snowmageddon

been super busy and always have loads of work to do. but i've never been part of a flash mob before, so i decided to check out this snowball fight scheduled for 2pm at dupont circle. i found out about it from, what else, facebook. there were a lot of other publicized fights all over dc, but the one for dupont was the largest (6,000 confirmed responses, last i checked). also it's the one closest to where i live.

walking towards the circle from NH ave. lots of other people going towards the same destination.

lo and behold, the snowball fight. i overheard one girl declare, "this is the power of social networking!"

i thought about bringing my slr but it's currently under my desk at my office. i didn't want it to get pelted either.

ran into one of my classmates! i split up from her group after a bit since i wanted to explore the rest of the area.

a guy in a mask being interviewed by a camera crew. of course.

the folks around it made the interview more interesting for tv.

people would stock up on snowballs and run into the fray. lots of people in the outskirts of the circle turned to the bushes to reload.

it's days like these when i wish my phone would let me twitpic.

one guy ran around with the american flag and hung it up on the fountain. so another guy outside the circle mobilized the people around him to capture it. pretty amazing seeing all these different
groups of friends cooperate and attack together.

as everyone threw snowballs, the guy ran out to steal the flag. success!

the counterattack.

even without facebook, something like this still would've happened. but you can't deny that fb amplified its scale. i probably would've been reading up on international trade theory if i hadn't seen the event invite.

i always bike past the starbucks along the circle here to get to campus. looks like i won't be commuting by bike for a while! really wish i have access to a mtn bike now. i bet it'd be super fun through snow.

i didn't stick around for long since i wanted to head back to spin and study. guess i wasn't really part of this flash mob since i didn't participate. maybe next time, when i (hopefully) have more friends.

the nice view that greeted me as i limped home from spinning. wish i could venture around town to see the monuments but alas, trade theory and telecomm policy are jealous creatures and won't let me do anything else tonight.

here's mainstream coverage of the dupont snowball fight:

• wapo
• reuters