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Nov. 8th, 2015 06:14 pmYesterday joined my sister in going to a meetup of the Horde, a group of internet commentators who apparently were originally followers of Ta-Nehisi Coates; she's been a member for a few years now. They come from all over the country, though there was a specific New York contingent among those who came to the meetup here in DC. They're apparently going at it the entire weekend, though I spent only the afternoon with them.
We first met for lunch in the Mitsam Cafe in the Museum of the American Indian, a cafeteria of Native American dishes, served at different stations grouped by regions. Although also so crowded and expensive I quickly wimped out and grabbed a thing of chicken tenders and fries offered for the less adventurous that didn't require waiting in line to get. They were the best tenders I'd ever eaten though. We managed to pull tables together as various peoples who were or weren't eating came in; at one point someone counted us as being a group of 18 people, though exact number varied a bit, and spent a good hour and a half there eating and talking. We also checked out the museum's gift shop, and the coffee shop, after which we had to exit the building because the coffees weren't allowed to be carried around in most of the museum.
The party then split into two groups; my sister and I joined the one that on her advice went to the National Gallery, entering through the East Building mostly so we could ride the underground walkway under the fancy lights to the West Building. We had an intention of going to see the Vermeer painting currently on loan from Amsterdam, and we did, eventually, but first we wandered through the regular galleries. It turned out in the group we had a woman who was an art expert. She took us through the galleries of 17th century Dutch art and talked about everything from the materials the paintings consisted of and how they made certain colors, to details about some of the artists, to the significance of everything in the paintings, then did similar in other galleries. When we finally got to the Vermeer, the room was crowded, and by the time she was done talking everyone in it was listening in. She even took us into the medieval gallery, and had lots to talk about to make the endless Madonna & Child depictions interesting.
It was there that we finally collapsed, sitting around in one of the galleries until one of the guards informed us the museum was about to close, and we went off in search of the group who had gone to see the monuments. We finally went to the Smithsonian metro entrance, and texted them we were sitting on the benches by the station. Unfortunately there turned out to be more than one group of benches, but eventually we found each other. It was then I said goodbye, and my sister drove me home, before going back to meet up with the group for dinner.
Today I went to my own social group, but it was a much less adventurous day. Been a busy weekend, all in all.
We first met for lunch in the Mitsam Cafe in the Museum of the American Indian, a cafeteria of Native American dishes, served at different stations grouped by regions. Although also so crowded and expensive I quickly wimped out and grabbed a thing of chicken tenders and fries offered for the less adventurous that didn't require waiting in line to get. They were the best tenders I'd ever eaten though. We managed to pull tables together as various peoples who were or weren't eating came in; at one point someone counted us as being a group of 18 people, though exact number varied a bit, and spent a good hour and a half there eating and talking. We also checked out the museum's gift shop, and the coffee shop, after which we had to exit the building because the coffees weren't allowed to be carried around in most of the museum.
The party then split into two groups; my sister and I joined the one that on her advice went to the National Gallery, entering through the East Building mostly so we could ride the underground walkway under the fancy lights to the West Building. We had an intention of going to see the Vermeer painting currently on loan from Amsterdam, and we did, eventually, but first we wandered through the regular galleries. It turned out in the group we had a woman who was an art expert. She took us through the galleries of 17th century Dutch art and talked about everything from the materials the paintings consisted of and how they made certain colors, to details about some of the artists, to the significance of everything in the paintings, then did similar in other galleries. When we finally got to the Vermeer, the room was crowded, and by the time she was done talking everyone in it was listening in. She even took us into the medieval gallery, and had lots to talk about to make the endless Madonna & Child depictions interesting.
It was there that we finally collapsed, sitting around in one of the galleries until one of the guards informed us the museum was about to close, and we went off in search of the group who had gone to see the monuments. We finally went to the Smithsonian metro entrance, and texted them we were sitting on the benches by the station. Unfortunately there turned out to be more than one group of benches, but eventually we found each other. It was then I said goodbye, and my sister drove me home, before going back to meet up with the group for dinner.
Today I went to my own social group, but it was a much less adventurous day. Been a busy weekend, all in all.
