I grew up in the DC area. It's an interesting place - lots of money and power. It's a large city with sophisticated technology and architecture.

It's as sophisticated as New York or LA. The traffic has been identified as the worst in the country the last couple of years. One of the highlights of the area is the free museums. The Smithsonian museums are some of the best in the world. They have Natural History, Air and Space, African American Culture, Portrait Gallery, and History at Smithsonian. There are lots of international restaurants, great universities, a good public transit system.

The ocean is 150 miles away with great beaches. The mountains are 50 miles away with the Appalachian trail and river rafting. The Kennedy Center for the performing arts is right on the river. There are a bunch of good jazz clubs. The Chesapeake bay is 50 miles away and provides a lot of seafood.

Above represents some scenes travelers may recognize. Union station interior is on the right and a Metro train platform at night on the left. Any big urban area has public transportation as a key component. When I think about visiting a city I think about transportation and traffic. If I get lost how easy is it to find my way. What modes of transportation are best in the city. How expensive is that transportation? How reliable and safe? DC has an excellent and inexpensive bus system. Union station is where long distance trains meet local subway meet Metrobus meet long distance bus. At Union station you can get on Megabus and Bolt bus which are long distance carriers to go to New York city and other east coast destinations cheaply. If you have a lot of luggage you might be better served by Greyhound.

Jazz has been an important part of my enjoyment of the city. Over the years there have been a good number of small jazz venues. One iconic venue named the Bohemian Caverns recently closed. I used to enjoy Takoma station back in the late 80s. They used to have free live jazz 7 nights a week. I saw Gil Scott-Heron there. I saw Wynton Marsalis there for $10 in 1988. Westminster Presbyterian church has had a great program for a couple decades. The Black Fox closed a few years ago. They had a regular thing for a while.

Karen Mohr is a pre-eminent jazz stylist with an amazing range, control, creativity, and joy in her performances. I have watched her develop her craft for several years and win the admiration and loyalty of some of the jazz scenes stars. I look forward to each performance she conducts and warmly anticipate hearing some of her recordings in the near future.

This is a view in the tunnel between the National Gallery and the new East Wing where the cafeteria is located. It's a glittery fun display of lights. The cherry blossoms were a gift from Japan in 1912. They are planted around the tidal basin of the Potomac river which divides DC from Virginia.

NASAs Goddard Space Flight center is located just to the northeast of DC. It has 10,000 employees and about 50 buildings on the campus. One building houses a Nobel prize. There is a rocket on campus. They have several testing stations for high frequency sound, low frequency sound, extreme temperatures and a centrifugal force machine for pilots. The trains are part of the Amtrak long distance travel fleet. They look fast, but they don't travel as fast as the train we traveled on in China.

To the west 50 miles are the Appalachian mountains and Skyline drive, a federal park. The Skyline drive is great for getting views from the crest of the mountain drive on various modes of transportation. Since DC is the political center of the world there are regular rallies and protests in various political veins. They also do other big events like the Independence day celebration, Memorial Day, Veterans day, etc. Arlington national cemetery, a military cemetery, is across the river in Virginia along with the Pentagon. Around town you'll see congress people, movers and shakers, military folks, and homeless people. There are lots of very visible homeless people. We get some cold weather in the winter and they take a beating.

Upon returning to the US from Thailand I landed a job and started within a month of arriving in the US. I had trouble getting a job from out of the country and ultimately decided the best approach by far was to hit the job market only upon returning. My final interview for the job I landed was at a little cafe in Silver Spring, MD. There was only one other customer there. At some point the proprietors brought out a birthday cake with candles and everyone sang happy birthday to their pre-teen daughter! Definitely unique in the annals of interviews.