Day 3 - Our First Full Day

DATE: Friday FEBRUARY 25TH

TIME: 11:41PM EST

LOCATION: FAIRFAX VA

Today we went on our first true adventure of the trip. Washington DC. I had been to DC before, way back in 8th grade. This trip however was completely different. We got up around 8am this morning and were out the door a bit past 9. Metro was surprisingly easy to navigate which was a pleasant surprise.

We started out at the Artec House, which may have been one of the coolest art installations I have been to. Ill leave those images and videos below, make sure you take a look. This exhibit, Transient, had a piano placed in the center of this white room which was playing a song written by the artist Quaola. This performance was from the opening night of the exhibit, but long past the piano still plays. On that night, there was an algorithm running which recorded all of the notes played and created a completely random lighting display all across the room. The song loops in the room, but due to the nature of the exhibit no loop is ever the same. On the side rooms they have some smaller exhibits using the same tech, alongside a room showing some of the algorithm’s logic. Based on the output logs on display and the noise data show, my best guess is that the algorithm is placing a splotch of color somewhere in the room as the song plays, which then has force applied to it based on a 6 layer noise map. There is also an output of what seems to be a sin curve, which I would assume is used in to pitch the synth that accompanies the piano. There was also a curve outputting the synth’s intensity which seems to also be randomized in some way. All in all very very cool. The person working the exhibit was amazed I could figure it all out and actually directed Abby back to me to explain some of the output data because he believed I understood it better than him, which I found pretty funny.

Our second stop was the Spy Museum. I went there in the past when I was quite young, but ended up getting super scared. This time around, I had an amazing time. When entering, you are given a secret identity and mission to complete at your leisure. All across the museum there are these kiosks which are loaded with minigames to simulate spy craft. All of these games were pretty dang fun, I had a good time completing them. We ended up spending around 2.5 hours in there and I still feel like I missed to much. Probably one of the most comprehensive museums I have been in. If you are ever in the area, make sure to check it out. Ill have to come back another time to see the rest. After a brief snack we headed towards the mall stopping by the Museum of African Art. We unfortunately didn’t get to stay long since our next stop was closing soon, but everything I saw in there was amazing. There was a really incredible metal snake sculpture which Ill have below.

The next stop was the Museum of Natural History. I had a really good time here. It was slightly off putting to stand near so many dead animals, but it was really cool. I really liked seeing the dinosaur skeletons. Ive always been a sucker for dinos. After leaving we walked back to the mall to rest our feet for a little while and grab some food. There was a line of food trucks at the edge of the mall where we got food. I have never had food truck pizza, and it was surprisingly good. When we finished up out food we had just enough time to check out the Hirshhorn. The first level there had an incredible atmosphere about it. Very dark and creepy, but I think that was the point. There was a large man projected onto a giant chair, a room full of graffiti, and a row of holograms sharpening knives, really strange. We unfortunately didn’t see everything before they closed up, but I liked what I saw.

After leaving Hirshhorn we headed back to the metro and took the trip back. Same as the way in, chatting with Abby made the trip fly by, and we got back home around 7pm. We closed out the night watching the first episode of Squidgame and chatting. All in all, probably my favorite day so far. Definitely made some life long memories. Today’s batch of pictures are probably my favorite. Im really happy to have spent so much time hanging out with Abby today, I don’t get to see her often enough. Anywho, tomorrow we are leaving probably early afternoon then its my turn to drive us south to Chesapeake.

Have a good night, stay safe

Signing off

-H