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.
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