Washington, D. C., is a strange place to pursue the many professions we at the Smithsonian engage in. It is a city of politics, of journalism, and of the practice of the law, a place of "hard issues" and of "policy wonks." It is, above all, a city which defines you by the job you hold. Therefore, for the over twenty-one years I have been at the Smithsonian and a resident of Washington, I have been constantly challenged by the inevitable question, "What do you do?" and the difficulty of answering it in a way comprehensible to this impatient city.