Nursing Mothers Revolt Against Hirshhorn

 "If you don't know the rules, Wikipedia is just a few clicks away."

Today, dozens of lactivists will be visiting the Hirshorn Museum not to admire sculpture but to nourish their babies (in public).

Reclining Nude at the Hirshorn

The incident that spurred this nurse-in occurred last month when Noriko Aita, who was nursing her daughter on a bench in the museum was told to go to the bathroom and sit on the toilet, not once, but by two different guards.

I understand that the guard had good intentions.  But when you're not sure of the rules, Wikipedia is only a few clicks away.  That's what Noriko did and after confirming that a mother has a right to breastfeed on federal property (Right to Breastfeed Act, 1999), she went online to report the outrage and word quickly spread.

Don't Know Much about History of the Gullahs

"People come and go.  Some Cultures even go through change.  But language must never be lost, or else we'll lose our identity and our will to live."

Life can be exciting at times, especially when you're open to explore it.  I was literally just in the area meeting with the inspector for 2356 Green Street, SE, a house with a splendid, panoramic view of the Capitol, USS Barry and the expanding development across the Federal gateway.

The inspection went fine, so I decided to kill some time in the local area -- it had been a long while since I visited the Anacostia Museum -- had no idea, what was on display...why not?  Sometimes surprise can be exciting.

As soon as I walked in, the museum staff informed me of a program that was just starting called "The Roots of Gullah".  Attending high school in coastal Georgia and being stationed aboard USS O'Bannon (DD-987) in Charleston, South Carolina, I had definitely heard of the Gullah people before.  The problem was, the topic never really interested me much -- it was something I overlooked or just took for granted.

Folklife Fest Video

Folklife Fest "Wales" on YouTube

Please check out my "Folklife Fest" video on YouTube:

Hopefully, this video will depict the natural beauty of Cardiff Bay with its glorious Castle to the pit mines -- a reason why Wales is an industrial powerhouse.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q21nAd2XcS8

Folklife Festival -- Wales After Lunch

Today, I made my trek to the Folklife Festival after my farewell luncheon at Fogo de Chao on Pennsylvania Avenue.

I was very impressed with all the rich slabs of meat especially the picanha, succulent steak dipped in garlic paste and roasted over hickory wood.

No one can skewer many different types of meat and make it so succulent like Fogo can. And the carving -- just perfection.

Needless to say, after several servings of prime rib, sirloin and the juiciest steaks, I was in no shape to run.

But I still made my daily trek to the mall and had great fun.

Welsh storytelling and poetry

I love to listen to Welsh poetry

Majestic prose and medieval history

The Pride of Wales and how they set their country free

The tale of war, the language of love and a beautiful story

                                                      Women making wire rope

Karl Chattington making a coracle, a small, lightweight boat with an ancient lineage dating back thousands of years.

My friend Karl is making a nice coracle

If you launch it in the river, it will make a true oracle

I wonder how it floats with a load of slime barnacle

But then again the whole history of the boat is just a time miracle

"Windsong", a Bristol Channel 16 footer, was built in Cardiff on 1937.

I told Sage how impressed I was with the extent of effort and presentation that Smithsonian puts into researching, planning and showcasing the unique culture, arts, and music of the featured country.

Every year, I learn something new and meet new friends who remain friends on my Facebook account.

Caitlin Jenkins, ceramic artist, making pottery, that will one day grace a beautiful table setting

I like to see Caitlin make traditional Welsh pottery

It's plain and simple, not too gaudy

Ceramic earthenware can serve us tea or coffee

So we can sit in the shade and   admire all of life's glory

I was interviewed by Ms. Sage Sawyer of the Smithsonian




















Keith Rees, a textile weaver, spinning dark Welsh wool to make thread

A Great Day for Great Britain

Today, the world's best triathletes will gather in my hometown to race in the International Triathlon Union (ITU) championship. The ITU series features eight races around the globe and more than 100 elite triathletes will compete in the only race to be held in North America. Spots in the 2012 Olympics are at stake for the ITU athletes, so the competition would be fierce -- I would be sure not to miss all this excitement and action with world-class athletes wearing their nation's flags racing up and down majestic Pennsylvania Avenue.

This morning, I rolled out of bed at 4:30 AM to head out to what I thought would be a beautiful, summer rain-free and action-packed day -- I thought wrong about the weather, but the day was indeed full of energy and excitement.


One of DC's most amazing running groups, DC Capital Striders, would be sponsoring an aid station (on Mile 5 on the course, between 7th and 9th Constitution), and I was indeed honored to participate and perhaps pick up some pointers for my Ironman 70.3 in Cancun later this year.


Nkosi offering Adrian Fenty a cup of water. He forgot to ask the Mayor how the Potomac tasted (especially after all that rain).

Stephanie handing out Powerade to a top-notch athlete. Although water was popular at first (I managed to meet my quota of 10 cups), powerade came back strong at the end.

I even got to see a couple of my friends on the course, including the ubiquitous Bill Brigman, USAF, former colleague and Nation's Triathlon veteran. Glad Bill liked my water -- too bad it wasn't bourbon, Bill.

After helping out with both the sprint and Olympic distance races, the Capital Striders gang disbanded and headed out to Penn Avenue to watch the pros strut their stuff.

Time trial bikers racing in front of the elegant and nautical Navy Memorial. Guess what the flags in the background spell?

Answer: NAVY - ME - MO - RIAL

The top three finishers in the men's competition: Gold: Alistair Browlee of Great Britain (1:48:58), Silver: Javier Gomez of Spain and 2008 Olympic champion (1:49:11) Bronze: Maik Petzold of Germany (1:49:24).

After the elite men championship, I decided to visit the Newseum to get a bird's eye view of the race from it's much-vaunted and full-length balcony (made famous from during the Inaugural parade)

This turned out to be a great idea. Not only was I able to get sweeping, unhindered views, I met another Brit, Betty Vo, who recently received her Masters in Journalism at George Washington University. As luck would have it, Betty, was on her way to Dulles to fly back to UK, and the Newseum was her final stop. I'm glad I got a chance meet her and chat with her before her return home.

Betty and I in front of the Berlin Wall. (No surprise why Betty didn't want to get close to me -- I had just run along Penn Avenue). I found out later that ACT UP or the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power is a diverse, non-partisan group of individuals who are committed to end the AIDS crisis.

Betty, who aspires to be a radio broadcaster in the UK, shared with me her views about journalism. She doesn't believe that journalists should always go out on an assignment to find the story. Instead, sometimes, it's better to let the story find you.

Needless to say, I was quite happy to hear her views -- kind of like what Run in DC is all about: Running around this exciting town not on a particular agenda but to observe and blog the human-interest stories that appear right in front of my eyes (even if I have to run to it).

At L'Enfant, I bid Farewell and Following Seas to Betty -- I wish her well and best of luck in her career. Maybe one day, I'll hear her on "All Things Considered."

After all this, you would think the excitement would finally be over -- you thought wrong -- I had watched a lot of runners, but I had yet to go out for my long run.

A run along the National Mall brought me in touch with Ms. Ang Herad, Stuart, Carwin, and Gwenno from the beautiful and historic country of Wales.

Ang Herad is ensuring that the Folklife Festival fully captures the rhythm of everyday life in Wales so that visitors will be able to get a real sense of the people and landscape of this breathtakingly beautiful and culturally-rich country.

The Wales Cymru team is building a very nice, authentic Welsh pub equipped with delicious and nutritious Welsh beer. This is exactly what we had two years ago when Northern Ireland was featured at the Folklife. Read my post from July 2007

For good luck and good health, Ms. Jones presented me with a piece of world-famous Welsh slate mined from the mountains of Northern Wales. I had to run around the mall with this in hand, but mysteriously I picked up speed -- I'm making a bracelet out of this stone.

 This stone wall was made by my friend Stuart

 A great chap from Wales, he was quite a Seaward

Mined from the mountains, extracted from the deep quarries

If you pack it tight, it will last a million years

So, how was my day after all. Let's see Alistair Browlee of GBR won the Gold; I met Betty Vo from London and now I have made two, true Welsh friends at the Folklife and even have a momento to prove it -- It's a Great Day for Great Britain.

(Note, despite my naivete, I know that Wales is not part of GBR but actually part of the UK -- but they all have great pubs, great slate and this makes a great story -- so there.)

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American History Museum Grand Opening

Today we went to the National Museum of American History Grand Opening weekend.  

Lots of people and lots of great acts and remembrances.  Displays the historic flag that inspired the national anthem.  Costumed characters wander the halls and great Presidents and Leaders that served and sacrificed to make our Nation the great it is today.

It was about time -- been waiting for over 2 years for the museum to reopen.  Ran by it almost everyday, hoping and waiting for the doors to open soon.

And American History is my favorite museum.  We ran into friends there -- which was a nice, pleasant surprise.  We were supposed to go biking instead, but it was too windy and cold, so the museum was the right warm, cozy place to go.

I'm excited -- now another great museum for me to explore while I run the Mall and a chance to venture into the annals of our ancestors of this Great Country and City.  God Bless DC.