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Washington Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg warms up near the warning track as the Nationals host the Los Angeles Dodgers at Nationals Park in Washington, DC, Tuesday, September 6, 2011. (Rod Lamkey Jr./The Washington Times)
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Washington Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg warms up near the warning track as the Nationals host the Los Angeles Dodgers at Nationals Park in Washington, DC, Tuesday, September 6, 2011. (Rod Lamkey Jr./The Washington Times)
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Readings: Amy Chua and Ron Suskind Tiger mother Amy Chua and Pulitzer-winning journalist Ron Suskind are living proof that writers and books can still rile us up in an age when low culture is damn-near the only culture. Chua made waves last year with an autobiography titled "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother" that detailed her stern--some would say dictator-like--parenting methods. Chua's claim that her children were deprived of television, video games, and boyfriends, and berated if they brought home anything short of straight-A report cards, earned her the wrath of pop-psychologists and over-nurturing helicopter parents. Suskind, meanwhile, is making waves this month with the release of a lengthy tome titled "Confidence Men" that details the economic cluelessness of the Obama administration. Allegations of fiscal flip-floppery and West Wing sexism have been met with hems and haws from the left, and weak attempts at character assassination from the White House's current occupants. In neither case is the avalanche of hate mail necessarily a bad thing. Public scorn is the new black. Chua reads Sept. 24 at the National Book Festival on the National Mall (http://www.loc.gov/bookfest); Suskind reads Sept. 24 at Politics & Prose, 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW. Phone: 202-364-1919. Web: Politics-prose.com.
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Exhibit: "I Love Lucy: An American Legend" Lucy Ricardo, America's chocolate-eating foible-prone sweetheart, turned 60 this year. To mark the occasion, the Library of Congress has gathered a veritable treasure trove of mementos, keepsakes, and photos from the years before, during, and after "I Love Lucy" established itself as the sitcom to beat in the 20th century (and after, seeing as syndication deals will likely keep the show on the air long after yours truly has kicked the bucket). Thanks to the Library´s Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz Collection, visitors can get a glimpse of scripts, show notes, and off-set photos, and also remnants of Ball's life before (when she was a model and b-list regular in romantic dramas) and after (when she had to testify before the House Committee on Un-American Activities for having once registered as a communist) the six-season sitcom that came to define her entire existence. To January 28 at the Library of Congress, 101 Independence Ave SE. Phone: (202) 707-6400. Web: loc.gov
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Play: "Happy Days" Being stuck up to one's neck in a mound of dirt, with no promise of release, is how roughly 10 percent of Americans are feeling these days. Count not just the unemployed, but also the underemployed and the unhappily fully employed, then half the country probably feels stuck. If you find yourself among the miserable, Samuel Beckett's "Happy Days," about a woman named Winnie who protrudes from the Earth like a plant, will either depress you or put your problems in perspective. Winnie does the same thing every day. She wakes to the sound of a far-off alarm, takes stock of her belongings (one of which is an ominous but never-used pistol), and talks at an inattentive husband until another bell indicates it is time for sleep. Nothing changes from day to day, save Winnie sinking a little deeper into the Earth with each rotation of the clock. Yet even when she recedes up to her chin in the quagmire, Winnie still manages to chirp her tagline: "Oh this is a happy day." What else can one do in the midst of a literal recession? Through Sept. 25 at Artisphere, 1101 Wilson Blvd. Arlington, VA. Phone: 800-494-8497. Web: http://www.washingtonshakespeare.org
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President Obama delivers remarks at the Brent Spence Bridge, regarding his American Jobs Act Now legislation on Sept., 22, 2011, in Cincinnati. (Associated Press)
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** FILE ** Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaks during the 66th session of the U.N. General Assembly at the world body's headquarters in New York on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2011. (AP Photo/Andrew Burton)
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HANDLE WITH CARE: The Smithsonian's Steve Jabo (left) explains how to unearth a dinosaur fossil to volunteer Dave Hacker of Silver Spring, who made the discovery at the Dinosaur Park in Laurel. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)
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Freed American Josh Fattal (left) meets relatives and friends upon his arrival in Muscat, Oman, from Tehran on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2011. After more than two years in Iranian custody, he and fellow American Shane Bauer, convicted as spies, took their first steps on their way home as they bounded down from a private jet and into the arms of family for a joyful reunion in the Gulf state of Oman. (AP Photo/Sultan Al-Hasani)
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Freed American Josh Fattal (center, in blue shirt) hugs his relatives upon his arrival in Muscat, Oman, from Tehran on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2011. (AP Photo/Sultan Al-Hasani)
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Freed American Josh Fattal (center, in blue shirt) hugs his relatives upon arriving in Muscat, Oman, from Tehran on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2011. After more than two years in Iranian custody, Mr. Fattal and Shane Bauer took their first steps toward home Wednesday as they bounded down from a private jet and into the arms of family for a joyful reunion in the Gulf state of Oman. (AP Photo/Sultan Al-Hasani)
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Freed American Josh Fattal (center, in blue shirt) is hugged by relatives and friends upon his arrival in Muscat, Oman, from Iran on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2011. After more than two years in Iranian custody, Mr. Fattal and Shane Bauer, convicted as spies, took their first steps toward home Wednesday as they bounded down from a private jet and into the arms of family for a joyful reunion in the Gulf state of Oman. (AP Photo/Sultan Al-Hasani)
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Freed American Shane Bauer (right) kisses fiancee Sarah Shourd upon his arrival in Muscat, Oman, from Tehran on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2011. (AP Photo/Sultan Al-Hasani)
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Freed American Shane Bauer (center) is welcomed upon his arrival in Muscat, Oman, from Tehran on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2011. (AP Photo/Sultan Al-Hasani)
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Freed American Shane Bauer is welcomed upon his arrival in Muscat, Oman, on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2011. (AP Photo/Sultan Al-Hasani)
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Freed Americans Shane Bauer (center) and Josh Fattal (right) talk to the media upon their arrival in Muscat, Oman, from Tehran on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2011. After more than two years in Iranian custody, the two Americans, who were convicted as spies, took their first steps toward home as they bounded down the stairs from a private jet and into the arms of family for a joyful reunion in the Gulf state of Oman. (AP Photo/Sultan Al-Hasani)
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Surging waves hit against the breakwater in Udono in a port town of Kiho, Mie Prefecture, central Japan, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2011. (AP Photo/Chunichi Shimbun, Daiji Yanagida)
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Candidate Arthur Turner (right) greets voters Ricardo Lewis and his wife Sandra Livingston-Lewis (left) of Mitchellville, who arrived in the rain to vote. (Rod Lamkey Jr./The Washington Times)
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A TAXING MOVE: D.C. Council member Mary M. Cheh confers with fellow council member Phil Mendelson on Tuesday. Mr. Mendelson led the charge in a push to increase the city's income-tax rate on high-income earners. (T.J. Kirkpatrick/The Washington Times)
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ROD LAMKEY JR./THE WASHINGTON TIMES Young women prepare posters depicting nightmarish labor-camp conditions to show at a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee hearing Tuesday titled "Human Rights in North Korea: Challenges and Opportunities."
