One quick perk to my current location -

Yesterday my roommate and I spent some quality time standing out in the freezing cold with one purpose: to see FREE movies! I've paid a terrifying amount of money to buy groceries in this city, to take the train to work, and to eat at a restaurant. And then the National Archives put on movies for free, and my roommate and I decided we would camp out in negative degree temperatures, forgo food and bathroom facilities, and give offerings to the gods of poor college students, but we were getting through that line and we were seeing something in this town for free. So there.

Luckily, we did eventually get inside, with 250 other people who made it in from among the 1000 stationed outside the building. And even luckier, the movies turned out to be totally worth it.

Specifically, the National Archives screened the short films and documentaries nominated for tonight's Academy Awards. This isn't stuff I would normally get to see, and it's too bad that most people won't ever see thse movies, because they were fantastic. We saw the five short live action films and one of the documentaries, Murderball. Murderball is about quadriplegic rugby, and if that sounds both crazy and awesome at the same time, it is soooo much better than you're imagining. Lobby Blockbuster to carry something good for once and maybe you'll get to see it.

Good day in D.C.