Artopia!

A view of Dan Corson's Matrix-599 nm, in The Engine Room.

12:30 p.m., Lunch: Hallava Falafel
"The best falafel in town," as Stephanie Spear, of the Georgetown Truck Stop put it. I concur. This truck has been parked in front of the 9lb for the past few weeks, and today marked my third sandwich in as many weeks.

1:33 p.m., The Engine Room
Curator Jordan Howland and artist Dan Corson worked until 4 a.m. to get this work (shown above) installed. I enjoyed the way the blue-washed room, and the orange and black striped ropes pull your eyes to the tall ceiling. (For my preview of the show, check out the Artopia pull-out. In print only, sorry.)

2:03 p.m., Dessert: Pocco Carretto
Can I get a small with three flavors? Answer: Burnt Sugar, gianduja (hazelnut and milk chocolate), and malt. I made a mess of myself eating this stuff. I am very lucky woman: this cart doesn't usually travel very close to where I live.

2:30 Grown-Up Kids Games
Power tool races with goofy, skull-decorated, vacuum cleaner engines. An overgrown, industrial see-saw that spun, and a pick-up blocks game that had many fascinated.

3:03 p.m.
In the shade outside The Corson Building, John Boylan led a talk about neighborhoods, pondering the issue: Who gets to decide what Georgetown is? Who gets to decide what Georgetown becomes? (BTW, Sabey's Ice House sign is up for the first time today, the architectural rendering showing a brick-arched mall-ish structure with tattooed hipsters out front.)

5:07 p.m.
Across from The Engine Room, in the Brew House there was opera, which (though I'm not a fan of opera) sounded amazing in the super-tall, raw space. (Gavin Borchert wrote about this in the pull-out.) The opera singer approached the audience descending a set of rickety, rusted stairs. I couldn't stop looking at the moss on the interior brick walls. A gorgeous space. There will be dance here, beginning at 7:30 p.m.

This fest goes until midnight, and right now the streets are packed, with various bars spilling people drinking in the sun. Ride a bike if you can.

For more images, check out Laurie Pearman's slide show here.