I just can't keep this up

I must tell you all the obvious: I could never write a book. I would get 20 pages in, max, and then become completely bored with the venture. At which point, I would begin writing another book, get 20 pages in, and ...... You get the point.

I'm going to be finishing off my time both here in DC and here on this blog with reflections on some things (I'm vague b/c I'm not sure how to define some of what I will be reflecting on) that I have learned. Life lessons, if you will. Some may seem out of the ordinary while others may seem just right.

I'll begin tomorrow night. This is the best part; don't miss it.

Don't think I've been ignoring you . . .

. . . I've just been extremely worn out. Tonight is no exception. I went to a Washington Nationals game and President Bush was there. Seriously, that guy is following me wherever I go. First the White House, now the baseball stadium. Hmm.....

Also, last time I wrote (last night), my computer shut off before I could save my writing or post my comments. Yeah, after typing 7 huge paragraphs, I grabbed my gatorade and took a swig to keep the mental juices flowing, and when I turn back to face the screen, my computer is restarting. WHAT????? Ostensibly, my computer failed to detect its processor. Yeah, like you haven't had a processor all along? And what are you thinking - I'm going to remove your processor just moments after typing on you? Seriously, what are you thinking, you big, dumb computer? Oh, that's right, you're not! B/c no rational creature would be stupid enough to think that it had lost its arm when its arm became numb. Unbelievable. And no, a mac would have been no different. A mac would have shut down while I was typing on it. So there.

So before my computer shuts down once again, I'm going to check-out. Tomorrow, I have free time from 4:00-6:00 and I promise to update you on the ENTIRE week. Here's to hoping.

I'm out.

Is it true? Could it really be big post SUNDAY?

So says I. I wonder how long I can keep this up? Just a short comment about blogs: there are very few legitimate reasons to keep a blog. i can think of one - being away from home, one keeps a blog in order to tell those back at home what is going on. from my shallow dive into the blogging world, i've come to the conclusion that 107% of bloggers are obsessed with themselves and 112% write as well as the person who wrote the screenply for "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon." most people don't read, and for that very reason, most people write poorly. usually, if a person is bad at something, he will avoid doing it. clearly, this is not the case with bloggers. the entire blogging world consists of humans who cannot write well and thousands more who write worse.

Without a doubt (I haven't used a cliché in quite a while...), keeping up is difficult, but enough procrastination already! On Thursday, I led my 2nd Capitol tour. This tour was an absolute blast. I had only 4, a mom and dad with two children. With a smaller group, it's much easier to communicate. Also, they were really interested. A lot of tourists just want to see the Capitol, but these people were interested in the actual history, which I thought was neat. Unfortunately, we didn't ge to see any famous senators from the gallery, only one who gave a long speech explaining his solution to the energy problem. After work, we attended a reception hosted by the Heritage foundation. The reception was held on the 7th floor and the rooftop of the Heritage foundation building. It wasn't muggy and we had a breeze to cool us down, so all in all it was really enjoyable. After the reception which didn't offer much food, we headed to the Dubliner, an Irish pub and restaurant. I had fish & chips, a smashing combination (HA......). Nah, but it was a good meal. We stayed out until around 10 and then headed back to the apartment.

At the reception, I met a guy who just finished his first year at HLS. I told him I was interested in going to law school after college and asked him what he thought about Harvard. He told me the pros and cons. He told me he wouldn't think of going there on the undergraduate level b/c of the intensely liberal philosophies that pervade pretty much everything. He argued that on the post-grad level, one learns more for himself and is able to discern flaws in philosophy if there are any. Concerning application to the law school, he told me that I might want to keep my conservative leanings hush-hush until I get accepted. And that's when I lost respect for this guy. One thing I'm never going to do is disguise who I am. What end can be great enough to deny not only my political philosophy, but also, ultimately, my theology?

I met a kid who graduated from BJU back in 2001 and now works with the Heritage foundation. He couldn't sing the praises of Dr. Abrams loudly enough. He gives credit to the school for a lot, but I guess that's easy to do in a conservative environment like Heritage. He seemed moderately intelligent, so who knows. Evidently, he roomed one semester with Brandon Moody, Luke Frans, and some other guy. That must have been one dorm room.

Friday was a short day. 3 interns--Jacob, Eric, and myself--worked until 1 pm. I took 12 girlscouts on a tour of the Capitol and they didn't even give me cookies; can you believe it? At 1, instead of heading back to my room, I went to the basement of Russell to the Senate Hair Care. Because I didn't have an appointment, I waited in a chair and read the WSJ. I found out that Chrysler is crushing GM and Ford in the auto markets due to the Hemi. Over 50% of Chrysler 300m's, Dodge Chargers, Dodge Magnum's, Dodge Durango's, etc. (the apostrophes are for clarification and are not grammatically necessary) are sold with a Hemi engine. Anyhow, Mario ended up cutting my hair and it turned out well. After the hair cut, I decided that I wanted a shoe shine. What gave me this idea was the man giving shoe shines in the barber shop. I hopped on up in the chair and watched him go to work on my two-tone shoes; they turned out very nicely. I shall wear them tomorrow.

I went back to the apartment and crashed. I woke up around 6 and Jacob was getting ready to head out to Boston. He has some turf-and-grass-major friends working up at Fenway and they invited him for a BoSox game; not bad at all. Especially b/c BoSox tickets run upwards of $70 dollars. He left at 7, I ate my leftover pizza that I had walked 16 blocks to pick up a couple nights before (too much info in that sentence. oh, figure it out). I waited an hour after eating and then decided to go running. I wanted to run somewhere I hadn't gone yet, so I ran from my apartment to the Lincoln Memorial. What a place! When I got there, I read the Gettysburg Address out loud, notiticing how many times some form of the word "dedication" is mentioned. I ran there without stopping and did the same on the return. I almost stopped, but at that moment, as if the running gods were calling out to me, Eye of the Tiger started playing on my Ipod and I knew I couldn't stop then. Rocky would have been proud. In total, seven miles, and it felt GOOD.

Wow, writing really wears me out. I'll super try tomorrow to get through the weekend. It was pretty loaded with a visit to the White House, a metro breakdown, and the start of a new book. I'll get to it all later. Until then,

I'm out.

I think I'm drinking more than I'm eating.....

. . . b/c I feel sick. I went running again tonight. I run about every other night. From Constitution Avenue, I'll run down 1st St, past the Supreme Court and the Library of Congress. I'll hook a right on Independence, running alongside the Capitol. I'll cut onto the Capitol grounds, passing directly in front of the building. Turning left, down the steps, and past the Capitol pool and I enter the National Mall. That's one LONG mall. I choose either the left side or the right side (which doesn't smell really good). I usually take the left side, all the way through the mall, until I hit the Washington Monument/Pennsylvania Ave. I take Penn up to the White House, circle around and head back the same way I came. Overall, it takes an hour and fifteen minutes. It's a long run, but I've got a nice wind, I'm taking in the restaurants and stores, and I'm running towards the most beautiful architecture on the Eastern seaboard. I'll be worn out, but not wasted.

Last week, I attended a lecture set up as part of the Intern Lecture Series. Trent Lott spoke. He started with his background, continued by explaining his beliefs, and ended with a Q&A. Lott told us that he grew up in MS, a very blue state at the time (then again, so was every southern state). As he grew up, he chose to be a Republican. After finishing up law school at the age of 26, Lott went to Washington where he worked with the Democratic Representative from his district for a few years to gain political experience. At 31, when the representative he was working for decided not to run again, Lott announced his candidacy. The representative respected Lott greatly, but told him that he was chasing a pipedream. A few months before the election, a journalist asked the retiring Democratic Representative who the people should vote for. The representative responded, "The people of MS have chosen me as their representative for the past 20 years. I believe they are perfectly capable of choosing their next representative. But as for me, I'll be voting for Mr. Lott." At that point, Lott explained, the election was over. Lott began his political career back in the early 70s and rose to be the Senate Majority Leader before stepping down from the position a few years ago. Senator Lott took a few questions and I was lucky enough to be called upon. I asked, "You explained that you became an administrative assistant at the age of 26. At the age of 31, you were elected to represent your district in the House. During those 5 years in Washington, what made you decide to run office?" He said that young people think they can change the entire world and have the passion to do so. At that young age, he had both the dream and the passion. He wanted the chance and the people of MS gave him that chance. He said that the years have helped him realize the truth. People rarely change. He told us that over the course of the 30 years he'd been in Congress, maybe 1 or 2 speeches on the House or Senate floors changed the way he voted on an issue. Nowadays, we seem to be regurgitating things to fight over. Of course, I think that a lot of the communication is done electronically; the debate has shifted from the Senate floor to the phone lines, computers, or blackberries. Yeah, what is UP with these blackberries? They cannot be as important as people make them out to be! I know I would totally lose mine if I ever got one.

Last week, a few of us interns went over to the Senate to watch the Senators vote on Justice Brown. Whereas 90% of the time, the floor of the Senate is empty, it's packed whenever there's a vote. We saw all the big name senators - McCain, Kerry, Lieberman, Kennedy, Frist, Reid, Clinton, and Schumer. Barbara Boxer tilts whenever she talks to people. The Republicans crowd around each other like good ol' boys right there on the Senate floor. The way they're patting each other on the back and smiling back at each other, you kinda expect them to take out a few Bud Lights and throw some burgers and hot dogs on the grill. Unless there's a tie, Dick Cheney doesn't preside. We haven't seen him here yet. After the vote was through, we headed back to Russell. We took the elevator up from the basement of Russell to the 3rd floor. When it opened on the basement level for us to get in, a lady said hi and, without glancing at her face, I responded with a kind "Hi there." Around the 1st floor I looked over at the lady and realized it was Elizabeth Dole. Hah. So what am I supposed to do at this point? I kinda just looked straight ahead, didn't say a word, and exited after she did on the 3rd floor. Interesting elevator ride.

Finally for the night, I met Congressman Michaud from Maine. He's a Democrat and a very nice person. I met him in the laundry room in our apartment building. Evidently, he's staying there, too. I would expect more Congressman to be staying in my building, considering it's the closest apartment building to the Senate office buildings. Oh well. Maybe I'll see someone later.

I'm out.

The Saudi Flag

Hey, Deep Throat - look familiar?

I've got some catching up to do

Lunches and Dinners have proved difficult to come by. It's not like I can't find food; it's that I can't find cheap food. "I'd like to pay under $5 for lunch just once." That's how I thought during Week 1. But now, I have a plan. See, On Monday, I go to Cups (it's a deli, a coffee shop, and a buffet all-in-one). I'll purchase a Milano (it tastes like the #3 at Substation 2 [salami, ham, and cheese]) for $5.99 and a coke for $1.00. I will eat half of the Milano and leave the other half in the fridge in our office for the next day. The next day, I'll buy a coke and a couple pieces of fruit for about $4.00 total. That's a grand total of $10.99 for two days. Not a bad average, if I may say so myself.

And while you may get bored of the same sandwich every day, I will not. It's what I like and once a day is not over-doing (hyphenated?) it. Dinner's been sketchy. Most days I eat dinner; in fact, I've skipped dinner only once (Saturday) b/c I had a large, late lunch at the ESPN Zone. And let me tell you this while I'm here. The ESPN Zone is trash. Don't waste your time. It's basically a huge plasma screen on which ESPN is displayed, surrounded by smaller plasma screens broadcasting the WNBA, European football, and college baseball. Apart from the size of the screen, the only difference b/w the ESPN Zone and home is that you have to pay $2.00 for a coke and $10.00 for a burger at the Zone. I'd rather stop by McDonald's.

Back to dinner. I didn't eat dinner Monday, but that doesn't count b/c I was too busy moving in and driving around in the rain.

*Tuesday I ate my Hungry Man salisbury steak dinner back at the room. I was tired from work and didn't want to go out.
*Wednesday I ate at the food court in the Pentagon City Mall. I just had 2 huge pieces of pizza from a joint similar to Sbarros.
*Thursday - Confidential (how can food be confidential, you ask?)
*Friday I had the horrible experience at Outback (which you can read about further down).
*Saturday I ate a late lunch at the ESPN Zone, so I didn't eat dinner.
*Sunday I ate at La Lomas, a Mexican restaurant on Massachusetts Avenue. The food wasn't too expensive and the shrimp quesadilla (as always) was fabulous.
*Today, Monday, I ate at the Flames at Union Station. After work, I took the orange line to Carrelton to pick up my sunglasses and apartment keys (which I left on my car keychain. I've been using a spare) from Mr. Razmgar's car dealership, located just two blocks from the station. I actually picked up 2 pieces of fried chicken from this Chinese place (pray for no food poisoning) and cheese fries (basically McDonald's fries with melted cheddar cheese poured on top) and a pink lemonade from Flames.

Last Friday, I took a tour of the Saudi Arabian embassy. Security was so high that I could take a picture of the Saudi flag only if I was across the street from the embassy. When I entered, I was forced to surrender all of my belongings until the tour was through: wallet, cell phone, camera, etc. I were taken into a theater and were shown a 20-minute propaganda piece on Saudi Arabia. I didn't know this, but evidently Saudi Arabia is one of the richest, most powerful countries not only in the Middle East, but also in the world! Confidential. I ask him what he thinks of Wahhabism. Of course, Wahhabism doesn't exist; who'da thunk it? Wahhabism is merely a western illusion, he says. So I ask him what he thinks about the Wahhabi Quran-- I mean, the illusion that I read from last semester in school. He breaks a little, claiming that a man named Wahhabi exists and that he did write a Quran....... He starts going off on something completely different. Satisfied, I quit my interrogation.

tomorrow - meeting Elizabeth Dole, Trent Lott, a congressman from Maine who lives in my apartment building, and the kindest girl in the world who happens to be interning for..... Senator Harry Reid :o)

I'm out.

Outside Russell

I have removed certain information from past posts. In place of the removed material, the word "Confidential" has been inserted (and he escapes the dangling modifier!).

I have been asked to not include any specifics of my internship in this blog. Although none of the deleted information risks confidentiality, it does deal with specifics. As unfortunate as this may sound, do not fear!

I have a way of manipulating the mundane. Enough is going on, events that have no direct relation to my internship.

Out with inside Russell and in with "Outside Russell"

Ryan just graduated from USC. He began his internship a month ago and finished this past Friday

Eric attends Covenant College and will be a Senior next year

Thomas attends Clemson (home of the greatest slogan in the nation, "Are you orange?!?") and will be a Senior next year

Eleanor attends USC and will be a Senior next year

Will attends Brown University and will be a junior next year

My half of the room

The Eatery

You call that a closet? What? It's a hallway?

Jacob's side of the room

Let's get going.......

Long story, short - I drove back to DC knowing 2 things: I needed to get to DC super quickly and I lived at 215 Constitution Ave. So about 11 miles from DC, it starts pouring. I followed the interstate signs to Constitution Ave., after which I used the monuments as directions (so if that's union station, i need to go this way; if that's russell, i need to go this way....). I couldn't use the street signs I couldn't see them b/c of both the rain and the fact that the right lane was flooded. It's miserable driving in DC in the rain at nighttime. The stoplights are on the right side of the road at ground level and easy to miss. Also, don't drive and talk on the cell phone at the same time ($100 fine).

I arrived at my apartment and the rain had subsided. I unpacked everything into my room and drove the car back to Fairfax, arriving at Cyrus's house at 10:45 pm. Although his dad insisted that I stay with them another night (all too nice), I really wanted to get back and sleep in the apartment. I hadn't eaten dinner, so I asked Cyrus to drive me by a grocery store. I picked up 2 frozen dinners, peanut butter, pre-cooked bacon, popcorn, a 12-pack of RC Cola, peanuts, yogurt, and orange juice: the Essentials. I got to Fairfax-Vienna, the orange line metro farthest from DC, and took it to Capitol South, arriving there at midnight (when the metro shuts down).

I walked back to apartment, put the food away, then fell on my bed and slept - waking up all too early the next morning.

After Monday, the week slowed down substantially. No more 30 minutes metro rides, no unnecessary walks outside. I'm getting a little more sleep and I'm getting into the flow of things.

I'm loving the work, just absolutely loving what I'm doing. So what is that? Well, that's Confidential.

I've been able to use the skills and education received at Bob Jones University here in Washington. BJU has equipped me with every tool (intellectual, social, and spiritual) to not only survive but also succeed here. Expository writing gave me the ability to write clearly. State & Local Gov't gave me the ability to spot the differences b/w here in DC and there in SC. Both semesters of both British Literature, American Literature, and US History, along with numerous European History classes, gave me the ability to question why in the world this girl I met from a Minnesota Rep's office (she attends Hillsdale College in MI) prefers American Literature to British Literature and American History to European History.

I worked a little in the front office this past week. Confidential. Hmm......

I've worked in the mailroom, but I've already explained working there. So far, I feel like I'm still in school. All week, I've been writing. Humph. But hey, it's what I do and it's what I like.

How about 2 more things before I go to bed: Congressional Research Service and Capitol Tour Training. Tuesday morning, Eric, Eleanor, and I walked over to the Madison building of the Library of Congress for instruction in Congressional Research. I learned basically one thing: the government knows everything. EVERYTHING. And if any of you need to find out just how many astronauts used to be boyscouts and grew up in single-parent households in California and how many hairs they had on their heads at the age of 23 (okay, maybe not that), I can find it out for you. Just shoot me an email (my account had been temporarily deleted [grrr..], but it's back up and running now). But seriously, that's basically all we learned. We learned how to ask questions and get information from them, but that was all to say that they are the intellectual gods of DC and we are merely lessers in need of informational salvation without which we can't survive.......

Capitol Tour Training. Think of the most obnoxious guy in the world.... Now imagine this person has been giving tours and training tour guides since the age of 10. He might say something like, "Rubbing the foot of George Washington isn't good luck, it's VANDALISM!" No, it's not your Dorm Supervisor in Graves. Meet Chris, your tour guide trainer. I'll say this: he knows what he's talking about and I guess that's what's important. I took 11 pages of intensive notes (back in school, once again) on the Capitol and early American History. Dr. Larson would have been proud. Now I just need to memorize everything before I give my first tour next week. I have a feeling I'm going to like giving tours :) I've been told that I can't make up any stories. Yeah, but there's enough accurate 411 to fill a 2-hour tour. The tours I give will be just 30 or 40 minutes.

Enjoy your days as much as I am. I'll tell you later about my encounter with Elizabeth Dole, my lunches and dinners, and my thoughts while sitting in the Senate gallery (is Hillary Clinton really sporting an orange pantsuit???).

I'm out

I love it, but I wouldn't want to live here.....

From 3:30 pm until 6:30 pm, those driving by themselves may not use I-66 (a major interstate connecting DC with Virginia). Only HOV (vehicles with 2 or more people) may use that road.

That doesn't even begin to describe how busy this city is.

My first two days in DC have been far too adventurous. At 5:30 pm on Sunday, I arrived at Cyrus Razmgar's house where I would spend the night. Around 7:00 pm that evening, Cyrus drove me to the Fairfax/Vienna metro station. I took that metro (the orange line) to Capitol South, hoping to arrive just steps away from either the Russell Senate Office Building (where I work) or my apartment. Both are located on Constitution Avenue. After a 7 block trek north, I found Constitution Avenue. As fate would have it, I walked 3 blocks west before realizing that I should be going east. Thanks be to the capitol police! They are EVERYWHERE and they are kind. Wherever I am, they see me. There's absolutely no chance I could get mugged.

I'm getting sidetracked. Sunday night I found my two buildings (Russell and my apartment), trying my hardest to decode the entirely too complicated map of DC. Our nation's capitol should be somewhere in the NW where the streets are straight. Instead, we're stuck where the streets are complicated (thanks L'Enfant!) and the weather is miserable.

I arrived back at Cyrus's abode around 11:00 pm. I hadn't eaten dinner, so his wonderful mother warmed up some spaghetti and toasted some bread—everything tasted so good!!! I drank two root beers with my dinner so I was burping well into the night. The night was rather short.

I woke up at 6:00 am, proceeding to take a shower and, as is my habit, go back to bed. I re-awoke around 7:00 am and got dressed. Mr. Razmgar, a man very kind and well-informed about the area, drove me to the metro which I took to Union Station (a metro stop closer to Russell). Union Station isn't as clean as it is in the movies (duh). In fact, the only fancy part about it is the outside. However, it's absolutely gigantic! I'll move on.

The "short" walk to my office building left me drenched in sweat, wondering why I couldn't wear a dark t-shirt and shorts to work. I arrived at SR-xxx, the front office 15 minutes early. I met the 5 other interns: Jacob Dawkins (my roommate; from Clemson), Eleanor (goes to USC), Thomas Rhodes (goes to Clemson), Will (goes to Brown U), and Eric (goes to Covenant and has one suit with him). They're all wonderful people.

I'll stop for now at 9:30 am on Monday morning. So much has happened since then. I'll attempt to finish out Monday (the longest day of my life) sometime tomorrow night. Today went by rather quickly. I'll have y'all caught up in no time.

Unfortunately, I do not have my camera cord for my computer which would allow me to put up pictures (sorry Phil!). The cord is getting mailed up to me, so I should have it by the end of the week.

Until tomorrow, have a good night, and God bless,
Tim

here I am, Tim

Hello World

I just want to make sure this works.