New Kid on the Hill

Au Revoir for now!

2011-06-01T10:13:00.001-07:00

So I'm spending the summer in Paris, which means I'm taking an official break from this blog. I'll have a Paris blog as well, but it's just for friends and family - if you fit into that category let me know and I will point you in the right direction!

Until September - au revoir!

DC Get yer vote on!

2011-04-26T10:04:00.000-07:00

So today is a special election in DC. That's right, we may not have any representation whatsoever in Congress, but we get an extra election that acknowledges how special we are!

Since a lot of people don't even seem to know the election is happening (It is! Promise!), turnout will probably be super low, which means your vote counts more than normal! And polls are open til 8 tonight. There's an at-large seat up for grabs, and also special elections for positions in Wards 4 and 8 (like the School Board). So get your voting pants on and head to the polls!

A couple of reasons why:

1 - There are actually Republicans running! In DC!

2 - They're discussing the budget as I write this, pretty much, and the new at-large person will be part of that discussion. So for instance, do the rich deserve a tax hike? Can we get by without this DC program and that? Or should we, as one candidate actually suggests, keep all the agency programs but just cut the staff? (Sure, we know they've all been slacking anyway. 3 jobs for every staffer!) [Get every candidate's take on the budget/taxes]

3 - You know you want an "I voted" sticker.

4 - Think about what this weekend was. You know the folks running the polls will be giving away SO MUCH LEFTOVER EASTER CANDY.

Here's a really good workup of the candidates and the election from DCist: http://dcist.com/2011/04/voter_guide_the_april_26_at-large_s_1.php

This morning in quotes

2011-04-01T07:17:00.000-07:00

On the bus:

Super cute 3-year-old boy sitting on his dad's lap.... you know how some kids will ask you tons of questions and when you give in and answer they just keep asking "Why?" This kid was one of those kids. When I sat down on the bus he was in the midst of asking his dad ten times "Why the clouds are moving?" As his dad peered over his shoulder trying to read his Blackberry. When he finally answered, it led to a string of more "why"s.

Other questions:

"Daddy is there traffic?" (To which he responded "Why would you even ask that?")
"Daddy I wan' see newspaper!" (technically not a question)
(Pointing to a guy sitting across from them) "Is that man old?"

"Stop asking me questions."

Slightly annoying, but mostly cute.

Also on the bus:
My text message to my boss: "The Vice President is making me late. Think we're stuck behind the motorcade."
My boss: "No worries. The VP could be making you late and the VP could be Sarah Palin"

And then on Metro:
Awkward me: "Hey, I think I met you"
Guy I have definitely met: "Um, no, I don't think so?"
Now starting to feel doubtful, but committed to this, me: "No, I'm sure of it. Didn't you meet my friend Amanda? At a game night?"
Poor guy just trying to commute to work: "I don't know..."
Now definitely awkward me: "Yes, you met Amanda. And you met me on St. Patrick's Day."
The guy: "Ohhhhh. Yeah! I'm sorry. Amanda the teacher! Yeah. What was your name again?"

And finally, in my inbox:
Teacher friend: So, yesterday I took 200 9th graders into DC and they all came back. I think I've earned a drink. Happy hour anyone?
Friend #2: George Washington Carver once took 200 students to DC to see a session of the House of Representatives. They heckled the agriculture bill being debated on the floor, thus creating the phrase "peanut gallery"
Friend #3: Wow. Solid one. A 9.6 on the GWC scale. You were like a Romanian gymnast out there.

Visuals from Japan

2011-03-23T12:47:00.000-07:00

I usually am really vigilant about keeping up with current events, but lately, it's all been a bit much for me. I can't wrap my head around everything happening around the world right now, particularly in Japan.

I have a couple of friends there, and one of them responded to the "Are you ok?" email to say that she and her family were all fine, but that she was "filled with a feeling of helplessness."

That's pretty much how I feel, too. She went on to say:

"All I can do now is to start out with something simple, saving electricity, raising funds for instance."

Below, I think out loud about nuclear for a bit, but first, I want to share a link from ABC that shows before and after aerial shots from around Japan (Scroll across each photo to see the "after"). You can see the earthquake and tsunami damage, and it's pretty awful, but I think it's important to see.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/events/japan-quake-2011/beforeafter.htm

This all feels personal for me, not because of my friends in the country, but because I've become really interested in nuclear in the past few years. I spent last summer researching the history of nuclear power in France, and this summer I'm going to Paris for more of the same. I'm not a fan of nuclear, and I've always brought up the answers people expect less: it makes zero economic sense, for one, and it's also environmentally toxic to mine for the uranium. Oh, and we're inept in dealing with the waste.

But honestly, the fears of terrorist attacks, much less natural disaaster, never really bothered me that much. Maybe I'm naive, or maybe I never bothered because what good would paranoia do? Maybe I never bothered because everyone expects that argument, has already made up their mind if they think the reactors are foolproof or not. But really, I assumed that our government - our institutions like the Nuclear Regulatory Commission - knew what it was doing. And in discussing nuclear subs with a Navy nuclear engineer, I feel confident that our Navy certainly does. But that Japan, a country with no less wealth of intellect, expertise and institutional capability, was so ill-prepared for this natural disaster and that we probably are, too - it's not really so different from the BP oil spill in the Gulf, except that there the bad guys are more visible and bad. Here they may not be so bad (or maybe I just have a gene that makes me hate oil companies?) but the result is the same (or far worse, really).

It's the same reaction I have to genetically modifying our food sources (speaking of which, yesterday, a colleague sat down in a meeting and set on the table in front of him a giant apple that looked, no joke, like a parallelogram. That is NOT natural!). We're playing with something that, in the end, we don't fully understand, and people and wildlife that had NOTHING to do with those decisions pay the price.

Anyway, as with many disasters, there are organizations on the ground that we can support financially. And luckily Japan is open to that help - not every country would be, so thank heavens for that. Yesterday as I got off the metro a guy dressed haphazardly as a clown held out a coffee can repeating "Donations to help Japan!" And even though I have been a canvasser in the past, and I know legitimacy is hard to show on the street, this could not have looked more like a scam. But for a comprehensive list of more reputable ways to give and help: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/21/how-to-help-japan-earthquake-relief_n_834484.html

Sorry this was a downer. I'll close the same way my friend in Japan closed her email to me:

"I hope everyone can live a life of peace sooner."

Meatcation 2011

2011-03-21T20:10:00.000-07:00

This is about a weekend vacation from vegetarianism.

Or, more efficiently, Meatcation 2011.

(Photo credit goes to the dirty hipster I'm dating)

I've been vegetarian for almost exactly a year - I gave up meat for Lent last year, found it surprisingly easy AND a good way to make sure I cooked a lot and saved money (because quality meat is freakin' expensive!). And, there's the whole environmental thing and the fact that factory meat disgusts me, etc etc. Win-win all around, except for my weakness for bacon.

But it's been pretty much smooth sailing. Since it's not a religion, I make exceptions. For instance, when home for Thanksgiving, there is a turkey and so I am going to eat some of it. I go by the rule of economics: my goal in being veggie is to not create further demand, in the market, for meat. I know it's just little old me, so it's not affecting the grand scheme of things, but you could say that about voting too, and don't you dare tell me voting isn't important.

Anyway. There's a whole turkey and my parents are not going to buy eleven twelfths of a turkey if I say "no meat for me!" They are going to still buy a whole turkey. And when it runs out, they won't buy another, and one person's serving or two of turkey (plus leftovers) won't be a big impact because my parents don't eat meat every night anyway.

(Another exception goes to venison because mmmmmmm, venison and also, hunting deer is actively GOOD for the environment, at least in New York State where my dad hunts. You can't get much more local or free range or eco-friendly than to hunt wild, overpopulated animals in your friend's backyard. Also mmmmm, venison.)

Anyway. I've been craving meat lately, and since as I said it's no religion for me, decided to take a Meatcation.

This would be a celebration in two parts. Part 1, BBQ. Part 2, Irish feast.

Part 1.

For day 1 of Meatcation 2011, I went to nearby Rocklands Barbeque, which had been recommended (and also I could walk there) by a friend. I decided to go purist and order myself a half rack of baby back ribs.

Now, they were fine and all, but it wasn't exactly HOLY COW HOW DID I GIVE UP MEAT FOR SO LONG THIS IS WHAT PEOPLE LIVE FOR kind of good. So either Rocklands is a so-so barbeque place, or meat just isn't what I remember it being. (Last time I craved ribs was a week into the post-Wisdom-teeth-surgery soft foods diet. And when I could eat solid food again, my parents took me for ribs, and they were completely glorious.)

So, Rocklands, eh.

Part 2: The Annual Post-St-Paddy's-Day Corned Beef and Cabbage Extravaganza at my friend Chris'

Ok, THIS is what meat is supposed to be. Tender, juicy, yummy, and piled on a plate with lots of cabbage and carrots. No? Yes.

(No pictures, sorry. But trust me, it was good.)

However, I am happily back in veggie land. It's become default to me, now, and sure meat is yummy, but when you don't assume that 1/3 of your plate is meat you get a lot more creative with your meals (unless you don't have time to be creative, in which case I live off of fake chicken nuggets like a little kid.)

Also, I feel I should take this opportunity to plug my friend's blog - she decided to go vegan a little while back and chronicles her adventures: theveganexplorer.blogspot.com

Happy Meatcation to all, and to all a good night!

Another tale of random public transit encounters

2011-03-20T07:17:00.000-07:00

So at the end of the day on Friday, my boss dropped me off at Union Station, where I waited for the bus that takes me diagonally across town to my apartment. And as I waited I overheard 2 middle-aged gentlemen wondering aloud when the bus would show. I told them it would be ten minutes, and one of them - who had a slight British accent, but one that sounded like it had faded over time - struck up a conversation with me, asking me where I worked, etc. He was a journalist just visiting, and had been at a hearing on the Hill. As we talked more, he mentioned "hailing from Britain" (no surprise) and was nice, if a bit proper...but when the bus arrived, he mentioned his home city was Edinburgh. I jumped up a little bit, and told him I'd studied abroad there. And he said "lovely. Shall we sit together on the bus and chat?" And that is what we did.

As our bus rolled through some of the most depressed parts of DC, we had an out-of-place discussion about theater (sorry theatre) and about all my/his favorite places in Edinburgh and the University. He said he goes to the Uni library all the time to do his research and asked me to name some of my professors. I could only remember one - the unforgettable Scottish Ethnology prof Gary West, also a renowned lowland bagpiper - and sure enough, this guy knew him!

He also knew all about the Scottish contributors to our Constitution, and we talked about the Scottish Parliament, the debaucle with the tram there, and how the Scottish National Party is becoming politically relevant.

Anyway, this probably would be slightly boring to anyone not dying for a connection to Edinburgh, but it made my day. And he may have been mixed up on buildings, but when I told him where my flat had been he said that it was the replacement building for an inn where Robert Burns had stayed. I think he had the wrong spot but hey, I'll go with it!

Free things still make me jump up and down like a little kid

2011-02-22T19:59:00.000-08:00

Hey there, I'm still alive. I'm making no promises about writing regularly, but I've been wanting to all week, and now that it's late and I have a lot of work to finish by tomorrow morning, it seems the perfect time to write a new entry.

When I first moved here, as a couchsurfing almost-zero-income Hill intern, one of my most important objectives was to find free stuff. (Especially free food). Now I'm a gainfully employed but still poor grad student, and other missions have taken the top spots on my priority list, but free stuff still makes the top ten. And this week, I was awesome at it.

I got free groceries not through my own cleverness but through maybe the best Valentine's Day care package ever (thanks Mom and Dad!) - pastry supplies (I make pies now!), chocolate, coffee, Lorax valentines (!), and lots more, including a Whole Foods gift card. Yay! So in the middle of last week, after I'd already snagged a free (and good, and vegetarian!) box lunch at a lecture I went to for work, (and took another for lunch the next day), I walked to the store to get me some groceries. I wanted a new face wash, so I stopped in the soaps/cosmetics part of the WF in my neighborhood, where a friendly staffer tried to sell me on a $12 face wash. 12 bucks? Don't think so. But, he was nice, so we chatted a bit, and then he said he'd give me a sample. What he gave me as a "sample" was actually an entire, new, unopened bottle! It pays to be nice to people.

And then, then, on my walk home with my groceries and my free soap, I found a dollar bill on the sidewalk! I will admit 2 things. 1, I was a tiny bit embarrassed to pick it up. 2, I did check briefly to make sure no fishing line was attached before I picked it up.

My next adventure in freebies is this coming Sunday with a free haircut! There's a place in NW that does them every Sunday - I'll let y'all know how it goes.

In unrelated news, tomorrow I'm going to get my copy of the new Adele album and I can't WAIT. Check out her Tiny Desk Concert: http://www.npr.org/2011/02/18/133687905/adele-tiny-desk-concert

Pie Crusts and Chickadees

2010-12-22T16:02:00.000-08:00

This week has been filled with new experiences, like Monday when my dad taught me how to make pie crust. Actually, we made it Sunday night and let it chill overnight. And late Monday morning when I pulled it out of the fridge and, following his instructions, worked it flatter and flatter, keeping it well floured and eventually rolling it out with a rolling pin, my dad kept commenting on how nice the crust was - no holes or tears and it was really flexible. And when we put it in the tart pan (to be made into an apple tart), there was a TON left over so...we made a second pie with the crust folded over the top of that one.

A little while later, while the pies were busy baking in the oven, my dad opened the fridge and said ohhh, no.

There, on the bottom shelf of the fridge, was my pie crust dough. We'd accidentally used the pasta dough he'd put together first thing in the morning...which made for some VERY crunchy pies. So then I made an apple tart for real, completely on my own, and it turned out well! Sorry I didn't make enough for everyone...it all disappeared by this afternoon.

Then, today I had my second first: a very close encounter with chickadees.

Some friends of ours have a lot of woods on their property, and it turns out that the chickadees there really, really like a particular songbird seed mix...enough that they will eat right out of your hand. They're more used to my parents than they are to me, but after flitting around me for awhile they were comfortable enough to land on my fingertips just long enough to pick up a choice seed and flit off. There were 4 of them surrounding us enjoying the meal, and it was really amazing to be that up close to them. After awhile, they'll linger on your hand and look you up and down....while trying to decide whether to land on my hand, they'd use my dad as an observation post. One of them perched on his head for awhile...it's amazing how trusting they are (which they couldn't be if they weren't so fast). The most interesting thing to me, though, was the sound of their wings. I've never really heard small birds' wings - they flit around so fast it that the feathers' ruffling sounded like a cat purring. Oh, and we were also dive bombed by a Sharp-shin hawk. I didn't see it skim the ground but I heard it!

Oh, and can I just say, where has the Senate BEEN for the past 2 years! It really seems like more has been accomplished in the Lame Duck session than for the past 2 years combined. Now technically that's not true, but at least they stopped dragging their feet on those bills which were not in any way new. Thank goodness the healthcare for 9-11 relief workers finally passed. To give the slacker Senate a bit of credit, though, it wasn't that easy to pass in the House, either. Anybody else remember the greatest, most entertaining C-SPAN moment of the year (excluding any coverage of British Parliament, of course)?

Just in case you forgot, it's Democratic badass Rep Anthony Weiner turning Robert's Rules of Order into fightin' words:

If more members of Congress were so passionate and direct, I really think we'd get a lot more done. Of course, many of the incoming members of Congress believe passionately that we should get rid of the Department of Education, so....we'll see what happens next.

Long time no see and I actually HAVE been hired!

2010-12-16T08:39:00.000-08:00

Hola everyone, I know it's been forever. I stopped the blog when life got REALLY busy and the title doesn't fit very well anymore - I'm not really new to DC anymore (in Feb it'll be 2 years!) and I don't live on the Hill.

So I may start one with a new, more fitting title, soon, but for now I'll use this to pick things back up again.

This was a crazy semester of grad school - first of all, back in June I moved up to Glover Park so I'd be close to school. And I am - it's about a mile walk - but I really miss my old neighborhood. Luckily my roomie is pretty great! I took a class more than what's considered a "full load" and tutored/did research on campus, so needless to say I'm a little sick of that place but I am now only 6 months away from having my Master's degree!

A lot of other stuff has happened but probably the 3 biggest things are...

1) I got to go to Cancun, Mexico as an observer at the 16th UN FCCC climate talks

2) I will be living in France - Paris to be specific - next summer

and 3) I got a job! Well, I already have 2 part time jobs on campus. But now I'm adding a third that I'm really excited about, working for a local environmental nonprofit that I spent some time at this past summer. So now I'm a real person, and just as busy as ever but really looking forward to it.

After a brief but refreshing visit with my best friend in PA, I am now home for the next 2 weeks. It is freakishly cold up here, but then after Mexico I suppose that's not saying much. Time for 2 weeks of catching my breath/sneezing because of the cat, relearning calc and teaching myself physics (just for fun?), and finding some good volunteer work to keep myself busy.

And I'm also on a very, very important mission: I am going to learn how to make a pie crust from scratch.

Both my parents are excellent bakers, and when my dad retired at the start of my senior year of high school, he set out on a mission to make the perfect pie crust. He does, now, and makes lots of good pies and tarts and other treats, but that year was an amazing period of enjoying all of his experimental pies....which even if they didn't come out perfectly tasted good just the same. Now it's time to return the favor!

"You're hired!"

2010-06-09T22:00:00.000-07:00

This is what was said to me by some crazy random woman on Wisconsin today, and it inspires my post. I know I've been MIA but I'm too lazy to make excuses so let's get back to the story.

So Nicole (new roomie! I moved.) and I are walking to Giant together. To paint a picture for you, we just came from a yoga class, so I am in running shorts and an old tie-dyed shirt from undergrad. It used to be a boy's undershirt and it says "Whoopie! 3 Cheers for the Seniors!" so it always gets some fun looks.

On our walk in said glamorous attire, I remarked that I needed to remember to work on something, and then I made a little song and dance about it. So I broke it down, just a little bit, on Wisconsin Avenue as we walked, and then an older woman who was walking towards us stops in our path, points to me and says "You're Hired!"

When we finally stopped laughing around the corner I wondered what it was I was hired for.

All this reminded me of the general nightmare of the job search. And I remembered thinking about resumes not too long ago. I don't know about you but I've seen some ridiculous stuff added to resumes in an attempt to impress. My resume, of course, is pretty awesome so if you'd like to see it and hire me, please let me know. But I've seen some pretty funny ones. During preparation for the move, one of my now-former roommates unearthed a really old resume of hers that listed Researching Volunteer Opportunities and Considering Clothing Donation under her extracurriculars.

A couple of years ago I had to do a lot of hiring (and firing) in a summer office, which is where I saw some weeeeird stuff happen in interviews (who brings their 2 kids and boyfriend to an interview? Who shows up 3 hours EARLY to an interview?). And it was here that I saw the greatest thing to ever be put on a resume.

So one of the many, many people I interviewed that summer was a very smart, polite, soft-spoken guy with a degree in science that went way over my head (He was definitely overqualified for a summer canvass). He also brought with him an extensive resume. And at the bottom, like so many resumes do, his listed hobbies.

I personally am no fan of the "hobbies" section, but we did give it some attention. And there was one word that none of us had ever heard of, so we had to look it up. That word was Manualism, and on his resume he listed both his TV appearances and his website. What is Manualism?

This is Manualism. This is his website, Handini.com. There are videos, so enjoy. I have to admit I was impressed, especially because nothing in his interview made me suspect he was a manualism virtuoso.

And THAT is the best thing anyone has ever put on a resume, ever.

Happy Earth Day

2010-04-24T05:29:00.000-07:00

"Happy Earth Day, Liz!"

This is how I was greeted by one of my fellow interns Thursday. (You know you're a treehugger when...)

And it really WAS a great earth day. If you ignore the fact that a cap and trade bill hasn't passed Congress, and coal and nuclear are still winning out, and...sorry. Getting off track.

Thursday was a great day because I saw lots of famous people! Two you'll know, one you'll only know if you're into biology.

First thing Thursday morning, I got an email that Sigourney Weaver would be speaking in the Senate subcommittee on oceans, and recruited a fellow intern to go stalk...ahem...see Sigourney. But on the way, I realized we were making a slight detour. Why? Oh, to see if we could catch a glimpse of APOLO OHNO.

Now, you may remember from an earlier post that I was recently denied the opportunity to slip a card with my name and number into a letter from the Senator to Apolo, congratulating him on his Olympic awesomeness.

The same boss who refused me that golden opportunity redeemed himself by joining me in the hallway as I creepily stood around waiting for Ohno to come out of a meeting room.

And we saw him!!!

I will admit, I'm less inclined to date him now. He is a small man. But I still wouldn't say no to dinner and a movie...

Anyway, so that was celebrity sighting number 1. Then for lunch, I heard from a friend* on the House side that Ms. Weaver would be appearing on that side of the dome to talk about the same issue - carbon dioxide causing ocean acidification (which literally dissolves anything made of calcium - so crustaceans have thinner shells, little terrapods have thinner bodies....coral reefs collapse!). This event included free lunch AND a panel discussion with Sigourney AND a showing of the film. Win-win-win situation.

It was a little tricky to find, but once we did I settled in and split the very last lunch - which a good friend on the House side saved for me - among my fellow interns, and we saw Sigourney AND the film and it was great.

*By the way, hearing rumors from friends seems to be the only way to find out when there are, say, celebs on the Hill or free food in a caucus room. Staffers get emails about free receptions related to their issues (which is why it was so great to work for a member of the Agriculture Committee last year), but in a big office that never trickles down to the poor and hungry interns. Does anyone know of a blog, or a twitter, or an email list that clues you in to excitement on the Hill?

And the last, and most nerdtastic, celebrity encounter of the day (in which I actually MEET and talk to the person)...

The last part is really only exciting if you know who E.O. Wilson is, which most people apparently don't. He's one of today's legendary scientists and naturalists, and for me he's in the same rank as Aldo Leopold and Rachel Carson. If you're into foreign affairs, think of him as my Colin Powell or Madeline Albright. If you're into human rights, he's the guy who wrote Three Cups of Tea. If you like crossword puzzles he's your Will Shortz. He's an entomologist and naturalist from Alabama who teaches at Harvard these days, and he wrote the forward to my college biology textbook.

My school has organized a joint series of lectures/events with Smithsonian, so as a grad student I got to go for free, and see E.O. Wilson speak about his new book, which is actually a novel (he's only written nonfiction up until now).

Dr. Wilson was hilarious and completely uncooperative with his interviewer, Richard Harris from NPR, who seemed to be trying to tell Wilson that his book lacked some development. He kept bringing up connections he wanted the book to make that it didn't ("the struggle of the ants seemed like the struggle of the people!"), connections which coincidentally were all made on the book's back cover, and begging Wilson to make those connections explicit for him. Dr. Wilson just rambled about what he felt like bring up instead.

They had 2 microphones toward the back of the auditorium so folks could go up and ask questions and only a few people did, myself included. But I was the last one left waiting to ask one, and Richard Harris IGNORED me. But it's ok, because I resolved to ask Dr. Wilson when I got my book signed. When he saw me, he said "Oh, we left you standing there didn't we?"

I asked him what advice he had for making politicians understand the science of problems like global warming, instead of misusing it or ignoring it. He said, "Oh yes, that is a great problem. What are you going to do about it?"

And then a stupid lady behind me in line cut me off and said "Hellooooooo from a fellow Alabamian!" And I'm pretty sure Alabamian is not really a word, and I'm also pretty sure most Alabamians have more manners than that.

But at least I got to meet him.

My YouTube Debut: DC Complaint Choir

2010-04-17T08:19:00.001-07:00

I'm back! Finally got wireless working in my apartment again. I'll spare you boring updates and skip right to the good stuff: bitching about DC set to music!

[Warning: adult language.]

I present my YouTube debut, starring the DC Complaint Choir. A little back story...

So one weekend after Snowpocalypse, my friend Cara told me I should come check out her public performance with DC's Complaint Choir. Complaint Choir? Yes. Complaints about DC, set to music, performed in key spots throughout the city. Since I live on the Hill, she told me when they'd be on the Mall so I could go watch.

When I got there, not only did I get to watch - I got to participate! Not to sing. To hold the sign. But STILL, it counts. And it was a tough job - I had to stand there holding the sign without cracking up. We're all wearing masks, but check out my sweet sign-holding action! (And...ok, check out the Complaint Choir.)

The internet dead zone that is my bedroom

2010-03-29T14:07:00.000-07:00

So, I've been MIA. I was confronted about it today while scrambling to put together a paper on the Department of Energy (and my presentation drew a lot of laughs...who knew bureaucracy was so entertaining?). The truth? My internet is kaput. Actually, it seems to be working just fine for my 2 roommates, but it hates me. Which means I've been living in various libraries...it's been fun really. Someday I'll call the people who control my access to the Internetz, and get it fixed. But actually in some ways it's kind of nice...whenever I get to check my email I actually DO have new emails waiting for me! On the other hand, I didn't realize it would rain last night until it was too late due to the absence of weather.com. You win some, you lose some.

Food for thought: what is the best way to brush up on your French? Could it be watching French films? Yes, I think so. Going home to watch Amelie now!

Politically nerding out

2010-03-13T07:02:00.001-08:00

This post is in 3 parts: First, An article that you should really read. Today the Washington Post had a front-page article that reads like it's from The Onion. Pure genius.

Second, a little bragging about (a nerd's idea of) celebrity encounters.

Third, How could I possibly have spent the past several months living exactly a mile away from the Library of Congress but never been inside? (Yesterday, I went inside.)

(Side note: Part II got really long. Part III will come in a different post.)

Part I: Washington Post becomes Onion!

Campaign stunt launches a corporate 'candidate' for Congress

Part II: Celebrity encounters this week!

The Hill is often a good place to see veeeery important people. And it's also a pretty big place, so it's hard to catch them. Sometimes you see them by accident, sometimes you have to hunt them down (in a non-stalker, non-violent way). Sometimes you don't actually see them...you just see things that they will see in a few days.

1. The hunting down kind:
On Wednesday when I got to the Hill and went to my usual elevator, a Capitol Policewoman nicely asked me to step aside for a moment. Then something garbled on her radio and she said, 'Damn, I gotta go up to the second floor now?' and hoofed it up the stairs.

Translation: Someone very important is about to arrive on the second floor. In that elevator.

When the other elevator arrived, someone in it murmured "Bill Clinton" and I put two and two together. It's not, you know, unusual for someone in a Democrat-dominated body to murmur Bill Clinton in the morning, but I had a hunch.

Once I got to the office I scoured the Senate website for evidence of a hearing or panel he might be speaking at, but came up dry. And when another intern arrived, I said, "I think Bill Clinton is in the house" she jumped up, almost spilled her coffee and said WHERE? So we went down to the second floor to hunt. She figured out that that elevator was right by the back entrance of a committee room the next building over. And so we went to the next building to the committee room's main doors, but it was full. The policewoman who rejected us told us to watch it on C-SPAN. Which is exactly what we did.

It wasn't just Bill Clinton, it was ALSO Bill Gates. But I already saw him once while giving a Capitol tour last year, so, you know, whatever. But BILL CLINTON.

So we kept an eye on C-SPAN 3 (there are a lot more C-SPANs than you might think) until John Kerry asked the Bills his final question about worldwide public health/HIV and AIDS/Haiti relief, and we elevatored down to the 2nd floor. Where we joined the little crowd in the corner and a Labradoodle guide dog (who crumpled in a fluffy heap on the floor and couldn't care less about the Bills), and after a few minutes I SAW BILL CLINTON GET IN AN ELEVATOR. Everyone else was shouting at him, waving a thing they wanted autographed, trying to take a photo. I just wanted to see him, and that's just what I did. (Then I went back upstairs and answered phone calls about government healthcare being rammed down our throats. Imagery I hate, so PLEASE stop using it people...)

2. The seeing by accident kind:
On Thursday, I was giving a tour of the Capitol to a father and his 10-year-old son (who had a really sweet Nikon camera with a lens that my photographer father knows the term for but I do not...nevertheless I wouldn't let a 10 year old boy carry that camera), and we were in Statuary Hall, which is the old House of Representatives and also the walkway from the center of the Capitol Dome (the Rotunda) to the CURRENT House of Reps. It's a great place to see important people. You might see Bill Gates, or Ron Paul signing autographs (which I have seen). On Thursday, I saw Rachel Maddow. I'm not her hugest fan, and she's a little too left for me, but still, cool. She didn't seem huffy or pretentious, either. She was wearing huge black Ray-Ban shaped hipster glasses, but I could still recognize her. I'm still kicking myself for not leaving my tourists standing there, walking over and asking her to sign something. Anything. Stupid Liz!

3. The kind where you don't see them at all:
So I work for a Washington state member, which means that Apolo Anton Ohno is one of our constituents. (Oh, how I wish he would call our office.) And if you were anywhere near me during the Olympics, you know I maaaaay have a little crush. Maybe. The bandana? Notsomuch but otherwise? I really am just waiting for Apolo to realize we should be dating.

So the Member decided to send Apolo a letter, congratulating him on his medals and his awesomeness. My supervisor got to write the letter, and the Member signed it, and members of Congress RARELY sign anything personally (because if they did, they'd never do anything BUT sign letters. We have an Autopen which is a fun little robot arm thing that signs papers just like the Member. I'm still amazed by it.), and then my supervisor wrote Apolo's name and address on an envelope that would get SENT TO APOLO OHNO. If I were a real creeper, I suppose I'd write down the address and take a trip out to the Northwest, but I'm not that shifty. I just, you know, picked up the letter for a second, because HOW COOL IS THAT?

Unfortunately, my supervisor, who I THOUGHT was a cool guy, was completely unreasonable and wouldn't let me add a little post-it note to the envelope's contents with my number on it.

If you're reading, Apolo, call me!

Let's play a game called Good Call, Bad Call

2010-03-07T13:16:00.000-08:00

Hello friends! There are some dates that are good dates and there are some that are not. Last night was one of the two, and I'm going to sum up my evening with a game I like to call "Good Call, Bad Call."

Good Call:
Discovering a pair of heels you can actually walk around in all night.

Bad Call:
You're supposed to take a girl out for a first date. And then your friend from college surprises you by coming to town for a weekend visit. Why not combine the two? GREAT idea. Maybe you can take them both to a party in the Capitol Hill neighborhood and everybody wins!

Except when everybody loses because the party is nonexistent.

Good call:
Having backup plans in case the party is lame (or, in this case, simply isn't real) with friends downtown. And being laid back enough to bring your "date" and his two friends along with you.

Bad call:
Letting your plumbing system flood your entire bar. Rocket Bar, I'm looking at you.

Good call:
Having a friend who's not only good for a night out dancing, but requests that the DJ play lots and lots of Motown.

Bad call:
If you're in DC visiting a friend and you lose track of that friend in a bar when he's on an attempt at a date with a girl, I think the opposite of the smart thing to do (especially if your friend HAS NOT MOVED from where you last saw him and you normally trust him not to, you know, ditch you) is to assume oh, he ditched me and take a cab back to his place. Then an even worse idea is to realize he's still at the bar, get in your car and drive back to Dupont Circle and wander Connecticut Ave until your friend finds you.

Good call:
Bringing a pair of flats in your purse so you don't have to walk home in heels after leaving your "date".

Worst textbook ever**

2010-02-22T06:21:00.000-08:00

**I should clarify. What I should say is second worst textbook ever. The worst I've seen was my 5th grade science book which said that squirrels hibernate in winter.

It's been an eventful past few days. For one, I have working heat again and it came back just in time for the killer head cold that hit me last week. I had a weekend jam-packed with birthdays,

baked a cake which one friend has dubbed the Thin Mint Cake,
wandered down to the Capital to make my YouTube debut (possibly. More details to follow!)
and then settled back into that reality where I have tons of schoolwork.

Which brings me to the title of my post. I'm in a class about policymaking, and the readings are usually pretty interesting. But last night I was reading a textbook by Thomas Dye.... and well...

So basically if you've heard me rant or joke about phone calls and letters from constituents, you'll get my gist here. And if you've ever worked on Capitol Hill yourself, you'll join me in throwing this book into the nearest pile of slushy, grey and black snow.

These three quotes say it all:

"Members of the mass public seldom call or write their senators or representatives"

(So who's making all those calls that have taken away my lunch breaks?)

"members of Congress say most of their mail is in agreement with their own position"

(uh......)

"persons who initiate communication with decision makers, by writing or calling or visiting their representatives, are decidedly more educated and affluent than the average citizen."

Um....

Last week I read a letter that began "Please send more aid to Haiti" and then switched gears to complain about the DREAM Act (which allows states to grant limited state citizen status for alien children (not from outer space though) so they can go to college here) because we need to stop trying to "save the world" and help our own people before we help strangers in other countries.

I realize one letter doesn't refute the textbook's argument.

But that is only ONE letter. There are many more like it. And have you EVER taken the time to call your Rep or Senator to say "hey just want you to know I think you're doing a great job?" Hardly anyone does it. When they do, 98% of the time it's followed by a giant BUT. You're doing a great job, BUT you need to pass healthcare. You're doing a great job BUT, Barack Obama is brainwashing schoolchildren. (How? I don't know but I know that he is and I know I'm right.)

So listen, Thomas R. Dye, next time you're going to write a textbook, go throw yourself in the nearest pile of dingy grey slushy snow. I've got some on my sidewalk with your name on it...

Warm friends with warm apartments

2010-02-14T11:28:00.000-08:00

So the furnace is officially nonfunctional in my apartment...it's a balmy 58 degrees right now. Thanks to a mixup with the maintenance guy it still has not been fixed....and so I'm off to a good friend's place to live on their futon temporarily. I also have the good fortune to spend Valentine's Day anything but bitter: we're phonebanking for a friend's dad's election in Texas. And there will be homemade pizza and cupcakes and brownies....

So basically, lovely people, politics, pizza, and chocolate...sounds like the perfect Valentine's day to me!

Snoverkill

2010-02-11T07:42:00.000-08:00

The Capitol Weather Gang said it best: this is SNOVERKILL. Really. I've crossed the "in awe" threshold and I'm just annoyed. And I have cabin fever.

My roommates had a GREAT idea on Tuesday night - we went out drinking. Tunecliff's was PACKED, the wings were great, and we had a nice gathering (and then a stumbly walk through the snow).

Then yesterday was a nice day cooped up inside...I had a friend who'd chosen to be snowed in with us and we actually did SCHOOLWORK together, which let me tell you, what fun.

I also expanded my movie repertoire big time: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (which is the Marilyn Monroe movie that we can thank for "Diamonds are a girl's best friend." It's also where my dad seems to have gotten his first rule of love: "You can love a rich man just as well as a poor man."), Gattaca which I can't believe I hadn't seen yet, and Julie & Julia which would have been better if it were just Julia. Meryl Streep as Julia Child? Perfection. Amy Adams' character? ANNOYING. However the movie was very cute, and it inspired the cookie baking I will begin shortly.

The fact that I never left home yesterday doesn't mean there werent' any adventures.

Both adventures involved doors, but still.

So my roommates and I live in an old rowhouse in Eastern Market. It's pretty homey, except for the fact that the two rooms you might hang out in - the living room and the kitchen - tend to be a few degrees colder than the rest of the place. That's due to leaky windows and a kitchen door that barely counts as a door at all.

The wood of our kitchen door has cracked in 3 spots in the middle, and the doorframe is WAY big for the door - along the right side of the door there's a gap of a centimeter or two, and the same goes for the bottom. So it's basically a big heat sink on hinges. So I decided to do something about it yesterday:

Not really sure it made a huge difference, but at least we have a gauge of how windy it is now by watching the plastic bags suck in and out with the wind.

And then came the front door. In the morning, one of my roomies went out to shovel the front walk. In the 3 seconds between opening the front door and shutting it behind her, the door decided it didn't like the idea of fitting in its frame anymore.

It was so cold that all the expanding the wood had done was finally set free (this is my uneducated opinion on the physics of it) and didn't want to get back to normal. We spent the day with the door propped shut with the handle of our shovel, and at the end of the night (thanks to my parents for the hot tip) we were able to JUST get it shut enough to lock it - by using a hair dryer on the door's edges. I really wish someone had walked by, because it was quite a sight.

Anyway, we still can't get the temperature to go above 60 degrees here. BUT at least we have shelter. And this afternoon my to-be-determined freshly baked cookies and I will make our way over to a friend's place for some Wii action.

SNOWtography

2010-02-08T19:40:00.001-08:00

I'm lucky enough to live in a neighborhood that's very pretty anyway, but this storm just made it even better. Here's my documentation of the big snow!

(This one is from the first baby snow. Only had time to get one photo on my walk to work.)

The rest of the photos are from Saturday and Sunday. Enjoy!

Eastern Market and a big mound of snow in which I'm pretty sure these kids built a tunnel system:

Car igloos!

Good news? Lots of parking spaces available. Bad news? Parking meters made it through the storm.

Snowlonial Williamsburg

2010-02-07T11:21:00.000-08:00

Favorite snow-related quote:

(overheard while I was walking down my street this morning)

"Ready for your four-wheel drive?"

Said by a dad hoisting his 3-year-old daughter into a red wagon.

There are several things I like about this snow. One, it reminds me of the Blizzard of '93, the memories of which consist mainly of trudging through the snow in the year I tragically chose to portray Jasmine for Halloween. It was a HUGE Halloween storm, and I don't remember HOW much snow but I do remember it was sort of a Winter Sports Jasmine costume in the end.

Two, it's a great excuse to hang out. Friday night I hung out at my friend Marko's place and watched/partly slept through The Darjeeling Limited, and in the morning the guys made me yummy eggs and dark & white chocolate chip/banana/pear pancakes. Who could ask for anything more? And last night I chilled out with one roomie and her boyfriend for a marathon of Westerns. And by 'marathon' I mean 2, and by 'Westerns' I mean one real Western (Silverado) and Blazing Saddles.

Three, for someone more motivated than me it's a great chance to catch up on cleaning/work to do. I HAVE done SOME schoolwork. But not much.

Four, it is BEAUTIFUL out. I'll post my pictures on here after I actually get some work done.

Five, as the title up above indicates, it's sort of transformed the neighborhood. Marko's neighborhood still looked like a city, but here in E. Market, it was so fun to see streets lined with big snow topiaries which upon closer inspection turn out to be cars. And since they were easier to walk on, everyone's just wading through the streets. Parents pulling kids along in sleds, folks XC skiing down Pennsylvania Ave, snowball fights in the park....I saw one lady throw a snowball for her lab to fetch...and when the snowball disappeared into a mound of snow the dog just went digging joyfully anyway.
(Actually that's kind of a mean trick but it was cute.)

Sure there were cars every now and then, but those people are obviously insane to drive, and the folks walking in the middle of the streets often didn't bother looking for cars anyway. (Do NOT be like them) It's so much easier to walk/ski/sled around than to brave driving. It reminded me of Colonial Williamsburg - everyone walking down the middle of the street. No horses, I realize, but no horse "presents"on the road either at least. And you can call us "snowed in", but MAN, it was like folks came out of the woodwork! I know there are a lot of houses here (skinny rowhouses - there are at least 50 on every block of my street) but I never realized so many people lived in them! So it was a really nice thing.

The flip side of that is, of course, not only the 100k+ DC residents who lost power, but the I-don't-know-how-many unhoused people who had to deal with the storm. I spent time with about 20 of them this afternoon at the community kitchen in my church, and the folks that were there seem to have made it through last night okay. But the crowd was a lot smaller than usual - I really hope it's because folks were in shelters instead.

SnOMG and other aliases for this weekend

2010-02-05T09:56:00.000-08:00

Ok. So as a native of upstate New York, I'm not that phased by this impending storm of doom. I'm excited about it. Not only because I am now home for the day and can catch up on sleep/cleaning (aren't I exciting?) but because I haven't seen a big snowstorm in forever. And I don't even have to clean off a car this time!

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

This storm-to-be has got quite a few amusing names, so I thought I'd compile the list I've heard so far. Please feel free to add yours!

1. Snowmageddon

2. Snowpocalypse (which I will amend to Snowpocalypse Jr, since this was the name of the last one)

3. SnOMG

4. Snowzilla

5. Snowmergency

6. Snowtastrophe (eh, this one's annoying)

7. Snowlysh*t

and my favorite so far....(courtesy of miss Aggie):

Snowf*cking way!

And now, some warm lunch and Wes Anderson in bed. =)

Also go here for my favorite photo of the day (it's not at all snow-related).

Am I a MORNING PERSON?

2010-02-03T20:36:00.000-08:00

So when I got home from class tonight after a very long day, I didn't even think twice about my plans for the evening: watch a teeny bit of Netflix (I'm on the British show Coupling at the mo'), catch some shut eye, wake up at 5 and do my Cost-Benefit Analysis reading.

Wake up at 5???

Here's the thing. I haven't been getting much sleep since the semester started, because I made a conscious decision to put too much on my plate. And when I get home at night, I'm about as productive a worker as I would be a tap dancer. So I collapse. Well really...I read lots of articles online, and then I collapse.

And then around 5 AM, through a combination of 3 staggered alarms on my cellphone and some weather-appropriate snow-day-like Arcade Fire on my iPod alarm clock, I wake up, read the bits of the WaPo that require very little brain power, and start on my homework. When I leave for the Hill I'm not so out of it that I walk out in traffic - I'm actually pretty wide awake. I like to think I look more awake too. Of course the downside is that by the time I get to the office I'm ready for my second breakfast. Whoopsies.

(Side note: Bill O'Reilly interviews Jon Stewart! It's 12 minutes long but I'm already happy 2 minutes in. Takeaway quote:

JS: I'm appreciative of the fact that [Obama] has tried to reengage the regulatory mechanism in our government.
BO: Wow, regulatory mechanism.
JS: Regulatory mechanism.
BO: Mechanism...wow. That's way over my head.
JS: And you're 6'5
BO: And i have NO idea what you just said.

Now leaving the No-Spin Zone.)

Bon chance

2010-02-02T20:03:00.000-08:00

Okay, so it's been awhile. The 3-second update: I'm an intern on the Hill again! On the Senate side this time. This is my second week and it's been great so far! The best part is now I live on the Hill, so I just take a nice 20 minute walk into the office every morning.

Basically, though, I'm now super busy (full course load, almost full-time internship and part-time research gig) which is why I haven't blogged in awhile. And instead of doing one big update, I thought I'd do a really short update and then go get some sleep because who doesn't love sleep?

I just wanted to take a second and note some things that make me feel lucky.

I'm lucky for a number of reasons:

That I'm living in DC and I actually LOVE politics...

That I'm back on Capitol Hill and my suits are no longer neglected in the back of my closet...

That my intern tag is GREEN so I don't have the "scarlet letter" (most interns have a red ID badge, which sets them apart from the green badges that real-live staff have. I'm not trying to pull the wool over anyone's eyes, but it makes me feel cooler.)

That I no longer drive. I really miss my car (whose name is River, in case you were wondering. She's named this because A, she once forded a river-like flooded road in NC and B, I really like Joss Whedon's Firefly) but man, am I glad I don't have her here right now. Not only because it's cheaper - Metro might be expensive but it sure beats auto insurance and parking permit fees.

Mostly, though, it's nice not having a car because I can simply enjoy the snow we're now getting more and more of. And by now I mean RIGHT now. But except for the stupid car that almost hit me in a crosswalk as I headed for Union Station today, I don't have to deal with the always horrible DC drivers who are now even worse because they can't handle winter roads. I don't have to de-ice a vehicle, wait for it to warm up, sit on icy cold seats, defrost the windshield, look at the slush, fishtail, or any of that. I can just trudge through snowy sidewalks and parks, throw a snowball or two at friends, and feel like a kid again in ignorant bliss of the adult responsibilities of car ownership.

That I have 2 really wonderful roommates. Tonight my roomies and I did what we've been talking about for months: we went out to celebrate my living with them (and apparently my birthday, which is now almost a half-birthday).

We went to Bistrot du Coin in Dupont Circle, and for someone with a travel bug, this was almost as good as a trip to Paris. It looked like and felt like a Parisian restaurant. A few weeks ago the three of us realized we all LOVE mussels, and so Bistrot du Coin became the place for our mythical roommate outing that would happen eventually.

And, wow. I haven't had mussels in forever, but it was wonderful to share the mussels and the crusty bread and the REALLY good wine with two lovely women that I'm lucky enough to live with.

One of my favorite parts was ordering off the menu in French. It gave me a chance to make rare use of my French skills, and I didn't feel like a snob because A, one roommate is way better at the language than me and B, our waiters were all francophone. And my moules Provencale were wonderful (and dessert wasn't half bad either!).

And then, at the end of dinner, my two roommates surprised me by treating me. They claimed it was a belated birthday dinner for me, but whether it was that or because they know how broke I am, there was no pretense, no guilt tripping, nothing but a really nice gesture. Which reminded me of one of the only reasons I care about making (some kind of) money in my future career: so that I can take my friends out to eat too. It'd be nice to be able to be generous.

And then the cab ride home brings things full circle - my roommates and I discussed the book Game Change which is probably not big news outside of Washington at all...and we had a nice wonky talk, probably to the dismay of our cab driver. A wonky cab ride which wouldn't have happened in any other city. Say what you will but I'm really glad to be here.

Perspectives on Haiti

2010-01-22T06:23:00.000-08:00

I have to admit, since covering it in Social Studies class forever ago, I haven't retained much knowledge about Haiti. And to be completely honest (as anyone who knows my geography abilities will not be surprised to learn) I wasn't even really aware that Haiti and the DR were on the same island until seeing the map in the Washington Post.

So the earthquake and aftershocks in Haiti have been a (horrifying) educational experience. The most frustrating thing is that there's not much I can do from here. I made a donation to the Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund, and I'm mulling over whether I could handle a service trip to Haiti when the opportunity comes up. But in the absence of really being able to DO anything about Port-au-Prince right now, the next best step is to understand what's going on.

One of my friends at grad school helped organize a "teach-in" on campus, to help people do just that - learn. It was on Haiti's history, the situation on the ground right now, and how things look moving forward. There was a panel of speakers including young Haitian-Americans, a professor who talked about the economic situation, and a USAID worker who was there during the quake. So it was pretty interesting. There was also a community-organizer-type who came in late and had a less helpful perspective, but I give her props for being a true community organizer in her speech and mannerisms.

Some things I learned:

Haiti is STILL paying off its "debt" to the IMF. What debt? Oh, billions of dollars in REPARATIONS for the money that France WOULD HAVE made off them if they'd been able to keep Haiti as a colony 200 years ago. (I'm short on time so I haven't fact-checked this; feel free to correct me)

This quake didn't just hit the poorest parts of the city; it affected both the haves and the have-nots, so one of the Haitian American speakers said she has hope that all Haitians, regardless of social class, will now (be forced to) come together and rebuild Haiti.

The looting that we heard about after Katrina and that you might hear some about in Port-au-Prince is probably not as bad as the media is making it out to be.

Anyway, I'm really glad I went. Because at least now, as helpless as I may feel, I actually have a sense of what's going on and what's likely to happen.

Also, one of my professors is from Haiti, and he will be speaking on the Kojo Nnamdi Show (which is a local show on WAMU, the DC NPR station, but you can listen online here) on Monday at noon.

Announcing my very first Guest Contributor!

2010-01-12T08:50:00.000-08:00

Having too much free time on my hands means having fewer experiences to write about. Luckily, my good friend in Philadelphia has stepped up to the plate as an Extra Special Guest Contributor! Expect her to be a somewhat-regular feature. She'll soon have a blog of her own, I suspect, but for now she's the local dating and relationships guru on mine.

And now, without further ado, Allie's contribution:

U WNT 2 GO OUT? NO? KTHANXBYE

As a recently single girl, the past 6 months have convinced me that modern technology is single-handedly responsible for the majority of confusion, heartache, and embarrassment we all face in our dating attempts.

The last time I was single, it was 2001. I was 16 and I didn’t even have a cell phone. All the boys I chased had a single phone number- usually a landline (usually their parents’ landline!)- that I could call without fear to my heart’s content because caller I.D. hadn’t yet become ubiquitous. Those were some carefree days. You liked a boy, he liked you, and poof(!) you were dating. Most of your interaction took place in-person, with the telephone as a means to an end (“why yes, Jeffrey, I would love to meet you at the mall at 3”….my dates back then were SO New Jersey….).

Nowadays, so much of how we communicate in relationships is conducted via electronics. I recently had the displeasure of dating a Philadelphia law student named "Dan" for 2 months. Though he did call me on the phone one time to set up our initial first date, all subsequent meetings were facilitated through text message.

Oh, the text message. Texting has undeniably wormed its way into the cultural fabric of our society (incidentally, the word “texting” still does not appear in my Microsoft Word spell check dictionary!). If used correctly, the text message can be a beautiful thing. In class, but still want to find out the score of the game? Text your friend who’s watching at the bar. Confirming the address of that party you’re attending Saturday night? Text the hostess. There are a lot of beneficial uses for text message technology. However, when thrown into the mix of a burgeoning relationship, texting adds a whole new dimension an already precarious situation. It allows you to take risks without actually taking risks. It is both personal and yet completely impersonal at the exact same time. And it drove me freaking insane.

Giddy after our 12 hour first date, I excitedly waited for "Dan" to call me the next day. He didn’t. Nor did he call me the day after that. On the third day, however, I received a text that simply said “hello”. What did this mean? What was he trying to say? Was he trying to initiate a conversation? Was he building up to asking me out again? So as not to appear too eager, I waited an hour to send my well-crafted, witty reply: “hey there!” This may not seem like poetry to most, but, in my muddled brain, the “hey” showed my casualness while the playful exclamation point conveyed excitement at hearing from him. Two hours later, he responded and indeed set up the next date.

It went on like this for weeks. This deliberate game of cat-and-mouse (if he waited 20 minutes to text me, I would wait 40 to text him back), the mirroring of each other’s tone and punctuation, keeping the messages within the phone’s character limits….all of it exhausted me. It also caused some severe anxiety: if he really liked me, wouldn’t he call me? Why did he always wait so long in between dates to text me? Why did he always text with logistics instead of inquiring about me? In the end, I couldn’t handle it. I sent him a text (lame!) asking if he actually still wanted to be with me and, to his credit, he called me the next day to break up.

Going through this wasn’t pleasant, but I’ve definitely learned a lot by re-entering the dating pool in this way. Basically, if you want something from someone, pick up the phone and tell them. Texting can lead to miscommunication and also waste a lot of time and energy. If a guy likes you (and I mean really likes you), he’ll probably want to spend a lot of time with you in person and on the phone, talking about things that can’t be summed up in 160 characters. And we all deserve nothing less than this.

A brief epilogue to this story: a few months after breaking up with Dan, I joined that mecca for Jewish twenty-somethings- Jdate. And who should come up in one of my first searches? My erstwhile law student, of course. Since Jdate shows you a list of everyone who views you, I didn’t want to click on his profile and seem like a total stalker. Somehow, however, my computer mouse accidentally double-clicked and I found myself virtually face-to-face with my ex. And completely mortified on top of it. I could go on at length about the intricacies and perils of online dating, but I think it’s best I save that for another day….

I'm just not that into chick flick plots

2010-01-06T10:15:00.000-08:00

So after almost 2 weeks of relaxing at home, getting full nights of sleep and being well-fed, my parents loaded up the car and we drove south, to pick up my best friend in PA and go to Williamsburg for New Year's. And you know what happened on the way there? I realized I was coming down with a cold. How does this HAPPEN?

Anyway, it gave me an excuse to spend my first couple of days back in DC vegging out and resting up. And I spent the first such day planted on the couch. I watched 2 chick flicks because they were free on demand. One of these was "He's Just Not That Into You."

I'm a fan of anything that tries, realistically, to wake girls up. I say this as a self-aware obsesser over guys. Why hasn't he called, what exactly did that little change in the tone of his voice mean, and so on. But I KNOW I'm being dumb and I think girls need some tough love. Or at least to be poked fun at.

Which is why this movie appealed to me. And just like the movie's makers hoped, I saw a girlfriend (or myself) in each and every character. The main one was particularly neurotic and it annoyed me. And they DO give her some tough love, in the form of Justin Long (from the Apple commercials) - a guy she befriends who tells her that a guy WILL call her if he wants to.

(Spoiler alert)

And she finally starts to take his advice, but for a completely plausible reason: she's starting to like him. And then she decides there are "signs", and HE likes HER. (Which I thought too, as an experienced interpreter of such signs.)

And she's wrong. He tells her not-so-gently that she's insane, and she doesn't get it.

This is the kind of outcome that's less fun to watch, but better for us in the end. There's a lesson in it.

And in the narrated epilogue-type deal at the end, they DO try and say so - like "maybe the happy ending is you" - but they caaaaaaan't seem to bring themselves to do this to the main character, who keeps complaining how alone she is and how she'll be alone forever.

And because Hollywood JUST CAN'T HELP ITSELF what happens? Justin Long realizes he's fallen for her AFTER all and goes back and begs her to take him back. Insert typical wonderful chick flick kissing moment. And that's nice and all, but it really makes this just like any other chick flick.

I knew this would happen before it did, simply because my friend told me her frustration during our New Year's trip. Seriously? What EXACTLY is the point of all this? Novelists and great TV writers like Joss Whedon (yes I'm biased) are perfectly capable of killing off great characters. Why can't movie writers kill off great crushes? Why does the pair of friends have to get together in the end? Why can't we see the awkward, too-excited girl actually LEARN to follow the rules Justin Long gives her? Why does this have to be just another chick flick?

Also a dangerous chick flick? Pride and Prejudice. I know. It's also a classic novel. And I have seen all of the film versions, I think - the new one with Keira Knightley, Bridget Jones' Diary, and even the 6-hour BBC miniseries with Colin Firth (by accident - we rented the wrong thing, but watched it all at once anyway).

Why is P&P so dangerous? Well, first, because it leads me to believe there is no man for me but Colin Firth. Second, because it makes girls love that slow build up of tension, and pays little attention to the period after (at least in the movies - I've never actually read the book). That's a subject for another day, but the point is that it encourages unrealistic expectations of falling in love and of British accents being abundant in one's life.

Two good things which distinguish P&P and Bridget Jones from other chick flicks: woman power and high expectations. Elizabeth Bennett is different from the girls of her time - she won't marry for the safety of it, she's independent and well-read, etc. It's like a woman I used to work with who told me about the girls who went to law school simply to FIND A HUSBAND. No big deal that they spent thousands on their degree - they wanted to be housewives and have a lawyer husband. She said those girls graduated single, and she, definitely a feminist, found a wonderful husband totally by accident.

As for high expectations, while I don't honestly believe there's a Colin Firth in my future (he's probably married by now...anybody want to check on that for me?), it's a nice message that you should hold out for a man who will go above and beyond for you, and not make a show of it, like Mr. Darcy does.

That being said, I don't expect anyone to pay for my sister's wedding, or anything. Technically speaking I don't even have a sister. But you get the idea.

Open question: what are you favorite and most hated chick flicks?

Caution: semi-depressing thoughts ahead

2009-12-29T14:53:00.001-08:00

I've played the piano since I was 3. Never particularly well - I didn't really practice much until I finally got to "the hard stuff" (not drugs... Rachmaninoff, etc) in high school. And to be fair, "since I was 3" means I played the same few songs for 2 years straight. I also can't read music much faster than a 4th grader thanks to the Suzuki method, which is how I learned - I play by ear. It's actually really cool, supposedly makes you good at math, and is more fun in my opinion than reading sheet music appallingly fast like traditional piano students do. I can play on command, without sheet music handy. But NO, I do NOT know the Entertainer so shut up.

My piano teacher died earlier this year, in her 60s, as the result of increasingly failing health. She was a really important person to a lot of people, and her memorial service was packed with piano students, neighbors, church friends (she was our organist), fellow teachers, kids from the music camp she helped found where I spent my summers...it was a strange morbid sort of reunion.

She's also the most important person in my life I've seen die. And since she died, I hadn't really touched my piano. I usually use the piano as an emotional outlet - big, loud pieces are a great way to blow off steam; romantic ones let you play out any emotional turmoil. There's always that one piece that looks more impressive than it is that you can bang out really fast. But basically it's an escape. And after she died, I found that something made me think of my teacher almost every day - her pearls of wisdom like "Playing a wrong note won't change your life; marrying the wrong person will," or a song appearing on my iPod that I know she loved, or just the mention of a piano in general. So the upright in my parents' living room wasn't really an escape anymore - the instrument itself was charged with emotion. I was a little afraid to go near it, until I was home for Thanksgiving and ran a 5k with an old piano friend. She's a couple years younger than me and we were never really close, but as we talked on our run she said that playing piano had been "an emotional experience" after losing our teacher. Hearing someone else admit what I'd been thinking gave me permission to sit back down at the keys, and I've played almost every day I've been home this holiday.

I still wish I were better at it, and I wish my teacher were still a block away to give me an impromptu lesson. Even though I never did that while I was home during college, now it seems like I can barely go without. And even though I hated her love of Bach - nothing against the composer himself, but Baroque gets really old and boring after awhile - and how many Bach pieces she made me play, now I find myself thinking like a Bach apologizer, pretending I like the stuff. Without a teacher there to push me, I'll probably never be as good as I was. And I'm sure my parents are tired of hearing my clumsy banging (I know the cat is...) but it's nice to have that outlet to come home to.

Not my camera!

2009-12-23T08:13:00.000-08:00

So I've been home since Friday night. The first sad/smart thing about that is that I missed the epic snowstorm in DC. I missed boatloads of snow, so I hear, and the opportunity to play in said snow (although without a college cafeteria to swipe lunch trays from, what good is snow?), and most of all, I missed seeing everyone in DC FREAK OUT about the snow.

I remember traveling to DC on a school trip in high school during what some locals would fondly remember as a storm...but I remember as, ok, there's snow on the ground. We visited the Holocaust museum, and the White House, but what I really remember is that EVERYTHING seemed to have shut down. We heard that kids in DC had school cancelled, so we were jealous, naturally, ignoring the fact that we were touring the White House on a school day. But it's amazing what a little bit of snow can do to scare people who aren't used to it.

Paul Krugman has some insights on DC in the snow here.

Up here, we ARE used to it, but we get it less and less. The storm went east of my hometown, so I didn't get to see ANY of it. And what's it going to do for Christmas? Oh, get warmer, and rain. Yuck. Thanks, global warming/bad luck.

However, there is SOME snow on the ground. The other day I went running on this trail near my house that goes along a pond. The pond was iced over and the trail was completely covered with snow, and for awhile I had the entire mile and a half-long trail to myself, so it was snowy and peaceful. Which was pretty much perfect. But still nothing to sled about.

So home has been nice...so far it's been a mix of quality time with the cat, serious piano-playing time, reading, family bonding, and full nights of sleep. The last bit has proved interesting. I've had some curious dreams the past 3 nights. The first two involved 25 story buildings....once, I was being chased throughout the building in a looooong game of tag. It was really unfair, because 2 old friends were chasing me as a team. The next night, I had to climb down slippery steel fire escapes to get the reading assignments for a final exam. And last night, no high rise building, but a mugging. A homeless guy came up to me after church and grabbed my arm/purse and told me to give it up, and nobody gets hurt. So I seemed unable to yell out anything to the 100 or so people standing nearby, and the more I kicked him in sensitive areas the harder he held on.

Why was I so intent on keeping my purse?

It didn't really matter to me that I would lose my phone, money, credit cards, coupons, any of that (yes, I carry coupons at all times). What I didn't want to lose was my camera.

See, my mom and dad got me a nice digital camera for my birthday. I'd been without for over a year, not only because cameras cost money but because I have a not-so-good history with them. This is my 4th. The others have been lost/stolen or some combination of the two. So now I've got the 4th and I am DETERMINED not to lose it. I rarely bring it to a night out on the town, since that's how I lost one before... and when that guy was clinging to my purse, I reasoned that he probably needed the stuff more than I did. But NOT my camera.

(You can tell there's not much going on in my life when I resort to blogging about my dreams.)

Seriously?

2009-12-13T17:04:00.001-08:00

So I'm on campus, waiting for a bus, trying not to eavesdrop on the annoying undergrads standing nearby, when we see a car back up onto the sidewalk. Not up on the curb a little bit. Fully, purposefully, on the sidewalk. Then the driver jumps out and hops in the backseat. We stare. Then the car pulls away. Apparently someone jumped from the passenger's seat to the driver's side.

Seriously?

This has broken the awkward situation where the undergrads talk loudly and I try to pretend I'm not listening in, and created a scenario where we exchange dumbfounded looks and theories about a possible backseat quickie (my theory: they're going for the hiding-in-plain-sight quickie). As they drive off, the boy in the group says

"That was a weird Chinese fire drill."

"Why do they call it a Chinese fire drill?"

"Because Chinese people can't park!"

(This girl then continues to defend her position as her friends jokingly call her a racist. She goes on "It's true! Anytime I had a Chinese friend (I'm guessing once, personally), their parents could not drive! It's not racist if it's true of all Chinese people!" And her friends seem to become more and more aware of the significant number of Asian students also waiting for the bus.)

Ah, undergrads...

That's what she said...

2009-12-10T12:23:00.000-08:00

So my first semester of grad school is over, and no major injuries! That means I get a week of laziness. And by laziness, I mean taking the time to go running every day, and applying for jobs, and cooking. And laziness.

Which means I'm too lazy to write an entry. Instead, I will share some quotes from recent days:

(background: I got subpoenaed after witnessing/interrupting a mugging in my neighborhood)
Mom: How's the DA?
Me: He didn't pick up and hasn't called back.
Mom: That's a man for you.

(text from a friend who's a Fed)
"Did you know that macintosh is also spelled mackintosh and is a full-length waterproof coat?"
"My tax dollars are hard at work I see"
"The things you learn playing hangman. And it's the gov't's problem not mine. But a necessary problem. Security is important"

(text from a friend about a mutual buddy who's a bit of a country boy)
"I had to teach him how to use a metro card. Then he threw it out before he got off."

Happy Wednesday! Oh, Thursday. I don't even know what day of the week it is anymore - I think this might be too much freedom.

Just wanted to say thanks, Mr. and Mrs. Salahi

2009-12-05T07:47:00.000-08:00

I spent almost a full week at home for Thanksgiving, which was great. My cat accepted me back into the family (curled up with me at night), I got reacquainted with my piano, and I ran a 5k! And saw lots of old teammates, coaches and friends. And of course there was food, which I am STILL enjoying - just had homemade venison sausage with my eggs for breakfast (thanks Dad!).

So you may have noticed the title of this entry - and I really do want to thank the Salahis. I thought this was one of those Washington stories that nobody cares about outside the bubble, but I quickly learned at home that it is not. So I'm assuming you know who the Salahis are and if not, you should really question whether it's a good thing that you're learning news from my blog. And in case you ARE getting your news from my blog, the Salahis are a very much questionable DC "power couple" who managed to sneak their way into a state dinner at the White House, getting past security simply by acting like they belonged. Cue the photo with Joe Biden.

So why do I have the warm fuzzies for these party crashers?

Well, I'm from a pretty conservative town. I didn't realize how conservative until I came back from my first semester of undergrad, to discover that I was a liberal fish out of water. So now that I live in DC, I am always mentally prepared for the interactions at home. They usually go one of two ways, and those look something like this:

"So where are you now, Liz?"
"I'm in DC."
"Oh, great, we need more people like you down there. When will you be running for office?"

or option 2:

"So where are you now, Liz?"
"I'm in DC."
"Oh, have you seen savior Obama yet? Insert snarky comment here..."

To be fair, I also get this at my fairly liberal church:

"I am so glad Obama's in charge..." but not really anywhere else in town.

So this time I was ready. I was actually nervous for the after-church interactions, because Obama's shine has worn off for a lot of liberals and non-liberal-pro-Obama folks. But what I got was this, almost every time:

"So where are you now, Liz?"
"Oh, I'm in DC."
"So what did you think of those party crashers at the White House?"

And regardless of political affiliation, pretty much everyone got a chuckle out of the story. Everybody found it amusing (somebody in the Congressional hearing this week said we're lucky it wasn't a massacre, but come on. It was funny.)

And so it is that while I hate the silly celebrity news that everyone knows about across the country - like John Mayer spending more time on Twitter than with Jennifer Aniston (REALLY? COME ON) - I LOVE the silly news that we have here in Washington. It's nice that things happen that everyone can have the same reaction to, party and politics aside.

So thank you, Salahis, for creating some unity in the little conservative nook that is my hometown.

Anyway, it was cold up there, but it was great. The best part was the 5k I ran on turkey day - it's like an unofficial reunion for my high school XC team, since the coach runs it and lots of people came back. I ran the race with an old piano friend, and we did pretty well! Slower than I was last time I was in shape, which was 2 years ago, but still, 29:00 is an okay 5k if you're just back on the horse! Or wagon. Or whatever the expression is.

29:00 is very much a guess, though - it was, I heard, the most crowded race they've ever held, and it showed. The start line was backed up so far that we had to run around the volunteers' parked cars to cross the actual start line (which is when I started my stopwatch), and the finish line was so backed up that, according to my mom, many of the middle-pack finishers were told "You can't do that!" as they sprinted toward the end. If you've ever been in or seen a race, you know that (unless it's an always-full-kilt one like a 200m) the end is the time to sprint. Why? Because A, it looks awesome, and B, if you have extra energy left you might as well use it to get a good time.

So as my friend and I reached the little bridge right before the finish line, about 100 meters to go, we picked up the pace without even thinking - it was just the natural thing to do. Then we looked up and realized we couldn't even cross the finish line. We got stuck waiting in a standing line to finish, about 20 feet from the actual stop. So we faked a finish for the camera:

And on an unrelated note, my roommate just told me to open my curtains. IT'S SNOWING!

Quick update, aaaaand go

2009-11-23T09:04:00.000-08:00

So, it's been forever since I've taken the time to write something on here. Life's been really busy lately. Here's the short list of happenings in the past month:

- Quit my retail job. Phew.

- Traveled to Kentucky to visit my grandmother. Didn't take any pictures of her, but I did want to share a couple of glimpses into the local culture:

First, we have an interesting "vehicle" outside my favorite Kentucky BBQ hut. Next, I offer a lesson in why it's important to name your business carefully. My dad spotted this sign and we had to stop and get a photo.

And now more updates....

- The weekend after that I went up to Philly for a friend's pink-themed birthday party. Lots of fun and a mad-impressive cake:

-I'm still loving grad school - not really an event just a note.

-I wrote, with a friend, a policy analysis on health care reform and concluded that my partner and I should have been the ones to write the reform bill.

- Last week, I saw Bela Fleck & the Flecktones perform at the Strathmore up in Bethesda. I highly recommend both the venue (gorgeous maple-looking wood everywhere, amazing acoustics, right by the Grosvenor-Strathmore Metro) and the group.

The Flecktones are a...unique group. Their style is a fusion of jazz, folk, bluegrass, funk, and world music. Their amazing saxophone player, Jeff Coffin, who played an alto sax and a tenor sax at the same time last time I saw the group live, is off touring with DMB since their sax guy passed away. So the Flecktones subbed in Howard Levy, who was one of the original members but left in '92, for this part of their tour. And he was AMAZING. He plays piano, but mostly he's the most amazing harmonica player ever born.

Does this sound like a tall order? It probably is. But that man made his harmonica sound like a Jew's harp (P.C. name lamellophone), a didgeridoo, a raspy human voice, a sax, and an accordion (Vaudeville style). It was impressive.

Add to that the always amazing world-class banjo picking of Bela Fleck - in my opinion the best banjoist in the world - and probably the world's best bassist ("The only other guys in his league left today are Les Claypool and Flea" - the friend who saw the concert with me and says he was mostly kidding about Flea) Victor Wooten - who in one of his amazing solos spun his bass around him like he was a Harlem Globetrotter - and you've got an amazing lineup. And then there's Future Man, the most-likely-insane brother of Wooten who thinks he's from the future and invented his own instrument, the Synthaxe Drumitar (check out the Wikipedia entry here) and is an experience all his own.

The amazing thing about a Flecktones concert is they're all virtuosos in their own right, and they do take the time to show it - lots of show-off solos. But in all the concerts I've been to with musical performances that are meant to show off - be they a long-winded jazz solo or a ridiculously intricate, fast-paced, weird orchestral piece - the showing off is impressive but not enjoyable. You think to yourself, "man, that's impressive." Well with the Flecktones, you can really only find the ability to say "wow" or maybe just let your jaw drop. It's a lot to take in because it's technically brilliant and it's still music - it's fantastic to watch and listen to.

Alright, I'm done ranting about the Flecktones now.

- Yet another college friend is moving here! She came down this weekend to check out apartments. She found one that's super close to Ben's Chili Bowl...er...I mean...I can't wait for her to move here! But really I can't.

-I'm back in shape again. And running a turkey day 5k! Wish me luck.

- Because I'm a student again, I will now take this opportunity to brag about having a long break. Tomorrow I head north for almost a full week of Thanksgiving vacation and time at home and I can't wait! Oh and I get a whole MONTH off for Christmas. Take that, people with gainful employment!

Turning up the heat on an old global warming skeptic

2009-10-28T06:30:00.000-07:00

Normally, my attempts to digest the Post over coffee are more a struggle to stay awake than anything else. Eventually I start soaking in some news, but definitely not until I'm a couple articles in.

This morning, however, was just plain amusing. Why? Dana Milbank's column writeup on yesterday's Senate committee hearing on climate change and cap and trade.

The article's short and if you're into climate change at all, or have another reason to hold Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) in contempt (the former chair of the committee, famous in enviro circles for calling global warming "the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people").

Here's the article.

My favorite part is the mention that Sen. Barbara Boxer literally made him sweat it out (though probably not intentionally) by holding the meeting in a small, cramped, hot room. (Hot, flat and crowded?)

There's also an interesting sketch of John Kerry - who I love as a senator even though I disliked him as a presidential candidate - taking a break from his impressive work on foreign relations to speak as a witness before the panel. He co-wrote the bill in question with Barbara Boxer, so that's what he was there to talk about. Anyway, according to the columnist Kerry at one point in about 26 minutes of rattling off numbers and berating Inhofe said "we invented wind."

...For the sake of our climate and any politician who wants to move forward on the issue, I sure hope that doesn't catch..well...wind... because between Al Gore getting in trouble for making it sound as if he thinks he invented the internet, and John Kerry giving humans credit for wind...we're not gaining a whole lot of credibility here.

Random Expertise

2009-10-23T07:41:00.000-07:00

And now, a list of useful/interesting things I've learned so far this week, starting with the most recent:

Plugging in a coffee pot is great, but it won't do anything unless you press on.

The Hate Crimes Bill Passed! Also known as the Matthew Shepard Act (named after the boy who was brutally murdered for being gay about 10 years ago). It just passed the Senate, and having already passed the House, it's now on its merry way to President Obama's desk. And don't worry, it won't discriminate against narrow-minded pastors or anything.

WE MIGHT BE KILLING BEES WITH OUR CELL PHONES. The guy I sit next to in my policy analysis class last night informed me of the prevailing theory on dwindling bee populations: cell phone towers causing interference in bees' ability to get back to the hive. Read up from a reliable source: http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/are-mobile-phones-wiping-out-our-bees-444768.html

That familiar upward-sloping supply curve? It comes from the part of the marginal cost curve after crossing the average variable cost curve. (Okay. Maybe that's not actually interesting to anyone but me.)

Best sushi in town (that I've found...bearing in mind that I'm in the tax bracket to eat sushi very infrequently): Yosaku. It's in Tenleytown/Friendship Heights on Wisconsin Ave. They have a $1 per piece happy hour every day from 5-7:30, but my classmates decided to go after many hours of holing ourselves up in the library with econ last night. We were THOSE people - the ones who come in right before closing. And because it's one of those sushi places where you can see the chefs, we could actually see their faces drop. The waitresses told us we had 15 minutes to order before the kitchen closed, but you know how annoyed they must have been. Oh well. It was DELICIOUS. I had the tempura fried spicy tuna roll. One of my classmates managed to spend 40 bucks, but mine was very reasonable. And beautiful. And delicious. Tempura sushi is quickly becoming a favorite food...and it's not because it takes something healthy (sushi) and, well, deep fries it to cancel out the health. It's just delicious. Sushi but warm...sushi as comfort food. The tuna in my roll becomes seared tuna...also whatever it is they call "spicy crunchy" inside certain rolls is quite yummy. No idea what it is.

Washingtonian review of Yosaku

Last week's This American Life, the second in a 2-part series, explains where health insurance came from (in the 3rd quarter of the show) in 15 minutes or less and it's REALLY interesting.

This American Life 10.16.09: Someone Else's Money

Great weekend

2009-10-20T07:00:00.001-07:00

So while I basically got nothing done this weekend, it was really great.

First, I got to spend all of Saturday with my best friend Rachel, who was in town to cheer on her fiance's volleyball team. I have to say, the games were a lot of fun to watch but I could NEVER play volleyball. Missing that whole hand-eye coordination component - I hear it's an important skill. So we cheered on the team inside a dark gym, and then I traveled with the team to their dinner destination, which was the illustrious Olive Garden. On the way, however, we noticed a Silver Diner in the same complex as the OG. If you're local and you've never been to a Silver Diner, GET TO ONE NOW. They're fabulous. They're retro diners (it's a local chain) with fun music and awesome, cheap food. It's like....a friendlier, homier Johnny Rockets with the menu of a New Jersey diner. Their milkshakes are to die for.

Rachel and I snuck away from the team and had a little dinner for two at the Silver Diner mostly to fulfill a tradition of late-night chocolate chip pancakes. Well, they didn't have any but they DID have caramel challah french toast, which came with bacon and eggs. And it doesn't get much better than that.

Saturday night I went to a classmate's birthday party and then to Wonderland Ballroom, which is quickly becoming a favorite spot.

And on Sunday, friend Tatiana and I went to relive our childhoods: we saw Where the Wild Things Are. And it was great. I'm not going to wax poetic about it, but it was wonderful. First of all, I loved the music - I don't know all the particulars but I know it involved Karen O from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and I might just get the soundtrack. Second, what's cuter to watch than a little boy in a monster costume tumbling through the woods with big furry monsters? I'm much more of the quiet nature walk type, but it was a fun film.

I think the best features of the film were its understanding of kids and its realistic nature. Now, you're probably thinking, how can a movie about a kid who imagines sailing to an island full of funny looking monsters be realistic? It was realistic because its characters were, well, human. Even the monsters, to a lesser extent. Max was the protagonist but the movie makes no attempts to make him into some great hero: he's just who he is, an imperfect boy who sometimes bites. And everything that happens when he's among the Wild Things sounds like something a boy his age would dream up. What the monsters did and said reminded me of watching the kids I've babysat play, and of my recent stumbling upon short stories I wrote as a kid. The movie was written by adults, but it could've been dreamed up by a real kid.

Ramblings aside, it was a really fun movie.

When the insurers got it right (really?)

2009-10-12T09:54:00.000-07:00

I really hate to agree with the health insurance industry, but they got something right.

AHIP - or America's Health Insurance Plans - is circulating a letter to Congress denouncing Baucus' finalized bill, undoing all of Obama's work that brought the insurers to the table on health care reform. Obama did it because this is the group that blocked Clinton's health care efforts, and this is a frustrating outcome, but really it's no surprise - the overarching goal of the national health care reform debate is to help people. and that is something that insurers are not in the business of doing.

Yet the substance of AHIP's argument is solid: under the Baucus plan, premiums wil rise. I'm not goign to endorse their particular numbers or their motivation, but it makes sense. Baucus decided to both postpone and reduce the penalty for opting out of health insurance. Which makes libertarians happy, I'm sure, but the reason insurance doesn't work at the moment is that people have different levels of risk aversion. Your insurance premiums are based not only on the insurer's profit-seeking tendencies but on the total healthcare costs of your insurance pool. If young, healthy people - the people who pay into a pool but don't take much out because they don't need much care - aren't required to purchase coverage, they often won't. An insurance pool full of expensive sick people is not going to be sustainable with reasonable rates.

Yes, the bill has some "buffers" to counter this effect, and I know that mandated coverage may be about as politically feasible as the public option. But still, the insurers for once got it right, even if for the wrong reasons.

The front page Washington Post article that inspired this post.

Maybe going to that tiny school nobody's heard of was worth it after all...

2009-10-07T21:16:00.000-07:00

Back in high school, when almost nobody had heard of my college of choice, I wasn't surprised. Most people go to school in-state where I'm from, and obviously there's nothing wrong with that.

The relative obscurity of my college continues today down in DC, where I've begun to describe it as "one of those zillions of little liberal arts colleges in Pennsylvania." There really are a ton of them and to the naked eye, they probably all seem about the same. They're definitely different from the big schools, but are they worth the money and the time it takes to explain how to pronounce the name?

The past couple of weeks my undergrad institution has come up pretty often: Alumni Relations held a fundraising reception down here, and that day the Director of Alumni Relations took me out for sushi. Tomorrow I'm hosting an alumni happy hour; this past weekend, as mentioned, was Homecoming. I also got in touch with Disability Services at the college for help securing grad school accommodations for my ADD.

There's a lot of cynicism among my fellow alumni - out of more than 20 young local alumni, only a few of us actually made the drive north for Homecoming this year. There's a general consensus that our love of the school has very much to do with the people, and less to do with the institution itself. To be fair, no school is perfect. Presidents have their quirks, no bureaucracy is perfect, the food is horrible...the list goes on. But here's what I noticed in the past couple of weeks:

1. I really miss the close relationships I formed with professors. I still keep up with many of them; this was a smart move, in hindsight. I remember writing thank you notes to my favorite profs when I graduated. This sounds corny, but it just seemed appropriate. And I'm sure that didn't hurt my chances when I asked for letters of recommendation while applying to grad schools. One thing that sent me back for Homecoming this year was the chance to see my old coaches and profs - I had dessert one night with a professor and his family I used to babysit for. Those kids are fantastic.

In my grad program, my profs don't necessarily even know my name. The prof I'm doing research one-on-one with has 2 kids around my age, so no babysitting opportunities there unfortunately.

2. Small campuses are often great. Unless you want to avoid someone. But given my current commute to school - usually about an hour (I realize it's my fault for choosing Eastern Market to live in) - I pine for the days when I rolled out of bed at 7:45, brushed my teeth, grabbed a bagel, and bounced about 50 feet away to the science building for 8 AM lab.

3. I realize I'm taking first semester graduate classes at the moment - the classes everyone has to take - but man, do I miss the small classes I enjoyed for 4 years. I miss sitting in a circle and discussing topics. I know, I'm a nerd.

4. The faculty and staff at my undergrad college really went out of their way for you. Of course, there are exceptions. But when I called my alma mater's Disability Services, the director, whom I had never met personally, offered me more advice than I'd even known to ask for, and promptly mailed me double copies of the letter I needed.

Today, I schlepped onto campus early in the morning on a day when I don't even have class to meet with my new academic support advisor. Why? Not by choice: I've known about my ADD since 7th grade, so I don't exactly need to devise a game plan at this point. What I DO need is an accomodation or two in the classroom, which requires a letter proving approval of those accomodations....which requires meeting with an advisor. Who is apparently only available at 9 AM. And who told me, despite having my middle and high school era test results and various letters from doctors and my undergrad institution, that my evaluation has expired.

In other words, I need to see a psychiatrist for an evaluation. To prove that I still have ADD. Even though ADD does not fade with time. And even though evaluations tend to cost hundreds.

I had to do this for college as a high school senior, but at that stage it's more plausible: my original evaluation took place in 7th grade, and kids change quite a bit from 12 to 17. But if my college saw fit to provide accomodations for a full 4 years after that, why should 2 years later be so drastically different?

The gist of this rant is that this bigger school doesn't seem to put me first the way that my college did. I'm hoping it will prove me wrong over the next 2 years, but in the mean time, I'm realizing the value of the place I left behind.

And this is why I don't eat red meat anymore

2009-10-05T06:36:00.000-07:00

Actually, I have lots of reasons, and a few exceptions. I'll eat venison (my dad's a hunter) and if it's local, where and when you can find local beef, that's fine. But otherwise? No. It's horrible, environmentally (I'm talking specifically about beef here). And it's easier than going straight vegetarian, which I know I really ought to do.

But then this morning, the picture below caught my eye from my roommate's Sunday New York Times. The article was about a young dance teacher who was sickened and paralyzed by E. coli in a hamburger. No matter how you take your meat, you should really read this article.

Woman's Shattered Life Shows Ground Beef Inspection Flaws - New York Times, 10/4/2009

This is one of those things I probably would rest easier not knowing, like the follicle mites that live on your eyelashes and have evolved to enjoy the taste of eye makeup.... but I'm a lot safer knowing. Definitely worth a read.

Homecoming

2009-10-04T20:30:00.000-07:00

So, this weekend was Homecoming at my college. I went back, and saw the last generation of current students I'll know - this year's seniors. I only have a few seniors I'm actually close with, but it was good to see them (shout out to Sarah!). And a lot of other alumni were back, plus I saw my old coaches and paid a visit to one prof and his family that I used to babysit for. Those kids keep getting bigger, which they tell me has something to do with science and time.

I realized, though, that with the exception of wanting to see those kids and my profs and coaches, I usually find a way to see my favorite people more often than this once a year (with the exception of those who live far away). And so this will, most likely, be my last Homecoming until my 5 year reunion. Next year I won't know any students. And I realized when I almost fell asleep at an alumni show in the student union last night that I'm really getting pretty old.

Now that I have a camera again, I thought I'd share some pictures! I don't know if I mentioned, but my parents were nice enough to give me my third (yes third) digital camera for my birthday last week. I will not lose this one and it will not get stolen. That is a promise.

When I was an undergrad, I was really involved in Alpha Phi Omega, the community service fraternity. They held a reception for alumni, and this is a little representation of my family! Unfortunately Mary's face is somewhat obscured.

Old friends, old places...slightly out of focus.

Dinner at the local brewery.

And the piece de resistance....Jane got the beer sampler for "dinner". When we got the check I wished I'd done the same - the array of 6 half pints of beer cost her just $8.50. Oh, how I wish DC were this cheap.

The week so far and the best restaurant to be in

2009-10-01T20:15:00.000-07:00

A snapshot of me right now:

Watching the new Ken Burns documentary on the National Parks (they're talking about Ansel Adams right now) while sipping some wine (courtesy of roommate), browsing internships online, and G-chatting with Stephen in Arizona. Not the most exciting Thursday night I suppose (except for you, Stephen!).

My parents just came down for a couple of days as a late birthday visit, which was so great. It's nice to have parents who used to live here, because while I love playing tour guide to visiting friends, my parents have either seen it all, or know just what they want to see - so it's more laid back. They took me to the last home game at Nationals Park last night - not to see the Nats but to see the Mets, because I've never seen them from anywhere closer than Grandstand (and that was this summer). Well unfortunately, the Mets chose to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory at the last possible moment. Embarassing, to say the least, but it was nice to see the home crowd as fired up as they were.

Then after the game, we grabbed dinner in my neighborhood, and found ourselves in some pretty important company. As we were ordering, I heard certain words drift our way from a nearby table like "staffers" and "chairman", and reached the conclusion that they all worked on the Hill. But then, I thought...they look a little old to be staffers...

And then later on, I saw a waiter talking with one white-haired man, and signing something...and then I noticed that that something was the Congressional Facebook (it's a little spiral-bound book that lists every Rep and Senator with their picture, key staffers, state, party, district, some factoids, office location, etc). This waiter keeps track of all his political encounters by having them sign a Facebook - clever, no?

And so my mom asked the waiter who it was...he wasn't sure, but he could name one woman - she was sitting at the far end of the table holding a baby. Turns out it was Linda Sanchez from CA...and it also turns out that it was an entire table of congressmen (and woman). So was the table to our right. In fact in our room of the restaurant, as non-members of Congress we were definitely in the minority. I guess it's a popular hangout, especially around campaign time, according to that waiter. When we left we met Congresswoman Sanchez on the sidewalk. Well...we didn't actually meet her but we did discuss how cute and good-natured her baby son was. That was a cute kid.

So now I guess I know where to become a waiter if I can't find myself a good internship anytime soon....

A little bit of inspiration

2009-09-22T10:13:00.001-07:00

So first of all, quick update: my birthday was this past weekend. It was a weekend full of ups and downs - I was able to bring a bunch of friends out on Saturday night, and all in all it was a great time. I paid for it Sunday, though, when I had tons of work to do and a regional meeting for my retail job which took forever to get to. I'll spare you all the rants about that meeting and simply offer this explanatory detail: remember that icebreaker, the Human Knot game? We played that to start off.

But now I'm almost halfway through week 5 of grad school, also known as "what have I gotten myself into?" It's a steep learning curve and I'm keeping up so far, but it's a lot of work. And I suppose it would be a meaningless degree in the end if that weren't the case, but I can still complain a little bit right?

Anyway, I'm really interested in the research topic I'm doing one-on-one with a professor. It's on sustainability in the federal government, and as I learn more daunting information about just how scattered our bureaucracies are, I learn some cool stuff too, like monumental environmental laws I've barely studied (like NEPA) and possibly ineffective interagency groups I've never heard of.

I just started working on this week's assignment, and I came across a great quote from Aldo Leopold. Leopold wrote A Sand County Almanac, which is still one of my favorite books on conservation - and one of my favorites among all genres too - and something I love going back and reading pieces of. He's an eloquent writer who makes a case for conservation from the perspective of someone who lives not just near nature, but in it, among it and off of it.

Anyway, this is the quote of his that I just found:

"Our remnants of wilderness will yield bigger values to the nation's character and health than they will to its pocketbook, and to destroy them will be to admit that the latter are the only values that interest us." --Aldo Leopold, 1925

(Thanks Dad for the photo - last name sloppily edited out to protect the innocent)

In defense of wonky, nerdy sticking to the rules

2009-09-17T06:59:00.001-07:00

So the House voted the other day to rebuke Joe Wilson for his outburst during President Obama's joint session of Congress. And basically, Jim Clyburn (House Majority Whip) was left on his own. Wilson got cheers and pats on the back from most of his fellow Republicans, and while most Dems voted for the measure, they were pretty silent.

Now as someone who was involved in college in an organization that followed Robert's Rules of Order, I have to admit that in Congressman Clyburn's shoes, I would have done the same thing. It's bad form to shout out during a serious, formal meeting in the House of Representatives. When members are actually in the chamber during a normal day, they use a great deal of formality. Bitter partisan rivalries have to be expressed through tone of voice while uttering the traditional prefix "my esteemed colleague". This repression of emotions and respectful conduct is not only one of the ways our government can function in an orderly (or somewhat orderly, if somewhat archaic) fashion; it's also what makes C-SPAN so fun to watch. Although British Parliament is much more fun with the stand-up-sit-down and the shouting and sometimes the wigs. Anyway. It's tradition.

If the Grand Old Party of conservatives disregards a longstanding tradition like this simple rule of order - that you don't inanely speak out of turn while the executive leader of your country holds the floor - then what's to stop the crazy, left-wing liberals from going bananas in the stifled halls of Congress?

I was pretty upset when I heard "You lie" shouted out during Obama's speech. When I saw it live I didnt' know who said it - a member of Congress or someone in the gallery - but I found it insulting.

And while it's pretty clear that I'm liberal, I promise I would have been just upset if someone had done that to Bush. It's about being an adult, and respecting the office and the solemnity of the situation. Republicans prove yet again that they are better at PR, but at the expense of the high ground. Democrats said a lot of nasty things about Bush, but they did it in the proper forum.

Anyway, that's enough of that. I understand why Pelosi and Obama didn't really want the Congressional rebuke to be pursued - it doesn't look good, politically. But as a nonpartisan move, it's a matter of principle. I understand that most Americans don't care about the rules of conduct in Congress, and they think it makes it all very boring and we should just mail them tea bags and be roudy instead.

By the way, the tea party folks actually did mail in actual tea bags to members of Congress. They probably still are. And you know what? All those thousands of people who sent in little Lipton packets wasted more of their taxpayer money on government resources than any vote called in Congress, necessary or not. Because mail that comes into the Capitol has to go through a security inspection, and the teabags are removed. So what Members get in their inbox is not a clever message, but a little piece of string with a Lipton label attached and a printed sticker that says "Tea bag removed during inspection." Even if the interns taking the time to open these envelopes work for free, this is still, overall, a huge waste of government resources. Even if it is a bit amusing.

Google Mysteries

2009-09-15T05:52:00.000-07:00

So this morning I log on to Google, to start some healthcare research for school on Google Scholar. And when I pull up google.com, I see that today's Google "Doodle" is crop circles with a UFO. Now for those of you unfamiliar with the practice, from time to time Google will have a special "doodle" related to something significant about the day - for instance New Year's, or Einstein's birthday. And ordinarily, if your mouse hovers over the doodle, a label will pop up to explain the doodle, like "Happy Hannukah!" and if you click the doodle, it automatically does a search on the subject for you. But today, hovering over the doodle yields nothing. And when you click on it, in fact, the first result in the Google search on "crop circles" is an article on why Google might be doing this.

I'm starting to think some wackos have gotten hired at Google...or someone at the company is trying to make us all a little more open minded. A few weeks ago I noticed the same thing, and I can't remember anymore what it was, but again, no explanation, but the most popular search result was an article pondering Google's mysterious doodle.

So, conspiracy theories are welcome as to what is up at Google HQ. By the way, Google sounds like a truly awesome place to work. First of all employees are known as "Googlers" - which I would love to see on a business card. Googlers can travel to and from meetings via scooters (while inside the "Googleplex"), and there are apparently dogs, massage chairs, large inflatable balls, lava lamps, and yurts as an option for an office. Yurts. The lava lamps are my only beef. (If you're thinking of a career change, you can read more awesomeness here).

But alas, I work for myself. Or my grad school...or whatever. So back to research.

Hey, let's all go to DC and protest taxes! Let's also use publicly funded metrorail to get there!

2009-09-12T16:01:00.000-07:00

So today, a friend from home who lives nearby in Maryland came down for a visit. We did some touristy things, which caused our paths to cross those of all the angry teabag people. (I'll leave the obvious innuendos up to you because I'm subtle like that.) By angry teabag people, I mean the "Taxpayers March on Washington," which was organized I believe by some combination of Glenn Beck and Freedom Works. Lots of red, white and blue, some goofy costumes, some goofy t-shirts, some clever t-shirts and signs, and lots of southern accents. First, though, we satisfied some of my random food cravings. For instance, I've been craving a BLT, so we went to Eastern Market and picked up a loaf of sourdough, an Heirloom tomato, some lettuce, and some wood-smoked bacon from one of the meat stands inside that I've been ogling for a month now. They were quite yummy, and then we set off for the tourist stuff.

We went to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, where I find something new with every trip. Today I learned that the word Mastodon means "breast-toothed" - as in, a Mastodon's teeth look like nipples. I kid you not. It said so in the museum!

I also marveled at the geology section, like I always do, and then we got some overpriced dessert in the National Gallery of Art, and then we went to the Air and Space Museum, because the visiting friend flies planes and he's an aero-something engineer. Aeronautical? Anyway. He knows a ton about planes and flying, and he was like a kid in a candy store. I learned a bunch of fun facts, more from him than from the museum. But I DID learn from the museum that in the 1960s, when the government regulated the airline industry to the point where the price of a ticket was fixed, airlines upped their perceived value to customers in some creative ways. How, you ask? By creating sexy uniforms. Southwest, for instance, made all its female flight attendants wear hot pants.

Hot pants.

Anyway. The mall got progressively more overrun with protesting conservatives.

Now, I was here for the second protest of the Iraq war. It wasn't life changing, but it was kind of fun, but I recognize many weaknesses. And I guess these guys were doing okay, other than the little kids wearing buttons saying "Quit AARP" when first of all, what? And second of all, that kid won't be eligible for AARP for seeeeveral decades and probably doesn't know what his button means either. One creative gentleman simply stood in front of the Air and Space Museum telling anyone who would listen that the President's new name was Barack Hussein Islamist Communist Obama. That's not quite it; whatever he said sort of rhymed.

But what took the cake was after their speaker was done and they were all dissipating in their red, white, and blue parephenalia, lots of people chucked their signs in the nearest garbage can. (Which is interesting, because you're protesting taxes, and then expecting public works to clean up after you.) The result?

Please note the sign on the bottom right.

The most bizarre pickup strategy ever.

2009-09-09T06:53:00.000-07:00

At least, I hope so. I hope this has not been topped by anyone else, because that would be unfortunate to encounter.

So the other night I'm metroing home from work, and sitting in one of the seats that's perpendicular to the inward-facing senior citizen/handicap seats. And minding my own business. And after a stop or two, a guy gets on and sits in said handicap seats. He looks at me, smiles, asks in broken English how I am, and then extends his hand and says "I am Ernes. You are?"

So...I tentatively continue to politely answer Ernes' questions. He asks me "You be my friend?" and gives me a "gift": a little plastic jelly star with off-kilter eyes that lights up on a rainbow lanyard.

Just to clarify, Ernes looked about 40.

I think my response was along the lines of "Thank you?" And as I sat there puzzling out what the heck had just been handed to me and whether this man might have a mental disorder (literally), he then popped the big question: "You go out sometime?" And with my speedy response of "Boyfriend," he said, "Really? You no look like." Okay. Apparently I look undateable? Or so desperate for male attention that I would become smitten at the site of this? (See below and pardon the not-so-artistic rendering on Paint. It's tricky to draw with a mouse!)

Upon being rejected (and at this point sitting WAY TOO CLOSE to me), Ernes decided he'd go for option two: self promotion in the career sense. He handed me his business card. It seems he paints houses. He then got off at the next stop. Thank God.

And at this point I turned to the pregnant woman and her husband sitting nearby and said "PLEASE tell me you saw that...." And the woman preceded to berate her husband, because he didn't know that the "ahems" and elbows to the stomach meant "Go rescue that poor girl!"

I wonder how many girls in the train cars ahead of me received priceless gifts as well.

Here's how ADD I am

2009-09-02T13:16:00.000-07:00

First, a brief synopsis of the ADD-driven path that led me to finally update. Then, a brief update.

While sort of concentrating on my online reading assignment for my policy class (double session tomorrow...5 straight hours of policy analysis. Eep.), I decided to wander onto Glamour.com because it's often entertaining - especially their fashion "don't"s. This led me to this article, which made me think, Really, Miley? So I had to check it out. Miley's twitter is made up mostly of quoted song lyrics and Bible verses, and relatively unannoying for a Disney starlet, but let's face it, it's Miley...her blog linked to John Mayer's which I then checked out, and I then realized I hadn't read Nathan Fillion's twitter in a long time, which is always great, which led me to so-and-so's link, which helped me discover Jason Mraz's twitter, which directed me to his blog. So what began as a slight detour into the online world of fashion mags led me to discover fresh writing by my favorite musician! Isn't ADD great? ...Except now it's 4:30 and I have lots of reading to do...and Jason's post on water conservation doesn't count.

But I thought I'd share that with my fellow Mraz fans...and now, the brief life update!

It's week 2 of grad school. If you ignore the ADDness detailed above, it's been awesome so far. Econ hurts my brain, because the professor uses different vocab than I'm used to. (as in, at the end of 2 and a half straight hours of microecon. last night, when he showed us why the optimal point is where such and such line meets this curve, and he said, "in other words, where marginal cost and marginal benefit are equal," the light went on. It was as if somebody turned on the subtitles in a Russian film. It's amazing how much syntax matters.) I met yesterday with the prof I'm doing one-on-one research with - he took me to lunch and we got to know each other. He's a really interesting guy - worked at the EPA for a long time, which is someplace I'm thinking more and more about ending up - and I think it's going to be wonderful workign with him. He's started me on doing some preliminary research on the federal government's capacity for sustainability, which I'm pretty excited about.

So that's that. This weekend was pretty fun too, lots of experiences. For instance, I met a camel.

I spent part of Saturday in Columbia Heights (the blossoming Northeast neighborhood where I worked part-time up until a couple of weeks ago). I went up there to pick up my last paycheck and check out CoHi Day - the free neighborhood festival. It took place at an elementary school near the Metro, and it was just plain cute. I got there a little late for the free food, but there WAS a petting zoo, and this is how I met a camel. We posed for a photo and he did not spit on me. It was grand.

I also went school supply shopping, which was a strange experience. It's been 3 years since I last went shopping for notebooks and binders and things, and I felt like a kid again. I also remembered how picky I am about my notebooks - their size, shape, color, construction, line spacing, everything. School is hard work, and it matters what you work with. Some girls have to have designer sunglasses, or a Coach wallet, or some of these (so excited for the Gladiator sandal trend to die). I have to have Five Star notebooks.

Spent my Saturday night down in nearby semi-rural Fairfax VA at a friend's house, sitting around a campfire roasting kosher marshmallows. Which, interestingly, roast in a split second. Must be all those Jet-Puff preservatives that keep the normal ones in slow-roast mode. We also learned that in the event of slightly damp firewood, a little citronella lighter fluid works wonders. And keeps the bugs away. Although probably that wasn't the healthiest fuel to be roasting marshmallows over....oh well.

Sunday I made my first trip as a local to Eastern Market. It was everything I thought it woudl be, and I'm glad I only brought a little bit of cash because I would've gone broke. I got a compliment from a stand owner on my woven basket (would you expect me to bring anything less to a farmer's market?), looked at some gorgeous artwork that someday I hope to afford, and some jewelry I don't really need. Then I got some locally grown green beans, heirloom tomatoes, and some fresh mozarella that I unfortunately have NO idea about the origin of (when I asked the guy at the cheese stand where the unmarked bags of moza. balls were from, he looked at me quizzically and said..."they're domestic"). Which, let me tell you, if I had to pick one meal for the rest of my life, it might be this: grilled chicken and grilled marinated artichoke hearts, heirloom tomatoes and fresh mozarella on baby spinach with balsamic vinegar. Heaven in a bowl.

Also a great find from Eastern Market, although I didn't actually pay for it, I just visited a neighbor for it: Lemon Meringue pie. Definitely not the best I've had, but had a great crumbly crust. Okay, I'll stop talking about food now.

And now I'm halfway through with week 2 of grad school, but I should've been reading and not blogging just now, so back to work.

What Kennedy's death might mean for healthcare

2009-08-26T11:02:00.001-07:00

So, Ted Kennedy died this morning. It was inevitable, but it's still sad. His career was by no means blemish-free, but he accomplished so much in his tenure in the Senate. Everyone keeps saying that his shoes will be impossible to fill, and that's probably true.

The talking heads are also speculating on how on earth the Dems can pass healthcare reform without Teddy. He was a great negotiator, with friends on both sides of the aisle and he was an outspoken champion of reforming health care in our country. And despite HC reform being a primary, crucial cornerstone (in my opinion, anyway) of Obama's campaign and what the majority of Americans elected him to do, it's clearly at a bit of a stalemate in accomplishing its goals.

Now, I would never wish for this to be the way things work out, but I have to say that I think Senator Kennedy's death will help us pass healthcare. Why? Because his brother Jack's death did the same thing.

During his presidency, JFK called for equal rights for Americans regardless of race. He sent a new Civil Rights Act to the House and Senate, where it was debated, amended, and then stalled by a Virginia Democrat. This was in 1963, and when President Kennedy was shot and LBJ took office, passing the Civil Rights Act was a priority, not necessarily because LBJ felt compelled to protect the rights of all Americans, but because Kennedy had fought for it. It was seen as the fulfillment of Kennedy's legacy.

Ted Kennedy, who saw his own death coming, explicitly called health care the "cause of his life." When a man chooses a cause as his own legacy before he's passed, and he is as well loved and respected as Ted Kennedy, it's a safe bet that his passing will be fuel for the fire.

Hopefully, some good can come out of this tragedy - politicians and citizens alike coming together to fulfill Kennedy's chosen legacy.

I'm a student again, and I'm a real live DC resident!

2009-08-25T12:46:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I may still be a permanent resident of New York State, technically. But I just came back from Safeway, and I did something that makes me feel A, grown up, and B, like a real local: I subscribed to the Washington Post.

My roommates are a few years older than me, and they have tons of subscriptions - Marie Claire, the Washingtonian, WSJ, NY Times - but not the Wash Post. I love reading any physical paper, because well, I'm old fashioned like that, and I get bored/distracted reading anything on my computer screen after awhile. When I go on a news website, unless it's an amusing one like wonkette.com, I usually only last one or two articles in. But if I have something to hold in my hands, it's a whole experience. So I'm looking forward to it, even if after my super-cheap 12 week trial I realize that I will not, in fact, sit down and read the whole paper every morning. But I do have my mornings free now, so why not?

Also, the salesman who got me signed up in the Safeway was top notch. He was a fast talker, but just at the right moment in the conversation. And he didnt' get flustered by my cutting into his schpiel to point out that actually, less than 3 bucks a week WAS a lot if you're a grad student. And he enjoyed my storytelling about my days as a canvasser, I think. I got an extra Safeway gift card out of my smalltalk, too.

The end of last week marked the beginning of my next adventure in education. At grad school orientation, I met most of my new classmates (there are 60 or so in the program) and made friends with a bunch of them. I felt quite at home amongst my fellow political nerds, and I think it's gonna be a great 2 years. Last night was my first class, and it was stats, so I wasn't expecting fireworks, but the prof is actually really cool. He's an adjunct, meaning he has a full-time job (at a federal agency, no less) and teaches in his evenings. Which is very good for statistics, because my undergrad stats professor...well, let's just say his sense of humor was that of a mathematical academic. A little hard to follow, and he made it a little easy to fall asleep in class. (Luckily I befriended the goofy theater major who sat next to me in that class, and he always kept me awake.) But this professor has an actual, real, real world sense of humor. And I shoudl be good.

Tonight I have microeconomics, which shouldn't be too bad considering I used to tutor the subject. Then again, I will concede that I did have to relearn most of the course before I met with each tutee each semester...so it'll be a good refresher I'm sure. I really love econ so I'm looking forward to it.

Oh, and update on my personal at-home Restaurant Week:

The Cornish Pasties are ok...I say "are" because the recipe made 6 so I'm still working my way through them all. I discovered that the dough needed more cheese and less whole wheat flour. I don't know about anyone else, but despite the healthiness and wholesome aura surrounding whole wheat flour, I just don't like the taste. It has a bit of a corrugated cardboard palate to it. So I think that ruined the pastry, but nothing burned, and it was flaky enough....too much work for a bland meal, though.

Next up is banana bread: one of my roommates has granted me permission to use her overripe bananas, so tonight after class I'm taking a crack at banana bread!

Liz's version of Restaurant Week

2009-08-20T06:32:00.000-07:00

So, next week is DC's Restaurant Week. We are by no means the only city with the tradition, and in theory it's a great one: for $30 and change, you get a prix-fixe' 3-course meal in a restaurant you couldn't normally afford. Or you can do the lunch version for $20.09. I'm going to go ahead and point out that either is still no great bargain, if you just like good food. I have goals in what I want to see and do in this city. I want to check out the bars and pubs in all the major neighborhoods, and get to know as many parts of the city as I can (except the parts where I might be murdered), and eateries are among the things I want to check off my to-do list. But I've come to accept a simple reality, which is that I can't afford to check the pricey ones off the list just yet. And not for at least the next 2 years, since I know that during grad school I will be just barely breaking even. So even though on Saturday I'm excited to go with friends and check out Galaxy Hut in Clarendon (meals are under ten bucks, and you can get tater tots instead of french fries!), I'll be passing on the golden opportunity of restaurant week. I can feed myself for a week on what they charge for one meal.

In light of the fact that I still love good food, I have decided to do my own version of the week: Home Restaurant Week 2009. By which I mean, I will be cooking at home all week long. And not cooking boring things either, I've decided. Last night I went over to some friends' new place, and made dinner with/for them (I usually end up taking over the kitchen by accident) - parmesan crusted chicken and sweet potato home fries. And today (since my first day of grad school orientation doesn't actually start until after 3, which is very nice), I'm going to use the dough I made 2 days ago and attempt Cornish pasties.

A Cornish pasty (not pastry) is something I can best describe as a savory sort of turnover. I've only had one once, and it was in Waverly Station in Edinburgh, and I'm sure mine won't be nearly as flaky or yummy as the Scottish one was, but I'm excited to give it a go. (If you've ever been to Julia's Empenadas, that's basically what a pasty is.)

I'm open to suggestions for next week's menu, and I'll probably have to make use of the leftover Rita's ice in my fridge for the dessert course, but I'm thinking it'll be a pretty good bang for my buck.

Alright, fine, I cried.

2009-08-17T10:05:00.000-07:00

So Saturday was one of the best days I've had in a long time. In fact, I'm going to go ahead and call this weekend pretty fantastic. Last night I broke in the new (to me) apartment with a little get together. I had a few girlfriends and a guy friend I like to call the "Super Republican" (cape not included) over for wine and catching up, and it was really great. But Saturday I took a Greyhound bus up to Harrisburg PA to help my best friend find her wedding dress.

Getting there was a day all unto itself. I live a couple of miles from Union Station, which is close to the Greyhound station, and since my bus left at 6 am and there's no metro running before 6, I had a nice morning walk. It actually really was a nice walk, lovely 70 degrees or so out, and I was surprised at how many people were out and about at 4:30 on a Saturday morning. Except for the last couple of blocks, I walked through very safe areas. And it was interesting to walk around near the Senate and Union Station and see the fancy brick rowhouses that serve as offices for lobbying firms, think tanks and lawyers. And then when I got to within blocks of the station, and just before I turned under the Amtrak bridge, I saw a couple of ladies standing on the opposite corner. Only, they weren't really ladies. And they were dressed in very short skirts for an early morning stroll. I think you get the idea.

After some Dunkin, some bargain shopping ($10 scarf that will be perfect for the fall), and some lunch, we went to the designer shop for Rachel's appointment. We came armed with a list of dresses she wanted to try (the result of an hour on the phone looking at the website), but she only tried on 4 dresses.

Now, Rachel is just plain gorgeous. So all the dresses looked great on her. And the second one was a major contender. But the fourth dress she tried on...well,if you've ever been to a bridal shop you know that the dressing rooms don't usually have mirrors. Which, whenever I've been in one trying on a bridesmaid dress, I always found disconcerting. But when you DO try something on in that weird closed environment, you get the opportunity to walk out of the dressing room and have your own reaction at the same time you see your friend(s)'s reaction. And when Rachel came out in dress #4, this is what happened: we both started crying.

Now, I've always been a crier. I cried in 4th grade when I got in trouble for forging my mom's signature on a permission slip, and I cried when I saw Lilo & Stitch (the second time around, too). I teared up the last time I watched a close friend try on dresses, but this was different. This was THE dress. It fit her perfectly, and it was just....just perfect. I know that it's an overpriced thing you'll only wear once. But I mean, this was so beautiful on her, and then our salesperson gave her the little veil and tiara and even let her sit around in the dress for the next hour or so while she called her mom, and I called my mom, and I tried on bridesmaid dresses.

So it was a trip well spent, and then we went and saw a movie I've been dying to see - The Time Traveler's Wife. It's based on a book by Audrey Niefenegger, which I probably just misspelled, and the book is one of my favorites. It's such a unique premise, so well written, and so realistic (minus the, uh, time travelling) in the actions its characters take and what it says about human nature. But it's also very, very sad. It was a bit awkward when I was finishing the book - I was either on a plane, bus, or train at the time and when it started to get sad (and as I mentioned, I'm a crier, so I was crying) I didn't really want to randomly start tearing up in public...but I also couldn't put the book down.

So I decided to see the movie with my best friend, who I knew wouldn't judge me for sobbing like I knew I would. And the movie was great. I mean, I don't know who wouldn't want to look at Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana for a couple of hours, first of all. But it was really well adapted. This was the first book-inspired movie I've seen where I completely agreed with all the plot lines they left out of the film. If they'd left it in, it would have been a very, very depressing film. And that's just not necessary. The missing plot lines served a purpose in the book, but the movie was a great whole without them. So The Time Traveler's Wife gets an A+ in my book. But bring tissues.

The bus ride back down to DC was a good deal longer and more eventful than the morning ride north. The only interesting part of my ride up, really, was the woman telling her seat buddy questionable things about Mennonites ("They don't use TV or the internet, and they can't date until they're 18." - that's funny, the Mennonite family in my high school definitely had at least one or two relationships among them, and I'm Facebook friends with at least one of them...); but on the ride south, I noticed an awkward dynamic in the seats in front of me. In the window seat was a girl from Ukraine, and sitting next to her was a 20something from South Carolina. I knew where they were from because he asked "Where you from, beautiful?" and she said "I am from Ukraine," and then he said "Where's that?" which I find embarrassing. Don't most people know that the Ukraine exists? Or vaguely where it is?

This guy turned out to be not the brightest crayon in the box, for two reasons: he didn't understand that she wasn't interested in having him all over her, hitting on her ("I'm skinny, but I got one part o me that AIN'T skinny"); and he didn't understand that as SHE didn't understand HIM, he should maybe slow down and clear up his speech. I mean, I could barely understand him, and I lived in the south for a little while. So I can handle a southern accent. This guy had more of a "country" accent though...that's the best explanation I can come up with. He kept turning around to see me attempting to sleep and mumbling something which, on the fourth time he did it, I finally deciphered as "Girl, light them guns up!" ....Apparently, I was supposed to be staying awake. Which I did, once I felt the need to somehow save this poor girl from him. When we stopped in York, he went outside to smoke, so I invited her to sit with me instead. And so the last couple of hours, we had a nice chat, and I learned about the Ukraine and what she's thought of the US so far, and gave her some tips on her time in DC, and our "friend" kept turning around, staring at her, and saying things I could somewhat understand as come-ons. And she turned to me and said, "I can understand you, but I cannot understand him" ands I tried to explain that really, she was better off that way.

Gotta love bus rides.

Fresh neighborhood, fresh start

2009-08-13T08:28:00.001-07:00

It's been awhile, and that's because I just finished the Herculean task of moving apartments.

I moved from Arlington to Eastern Market by way of New York...which is to say, I went home for a week to gather all the stuff I didn't bring down before, and of course to see my parents.

Being home was good, except that I'm allergic to everything there. Other than that it's awesome. I got sushi at Wegmans, a place I would KILL to have at my fingertips down here, for about half the cost I'd pay down here, and a haircut for also half the cost, and well, my parents fed me, and that was free. And now I have a friend in town - one of the girls I worked with on the Hill, who was transferred to the district office in my home town. So I stopped by for lunch with her one day, and discovered that the district office was the polar opposite of the Capitol Hill office.

I've been in district offices before, mostly in Tennessee, but it was interesting to see the difference between what I'd assumed ours would be like from talking to district folks on the phone ("Did you get my 53 page fax?") and how small and quiet it actually was. They're short on interns, which is an interesting comparison to the office I worked in - where there were so many interns we had to (courteously) fight over desks.

After a week at home sorting through stuff from kindergarten to college (where I learned that I used to write HORRIBLE short stories), my mom drove me down and helped me move from one apartment to the other.

I left my car at home, which was pretty dumb because this weekend I have to get up to Pennsylvania as it turns out...thanks Greyhound for being expensive. But I think it'll be a good challenge/budget enforcer, even if I do have to say goodbye to any fun trips to Philly in the near future. My new apartment is convenient to the metro, the grocery, and best of all, Eastern Market! I'm pretty pumped about spending every weekend possible there.

It may still be August, but I feel like my summer of..well...whatever it was....has come to an end. Now I officially live in the District, and I start grad school in about a week (eep). Most importantly, last night was my final shift at one of my two part-time jobs.

Never again (barring some new recession in the future) will I scoop Italian ice, or mop a floor (swiffers don't count), or look down to see my hands dyed a lovely deep shade of Red #4. I'm done with it. And I'm really happy about that, because while I may be a generally humble person, it was a bit of a waste of a college degree. I will miss parts of it, though - not the actual job itself but the people I worked with and the regular customers and the feeling of being part of a community. A community with some sketchy neighborhoods, but that really just makes it more interesting. I had a discussion last night with Omar, one of the managers, about the little park in front of our store that they're redoing. (Translation: it takes an extra five minutes to walk there because of all the construction, cones, hazards, etc.) He said that just a couple of years ago that park was full of crackheads. Literally, people smoking crack in broad daylight. Then slowly, businesses started to crop up. Omar said the tipping point was Target - once Target built a store there, the place started filling up with stores. Now there's even a Potbelly, which to be honest is a little bit of an odd fit. But the Five Guys where I spent my dinner break last night is definitely welcome there, as far as I'm concerned.

I'm glad to be done with that part of my life, but I'm also glad I got to experience a part of the city that most people moving here really don't. I have friends now who actually grew up here - it's true, there ARE locals! They're not a myth! - and have seen it changing overnight.

Anyway, I'm really fond of my new place. If you ignore the boxes and blank walls, this totally looks like a room, and my new roommates are really great. Time to go explore running routes!

Philly vs. DC and a great weekend

2009-07-27T07:00:00.000-07:00

So I spent this weekend in Philly with some of my best friends from college. The drive up 95 is anything but fun, but Philly never disappoints. We made cupcakes, threw a party, and had a great time.

The first thing that struck me about Philly this time around is how different an urban environment it is from DC. As I was discussing with my road buddy, DC is, all in all, a great city to be in. But Philly is definitely fun.

The first difference in Philly is that everything is much closer together. Like DC, it has its fair share of tree-lined streets of townhouses, and also has its share of run down neighborhoods. When I say everything is closer together, I don't just mean the narrow one-way streets and bumper-to-bumper parking. You can be walking down a street of gorgeous, historic brownstone houses and then look down the block and see South Street in all its sketchy, quirky authenticity. On Saturday I walked with my DC friend and the two gals we stayed with from a little cafe where our conversation was awkwardly interrupted by an unexpected indie gig (by which I mean I felt like I was on the set of Juno - 2 quiet girls playing ukeleles and singing in harmony - cute, but not conducive to conversation. In fact one girl nicely told the crowd to shut up so they could play their tiny, quiet guitars) to South Street. In the span of an hour I had hummus on multigrain bread in an indie cafe and a Girl Scout cookie Blizzard in the least sanitary DQ I have ever walked into. Having spent almost a year working part-time in a frozen dessert place, I know that it's really NOT that hard to keep a place clean. It's good to, you know, not leave cookie crumbs everywhere....you get the idea. That place was dirty. And then we sat at a table in that sketchy, run down urban DQ and discussed religion. Only in Philly.

The other difference between Philly and DC is that in Philly, people just....live there. Or maybe they're tourists, but they don't stand out, so I'm just gonna say people live there. It's a natural place to live or visit if you're in Southeast PA. But in DC, either you grew up there (probably in Northeast or Southeast, in neighborhoods that tourists rarely venture to) or you moved there on purpose. Or you're a tourist. And not only are the tourists easy to spot here in DC - there's a cultural disdain among the "locals" towards the visitors that invade the city perpetually. DC is the country's #1 tourist spot in the country - bigger than New York, which surprised me until I lived here and saw the masses - and since for most people who encounter tourists all the time, living here is a choice, they take a personal offense to people visiting and not knowing how to navigate our public transit system. I really think this is the biggest point of contention. I'm personally guilty of hating tourists on the Metro - not individual ones, unless they're rude. I'm happy to help out a random lost tourist on my train. The problem arises when they don't know the "stand on the right, walk on the left" rule of thumb on the escalators.

But I think the indignation toward tourists has been around for a long time - for instance, my parents, who lived in the DC area before I was born, will correct me when, during a visit here, I call them tourists. "We're expats," my mom will say. Nobody wants to be branded as a tourist.

But when I'm in Philly, I don't feel the need to pretend to know where I'm going or to live there. I'm totally fine with being clueless and exploring, although I don't want to REALLY look like a tourist anywhere in the world.

And now, some pictures from Philly:

Walking down the streets of Philly with friends. And along the way, we were surprised to see a moon bounce!

You can see the kiddie pool just past it too - pretty impressive birthday party, if you ask me, closing down Fitzwater Street for a moon bounce! I didn't take photos of the kids, because that would be creepy, but I had to capture the moon bounce.

Why "Dear Diary" should stay in your childhood

2009-07-24T09:00:00.001-07:00

Republicans (and, to be fair, all politicians) lately are gaining a very strong reputation for campaigning on family values, and then actually having very few of them.

And maybe it's a mix of the power trips that come with political influence and the fact that infidelity is probably pretty widespread in society as a whole, but regardless, politicians seem to have the uncanny ability to get caught.

And maybe this is just a trend set off by Nixon, but it seems like Republicans have a knack for not only getting caught, but having hard evidence both incriminating and humiliating them. Taking the torch from Nixon in recent news, we have South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford's affair with an Argentinian woman, broadcast to the world in the form of truly embarrassing emails, and now we have former Mississippi Congressman Chip Pickering. This is really a shame, because I just think that Chip Pickering is a fantastic name. How much more Southern can a name get?

Pickering just got in trouble for having an affair, although maybe it's old news. But what is NEW news is this: There's a secret diary. A diary detailing all of his rendezvous with the woman.

Really? First of all, we're a little old for diaries here, aren't we? Second of all, never put anything in writing! It's an important rule to follow. Whether you email a coworker about the incompetence of your boss and make the mistake of hitting "Reply All" and letting the entire building know what you really think, or you have a little black book that gives all the juicy details of your extramarital affair...secrets, when written down, rarely stay secret.

Unfortunately, it looks like we won't be seeing the contents of that diary any time soon - it's locked up in his Mississippi divorce court. But still, isn't the fact that there IS one shameful enough?

The story is actually a bit more entertaining when you look past the fact of the diary alone. You can read the article at my source, The Daily Beast, here, or you can just enjoy this lovely excerpt:

In the end, Pickering chose his mistress over his congressional career and his wife. After serving 12 years in Congress, he announced his intention not to seek re-election suddenly in August 2007, just months after sponsoring legislation urging President George W. Bush to adopt legislation declaring 2008 “the National Year of the Bible.”

Randomness on the Metro

2009-07-23T11:18:00.000-07:00

Tragic accidents aside, I really do love the metro. I may not love it when I miss my evening train home and have to sit around for 20 minutes, but most of the time it's great.

And one of my favorite things about riding metro is the random encounters it fosters. I know I've written about this before, when I met a girl from Azerbaijan.

I just sprinted home in what I can only describe as a downpour. And a surprise one, at that. I got on the metro in town and it was hot and sunny; I get off in Rosslyn and there's a solid wall of rain awaiting me on the sidewalk. And I waited 10 or 15 minutes before braving it. There really wasn't any chance of the rain stopping in that small time frame, but I found a nice guy to talk to during the wait.

Most of my random metro encounters with people who would otherwise be strangers begin with an unusual shared experience, like a couple practically having sex on a train platform (not random examples but actual memories here), or really horrible singing on a train, or unexpected rainstorms. The conversation usually begins with some variation of "Seriously?" And usually ends when one person's train comes, or one person decides to brave the thunderstorm. I always feel a little bit of regret when I leave my new-found friend, but you never know when you might meet them again. Hell, I recently got a date out of a random metro sighting when I saw him that night in a bar. So you never know!

Maybe it's because I grew up in a small town - where you say hello to everyone on the street because, well, you probably either know them, vaguely know them, or are possibly related to them - or because my father has made a hobby of striking up conversations with pretty much every person he encounters (waiters, lost tourists, museum curators...). Whatever it is that makes me so far from shy on public transit, it makes things interesting. And often it's an opportunity to help people, like tourists who aren't sure how to book themselves a tour of the capitol (I've booked tours for a few such groups while on my way to my Hill internship).

I love any opportunity to break the silence with other people in public places, and I highly recommend it. You never know who you might meet!

In other news, I got an apartment! And it's in the Eastern Market neighborhood, which is hands down my favorite part of town, so I can't wait to move.

Take me out to the ballgame

2009-07-22T19:52:00.001-07:00

Today was my day off, and I had a nice long day as a tourist! Spent the day at the zoo with 2 friends, which was fun and depressing at the same time.

Zoos always leave me conflicted. At some point in middle school or high school, my parents took me to the San Diego Zoo and it was so depressing that I think I might've vowed never to go to a zoo again. I don't feel bad about breaking that promise here because the National Zoo is free. So I'm not really financially supporting them. It's just...zoos can talk all they want about the risk of extinction to some of their inhabitants - i.e. the much-publicized pandas at the National Zoo - but I'm sorry, for most species it is of little use to the species as a whole to raise a few of them in captivity. I guess zoos have some educational value, but unless kids are actually inspired by a zoo experience to work for conservation, it seems a little self-righteous.

Some parts of the zoo actually made me really happy. Like the little red octopus in the invertebrates section, and the meerkats. Meerkats are just ridiculously adorable. Also, no matter what I say about the futility of keeping Giant Pandas in the zoo, the young panda we saw chomping on giant stalks of bamboo was too cute.

But then there were the parts that made me sad. Like the Great Apes house. Now, the orangutan sitting outside the building with a paper bag over his head was awesome - it looked homeless. But inside, the small gorillas stuck behind a thick wall of glass being tapped at by small children looked incredibly bored. Now, invertebrates in tanks is one thing. An octopus is good at amusing itself, and let's face it - giant prawns don't really need any stimulation. But a gorilla? Those animals are far too intelligent to be stuck in a tiny "habitat" being stared at all day. It was pretty depressing.

Also depressing was the baseball game that followed. After we'd exhausted both ourselves and the animal options at the zoo, we stopped for food and drink at Open City Cafe. (My frozen cappuccino was awesome!) Then we trekked down the green line to see a baseball game. I was excited because I'm a Mets fan (as ill-advised as that may be), but I've never seen them play live. The friend who stuck around for the game didn't care at all about baseball, but tagged along anyway, and we picked up a couple of grandstand tickets (which are 5 bucks at the gate). The stadium is great - RFK is the only other major league stadium I've ever been to, and as an affirmed treehugger I was looking forward to seeing MLB's first LEEDS-certified facility. The only really visible signs of it being "green" were the rooftop gardens over food vending spaces, which were neat, but LEEDS certification usually has more to do with the building's construction, raw materials, and the disposal of construction waste.

One of the coolest things about the park is the food vendors - now, I will say that I think it goes a little overboard. Gelati? At a ballgame? What happened to the baseball gloved-shape ice cream on a stick? And there are about 10 Ben's Chili Bowl stands. But there was a Five Guys, so I had to head there. I thought it was really cool to see the ballpark taking pride in DC's plethora of local food gems, like the 2 aforementioned spots, Hard Times Cafe, and Max's, which is a local Kosher food company (as I was told by my ballgame-going friend).

Now, the first frustration was that there was only one Five Guys, which is odd given the 10 or so Ben's and dozens of copies of other local eateries. And it took forever to get to from our nosebleed seats, but the real detail with which I took issue was the menu.

One of my favorite things about Five Guys is that no matter how this simple burger joint is hyped up, it's still totally affordable. I usually opt for the Little Cheeseburger, which will set you back about $3.50. And it's not little at all - if you order a normal burger, you'll get two patties. So the "little" option is actually normal, and rather cheap. I was prepared for this Five Guys to not be cheap, since ballpark food never is, but I wasn't quite expecting the full-size burger to cost $7. And what's more, there was no "little burger" option. Just the full double patty size. I didn't want or need two burgers in between my sesame buns, but I didn't have any other option, so I went for it. It was yummy and all, but really? Is it that necessary to squeeze money out of loyal customers?

All in all, though, a fun day.

The game itself, however, was downright sad for a Mets fan. We lost 3-1, and the Mets' only run was the result of some sloppy passing among the Nats' outfield and a very fast Met at bat. I know we're not in top condition right now, but really? I figured that it was a win-win situation: seeing the Mets live for $5, and against the Nats, so probably a $5 victory. Ohhhhhh well. Kudos for the Nats for a well-played game.

The Washington Post just went down a notch.

2009-07-14T07:58:00.000-07:00

So, during my time as a political field organizer, I devoted a lot of time and effort to getting my opinion pieces and letters to the editor published in papers. Mostly I was shooting for smaller, local papers in the South, but one time I got a letter to the editor published in the Washington Post. To make this happen, I had written a short and sweet letter - I worked really hard to make it great enough for the WaPo to publish.

Today, I learned that the paper has lower standards than I thought.

There's an opinion piece in there today about the "cap and tax" bill (the latest clever Right Wing misnomer - we'll call it today's "Clear Skies Act") - and that piece is by Sarah Palin. Now, I get it - this is getting them a lot of hits online and maybe even selling some physical papers. But really? Sarah Palin? Really, what this means is that she's going to stay in our hair for a long time. She's going to keep popping up just frequently enough to stay on our radar, so that nobody forgets about her. Because she has all the makings of a political one-hit wonder, one that could easily be forgotten by the next election cycle. But if she keeps popping up, and maybe people keep the name recognition but forget the ignorance, she'll stand a chance.

Here's an excerpt:

Unfortunately, many in the national media would rather focus on the personality-driven political gossip of the day than on the gravity of these challenges. So, at risk of disappointing the chattering class, let me make clear what is foremost on my mind and where my focus will be:

I am deeply concerned about President Obama's cap-and-trade energy plan, and I believe it is an enormous threat to our economy.

You can read the full piece here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/13/AR2009071302852_pf.html

But be prepared to be annoyed.

This is why I hate Chris Matthews.

2009-07-13T14:21:00.000-07:00

Why is it effective, as a news talking head, to yell at a guest on your show with whom you agree, to shout over them, and then to say "Your thoughts?", ironically, as if they have clammed up about their opinion on it?

On the other hand, right now I have to agree with Chris Matthews. Apparently, it's coming out now that Dick Cheney was spearheading an effort to create a new wing of the CIA. Going over Congress' head on it. Now, it's no surprise to hear news of Cheney overstepping his bounds and ignoring the precedent for what a VP should actually do. But then again, it's not as annoying as Chris Matthews' hypertension-inducing style of speaking.

Without a doubt, if you compare this administration with the last, you'll see that Joe Biden really does respect the old school of thought on Vice Presidents. He doesn't seem, at least from what we can see, to do much more than Michelle Obama does. Actually, he does less, since he hasn't had such a significant impact on fashion. But here's the thing: the Obama administration needs to keep him in check, because Biden himself admits his penchant for speaking without thinking. Cheney got away with possibly running the show because he was slick about it. He was quiet, which the Bush administration needed because let's face it, Cheney's not exactly a charmer.

(Also, why does Chris Matthews pronounce the former Veep's name as Cheeney?)

Also, Sarah Palin's grandson's father thinks she's very smart, but if she can't handle the stress level of a governor's job, she probably couldn't be President. Amazing.

To tweet, or not to tweet...that is the question.

2009-07-09T20:34:00.000-07:00

So first I thought that Twitter was really annoying.

Then I thought, with the Iranian elections, that it's actually somewhat politically relevant, if not that useful.

Then I randomly found Nathan Fillion's twitter, and I thought, Nathan Fillion is pretty great (and pretty gorgeous)...so maybe Twitter's not so bad.

So now I'm being actively badgered to start my own (Stephen, here's your shoutout) and I'm asking for feedback. Should I get one? Will it do me any good or just serve as a distraction? I do have more texts per month than I know what to do with now that I upped my service plan...

Before you comment though, enjoy this Nathan Fillion quote (twitter.com/nathanfillion):

I DO have lots of crap I stole from the set of Firefly and Serenity. I DON'T have a kick-ass house in the Hills with a pool and guest house.

Another website you must visit

2009-07-08T15:17:00.000-07:00

Okay. So, I was going to write something politically savvy. But then I found out about this website and it's too good for me to stop reading and write a real post.

The website is "My Parents Joined Facebook" and it's just a compilation of funny bits from parental actions on FB...usually hilarious. My favorite (so far) involves a Facebook prayer. It's on page 3.

Enjoy!

In other news: weirdest line in an invitation I've ever seen: "Everyone is encouraged to bring their friends and/or people they met on craigslist."....What? This is why I won't be going to that party.

Velociraptors?

2009-07-02T22:55:00.000-07:00

Too tired to write a proper post...let's just say last Thursday was my last day off and I won't have another free day 'til Tuesday.

Anyway, I present to you a few-days-old bit on an online comic that made me crack up hysterically...twice...and my roommate sitting nearby was possibly frightened.

http://xkcd.com/155/

(Hint: it involves velociraptors.)

Excellent reporting....if you're a member of Monty Python

2009-06-30T09:15:00.001-07:00

Kudos to friend Kristin for sharing the link to this wondrous piece of Ohio journalism. (This is why I have disdain for Ohio)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/25/the-best-local-news-segme_n_220953.html

Tip: Watch the clip before you read Huffington Post's analysis or it'll be spoiled.

Tip #2: Watch it at least once.

On a completely different note, having a pool is great. Yay summer!

Why, did something awesome happen?

2009-06-27T05:31:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting outside at a restaurant in Clarendon and a good friend who happens to be conservative walks by. He stops to say hello and says "Boy, you must be out celebrating, eh? Biggest tax bill ever passed today?"

He was referring of course to the Waxman-Markey cap and trade (global warming) bill - the American Clean Energy Security Act - which passed the House by 7 votes yesterday.

So yes, I am VERY happy - with the exception of all the loopholes that wound their way in, which I'm pretty sure has happened with every major environmental bill that has passed within the past 20 years.

Thursday was my last day on the Hill, but I stopped by on Friday to leave thank you notes and take a picture with the Congressman. I wish I had been able to stay instead of leaving for work, because the Waxman bill was scheduled for a vote and I really wish I'd been on the Hill when it happened. On Thursday alone, our phones were ringing off the hook about it, with callers from both sides.

I sent out some recruiting text messages and got constituent calls from familiar voices to add to the pro-cap and trade side (thanks guys!) - we literally had tick marks on a big piece of paper on the wall to see what the district thought on the issue - but most people calling from our area were against the "cap and tax" measure. Turns out the RNC had sent out a blast email urging people to call their Representatives, and I guess folks listened! It was frustrating to faithfully take down the comments of a person who I knew was completely wrong on the issue - not just based on their having a different opinion from me, but on their "facts" being totally off the wall. But their vote counts as many times as mine does, so I had to be patient and take every call. Frustrating.

So I spent most of my last day as an intern sorting mail, sorting faxes, and answering the phones, because computers are few and far between in the office. But in the afternoon, our environmental LA had me take a lobby meeting for him, which was really cool, and a great way to wrap up the internship.

Working a shift at both part-time jobs today...here's hoping I don't fall asleep!

Go here to see how your Rep voted. If you're happy that it passed, call your Rep and say so! The weirdest thing about constituents calling is that almost everyone calls before a big vote, but doesn't call AFTER to thank their Congressperson for making the right move - that kind of positive reinforcement after the fact makes a big difference.

If you have the same Congressman as me, though, he voted against it. Rahm Emmanuel put a good amendment in it for us, but he still had to vote no - too many angry people up in the district.

Je n'ai pas oublie le francais!

2009-06-18T20:20:00.000-07:00

So tonight was another retail night, which was boring in general, but towards the end of the night I had 2 girls come in and look uncertainly at various products and converse in french. So I went over and said "Je parle un peu de francais..." Well, they were relieved and started rolling out the French, a little bit slowly for me. And I kept up most of the time! I only stammered like an idiot one time. It was pretty cool - I could almost see the neurons trying to fire in the cobweb-filled part of my brain where I keep my language skills.

Today was my second-to-last day as an intern on the Hill, and it was a good one. First off, I got there a little early and I got myself a computer (theyr'e in demand), and just worked the whole day, and finally finished a big stack of constituent letters on the environment that I had been working on responding to for about 2 weeks. And at one point, the staff asked me to bring a big manila folder full of papers for the Congressman to work on from the floor of the House because there were 28 - yes 28 - votes scheduled for the day.

If you don't watch C-SPAN (which...since most people I know have lives...you probably don't, but if you do you're in good company!), 28 votes is a heck of a lot of votes for one day. They must not have gotten through them (big surprise) because votes were announced for tomorrow morning, and Friday votes are pretty unusual. Anyway, I got to wait for the Congressman at the Rayburn room, which is a big meeting/lounge space across the hall from the cloak room and the entrance to the floor of the House. In addition to being in a cool spot, I got to see tons of Representatives milling about, running back and forth to the floor, and bargaining with each other on various bills. Pretty cool!

Seriously?

2009-06-17T16:24:00.000-07:00

During an NBC interview, Obama spotted a fly and smacked it down like the dude from Karate King. You'd think this would simply go viral on YouTube, which maybe it did and I missed it, but no - it's much worse - PETA issued a statement against the President for his inhumane actions against the fly. Seriously?

I'm home on a weeknight! I can watch Jeopardy!!!

2009-06-17T14:36:00.000-07:00

So I don't know about you, but for me, Mom in town means one thing: Saturday night Dexter marathons.

My mom was in town for a few days, and we had a fun time together. In addition to watching lots of Dexter, we went to the National Cathedral where we discovered a nice little garden next to it. We also visited the always hippie-tastic Eastern Market, went to the mall to shop (whereas I now associate the mall with retail work and really could do without malls ever again), and unfortunately I had to leave her a lot to go to work, but other than that it was fun.

(Side note: while getting the IMDB link for Dexter I strayed to Julie Benz's page - she plays Rita, Dexter's girlfriend, and she was also almost cast as Buffy the Vampire Slayer but played Darla the vampire instead... anyway, here's my favorite Julie Benz quote:

'I actually find the fans are always supportive and respectful. A couple times I've been approached when I'm buying underwear. That's more embarrassing for me rather than for them because it's like, "Oh hello. I'm just buying some panties."')

Still Made in China

2009-06-10T20:39:00.000-07:00

So you know how everything is Made in China these days? Even American flags?

Well, at one of my retail jobs which I love so dearly, the company prides itself on making its products here in the good ol' USA. We'll temporarily set aside the absurd habit they have of using British spellings like "favourite" and "revitalising" and pretending to be a British company instead of capitalizing on the merits of American-made. For now, we'll focus on the lovely, reassuring fact that these products are, in fact, made in the US. Not in China.

Tonight, we had a HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE shipment come in for upcoming promotions. Boxes of basically everything we sell and then some. Wall to wall boxes. And you know what I saw printed on the side of these boxes?

"Made in USA. Packaged in China."

Now, I know for a fact that the bottles that the products come in are filled here. It's not like they're shipping the stuff in vats over to China. My manager has been to the company factory and seen the bottles and jars get filled with her own eyes. My friends, this company is shipping its American-made, American-bottled products to China to put them in little gift box sets. It is somehow actually cheaper to take thousands of bottles of shower gel and body lotion made on the east coast, ship it across the country and then across the ocean to CHINA to put said bottles in little boxes that fit a lotion and a shower gel and then ship them back across the ocean and throughout the country, than it would be to bring some Chinese-made boxes to the United States, or - stop me if I'm crazy - MAKE THE BOXES HERE IN THE FIRST PLACE.

Somebody please enlighten me if I've missed a possible explanation for the words "packaged in China" - because I would really love to be wrong on this one.

Bag Ladies of the World, Rejoice!

2009-06-09T07:30:00.000-07:00

(This is what happens when I get 2 days without a shift at either job or my internship - I blog a lot. I would also like to clarify that I've been out running, bought groceries, and watched Brian Williams' special on Inside the White House.)

DC Council voted in favor of what I'll call a "Paper of Plastic" tax - basically, when you shop in the District, you'll now pay a 5 cent tax for each bag. While I'm normally in favor of incentives for good behavior rather than punishments for bad, I think this is great. Right now you only get the reward of bringing reusable bags at certain grocery stores - Whole Foods is the first one that comes to mind - and that's only at the stores where you're already paying more. (Although if you live on yogurt and granola, Whole Foods is really quite affordable...) So I think making it more economically beneficial to reuse bags is great.

I don't want to hear anyone complaining that this is unfair to anyone who can't afford to buy canvas bags, because come on, they usually cost a buck, and besides, you can always reuse your 5-cent plastic bag from the trip before. Not as funky or stylish as many of the canvas totes out there, but I've done it.

What's more, the proceeds from the bag tax will go to cleanup efforts on the Anacostia River, whose level of trash pollution is apparently what sparked the legislation. Of course, there are most certainly many other trash sources polluting the river than just grocery bags obtained in the District, and in a place that's far more regional than municipal - unless similar laws are passed in Arlington, Silver Spring, etc - it won't completely solve the problem. But since most pollution problems are difficult to solve due to non-point source pollution - meaning you can't identify the specific culprit, like in a river where multiple factories dump their byproducts and you notice the pollution far downriver - it's pretty cool that they can do something specific to target this one specific troublemaker.

And while we're on the topic of reusable bags, check out this nifty one that my mom brought me from Weggies: https://www.wegmans.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10052&productId=668637&catalogId=10002&krypto=QJrbAudPd0vzXUGByeatog%3D%3D&ddkey=http:ProductDisplay

*Original source for the story: http://dcist.com/2009/06/dc_council_votes_in_favor_of_dispos.php

It's that time again...the interns descend.

2009-06-08T20:19:00.000-07:00

Now, I want to state first of all that I know I am, in fact, an intern.

But man, do the DC interns ever annoy me. The summer ones in particular.

I've been a DC intern 3 times over now - I spent 2 college summers here toiling away at green nonprofits. But I hope I was never as annoying as some of these kids are.

There's been a ton of blogging/buzz about blogging about the summer intern invasion lately, particularly on DC Interns - I highly recommend checking this site out. It's been super popular since it was reviewed in The Hill, and basically the deal is that locals can anonymously post funny anecdotes/stories about ridiculous intern antics - crazy outfits (like a tie underneath a polo shirt?) or general pretentiousness.

Unfortunately, after achieving local wonky fame, the blog doesn't really have anything new or interesting up. It's like they thought nobody would notice it and now don't feel like bothering anymore. Oh well... just take my word for it, there are some pretentious and ludicrous kids in town. You'd think doing busy work for free would be humbling, wouldn't you?

And while I'm browsing The Hill online, this is also funny.

In an effort to embrace both my intern status (while it lasts - my House of Reps ID expires June 30th!) and my love of free things, I'm going to the Campus Progress summer intern "kickoff event" tomorrow - basically, it's a 2 hour FREE happy hour in Adams Morgan. I guess it's a useless event in terms of networking because you're mingling with other unemployed political hopefuls, but who knows? So I'll write about how that goes, and hope I don't see too many people I know en route.

Prepping for Grad school, or, Do I Really Remember How to Be a Student?

2009-06-08T13:53:00.000-07:00

So on Friday, I headed to what I guess is now "my" campus to meet with my advisor and they public policy guy in the career center. All in all, it was very reassuring because A, it's always good to be registered for classes and B, both of the advisors I met were awesome.

My academic advisor was pretty cut and dry - i.e. here is your new class schedule. Any questions? But somehow, the conversation turned to books, and we started trading authors and the next thing I knew she was insisting that I borrow the book sitting on top of her filing cabinet. It was called "Starburst" and it looks like a trashy little romance novel, and it probably is but it takes place at/during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival! What's awesome is that she had NO idea how obsessed I am with all things Scottish. So now I have some new trashy material to delve into after I finish my latest Philippa Gregory novel (Gregory is great, btw - she's the author of The Other Boleyn Girl which was the first book of hers I read, and now I'm on my third - they're all about Boleyns/Tudors/Katherine of Aragon/etc. and they're only slightly trashy, and 98% great historical fiction. They've kept me awake during many a slow night at my retail job).

The guy I met with in the career center was really great too and answered all my silly questions. Here are a few, for the benefit of all job seekers (not just political ones):

1. Informational interviews. Do them. I've been frustrated at all the jobs I really would like to apply for, barring full-time graduate study 2 months from now, that I see posted on the listservs I'm on. I feel like I shoudl be able to make use of being on those listservs, but I can't really get a full-time job right now. He said that while I'm on the Hill I should be doing as many informational interviews as I can to make connections, get advice, find out what jobs I might like, and so on. Plus, since I'm out of the work force for the next 2 years (except for the glamorous retail life, plus some student research), the pressure is off for whomever I meet with - I'm not there with an ulterior motive.

(Well, I am, but not for another 2 years so they can at least hope I forget about them by then.)

2. Business cards. Get them. Whenever I meet someone at a reception on the Hill, they give me a business card. It's just the natural exchange, but I always have to jokingly say "I left my "intern" business cards at the office...". A few days ago, a woman came into my store in the mall and we chatted for awhile, and one of her suggestions was that I make up simple little business cards. I asked the career guy about it, and he thought that was a great idea. So that's next on my to-do list.

3. Cover letters. Find a way to state your personal connection to the office you're applying to - if you have one - without an obvious namedrop. For example, "A recent conversation with Joe Biden convinced me that the White House would be a great fit for me" - not "By the way, my dad went to college with Joe Biden."

Alright, off to Heidi's for a running/dinner date. Peace!

Now that Cara has put the fate of the world in my hands...

2009-06-05T04:14:00.000-07:00

Haha.

So yesterday was my one day of the week on the Hill..and if you know me, you know I'm a workaholic anyway so...that's why I'm going back in today. Haha. It's an addiction apparently.

Anyway, there are still way too many of us interns - nothing against anyone in particular, it's just that there aren't enough computers or chairs for us all. I'm going in today because the Enviro LA looks super stressed AND because there's a special briefing on the Waxman climate bill this morning. And I'm going to get there before 9 and get myself a computer.

And then this afternoon, I'm headed to campus to meet with my grad school advisor and schedule classes, and then meet with someone in the career center. (What Liz? You wanted a career? But don't you want to intern forever and ever?)

No, Cara, I haven't watched Earth 2100 which sounds fairly depressing. But I will watch Brian Williams' special on inside the White House - I missed it because I was working that night, but one of the guys who runs the program that's housing me at the moment was nice enough to tape it for me! So I can't wait to watch it this weekend.

Anyway, time to get ready - OH and ONE MORE THING:

I always say that if I held public office, the first law I would write would be to make Hummers illegal.

That's not happening, sadly, but the Hummer IS the first piece of the collapsing puzzle that GM is said to be selling off. To a Chinese company. Which is interesting considering China has tougher CAFE standards than we do. Who knows? Good riddance Hummer! Now anyone who wants one of these sin-against-humanity monstrosities will also have to deal with the glares of people who know their "car"/battleship is Made In China.

Clean (?) Renewable (?) Fuels

2009-06-02T11:41:00.000-07:00

So this week and for the rest of June, my internship has been pared down to just once a week. I'll be there on Thursdays, and I think that's good because A, I really need to focus some time on getting ready for grad school, and B, I will now get to see some sunlight before I head to work in the evenings. But I miss it...I got to take an extra shift at the retail job yesterday, which is good for my bank account, and I got to sleep in and work out and see how curly my hair could get in the sun today, but I miss the wonkiness.

(Disclaimer: If politics bore you, stop reading. This is a wonky post.)

I've been thinking a lot lately about one of the most interesting legislative battles I've gotten to work on, which had to do with a controversial definition of a certain biofuel and how it fits into Henry Waxman's (my hero) new climate bill.

The new climate legislation is not nearly as good as his old standard, the Safe Climate Act. The Safe Climate Act set a simple, necessary standard: to cut our global warming emissions 20% by 2020 and 80% by 2050. And it had a well-balanced energy diet to accomplish this: more efficient cars, more wind and solar, and so on and so on. But the reason it was such a wonderful, mostly flawless piece of legislation was that it was a "Framework" bill - meaning that it's more like a list of suggestions. It's short and sweet, which is why it's hard to disagree with unless you're really eager for beachfront property.

As for the new Waxman-Markey Bill (Waxman is the Rep from Hollywood, and chair of the Energy & Commerce Committee, and my idol if I didn't mention that a few seconds ago; Ed Markey is a Rep from Massachusetts who runs Speaker Pelosi's Select Committee on Energy Independence & Global Warming. Waxman and Markey are a funny pair, because Markey is twice Waxman's height. But they make a great team!), I haven't read it yet - I'm just starting to. It has now passed the E&C committee and come out of Markup, so it's in a final(ish) form and I'm going to start reading it this afternoon before I go to work.

So what's this have to do with the Ag Committee? Well, I help out my Congressman's Environmental LA (Legislative Assistant) whenever I can, and he focuses on the Ag Committee. In the past couple of months, I've been going to briefings and hearings that have to do with something called woody biomass.

What is woody biomass?

Basically, it's wood that's burned for fuel. Think of a big, industrial, wood-burning stove.

We'll set aside the fact that wood burning is not anywhere near clean. I had a constituent call me the other day to ask the Congressman to support regulating wood burning emissions - and she was only talking about indoor and outdoor household stoves. She said she has a chronic breathing condition thanks to her neighbor's outdoor stove. Yay, wood burning stoves!

Anyway, it's a little different on the grand scale of "woody biomass". And those in the industry will tell you A, it's cleaner than coal, which...come on, ANYTHING is cleaner than coal; B, it has fewer global warming emissions, which is doubtful since combusting organic material naturally releases its carbon compounds; and C, it's a domestic source of fuel. That last one is true and it's certainly better than coal.

The environmental community takes issue, however, not with its global warming emissions but with the actual source of wood. Or so I was told by the staff of the Ag Committee - "the environmentalists just don't want us to take their trees" - that sort of thing.

So right now there's an uproar on the Ag Committee - and by uproar, I mean that the Committee Chairman stood up in a recent subcommittee meeting and said that as it stands now, he will never vote for any global warming legislation, period.

That's a pretty strong statement to make, which shows you how crucial a decision there is to be made.

This post has gotten long and convoluted, so I'll leave it as a to be continued.

A few brief thoughts

2009-05-29T06:42:00.000-07:00

1. Coolest accent heard all week

A woman walked into my store in the mall and she was friendly, very European looking, but I couldn't pin down her accent. Now, the last time I couldn't pin down an accent was at a bar near the Hill, where a waitress sounded half Australian, half British. When I asked her she responded "Australian" and rushed off - clearly she gets asked this all the time by leering guys and it's gotten quite annoying. So I wasn't going to ask, but as I rang this woman up she was pretty talkative, so I did. She said she was Swedish, which I got, but there was something British about her voice...turns out she lives in Northern England, near the Scottish border, and has for almost a decade. A half Swedish, half Scottish accent. It was actually pretty nifty and it made me miss Scotland, which, to be fair, doesn't take much.

2. The realization that it is, indeed, important to have staffers from your own district

On the Hill, the best way to get hired is to be A, from the district being represented by that Member; B, well connected to a staffer; C, well connected in general. Well I'm only A and a little bit of B, which is why I'm an intern, but I realized the other day why it's so good to be a local. Interns typically do a lot of phone-answering, and the other day I had a man call in who was really upset and sarcastic about the fact that his corporate credit card was just rescinded the other day with almost no notice. "I just new as soon as Congress started working on it it would get screwed up" - he's referring to the Credit Card bill the House just passed. The problem with his logic? It's not a law yet. Not only has this bill not been signed by the President yet - it hasn't even passed the Senate.

(Anybody else thinking School House Rock right now?)

But...telling this man that simple fact would not make him happy, it would have made him more upset and not helped build support for our Congressman. So I just heard him out and when I took down his name and address, I let him know I'm from just the next town over. (Last week, a guy on the phone called me "neighbor" and offered me veggies from his garden!) Well, that sufficiently distracted him from his ranting, and he then went into a mini-rant about local issues that I could totally concur with, and the conversation ended on a friendly note. He might still hate the Congressman, but at least he'll remember calling his Representative in a positive light. I hope.

Adult Recess just as good as Elementary School Recess

2009-05-28T06:21:00.000-07:00

It's Memorial Day Recess on the Hill. This means 2 weeks where the House is not in session, our members and half our staffers are back in their districts, it's a ghost town and WE CAN WEAR JEANS.

That last point is my favorite. So comfy. (Until I have to change into dress clothes for my part-time job at night, that is.) And the office is so quiet...in an office where there's only one computer designated to a half a dozen interns, this means I can commandeer a staffer's desk and computer for the WHOLE day. The office is quiet and non-distracting and I can leave a pile of papers I'm working on and when I return from lunch they will be EXACTLY where I left them.

In short, it's like being a real person instead of an intern.

I asked my boss for, basically, a performance review yesterday. So we just sat down and chatted about how I was doing, anything she thought I needed to improve on, etc. I highly recommend doing that in any job or internship - in a busy office it's nice to have a one-on-one convo with your boss and find out what they think of you. She had some nice things to say and it was nice to catch up, so all in all a constructive meeting.

A couple of the interns have left - yesterday was the last day for one guy I really liked. He's moving on to bigger and better things, starting next week as a hot-shot lobbyist. The good kind of lobbyist though - not an enviro one or anything, but he's a good guy so I have faith he'll never turn evil.

Next week will be my last full week there - for the month of June, my last month interning, I'll just be going in one day a week. There are enough new interns coming in that there won't be space, and besides, it's all getting to be routine and I think it's time to move on/take a little break from the Hill before I start studying policy full time as a grad student.

In other news, I'm getting into shape! Rachel is my long-distance running partner - not meaning that we're running long distance, but rather that we're keeping each other motivated from afar. Yesterday I did 23 minutes on an elliptical which was my longest "run" so far and then I lifted! ...And now my arms are screaming at me, haha. But that just means it worked.

That's all folks.

Thoughts on kids and racism

2009-05-25T10:25:00.000-07:00

But first, a few updates..

Apartment living: still not homeless! Now with roommates!

My 2 roommates moved in at the beginning of last week, which made the huge condo a lot less lonely. They're both awesome girls and I couldn't say otherwise if I wanted to since at least one of them reads this (but they really are cool =) ). They even visited me at work on Saturday! So yay.

Yesterday was a Memorial Day family dinner at the boyfriend's parents house, which was fun. I also learned that even upstate New York wine has an expiration date - if you leave a semidry white wine sitting long enough, it will turn into a dessert wine. Whoops!

It's a sunny Memorial Day, and there's a lot going on nearby (I'm near Arlington Cemetery and the Iwo Jima memorial), but I'm pretty sure I saw it all being rehearsed during my runs this week.

(Side note: I'm getting back into shape! I can now run about 2 miles.)

And now, on to the explanation behind this post's title. On Thursday, as I was taking the train to my Hill internship, I got a call from my boss asking how soon I could get there. We had a surprise group of 45 schoolkids who needed a tour and only one other intern was there so far. 45 kids??? Oh boy.

Luckily there were 3 of us tourguides available by the time the kids got there, and also luckily, there were 13 chaperones among the kids.

They were from a Harlem charter school, and honestly, this was my favorite tour group ever. I had 15 4th graders and a couple of chaperones/teachers, and oh my goodness were they cute. I think if I were ever forced to teach, I would pick 4th graders. They all stayed together, raised their hands to ask me questions, called me "Miss Liz" (except once I got called "Mrs. Liz" and the girl's friend elbowed me to say "Shhh! You don't know if she's married!). They all oooo'ed and aaaa'ed at my fun facts ("You can fit the Statue of Liberty in this room!") and I didn't want to leave them at the end. So, I didn't - they had gallery passes to sit in the House. (The gallery is the balcony seating over the floor of the House of Representatives or the Senate). You can go there and sit quietly pretty much anytime and see what you'd see on C-SPAN. We lucked out because all the Members were just gathering for some votes - when I was taken to the Senate gallery a few years ago, all I saw was Dick Durbin talking to an empty room. So I pointed out my congressman, and the kids' congressman, and told stories to the kids sitting near me.

Remember I mentioned these kids are from Harlem? So they're all African American. And the little boy sitting next to me says "Hey Miss Liz, I don't mean to offend anyone, but it looks like there are a lot of...umm...-ummm....when I look down there it's like all I see are um...." So I added "Old white guys?" And he said yeah, I don't see any black people down there! So then I pointed them out to him (including his own congressman). And he asked me why that was, and I told him I didn't know (I wasn't about to explain redistricting to a fourth grader). I kept pointing black Congressmen and women out as soon as I saw them, but basically I told him it just meant he'd better run for office one day. I'm not sure he's going to take me up on that, but it was an interesting conversation. Nobody but a kid would be so blunt about race.

1,000 cool points to the...Republicans?

2009-05-18T06:04:00.000-07:00

Okay, I have never been and will never be a Republican. And while I've got a sound understanding of economics and I'm not a raaaving liberal, I'm definitely a liberal. But last week, the Republicans made a bold move, which was only for show but I have to admit I was impressed by.

Last Thursday, when H.R. (House Resolution) 2187 - 21st Century Green High-Performing Public School Facilities Act - reached the floor of the House for the vote. My Congressman was back in the office soon after the vote, and all of a sudden we saw him running out of the office. Why? Because he had to be back on the floor immediately to vote down a Republican measure...

To change the title of H.R. 2187 to "A bill to saddle future generations with billions in debt, and for other purposes."

I'm sorry, but that's just genius.

Not that I agree with their take on the bill, but come on, that's such a great stunt.

Another post about ridiculous amounts of free things

2009-05-13T19:49:00.000-07:00

Today was the best reception day I've seen on the Hill so far.

There was a continental breakfast reception that I was too lazy to make it in for, but shortly after arriving in the office I recruited an office mate to go to a reception the next building over put on by a literacy nonprofit. Get this: They were offering a variety of fruit smoothies, fancy coffee drinks, and frost-your-own cupcakes. With toppings that ranged from sprinkles to coconut to gummy bears - what more could you ask for? Oh yeah, and because it's a children's reading advocacy group, they also gave you a free kid's book. I picked 'The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses," which I'm fairly sure I read as a kid. Let's recap. Fruity drinks, coffee, cupcakes, kids' books - genius.

Then, shortly after getting back to the office, on an errand upstairs I encountered 2 girls on the elevator with delicious looking omelets. One of them had a carton of eggs in the crook of her arm. I couldn't help giving them a funny look when I saw the eggs, and they told me there was a make-your-own-omelet reception going on in the Ag Committee room. And so my day got better! Put on by the American Poultry Association or something, not only did I get to make my own omelet, I got a dozen free fresh eggs, with the Congressional seal on the carton. Man, these interest groups are loaded.

I brought my omelette back to the office where I did, in fact, do some legitimate work. Mail was sorted, letters were written, phones were answered. I talked to an enthusiastic Democrat in Kentucky who'd heard my Congressman talk about healthcare on the radio for about 20 minutes. (Mostly, he talked and I chuckled) And then when 3:00 rolled around, I made my last stop before joining the world of people who work in malls and don't see any daylight.

I dragged my Environmental LA with me to my last event of the day - put on by the Zoos & Aquariums Caucus (there is, in fact, a caucus and an interest group for absolutely every little thing. There's even a lawn sprinklers association - for the manufacturers and not the sprinklers themselves, I'm assuming). There wasn't any food at this one, but there was Jack Hanna and "his animal friends"! I saw Jack Hanna himself, and I was bummed when a Congressman talked for so long that I had to leave before the animals appeared, but when I snuck out and wound my way through the corridors of the Capitol basement, I walked by the "stage" door where all the animals were waiting in cages for their entrance! So rather than seeing them from the 4th row, I saw them up close and personal - some kind of rare Shepherd dog, a civet cat (reminded me simultaneously of a lemur and an opossum), a teeny tiny little lynx cub, and a cheetah cub hidden behind a blanket. The lynx looked pretty much like a kitten, but you know, a lynx. It was asleep, and I wanted to take it with me.

I didn't steal any of Jack Hanna's animals, so you can stop worrying.

And then I worked in the mall, and didnt' see much daylight, but sales were good and now I'm home.

Oh that reminds me.

I'm not homeless anymore!!!!!!!!!!

I'm in a fully furnished, ridiculously cheap (for DC anyway) condo, and it's summer only, but I'm on the same floor of the good friends who referred me to the housing managers. I will probably never take housing for granted again. It's so amazing to have a space of my own, alone time, a fridge waiting to be stocked, a shower I don't have to share...the list goes on.

Now come visit me, because I have a place for you to stay! = )

No such thing as a free lunch? Ha!

2009-05-01T06:46:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry, but that phrase is just wrong.

Sure, all the free receptions on Capitol Hill are actually put on by lobbying groups, making them not free in 2 ways: 1, they cost the lobbyists tons of money to put on, and 2, they're holding the reception to buy influence with you.

But ifyou're an intern with no influence to offer, then it's just plain free!

Working part-time in the evenings has prevented me from going to a number of awesome receptions, like the Taco Bell one and a NWF event where I could've seen Ashley Judd and Jeff Corwin. And that stinks. BUT I've been to many a sweet event. For instance on Monday, I was at an NIH event with teeny tiny little parfaits and when I stopped to say hi to the front desk dude next door to our office, he informed me of the annual pie reception.

That's right. Pie.

To make things even better, this reception was put on by the National Truck Stops Association.

I mean, I already loved Flying J's but now? We were meant for each other.

They had about 30 different kinds of pie. The pie labeled as raspberry was surprise cherry, but still yummy, and the lemon chess pie was basically a big, round lemon bar. And I could've had some whiskey or bourbon too. Hooray, pie!

I thought I'd mention that you can get a lot more than pie for free if you know what your'e doing.

I work in a mall most evenings, which has its ups and downs - on the up side, I can use as much lotion as I want in the store. On the down side, I'm in a mall all evening.

My store will send you home with little samples if you ask for them, and it occurred to me that all places must do that. For instance, why buy a shampoo for $20 if you've never tried it before? That'd be dumb. And I'm running low on face moisturizer, so you know what I did? I went to Macy's and I stopped by Origins, Clinique, and a few other counters and picke dup some moisturizer samples. Voila, a week plus of free lotion!

Also, I highly recommend staying on the couch of a friend who's about to move out. Last night, the friend I'm crashing with, who moves this weekend, basically kept feeding me her unwanted refrigerator items. I had a Boca burger, garlic toast, some other stuff, and this morning, Cinnabon muffins. Also, her roommate gave me an unwanted shampoo and conditioner. Once I found an unopened bottle of grapefruit body wash on the metro. It most likely fell out of someone's grocery bag. And really, what harm could you do to a random bottle of body wash?

Let me tell you that is some yummy smelling body wash. It also saves me money, because the scent wakes me up better than coffee.

This morning, one of the girls in the apartment asked me how long I'd been homeless.

"3 months..."

"WHAT?????"

Yeah. Working on that apartment thing.

Who drove the electric car?

2009-04-29T21:23:00.001-07:00

I did!

Today the Enviro LA (Legislative Assistant) and I went down to a future car exhibit, I'll call it, outside near the Capitol. He didn't get out of his meetings til 3:15, and the event ended at 3:30, so we had to book it. But when we got there the company reps were happy to answer all of our questions, and then snuck us in for the last test drive of the day.

So we both got to take a Ford Focus that had been converted to run on a battery for a little spin, and it was reeeeeeeeeeally weird. Everything in my gut told me that something was wrong when I turned the key and there was only a little clicking sound, and when I shifted hte gear into drive, I fully expected it to go nowhere. But it moved! I was a little skiddish so I didn't go very fast, but it was a weird, fun experience. It's so quiet.

Of course, it's aaaalso not that practical - the electric version of a $16,000 car will cost about $40,000, and the battery lasts about 80-100 miles. And when I asked the engineer about the environmental costs of producing the batteries - i.e., the chemicals that go into them, their harvesting, and the energy it takes to physically make a battery - the answer was a little bit ridiculous. The guy told me that there were no environmental costs. That older lead batteries, that's a whole other story. But these batteries, "all the ingredients are organic." What he meant by organic was lithium, which I believe comes mostly from China? Um, great. Uranium is organic too, and so is lead for that matter. But nevertheless, the car was an experience to drive. Not sure I'll ever invest in one, although I really am looking forward to driving my car Friday (so sick of waiting for trains).

One of the interns is leaving this week - actually the friend I'm staying with at the moment - and I'll be sad to see her go. I'm looking tentatively for another internship just to get a different experience on the Hill, since every office is different.

Group dinner

2009-04-27T22:00:00.000-07:00

Friday was the weirdest thing - I planned a social event! And more people came than I had even had on the original email list, including some Germans. Ja.

I invited a bunch of friends - basically, everyone who's let me crash with them, plus the boyfriend - out to dinner Friday evening, and we all went to Nando's (technically it's Nando's Peri-Peri). A friend works there and recommended it, and it was kinda nifty. You order at the counter downstairs, then go sit down and they bring it to you...so you don't have to tip! And it's really good, just basic food. Almost everything features chicken. It's a Portuguese chain, so I guess the Portuguese really like chicken? If you get a chance to go to one, you HAVE to get the mashed potatoes. They're amazing.

Parents not as cool as Flight of the Conchords..but still cool.

2009-04-21T07:35:00.000-07:00

Pictures pending!

So my parents came to town this weekend and we did a few touristy things, they met the boyfriend, plus we looked at a couple of apartments in sketchy neighborhoods in Northeast. I am TOTALLY fine with a sketchy neighborhood. These weren't really that sketchy, they're just...we'll say 'up and coming'. In the beginning stages of, or on the fringes of, gentrification. So it was like the "real" DC. Neither one was a keeper, but the second one had the best location ever - a cute little neighborhood with friendly people, a friendly orange cat, and the amaaaaaaaaazing smell of the Mango Cafe, the Jamaican jerk place right across from the Georgia Ave/Petworth metro station. To get to the apartment we had to walk behind the restaurant, and the cooks were up on the back balcony cooking. Maaaaan that smell was amazing.

..Unfortunately the apartment itself was awful. I don't know about you, but no matter how messy of a person I may be, I don't leave beer cans on my front lawn. And if I do, I clean them up when I'm having an open house.

But the more fun things we did included a little museum-ing, and a trip to the National Arboretum (which is not flooded with tourists because A, it's in Southeast, B, you need a car to get to it, and C, it's huge so the tourists are spaced out I guess). We also did lunch with "Steve" and then checked out Great Falls, which wasn't as pretty in slightly cloudy daylight. But overall, a nice weekend.

We're talkin bout the issues but we're keepin it funky, hey...

2009-04-13T20:36:00.000-07:00

Tonight I went to see Flight of the Conchords with "Steve" and 2 of his friends. In my rating system I'm gonna give tonight's concert an A+++++++++++++++++++++++++++. And the opening act was Kristen Schaal (if you watch the FotC show, she plays Mel) and she was awesome.

Adorable - I really just would like to carry her around in my pocket 95% of the time. She did this bit where she was a mattress - as in a big sheet of foam with a hole in it for her face - a mattress that had seen a lot.

(These photos are all from Flickr - http://www.flickr.com/photos/dtutak/sets/72157616662388721/ )

Here's a closeup of Jemaine...

....And Brett. Sadly there were no pictures up of the New Zealand Philharmonic Orchestra, otherwise known as Nigel.

Some colorful characters on the metro...

2009-04-11T08:44:00.000-07:00

(This photo was in Thursday's edition of Express (free mini Washington Post they give out at Metro stations) )

But seriously...tourists. Impossible. Everywhere. I got run over by 8 year olds.

When Hill Staffers Turn Piranhaesque

2009-04-06T05:35:00.000-07:00

So one of the ways you get by as an intern, and even as an underpaid staffer, is by going to all the free receptions. Many of them are after work, but many are at lunch time. Last Friday was a big sushi event at lunch, and so unlike most of the receptions where I"ll just walk in, I RSVPed. Because if there's any event that requires an RSVP, come on, it's free sushi.

Problem is, lots of people were thinking the same thing.

The place was crazy - when the catering staff walked in with a tray of sushi or little seared tuna squares or what have you, the poor guys never made it to the table! About a hundred well-bred staffers, with various bachelor's and master's degrees, swarmed the caterers and picked at the tray like piranhas...or buzzards...it was the most animalistic scene I've ever seen on the Hill.

The amusing bonuses of this included: (1) When I got over my sense of self-respect and just went for it, I was small enough to squeeze between people and reach myself a choice piece of sushi; (2) It was hilarious to watch; (3) The hilarity of the situation created the same environment that a metro train stuck in one place does: you end up talking to the strangers aroudn you. My coworkers gave up on the feeding frenzy fairly early, and by the time they'd left I had already been joking wiht several groups of people who I would've probably not talked to otherwise. The group I talked to the most turned out to be from a committee that I'd very much like to work/intern for. Unfortunatley I didnt' get anyone's name, but I know where their office is and hopefully the memory of watching piranha staff with me will get me an internship.

The reason, by the way, that I"m now looking for new internships is that I've decided to go to grad school in the area in the fall, so I won't have time for the full-time Hill job that hasn't surfaced yet anyway.

There's your update, kiddos. Time to get ready for the first day of 2-week-long April recess - that joyful period where members of Congress are all in their home districts and I get to wear JEANS!

In Defense of...Lobbying (and free food)

2009-04-02T04:42:00.000-07:00

So I wanted to explain a little bit why the much-maligned profession of lobbying is actually a good thing. And I'm not exclusively talking about the nonprofit lobbying I used to do. I'm also excluding groups like Exxon Mobil. And I maaaaaaaaay be influenced by all the free food they give me. (It's all about influence. Although as an intern I'm probably not the type of person they're really trying to garner favor with)

I was sitting at a Hill reception - a crawfish boil to be precise - with some friends from the Hill and a couple of friends I snuck in - when one of the snuck in friends expressed his annoyance with the lobbyist who had come over to pitch his organization to us.

The lobbyist had every right to for 2 reasons: 1, he was the direct supplier of our free food. And 2, as I explained to my friend, lobbyists aren't all bad. They can often be great resources for legislators. They bring in information that lawmakers don't always get, info from their industry or even from other members of Congress. Often times, a lobbyist will have a better vote count for how a bill will fair on the floor of the House or Senate than the politician will.

...And, often times they'll attempt to bribe you, or take up your staff's time with useless meetings. But I just want to set the record straight that there have been a lot of lobby groups supplying free food to unpaid interns and underpaid staffers like me, so everybody should give the lobbyists a break.

In other news, going home for 2 and a half days was a fantastic decision. Wish I could've stayed longer, but it was a really nice little break. And I got a cheap haircut.

Career Change: I'm going to be a spy.

2009-03-30T13:48:00.000-07:00

I'm home! Came back for a couple of days to get warmer clothes, a cheaper haircut ($21!), and my laptop. Hooray, laptop! Also hooray driving, and while driving, hooray NPR.

Yesterday the last hour of my drive north was filled with the soothing hipster voice of Ira Glass and This American Life.

If you want to learn something about the 3 big components of the American economic brouhaha, listen to this week's TAL. It covers (1) the housing crisis on a personal level, (2) failing banks, and (3) big businesses shutting their doors. The middle part was the best: they follow FDIC as they close a bank out in Washington state.

Which brings me to my title: FDIC agents are like spies, but without the risk of being blown up. It's my new dream career, but if I end up there I won't be able to tell you about it, because what I would do would be top secret. Pretty sweet, eh?

Listen for yourself:

http://www.thisamericanlife.org

Why I love public transit

2009-03-25T07:40:00.000-07:00

There are many reasons, and there are many reasons I hate it (mostly tourists and buses).

Here's one of my favorite reasons to love the Metro: random encounters.

Yesterday I didn't end up going into the Hill - my retail boss called to say she wasn't feeling well, and asked me to fill in for her. So early afternoon, I headed to the Metro to go to the mall, and while waiting for the train this young woman came up to me smiling. I took off my headphones, and she asked how to get to such-and-such place. She then struck up a conversation, somewhat tentatively. She was a gorgeous 20-something Middle Eastern looking woman, and when I asked her where she was from, she told me Missouri (and her accent was DEFINITELY not Missourian). I asked her where she was from originally, and she just said "Eastern Europe" - so I figured, maybe Lebanon or someplace she thinks Americans have a negative image of.

As we talked, we realized we were in the same boat: both of us educated, qualified young people who couldn't find a job. The woman has her MBA and MPP (Public Policy) and speaks (at least) two languages fluently, and she can't find a job either. She asked me for advice, and I wish I had better advice to give her.

Turns out she's from Azerbaijan (an oil-rich country next to Turkey, if you've never heard of it). She was completely shocked that I'd even heard of her country - I guess that's why she didn't name it at first. Score for American education: she said most people she's talked to think it's a made up place. Not only did I recognize it (which is about where my knowledge of the country ended, to be honest) - she said I pronounced it correctly! So I felt smart.

She sat next to me on the train and we talked for a few more minutes. I gave her my little pocket map of the Metro, because the system had her fairly confused (let's just hope she doesn't try to go too far north on the yellow line, because my map is from 2004 and they've extended it quite a bit since they printed mine). And the thing she said that stuck with me was that she wasn't alone. And it made her feel a lot better, she said.

I was happy to leave her with my little map, and I gave her my email address too - not that I've had any luck myself yet, but she only knows one person here. I do feel pretty damn lucky to have such a good network of friends here, like the friend who's letting me type on his computer as we speak.

So here's to not being alone.

Yikes, it's been awhile - Post #1

2009-03-24T06:18:00.000-07:00

Because I figure my friends might have as short an attention span as I do, and I haven't written in FOREVER (Read: I haven't had access to a non-Congressional computer in FOREVER), I'm going to write the post I wanted to write next week. and then, I'll write today's.

So first off: A Very Celtic St. Paddy's Day time

Unfortunately, this working girl didn't get to go out on the night of St. Paddy's Day. And while I'm only a teensy bit Irish, I still feel stupid for forgetting to wear even a little bit of green. Whoops! I did see the entourage of Escalades that we're pretty sure escorted the Irish president, however - he had a meeting with Obama on St. Patrick's Day.

The next day made up for it though: First, I went with a fellow intern in the afternoon to a panel discussion on the similarities between the conflict in Northern Ireland and the one between Israel and Palestine. So we knew that Dr. James Zogby was on the panel (one of the Zogby brothers of Zogby polling), and he was the moderator, but we did NOT (or at least I didn't) pick up on the name John Bruton.

John Bruton, or Ambassador Bruton I should say, is the former Prime Minister of Ireland! He was PM during the Downing Street Agreement and the long period of resolution in Northern Ireland. Furthermore when he was introduced, it was mentioned that he first held public office at 22, I believe. Tanks for bringing me down, John Bruton. And yes, I said Tanks, because he had a gloriously stereotypical Irish accent. (Dirty tree and a turd.)

So that was fascinating. I took notes, which I meant to bring back with me and paraphrase on here, especially because I had some really great quotes written down. I'll have to put them in another post, because they were fascinating, and it was such a stimulating way to spend your afternoon. I felt smarter when I left. And it was nice to hear a discussion of Israel-Palestine without the pro-Israel slant...no offense to my Jewish friends, but Palestine doesn't have many friends here (or anywhere) which was one of the points made by the panel. I'm not necessarily pro one side or the other, but I appreciated a balanced discussion based not on who's right and wrong but on what will promote or prevent peace in the Middle East.

So after an Irish (but in a scholarly, not drunkenly, way) afternoon, I had a Scottish evening.

Well, first I went to my first evening reception! It was the "Red, White, & Bluegrass" reception put on by the Canola association (which is odd to give an All-American theme to, since Canola simply means Canadian vegetable oil...but Canadians DO love their country music). So they had bluegrass band (with BANJO!) out on the patio (and it was about 65 out) and lots of yummy things, like mini crab cakes, mini angus burgers, boneless Buffalo wings, and gourmet mac 'n cheese. Best of all, when I arrived at the door one of hte wait staff handed me a bourbon and ginger! Not a bad welcoming if you ask me.

I made the hard decision to leave that magical land of food and bourbon (where I ran into an old fellow nonprofit intern!) to head out and meet Matt at a happy hour for the school we studied abroad in in Scotland! It wasn't a huge happy hour - about 8 of us - and the drinks were pretty pricey, but it was a nice group. Good conversation, and about half of them were British! One really thick Scottish accent which was lovely to hear again.

So that was fun, and the day overall beat any St. Paddy's night out I'd wish for.

Happy St. Paddy's Day!

2009-03-17T08:14:00.000-07:00

Go out and celebrate for me - I'm working til 10. But, I did get to celebrate early at a friend's house party Saturday night. We drank green beer. It was glorious. And I rocked at flipcup.

Oh right, I'm a college graduate now. Oh well, I can still have skills can't I?

So other than that, I basically worked all weekend. It wasn't bad, and I heard I'll be getting a paycheck or two soon. So that's good.

My manager at part-time job #2 and I had some great conversation during my Saturday shift...turns out I look like a three-toed sloth by comparison to her. She owns this business with her husband, and she also does IT consulting for the government, and she's ALSO working on a dual master's program, and she AAAAALSO has a 2 year old and a 4 year old.

So basically, she's Wonder Woman.

Alright, time to fold laundry, edit the resume, and head off to the Hill!

Slainte, everybody!

FDA APPROVES SALMONELLA

2009-03-13T08:07:00.000-07:00

Don't be alarmed, nation: my title was ripped from the headlines of yesterday's new edition of The Onion. Which my boss at the mall never realized was a joke paper...she looked at a couple of articles on the front page and said "wait...is this all a joke?" Apparently she'd picked up one before, and thought it was "all just really bad writing." Oi vey.

So, life has been a little bit crazy. Part-time job #2 started Wednesday night, but that's for the most part only going to be a one day a week gig, which is good.

Today is Friday, the only day I don't work on the Hill, and I don't have any part-time work today either. And today is aaaaaawesome because Corvette...or "Steve"...or...whatshisname, whatever nickname he has, is letting me just be a bum in his house all day. Internet! Internet that isn't US government property! Internet that I can do non-professional things on. Although it's worth mentioning that on the Hill, everyone checks Facebook at least a couple times a day. Professional, eh?

Some thoughts:

Rilo Kiley is awesome. (Internet also means I can log onto Pandora!)

Earmarks are not ALL bad. All this flack Obama has been taking about earmarks...I've been helping my chief of staff sort through and file all the appropriation request forms our office has received. While I obviously can't go into any specifics, it's really opened my eyes.

Previously, like most people probably do, I thought all earmarks were bad. And many, many earmarks are totally ridiculous. But SOME are totally necessary. Like, at least 3 towns in my district have put in requests to extend potable water service to a rural part of the village. And then the defense approps are huge, of course - one was over $14 million - and knowing NOTHING about military stuff, I dont' know how necessary any of it is. But I DO know that $500,000 to give residents clean drinking water is pretty reasonable. And often in the rural counties, there simply isn't the tax base to pay for those things with local funds. State budgets in my state are NOTORIOUS for passing months late, and getting screwed up, and in this economy the governor had to cut most worthwhile things out of the budget anyway. You can't exactly pass legislation to bring clean water to a neighborhood, and so earmarking the money needed to make the project happen is the simplest solution.

So, that's my defense of earmarks.

Going Out Review:

It's been so long since I've written about places to go...let's review.

Last Friday night I went out with some college friends, and we were in Adams Morgan most of the night. I never realized Adams Morgan was, essentially, a giant frat party.

We met up first at Brickskeller in Dupont Circle - they claim to have the world's largest selection of beer, but of course that's not true - the biggest is in Brussels, and Matt's been there (Matt was at Brickskeller with me. I'm too lazy to give everyone a nickname. We'll pretend the names have been changed to protect the innocent.)

Anyway, Brickskeller was a nice chill place - spread out seating so it was actually easy to hear the conversation! And a huge beer selection. If you studied abroad and you've been hankering for that one specific pint you drank every night overseas and the unadvanced bars in the U.S. have the nerve to not carry your "usual," then Brickskeller is the place for you, unless travelling left you flat broke (it's a little pricey) or that "usual" is a pint of Tenents. They don't have Tenents. But they do have Tetley's...for $5.50, from a bottle. The appeal of Tetley's was that it was a yummy bitter that only cost a pound on Monday nights. Bottled at $5.50? Eh.

Anyway, I'll give Brickskeller a B+, but only because I feel my grading system has been a bit inflated lately. I need higher standards.

Next stop, after a brief cab ride to Adams Morgan: Dan's Cafe.

Dan's Cafe gets a C+. It was basically a frat party...to 1000 times the extent that that entire part of town is a frat party. At Dan's Cafe, it seems to be hard liquor only at the bar, and you can order an individual drink for around $5, but the place's trademark is its buy-in-bulk feature: say you order a rum & coke. For $10, you get a tall glass full of rum, a can of coke, and a little bucket of ice with as many glasses as you ask for. To share, or to just get wasted alone possibly. Adding to the place's charm are the following facts: It looks like the Phi Tau basement, and their pool tables are covered with blue tarps. Frat party. But, cheap.

Adam's Mill: C+ also. Nothing special. I hadn't planned on getting a drink, but had a cup of miller lite handed to me, so I have no idea what their prices are like. It really tasted more like natty than miller lite, but it might've had something to do with the plastic cup.

Madam's Organ: B. The place gets props for the blues music (live), clever name, and its notoriety. It loses points for the standing version of crowdsurfing we did on our way in. The first floor is PACKED, and you basically just swim through people. But when we reached the third floor and sat at a little bar just to sit, the bartender came over and asked if we wanted anything. I really can't remember the last time a bartender came to ME! So, some redeeming points there.

I think that'll do for now - time to be productive!

Cara, just admit that you love that I stole your acronym.

2009-03-08T15:48:00.000-07:00

Helloooooooo, computer! It's been forever since I've seen one that wasn't on Capitol Hill, and somehow blogging ON the Hill seems wrong. (Although blogging ABOUT the Hill is totally fine.)

So, lots of things have happened. This week all hell broke loose in the office because we're dealing with Appropriations....I never knew how crazy this process was. Basically, anyone - from Joe Six Pack to Middle of Nowhere Community College to a giant corporation - can submit an appropriations request for a project that would benefit the district. X University requests $1 million to renovate a dorm, some company wants $600,000 to build a new employee health center, you name it. They submit mostly incorrectly filled out forms to their Congressman, and we sort through it, determine what actually deserves money, and either give it our endorsement or fight for it in the huge appropriations bill.

So I went in on Friday, my day off, to help out with organizing the approps forms. This was actually a wise choice, because the forms are all at a side table in the Chief of Staff's office, so I got to chat with him. He's helping me get my resume out, cross your fingers everybody.

Thus ends everyone's political lesson. I have much more to write, but it's dinnertime. Toodles!

A grand weekend with the old folks

2009-03-01T10:24:00.000-08:00

My mom and dad came to visit this weekend.

2 reasons why this is awesome:

1. I love my parents.

2. Free bed! And shower, and food. But mostly, I love my parents.

I worked 4-10 in the mall Friday night, and then metro'ed straight to my parents' nearby hotel. Man, was it a nice change from the couches I've been sleeping on. And we spent Saturday doing what I've dubbed the efficient tourist thing.

First, I used my parents as guinea pigs for my first-ever Capitol tour. I didn't get horribly lost, remembered some interesting facts, and impressed them, I think. They'd never been inside so I think it was a cool experience. And I always love looking at the Rotunda. It's awesome.

Then I took them to Tortilla Coast for lunch because it's always a safe bet, and had a spinach and mushroom enchilada which I'm gonna give a B- because honestly, it seemed healthy. My personal feeling is that enchiladas ought to taste really bad for you.

Then we hit up the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, by which I mean we hit the exhibit of interest and then the gift shop to get earrings for me, and a fossil for Annah (the niece with the soonest birthday).

The exhibit we went to was Orchids Through Darwin's Eyes. I might've written about it before but my parents are orchid nuts so they loved it. Let's use this as a jumping off point to grade various parts of the day:

1. Orchid exhibit: A-.
Honestly, a room jampacked with orchids can't get anything below an A- because they're just so gorgeous. But, it's not a great space for it. The array of flowers is completely overwhelming, but there's no clear direction of traffic flow which means non-english-speaking tourists bumping into you and kids blocking excellent photographing opportunities. Also, 15 minutes in there and it's just...vagina overload. Orchids look a lot like vaginas. A lot.

2. Smithsonian Museum of American Art: A.
You could walk to the museum from the Mall, but it's easier to metro there. I recommend an all-day metro pass, which is around $7.50, for all-day museums and general gallavanting. This museum, often overlooked, is right by the Gallery Place-Chinatown metro stop, and it's HUGE! The indoor courtyard/atrium has a way-overpriced cafe just like all the Smithsonians ($2.65 for coffee?!?!?) btu the artwork covers a LOT of ground, historically, form-wise, and conceptually. Good, identifiable pieces by Mary Cassatt and John Singer Sargent (two of my favorites) and some neat sculptures, plus some Remingtons and George Catlins to make any Corningite feel like they're in the Rockwell.

The best moment in the whole museum, however, was in the folk art section. It was there I stumbled upon a giant shrine made of aluminum foil, Kraft paper and various other substances, by James Randolph. He seems like he was a rather quirky individual, but what grabbed me was the title of the artwork.

The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations Millennium General Assembly.

Now, this is the title of the album for Le Loup, a DC based weird indie pop band I'm in love with. The album title always made me scratch my head, and so the tin foil shrine gave me quite the "Oh my gosh" moment. Cool huh? Also Le Loup is cool. Go here:

http://www.myspace.com/leloupmusic

3. Napping in the hotel: A+++. It's been soooo long since I've had a quality nap.

4. Ireland's Four Corners: B+. This is the restaurant/pub we ate at near the hotel - it's about a block away from the Courthouse stop (in Arlington, on the orange line just past Rosslyn)

Four Corners had good, standard Irish-ish fare. Irish stew, shepherd's pie, etc. The dishes were way overpriced though - $13 for fish and chips?!? What elevates the place above a C, though, is the waitress we had. She started out by grabbing some kind of a wedge to fix our wobbly table, and moving us away from the too-warm fireplace. Can you say attentive?!? Then, when my chicken pot pie tasted like sour cream and I sent it back (which I NEVER do) - she brought me a menu and recommended the beef stew because it was "good, and it's really fast" - and sure enough, the yummy Guinness beef stew arrived in about 1 minute. She was awesome. If I had any money I'd go back to get her as a server.

Today I move from friend #3 to friend #4, and then tomorrow is the Hill again. Happy weekend everyone!

This week was AWESOME!

2009-02-27T12:05:00.000-08:00

It's been awhile, because I've been mad busy. Tons of things have happened...let's start with last weekend.

Last weekend was the Track girls reunion in rural PA - tons of fun. With the exception of our host, I hadn't seen those girls since I graduated so it was amazing to see everyone again. And the track meet was great - all the fun of a crazy smorgasbord of trackness, without the pressure of actual competing. One of the girls placed 3rd in the long jump, and another 4th in the high jump, so go us! I did a good workout, and didn't drop any of the free weights on my foot, so it was declared a success.

Also, I still miss those two little kittens.

Then I hit the road back down to DC, and the highway proceeded to tease me for about 50 miles. Every few miles or so, the road will post signs for the same route, but North (when you're on South) and an arrow, and the name of the town I came from. It's as if the road keeps saying "You sure you want to leave? You can still turn back!" It's torture.

Work was cool this week - the Congressman is back in the district, and along with all my usual stuff the LAs (Legislative Assistants) had me researching a few bills. In the case of 2 bills to do with clean energy, I explained them to our LA, he asked if it was good, and I said yes, and he then proceeded to recommend it to the Congressman! Power! Mwahahahaha.

I went to an all-day training on Wednesday on how to be a Capitol tour guide. When constituents visit the Capitol, typically interns give them a tour. It's free! But you have to get tickets at least a day in advance thru your Rep or Senator. It's fun, I recommend it. Anyway so that training put me on my feet about half the day, and then I went to my first evening of work at my part-time retail job. It wasn't bad, but I was pretty groggy when we got to the end of the night and I don't exactly think I learned many of the closing procedures. Oh well.

Yesterday was another full day on the Hill, and I started another new thing: helping write letters. I helped our Exec Assistant draft some constituent responses (if you know me you know I'm a grammar fiend, so it was fun) and I helped an LA write a letter to Senator Gillibrand. Sweet, no?

I also sat down with the Chief of Staff, who on Monday is going to help me get my resume "in the hopper." So that's good.

Yesterday a girl I ran XC with in high school came in the office to lobby the Congressman! So that was fun, and then after work I met an old coworker who now lives in St. Louis for drinks and dinner. It was nice to hear from someone else who left the organization and came out just great. He's doign really well.

No Hill internship today - just laundry, cooking dinner for the boys I'm staying with, and then off to the mall for work. And Mom & Dad are getting here tonight! I'm going to give them a Capitol tour tomorrow, to see if I actually have a clue what I'm doing.

Oh, and the big news for the week is that I got into 2 of the grad schools I applied to!

It's a slippery slope to cat lady...

2009-02-21T07:50:00.000-08:00

So I'm on a mini vacation from the Beltway, visiting my best friend up in rural PA for a little trackie reunion. She's a high jump coach at a uni, and it's an open home meet so a couple of the girls (but definitely NOT me) are competing. Plus, her parents are here and I love love looooove her parents. Apparently it's a blogging thing to create nicknames for people, but I have only nicknamed one person so far and I will save that for later...and actually I probably won't be putting too many details about that person online anyway.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaanyway...to explain the title, my friend...we'll call her The Chef...for now anyway. She has 2 new kittens, little white brothers named Eli and Peyton, and they are ADORABLE. They spent the night curled up with me and/or wrestlng on top of the other girls. They're ADORABLE. There I said it again. Also one of them is pretty dumb. I got him chasing a toy around in a circle about a dozen times before he finally collapsed. I could totally own 2 cats. And I thought to myself, as they were curled up on top of each other in bed with me, and one was grooming the other's ear, I was simultaneously delighted in the cuteness and horrified at the realization that I could totally become a cat lady.

Also, I really hope constituents stop complaining about the stim sometime soon. I'll write more about the actual Hill later, but now we're off to The Chef's cafe across the street for some breakfast, and then on to the meet!

Weird moments

2009-02-16T19:37:00.000-08:00

So I just got off the phone with my mom, and she told me that in the plane crash that happened last week in Buffalo - where a small plane crashed into a house in a small suburb - 2 of the people on board were Chuck Mangione's band members. I just saw them in concert at home, and the wind guy - who played alto and soprano sax, flute, piccolo, and clarinet - and the guitar player, who was only in his 20s, were on board and killed. Which means the concert I saw was one of the last, if not THE last, they played. Weird, and sad.

On a better note, let's review some DC locations I visited over the long weekend.

Friday night, at a get together in Farragut West with some fellow Berg alums and others, we went to a couple of spots.

First, Cafe Asia, for sushi happy hour. Very cute with really short tables, and I got there too late to eat any rolls but it smelled very good! I'm going to be assumptive and give it an A.

Next, 18th Street Lounge. The reviews and rumors I'd heard suggested a tricky to get in, difficult to find (no sign on the door) place where the cover varies based on your looks and the girls-to-guys ratio in your party. We only had 2 guys with us and were all dressed up a bit, so we should've been fine, but there was still a $10 cover. Only 4 of us paid up and basically, it really wasn't worth it. Only one of the three levels was open and while the drinks were surprisingly not overpriced, it's really not much to bother with in my opinion. Although I guess if you're really ugly, it's a great spot to pick up chicks (or guys) because it's veeeeery dimly lit. 18th SL gets a C.

Onward and upward to the Front Page, a good standby bar for 20-somethings.

BUT FIRST. Directly across the street from The Front Page is a Krispy Kreme. Nothing makes up for a wasted $10 cover like an 89 cent hot & fresh glazed. A+.

The Front Page. Not bad - a decent hangout. Drinks were good, although the bathroom is nearly impossible to find. Seriously it's a maze! Overall I give the spot a B.

Also Coraline, which i saw on Sunday, gets an A for AWESOME. In 3D! You really can't go wrong with 3D. Well, okay, you probably can, but Coraline doesn't. It was quite fun.

Also, apparently after all the clusterf*** to get Congress to pass the Stim RIGHT AWAY, do not pass go, do not collect $200, do not take the agreed-upon 48 hours to read the over-1,000 page bill, when they finally passed it, Obama did not sign it! He has not yet signed it, in fact. It was imperative that Congress pass the bill right away, but Obama took the weekend off! Seriously?

Thusly ends the long weekend. Back to the Hill tomorrow!

It's been nice knowing you all...my life is now complete.

2009-02-13T05:11:00.000-08:00

This will be a quick post, since I need to pack up, move my car to Silver Spring, and get going for a day of museumness!

I can pretty much die happy, because yesterday my life's dream came true.

First of all, I really love being on the Hill. Sorting through wacky constituent mail is monotonous but often entertaining, and the cramped little office is pretty fun. Yesterday one of the LAs (legislative assistants) sent me to a press conference on the Senate side...and I haphazardly navigated the tunnels and subway that goes under the Capitol, or actually through it. I went a different way coming and going...and I think both were wrong. Oh well, I got there. And the press event was to introduce a bill about VA funding...and the cosponsors from both House and Senate were there to speak. While waiting for my departing elevator, Congressman Mike Michaud from Maine introduced himself to me, and I managed to carry on a brief, intelligent conversation! It was pretty awesome.

But that wasn't the life changing experience.

On the way TO the press conference, I hopped off the subway from House to Capitol, and in an elevator to the main floor of the Capitol, and when I got off the elevator I realized 2 things:

1. Whoops, I need to go back to the floor I just came from.

2. Oh my GOD, that's Henry Waxman.

Yes, I saw Henry Waxman. He wasn't wearing the circular pin that denotes a member of Congress, but if you've ever seen a photo of the man, he's unmistakable - short, squat, bald, with a big nose and a mustache. And then I got in the elevator and stood right next to Henry Waxman. Who was slightly shorter than me.

If we'd been alone in the elevator I totally would have introduced myself, since working for him is my ultimate dream job. But, I was crammed in there with probably about 5 other Reps and the only words that came to mind were "I'm a big fan" which is NOT how I want to introduce myself to the man.

If you don't know Henry Waxman, he's a HUGE global warming champ and the new chair of the House's Energy and Commerce Committee. Before that he was the long-time chair of the Oversight Committee, which is awesome because they have oversight over anything they damn well please. They're the committee that did/does the baseball 'roids hearings.

Anyway, I can die happy now. Except I still want to talk to him, so I guess I'll keep hanging on.

Also, I went on a date in Farragut North last night. The apple pie in McCormick & Schmicks was surprisingly among the best I've ever had, but that may have been influenced by the cinnamon ice cream it came with. Also, the statue of David Farragut is the best statue ever. He's this civil war hero, right? Only in his statue he's just standing there wielding a baseball bat. There's nothing more menacing than a Union soldier with a baseball bat in his hands.

In other news, through sorting crazy constituent mail yesterday I learned of two amusing bills: one, Ron Paul has recently introduced the "Interstate Trafficking of Unpasteurized Dairy Products Act", and one of my constituents is VERY concerned with a new bill authorizing the hunting of swans. WHAT?

I have survived not one, but two days on the Hill!

2009-02-10T17:02:00.000-08:00

And it was awesome. And exhausting...but that's just good old intern grunt work. There is a LOT going on in this office. It's going to take my ADD and me a bit of getting used to, but at the same time it's inherently awesome.

I mean, with the stimulus business going on, everyone's eyes are on Washington (or on Tampa, where if you have your TV on mute you'll think Obama is still running for prez) and I'm THERE. The Senate passed the Stim today, and my member was getting geared up for emergency caucus meetings to work out the compromise bill between House and Senate.

It's a pretty fun office - lots of people around my age, and it's very crowded. My last office was pretty quiet, spread out, and individualized. We're all on top of each other in there and joking around and almost throwing Gumby and Pokey figurines out the window, and I love it.

I also seem to be gainfully employed...I mosied through the mall near the metro I'm commuting in from all morning, picking up job applications, and let's just say a lot of my college girlfriends will be excited by the discount I can now get them on Vera Bradley duds. Too bad I don't actually like Vera Bradley...no offense. It's just...diaper bags. That's all I'm sayin.

The apartment complex I'm staying in has a free shuttle to and from the metro, and a few minutes after it was supposed to show up tonight, a guy the next bench over with a faint Southern accent asked if I was waiting for that bus...turns out the driver called in sick. There's only one in the evenings, and appaaaarently there's no backup guy? There's clearly no system to inform residents. So as we were discussing our dilemma we discovered others around us waiting forhte same bus, and the 5 of us split a cab. And on the way, one kid said he voted absentee for my Congressman! Which was random, especially since he doesn't live in district, and didn't seem to have recently, either. He's a student and said he just kinda...picked a district...Which seems vaguely voter fraudish, but hey, he voted the right way anyway.

So I'm thoroughly exhausted, but so excited. It's been good to have some quality time with my family, especially with the stuff going on with my parents - I'm glad I was there for them. But I've spent the past few months pretty down on myself for being in limbo. And now I'm doing what I've been dreaming of doing forever! It's just as simple as that. All I had to do was take the leap, and I did, and now life is exciting and yay.

Also, constituent mail is often really funny. I'm about 250% sure I can't share any of it on here, but I will say we do have a "wacko" file. Heh.

The most perplexing thing about this town, however, is that Brian Williams is on at 7 and Jeopardy is on at 7:30. Que paso? This confuses me.

Moving in 5..4...3...2..

2009-02-03T14:46:00.000-08:00

So, plans are set. Loose plans anyway. I'm moving down this coming Sunday, and staying with friend #1. Luckily I have a bunch of good friends who have couches/futons/floorspace, so I'll be couch-surfing for at least the first month, until I get a paying full-time job. My first hostess has called me a vagabond, but I'm cool with it. I need to fit all my stuff in a suitcase that I can comfortably tote from apartment to apartment each weekend, and there's nothing I love like a challenge to pack light.

I don't have a part-time job yet, but I have one I'm pretty much a shoe-in for because it's a chain I've worked in before. Hopefully I can get a gig as an assistant manager, make more $ and make my own schedule. That's the game plan at this point. Also it's a dessert place, and you get to take home free quarts. Mmmmm.

I did a trial run to see how much I could fit into my suitcase today, and I discovered that I can fit all the important things: jeans, running shoes, my favorite sweater, my old EnAcT tie-dyed tee, and my cat.

I got the job! Er...internship

2009-01-22T15:29:00.000-08:00

So I'm a 23-year-old intern...I can explain.

By the time I graduated college, I had my heart set on environmental lobbying. The environment was (and is) my single biggest issue, and I discovered politics as an efficient (and delightfully complicated) vehicle for changing environmental conditions for the better. So, I interned with various political nonprofits, built contacts and experience, and when I graduated I started a great job as a field organizer.

Problem was, after a year, I had reached the conclusion that it really wasn't for me. Not with that group, anyway. I loved the people, and the organization's stance on basically every issue, but I didn't love the way the group operated and I left this past September.

So, this turned me into that really cool entity: the college grad who quits her job with no second job lined up (mostly because my old job barely left time for sleeping and laundry), and moves home. And 2 months away from Election Day, I joined in on a local Dem's campaign to unseat my Republican congressman. I was a paid canvasser (you know, the door-to-door thing) and I also spent all my free time as a volunteer in campaign HQ, calling supporters and nagging them to volunteer THEIR time. It was a blast. And then we won! Well...after a VERY tight race and a too-close-to-call vote tally and what seemed like a never-ending recanvass period. But we won! And then...I didn't get a job. I think I joined the campaign too late, but whatever happened, I missed the boat. And I didn't get an interview out of the thousand resumes I sent out to other newly elected Dems across the country, either.

So, I kept contacting the staff periodically and went about my business, working in the little consignment shop where I had worked in the past and stocking up on things I would hopefully need some day soon, like a black Express pantsuit that fit me absolutely perfectly for $12. I decided to move to Philly, where 90% of my college buddies are, and have a social life and putter around until I hopefully start grad school in the Fall.

Then one morning, on a trip to Philly, while I was groggily munching on cereal in my friend's apartment and making plans to go look at an apartment, I got a phone call from my candidate's Capitol Hill office, offering me an internship!

I took about a week to make up my mind...after all, I didn't have a paying job waiting in either DC or Philly, but in Philadelphia I did have the cheapest apartment possible with the nicest roommates possible and an abundance of friends I missed a lot waiting for me. But really, I made up my mind in about 3 seconds.

When I interned in DC in the past, I would get a rush just from being in the halls of the House and Senate office buildings. Senators are my version of celebrities, and man, it's just so cool to BE there.

This blog will follow my nerdiness to its Mecca: the Hill. And while I've already been warned by a former Hill staffer that I will hate it, I'm totally prepared to be obsessed with being there.