O.k., so I was excited about getting a new phone today, the 3G iPhone, but I'm not one that has to be the first to obtain a product.  I'm not materialistic.  I just wanted a new phone since I was up for replacing my 20th c. phone (that needs a new lightbulb, and therefore is blank right now!!!) with the new iPhone, but alas, I was disillusioned with my beloved Macintosh folks after seeing that the iPhone rollout began with a marketing scam, as I see it.  You see, I arrived at a location where I had pre-registered with ATT the day before, this a.m. around 9:00.

I'm about as excited about a new technology as I have been in a while. The new iPhone, to be released this coming Friday, 7/11 has bitten me. it helps that my own 20th c. cell phone has lost its LED readability, and I'm about up to my neck in frustration with it (who knew that i'd be so dependent on the visual capabilities of my cell phone--I'm really amazing myself how addicted I've become).

So I'm fixated with the story of the release of Ingrid Betancourt. I had loosely been following her captivity through the years after having learned about her as a Colombian political figure prior to her kidnapping. I felt a sense of solidarity with her, though perhaps that was what media effectiveness. Even so, we're both Colombians in our 40s with 2 children, a boy and a girl. I guess our similarities end there truth be told(...or not?).

Spending the day in Washington DC today was a terrific way to close out on our Baltimore/Washington experience. Sure, driving around looking for a parking spot wasn't terrible exciting, but the time soak was made up for by the ultimate proximity of the eventual garage to the 4th of July parade route on Constitution Ave. (about 4 blocks away!). Sure, the heat was overbearing at times, but seeing Olivia's face when she saw the baton twirlers, Hello Kitty in a tutu & Garfield was worth every aggravation.