I visited the new International Spy Museum for the first time this weekend.  I've been listening to their radio commercials here in DC for some time now, and was intrigued by their claims to be "interactive"--I envisioned the Exploratorium in San Francisco, which I adored as a kid.  While the ISM didn't quite live up to that expectation (perhaps due more to my advanced years than to any deficiencies in the exhibits themselves) it was still well worth the visit.  One thing to keep in mind, though--the line was long.  Long.  We waited about an hour just be granted access to the ticket counter, after which we waited again to start the tour.  It's a "walk this way" sort of place (the exhibits are in a particular order, and you move from one to the next), so it was nice that they staggered the entry, but it was still a long line.  Apparently (I've discovered now) you can order tickets in advance (48 hours required, not including weekends) for entry on a specific date at a specific time.  The additional $2 handling fee seems worth it to me, especially if I were to visit again on a holiday weekend.

Good stuff, though.  It made me want to be a spy.

Some people have asked me what I think of the recent election results.  My answer is that I'm disappointed--not because Republicans gained back their control of the Senate, but because one party holds it all.  Regardless of the party, these rumblings of a "mandate" scare me; as far as I'm concerned, the less the federal government can do, the better.  My thought is--even though Congressional gridlock destroys any possible chance of making government smaller, I'd rather it stagnate than become bigger.  And then today I came across this in Wendy McElroy's blog:

I had hoped for a political gridlock, in which no one party, no one agenda could write its own ticket... Poof, in smoke! Thank God I'm lucky in love and cards, 'cus politics ain't it.

That about sums up my feelings on the matter exactly, except for the lucky in love and cards part.  Which, really, is irrelevant.