitter cold outside the day I went to DC. But I was determined to have fun since it had been a long time since I had done something totally fun and I wasn’t going to let something like weather stop me.

So I took the Metro bus to the nearest Metro station and traveled to the Chinatown area of Washington, DC. When I arrived in Chinatown I saw some people taking photos of each other by the Friendship Archway. (I was there doing the Lunar New Year period where most Asians were ushering in the Year of the Pig. The annual Chinese New Year’s parade was scheduled for the following day but I didn’t go because I felt that walking around the streets of Chinatown in very cold weather for one day was enough for me. If I hadn’t gone to Chinatown the day before, I would have considered going to that parade since it has been at least 10 years since I made my one and only attendance at that parade.)

I walked around a few places that I thought about eating lunch at. I read that many of these places had discount rates only to find out that these discounts are only available from Monday-Friday. I wasn’t into paying an extravagant price for a lunch so I ended up eating at the Corner Bakery where I had a bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich at an affordable price. After lunch I walked over to It’s Sugar where I saw these items, starting with a long gummy rattlesnake.

The biggest surprise I found in that store was the numerous consumer products based on the late Bob Ross, whose Joy of Painting show I used to watch on PBS from time to time. I saw socks, mints, and even energy drinks dedicated to the guy who made “happy little trees” his catchphrase.

I bought some candy at It’s Sugar, which I ate after I returned home. I eventually made it to the place that served as the main reason why I wanted to go to Chinatown on that day. The German-American Heritage Museum had a special exhibit on German-made toys which started prior to Christmas and I thought it sounded potentially interesting. The only thing is that even though the museum is open from Monday-Friday, it is only open on the second and fourth Saturdays of the month (while it is completely closed on Sundays). When I was still underemployed I was struggling too much financially to even consider making the trip during the weekday. Now that I’m working again I find that I can only go to this museum on the weekends but I have to go only on the Saturday when it is actually opened. (Life is full of ironies at times. LOL!) The exhibit is scheduled to close at the end of next month, which was why I made an effort to get to that museum before it was too late.

The museum admission was $10, which wasn’t so bad. (There are other museums, such as the Newseum and the Spy Museum that charges around $20 per person.) The museum is small and I found the special exhibition to be smaller than I expected. But what they had on display was pretty good. They gave out this pamphlet that explained the history of German toys, how they were made, how they reflected the culture of the times in which they were made, the notable German toy companies, and how some of these toys were also popular in the U.S.

The one thing I learned from that pamphlet is that German toys were originally homemade until the Industrial Revolution, when they were mass-produced in factories. The rise in the toy industry also coincided with worker exploitation, especially among women and children who were employed making these toys. The workers were paid less, which was how toys became cheaper to buy and why many German imported toys were so cheap in the U.S. during the late-19th century to early-20th century. (It’s no different from today where toys and many other consumer products are made in China, Vietnam, and so many other Third World countries so that cheap goods would flood the U.S. while corporate executives keep the lion’s share of the profits.)

There were plenty of dolls made mainly because they were supposed to prepare young girls for the day when they will become mothers themselves. The museum had dolls, tea party sets, and doll furniture that were on display (along with the occasional nutcracker).

There were also plenty of toy soldiers, which were made because they were supposed to prepare young boys for the day when they will join the military and possibly fight on behalf of Germany.

There were also toys based on the American Wild West featuring cowboys and Indians (who are now referred as Native Americans). It was kind of wild seeing German-made toys reflecting U.S. history like that and it showed that the German toy industry were definitely eying the foreign markets.

Seeing these metal toys brought back memories of seeing similar toy soldiers dressed like British soldiers displayed on a shelf that my ex-husband’s stepfather had owned since his childhood. These toy soldiers were very tiny, made from metal, and they looked very exquisite. My ex-husband’s mother died in 2010, his stepfather passed away last year, and I am no longer on speaking terms with my ex so I have no idea whatever became of those toy soldiers or who owns them now.

There were plenty of Steiff stuffed animals on display. I used to see them on sale at FAO Schwarz in New York City and I remember they were pretty expensive. I’ve also seen them in other high-end stores also being sold at high prices. (Which probably explains why my parents never gave me a Steiff toy when I was a child. LOL!) They definitely look cute and cuddly.

The museum had a hands-on area where people of all ages could touch and play with some of these toys. The only thing I touched was this children’s book written by Dr. Heinrich Hoffmann called Der Struwwelpeter. I briefly thumbed through it and took a couple of pictures.

There were a few other odds and ends at that exhibit, including some toy cars and chickens, a couple of trays, and a snowglobe.

Like I wrote earlier, the museum was relatively small so I was able to finish with viewing the exhibit in an hour. Afterwards I decided to go back home. On my way back to the Metro station I stopped at Walgreens because I wanted to pick up some cold medicine. (I had been struggling with a cold at the same time as trying to learn the ropes of my new day job. Yeah, it sucked big time but what else could I do?) I saw that this particular Walgreens location had an area that sold packaged sushi, just like its Union Station location. In fact, this Walgreens sold a variety of packaged food ranging from sandwiches to salads that I’ve never seen in any of the suburban Walgreens stores in the DC area. There were a couple of sushi places in Chinatown that I attempted to eat lunch at until I saw the menus posted outside and found that the bargain meals were only from Monday-Friday and I ended up eating at the Corner Bakery instead. So, in order to compensate for not eating sushi for lunch, I picked up one of the sushi packs from Walgreens, took it home with me, and ate it for dinner. (I ate a a salmon and avocado roll.) I found it to be pretty tasty and it was at a reasonable price.

So somethings didn’t turn out the way I expected (such as the weather and eating lunch at the Corner Bakery instead of at a Chinese or Japanese restaurant in Chinatown) but I still had fun anyway.

We DC Fest, Washington, DC, September 26, 2018

I saw an ad on Facebook announcing a new multi-day conference in downtown DC called We DC Fest. Since the admission was free, I decided to check out the first day, even though I’m still financially struggling and the fares to ride the Metro subway keep on rising higher. The event was supposed to offer networking opportunities and I felt that it wouldn’t hurt for me to expand my circle of friends and acquaintances.

The bulk of the first day’s activities took place in the National Building Museum. Since it’s located near Chinatown, I decided to stop off at the It’s Sugar store located in Chinatown on the way and pick up this pack of Canadian chocolate candy known as Sixlets. I ate it while I was at We DC Fest and I found the candy to be quite tasty.

The first day of We DC Fest took place inside of the National Building Museum. Even though it was late September, the weather was very hot and humid and I remember the highs reaching the 90s. I was so glad when I arrived at that museum because at least it had air conditioning.

The next photo showed the stage where all of the day’s panels took place.

I was pretty tired from walking in the very hot weather outside so I just sat in the stage area and ate my lunch that I brought with me from home. While I was eating I saw a panel titled “Diversity: less talking, more doing,” which was about how the tech industry in DC needs to include more women and minorities. One of the speakers was a man named Marcus Bullock who founded his own company, Flikshop, which prints people’s social media posts and photos on postcards which can then be sent to friends and family members who are currently in prison. He got the inspiration for starting his company after his own experience with serving eight years in prison for stealing a car. While he was fortunate enough to have his family visit him in prison on a regular basis so he was able to keep up with what’s happening on the outside, not all prisoners were so lucky. What’s more, inmates can’t access social media in jail so they can’t keep up on what their friends and loved ones are doing. His story and company was so fascinating that I got his business card after the panel so I could show it to a couple of people.

The big highlight of We DC Fest was this show featuring arts, crafts, and technology by individuals and companies in the DC area.

It wasn’t a bad festival but there weren’t a lot of people who attended so I wasn’t able to do much networking. I wasn’t able to buy any arts and crafts from any of the booths because I’m too broke to do any such impulse purchases at the moment. I ended up skipping the second and third days of the festival because I wasn’t into spending a lot of money on Metro fares only to have nothing panning out for me in terms of networking or meeting new people. It was just as well that I skipped the last two days. This article mentioned that attendance was even lower on the last two days of We DC Fest.

I had learned about We DC Fest through Facebook about a week or two before it began. That same link mentioned that the We DC Fest organizers hope that it’ll turn into another South by Southwest Festival. As someone who attended SXSW back in 1998, I can easily say that We DC Fest has a long ways to go before it could even begin to be compared to SXSW. While We DC Fest focused on technology and local arts and crafts, it was definitely lacking in other areas. SXSW has a film component where aspiring filmmakers show their films in the hopes of landing a movie distribution from one of the studios (who usually send a few executives to Austin each year). We DC Fest does not. SXSW has a music component where aspiring bands perform in the hopes of landing a recording contract. We DC Fest does not.

While I think We DC Fest has potential, it has a long ways to go before it can even begin to touch SXSW in terms of influence.

Day one of We DC Fest had ended at 3 p.m. (which is another reason why it has a long way to go before it can even touch SXSW because SXSW has events that start in the morning and they are scheduled throughout the day and into the wee hours of the following morning). As I stepped outside in the heat and humidity, I decided to make a brief stop at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial where I shot these photos.

This next shot shows the lion statues of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in the foreground. The brown pole with the white letter “M” in the background marks the entrance to the Judiciary Square Metro station. (The letter “M” stands for “Metro.”) The large red building located further back is the National Building Museum where We DC Fest was held.

CoderDojo Meetup, Rockville, Maryland, July 15, 2018

I had a pretty busy Sunday on July 15, 2018. I went carpooling with one friend to church where there was a Tye-Dye Sunday scheduled. By the time I got home from church I turned around and went carpooling with a different friend to this meetup that took place in Rockville.

CoderDojo is basically a global network that provides free computer programming clubs to young people. My friend thought it would be good for me to check this out, especially since I worked as an assistant facilitator with the Takoma Park chapter of Girls Who Code over the past year.

The Washington, DC chapter of CoderDojo meets at the Rockville Public Library in Rockville, Maryland. I had never stepped foot inside this building before but I have to admit that it’s very impressive.

There was an art show going on featuring art done by local youths. It brought back memories of the first time my elementary school art teacher had selected one of my art projects to be shown at the Anne Arundel County Art Show that was displayed at the since-demolished Harundale Mall.

The CoderDojo met in a room on the second floor of the library, which is a designated STEM center. That room had an array of all kinds of stuff that one would normally find in a makerspace (such as computers and robots) but there was some pretty cool STEM-themed art as well.

The meeting started off with a presentation about what computing was like back in the 1990s (when the Computer Internet revolution was just beginning). I enjoyed it because I remember those days like they happened yesterday. There was a mention of using modems attached to telephone wires in order to access the Internet at a blistering 9600 bps.

I enjoyed the presentation very much. Once that ended, the kids started to work on their own projects while parents and other adult volunteers went around helping the kids with their latest projects.

By the time that meetup ended it was closing time for the library. My friend and I were heading back towards the parking garage by cutting through Rockville Town Square when I shot this photo of some kids playing in the fountain.

I also discovered that there was an It’s Sugar store located in Rockville. I had previously visited It’s Sugar in Baltimore and Chinatown in Washington, DC and I managed to convince my friend to stop in the Rockville store for a brief visit, where I shot these photos.

Light City 2018, Baltimore, April 21, 2018

For the third year in a row I went to Light City in Baltimore (which is also the festival’s third year). (You can read about my previous visits in 2016 and 2017.) The first year I went I basically just took the Charm City Circulator bus as far as the Shake Shack (which is located across from Harborplace) and I underestimated how big this festival was. The second year I had an animation that was showing at Light City so I took the Charm City Circulator until I got to a stop that was as close to the On Demand area (where my animation was being shown along with other film shorts) and I still have memories of sitting outside for two hours waiting for my animation to show up on screen as the temperature kept on getting colder and colder as time went on.

This year I decided not to submit anything to Light City so I could begin my tour anywhere. I also ended up going on the last night of Light City. I couldn’t get there earlier in the month due to scheduling conflicts so the final night was my first and last time that I visited Light City 2018.

I drove my car to Linthicum and stopped at a Royal Farms store so I could pick up a chicken dinner and a diet soda for only $7. (I know from previous years that many of the restaurants, fast food outlets, and food tents tend to draw very long lines during Light City. It was easier to just bring my own food to Light City.) I parked my car at the North Linthicum light rail station and took the train to the Camden Yards station.

I had the idea of taking the Charm City Circulator bus all the way over to the other side of the Inner Harbor near where Little Italy is located. When I arrived I found that this area has been heavily built up. There’s a new complex called Harbor East and I took some photos there along with some photos of Little Italy. I took so many photos that day that I decided to break up this year’s Light City entry into two. Yesterday I wrote about Little Italy and Harbor East. Today’s blog post is about Light City itself.

This year I shot video footage of some of the Light City exhibits. Here is the resulting video showing the highlights of that festival.

Here are the still photos I shot at Light City. When I arrived at the Inner Harbor the first thing I did was to eat the Royal Farms chicken while viewing the Harbor East marina at the beginning of a sunset.

I walked along the Inner Harbor where I saw the beginnings of Light City.

There were Fireflies Pedicabs that provided a service to give people a ride along the eastern end of the Inner Harbor. They were very colorful to look at.

I arrived at the first Light City structure called Pulse Portal by Davis McCarty. Even though it was still light outside when I was there, I managed to have fun shooting the Inner Harbor at sunset through the colored glass of the structure.

When I was there a couple were preparing to get married by that structure.

Mr. Trash Wheel was docked along the Inner Harbor.

The Herd by Kelley Bell consists of a flock of inflatable blue creatures floating in the Inner Harbor.

Octopus by Tim Scofield, Kyle Miller, and Steve Dalnekoff is a giant animatronic octopus whose tentacles were slowly moving while it was changing colors and playing very calming electronic music. I found it pretty mesmerizing to watch in person.

This Coffee Bar tent was one of many tents that served refreshments to the general public at Light City.

I came upon the On Demand area, which brought back memories for me. Last year I had my animation, The March of Liberty, shown in that area. I still have memories of sitting outside freezing in one of those adirondack chairs for over two hours waiting for my animation to be shown. I was so thrilled when it was finally shown that I shot this quick reaction video.

This year I didn’t submit anything to this festival. It was partially due to laziness and partially because I still have less-than-thrilling memories of sitting outside in the cold for a very long time. Even though I was ultimately happy when my animation was shown, it didn’t really lead to any further opportunities for me. (I had hoped that the showing of my animation at Light City would lead to some kind of a job or career breakthrough for me but it didn’t work out that way.) In contrast to last year, I didn’t spend much time in the On Demand area. I hung around just long enough to shoot these two pictures.

There were a few giant screens that were placed throughout the Inner Harbor that showed random video clips.

Something in the Water by Post Typography + PI.KL + Figure 53 featured some underwater lights that flashed just below the surface of the harbor.

I came upon the Institute of Marine & Environmental Technology (IMET) where a few of the Labs @ Light City were held. I arrived on the last night of Light City so the building was closed when I was there, which is why I was only able to get a few external shots.

Here’s the installation As of a Now by Elissa Blount.

There was another underwater installation called What Lies Beneath by Formstone Castle.

A drummer and a dance troupe performed outside of the Power Plant.

Many people walked through the bridge-like Synesthesia by Surcreative.

There was this line standing outside of the igloo-like The Eighth Art that was so long that I decided to skip it.

There were a few street performers playing for the Light City crowd.

Sun Stomp by the Sun Stomp Collective was this animation that required people to stomp on these nearby metal bleachers. The effect was pretty neat but it provided noise that was so loud that I had to leave quickly before I developed a headache.

This year Light City had something called Mini Light City, which was geared towards families. This elephant balloon graced the entrance to Mini Light City.

There was a tent sponsored by Future Makers where parents and children could make simple projects that involved light. That area was very crowded.

The Mini Light City area had another tent that was easier to get inside. It was sponsored by The PURGG Project and it included hands-on demonstrations using robots and drones.

A WJZ-TV (Channel 13) van parks at Light City.

Light City in Baltimore drew such huge crowds that Harborplace was packed with people. This photo shows why I decided not to buy anything from It’s Sugar that night.

There were some psychedelic-like effects at the installation Colour Moves by Rombout Frieling Lab.

There was a small carnival consisting of a ferris wheel ride (known as The Big Wheel) surrounded by concessions stands.

Many people have fun with rotating the giant prisms that made up the installation Prismatica by Raw Design, Atomic3, Jean-François Piché, and Dix au carré/Production: Quartier des Spectacles, Montreal.

Here’s the bird-like installation On the Wings of Freedom by Aether and Hemera.

The big HMO giant Kaiser Permanente sponsored something called a Thrive Garden, which, as far as I could tell, was a place where people sat down on benches.

Here is Elantica by Tom Dekyvere.

Some vector animations were shown on the outside of the Maryland Science Center.

Club Light City was an outdoor bar and dance area that was very crowded.

And last, but not least, here is the installation Drone Prix.

This year, for the first time ever, I managed to visit the entire Light City area in the Inner Harbor. The key to my success was that I took the light rail to Camden Yards then I walked to the nearest Charm Circulator bus stop where I took the Orange bus to the Little Italy stop then walked through Harbor East in order to get to the very far eastern end of the Inner Harbor then walked west back towards the Maryland Science Center. While I managed to see most of the Inner Harbor attractions, I didn’t see all of Light City. This year the festival expanded to a few outlying neighborhoods such as Fells Point and Federal Hill. I wasn’t able to attend any of these other Light City events due to tight finances and scheduling conflicts. Maybe next year I’ll make an effort to visit at least one of these neighborhoods hosting their own portion of Light City.

As I left the Inner Harbor to go back to the Camden Yards light rail stop I saw this sign announcing a special Lyft pick-up spot for those who went to Light City and decided to use Lyft’s services.

Baltimore on Martin Luther King Day, January 15, 2018

Last year I went to the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore because it has free admission on Martin Luther King Day. (The regular admission price is $15.95 for adults under 60 and $13.95 for people age 60 and up.) I had a blast even though I arrived too late in the day to get a free slice of birthday cake that the museum usually serves for that occasion. This year I decided to do it again except I made every effort to wake up early and get out of the door so I could arrive by noon (when the birthday cake would be served).

So I managed to arrive earlier than last year while braving the cold weather (the temperature was in the low 20’s that day). I took the light rail into the city then transferred to the Charm City Circulator bus. I managed to arrive shortly before noon. The main disadvantage is that the museum was way more crowded than I remembered last year when I arrived later in the afternoon. But I still tried to make the best of my visit since it was free admission day.

One of the buildings had a new exhibition which featured this giant dragon sculpture that was made entirely from balloons.

There were a few wall hangings that were literally displayed on the ceiling of that building.

I managed to arrive on the third floor of the building where the birthday cake was being served along with a few other activities as well. There was an opportunity to create buttons, which I didn’t get to do because the museum had run out of button making supplies by the time I arrived. But I managed to get a photo of a couple who were able to make buttons.

The entertainment featured a children’s gospel choir known as the Cardinal Shehan School Choir, who came from one of the local Catholic schools in Baltimore. This group has been featured on Good Morning America after one of their videos went viral. After hearing them, I understood why because this choir was so phenomenal, especially since the singers were all children.

In fact, I shot this video of them doing their final number called “Rise Up” that I think you will definitely enjoy.

While the choir was performing I got a chance to look at the birthday cakes that were served to the general public on a first-come, first-served basis. The cakes were available in a variety of flavors.

The museum also gave out a variety of hot beverages (including hot chocolate and a few different flavors of tea). The next photo shows my cup of hot chocolate and the slice of cake that I chose.

This next photo should give you an idea as to how crowded this room got with people making buttons and consuming cake and hot drinks.

I stepped out of the balcony on that third floor where I got a great view of both the museum’s main building and Federal Hill.

Once I finished eating my cake and the choir finished performing its set, I left that large and crowded room and explored the rest of the museum where I took these pictures.

The museum had this special exhibit called The Great Mystery Show, which featured art related to science and mysticism. This NASA astronaut sculpture in the next photo had me thinking about how my ex-husband would’ve loved this since he works for NASA and he told me that he once wanted to become an astronaut only to find out that his eyesight would’ve been considered too poor for such a position. (He managed to study computer programming so he found another way of working for NASA even if he never became an astronaut.)

The statue in the next two photos intrigued me because it was made mostly from sea shells.

The most memorable part of the museum was seeing this sculpture of Edgar Allan Poe that was made entirely from marshmallow Peeps.

The base of the Poe sculpture was flanked by a black cat and a raven, who were both also made from marshmallow Peeps. (Those two were references to two of Poe’s famous works—The Black Cat and The Raven.)

Near the Poe sculpture was this heart that was made from glass, which was a reference to another famous Poe piece known as The Tell-Tale Heart.

The most surreal part of the museum was seeing a TV monitor that had non-stop showings of Martin Luther King giving his famous “I Have a Dream” speech while the monitor was flanked by flowers, tarot cards, two gold masks, and an Ouija board.

I was amazed by this life-sized sculpture of what looked like the Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz.

I found this interesting recipe posted on the museum wall that I would like to try at some point in the future.

I really liked this colorful and funky cat illustration.

This dress looked like it was made from glass with all of the glass beads.

I couldn’t resist taking a picture of this inspirational quote from Leonardo da Vinci regarding science and art.

I really liked this next photo, which is a painting of Albert Einstein.

I was also amazed by what this one artist did with small tins (such as a sardine tin and a tin box that was about the size of a pack of Altoids). This person created scenes with paper cutouts. The tiny details were astounding.

I made only one purchase at that museum. I found this crochet pattern book for $5 that was about creating tiny equipment, furniture, and buildings that were small enough for LEGO Minifigs, tiny dolls, and other types of tiny toys. It looked really interesting.

Even though I had that slice of cake, it was no substitute for lunch and I was starting to feel hungry as I was touring the museum. I thought about eating in the museum’s cafe until I saw that it was very crowded. I began to become tired of the throngs of people who were crowding in the museum because they were also taking advantage of the free admission. I decided to leave the museum and walk along the Inner Harbor while taking some photos. This next photo shows a building in the middle that’s under construction complete with a construction crane.

The weather had been mostly non-stop freezing since Christmas with an exception of a couple of days when the temperature reached the low 50’s just a couple of days before MLK Day. Unfortunately that respite was short-lived and the area was plunged into yet another deep freeze. The next few pictures clearly show the effects of the below-freezing temperatures had on the water itself where you can clearly see ice that had been forming.

Some of the litter thrown into the Inner Harbor had been encased in ice.

A pair of ducks were swimming in the non-icy portions of the water.

These stone installations resembled three Adirondack chairs.

The next photo shows the statue of William Donald Schaefer, who served as the mayor of Baltimore and governor of Maryland.

I walked by Harborplace where I visited It’s Sugar.

 

I bought a few things in that store, including a special pack of Skittles that  was known as “Sweet Heat” because spices were added to the candy. I tried them and I found the spicy taste to be interesting but, to be honest, I prefer regular Skittles.

I bought a small box of this treat called Marshmallow Madness. The idea is based on the Lucky Charms cereal except that the cereal part has been excluded so all you get is just small colored marshmallows in a variety of shapes. I’ve seen Marshmallow Madness be available in cereal-sized boxes. On this trip I saw that there were smaller box versions of Marshmallow Madness so I decided to buy it to see what it tasted like.

My verdict is that while the marshmallows are tasty, I found myself missing the cereal part. (I used to frequently eat Lucky Charms cereal as a child. Even though I rarely eat presweetened cereal these days, I still found myself lamenting the lack of cereal in Marshmallow Madness. I guess old habits die hard. LOL!)

I purchased a pack of orange-flavored Donald Trump-themed gummy candy known as Make America Sweet Again mainly because the package design was such a hoot. I took a bunch of detailed photographs of this product so you’ll get the idea.

I haven’t opened that candy as of this writing. I have an idea of doing something creative with this candy so I don’t want to just eat it right now, especially since there are only two It’s Sugar locations in the entire Baltimore-Washington, DC area (one at Harborplace and the other in the Chinatown area of DC) and I don’t really live close to either location so I can’t shop there too often.

I took a couple of photos of Harborplace, which showed it becoming more and more of a dead mall. This was shot on Martin Luther King Day when a lot of people are off from school and work. I remember Harborplace in better days when it used to draw a huge crowd of shoppers. I remember the days when I made special trips to this place so I could spend the day there. Despite the presence of It’s Sugar, H&M, and Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Odditorium, this pavilion is still pretty much empty. I didn’t even bother with visiting the other pavilion because I know it’s the same situation from previous visits. Too bad, so sad.

The sign announcing a “New Tradition” at Harborplace that “Begins Fall 2016” had me laughing. Or maybe having a mostly empty mall is Harborplace’s idea of a “new tradition.” LOL!

The only area of Harborplace where I saw quite a few people was at the temporary ice skating rink that was set outside of one of the pavilions.

There weren’t really a lot of affordable place to eat lunch at. (I still remember the old days when that pavilion I had just visited used to have an entire floor dedicated to a food court that had all kinds of foods ranging from pizza to sushi to Chinese to Subway subs.) I decided to go to the Così that’s located across the street from the Baltimore Convention Center for a late lunch. Except when I arrived just 15 minutes before 3 p.m. I saw a notice on the door saying that Così would be closing early at 3 p.m. for MLK Day. I basically got my lunch to go and walked around the area looking for an appropriate place to eat lunch. Unfortunately it was way too cold to eat anywhere outside. I ultimately walked to the Hilton Baltimore where I sat down in one of the cushions in the lobby and quietly consumed my TBM (tomato, basil, and mozzarella) sandwich with a bag of potato chips and a Diet Coke. That hotel was very empty that day where the staffers outnumbered everyone else.

After I finished lunch, I decided that it was time to head back to the light rail station and get out of the city. I walked past Orioles Park at Camden Yards and took this one last photo. The place definitely looked pretty sad and deserted in the off-season. Baseball season will begin in a few months so this area will have a lot of Baltimore Oriole fans entering through those gates. (It also reminded me of the fact that the last time I attended a game there was back in 2007. It was the year before my hip replacement and it was also when I was still married because I used to accompany my husband to those games. I don’t know when I’ll ever attend another game there in person.)

The Inner Harbor Area of Baltimore, November 25, 2017

So on the Saturday after Thanksgiving I decided to go to Baltimore in order to check out the Christkindlesmarkt at the Zion Lutheran Church. I made every effort to get out of the door soon after I finished eating lunch. But then there were a lot of hassles. First I hit this awful traffic jam going northbound on the highway. I made it to the North Linthicum light rail station only to encounter a bit of a wait for the next light rail train.

I got off at Lexington Market in order to transfer to the Metro subway. But I encountered a long wait for the next subway train. I boarded it and made my way to the Shot Tower Metro station. I walked around the Shot Tower area in order to find the church. By the time I arrived at the church, I only had 45 minutes to check out the Christkindlesmarkt until the event closed for the day. So I was kind of disappointed over not having as much time to spend at that event as I wanted so I decided to hop on the next Charm City Circulator bus over to the Christmas Village in Baltimore where I ate dinner and looked around the area. At least I could more leisurely look everywhere compared to what happened at the other event since the Christmas Village was opened until well into the evening.

After I got my fill of the Christmas Village, I decided to briefly walk around the Inner Harbor where I took these spectacular photos of Baltimore Harbor itself both at twilight and after dark.

I noticed that Baltimore now has a bike sharing program of its own. (The DC area has had such a program for the past few years.)

Here’s a closeup of the wheel cover of one of these bikes that shows an illustration of the Baltimore skyline.

Here is one of the lights that were on display near the Inner Harbor.

I went to Harborplace mainly because I needed to use the restroom before getting back on the light rail. The only store I visited there was It’s Sugar because that store is always such a hoot to visit, such as these Christmas and Hanukkah Emojis lollipops that were on sale.

The store sometimes sells items that really reflect the politics of the day, such as the orange-flavored gummy Donald Trump candy.

Of course that store had a variety of Christmas and Hanukkah candy available for sale.

The weirdest thing I saw there was these dinosaur chopsticks where the dinosaur’s mouth moved every time you open and close the chopsticks.

They also had sushi made from candy (instead of fish). They would be appropriate with the dinosaur chopsticks.

They had beer-flavored gummy bears in these beer glasses. What’s more, they had white-colored gummy bears at the top so it would resemble beer foam and amber colored bears resembling beer.

I didn’t buy anything at It’s Sugar this time around since I had already spent enough money elsewhere. As I was walking back to the Camden Yards light rail station so I could take the next train out of the city, I walked past the historic Old Otterbein United Methodist Church. Here’s a shot of the church steeple as it was lit against the night sky.

The church sign had a pretty interesting message for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

So that’s it for my huge trip to Baltimore on the Saturday after Thanksgiving Day.

Gay Bar

Since Pride Month is winding down, I decided to highlight this photo featuring a product that I purchased. Recently I went to a job interview that was held in the Chinatown area of Washington, DC. Afterwards I did some walking around the Chinatown area when I decided to check out It’s Sugar. I found this rainbow candy bar known as Gay Bar. I bought it for the heck of it. Here’s a photo of the wrapper.

Having tasted the chocolate inside, I have to say that it wasn’t too bad. Its taste reminded me of a Hershey’s bar. It tasted really good.

A Birthday Trip to Baltimore and Glen Burnie, December 15, 2016

 

 

 

 

Last year I planned on going to Baltimore to celebrate my birthday at Christmas Village in Baltimore. I had to scuttle those plans because my birthday fell on a Tuesday and it turns out that the place was closed on certain Tuesdays including my birthday. (I ended up going to Tyson’s Corner instead and I still had fun last year.)

This year my birthday fell on a Thursday so I decided to go to Baltimore, just like I planned last year. I was determined to go there despite the fact that the Polar Vortex had just arrived in my area so the temperatures plunged to below freezing. (I basically wore a heavy winter coat and a hat so I was able to brave the deep freeze.)

On the way to Baltimore I stopped off at a local Jo-Ann’s Fabrics & Crafts store to check out the recent sales. I found a bundled pair of slipper socks. The original price was $9.99, which would’ve been a decent price for two pairs of thick socks. But they were on sale for half-price, which meant that I paid $5 for the bundle (or $2.50 per pair).

I took the light rail into the city. I initially went by Harborplace where I saw this ice skating rink.

Since my last visit to Harborplace, I found that the store It’s Sugar had moved from one pavilion to another. (It is now located next to the Ripley’s Believe It or Not Odditorium.)

I purchased a few things for myself on my birthday. Here is this cute gingerbread man cookie I bought.

I purchased this Pez dispenser featuring Badtz-Maru, one of Hello Kitty’s friends.

I bought myself this Guinness Luxury Dark Chocolate Truffle Bar. It was very delicious.

I took a few photos of other items in that store but I didn’t buy any of them.

After my visit to Harborplace I took a couple of photos of the Inner Harbor area at sunset.

I eventually made my way to the Christmas Village in Baltimore.

I’ve been there other years (see the photos I took in 2013, 2014, and 2015). Some of the same vendors were there this year while there were others whom I had never seen before. I also saw some empty booths but I had no idea if fewer vendors signed up or if it was because I came on a Thursday night and some of the missing vendors only worked on the weekends. I had been looking forward to eating some bratwurst with sauerkraut for dinner followed by a Belgian waffle topped with hot fudge and whipped cream for dessert. Unfortunately the waffle place wasn’t there this year, which was a big disappointment. The German food booth was still there so at least I was still able to eat the bratwurst and sauerbraten platter.

I purchased only one item. It was a pack of incense that I got from the large Käthe Wohlfahrt booth that was located at one end of the main tent. I’ve been lighting the incense each night since then so my home can smell like Christmas. (LOL!)

On my way back to the light rail stop, I saw this homeless person laying down under a thin blanket outside the Baltimore Convention Center. Usually I wouldn’t pay this person much notice other than the fact that the Polar Vortex had arrived and the temperatures were forecasted to dip under 20 degrees Fahrenheit over night. (The following morning my AccuWeather app on my smartphone registered 18 degrees Fahrenheit.) I felt that this person should really be indoors but I didn’t know where to turn since I live 30 miles south of Baltimore.

I took the above picture and frantically did Google searches on my smartphone for homeless organizations in Baltimore. I texted the photo to a couple of organizations while indicating where the person was located. For added measure I texted the photo to the Baltimore Police Department. I even uploaded this photo on my Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts using people to forward this to anyone who could help bring this person in from the cold. I don’t know if my efforts helped or not other than the fact that for the next few days I did a Google search for any recent homeless deaths in Baltimore outside the Baltimore Convention Center only to turn up empty-handed. I guess this person somehow survived the Polar Vortex but I’ll never know for sure.

Once I reached the North Linthicum Light Rail Station (where my car was parked) I drove over to Glen Burnie. Last year I found out about this overdecorated house on Delmar Avenue and I saw it for the first time on Christmas Eve. This year I decided to check it out again and, yes, it is still just as heavily decorated as it was last year.

The only difference I could tell between this year and last year is the next-door neighbor’s lighted sign that said “DITTO” with an arrow pointed to the other house. (That neighbor’s house didn’t have any outdoor lights at all other than that “DITTO” sign.)

By the way the house on Delmar Avenue has its own Facebook page that you can view to get the latest news and photos about that house.

Last year I shot a bunch of still photos of that house. This year I decided to shoot a video so you can get a sense of the flashing lights (including an animated laser display that’s shown on the garage door) and the constant Christmas music.

I headed home after visiting that house so that was it for celebrating my birthday in Baltimore and Glen Burnie.

Baltimore, June 18, 2016

Like I wrote in my previous post, I did other things in Baltimore besides take pictures of cosplayers next to a fountain that has since been closed down. I took a little walk around the downtown area, starting with these police motorcycles parked outside the Baltimore Convention Center.

These street drummers outside the PNC Bank building could be heard throughout the surrounding blocks.

This marker shows where a series of riots took place in Baltimore during the Civil War. Maryland was one of those border states that nearly seceded to the Confederacy until Abraham Lincoln offered a compromise where Maryland could still keep slavery legal in exchange for the state remaining in the U.S. Had Lincoln not done that and Maryland became a Confederate state, Washington, DC would’ve ended up being in the geographically awkward position of being the U.S. capital located inside of the Confederate States of America.

I briefly stepped inside Harborplace but there are so many empty storefronts in both pavilions that I no longer make a special shopping trip there. These days I only go to Harborplace if I’m in the Inner Harbor area for a different reason and I feel the need for some food, drink, or to use the restroom. There are just a few stores left that I felt was worth photographing, such as McCormick World of Flavors.

I also stopped briefly at the giant candy store It’s Sugar, which sold sexy underwear for both men and women made from candy.

It’s Sugar also sold some election-themed stuff like party masks and toilet paper featuring Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. I had sticker shock when I saw that each roll of toilet paper costs $6. (I could buy a 12-pack of toilet paper at Aldi for $1 less than that.)

Like I wrote before, there are a lot of empty store spaces in both Harborplace pavilions. Someone tried to cover one of the spaces with this nice looking ceramic art.

Across the street from Harborplace is The Gallery, which is yet another shopping mall. The Gallery has more stores than Harborplace but most of the stores are chains (such as Game Stop) which already have stores located closer to my home so I don’t really need to drive all the way to Baltimore to shop. The Gallery had this interesting vending machine that I’ve never seen before—it sells rollable flats. That’s right, it’s a vending machine that sells shoes. I thought it was pretty interesting but I don’t know if it’s the sort of thing that will catch on in other shopping malls in the Baltimore-Washington, DC area.

There are a couple of interesting sculptures at the fountain that’s located near the entrance to The Gallery.

Walking north of the Inner Harbor one can find some interesting things to photograph.

I walked along East Baltimore Street until I hit The Block. Historically that area was a place where burlesque performers did their striptease act while comedians performed there as well. By the 1950’s The Block became a full-fledged red light district with strippers who took all of their clothes off replacing the more demure burlesque performers and X-rated movies replacing the comedians. It was and still is the epitome of sleaze. As a child I can remember my father once loaded up the car when some relatives from Ohio came to visit and he gave a driving tour around Baltimore. He drove through The Block, which was lit up at dusk, while my Ohio relatives just oohed and ahhhed. He didn’t stop the car in The Block because even then it was way too sleazy for families to walk around in.

I had a misadventure at The Block when I was 19. I was attending Anne Arundel Community College as a freshman at the time and things between my then-boyfriend and I weren’t going too well. My boyfriend’s best friend, whom I’ll just call “John,” who was also a student at the same college, suggested that the three of us check out The Block. So we all loaded into his car and drove down East Baltimore until we hit that area.

John took us around to a couple of strip bars. The strippers weren’t all that attractive and I remember one of them looking like she weighed at least 250 pounds. We also checked out some peep shows, which were porn movies that were shown in individual booths. Basically you dropped a quarter into this slot and you saw the movie for about a minute or two then it would stop. If you wanted to see more of that same movie, you dropped another quarter, then another quarter, then another until you reached the end of that movie or you’ve had your fill of it (whichever came first).

At the time the legal drinking age was 18 so I drank a few beers and got drunk in the process. I remember the last thing we did was to go into these individual rooms that had a glass partition that was covered with a curtain. There was a phone next to this pay box that asked for a quarter. I picked up the phone receiver, dropped a quarter into the box, and the curtain was drawn to reveal this scantily-clad woman on the other side. I was totally blasted by then and all I could do was laugh hysterically. The woman was pretty patient about seeing this drunken teenage girl just laughing her ass off like a hyena and I think she asked if I was okay and having a good time. The curtain abruptly closed after a couple of minutes and I staggered out of that room.

I was totally hung over the next day. My boyfriend and I went our separate ways, I transferred to the University of Maryland at College Park the following year, and I basically focused more on my studies and campus life in general and less on visiting red light districts. When I was married I think my then-husband may have driven briefly through The Block once or twice on the way to someplace else in Baltimore but I don’t remember.

My devout Roman Catholic grandmother used to tell me that good girls don’t go to The Block. My grandmother is now deceased along with most of my older relatives, with the exception of my mother (who’s currently struggling with multiple sclerosis), so there’s no one around to warn me to not to venture near The Block because I’m a good girl. Heck, I’m divorced so I don’t have to worry about protecting my virtue and innocence anymore since it’s all gone, baby, gone.

I haven’t really explored The Block since my brief misadventure when I was 19 and seeing it now just looks sad. The X-rated movie theaters and peep shows are now gone (thanks in large part to the advent of home video and the Internet). There’s strictly an emphasis on live performances by strippers and selling sex toys. The Block is also way smaller than I recall. (The Wikipedia says that at its height The Block stretched several blocks long. I think I remember The Block being around two or three blocks long when I was there at 19. Nowadays The Block is literally one block long.)

These buildings on the edge of The Block are being renovated into office buildings although, to be honest, I can’t imagine any corporation or medical practice or any kind of straight-laced businesses (like insurance companies or travel agencies) wanting to put its offices next to strip clubs and sex shops. But, then again, Disney did take a risk in New York City when it decided to pour money into renovating the historic New Amsterdam Theater in Times Square, which led to other companies following suit and ultimately pushing out the strip clubs, peep shows, porn theaters, and sex shops. Maybe that’s what Baltimore is hoping: Disney or some other straight-laced company decide to invest in that area while leading other straight-laced businesses to relocate to The Block and ultimately purge the area of its burlesque and porn past. Maybe it’ll happen once the ugly memories of Freddie Gray and the Baltimore Uprising recedes further into the past but that’s going to take a very long time. (LOL!)

Around the corner from The Block is The Grace and Hope Mission. That’s right, it’s a Christian church and/or mission that probably caters to the people who work there. If one considers the fact that Jesus reached out to the prostitutes and other societal outcasts in his day, one can say that The Grace & Hope Mission is really being very Christian by emulating Jesus.  If one were to look at the upper left corner of the photograph below, one would see what looks like apartments or condominiums. (The balconies are a definitely giveaway.) I’m not sure if I would even want to live so close to The Block given the fact that it’s a very high crime area. I would be especially afraid to go to or from my apartment/condo at night.

The crown jewel of The Block is the historic Gayety Theater. Not only did burlesque performers like Blaze Starr performed there but comedians like Jackie Gleason and Red Skelton used to have shows there whenever they came to Baltimore. It has a lovely facade that was restored not too long ago.

Today the Gayety houses Larry Flynt’s Hustler Club, which features entertainment that’s a far cry from Jackie Gleason’s comedy routines of yore.

The Hustler Club also has a sex shop that not only features all kinds of sex toys but there are even signs advertising something called “the official pleasure collection” that’s inspired by the controversial Fifty Shades of Grey book trilogy and movie.

I came across something that I didn’t expect to see at The Block. Apparently the Hustler Club had something called “WTF Weekend” that featured Mama June from that controversial TV reality show Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, which was abruptly cancelled by TLC despite its high ratings a few years ago after Mama June left the father of her youngest daughter, Honey Boo Boo, for an old flame. Except it was revealed that this old flame had just finished serving time in prison for child molestation involving a young girl. Worse, before he was arrested and convicted for that molestation, he was accused of sexually abusing Mama June’s oldest daughter, who was a child at the time. Basically Mama June threw away her well-paying job as a reality TV star for hooking up with a convicted child molester despite having minor daughters still living at home (including Honey Boo Boo) while alienating her now-adult oldest daughter in the process. So now Mama June is reduced to making a living by doing live appearances in sleazy places like The Block with Little Sassee Cassee, a two-foot tall woman who’s billed as The World’s Smallest Entertainer. That event had just passed a week before I showed up yet that poster was still up.

The whole area of The Block just looked like a sad shadow of its past self. Unlike my last extended visit at 19, I didn’t even bother going inside any of the buildings because I had a feeling that the interiors would look even sleazier and more depressing than what I saw on the outside. Plus the people who were going inside and outside these buildings just looked like the kind of people I just don’t want to make even small talk with. Some of these people just oozed sleazy vibes on first sight. You’re definitely not going to find anyone like Richard Gere’s suave wealthy character in Pretty Woman. (Hell, I can’t imagine anyone from the 1% venturing anywhere near The Block, especially when they have the money to pay for a high-priced escort service to make house calls.) It was just as well that I didn’t go indoors because I was spared what goes on in these establishments, as described in this article.

Not only did I not bother with entering any of the nightclubs on The Block, I didn’t even bother with entering the few non-sexually oriented businesses either, such as Subway. (Shoot, I don’t even remember any corporate chain fast food places on The Block when I went there at 19.)

The 2 O’Clock Club is one of the few original businesses left on The Block. Blaze Starr got her start as a burlesque performer there and she even owned the place at one point. She sold it and retired from her burlesque career when The Block went from being an area that featured burlesque shows to showing porn movies and peep shows. That place was the site of a brutal murder not too long ago.

I can remember when the neon signs on The Block would especially stand out at night. Given the crime that frequently goes on these days, there is no way in hell I would ever walk in that area at night to see the lights in their full glory, even if I was with other people.

Right where The Block ends is a carry-out place called Mandi Kitchen that serves Halal dishes.

Right next to The Block is a police station. Seriously! Anyone who becomes a crime victim on The Block would only have to walk a few feet to get a police officer for help. It’s been said that the police station is there so the cops can keep a close eye on The Block, although given the crime that still goes on, I can’t say that they are watching that area too closely.

Across the street from the police station is a building that probably had a business that was once a part of The Block. The side edge of this building still says “KS Film Game Room,” even though that business has long since closed.

The building now houses offices of a business that specializes in retirement savings plans.

I have to admire The Block for still tenaciously hanging on when red light districts in other U.S. cities (such as the intersection of 14th & U Streets, N.W. in Washington, DC and Times Square in New York City) have long since fallen to gentrification, home videos, and Internet streaming. But The Block seems like a cancer or AIDS patient who is still alive but the body has dwindled to skin and bones and the patient is mostly bedridden. Only time will tell whether The Block will still be around for the turn of the 22nd century or if it will ultimately be something that one only reads about on the Wikipedia.

I got away from The Block and I walked past the historic Shot Tower. This particular photograph has some very subtle delicate cloud formation in the sky.

I briefly walked into Little Italy but I only walked about a half a block in the area when I felt my feet getting really tired. I managed to stay long enough to admire some of the building facades but I decided that I’m going to have to explore Little Italy another day.

I walked back to the Shot Tower Metro Station and took the subway to Lexington Market. I thought about going inside to get a soda but I arrived 20 minutes late because the building had already closed for the day by then. I ended up taking a photo of the outside before walking to the Lexington Market light rail stop. I took the light rail train out of the city and to North Linthicum, where my car was parked.