So I met Sister and Mom in Washington DC today, only since I had to take the commuter MTA bus in, I got there about two hours before any sane tourists do. I used the extra time to hike all the way down from the Smithsonian Metro station to the Lincoln Memorial for the first time in about fifteen years (*with* my backpack full of a whole weekend's stuff, thank you), so I think I earned the hiking stick medallion I bought myself at the memorial. (Google maps says the round trip is about three miles. Ahahaha.)

It was the most gorgeous December day imaginable, and it was quiet and empty, and I had forgetten just how beautiful the monuments end of the Mall can be, and I'd never been to the WWII memorial before and it is *amazing*, and I could probably stay there for about ten hours just taking bad photos from different angles.

So yeah, there's an approximate ton of pictures.

Then I met Sister at the National Art Gallery to see the Pompeii exhibit, which was really neat (and even cooler having just wandered around America's greek temples, though it had the odd side effect that I now ship Abraham Lincoln with Athena Parthenos.) But my favorite thing at the National Gallery has always been the shiny metal wall/ceiling in the underground walkway of the concourse, and OMG.

They have installed 40,000 white LEDs in it which are programmed to light up in semi-random patterns along the lines of cellular automata, and it is the most *gorgeous* thing I have *ever* seen period, and I could sit and watch it for *days*, OMG. It's only supposed to be up until next year sometime, so if you have any excuse to duck into the gallery, you should go and look at it while it's there.

Anyway, then we met Mom for the Realizing the Promise political forum, and then we drove to Colonial Williamsburg.

So. Uh. Have some America-themed Christmas music.
Maura Sullivan - Christmas Eve In Washington.mp3
Disturbingly catchy, unusually sincere, and somebody should vid it to X-files. (Or possibly Bones. Or both.)
Dr. Elmo - Christmas All Across The USA.mp3
This is buy the guy that did Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer. Yes, they did eventually did a whole Christmas album. Yes, there's a reason only the first song caught on. This is the only other song on the album that isn't astonishingly bad. (Don't worry, I'll be sharing some of the astonishingly bad ones too.)
RX - Happy RXmas and a Whole Lotta Love.mp3
So, somewhere my sister got an album of dance remixes of President Bush talking, I have no idea why or where. They are the only way in which I can currently listen to his voice without attempting to puncture my own eardrums. They are clever and catchy. And this is the Christmas song. Enjoy for the Bush's last Christmas in the White house!
The Royal Guardsmen - Snoopy for President.mp3
Okay, what I should really have here is some Capitol Steps Christmas, but they're surprisingly difficult to pirate, and all their legal downloads are time-sensitive and out of date. So have this, which is not technically a Christmas song, but it's in the series of songs of which "Snoopy's Christmas" is the best known. (They all sound largely the same anyway.)

Have some Williamsburg-y-ish music! Only not very, because as noted it's hard to find good vocal versions of old-fashioned Christmas carols, and if I find good CDs here it will be hard to not buy them.

But anywho.

Tinsmith - Greensleeves.mp3
As the man who was playing at dinner said, this doesn't technically turn into a Christmas carol until, oh, next week sometime - until then it's just the old folk tune about My Lady Greensleeves, which some people say is a reference to Goddess as spirit of the evergreen, so I suppose you can pretend it's actually a Solstice carol anyway.
Mediæval Bæbes - The Holly And The Ivy.mp3
Another of my very favorite carols, and authentically ancient-flavored, though if the tour guide tonight was correct, all the greenery around here this time of year is actually not historically accurate, can you believe it?
Duke Froggus - Joy to the Creek.mp3
"Joy to the World" is actually a carol that first came into popularity in late Colonial Virginia, right about where I am right now. Of course, this is actually a cover in faux-swing style, starring a keyboard that plays frog and owl noises.
Clam Chowder - Have Some Madeira, M'dear.mp3
Not actually a Christmas song, but I did have some Madeira tonight! Malmsey to be specific. And it was actually good. Very strong-flavored, but in a way that wasn't alcohol-tasting-y. I liked it. Even if Sister only got it 'cause it was the cheapest drink on the menu. And this is an excellent fun song full of wordplay that my sister had never heard of. So I share.