tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054888927218536027.post8622785907018990229..comments2024-02-20T08:25:06.177-08:00Comments on Confessions of ignorance: I've been goneseana grahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03774794086733027289noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054888927218536027.post-15860065094117413882015-05-25T14:13:38.149-07:002015-05-25T14:13:38.149-07:00Those would be just the years. Thanks.Those would be just the years. Thanks.Peter Rozovskyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09977933481463759162noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054888927218536027.post-21166753225376226732015-05-25T10:45:25.582-07:002015-05-25T10:45:25.582-07:00Not a memoir, but I have heard Gore Vidal's no...Not a memoir, but I have heard Gore Vidal's novel Washington DC, is very good and it covers the year 1937 into the Cold War. seana grahamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03774794086733027289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054888927218536027.post-57551059280422412602015-05-25T10:40:59.531-07:002015-05-25T10:40:59.531-07:00It might be interesting to read a memoir of Washin...It might be interesting to read a memoir of Washington's transition from sleepy Southern town to what it is today.Peter Rozovskyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09977933481463759162noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054888927218536027.post-44762042701585267952015-05-25T10:37:51.577-07:002015-05-25T10:37:51.577-07:00Actually, that's wrong. He spent his boyhood t...Actually, that's wrong. He spent his boyhood there, but was born in West Point, New York. The writers Edward Jones and Marita Golden, though, are natives.seana grahamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03774794086733027289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054888927218536027.post-74972937972764321782015-05-25T10:34:58.321-07:002015-05-25T10:34:58.321-07:00Gore Vidal was, for one. Gore Vidal was, for one. seana grahamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03774794086733027289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054888927218536027.post-27166587984949784602015-05-25T10:34:15.699-07:002015-05-25T10:34:15.699-07:00I didn't know anyone except for my colleague w...I didn't know anyone except for my colleague was ever born there.Peter Rozovskyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09977933481463759162noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054888927218536027.post-14931851583970586422015-05-25T10:31:33.813-07:002015-05-25T10:31:33.813-07:00Yes, there are a few longtime residents, as well a...Yes, there are a few longtime residents, as well as a couple of people who were actually born there.seana grahamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03774794086733027289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054888927218536027.post-8509859593695234592015-05-25T08:26:16.128-07:002015-05-25T08:26:16.128-07:00I might look for that book. I'd be curious to ...I might look for that book. I'd be curious to learn what those observant visitors thought of this new, completely planned city. I wonder also if any literary figures other than visitors are associated with Washington.Peter Rozovskyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09977933481463759162noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054888927218536027.post-61000470755325051212015-05-24T19:35:46.570-07:002015-05-24T19:35:46.570-07:00I also bought a book while there called Literary W...I also bought a book while there called Literary Washington D.C. which features selections from various authors who had been there. It starts with Frances Trollope, Charles Dickens and Louisa May Alcott. That's as far as I've gotten so far. I hadn't known that Alcott traveled there to take up her post as a nurse in the Civil War. seana grahamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03774794086733027289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054888927218536027.post-32718468501912844692015-05-24T19:17:08.200-07:002015-05-24T19:17:08.200-07:00One does not normally think of Washington as a cit...One does not normally think of Washington as a city with much of a past. But sooner or later it must develop one. Apparently it already has.Peter Rozovskyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09977933481463759162noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054888927218536027.post-23707097782820120672015-05-24T18:55:55.272-07:002015-05-24T18:55:55.272-07:00Not all of them that deep. But what the book makes...Not all of them that deep. But what the book makes clear is that so many of them never leave. seana grahamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03774794086733027289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054888927218536027.post-61151733710477001572015-05-24T17:19:49.904-07:002015-05-24T17:19:49.904-07:00The connected 500 in a town like Washington would ...The connected 500 in a town like Washington would probably be an interesting list. I wonder how deep their roots are in Washington. Peter Rozovskyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09977933481463759162noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054888927218536027.post-22655835091634898172015-05-24T17:10:26.829-07:002015-05-24T17:10:26.829-07:00Yes, my friend and her brother and sister are cous...Yes, my friend and her brother and sister are cousins of those Skakels. Ethel Skakel Kennedy was actually the person who married in, it was another cousin who got in trouble. But my friend's family grew up out west and wasn't part of that life. <br /><br />I have been reading two DC books that show how many communities really live there. One was This Town, which is all about the connected 500 who thrive around the center of power and the other is George Pelecanos's Drama City, which is about people just trying to stay out of jail and definitely goes nowhere near all the nice buildings we tourists see. They complement each other in a weird way.<br /><br /> seana grahamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03774794086733027289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054888927218536027.post-12852671734233412802015-05-24T16:53:24.537-07:002015-05-24T16:53:24.537-07:00And didn't a Skakel marry into the Kennedy fam...And didn't a Skakel marry into the Kennedy family and get himself into some trouble?<br /><br />I don't know how much this has to to do with Washington's current demographics, but I have read that before World War II, it was a sleepy Southern town. I also have a colleague who is a D.C. native, from the part, she says, where the tourists don't go.Peter Rozovskyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09977933481463759162noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054888927218536027.post-63655667228174110012015-05-24T16:19:06.438-07:002015-05-24T16:19:06.438-07:00It probably does, but I haven't noticed it so ...It probably does, but I haven't noticed it so much in New York, Boston or Chicago, which you would think might have the same dynamics. I was talking with a friend who had gone to school back east, and I think she shared a similar observation even before I brought it up. It wasn't that they were all doing lowly jobs or anything--it just seemed like somehow the service industry had developed in a different way. seana grahamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03774794086733027289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054888927218536027.post-81126539707272848532015-05-24T15:52:47.130-07:002015-05-24T15:52:47.130-07:00That observation might apply to many cities. One ...That observation might apply to many cities. One can understand why it might be especially noticeable amid all the lofty sentiments and monuments, and perhaps even more noticeable in Dupont Circle, among whose attractions are a great variety of ethnic restaurants.<br /><br />On my most recent visit to Washington, however, I spent more time among animals than among people.Peter Rozovskyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09977933481463759162noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054888927218536027.post-82639231002815371222015-05-24T15:48:55.520-07:002015-05-24T15:48:55.520-07:00We didn't make it to the little room beneath, ...We didn't make it to the little room beneath, but it was night. <br /><br />One thing I noticed was that almost all of the service industry seemed to be black or foreign, which is not the way it is set up here. I don't know if it was just the parts of the city we were in, but it was hard not to notice it. On the one hand, Latinos probably fill more of that role here than I notice, but was also just more evident because the area around Dupont Circle where we were staying seemed very white and privileged. And I don't mean snooty or anything, just that it was evident. seana grahamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03774794086733027289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054888927218536027.post-90154750567482376902015-05-24T15:40:06.181-07:002015-05-24T15:40:06.181-07:00I remember a thrill the first time I visited the L...I remember a thrill the first time I visited the Lincoln Memorial and, in the little room beneath, watched a tape of Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech. <br /><br />Another impression of my first visit to Washington is that everybody who lives or works in the city should be issued sunglasses at birth. The sun glinting off all that marble makes it one of the more glare-vulnerable cities on the planet.Peter Rozovskyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09977933481463759162noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054888927218536027.post-81379794194465143292015-05-21T18:03:30.697-07:002015-05-21T18:03:30.697-07:00Maybe so. I think I only saw a picture of the port...Maybe so. I think I only saw a picture of the portrait you mentioned on your blog, but I did see firsthand the joint portrait of John and Robert having a tete-a-tete. Quite resonant.seana grahamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03774794086733027289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054888927218536027.post-71194504498062112982015-05-21T17:56:55.076-07:002015-05-21T17:56:55.076-07:00Thank you for sharing your impressions of D.C. I&#...Thank you for sharing your impressions of D.C. I've been visiting the city for thirty years, but never often enough to be unimpressed. A visit to the Kennedy graves at Arlington National Cemetery might be the experience you are lacking.Collagemamahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03818246340865714754noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054888927218536027.post-18918420141109991612015-05-17T10:55:29.380-07:002015-05-17T10:55:29.380-07:00Thanks, Kathleen. Judging by how full all my fligh...Thanks, Kathleen. Judging by how full all my flights were, a lot of people have been 'gone' at this time of year, which seems a bit early to me. <br /><br />I hadn't planned to go to the Vietnam memorial, and am really glad that I suddenly remembered to look for George. I have met several vets of that era lately. One, in fact, had been at the graduation dinner that very evening. seana grahamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03774794086733027289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054888927218536027.post-48827225407634463052015-05-17T07:07:23.339-07:002015-05-17T07:07:23.339-07:00I'm glad you had a good trip. I was just talki...I'm glad you had a good trip. I was just talking about the Vietnam memorial with someone while I was also, recently, gone...Kathleenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06559881249054540947noreply@blogger.com