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T H U R S D A Y

A few months at sea can twist any man: You’re gazing through your spyglass at a gray, lumpy, 500-pound manatee, and you see…a beautiful mermaid (they really do look like Daryl Hannah—with fins). Richard Ellis, author of Monsters of the Sea, lectures on mermaids, sea serpents, krakens, and the other slimy horrors that dwell in the deep ocean trenches of our id. Ellis speaks at 6 p.m. at the Museum of American History’s Carmichael Auditorium, 14th & Constitution Ave. NW. $13. For reservations call (202) 357-3030. (David Plotz)