White grass cross county ski II

It took 3-4 hrs drive to Davis, WV. We had a 2-hr delay due to car key accident: half of the car key broken and left in the trunk key hole. Of course, we could not drive anywhere without a spare key with us.

We were lucky enough to experience the accident at a hardware/supermarket at Wardensville, WV. People there were super friendly and helpful. Several group of people tried their best to offer solutions, find tools to get out the broke key, etc. The closest Toyota dealership was 40 miles away, and the closer locksmith was one an assignment one hr away. After we tried 1.5 hrs via all feasible methods online and tools available, nothing worked. It took only seconds for the locksmith to take out the broken key, and minutes to duplicate a key. Halleluiah!

It was a gorgeous sunny day with plenty of snow and perfect for XC skiing. Well worth while even for a single day of skiing. It rains the second day.

After skiing, we went to the Purple Fiddle Saturday night for dinner and a blue grass band, cabinet. The fusion with reggae, rock, and country music wig blue grass was great.

I will return to White Grass for skiing next winter, and learn to manage down hill better.

DC Beer Festival in the National Ballpark

The D.C. Beer Festival had 70s  international as well as D.C.'s local breweries, live music, and fun people. I attended the 1-4 p.m. Sunday section with plenty of tastings. I am not a beer drinker but tried this event for the experience. I participated some private beer tasting functions, but 1st time a public event.

As a genuinely happy person, I am naturally relaxed and smile all the time. Me and my friend accidentally became the 1st people started the tasting of that section. One other attendee commented that I was so happy by nature without needing any beer to start the party. We danced with the music during the section and had a great time.I like one with pecan flavor and one with maple syrup favor. I made home safely after tasting ~50 kinds of beer.

Moderate amounts of alcohol does relax people, yet more people develop addiction via time in order to escape from stress, anxiety and pain. The average American man drinks 23 gallons of beer, 15 pints of wine and 10 pints of spirits every year.

Rock 'n' Roll USA Marathon March 2013 in DC

On a crisp, cloudy Saturday, nearly 30,000 runners took to the streets of the Nation’s Capital to compete in the second annual Rock ‘n’ Roll USA Marathon. I witnessed the race near Adam's Morgan and felt motivated to sign up for the race on Saturday, March 15, 2014 in Washington, D.C. to run in rock music.

Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History

I have not looked at the exhibits of the museum for a few years. I was surprised by the new designs of the exhibits after viewing an environmental film "Planet Ocean" in the museum.

According to Wikipedia, the main building has an overall area of 1.5 million square feet with 325,000 square feet of exhibition and public space. In total, the museum has the space of 18 football fields and houses over 1,000 employees.

I was surprised by the information that human genes share 60% similarity to banana's and 75% of chicken's.

I also caught a beautiful sunset after the visit.

I have participated in Environmental Film Festival in Washington DC a few years.  It screens a record 190 diverse and arresting films from 50 countries. This year’s Festival features 110 Washington, D.C., United States and world premieres; 196 filmmakers and environmentalists will be present to enliven our screenings with their perspectives and knowledge.  Through astonishing photography, "Planet Ocean" took me on a magnificent journey into the deep sea.

Blues Alley: Peter White

Peter White is a smooth jazz and jazz fusion guitarist. The music was so great, that I can ignore that Peter appeared to be tired and not very engaging after the performance.  I really enjoyed his performance with Gregg Karukas and Vincent Ingala! Vincent is such a gifted saxophone player and he is only 21 yr old, simply amazing!

TwinOaks Estate

TwinOaks Estate was a home to nine ROC Ambassadors, a National Historic Site, and a Symbol of Friendship with the United States. I heard about it for a long time and finally visited it with a Taiwanese intellectual property delegation.
 

It is situated atop a hill on a parcel of land once owned by a one-legged Revolutionary War general is a 26-room mansion that served as the official residence of nine ambassadors from the Republic of China (ROC) between 1937 and 1978 and which still belongs to the ROC government in Taiwan. 

The land upon which Twin Oaks rests belonged originally to Uriah Forrest, an American general in the Revolutionary War, a member of the first Continental Congress, and one of Maryland's first delegates to the U.S. Congress.  

I enjoyed the estate's gardens, its Georgian Revival architecture, and its priceless Ch'ing dynasty antiques. 

Nordic Cool 2013 in Kennedy Center

February 19-March 17, 2013, the Kennedy Center presents Nordic Cool 2013, a month-long international festival of theater, dance, music, visual arts, literature, design, cuisine, and film to highlight the diverse cultures of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden as well as the territories of Greenland, the Faroe Islands, and Áland Islands.

    
I watched a play "Bird in Magic Rain with Tears" - U.S. PREMIERE, on 2/21/2013. This multimedia two-act play revolves around the intertwined fates of three characters--a conceptual artist grieving over her son's death, a boy-prostitute searching for the truth about his past, and a terminally ill businessman longing for love.

I also attended Iceland Symphony Orchestra 3/4/2013 : Ilan Volkov, conductor, Garrick Ohlsson, piano. I only stayed for VILMARSSON: bd (U.S. Premiere) and GRIEG: Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16. I was more impressed by Rasmus Lyberth who is a Greenlander, singer/songwriter who has powerful voice and hand gestures and Greta Sundström who is an Åland Islander accordion player who played classical pieces to folk music and dance-friendly pop tunes.