I am in a foul, steaming funk. My beloved little blue bike was stolen from INSIDE my garage (and yes, before you ask, it was chained and locked). I'm not even certain when it happened – I'm so discombobulated from the move and all the travel, and it still wasn't routine for me to notice it locked in place...it wasn't until I went out to hop on for a ride around the Hill this morning that I realized it was gone.

I know it's just a bike and all, and I try to stay breezy about my "stuff" (like, if I adopt a blasé easy come, easy go attitude, maybe the 'easy come part will materialize). But I'm pretty upset, dammit. I only had her for a year, almost to the day. This was the nicest bike I've ever owned, and I tricked her out with fenders and a rack and panniers and head- and taillights, the whole shebang. I'd really come to love scooting around town on two wheels. It's going to be a good long while before I can afford to replace her with anything near as nice – and should I bother? if it's just going to be stolen the moment I turn my back.

Grumble. This sucks! 

Here's some stuff around town that I want to hit up:


The Places We Live

In 2008, for the first time in human history, more people lived in cities than in rural areas. One-third of these urban dwellers—more than one billion people—resided in slums. That number is expected to rise substantially: the United Nations forecasts that the number of slum dwellers will double to two billion people within the next 25 years. Poverty is urbanizing at breakneck speed, and there are few overarching plans to address how cities can accommodate this rapid influx of humans.

The Places We Live compels viewers to consider what it means to live in a city in the 21st century. In a multimedia installation, visitors are admitted into the homes of 20 different families in four slums around the world.

 The Places We Live is a collection of the voices and reflections of some of the people living in the world’s fastest-growing human habitat—slums. These are the places we live.

Bittersweet Harvest: The Bracero Program 1942 - 1964

Through photographs and audio excerpts from oral histories, this exhibition will examine the experiences of bracero workers and their families while providing insight into Mexican American history and historical context to today's debates on guest worker programs. Begun in 1942 to fill labor shortages in agriculture and the railroads caused by World War II, the bracero program eventually became the largest guest worker program in U.S. history. Small farmers, large growers, and farm associations in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Arkansas, and 23 other states hired Mexican braceros to provide manpower during peak harvest and cultivation times.

Darwin's Legacy/ Since Darwin: The Evolution of Evolution

November 2009 marks the 150th anniversary of the 1859 publication of Charles Darwin’s groundbreaking On the Origin of Species.  His theory of evolution by natural selection grew out of his work as a naturalist aboard the H.M.S. Beagle on a five year journey around South America and the Galápagos Islands. Darwin’s theory soon found supporters at the Smithsonian, including Joseph Henry, the first Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, and it continues to guide research at the National Museum of Natural History.

Celebrate with us the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his groundbreaking On the Origin of Species. This exhibition focuses on the significant role that Darwin’s theories have played in explaining and unifying all the biological sciences.  Specimens from the Museum’s diverse collections, along with documentation from our ongoing research, illustrate the importance of evolution as a scientific foundation, and how our knowledge of evolution has evolved over the last 150 years.

The Palace of Wonders

Burlesque! 'Nuff said.