Fourth of July weekend, Owlman and I went to the National Portrait Gallery/Smithsonian American Art Museum, which share a building. It’s in Chinatown, so we had to take the Metro.

This is our stop, Fort Totten. Independence Day revelers still weren’t out of bed.

We arrived fifteen minutes before the museum opened, so we had to hang outside.

Our first portrait was abolitionist John Brown. Owlman is evil, but he agrees with me that owning another human is bad, so he was happy to see him.

Owlman says, “Keep practicing, you’ll get it someday.”

Like Thomas Edison, Owlman fancies himself an inventor… of death traps and lethal gadgets.

Owlman remembered to bring his camera today.

I told Owlman that this was my favorite painting in the museum, by John Singer Sargent, who is my favorite painter. He memorialized it for me.

Owlman has a thing for redheads.

Owlman knows full well he’s not supposed to touch the sculptures, but he’s evil, so he wants to do it anyway.

Owlman, what did I just tell you?

Owlman wants to know if the TV art installation can get the latest episode of Real Housewives, which he watches because he’s evil.

He terrorizes the streets of alternate Gotham, but this statue from Clover Adams’s grave is really scary.

Tuckered out from our big day, we headed home.

This year, for TYSTWD, I invited Owlman. Owlman comes from an alternate reality and is essentially the anti-Batman. He was thrilled to see what I do when I am not home.

I like to come to work early and do some sketching before I begin my shift. It’s nice to have the place to myself.

As you can see, Washington DC is still sleeping.

We took a tour of my desk, where I had to relocate my owls once Oscar started being feisty. (The glass cat on the hammock is the gift my boss gave me when Newcastle died.)

Same goes for some of my toys. (The red guy is the mascot for the American Society of Hematology.)

And my miniature painting, which has Owlman contemplating the meaning of beauty.

I hang up my art up at my desk because I like looking at it, and it’s a great conversation-starter.

Owlman works from home, so he brought in his laptop.

He had to go to the storage room to take an important call.

Now it’s break time. I don’t like Starbuck’s, but he insisted on going, and he’s evil so I don’t want to get on his bad side.