scarlet fever is all the rage

No, apparently scarlet fever is not one of those illnesses gone the way of the Beubonic Plague or polio. If you are very, very lucky and play those cards just right then you too can develop a nasty sore throat, go to the emergency room for the first time in your life, and be diagnosed with strep. If you are one of the chosen few, then you can go right back to the emergency room that same week covered with bright red spots from neck to knees. You probably will think that you are having a reaction to the penicillin, but you will be informed that while it could be the antibiotics, it could also be scarlet fever. Then your doctor will scratch his head and talk over YOUR head to a cheerful audience of nurses and aids and say, "I really don't know. It could be a drug reaction, but it could be scarlet fever." Then you will be told to take a benadryl and get some rest. Chances are you will no longer be hideous in about 3 days.

this heart beats in DC this summer

Dear friends, these past months have been a long term of silence. But that shit is over. I'm making noise now, and with some far more talented noisemakers than myself forming the majority of the caucophany.

Meridian Hill Park is one of the best things that I've discovered in DC. A drum circle meets every warm Sunday and plays for about four hours in the afternoon. Rumor has it that the leader of the drum circle also played on the Gil Scott-Heron classic The Revolution Will Not Be Televised. That album is topped and more by my new favorite, Michael Franti's CD Stay Human, which puts every other album in my collection to pale shame with its pure artistry and social awareness.

Also v.v. cool, though a little less important: the Folk Life festival had three featured cultures this year: Latino, Iman, and Forest Services. The culture of Forest Services seems best exemplified by, fire jumpers, fry bread, girls choirs, and beer. For instance, if you happen to fire jump into the thick brush of the New Mexico outback holding your lunch of frybread and natty lite, don't be suprised if you scare that little gaggle of girls singing by the sequoia. Instead, be supprised that you've descovered a sequoia in N.M., because they aren't native to the area. Not that I remember.

Also discovered this summer, again: dating is fun! Boys are fun! If you are meeting boys from craigslist then you must make that first meeting at Tryst in Adams Morgan, where bright young interns and your congressmen have been meeting about more than tort reform for a good long while.