Rants and Ramblings: random commentary about culture, media, politics, technology and whatnot.

all dolled up

Last night, I had the privilege of joining some of my coworkers at the annual White House News Photographers’ Association awards dinner. In the organization’s annual “Eyes of History” photo contest, a Post photographer was honored as photographer of the year, and washingtonpost.com picked up a number of awards in the video/tv categories (including video editor of the year).

This being a black tie affair, I’d spent the past week or so obsessing over what to wear, finally procuring the dress, shoes and other accessories at the eleventh hour. The ensemble: A sleveless 30s-ish tea-length champagne-colored silk gown with matching strappy shoes and a black wrap (the latter borrowed from Michaela). Getting all dolled up is a bit nerve-wracking, but something of a novelty and kind of exciting.

And it’s also fun to see one’s coworkers dressed to the nines and gathered in a formal, outside-the-office setting — what they wear, how they interact, how other people interact with them, etc.

The dinner itself was a fun experience, too — even if I was the only person at the table that got carded when the waiters came around to serve wine before the meal. The food was nummy, the company entertaining, and the featured multimedia work was inspiring.

In a sign, perhaps, of how I’ve been in D.C. too long already, I actually was a bit annoyed when I heard that President Bush would be the featured speaker — largely because I knew that his presence would mean increased security hassles getting into the event. But security actually wasn’t too bad — fairly standard metal detector and purse inspection, and the line wasn’t long at all — and the president’s remarks were pretty funny, complete with jokes about his parents’ photography and a “slideshow” of Dick Cheney’s alleged Segway-powered jaunts through Washington.

On a related note, the winning Eyes of History 2005 photos and video are on display through June 20 at the Corcoran, here in D.C. There’s some fantastic work in there — I’m a big fan of this photo — if you get a chance to see it.