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One more week...

Only one more week left in DC until my program ends! I can't believe how fast time has passed. I'm upload a few more pictures and a final queue because at least for now we're drawing down to the end.

At least blogging will make for a nice reprieve from the 3 papers I have to write to the End the Semester.

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So this morning, I had the opportunity thanks to Wash U to take a tour of the White House. It was a self-guided tour, so we got to see many of the cool areas and rooms in the East Wing. More on that next post.

My favorite moment though: seeing the President's dog, Bo. He is shown here in his official portrait--but he's actually a lot bigger than that now. I used to have a smaller dog and Bo was about twice his size. Maybe about 45 poundsish? This is how it happened:

Me: DJ, look it's BO OBAMA!!!!!

DJ: Uh, dude, it's probably not him.

Me: But what other dogs can walk around the White House?

Matt: *laughs*

DJ: Good point.

He was well trained and only around us for a few moments. He was following the Secret Service guy into a marked off area--but all of the tourists were in for a treat. Maybe it's a common occurrence but how cool is it to see the White House Dog?!

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Happy Veterans Day

If you know a Vet, thank them for their service : )

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I sit atop the steps below the Capitol Dome. Not much else to say here. It was a bit of a cloudy day when this photo was shot. Not nearly as nice as the nighttime shot a few posts below.

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This is where I have been working. Not sure if I've shown this year... but my office is in the Russell Senate Building. So every day, I take the train to Union Station and get a nice walk to Russell before starting my morning duties.

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So I like to take as many walks during the weekends as possible to keep exercising and see some of the going ons around my area in DC. Since I"ll only be here for a while, it makes sense to explore the area. Here are some pictures (and captions) from one of my walks. I hope you enjoy, just click on the pictures to see the captions.

In particular, the Planned Parenthood Shot (which isn't very good), had the greatest impact on me. There are people that stand out there every single day trying to dissuade individuals from getting an abortion. What a difficult thing for a person to walk through into the building. That on top of an already difficult situation. I don't know the right call on that one--which is to say, what side would I fall on--but the whole thing seems very hard and sad, with the protestors making it even more difficult.

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A view the East of Capitol Hill--at night. Taken after seeing Othello.

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Time to recap some of the other things that I've done while in DC! I went to a baseball game with some friends. We saw the Nationals play and lose. It was an awesome experience for the ball park though!

It was my first time having Shake Shack, there was a fireworks show afterwards and there was awesome live music played throughout the entire night. The seventh inning stretch, the Presidents Race, was really funny to watch: the gist is that Teddy never wins. You always hope that he will--and he always seems to get close but it never happens.

There was even a "Let Teddy Win" Campaign at the end of the Nationals last ballpark (which was recently demolished), but that failed to deliver Teddy the "W." Maybe if they win the World Series or make the Playoffs?

Anyway, this was an awesome night--happened around late September, when the Nationals were already way out of the running.

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So last night I took a night off from the usual student activities to catch a play at the Fulger Shakespeare Library. They have 3 plays per year and chose to start this year's play off with Othello. I'm an English major, so sometimes I enjoy doing artsy activities, if only once in a while (like poetry readings, plays, etc).

For those who haven't read the play in some high school class, Othello is a tragedy about a black Turkish man who weds a Christian Venice white woman. This version takes place during the crusades--and Othello is the general of the Crusader Army (against the Turks). There is an interesting dynamic set due to the race and religious relationship between the "Moor" and the others due to these differences.

One of the more memorable characters, is the sinister Iago, who is the character that puts most of the play into action. He is witty, hilarious and pretty evil. His goal throughout is to take the place of Othello and his Lieutenant, Cassio. To do so, he plays on the "green-eyed monster" of Othello's jealousy for his wife Desdemona. Does Iago end up winning out or does true love conqueror all?

Well, if you know Shakespeare the answer is: they all are (mostly) killed. I won't ruin exactly what happens, but it is definitely one of my favorite plays for all the reasons mentioned. The set last nice was awesome: a sort of Arabian scene as well as usage of the middle aisle near the audience. Though it is always hard to understand Shakespeare, the performance of the actors makes it all the easier. If you are in Washington in the next month and have an evening to spare to culture, I'd recommend seeing Othello.

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In early October, a bunch of us took a trip to the Spy Museum. It has a history of both the FBI and the CIA, highlighting some of the covert actions taken by the US in the 40s and 50s. It doesn't talk too much about the modern day and age--probably because we don't know that much.

It does show a lot of cool devices used by spies such as pens with darts loaded in them, secret telephones, a variety of bugs used to hear conversations, etc. It's really the type of experience one has to check out for themselves--although after a while we did kind of bored. It's sort of geared towards people my age (20), but there are a lot of exhibits dedicated towards children and younger teens.

There's also an interesting book store at the end with a variety of novels on spies, the war on terror and history of covert operations. If there weren't so expensive, I would have picked them up.

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Back from a break...

As usual, when work gets a bit busy, I take too much of a break from blogging. Things are back on a queue so hopefully we keep things moving from here on out. Expect about two updates a day and not too much more than that. Hopefully I can keep stuff moving.

We have a bunch of big dates coming up in Washington, mostly centered on the Super Committee which will release it's findings and potential compromise in a few weeks. It's not looking too likely, but it will mean that things are certainly going to get crazy.

As for me? I'm just doing the student thing: meaning lots of papers, readings and trying to have some fun as well. One of my friends, Ethan, turned 21 so shout out to him. I spend a relaxing weekend in as well as hitting up the Shakespeare Theather (see: next post). The upcoming week will likely be awesome as well since some cousins are coming to visit.

Thanks again for everyone who has been following--and sorry for the delay!

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Mr. Klein came to the center today. The center had an hour long question and answer session with Ezra about a variety of topics ranging to his profession to the state of health care, the economy and politics. I thought it was pretty informative overall--and interesting to hear how Ezra went from college graduate to a high-profile writer at the Washington Post in less than seven years.

Unlike a lot of others, he seems to think bright days in the Journalism profession are ahead. He acknowledged the difficulties that the current Administration has in the year ahead and how the way the economy works is very challenging to fix. Ezra also discussed the differences between the Health Care Law and Single Payer, as well as his views on the Supreme Court decision on it (prognosis: not good). He also explained Dodd-Frank. Finally, he discussed the state of the blog-o-sphere and how to get more followers.

An informative talk, and I'm definitely glad I had the opportunity to go see him speak.

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Back

After a nice respite, I'm back in DC. Few posts coming up on some of the stuff I did today.

As for tomorrow? Back to work.

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Out of Office until Monday! I'm heading home on the Amtrak today. So excited to get some reading done and visit home for once without taking a plane.

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Open For Business

Government is still open for business so I'm heading work tomorrow. There's nothing too exciting to report of the past weekend. It was mostly spent enjoying the religious holiday. I did have an interesting experience last friday, so I'll be making a post on that. Next weekend I won't be in DC, so there shouldn't be too much.

Hold tights though because there is plenty more coming from the weekdays and this past week. Oddly enough, the DC weather has taken a major turn for the worst. It was around 48 degrees these past two days, maybe even lower at night.

At least that may mean the end to the crazy humidity/crowded metro nightmare that's existed so far.

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This Fountain is at the center of Dupont Circle. Circles are basically those annoying drive-arounds that are every where in DC. It slows up traffic and makes it awkward to cross the streets. I met one of my friends from my Alaska Trip--and while I was waiting, I snapped a picture of it.

... Yes, I do have a habit of trying to bring my camera everywhere when I'm not working.