Like A Strange Toy on Patrol

Snippets of Saturday...

We move about in the swelter Saturday, metro-ing down to the Eastern Market area of Capitol Hill to use the last tickets in our season subscription to the Catalyst Theater. The Catalyst is the best deal in town, bar none, EVAH, as tickets are $10 a piece for each and every performance for live, intimate and very moving theater. This performance is no exception (Crumble/Lay Me Down Justin Timberlake--a strange, sad, uplifting, and surreal show that is beautifully performed.) The Catalyst is moving next year to the H Street corridor but keeping their "theater for all" pricing. I suggest you run to get your tickets! Season ticket holders get to pick their seats, which is cool. The Catalyst always picks unusual pieces and their set designer is masterfully ingenious with a very small space.

On the way to the metro, we hear on the radio what's going on in and around town. This is the weekend when everything is going on everywhere. No kidding. We are amazed at how much is going on simultaneously this weekend. We do not hear the end of the report--that's how much is going on--as they are still reporting when we get to the metro.

On the metro, we see a variety of folks, including massive numbers of "Race for the Cure" people with pink foam bunny ears. Oh, man. It's 115 with the heat index and there's a Race for the Cure. This has disaster written all over it.

While we ride, someone gets on the train who is speaking loudly to no one and everyone. It is unclear if he is proselytizing or if he is off his meds. Or both. He keeps talking about "looking up." Are a lot of people who appear to have a tenuous grasp on reality also very religious? Maybe they are feverish in their belief? It begs the question--does the faith drive them mad or does madness drive them to faith or none of the above? No one responds to him and he moves along to another car.

We arrive 11:30--perfect timing for lunch before the matinee. We try the Starfish Cafe. It is cheerful and has good service and remarkably good "Caribbean Creole Seafood" dishes and deelish drinks. Plus, they bring wonderful hush puppies as an amuse-bouche! Truly, fantastic and reasonably priced from beginning to end.

After the show, we are walking back to the metro and we spy a metro cop on a Segway motoring down the sidewalk. He escorts us across the street and I appreciate him stopping traffic but I dunno. He just doesn't have the same authority as a horseback cop. There's something very goofy looking about a cop on a Segway to me, more like a Weeble than a cop. Here's an image I found on the Interwebs...

Does this say authority to you?