tourists.

It's been a Washington themed week so far, so I thought I would continue with one of the many pictures I took last week.

I don't like feeling like a tourist. I lived in a tourist town too long to imagine that they are appreciated as a group, no matter how much their money is. So I always feel uncomfortable as one, which is a shame. Someday, I will learn how to just strap on my fanny pack, put my camera on a strap around my neck, and embrace my inner tourist. Because with that attitude, you can really enjoy yourself.

My parents are great tourists, because they're so oblivious. They are oblivious to the natives snickering, they are oblivious to their daughter blushing and covering her face in embarrassment. Someday, I will learn to be oblivious, and I will laugh at my daughter as she pretends that she got that nose on her face from some other, much more socially-acceptable mother.

The thing about D.C. is that it seems like everyone is a tourist. Maybe that's why I felt so self-conscious about being recognized as one. But they were everywhere, and they were so unhip that they were getting on my nerves. Don't worry, I'm already very disappointed in myself for being so caught up in appearing like a tourist. I don't seem to care how I come across in my own town, so why should another one be any different?

But anyway, the tourists.

Washington is like a giant photo-shoot. Everyone is always posing in front of something: making these awkward poses so as to get both them and the something famous behind them, forcing smiles as the amateur photographer or complete stranger struggles to work the camera. What was really funny were the people posing in front of the war memorials, making faces for the camera in front of grand tributes to the deaths of thousands. "Yes, here we are in front of the Vietnam War Memorial. Look at all those names! And see Jim is making rabbit ears. My, my!"

Since all these people were posing anyway, I started taking their pictures. It was like a mini-study of tourism. What kind of faces do people make in front of important monuments? Do they try to look somber at the war memorials? Do they make goofy peace signs at the giant statue of Lincoln?

So this week's photo is of a woman in front of the White House. I have no idea who she is, just that she was posing for a picture being taken by someone else, and I just happened to take her picture, too. She didn't seem to mind, but she didn't seem to know, either. She was definitely a tourist, so she was probably oblivious.

And now she is famous. So here's to being oblivious.