This shot is a closeup of “Lightswept,” a neon light sculpture by artist Craig Kraft , that sits outside HR-57 on 14th Street. I wasn’t a huge fan of this piece at first, but in reading more about his process through his website, I can at least appreciate his craftsmanship, as well as some of his other public installations, much more now. I never put it together that this would be the same artist who created a similar neon sculpture, Lightweb, in Downtown Silver Spring, a piece I see nearly every day. I guess I like the Silver Spring sculpture a great deal more because it is integrated with the elevator shaft and seems to sweep around the existing structure. The one in front of HR-57 seems much more arbitrary, like it is sitting out in the open as an afterthought. Nonetheless, public art is a great thing that we shouldn’t take for granted, and I’m sure I will come around to this piece more in the future — maybe it will require another visit to HR-57 for an evening of jazz very soon.

Welcome to Leap Day 2008! According to my readings on Yahoo!, we have Julius Ceasar and the ancient Romans to thank for introducing this extra day into our calendar, sometime around 46 B.C. It makes up for the extra six hours, nine minutes and 9.7 seconds it takes the Earth to revolve around the sun each year.

Apparently, it is known as a popular tradition for women to propose to men on this day. Has anyone even heard of this?? I definitely have not.

   
The photo is from the Kogod Courtyard at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery and the American Art Museum. It opened just last November, and you should probably go check it out — it’s fun to watch kids, and adults too, walk and splash through the planes of water on the ground, while looking around to see if it’s ok…