Well, today turned out to be quite the jumbled compilation of new experiences! In a way, though, this was a good thing; I’ve been feeling a little moody and tired and unexcited lately about getting out and doing touristy things and exploring D.C. and broadening my horizons and so on and so forth, and I got to see and do a lot of new things today that helped energize me again about living in such a fantastic place with so many opportunities to take advantage of.
It all began at 8:30 am, when I rushed out my room down to the computer room to frantically print a map of the Lincoln Theater, where I was supposed to be for a special meeting at 9 am, and then zipped out of the Barlow Center as fast as I could for the Metro. It was a typical Tuesday morning at the Metro: tons of people moving in every which way except for the way I have to go, people who stand IN FRONT of the Metro maps posted around the station and on the Metros to help us figure out where we’re going, old ladies carrying bags and suitcases in front of my path, a man with a little kid (always....always), and people who refuse to “walk” on the left side of the escalator like you’re supposed to. I’ve never seen a Metro train as crowded as the one I boarded at Foggy Bottom this Tuesday: I had to literally shove some people just to barely fit inside the doors, and didn’t have an inch of free space once I was in. I just kept my eyes on my bag to make SURE that no one tried to take advantage of the crowded space to do a little theft. I’ve never had anything stolen, but there’s always a first time, and for that reason I never carry anything of value in my unzippable pockets (and I always keep my zipped pockets tightly zipped).
Thankfully, the Metro cleared out after a few stops, and I made it to L’Enfant Plaza, where I had a bit of difficulty trying to find the right green line train. A confusing and blatantly false sign led me to climb the wrong pair of escalators, but, through some miracle, I was able to make it to the right platform seconds before a train, headed in the right direction, took off. It was now a little past 9:00. I leaped inside the unlabled train and only discovered when it began moving that I was on the wrong train—it was the yellow line, not the green line, and it was eventually headed in the exact opposite direction of where I wanted to go. !@!*@!& #*!@!@!@!&&@!&@!(#!*#!!!! (With apologies to Daniel—I couldn’t help myself!) Fortunately, the driver let us off at a station where a green train would be coming within a few minutes, and he turned out to be telling the truth. The green train came, I got on, and got off at the right stop. Yay!
Then came a bit of a tender mercy. There’s almost always two exits at each Metro station, and I invariably end up taking the wrong one when I’m in a hurry and don’t know the area. I was late and not exactly sure where the Lincoln Theater was, so I randomly picked an exit and rushed for it when the Metro stopped. I felt a good feeling as I went out—which I took as confirmation from the Spirit that I had made the right choice... :) Then I got out and realized that I had taken the wrong exit and had no idea how to get to the Theater and would be much more late than I already was. Then—saving grace!—I overheard a lady who had just come out of the Metro ask a gentleman where the Lincoln Theater was. He pointed her in the right direction, and I immediately latched onto her, commenting, “That’s where I’m headed too!” She was agreeable to walk together, and I was very grateful for her presence, as she navigated the streets much more ably than I would have, and singled out the obscure looking Theater while I was still trying to find the street signs. She was a nice, elderly lady working for a hotel company, and had a very distinct New York accent, which was a bit startling at first—I’m not very acquainted with New York accents (other than the horribly exaggerated Doris Rathbone), but they are very interesting to listen to!
I got yet another tender mercy when we came inside the Theater; the first 30 minutes of the “meeting” were spent in eating a continental breakfast and socializing. Feeling no worse the wear for missing the first round of hot coffee, I got myself some muffins and orange juice, and chatted with a few nice people before we were ushered into the Theater.
The meeting was a preview of events that would be taking place in D.C. as part of the National Cherry Blossom Festival. I took notes; it was all very fun and interesting and exciting and feel-good-about-yourself sort of stuff. We eventually went around the entire auditorium and introduced ourselves, and I’m pretty sure I was the only person to say I was an intern with a company. Which makes me pretty important, I think. Or just goes to show how sadly understaffed the Communications department at NMWA is right now. Either way, I was glad I got to go. I sat next to a really nice lady during the presentations in the Theater itself (which was GORGEOUS, by the way! Very decorative and patriotic and 1800s Lincoln-ish, even if it wasn’t the famous Ford) and she even gave me her name and email and told me to ask her any questions I had about anything while in D.C. Isn’t that nice!? And all I did was sit next to her for a few minutes and make some pleasant conversation and tell her a little bit about myself. This “networking” thing must work!
Well, after the meeting, I decided to walk from the Theater to the museum. It was a pretty good walk—maybe 20-25 min.—but the weather was nice and the streets didn’t look dangerous, so I enjoyed myself. I’d never been in this part of town before, but it was actually pretty nice. There was an elementary school, which I’d never seen before in any part of D.C. (shoot, I’ve never seen any kids in D.C. in places other than the Smithsonian museums on weekends), and some residential apartments, and some little shops, and then bigger company buildings as I got closer to the center of town. I got back to the museum before noon, so I could have technically fulfilled my phone duty that day, but I had already switched with another intern for Wednesday, so I just enjoyed yet another holiday from that detestable task. Tomorrow marks my return to phone duty, and I am not looking forward to it...
I did miscellaneous work stuff during the day and finished a paper for PolSci 399R class which was due tomorrow. Then one of my supervisors told me about a meeting they were going to have at 4 about blogging and social networking, and it was going to be hosted by one of the groups who had sponsored the Lincoln Theater event that morning! So I was excited to attend that, and it did turn out to be really interesting. I got a lot of good tips for blogging, which I will have to share with you some time... ;)
The meeting ended a bit late and I didn’t leave work until 6 p.m., but I didn’t mind. I walked home in the wind (it’s been really windy here for the past few days for some reason... I usually love wind, but not so much when it’s cold and windy at the same time) and stopped at Safeway to do the shopping I had really NOT wanted to do this week (unfortunately, I didn’t plan very well last week, apparently, and ran out of bananas, grapes, apples, broccoli, and carrots all at the same time—yuck). I then went home to the Barlow Center, looking forward to doing nothing that evening but turning in my PolSci paper and relaxing.
And then! Exciting news! One of my fellow interns, Jason, had procured two free tickets to the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra’s concert tonight—a rare and exotic event which was apparently coinciding with the collection of really cool Arabian dresses which were just installed at the Kennedy Center. He couldn’t go himself, but didn’t want to lose the chance to get free tickets (Ah, the inability to turn down free stuff! Obviously a guy after my own heart...), so he sent out an email asking if any of us would like to go. I knew that the chances were slim that anyone would, since it was so last-minute, and since even I—who would do almost anything for FREE tickets to, like, anything—was feeling like I would much rather stay at home, but I did NOT want those free tickets to go to waste. However, since I had already taken advantage of one of Jason’s previous generous/free offers to see the National Symphony Orchestra perform The Firebird for free , I felt it was someone else’s turn, so in my response to Jason, I told him to go ahead and give the tickets to anyone else who responded besides me.
Soooooo. Flash forward to 7:30 pm, and I’m in the Kennedy Center with two tickets in hand. No other takers for the second ticket. But there’s a really big crowd at the concert, and the tickets are actually prime seating—the very second row in the right side of the orchestra!—so I got a very clear view of the front-row performers (i.e. violin sections, some of the bass, the conductor, some of the special performers... I have yet to ever get a good view of the drum players, the brass section, or the flute/oboe players. That’s the only problem with these up-close free tickets!).
The concert was really incredible, perhaps the best one that I’ve been to at the Kennedy Center (Whew! Sure glad I never paid to see those other ones that were sub-par!). There were a few technical glitches of course—things like the conductor kept coming in late, maybe three or four minutes after the orchestra had seated themselves, and the program didn’t match the performance in two spots—but nobody’s perfect.
I did very much enjoy watching the “first violin” concertmaster, a young man who looked almost EXACTLY like a certain cute guy whom I know and rather like at present! (Sorry, no names or descriptions forthcoming... perhaps later. As in, after we’re married happily ever after and have at least three kids) Anyway, my attention was pretty much hooked on this one violinist throughout the entire evening, and his talent did not fail under close scrutinization (nor did his looks, I might add). He was really the most remarkable violinist I’ve ever seen. His concentrated intensity! His emotional passion! The ease and grace of his movements! His straight and beautiful posture! His daring half-smiles during the most difficult parts! AAAAAAhhhhhh....... and SWOOOoon. And I never thought the day would come when I wished that a concert were just a little bit longer... I guess Obama was right—now IS the time for change.
After the concert, I waltzed myself home to the “da-da-da-dum” of Beethoven’s 5th, and went to bed at an unfortunately late hour after chatting with friends, eating dinner, Internet surfing, and reading scriptures and Mattimeo (yep, finished Redwall—that’s actually when it really hit me how long of a time it’s been since the early morning drive and first plane trip from Salt Lake City to Chicago).
Sorry for the late posting of the post—I did finish most of it yesterday when it all took place, but was a little too tired to get it all done. Hope you enjoyed reading it all the same!
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Sunday, February 22, 2009
You can't even tell that I've been sick for the past three days, can you!?!?
Happy 21st Birthday to my best friend, Emily Niedfeldt! And it’s now been about 12 years since we first met...wow. Here’s to another 12 years, Em! And another and another and another...
Yesterday was kind of a lazy day, which was kind of nice, since I was kind of sick. Valerie was at her mother-in-law’s house all day (she spent the night there Friday, and ended up spending the night on Saturday too—she got back around 5 pm on Sunday) and I got to make use of our entire room, watching movies on my laptop and sleeping and...reading...and...wasting time. Pretty much.
I did go to a free film festival thing at the National Gallery of Art at 2:00 pm. It lasted until about 5:30 (~~!!!!~~) but I only struggled to stay awake once, during a film that actually wasn’t that bad. It was called Nora and was kind of a true story set to interpretive dancing. No words...that always makes me a little tired. But the dancing and scenery and stuff was actually very colorful and visually stimulating, so I must have actually been tired. But then again, I was absolutely fascinated by the 52 min. long “short” which had 0 dialogue and showed nothing but real-life footage taken of polar bears in the Arctic. I never got tired of watching them interact with eachother, and was actually a little sad when the camera pulled away after showing maybe 5 min. of one group, because I had been observing some little interactions going on, and I REALLY wanted to know how they were resolved! Oh well... polar bear drama will have to wait until it can afford to take the big screen. There were two ladies in front of me who were struggling considerably during the polar bear movie, from the way they groaned and sighed and then laughed at each other whenever the screen went from a momentary darkness to...yet another reel of footage! But yeah. I actually liked it a lot, and now I’m feeling quite loving towards polar bears...
After this rather long film fest, I walked the long route home, past the Washington Monument and the White House. I stopped at the Kennedy Center and bought a $20 ticket to the NYC ballet performance on March 5. The man who helped me was very friendly and accomodating; he spent maybe 5 min. just discussing what would be the best seat for someone of my height and with my preferences. I told him I liked the balcony seats, but he was concerned that I wouldn’t be able to see over the rails. So he was going to put me higher up, but then I told him I was worried that tall people would sit in front of me. Then he suggested an enticing option...would I like to sit on the FRONT row on the floor!? WOULD I!?!? Anyway, that’s where I’ll be next Thursday at 7:30 p.m. if you want me. FRONT ROW of the Kennedy Center opera house, basking in my closeness to some of the finest dancers in the world. And the friendly man assured me that I would be able to see everything, except maybe some feet when the dancers are backstage. I assured him that was perfectly fine.
After getting my ticket (and being even more excited to learn that it was one of the very last of the cheap $20 offered to young people—not students, but young people—who are assumedly poor because of their youth), I went to find the free concert at 6 p.m., but it wasn’t on the usual Millenium Stage in the main hall. It turns out that it was upstairs in a special theater called the Terrace theater! I had never heard of this place before, but enjoyed exploring the Kennedy Center some more by taking the elevator up and wandering through the beautifully decorated gallery space there. Soon I found myself in a nice comfy box theater with a cosy waiting room and a monitor to occupy me until there was a sufficient pause in the performance for me and all the other latecomers to enter. It was about 6:40 at the time, so the performance, whatever it was, was coming to a close (they usually run from 6-7), but I still got in with enough time to catch the last number, an absolutely stunning piano-flute duet by a guy and girl who looked very similar to the actor and actress who play Peter and Susan in the new The Chronicles of Narnia films. I got a very nice seat—about four rows away from the stage, almost dead center—and thoroughly enjoyed the performance. The girl (who played the flute) played the entire piece from memory—impossibly amazing! And the boy (pianist) was likewise incredible—although he had sheet music and another person to turn the pages for him, so he was, at least, still human.
After the performance, I was wandering around the gallery and found an open door leading to the outside terrace of the Kennedy Center. There were other people walking around, so I walked through the door and found myself on a nice high platform, overlooking the city. It was really breathtakingly gorgeous. Lovely views of the Potomac River, Watergate, and the Bridge of Terror (that’s what I’m going to call that-bridge-I-crossed until I find out whether or not it was the Theodore Memorial Bridge or the Arlington Bridge). I made a video, since all the pictures I took seemed to turn out poorly. I need to get myself a new camera. Perhaps for my birthday?
A few things to wrap it up before I go to bed:
The oranges came! Thanks very much, Dad :)
I have a new favorite movie: The African Queen. Not perfect by any means, but still a perfectly lovely little film. Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn (#1 actor and actress in America! Success is inevitable!) pretty much ARE the film, and they are amazing. And the story, while it’s no Lawrence of Arabia, is exciting enough to keep you interested, while being very sweet and simple. So a big round of “Aaawwwwwww....” for this film, everyone, if you please.
The Academy Awards!!! We’re having an office party tomorrow (they did a sort of “pool” where we all guessed the winners...but I didn’t guess, since I didn’t want to put in $2... but I’ll still come to the party), so that’s exciting. And, while I didn’t really watch the Oscar ceremony on TV tonight, a lot of other Barlow Center people did, and I gathered that Heath Ledger did indeed win the Best Supporting Actor award for his role as the creepy yet somehow swoon-worthy villain in The Dark Knight. And, in my now informed opinion, he really, really deserved it! :) And now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go swoon.
Yesterday was kind of a lazy day, which was kind of nice, since I was kind of sick. Valerie was at her mother-in-law’s house all day (she spent the night there Friday, and ended up spending the night on Saturday too—she got back around 5 pm on Sunday) and I got to make use of our entire room, watching movies on my laptop and sleeping and...reading...and...wasting time. Pretty much.
I did go to a free film festival thing at the National Gallery of Art at 2:00 pm. It lasted until about 5:30 (~~!!!!~~) but I only struggled to stay awake once, during a film that actually wasn’t that bad. It was called Nora and was kind of a true story set to interpretive dancing. No words...that always makes me a little tired. But the dancing and scenery and stuff was actually very colorful and visually stimulating, so I must have actually been tired. But then again, I was absolutely fascinated by the 52 min. long “short” which had 0 dialogue and showed nothing but real-life footage taken of polar bears in the Arctic. I never got tired of watching them interact with eachother, and was actually a little sad when the camera pulled away after showing maybe 5 min. of one group, because I had been observing some little interactions going on, and I REALLY wanted to know how they were resolved! Oh well... polar bear drama will have to wait until it can afford to take the big screen. There were two ladies in front of me who were struggling considerably during the polar bear movie, from the way they groaned and sighed and then laughed at each other whenever the screen went from a momentary darkness to...yet another reel of footage! But yeah. I actually liked it a lot, and now I’m feeling quite loving towards polar bears...
After this rather long film fest, I walked the long route home, past the Washington Monument and the White House. I stopped at the Kennedy Center and bought a $20 ticket to the NYC ballet performance on March 5. The man who helped me was very friendly and accomodating; he spent maybe 5 min. just discussing what would be the best seat for someone of my height and with my preferences. I told him I liked the balcony seats, but he was concerned that I wouldn’t be able to see over the rails. So he was going to put me higher up, but then I told him I was worried that tall people would sit in front of me. Then he suggested an enticing option...would I like to sit on the FRONT row on the floor!? WOULD I!?!? Anyway, that’s where I’ll be next Thursday at 7:30 p.m. if you want me. FRONT ROW of the Kennedy Center opera house, basking in my closeness to some of the finest dancers in the world. And the friendly man assured me that I would be able to see everything, except maybe some feet when the dancers are backstage. I assured him that was perfectly fine.
After getting my ticket (and being even more excited to learn that it was one of the very last of the cheap $20 offered to young people—not students, but young people—who are assumedly poor because of their youth), I went to find the free concert at 6 p.m., but it wasn’t on the usual Millenium Stage in the main hall. It turns out that it was upstairs in a special theater called the Terrace theater! I had never heard of this place before, but enjoyed exploring the Kennedy Center some more by taking the elevator up and wandering through the beautifully decorated gallery space there. Soon I found myself in a nice comfy box theater with a cosy waiting room and a monitor to occupy me until there was a sufficient pause in the performance for me and all the other latecomers to enter. It was about 6:40 at the time, so the performance, whatever it was, was coming to a close (they usually run from 6-7), but I still got in with enough time to catch the last number, an absolutely stunning piano-flute duet by a guy and girl who looked very similar to the actor and actress who play Peter and Susan in the new The Chronicles of Narnia films. I got a very nice seat—about four rows away from the stage, almost dead center—and thoroughly enjoyed the performance. The girl (who played the flute) played the entire piece from memory—impossibly amazing! And the boy (pianist) was likewise incredible—although he had sheet music and another person to turn the pages for him, so he was, at least, still human.
After the performance, I was wandering around the gallery and found an open door leading to the outside terrace of the Kennedy Center. There were other people walking around, so I walked through the door and found myself on a nice high platform, overlooking the city. It was really breathtakingly gorgeous. Lovely views of the Potomac River, Watergate, and the Bridge of Terror (that’s what I’m going to call that-bridge-I-crossed until I find out whether or not it was the Theodore Memorial Bridge or the Arlington Bridge). I made a video, since all the pictures I took seemed to turn out poorly. I need to get myself a new camera. Perhaps for my birthday?
A few things to wrap it up before I go to bed:
The oranges came! Thanks very much, Dad :)
I have a new favorite movie: The African Queen. Not perfect by any means, but still a perfectly lovely little film. Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn (#1 actor and actress in America! Success is inevitable!) pretty much ARE the film, and they are amazing. And the story, while it’s no Lawrence of Arabia, is exciting enough to keep you interested, while being very sweet and simple. So a big round of “Aaawwwwwww....” for this film, everyone, if you please.
The Academy Awards!!! We’re having an office party tomorrow (they did a sort of “pool” where we all guessed the winners...but I didn’t guess, since I didn’t want to put in $2... but I’ll still come to the party), so that’s exciting. And, while I didn’t really watch the Oscar ceremony on TV tonight, a lot of other Barlow Center people did, and I gathered that Heath Ledger did indeed win the Best Supporting Actor award for his role as the creepy yet somehow swoon-worthy villain in The Dark Knight. And, in my now informed opinion, he really, really deserved it! :) And now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go swoon.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Tut, tut, it looks like the middle of the semester!
Happy end-of-Tuesday! It was good to hear from everyone... Um. Hello? Are you guys still there? Sigh. I guess the lack of many comments justly punishes me for the lack of many posts. Perhaps it will help to bring back my faithful followers if I promise to post five pictures before concluding for the night. We’ll see, anyway. I would hate to lose my firm background of six. And y’all have no idea how ridiculously proud I am of the fact that I have SIX family followers, by the way! I am constantly scheming about how to rope in Joseph and Mama as the next two followers... Perhaps more posts having to do with nuts, whole wheat bread, and books?
A few quick items of business: Dad, the oranges did not come today... I will keep looking! And I’m afraid I probably won’t be giving the marmalade to the poor, given the fact that most panhandlers here are more than likely to throw it back at me with an angry, “thank you,” except they use another word for the word “thank.” I try to steer away from all the homeless and begging people alike in D.C., especially while alone. If I’m in a group, we’re usually busy talking together and homeless people will tend to leave us alone. However, this past Sunday there was one funny, um, intoxicated man who followed a group of us (four girls and one guy) a little way at the Metro station, refusing to leave until he had given us each a handshake and a compliment on our Sunday attire (He told me I was wearing “nice ballet flats,” which wasn’t really true, but I suppose they looked rather flat in comparison with the high-heels being worn all over the place). It wasn’t really frightening, since we were all together, but it was a little weird. Afterwards, he went happily off on his way, and that was that.
Today was a good if rather uneventful day. Here are some perks:
I was busy all day today, catching up with art news from last Thursday-Friday-Saturday-Sunday-Monday. Hooray for not having to come up with useless work to do to pass the time!
I did NOT have to do phone duty!
After work, I went to Barnes & Noble and got a good book to read and review. The review due date is coming up fast, so it’s going to be a speed read, but the book looks good and I’m up for the challenge :)
Our professor cancelled our writing assignment on Friday and pushed our paper due date from Friday to Monday! Whee!
Mike and the others all got back from their trip to New York so we got to walk home together, arguing the whole way (about stereotypes of guys who choose to see films like “He’s Just Not That Into You,” among other things). It was fun.
Weather was nice today. Cold enough for me to wear my coat and winter clothes (I just realized that I kind of have no spring wardrobe here...), but warm enough so that I could take off my scarf, allowing me to argue more audibly with Mike.
Mike also told me some of what they did on the New York trip, like going to the Empire State Building, taking a scenic view of the Statue of Liberty, going to the “Mary Poppins” Broadway play, eating out, and seeing the Chrysler Building. It sounded really neat. I would like to go there someday—but not on my own. I’ve enough trouble getting used to life as a “city girl” here in D.C., and I’ve heard New York makes D.C. look like an ancient, rustic, roomy, spotless little town. And apparently the mendicants do more than curse and pester you—they rob and kill you too.
But anyway, it’s nice to have the New York interns back now. I’ve heard only one bad thing about the trip in my conversations so far—which was that any meal costs $20 or over in New York. Goodness! And I thought a $4 veggie pizza at the Mt. Vernon foodcourt was pushing it...
Okay, time for some pictures.
I walked home from the Mall a different route than usual one day, and saw this random car set up in a blockade, in front of an empty green field. I was wondering why on earth a car would be guarding some random field...
When I happened to look up and see a suspiciously familiar looking white structure in the background. Doh! Suddenly the question became, why don't they have MORE SECURITY AROUND HERE!? There's not even a fence to keep illegal immigrants out!!@!&#&!
Here’s a far-off shot of the White House and lawn, taken on 2/7. Yeah, pretty much ancient history. They had the Ellipse in front of the White House open on a Saturday afternoon, so I decided to see how close I could get to the front of the White House. I pass the back side on my way to work every morning, but the front is another story.
Turns out I only got this close. Sigh. And I didn’t know then how to work the zoom button on the camera. But I know now! And I will BE BACK.
This is me in front of the National Christmas Tree. It’s probably the prettiest, greenest thing on the Ellipse, but it still looked a little lopsided and scraggy at this time of year.
Merry February! And a Happy New Wednesday!
A few quick items of business: Dad, the oranges did not come today... I will keep looking! And I’m afraid I probably won’t be giving the marmalade to the poor, given the fact that most panhandlers here are more than likely to throw it back at me with an angry, “thank you,” except they use another word for the word “thank.” I try to steer away from all the homeless and begging people alike in D.C., especially while alone. If I’m in a group, we’re usually busy talking together and homeless people will tend to leave us alone. However, this past Sunday there was one funny, um, intoxicated man who followed a group of us (four girls and one guy) a little way at the Metro station, refusing to leave until he had given us each a handshake and a compliment on our Sunday attire (He told me I was wearing “nice ballet flats,” which wasn’t really true, but I suppose they looked rather flat in comparison with the high-heels being worn all over the place). It wasn’t really frightening, since we were all together, but it was a little weird. Afterwards, he went happily off on his way, and that was that.
Today was a good if rather uneventful day. Here are some perks:
I was busy all day today, catching up with art news from last Thursday-Friday-Saturday-Sunday-Monday. Hooray for not having to come up with useless work to do to pass the time!
I did NOT have to do phone duty!
After work, I went to Barnes & Noble and got a good book to read and review. The review due date is coming up fast, so it’s going to be a speed read, but the book looks good and I’m up for the challenge :)
Our professor cancelled our writing assignment on Friday and pushed our paper due date from Friday to Monday! Whee!
Mike and the others all got back from their trip to New York so we got to walk home together, arguing the whole way (about stereotypes of guys who choose to see films like “He’s Just Not That Into You,” among other things). It was fun.
Weather was nice today. Cold enough for me to wear my coat and winter clothes (I just realized that I kind of have no spring wardrobe here...), but warm enough so that I could take off my scarf, allowing me to argue more audibly with Mike.
Mike also told me some of what they did on the New York trip, like going to the Empire State Building, taking a scenic view of the Statue of Liberty, going to the “Mary Poppins” Broadway play, eating out, and seeing the Chrysler Building. It sounded really neat. I would like to go there someday—but not on my own. I’ve enough trouble getting used to life as a “city girl” here in D.C., and I’ve heard New York makes D.C. look like an ancient, rustic, roomy, spotless little town. And apparently the mendicants do more than curse and pester you—they rob and kill you too.
But anyway, it’s nice to have the New York interns back now. I’ve heard only one bad thing about the trip in my conversations so far—which was that any meal costs $20 or over in New York. Goodness! And I thought a $4 veggie pizza at the Mt. Vernon foodcourt was pushing it...
Okay, time for some pictures.
I walked home from the Mall a different route than usual one day, and saw this random car set up in a blockade, in front of an empty green field. I was wondering why on earth a car would be guarding some random field...
When I happened to look up and see a suspiciously familiar looking white structure in the background. Doh! Suddenly the question became, why don't they have MORE SECURITY AROUND HERE!? There's not even a fence to keep illegal immigrants out!!@!&#&!
Here’s a far-off shot of the White House and lawn, taken on 2/7. Yeah, pretty much ancient history. They had the Ellipse in front of the White House open on a Saturday afternoon, so I decided to see how close I could get to the front of the White House. I pass the back side on my way to work every morning, but the front is another story.
Turns out I only got this close. Sigh. And I didn’t know then how to work the zoom button on the camera. But I know now! And I will BE BACK.
This is me in front of the National Christmas Tree. It’s probably the prettiest, greenest thing on the Ellipse, but it still looked a little lopsided and scraggy at this time of year.Merry February! And a Happy New Wednesday!
Spiritual Experience #3: Ruthena and the Rock
Something that a lot of people do not know about me is that I like to collect rocks. More specifically, I like to collect rocks with sentimental or historic value. One of my most treasured possessions is a rock from our home in Georgia, coated in the characteristic “red clay” that I love. I also have a rock from Utah: I got it from my teacher during an object lesson in YW—it says “Sin” on the back in black marker… I have a random rock from the top of a random mountain in Utah. It was during some random Youth Conference when a random group of us randomly decided to go up this mountain by ourselves. Fortunately (or perhaps, randomly), none of us was injured or lost.
However, I’ve kind of slacked off in my rock collecting habits of late, and was not reminded of them until just recently at Mt. Vernon, standing in line to get to see the Mansion, when it occurred to me how cool it would be to confiscate a pebble—possibly one trod on by the boots of the great George himself—and take it home with me as a free souvenir! And then, perhaps later I could get one from Monticello, and one from the Mall, and one from Lincoln Memorial… It was as if my eyes had suddenly opened to see a wealth of historic treasure in front of them! And all FREEE! Too excited to think any further, I immediately began scanning the ground, looking for the perfect rock to convey my emotional sentiment and reflect my concept of the persona of Washington. At THIS moment, and I kid you not, something unexpected happened.
All this while in line there were a few little Asian kids in line behind me. They were all very cute. The little girl in a pink jacket, in particular, was full of imagination and creative genius: One of her previous self-implemented games had consisted of standing on a hill shouting out “1, 2, 3…” and so on until she broke the cycle by running down the hill. Anyway, she had gathered her siblings around her and had they were now all busily engaged in artistic organization and redecoration of the grounds—i.e. picking up little rocks and dropping them. Out of nowhere, a lady wearing a uniform walked smilingly by, and said pleasantly but firmly, “The rocks need to stay here, okay?”
I was crestfallen. Why did this spoil sport lady have to choose THIS moment to walk by? Why did the children have to be playing THIS game? Why were THESE words spoken? Why, why, why? And really, why? What would taking one little rock harm? Of course, if EVERY tourist took a rock, I could understand that there would be difficulties, but surely exceptions could be made for sentimental rock-collectin’ goddesses. Without a doubt, people got rocks in their shoes all the time and carried them off without guilt. And who was she anyway to say that the rocks belonged to the estate? This was Mt. Vernon, home of the first founding father of America! Surely the rocks should be free and equally shared by all!
At this point, we got significantly closer to the Mansion house, and my concentration was broken again for the tour. After the tour, they turned us loose on the beautifully situated gardens and grounds and I wandered around, having forgotten my rock scheme altogether. The view of the Potomac River was breathtakingly gorgeous, and I climbed down a little hill to get as close as I could. Once I was behind the hill and out of sight of every other person, my foot hit something. It was a rock.
No. Not just a rock. Its size, its color, its weight—everything was A PERFECT replica of all the dreams and memories I had and could have associated with Mt. Vernon. This rock was meant to be added to my collection, just as I was meant to find it (name that movie). It was its destiny.
Then the conscience kicked in. What about… But she said… You know better… And, strangest and weirdest of all, What would George Washington think? I didn’t really suppose anyone would care. It was, after all, just a rock. There were plenty more in Virginia and elsewhere. But, on the other hand, since the choice was between a clean conscience and a rock… Well, when the time for performance comes, the time for preparation has past, and I was already onstage in the second act of Rock-robbin’ Rationalization. I knew what I had to do. I chucked that rock over the fence, effectively ridding myself of the temptation while simultaneously rebelling against the implied law to leave things EXACTLY as they were on the properties of Mt. Vernon. And then I climbed the hill, and sighed wistfully with regret. Regret for failing to wear some pebble-catching socks and sandals, that is. Maybe next time.
However, I’ve kind of slacked off in my rock collecting habits of late, and was not reminded of them until just recently at Mt. Vernon, standing in line to get to see the Mansion, when it occurred to me how cool it would be to confiscate a pebble—possibly one trod on by the boots of the great George himself—and take it home with me as a free souvenir! And then, perhaps later I could get one from Monticello, and one from the Mall, and one from Lincoln Memorial… It was as if my eyes had suddenly opened to see a wealth of historic treasure in front of them! And all FREEE! Too excited to think any further, I immediately began scanning the ground, looking for the perfect rock to convey my emotional sentiment and reflect my concept of the persona of Washington. At THIS moment, and I kid you not, something unexpected happened.
All this while in line there were a few little Asian kids in line behind me. They were all very cute. The little girl in a pink jacket, in particular, was full of imagination and creative genius: One of her previous self-implemented games had consisted of standing on a hill shouting out “1, 2, 3…” and so on until she broke the cycle by running down the hill. Anyway, she had gathered her siblings around her and had they were now all busily engaged in artistic organization and redecoration of the grounds—i.e. picking up little rocks and dropping them. Out of nowhere, a lady wearing a uniform walked smilingly by, and said pleasantly but firmly, “The rocks need to stay here, okay?”
I was crestfallen. Why did this spoil sport lady have to choose THIS moment to walk by? Why did the children have to be playing THIS game? Why were THESE words spoken? Why, why, why? And really, why? What would taking one little rock harm? Of course, if EVERY tourist took a rock, I could understand that there would be difficulties, but surely exceptions could be made for sentimental rock-collectin’ goddesses. Without a doubt, people got rocks in their shoes all the time and carried them off without guilt. And who was she anyway to say that the rocks belonged to the estate? This was Mt. Vernon, home of the first founding father of America! Surely the rocks should be free and equally shared by all!
At this point, we got significantly closer to the Mansion house, and my concentration was broken again for the tour. After the tour, they turned us loose on the beautifully situated gardens and grounds and I wandered around, having forgotten my rock scheme altogether. The view of the Potomac River was breathtakingly gorgeous, and I climbed down a little hill to get as close as I could. Once I was behind the hill and out of sight of every other person, my foot hit something. It was a rock.
No. Not just a rock. Its size, its color, its weight—everything was A PERFECT replica of all the dreams and memories I had and could have associated with Mt. Vernon. This rock was meant to be added to my collection, just as I was meant to find it (name that movie). It was its destiny.
Then the conscience kicked in. What about… But she said… You know better… And, strangest and weirdest of all, What would George Washington think? I didn’t really suppose anyone would care. It was, after all, just a rock. There were plenty more in Virginia and elsewhere. But, on the other hand, since the choice was between a clean conscience and a rock… Well, when the time for performance comes, the time for preparation has past, and I was already onstage in the second act of Rock-robbin’ Rationalization. I knew what I had to do. I chucked that rock over the fence, effectively ridding myself of the temptation while simultaneously rebelling against the implied law to leave things EXACTLY as they were on the properties of Mt. Vernon. And then I climbed the hill, and sighed wistfully with regret. Regret for failing to wear some pebble-catching socks and sandals, that is. Maybe next time.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Wishing there was a "pause" button on life, but I guess the "rewind" and "fast-forward" will have to do...
I’m very, very sorry for my shameful neglect of writing about the past few days. I will try to do better over the next week (assuming I can get you all caught up with this week in the next week. This should be easier than it sounds, since I won’t be doing much for the next three days besides going to work and doing homework). But here’s a quick flash through the past if you can’t stand to wait for the long forthcoming posts:
Thursday, Feb 12: Happy Birthday Lincoln! – went to work, narrowly escaped having to do phone duty THREE days in a row, did homework all night. Didn’t write blog. Wept.
Friday, Feb 13: Woke up feeling lucky despite “Friday the 13th,” went to interesting class on gun rights debate, enjoyed day at National Art Gallery and Air and Space Museum. Didn’t write blog. Slept.
Saturday, Feb 14: !?!?!? Oh, yes. Valentine’s Day. Went to Mall, went to Memorials (Lincoln, Korean, Vietnam). Cringed at home, safe in bed, while Valerie and others went out “clubbing.”
Also: Took pictures :)
Also: Ate ice cream :)
Also: Forgot to call Dad and say happy birthday :(
Also: Didn’t write blog :(
Also: Saw “Coraline” at Union Station. Good! :D And scary! :B
Also: Cupcakes...more to come.
Sunday, Feb 15: Slept until church. Church until 2. Slept until dinner. Dinner until fireside. Fireside until...11 pm. Yup. Didn’t write blog. Sorry.
Monday, Feb 16: President’s Day! No work! Went to Mt. Vernon with Valerie and pretty much spent the WHOLE day there. AND I want to go back in April.... :) That should tell you just how much fun it was. Oh, and how cooooold it was.
I do have a lot of great pictures from Mt. Vernon and everywhere else, and honestly will try to do more posting over this week, I promise. Professor Bowen has cancelled our ARP for the week and pushed our next paper until next Monday, so that frees up some time—hooray! I can’t believe the semester is already almost half-way over. Yipes!
And, some quick things to tell everybody:
To Dad: Still no birthday package – were you bluffing? I am seriously running out of oranges, here... And I am still trying to find that post office I spotted. I’ll try harder this week.
To Mary Alma, Sarah, Hannah, and the family: Thanks for the fun Valentine’s Day emails, cards, and messages! I really do feel very loved! (And guilty that I didn’t send you anything as nice back...but I do love you, I promise!)
To Sarah: Keep posting. Comments, that is. Just kidding—your blog posts are also very, ah, revealing. Though I really am desperate to get a picture of that whole “gangster” fiasco.
Also to Sarah: I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I completely forgot about our planned “chat” session tonight! Will you forgive me? Can we chat later?
To Hannah: Love the haircut!
To Dad or Daniel: Did either of you take care of picking up that Phi Kappa Phi package?
To Kirsti: I adore the intelligence, wit, and humor of your “Floof Family” posts. And I am frustrated at my inability to leave comments reflecting this devotion. Also, I am dying to know how you celebrated Valentine’s Day (other than those hours which it is assumed that you spent in researching, sampling, and composing the history of that most highly esteemed delicacy of me and my fellow goddesses, namely, “cho-co-la-te.”). How did the Miller and Bobo family traditions clash—er, meet? Were the first dates realistically recreated or romantically refashioned (Translating Latin by candlelight? Nibbling on chocolate AND whole wheat bread? Taking a jog...to a romantic overlook?)? Did he buy you flowers? Chocolate? Poems? Strawberries? Books?
To Eddie: Baw baw baw. Baw baw. BAW.
To Mama: I love you :)
Thursday, Feb 12: Happy Birthday Lincoln! – went to work, narrowly escaped having to do phone duty THREE days in a row, did homework all night. Didn’t write blog. Wept.
Friday, Feb 13: Woke up feeling lucky despite “Friday the 13th,” went to interesting class on gun rights debate, enjoyed day at National Art Gallery and Air and Space Museum. Didn’t write blog. Slept.
Saturday, Feb 14: !?!?!? Oh, yes. Valentine’s Day. Went to Mall, went to Memorials (Lincoln, Korean, Vietnam). Cringed at home, safe in bed, while Valerie and others went out “clubbing.”
Also: Took pictures :)
Also: Ate ice cream :)
Also: Forgot to call Dad and say happy birthday :(
Also: Didn’t write blog :(
Also: Saw “Coraline” at Union Station. Good! :D And scary! :B
Also: Cupcakes...more to come.
Sunday, Feb 15: Slept until church. Church until 2. Slept until dinner. Dinner until fireside. Fireside until...11 pm. Yup. Didn’t write blog. Sorry.
Monday, Feb 16: President’s Day! No work! Went to Mt. Vernon with Valerie and pretty much spent the WHOLE day there. AND I want to go back in April.... :) That should tell you just how much fun it was. Oh, and how cooooold it was.
I do have a lot of great pictures from Mt. Vernon and everywhere else, and honestly will try to do more posting over this week, I promise. Professor Bowen has cancelled our ARP for the week and pushed our next paper until next Monday, so that frees up some time—hooray! I can’t believe the semester is already almost half-way over. Yipes!
And, some quick things to tell everybody:
To Dad: Still no birthday package – were you bluffing? I am seriously running out of oranges, here... And I am still trying to find that post office I spotted. I’ll try harder this week.
To Mary Alma, Sarah, Hannah, and the family: Thanks for the fun Valentine’s Day emails, cards, and messages! I really do feel very loved! (And guilty that I didn’t send you anything as nice back...but I do love you, I promise!)
To Sarah: Keep posting. Comments, that is. Just kidding—your blog posts are also very, ah, revealing. Though I really am desperate to get a picture of that whole “gangster” fiasco.
Also to Sarah: I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I completely forgot about our planned “chat” session tonight! Will you forgive me? Can we chat later?
To Hannah: Love the haircut!
To Dad or Daniel: Did either of you take care of picking up that Phi Kappa Phi package?
To Kirsti: I adore the intelligence, wit, and humor of your “Floof Family” posts. And I am frustrated at my inability to leave comments reflecting this devotion. Also, I am dying to know how you celebrated Valentine’s Day (other than those hours which it is assumed that you spent in researching, sampling, and composing the history of that most highly esteemed delicacy of me and my fellow goddesses, namely, “cho-co-la-te.”). How did the Miller and Bobo family traditions clash—er, meet? Were the first dates realistically recreated or romantically refashioned (Translating Latin by candlelight? Nibbling on chocolate AND whole wheat bread? Taking a jog...to a romantic overlook?)? Did he buy you flowers? Chocolate? Poems? Strawberries? Books?
To Eddie: Baw baw baw. Baw baw. BAW.
To Mama: I love you :)
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
I Feel Loved...
First of all, a big thank you to everyone for the sweet Valentine’s Day card I got in the mail! It made me really happy. And homesick. But the happiness was worth the homesickness :-) I love my family so much. And thank you to Dad for the helpful ear advice. I still have the little ringing right now, but it’s not quite so bad or so annoying as before. Still, I will avoid contact with all Q-tips and keep using the ear wax medicine I got with the little flusher/squirter/plunger/thingammy-the-name-of-which-does-not-readily-spring-to-mind.
Secondly, happy 200th birthday/anniversary to Abraham Lincoln in just one hour! Oh, yeah, and Charles Darwin. There have already been a number of Black History month celebrations at museums, but I’m sure there will be a lot more opening up with the 200th bday of President Lincoln to celebrate. Hooray for special exhibits and free stuff and dead people! Did I mention that I got to walk through the house where Lincoln died last Saturday, across from Ford’s Theater? I’ll post pictures later...Yes, I know I’m lazy. Interestingly enough, all my pictures of the house were fine EXCEPT for the one I took of THE BED. I’ve always been a little superstitious when it comes to objects associated with Lincoln. Perhaps I can try again this weekend to get a good shot (no, not at Lincoln—at the bed).
A group of Barlow Center people are planning to go to New York over the weekend and do a lot of touristy things: Statue of Liberty, Broadway show, Empire State Building, Chinatown (they have one there TOO!!!), Times Square, Ground Zero, yada yada. I was tempted to go on a spending splurge and join the crowd, but I figure I’m spending enough money as it is in D.C., and there is plenty to keep me busy here, so it makes more sense to stay put. If the very nice weather we’ve been having holds out over the weekend, I will definitely be hitting the outdoors this weekend—perhaps the National Zoo? Or Arlington cemetery? Or Georgetown? The District’s the limit, folks!
Work today actually went pretty well. I was busy all day and didn’t have much difficulty with the phone duty, minus a single panicky moment of scrambling to find the number for the Peter Pan Peanut Butter company after one caller insisted that he had dialed the right number even after I told him that—even if this was so—I really couldn’t be of assistance in resolving his peanut butter problems.
On the peanut butter issue: Out of the four times that I’ve done phone duty, I’ve received calls about peanut butter three times, and apparently the calls occur often enough for the receptionist to have looked up the actual number for the Peter Pan Peanut Butter company (it ends 2730, whereas our number ends 2720) and put it in our phone book. The problem is that I can never find the number when I’m flipping through the book looking for it...!!@!#%!&#%&^ So today, I developed this handy remembering aid: Peter Pan = Pe = rhymes with 3. Museum = Mu = rhymes with 2. Hallelujah! Let those Peter Pan PB calls come!
Also today, my Communications supervisor also reserved places for herself and me to attend an interesting convention in two weeks at the Lincoln Theater, which should be fun. It’s on a Tuesday, so I’ll have to find someone to take over my phone duty for the day...[wicked grin]
Secondly, happy 200th birthday/anniversary to Abraham Lincoln in just one hour! Oh, yeah, and Charles Darwin. There have already been a number of Black History month celebrations at museums, but I’m sure there will be a lot more opening up with the 200th bday of President Lincoln to celebrate. Hooray for special exhibits and free stuff and dead people! Did I mention that I got to walk through the house where Lincoln died last Saturday, across from Ford’s Theater? I’ll post pictures later...Yes, I know I’m lazy. Interestingly enough, all my pictures of the house were fine EXCEPT for the one I took of THE BED. I’ve always been a little superstitious when it comes to objects associated with Lincoln. Perhaps I can try again this weekend to get a good shot (no, not at Lincoln—at the bed).
A group of Barlow Center people are planning to go to New York over the weekend and do a lot of touristy things: Statue of Liberty, Broadway show, Empire State Building, Chinatown (they have one there TOO!!!), Times Square, Ground Zero, yada yada. I was tempted to go on a spending splurge and join the crowd, but I figure I’m spending enough money as it is in D.C., and there is plenty to keep me busy here, so it makes more sense to stay put. If the very nice weather we’ve been having holds out over the weekend, I will definitely be hitting the outdoors this weekend—perhaps the National Zoo? Or Arlington cemetery? Or Georgetown? The District’s the limit, folks!
Work today actually went pretty well. I was busy all day and didn’t have much difficulty with the phone duty, minus a single panicky moment of scrambling to find the number for the Peter Pan Peanut Butter company after one caller insisted that he had dialed the right number even after I told him that—even if this was so—I really couldn’t be of assistance in resolving his peanut butter problems.
On the peanut butter issue: Out of the four times that I’ve done phone duty, I’ve received calls about peanut butter three times, and apparently the calls occur often enough for the receptionist to have looked up the actual number for the Peter Pan Peanut Butter company (it ends 2730, whereas our number ends 2720) and put it in our phone book. The problem is that I can never find the number when I’m flipping through the book looking for it...!!@!#%!&#%&^ So today, I developed this handy remembering aid: Peter Pan = Pe = rhymes with 3. Museum = Mu = rhymes with 2. Hallelujah! Let those Peter Pan PB calls come!
Also today, my Communications supervisor also reserved places for herself and me to attend an interesting convention in two weeks at the Lincoln Theater, which should be fun. It’s on a Tuesday, so I’ll have to find someone to take over my phone duty for the day...[wicked grin]
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
The Late Not-So-Great Show with Ruth
Sorry I don’t have time for anything other than a brief post tonight, since it’s past midnight and I really do need the sleep before tomorrow. It’s been a very busy week so far at work, which is good because I don’t have to come up with ways to keep myself busy, but bad because I wouldn’t have had any trouble coming up with ways to keep myself busy this week! I have two homework projects to finish before Friday (one is almost done, the other—gulp!—isn’t started), and a lot of regular stuff to do (FHE, Institute, TRY, TRY, TRY to get to Barnes & Noble!), not to mention all the pictures and interesting things that I want to write about on my blog...
Good thing of the week that happened: I lost my scarf on Saturday at the National Portrait Gallery, went back on Monday, and it was there! Hooray! I would really have missed that purple scarf—it’s kept me warm through thick’n’thin here, for sure. What a trooper...sniff. And I was doubly blessed/fortunate/lucky since another intern here, Lauren, had her pink coat stolen while she was out dancing at the Guards in Georgetown. Yipes! Another good reason to keep the coat on while dancing, ladies... (note that the history behind this statement would take too long to explain here)
Bad thing of the week that happened: Today, after washing my hair and scrubbing out my wax-filled ears a bit too vigorously, I’ve been dealing with an odd, annoying buzzing/ringing noise in my left ear. It becomes louder when I talk or sing (fortunately, I haven’t done much of either since I got home), and was pretty much driving me crazy the last two hours at work (made all the worse by the fact that I’m in a back room, with no noises to listen to except the occasional rumbling from the printer, the elevator, and a slamming door...a repertoire which I much preferred over the nonstop buzzing coming from my ear!!@!*#@#$!*#!). After work, I went to the CVS at Watergate and bought some earwax medicine and put it in, but without too much improvement... So tomorrow, if I’m not recovered, I may try to find something else (there was something at CVS advertising a cure for “ringing,” but it promised that it would work over the course of several months! Yikes!). Right now I’ve discovered a good way to keep my mind off the annoying noise: Pandora.com! Hannah was the last one to log in, so I’m listening to her songs right now—good, relaxing stuff :) Thanks, Han!
Well, wish me luck and a good day tomorrow. It will be busy: Scary phone duty (I’m covering for my friend and fellow intern Kristie...the only thing that keeps me going is the thought of not having to do phone duty at ALL next week!), lots of work-work to get done, Institute, and a ton of homework. I’m getting tired...just...thinking...about ZZZZZZZZZZZZ.
Good thing of the week that happened: I lost my scarf on Saturday at the National Portrait Gallery, went back on Monday, and it was there! Hooray! I would really have missed that purple scarf—it’s kept me warm through thick’n’thin here, for sure. What a trooper...sniff. And I was doubly blessed/fortunate/lucky since another intern here, Lauren, had her pink coat stolen while she was out dancing at the Guards in Georgetown. Yipes! Another good reason to keep the coat on while dancing, ladies... (note that the history behind this statement would take too long to explain here)
Bad thing of the week that happened: Today, after washing my hair and scrubbing out my wax-filled ears a bit too vigorously, I’ve been dealing with an odd, annoying buzzing/ringing noise in my left ear. It becomes louder when I talk or sing (fortunately, I haven’t done much of either since I got home), and was pretty much driving me crazy the last two hours at work (made all the worse by the fact that I’m in a back room, with no noises to listen to except the occasional rumbling from the printer, the elevator, and a slamming door...a repertoire which I much preferred over the nonstop buzzing coming from my ear!!@!*#@#$!*#!). After work, I went to the CVS at Watergate and bought some earwax medicine and put it in, but without too much improvement... So tomorrow, if I’m not recovered, I may try to find something else (there was something at CVS advertising a cure for “ringing,” but it promised that it would work over the course of several months! Yikes!). Right now I’ve discovered a good way to keep my mind off the annoying noise: Pandora.com! Hannah was the last one to log in, so I’m listening to her songs right now—good, relaxing stuff :) Thanks, Han!
Well, wish me luck and a good day tomorrow. It will be busy: Scary phone duty (I’m covering for my friend and fellow intern Kristie...the only thing that keeps me going is the thought of not having to do phone duty at ALL next week!), lots of work-work to get done, Institute, and a ton of homework. I’m getting tired...just...thinking...about ZZZZZZZZZZZZ.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
A Saturday Walk down the Mall...
On Friday, after class, we went to the Library of Congress (yup, I got pictures. And I’m definitely going back!). After that, I decided to walk home through the Mall, straight from the Capitol to the Washington Monument. It took me about an hour, but that was because I was relishing the walk. And crossing a few busy streets that intersected the Mall. And taking pictures. Anyway, it was a wonderful experience, and it deserves to be chronicled, visually.
Here's a view of the Capitol (and the Monument, farther out) from inside the Library of Congress.
I love this shot. Look how close I got to the U.S. Capitol!
Look how happy I am to be so close!
Here’s what you DON’T see in the tourist shots of the reflecting pool....kind of sad.
Here's a view of the Capitol (and the Monument, farther out) from inside the Library of Congress.
I love this shot. Look how close I got to the U.S. Capitol!
Look how happy I am to be so close!
"Obama was here. Jan '09." See the inscription....? Just kidding.
I was surprised at the lack of security guards and of people in general. I guess they just think the Capitol is kind of boring. But not me. I was so excited I almost ran and jumped the dinky little fence!!!!!!
Here’s a shot of the Capitol building with the reflecting pool.
Here’s what you DON’T see in the tourist shots of the reflecting pool....kind of sad.
Here’s the Eastern half of the National Gallery of Art. The moderny, non-Parthenon, non-cool side.
Here’s the Western half. Home of the fair Ruthena.
And this, dahling, is the Hirshhorn Museum. Vaaaary pretty, but ooo-la-la, mustn’t touch the delicate pointy red sculpture! I have heard rumors that there’s a giant spider at the main entrance and a huge naked man on the first floor—fancy!!!! Quite the barbarian establishment, I believe...
Yar, matey, this here be the infamous Nat’ral History Museum! Here there be sharks and whales and vermin and critters of all types. Thar also be booty and gems, fer a price. And if yer wonderin’ where all the kids in DC be, well, here’s yer place!
Caption 1: I have a castle on my head!!!!@!@!#&!
Caption 2: Benedictus Es, Benedictus es Domine Deus...
Actually, the inside of the castle is not all that impressive. There’s a lot of office and informational stuff, and just a few exhibits. But the outside is definitely one of the most beautiful structures on the Mall.
Caption 2: Benedictus Es, Benedictus es Domine Deus...
Actually, the inside of the castle is not all that impressive. There’s a lot of office and informational stuff, and just a few exhibits. But the outside is definitely one of the most beautiful structures on the Mall.
The National Museum of American History. I give it five stars and a thumbs-up!!!!!!
And this is me trying to recreate the look on Dorothy’s face in the first scene of The Wizard of Oz, since her ruby slippers are on display in the NMAH... Heh heh. Yes, I know I’m corny.
That’s all for tonight, but I promise I will try to post more photos and entries over the week, with long-awaited pictures from Inauguration and everything else that’s been going on. Thanks for your patience, love, prayers, and...COMMENTS!
That’s all for tonight, but I promise I will try to post more photos and entries over the week, with long-awaited pictures from Inauguration and everything else that’s been going on. Thanks for your patience, love, prayers, and...COMMENTS!
Mini-stories from the Barlow Center!
Exchange in Class
Student: “My dad said that the only thing Americans are willing to pay for and not get is an education.”
Professor: “Oh, isn’t that what ‘so and so’ said?”
Student: “No, that’s what my dad said.”
Long Distance Visiting Teaching
Last week my visiting teaching supervisor tried to call me on my cell phone to see if I had done my visiting teaching for January. But the phone sheet she was using had the number for my parent’s home in Utah, so she ended up calling them instead! (But apparently didn’t ask them for my cell phone) The funniest thing about this, in my opinion, is the fact that we see each other every day and literally live across the hall. Oh, and she ended up getting the report from me face-to-face at church today—in front of a bunch of other sisters all in line for the one small restroom—so it’s all good now.
Student: “My dad said that the only thing Americans are willing to pay for and not get is an education.”
Professor: “Oh, isn’t that what ‘so and so’ said?”
Student: “No, that’s what my dad said.”
Long Distance Visiting Teaching
Last week my visiting teaching supervisor tried to call me on my cell phone to see if I had done my visiting teaching for January. But the phone sheet she was using had the number for my parent’s home in Utah, so she ended up calling them instead! (But apparently didn’t ask them for my cell phone) The funniest thing about this, in my opinion, is the fact that we see each other every day and literally live across the hall. Oh, and she ended up getting the report from me face-to-face at church today—in front of a bunch of other sisters all in line for the one small restroom—so it’s all good now.
To Torture or not to Torture?
During the class briefing on torture this Friday, the speaker presented us with a scenario: You’re at the jam-packed Rose Bowl, you get word that there’s been a bomb planted, you have captured someone who might know where it is. Is it okay to torture him for information? We had a great, heated discussion on the issue, but my favorite quote of all time came from this one girl who was opposed to torture in this case, but willing to relent in something a bit more extreme:
“If he’s standing right there with a bomb threatening to kill everyone, then...maybe...we could torture him....”
Great point, except...um...there’s no reason to torture him to find out where the bomb is if he’s holding it....? Ba-da-BOOM!
During the class briefing on torture this Friday, the speaker presented us with a scenario: You’re at the jam-packed Rose Bowl, you get word that there’s been a bomb planted, you have captured someone who might know where it is. Is it okay to torture him for information? We had a great, heated discussion on the issue, but my favorite quote of all time came from this one girl who was opposed to torture in this case, but willing to relent in something a bit more extreme:
“If he’s standing right there with a bomb threatening to kill everyone, then...maybe...we could torture him....”
Great point, except...um...there’s no reason to torture him to find out where the bomb is if he’s holding it....? Ba-da-BOOM!
An Awkbarrassing Moment
Last night, while walking downstairs from the girl’s (fourth) floor to the first floor, I happened to glance into the boys’ window on the third floor and notice that the hall light was off. Curious, I looked inside the window for a second. Since the light was off, there was obviously nothing to be seen, so I turned to keep walking, and...whups, there’s a guy just sitting there on the stairs with a book, and he’s looking at me. Time froze as a dozen thoughts rushed through my head. Do I try to explain to him that I don’t normally peer into the boys’ third floor window, or do I treat it as a normal part of my nightly routine? Should I pretend the incident didn’t even happen? Should I pretend that I thought it was the girls’ floor? Should I ignore him altogether?
**************
Me: “Oh! Uh, hey!”
Him: “Hey.”
Me: “Um, so how do you guys turn off your hall light? I can’t figure out how to turn off ours.”
Him: “I...don’t know.”
Me: “Hmmm.... Oh well.” (Hurriedly walk past)
Dish-drying Manipulation 101
A is drying A’s own dishes after washing and rinsing them. B comes into the kitchen and sees A drying dishes.
B: “Oh, that is SO sweet of you to be drying our dishes!”
A: “Oh, thanks...” (realizes the implications of this statement too late)
Conclusion? B walks away. A ends up drying about three times the number of dishes she had intended to in order to save face.
What makes the Barlow Center RED!?!
At Institute on Thursday, Br. Blanchard was describing socialism to differentiate between it and the law of consecration; he explained that a socialist system regulated the actions of its members through surveillance, rules, and authoritarian means, rather than through honor and willing obedience like the law of consecration. At this point, Becky leaned over to me and whispered, “It sounds kinda like the Barlow Center.” I had to bury my head in my scriptures to hide my snort of laughter.
Trying to make conversation while washing dishes...
A: “How was the National Zoo?”
B: “It was good.”
C: “Oh, you went to the Zoo? How was that?”
B: “Good.”
[Pause........]
C: “So, um, was it, worth the trip?”
B: “It was free.”
C: “Oh....well, that’s pretty...good.”
B: (Nothing)
C: “Ummm.....so.....where is it?”
B: “It’s on the red line. You just get off, and you walk.”
C: “Oh? ....Okay."
The Cover Up
A week or so ago, I walked into the Smithsonian Castle and up to the security guard for the routine purse-check that they do at every Smithsonian museum. It was a freezing cold day and I was still wearing my gloves, hat, and scarf.
“Is that good?” I asked, starting to take my bag back as she finished the check.
She replied, in a very tired, matter-of-fact voice.
“Uncover, please.”
I was a little taken aback, since no one at any other museum had asked me this before. “What?”
“Uncover,” she repeated.
I took off my hat, a little curious as to the reason. I guess I could have hidden something (WHAT?) in my hat to get it past security...so it sort of made sense...except that I had never been asked to do it before, so...
“No, uncover!”
She motioned, annoyed, to her face. Finally, it dawned on me that she wanted me to take off my scarf, which I was still wearing tightly wrapped around my face to keep it warm! Sufficiently intimidated into quick action, I immediately separated my face from the scarf, flinging bits of drool, snot, and lint everywhere, and was allowed to proceed unhindered once she discovered that I did, indeed, have a mouth and teeth and a chin like everyone else in line.
I walked past her into the museum, amused at the entire incident, and have spent the days since in trying to figure out three things.
1. Was she afraid that I could have hidden something in my scarf, or did she think I, like a burglar, was trying to hide my face from the security cameras?
2. Would she have allowed a Muslim woman to walk in with a covered face? What if the Muslim woman refused to “uncover,” based on religious claims? Would there have been a case?
3. What did she THINK would be the first thing to go through my mind when she said, “Uncover”? I mean, HONESTLY. If she were a guy, I think I would have taken the purse and run for it.
B: (Nothing)
C: “Ummm.....so.....where is it?”
B: “It’s on the red line. You just get off, and you walk.”
C: “Oh? ....Okay."
The Cover Up
A week or so ago, I walked into the Smithsonian Castle and up to the security guard for the routine purse-check that they do at every Smithsonian museum. It was a freezing cold day and I was still wearing my gloves, hat, and scarf.
“Is that good?” I asked, starting to take my bag back as she finished the check.
She replied, in a very tired, matter-of-fact voice.
“Uncover, please.”
I was a little taken aback, since no one at any other museum had asked me this before. “What?”
“Uncover,” she repeated.
I took off my hat, a little curious as to the reason. I guess I could have hidden something (WHAT?) in my hat to get it past security...so it sort of made sense...except that I had never been asked to do it before, so...
“No, uncover!”
She motioned, annoyed, to her face. Finally, it dawned on me that she wanted me to take off my scarf, which I was still wearing tightly wrapped around my face to keep it warm! Sufficiently intimidated into quick action, I immediately separated my face from the scarf, flinging bits of drool, snot, and lint everywhere, and was allowed to proceed unhindered once she discovered that I did, indeed, have a mouth and teeth and a chin like everyone else in line.
I walked past her into the museum, amused at the entire incident, and have spent the days since in trying to figure out three things.
1. Was she afraid that I could have hidden something in my scarf, or did she think I, like a burglar, was trying to hide my face from the security cameras?
2. Would she have allowed a Muslim woman to walk in with a covered face? What if the Muslim woman refused to “uncover,” based on religious claims? Would there have been a case?
3. What did she THINK would be the first thing to go through my mind when she said, “Uncover”? I mean, HONESTLY. If she were a guy, I think I would have taken the purse and run for it.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Rantings of Ruth, Part 1: You can’t have your milkshake and drink it too...
During my Sunday phone call, someone was mentioning that I have been rather uncharacteristically perky in my blog posts of late. Wellll, ladies and gentlemen, I’m telling you that life isn’t all fried frogs and fricassee here in D.C.! And, as "proof in the pudding," here are just a few of the many inexplicable perplexities and injustices of my experience:
Why was it that the only day I wear a pair of pants that is still slightly damp from being washed happens to be the coldest, windiest day of the year?
Why can’t it either be warm and not snow, or be cold and windy and SNOW so I can stay home from work?
Why are almost ALL the traffic “walk” lights along Pennsylvania Avenue set to change AT THE EXACT MOMENT when I arrive to cross?
Why do I feel the obligation to keep washing and fixing my hair when the wind and my hat inevitably undo all my efforts? Also, why am I the only girl here with long hair?
Why do the NICE, CLEAN, HEALTHY stores and restaurants in D.C. have to be so EXPENSIVE?
Why do I have to attend class AND do readings AND do research AND write papers AND work at an internship?
Why do I have to choose between having an actual breakfast and shower in the morning or sleeping for the recommended and sorely needed eight hours a night?
Why does everything here open late and close early? What good is being in Washington D.C. if everything opens after you’re at work and closes before you get out?
Why did my stupid key refuse to work twice in opening the back door from the outside after taking out the garbage, and then work PERFECTLY when Valerie came with me to see what I was talking about?
Why does the Barlow Center wireless network fade in and out at juuust the level of annoyance to keep me from doing anything more substantial than fume and sit and waste time waiting for it to come back?
Why do I ALWAYS remember that one thing that I really needed to get AFTER I get home from shopping?
Ahhhhh. Good, old fashioned whining. I've kind of missed it.
Well, good night! (Though there's little chance of that with this weather, and there's likely to be an icestorm over the weekend, I shouldn't wonder...)
Why was it that the only day I wear a pair of pants that is still slightly damp from being washed happens to be the coldest, windiest day of the year?
Why can’t it either be warm and not snow, or be cold and windy and SNOW so I can stay home from work?
Why are almost ALL the traffic “walk” lights along Pennsylvania Avenue set to change AT THE EXACT MOMENT when I arrive to cross?
Why do I feel the obligation to keep washing and fixing my hair when the wind and my hat inevitably undo all my efforts? Also, why am I the only girl here with long hair?
Why do the NICE, CLEAN, HEALTHY stores and restaurants in D.C. have to be so EXPENSIVE?
Why do I have to attend class AND do readings AND do research AND write papers AND work at an internship?
Why do I have to choose between having an actual breakfast and shower in the morning or sleeping for the recommended and sorely needed eight hours a night?
Why does everything here open late and close early? What good is being in Washington D.C. if everything opens after you’re at work and closes before you get out?
Why did my stupid key refuse to work twice in opening the back door from the outside after taking out the garbage, and then work PERFECTLY when Valerie came with me to see what I was talking about?
Why does the Barlow Center wireless network fade in and out at juuust the level of annoyance to keep me from doing anything more substantial than fume and sit and waste time waiting for it to come back?
Why do I ALWAYS remember that one thing that I really needed to get AFTER I get home from shopping?
Ahhhhh. Good, old fashioned whining. I've kind of missed it.
Well, good night! (Though there's little chance of that with this weather, and there's likely to be an icestorm over the weekend, I shouldn't wonder...)
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
A Verrrrrry Merrrrry Anniversary! To me? To me!
Well, I’ve been in D.C. officially a month now - can you believe it!? - and couldn’t let the night go by with a little short—SNORT!—post in commemoration of that event. Today was a fairly average day; I woke up, exercised, showered, ate breakfast, walked to work, worked, walked home, went shopping, came back, snuck some free chili from Institute for dinner, did most of my homework, and now it’s almost midnight.
A few highlights of the day:
While researching the daily art news for the staff, I came across a free (but ticketed... But I got a ticket!) event at the National Portrait Gallery Saturday evening, as part of the “Black History Month Smithsonian celebration.” All I know about the event so far is that it will feature the first actor to play Porgy in the “Porgy and Bess” opera, but that’s enough to make me excited. Yeah!
Michael and I finally coordinated our schedules to walk to and from work together! It was snowing in the morning, and he almost took the Metro, but at the last minute changed his mind and walked with me, making me very happy. It DID make the walk go by quicker, but we were still on time, having left at 8:20 rather than my usual 8:30ish, and strolled rather than...um...galloped. We almost missed each other on the walk home, but then happened to notice the other one walking on the opposite street! It was funny. Also, when we walked past the White House, we ran into a group of protestors with signs about illegal activity taking place in Mexico. I’m not sure what they wanted us to do about it, but Michael took a flyer from them. It was a rather small, relatively quiet group; they just walked and took pictures of themselves and talked amongst themselves. I kind of liked it—they seemed much less like radical demonstrators and more like normal people who just wanted to share a message.
Did I mention free warm chili at Institute?
A few “dark”lights of the day:
Today I endured another dreaded two hours and twenty minutes of torture at the receptionist’s desk for “phone duty.” Looking back, the experience was not too bad, as the phone was fairly quiet during the last hour, and I didn’t get any really awful or difficult calls. Best of all, when the receptionist FINALLY came back, she was in a good mood and apologetic for being late and very appreciative of my staying overtime, which is nice (Naturally, I would happily trade twenty extra minutes of phone duty to have her in such a nice, friendly mood!). So everything worked out for today. But I am very glad that there’s only ten more weeks of phone duty to go. And I am COUNTING.
It snowed. Which would normally be a highlight, since snow is pretty and since we get out of work if it snows enough. But it snowed just enough to make it wet and cold and miserable walking to and from work. Typical!
One of our fellow Barlow Center mates has been sick since Saturday, and apparently had one of the worst possible days in all time today. She came in and told Valerie and me about it. Apparently she has mono, and needed to get her blood tested, and tried to go to several Urgent Care places (some of which ended up closing at 4 pm!) but was unable to be seen by anyone wherever she went. She made many calls to people in the ward, but those who answered their phones were unable to help, so she ended up using the Metro and a taxi to get to the last Healthcare place she could find, which turned out to be in a trashy ghetto area with a 4 hour wait. Since the Metro closed at midnight and it was 9 pm and she had only $7 to take her back home, she opted to go back right away, but was too tired and too sick to walk the 4 miles to the Metro. She waited a few minutes to try to catch a cab, but of course there were no cabs in the area, it being rather nasty and all. Somehow she made it to a bus stop, and after a good half hour of being outside in the freezing cold, caught a bus to the Metro. All of this makes my day look wonderful in comparison, so I won’t add any more negative occurrences.
Well, Valerie has turned out her light and I need to do scriptures and get to bed, so I’ll end for now. More tomorrow, after I finish my laundry and dishes and homework and Institute and shopping and dinner... ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.
A few highlights of the day:
While researching the daily art news for the staff, I came across a free (but ticketed... But I got a ticket!) event at the National Portrait Gallery Saturday evening, as part of the “Black History Month Smithsonian celebration.” All I know about the event so far is that it will feature the first actor to play Porgy in the “Porgy and Bess” opera, but that’s enough to make me excited. Yeah!
Michael and I finally coordinated our schedules to walk to and from work together! It was snowing in the morning, and he almost took the Metro, but at the last minute changed his mind and walked with me, making me very happy. It DID make the walk go by quicker, but we were still on time, having left at 8:20 rather than my usual 8:30ish, and strolled rather than...um...galloped. We almost missed each other on the walk home, but then happened to notice the other one walking on the opposite street! It was funny. Also, when we walked past the White House, we ran into a group of protestors with signs about illegal activity taking place in Mexico. I’m not sure what they wanted us to do about it, but Michael took a flyer from them. It was a rather small, relatively quiet group; they just walked and took pictures of themselves and talked amongst themselves. I kind of liked it—they seemed much less like radical demonstrators and more like normal people who just wanted to share a message.
Did I mention free warm chili at Institute?
A few “dark”lights of the day:
Today I endured another dreaded two hours and twenty minutes of torture at the receptionist’s desk for “phone duty.” Looking back, the experience was not too bad, as the phone was fairly quiet during the last hour, and I didn’t get any really awful or difficult calls. Best of all, when the receptionist FINALLY came back, she was in a good mood and apologetic for being late and very appreciative of my staying overtime, which is nice (Naturally, I would happily trade twenty extra minutes of phone duty to have her in such a nice, friendly mood!). So everything worked out for today. But I am very glad that there’s only ten more weeks of phone duty to go. And I am COUNTING.
It snowed. Which would normally be a highlight, since snow is pretty and since we get out of work if it snows enough. But it snowed just enough to make it wet and cold and miserable walking to and from work. Typical!
One of our fellow Barlow Center mates has been sick since Saturday, and apparently had one of the worst possible days in all time today. She came in and told Valerie and me about it. Apparently she has mono, and needed to get her blood tested, and tried to go to several Urgent Care places (some of which ended up closing at 4 pm!) but was unable to be seen by anyone wherever she went. She made many calls to people in the ward, but those who answered their phones were unable to help, so she ended up using the Metro and a taxi to get to the last Healthcare place she could find, which turned out to be in a trashy ghetto area with a 4 hour wait. Since the Metro closed at midnight and it was 9 pm and she had only $7 to take her back home, she opted to go back right away, but was too tired and too sick to walk the 4 miles to the Metro. She waited a few minutes to try to catch a cab, but of course there were no cabs in the area, it being rather nasty and all. Somehow she made it to a bus stop, and after a good half hour of being outside in the freezing cold, caught a bus to the Metro. All of this makes my day look wonderful in comparison, so I won’t add any more negative occurrences.
Well, Valerie has turned out her light and I need to do scriptures and get to bed, so I’ll end for now. More tomorrow, after I finish my laundry and dishes and homework and Institute and shopping and dinner... ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Ruthena Meets Her Parthenon!
Today I woke up early enough to have a nice long exercise period downstairs while watching the news. Yes, the TV was working AND it was turned on to a news channel!!! Can you BELIEVE IT!?! Actually, this only occurred because yesterday the guys were fiddling with it so they could watch recaps of the Superbowl (rolling eyes). Don’t worry, Dad—I did NOT watch any of it. Also to Dad, thanks for the heartfelt criticism; I would bristle at anyone else’s offering the same advice, but when you say it, I just hafta hang my head and agree with you. I’ll try to do better from now on, okay?
Back to my day! The news said that it was going to be a big change from yesterday’s nice weather, and that it would probably snow all night and be really chilly, so I wore my big coat and a long-sleeved sweater. This turned out to be a mistake—the weather was so sunny that I broke out into a sweat every time I walked from one place to another (which turned out to be...four times). Of course, I also broke out into a sweat because I was walking very quickly to get from one place to another... Michael Bean (who works at the American Association for the Advancement of Science—which happens to be RIGHT NEXT to NMWA) was going to walk with me to and from work today, but I ended up coming downstairs too late for him to accompany me any further than the Metro Station stop (he likes to be on time, or early, whereas my supervisors are pretty lax about my arrival schedule). However—he, taking the Metro, barely made it to his workplace on time, and I—setting a new record for speed-walking—arrived at NMWA at EXACTLY 8:59 am! Tomorrow I’m planning on getting up earlier so we can walk together, since the long walk alone can be tedious (unless you’re pushing 7-8 mph like I was today). Plus it’s nice to have someone to walk with when it’s dark at night, even though I’m really not as worried about that as I used to be.
I ended up getting to do a lot of walking today, since our Intern coordinator had scheduled an activity for all the Interns at the National Gallery of Art on the Mall. We were going to eat lunch together and attend a free lecture, and she had emailed us to meet at the Information desk at 11:45 am. I showed up, found no one there, walked around for a bit, re-checked my email, re-checked the National Gallery to find out if the lecture was still on (it was), and decided not to waste the opportunity to get out and enjoy the beautiful sunshine, breeze, and time away from my little dungeon of a cubicle.
This impulsive decision of mine to head out for the NGA on my own turned out to be something I did NOT regret in the least! It took me about twenty minutes to walk down to the Mall, and just a few more to find the NGA, which is composed of a large and lovely sculpture garden, a West End (which looks almost exactly like the Parthenon, only about 5 times bigger!!!), and a modern-looking, much smaller (though much more populated) East End. I wished I had brought my camera to take pictures of the incredibly huge, numerous West End steps and the overwhelming, awesome pillars and pediment at the top—it was literally one of the most awe-inspiring, breathtakingly intimidating experiences of my life. Like climbing up the Harfang-sized stairs at the Smith Fieldhouse, only set in ancient Greece? Or maybe like Christian climbing the gates into the Celestial City...? It was also very quiet and peaceful with the sunshine, the lack of tourists, and the breeze... a very ethereal experience. Particularly when I got inside and had my jaw drop at the sight of all the beautiful fountains, pillars, statues, colorful ornamentation, etc. decorating the inside.
After I walked in a daze through this incredible, huge, gorgeous building (honestly, I was almost too overwhelmed by the scope and magnificence of the architecture and design of the building to notice the paintings and works on display), I went back out on the Mall lawn to eat my lunch before the lecture. This was possibly my most favorite part of the day: There’s nothing quite like spreading your coat out on the Mall, sitting in the shade of a tree, and eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with the U.S. Capitol on one side of you, the Washington Monument on the other, and one of the most incredible art buildings in the world in front of you. And don’t even get me started on the antics of those cute little squirrels and birds... :)
After lunch, I found the place where the lecture was being held, and was surprised when my Intern coordinator walked in and found me there! She apologized for not meeting me at the desk (she had been in a docent training session all morning), and we listened to the lecture together. It was good, but a little dry and I found myself struggling hard to stay awake during the last ten or fifteen minutes. Fortunately, they had a question-answer period afterwards, which woke me up sufficiently to have a rousing conversation about the lecture with my coordinator on the way out.
Back at work, I ran a few more errands and did a little bit of work on a few more projects, which was fun since I didn’t have to stay at my cubicle much. I got to learn how the camera works and visit the Museum Shop to take a few pictures of their display window, which was kind of fun. I also got to chit-chat with one of my supervisors some more about what “being a Mormon in Utah” entails. I did my best to explain some of the things she was curious about, but got a little bogged down in trying to think of the best way to describe what an “ordinance” was, and why we perform certain ones in the “temple.” Looks like I will need to brush up on my LDS 101 vocabulary some more—too bad I left my “Preach My Gospel” at home :(
Unfortunately, I finished chit-chatting at 5:10 pm, thus missing the chance to walk home with Michael, who likes to leave EXACTLY at 5 pm (I get the feeling he’s not exactly fond of his internship...). I walked fast, catching up to at least three guys who sort of looked like him from a distance, but in the end they all turned out to be fakes (er, no offense...), so I finally gave up. As I walked home, I was accosted, as usual, by several down-on-their-luck-looking men, asking for change or for “donations to the homeless.” I ignored them, as usual, but was startled enough to stare a bit at the group of youngsters screaming at passersby to “please make a difference and help Louisiana!” I wasn’t able to decipher from their signs or screams what scrape Louisiana had gotten itself into, or how I could make a difference in saving that unfortunate state, but I was impressed by the rather unique slant which they brought to the “asking for money” routine that occurs every day here.
After I got home, Valerie and I went shopping at Safeway, then we ate dinner and went to FHE. The activity was a “Family Feud-meets-Battle-of-the-Sexes” type thing, wherein boys were polled about the answers girls had given to a survey, and vice versa. I believe the girls ended up winning the whole shebang, but I take little credit since the activity went with very little input from me. Most of my silent guesses turned out to be wrong, and none of the “girls say THIS” declarations reflected my own personal answers to the survey. After the game, we had cereal and milk for refreshments. Surprisingly yummy!
I don’t really feel like doing anything tonight other than reading scriptures and Redwall and having a good night’s sleep so I can wake up early and leave early for work with Mike. I also have phone duty tomorrow, soooo – pray for me!?!!?
Sorry again for being too lazy/tired/unwilling to post pictures...but I WILL post a movie for y’all to make up for it in a teeny tiny way. This vid is from one of my favorite free concert performances at the Kennedy Center: The Orrin Star Duo. The lead player (Orrin Star) was very talkative and friendly, and the crowd—and there WAS a crowd, which usually signifies the group is good—really got into a lot of his songs with the cheering and clapping and cat-calling. This is one of his slower, more thoughtful pieces, but I still liked it. Enjoy!
Back to my day! The news said that it was going to be a big change from yesterday’s nice weather, and that it would probably snow all night and be really chilly, so I wore my big coat and a long-sleeved sweater. This turned out to be a mistake—the weather was so sunny that I broke out into a sweat every time I walked from one place to another (which turned out to be...four times). Of course, I also broke out into a sweat because I was walking very quickly to get from one place to another... Michael Bean (who works at the American Association for the Advancement of Science—which happens to be RIGHT NEXT to NMWA) was going to walk with me to and from work today, but I ended up coming downstairs too late for him to accompany me any further than the Metro Station stop (he likes to be on time, or early, whereas my supervisors are pretty lax about my arrival schedule). However—he, taking the Metro, barely made it to his workplace on time, and I—setting a new record for speed-walking—arrived at NMWA at EXACTLY 8:59 am! Tomorrow I’m planning on getting up earlier so we can walk together, since the long walk alone can be tedious (unless you’re pushing 7-8 mph like I was today). Plus it’s nice to have someone to walk with when it’s dark at night, even though I’m really not as worried about that as I used to be.
I ended up getting to do a lot of walking today, since our Intern coordinator had scheduled an activity for all the Interns at the National Gallery of Art on the Mall. We were going to eat lunch together and attend a free lecture, and she had emailed us to meet at the Information desk at 11:45 am. I showed up, found no one there, walked around for a bit, re-checked my email, re-checked the National Gallery to find out if the lecture was still on (it was), and decided not to waste the opportunity to get out and enjoy the beautiful sunshine, breeze, and time away from my little dungeon of a cubicle.
This impulsive decision of mine to head out for the NGA on my own turned out to be something I did NOT regret in the least! It took me about twenty minutes to walk down to the Mall, and just a few more to find the NGA, which is composed of a large and lovely sculpture garden, a West End (which looks almost exactly like the Parthenon, only about 5 times bigger!!!), and a modern-looking, much smaller (though much more populated) East End. I wished I had brought my camera to take pictures of the incredibly huge, numerous West End steps and the overwhelming, awesome pillars and pediment at the top—it was literally one of the most awe-inspiring, breathtakingly intimidating experiences of my life. Like climbing up the Harfang-sized stairs at the Smith Fieldhouse, only set in ancient Greece? Or maybe like Christian climbing the gates into the Celestial City...? It was also very quiet and peaceful with the sunshine, the lack of tourists, and the breeze... a very ethereal experience. Particularly when I got inside and had my jaw drop at the sight of all the beautiful fountains, pillars, statues, colorful ornamentation, etc. decorating the inside.
After I walked in a daze through this incredible, huge, gorgeous building (honestly, I was almost too overwhelmed by the scope and magnificence of the architecture and design of the building to notice the paintings and works on display), I went back out on the Mall lawn to eat my lunch before the lecture. This was possibly my most favorite part of the day: There’s nothing quite like spreading your coat out on the Mall, sitting in the shade of a tree, and eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with the U.S. Capitol on one side of you, the Washington Monument on the other, and one of the most incredible art buildings in the world in front of you. And don’t even get me started on the antics of those cute little squirrels and birds... :)
After lunch, I found the place where the lecture was being held, and was surprised when my Intern coordinator walked in and found me there! She apologized for not meeting me at the desk (she had been in a docent training session all morning), and we listened to the lecture together. It was good, but a little dry and I found myself struggling hard to stay awake during the last ten or fifteen minutes. Fortunately, they had a question-answer period afterwards, which woke me up sufficiently to have a rousing conversation about the lecture with my coordinator on the way out.
Back at work, I ran a few more errands and did a little bit of work on a few more projects, which was fun since I didn’t have to stay at my cubicle much. I got to learn how the camera works and visit the Museum Shop to take a few pictures of their display window, which was kind of fun. I also got to chit-chat with one of my supervisors some more about what “being a Mormon in Utah” entails. I did my best to explain some of the things she was curious about, but got a little bogged down in trying to think of the best way to describe what an “ordinance” was, and why we perform certain ones in the “temple.” Looks like I will need to brush up on my LDS 101 vocabulary some more—too bad I left my “Preach My Gospel” at home :(
Unfortunately, I finished chit-chatting at 5:10 pm, thus missing the chance to walk home with Michael, who likes to leave EXACTLY at 5 pm (I get the feeling he’s not exactly fond of his internship...). I walked fast, catching up to at least three guys who sort of looked like him from a distance, but in the end they all turned out to be fakes (er, no offense...), so I finally gave up. As I walked home, I was accosted, as usual, by several down-on-their-luck-looking men, asking for change or for “donations to the homeless.” I ignored them, as usual, but was startled enough to stare a bit at the group of youngsters screaming at passersby to “please make a difference and help Louisiana!” I wasn’t able to decipher from their signs or screams what scrape Louisiana had gotten itself into, or how I could make a difference in saving that unfortunate state, but I was impressed by the rather unique slant which they brought to the “asking for money” routine that occurs every day here.
After I got home, Valerie and I went shopping at Safeway, then we ate dinner and went to FHE. The activity was a “Family Feud-meets-Battle-of-the-Sexes” type thing, wherein boys were polled about the answers girls had given to a survey, and vice versa. I believe the girls ended up winning the whole shebang, but I take little credit since the activity went with very little input from me. Most of my silent guesses turned out to be wrong, and none of the “girls say THIS” declarations reflected my own personal answers to the survey. After the game, we had cereal and milk for refreshments. Surprisingly yummy!
I don’t really feel like doing anything tonight other than reading scriptures and Redwall and having a good night’s sleep so I can wake up early and leave early for work with Mike. I also have phone duty tomorrow, soooo – pray for me!?!!?
Sorry again for being too lazy/tired/unwilling to post pictures...but I WILL post a movie for y’all to make up for it in a teeny tiny way. This vid is from one of my favorite free concert performances at the Kennedy Center: The Orrin Star Duo. The lead player (Orrin Star) was very talkative and friendly, and the crowd—and there WAS a crowd, which usually signifies the group is good—really got into a lot of his songs with the cheering and clapping and cat-calling. This is one of his slower, more thoughtful pieces, but I still liked it. Enjoy!
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Miscellaneous Miscellanea
A few quick things to take care of before I dive into the photo-commentary posts:
Check out my museum's website (or Web site, if you are like my supervisor, Michelle) to see something written by yours truly about the upcoming exhibition at our museum! The curator changed just a few words, and the credit line at the end was already there, but the rest is pretty much all mine. :) If you end up taking a picture of the page (you know, for posterity), send me a copy.
Check out this article in The Daily Universe on some of my fellow Barlow Center students on Inauguration Day. I know the people in the article, but I didn't know that this was how they spent their day until I read this! Yikes!
Also, I thought some of you might enjoy links to the blogs of some of my fellow students here: Valerie writes long and interesting posts, but not very frequently. Lauren's blog is guaranteed to make you laugh. Brad hardly ever writes and posts no pictures, but we still like him. Oh, and five of the girls whom I don't know very well put together THIS blog, which is quite funny.
Enjoy!
Check out my museum's website (or Web site, if you are like my supervisor, Michelle) to see something written by yours truly about the upcoming exhibition at our museum! The curator changed just a few words, and the credit line at the end was already there, but the rest is pretty much all mine. :) If you end up taking a picture of the page (you know, for posterity), send me a copy.
Check out this article in The Daily Universe on some of my fellow Barlow Center students on Inauguration Day. I know the people in the article, but I didn't know that this was how they spent their day until I read this! Yikes!
Also, I thought some of you might enjoy links to the blogs of some of my fellow students here: Valerie writes long and interesting posts, but not very frequently. Lauren's blog is guaranteed to make you laugh. Brad hardly ever writes and posts no pictures, but we still like him. Oh, and five of the girls whom I don't know very well put together THIS blog, which is quite funny.
Enjoy!
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