We went to the National Museum of the American Indian in DC today. I had been there before but Grey had not. He had just two DC museums left on his list of museums not seen so we knocked this one off today. The Museum of Modern Art is the only one left to see now.

The NMAI architecture is quite appealing but the museum contents are not interesting. Half the museum is occupied by gift shops and the rest by a huge atrium. The museum has a unique cafe serving authentic Indian cuisine but everytime I go to it most of it is closed down. Why have a nice eatery if you aren't going to fully utilize it? Might be interesting to actually hire Native Americans to serve the food too. They might actually be enthusiastic about getting people to try their food.

After the disappointment of the NMAI we stopped in the arboetium next door and enjoyed breathing in the fragrant and oxygenated air. My favorite here is the "old man" cactus.

On the way back to the Smithsonian subway station I noticed a bright yellow tent pitched right next to the station entrance. A sign on the tent said "You can do something about it" and "free stress test". I'm not stressed out these days but I am curious so I walked in to see what was going on. There were people on massage tables getting free massages and people being counseled by earnest looking young people in bright yellow T-shirts. Who's doing this I wondered? Then, in the corner of the tent I noticed an older gentleman with the words "Scientology Minister" across the back of his T-shirt. So this is the latest hook Scientology is using to reel in unsuspecting people. Brilliant, yet deceptive.

Almost thirty years ago, in San Francisco, I was suckered into taking a free "Personality Test" and wasting half an hour before discovering that I was dealing with the Scientologists. Fortunately, I had the sense to get out of there without signing up for one of their expensive classes.