Consider yourself warned:

Just so you have fair warning, Joy is visiting this weekend, so there may not be any postings for a few days. I am not dead, just eating and talking a lot. Probably about you.

I am not dead...

This will have to be a quick post because I am exhausted and need to go to bed. I am not dead, contrary to all the emails I have been getting because it is flooding and I have not posted in two days. I have just been really tired and trying to run errands and deal with life, and it has left me with little time to write, and not too much to write about. A quick summary: Yesterday only worked for an hour before they sent us home. I went to the Air and Space Museum and watched the Mars IMAX movie...so much better than the movie at Astrocamp. Then saw the planetarium show, also much, much, much better than camp. Then walked around looking for lunch, then went to Hechts (like Macy's), bought some capris pants, then went to the gym to ensure the capri pants would continue to fit. Came home, cooked dinner, made a reservation for girls' weekend in September, and went to bed. Today, I worked all day, went and got my eyebrows done at some fancy spa, headed up to Trader Joes (much better when it is not a Sunday), then stopped by Safeway to buy bus passes, and then came home and am now about to pass out. See nothing too exciting. Some of the museums still don't have power, the metro is running a little bit slowly, and the buses are more crowded than usual, but otherwise, things seem to be fine (unless you live in PA, apparently). Also, had a meeting with the NSRC director this morning, basically told me to call her in a year for a job. I don't think I really want to relocate out here just yet, but it made me feel good.

Alright, time for bed. Hope you are all enjoying the week!

Swimming in DC

Good morning,

Report from DC: Chaos.

I have never seen a city so turned upside down from one night of rain. It rained hard and steadily starting at about 9pm last night. On the 11 o’clock news they showed pictures of intersection I walk through everyday under three feet of water. They showed their own news building with a river coming down the stairs into their graphic design room. This morning, we have power, but that is about it. No phones, no network (well, by the time you read this, the network will have to be up, otherwise, I can’t post this). There was strong thunder and lightening until at least 2am, and this morning, while there is no rain, it is overcast and there is this strange calm over the whole city. And by calm, I mean, in the sky. Because, on the ground, chaos. Everything seemed fine on my bus ride into downtown this morning, until about F street. This is six blocks from the center, six blocks from the mall. It was then that I noticed, as we pulled over to let some people on, that we were sitting in front of a crowd of about 200, half of who wanted on to the bus I was sitting on. I had my ipod going, I was reading my book, and all of a sudden, we are packed in like sardines. BY the time we get to my stop, 8 blocks later, most people have gotten off (why do you ride the bus eight blocks? Seriously, people can we not just walk?). However, we have passed two more large masses of people. The second one is in front of the L’Enfant Metro station, which is the metro closest to my office. Apparently this station and the Archives Metro station are both flooded, which might explain the large group of people with a sudden interest in the DC buses. Luckily I caught the early bus (I finally gave in and set my alarm for 6 instead of 6:05, it really makes the difference between getting on the bus and watching the bus drive away from about 50 feet down the block). By the time I got to my stop, I was about 15 minutes behind schedule. We hit several intersections with no power and cops directing traffic (not very well, I might add). So, being late already (and late is relative because there are three of us in the office right now), I did what any normal American student/intern would do. I stopped for a non-fat, sugar-free vanilla Latte. Good thing too, because I think I would be asleep on my keyboard by now if it wasn’t for that caffeine surge. So, yes, here I sit, listening to people straggling in complaining about the trains not running and road issues. Yea, sucks to be them, I am sure it can only get worse as the rest of DC wakes up and tries to get to work.
I’m holding out to be sent home, I could use some museum time, and I down here already…I think it might happen, with the lack of computers and phones, I think people are already calling (on cell phones, I guess) to say they are not coming in. Lovely.

Alexandria, Georgetown and the White House

Ok, so first of all, if you have not seen the story about the goat in the English military, check this out, it still has me shaking my head in confusion...are they really serious!?: http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/06/24/goat.demoted.ap/index.html

Anyway, now that we have dealt with that, my day today was full of plenty of other random things and I have gotten back on the picture taking bandwagon. I know you were all worried.

I woke up this morning at 6am, because I forgot to turn my alarm off. After slamming at it a couple of times, it went off, and I was pretty satisfied it wouldn't turn back on. I can't actually be sure it will ever turn back on...could be interesting. So, I really woke up around 9, and spent some time organizing my life and making some free phone calls and eating some brunch, and all of a sudden it was 1. Perfect time to begin the day. So, I decided to take the long trip south to Old Town Alexandria. My trip should have started on the 70 bus line, but apparently there was a parade, so I had to walk back past my house, sweating already, to the other side of the neighborhood to catch the 52, thus beginning the DC break-in of my black Reefs. I got to the metro station and took the ride down to the King St. exit. Ten blocks later, I was exploring Old Town Alexandria.
The streets were cool, there were these sections that were redone with cobblestone to look the way they did in the 1700s. The streets were so cute, there were flags from different time periods, and lamps that were lit with flames. And all over the city there were big signs pointing out historic sites.

















This was the house of Robert E. Lee while he was growing up, and until he went away to Westpoint. Apparently he came back and tried to sneak in to the back at one point, looking for something he had left behind (snowballs, maybe?). Anyway, it was weird to think that such a huge person in history roamed these exact streets at one point (well, the cobblestoned area, at least). I walked some more, and eventually, as in any town, came across this:
I guess every town has one.
I then found this statue that I thought was pretty interesting. It is called The Confederate Soldier. In 1861, when Alexandria was occupied by Unioni forces, 800 soldiers marched out to join the confederate army. This statue marks the point at which they gathered, and is also a memorial to the fallen soldiers. One hundred names are cared into the base, not that I could see them, since the statue is conveniently located right in the middle of an intersection.
So after wandering around the streets for a while, I made my way down to the water. Right on the water is this cool building called the Torpedo Factory, which was used to manufacture torpedos for WWI and WWII. Now it houses a whole bunch of artists' studios. You can walk around and see them working and buy stuff from them. All sorts of random stuff, paintings, jewelry, pottery, fabric, etc. It was a nice way to spend some time just hanging out and seeing some cool stuff. I kept walking up the caost of the Potomac River, there was a nice breeze blowing, and a nice park to hang out in.

Also, I noticed there were a lot of random things along the outskirts of the park, with no plaques or descriptions, which seemed random to me, since there was probably a lot of history that was left as a mystery. For instance, there was a huge anchor, like as tall as me, and also this propellor (I think?).
I then decided to take a boat tour that would drop me off back on Georgetown, a lot closer to downtown than Alexandria is. Here I am, humid curly hair and all, getting slowly burned by the sun on the top of the boat:

So first we boated by the Reagan National Airport, which was actually rather impressive from the water. I know this picture doesn't do it a lot of justice, but it looked really cool. Then we passed the Pentagon, but it was so flat that the pictures show pretty much nothing. I did get some good pictures of the Washington Monument (with the Jeffereson Memorial next to it) and I got a good view of the DC skyline, although with the dark skies, the pictures did it no justice. It was nice to get a new perspective of where all these things are located and also to be able to get a new view of them. Next, we passed the Lincoln Memorial, which I haven't visited yet, but is very impressive from the water, it is huge! We also passed Arlington, but really, that picture is just some green and some trees. I hope to make a visit in person to the cemetary to revisit the flame and such before the summer is over, I remember it as very impressive and very emotional from the last visit. Finally we passed the Kennedy Center (Joy, get ready, we are going in next week), which is also huge, and looks awesome from the water.

We then docked at the Georgetown dock: and I started my walk back toward the bus stop. Little did I know just how much of a walk I had in front of me. I think it was probably a good two miles. Well, it would have been two miles if I had gone straight there, but I decided to explore some more, and probably doubled my walking distance.


I sort of stumbled upon the C&O Canal, which i have heard about, it was so cute. It reminded me of sailing on the Thames River in England, although the canal was much smaller. All the homes and shops running up the canal were brick and a lot of them had nice flowers and benches out front. It was very relaxing, and I think will be a frequent visitor of the walking trail next to the canal. Someone actually suggested riding bikes up the trail, but it sort of seems like a lot of work renting bikes in this city.








I walked the streets of Georgetown for a while, I took this picture to try and picture all the cute hanging baskets full of pink flowers. it just looked so cool, it reminded me of somewhere I have been, but I can't quite put my finger on where it is.
So at this point in my day I become that girl who takes pictures of things that have no real meaning to her. For instance, this statue of George Washington in Washington Circle. And then I passed the White House, which, I might add, I was very unimpressed with. It just seemed SO MUCH smaller than I remember it, and then I really expected it to be. But, here is a picture anyway, for anyone who might need proof that I was actually there. I also took this picture of a random light on in the White House, because it seems, despite what some of us might think, that someone was actually doing work in the White House. Amazing, I know.
And with that, my exploration came to an end. I took the bus part of the way home, walked the last mile because the bus only goes so far. It rained on me for a while, but I gave up on the rain coat, because that was just making me sweat more and I could no longer tell the difference between rain and sweat. A good cold shower later and some dinner and I was good to go. TOmorrow, a possible memorial tour in the works, or maybe just some museum time.

I found the photo booth folder!

Good news! In putting my pictures on my computer and then uploading them to the site, I finally figured out where my computer saves the pictures I take of myself (and anyone else who is around) with the little camera attached to the top of the computer screen (yea, I have a very high tech computer, and this is what I use it for). Anyway, so, yea, I took these pictures on like, day 2 of being here, and then couldn't figure out where they had been saved. Luckily, I have found them, and can now share them with all of my adoring fans (none of whom comment very often, I have noticed). So, yes, here I am, blue wall and all, and then flying through space. I like that one, I thought it was pretty fun.




I am glad it is Friday, nothing really exciting happened today, I went shopping in the mall in Pentagon City, it was a weird reminder of the real world I used to live in. A little too fancy for me. Macy's was fun though, as usual. I bought a pair of khaki shorts to wear on the weekends, and then came home. I was going to go on some sort of long walking adventure, but it looked like it was going to rain, and after last night's very very very loud thunderstorm at 1am, I was not about to chance it. So, i came home, cooked some dinner, and then continued the planning/gossiping with Joy regarding our Europe trip and other such happenings. Now it is bed time, hopefully I will do something interesting tomorrow, otherwise, you all will just have to be satisfied by continuing to be impressed by my amazing ability to make doing nothing sound interesting.

Picture time!

You know that feeling you get of impending doom, when you can just see something happen and you have no control over it, but you know it is going to be bad? That is my life on the streets of DC. And by the streets, I mean, literally, on the streets. I think I have mini heart attacks like ten times a day watching cars almost hit pedestrians or each other. Seriously, people are nuts here, they just walked whenever, wherever, and I end up saying a silent prayer that they aren't going to get hit by the semi heading straight for them. I should ignore it, but if something happens, then I'm a witness and I have to do something for them probably, and really, it is hot outside, and I would rather no one got hurt and I could just get home quickly to the AC.

Also, over the past two weeks, I have taken multiple buses home. While on these buses, sometimes I read, and sometimes I just stare out the window. This staring has led to seeing many interesting resturants and signs. Now, I have decided to make it a point to not at eat anywhere that has bars on the windows...I don't know, personal preference I guess. But, some of the things these restuarants choose to call themselves, it almost makes me want to go in anyway...There's Cluck-U Chicken, which swears to have the best chicken in the area. There's a place called Kitty's, which apaprently serves Chinese food (something about cats and chinese food...I don't know....). There is a random sign that says Jesus es Senor. Yea, this is just random to me. Perhaps it is the fact that it is just on some random building and seems to have no affiliation to anything. There is Potbelly sandwiches, which I have eaten at and is damn good, but still, why name a restaurant something that makes people feel like it can't possibly be healthy (it is just sandwiches, nothing greasy, but still). There is the restaurant that i stand in front of every morning, the name escapes me now, but they sell sub sandwiches, seafood, chinese food and fried chicken. It's sort of all-in-one. Yea, I know you all want to visit just to eat there. Anyway, I would take pictures of these places, but I don't want to freak anybody out. This is the same reason I have no pictures of my house yet, I don't want to freak out the neighbors.




However, I do now have my camera cord and have updated some previous posts with pictures. I know the full day of action post has pictures, and I think one of the first two I wrote does as well. And since I am too lazy to find where I was supposed to put these pictures in the first place, here are some pictures of the street I live on and my room. And for those of you really care, here is a picture of the building I work in. You need a badge to get in, which makes me cool, since I have a badge, and have made friends with the security guards. I could probably sign you in as a visitor if you come to visit me (I make no promises, but I assume this can happen).
Yea, see, I work in a real building. I am on floor 7 in case in case you are wondering.

So, yea, that is the update. Work was slow today, but only because I was really tired and the people next to me were drilling, which is a really annoying noise to listen to all day. I am off to see what is on TV and try not to fall asleep unti 9pm.

So a proton walks into a bar...

I apologize to those of you who think I am dead because I did not post last night. I spent some much needed time on the phone catching up with all the NP gossip (thanks Joy!). Yesterday nothing too exciting happened, just work and the gym and then home. Sorry, people, my life is not always as exciting as I might like to think.

Today was intern lunch day. Most of the other interns are in high school, which means that lunch with them just ends up being a quiet time for people to eat looking at each other. The girl who works next door to me, Aivi (pronounced Ivy) is cool, I think she is a sophomore in college, but compared to the high schoolers (the kids, we cal them), she is much older. Anyway, so we basically help the conversation during lunch, which was weird anyway, because the kids wanted to go to the mall across the street from work to get food, and there is no real common area to eat, so they all sort of stood around for a while and then went outside to sit. That was not a good call, seeing as it was like 90 outside. Oh well, it's not like we didn't sweat on the way to work, or on the way home. Anyway, these kids are funny, I wonder if I was that awkward when I was 17...I don't think I was. Come on, we were cool in high school, right? Anyway, so yea, they asked us if we were getting paid as soon as we hit te elevators. No qualms about that being a bad question just to ask someone, and then they wanted to know how much we were making. Apparently they are working for free. Sucks to be them. Aivi likes to tell people it is because we are from out of state, and need to pay rent, so they pay us, but really, I think it is because we are not in high school. Besides, while she is from Delaware, she is living with family in Maryland, so she is not even paying rent. I guess she is a little young as well. I go with it though, you want to have some friends at work, or it can get pretty monotonous.

In other news, my boss told me he liked my initiative today. Yup, I am amazing. I also have apparently been signed up to teach some of the professional development training sessions by my new best friend Dane, who is this 50 year olf guy into Astronomy, and therefore, my best friend. He is the kind of guy who makes bad Physics jokes and knows I will get them. Yup, there is always one. Yea, so I will be corrupting teachers this year and teaching them bad Physics jokes. Oh, what a summer!

Sweat

So I have now experienced my first East Coast thunderstorm (well, first since I was like 6). It was very exciting, especially since I made it to my house just as the sky completely opened up. Now is is pouring and thundering and such, and I am cooking some dinner and just watching it all happen from my dry air conditioned house. I also found my gym today, and had an amazing workout. I visited on Friday, and at that point I thought $99 for the summer was a little high, but after doing some price checking, I realized this was a damn good deal, and went back in today to join. This gym is amazing. It is almost as nice as the Amgen Gym (thought we'd never find that, Joy). It has all these perfumes and lotions on the bathroom counters, they give you towels, there is shampoo and such, hair driers and curlers (random), TVs, they give you locks for your lockers...maybe I have been living in the ghetto at 24 hours, I might never want to go back (too bad I am under contract for basically the rest of my life). I feel so spoiled. Anyway, so for those of you who are wondering, I spent an hour and a half at the gym, watched the entire episode of Oprah from the elliptical, and then did some much needed weight lifting. My arms are already mad at me.

ON another note, something that Kelly have talked about often. Does anybody else think that when Pat gives the wheel his final sping on Wheel of Fortune it is pre taped? I mean, seriously, it almost always lands on the $5000 space these days. The probability of it happening so often is unreal. So yea, we think it is pre taped. Our other theory is that Pat has been spinning the wheel for so long that he knows how hard to spin it to get to the $5000 space. Either way, it just seems wrong. (I am watching Wheel of Fortune while typing this).

Anyway, so yea, life in DC is fantastic thus far. I think that the heat is bearable, and the humidity can be handled if you just accept that sweating is part of life. I have done this, and therefore, have no problems with it. At least I don't have allergies like I did in Sacramento. And I have free air conditioning. It could be worse.

So yes, Colleen, you could handle it, and if you would like to visit me to check it out, that might be ok as well.

Relaxing in the AC

So this weekend has been very relaxing. Friday night was spent reading and watching TV, and generally just trying to stay cool. Saturday was much of the same actually, and just enjoying the fact that I could rest all day, with no homework, no meetings, and no responsibilities. Saturday night I met up with my friend Annika, a good friend from my tourguiding days at Cal. We met in Adams Morgan, and walked the streets for a while, checking out the scene. And by 'the scene' I mean a whole bunch of 21 year olds milling around in jeans and black tops, deciding which bar to go into next. We ate at this great Mediterranean restaurant call Meze. Basically, it was sort of like eating Mexican tapas, only it was Mediterranean food. As always, Annika and I shared a great night of catching up and discussing such important things as bridal shower games, The tourguide Hot List, upcoming weddings, and past events that still make us laugh. We also caught each other up on mutual friends and other tourguide happenings. It was nice to see a familiar face and spend some time reminiscing.

Then today I got up late, did the normal email check, and took off to go and find the Trader Joes in Silver Springs, MD. Two buses and an hour later, I found it, and entered the chaos that is TJs on a Sunday afternoon. Seriously, I used to avoid TJs on a weekend at almost all costs. This one is even worse than those in CA, they actually give small children small carts to push around, so now, not only are you dodging the annoying people who want to look at everything and have no clue all you want is a bag of pizza dough, but you are also dodging four year olds who have no clue. Lovely. But, it was worth it, I found everything I wanted with the exception of the precooked chicken, but I decided that really, that is probably an unnecessary component to my life. Now I am back at home, back in front of the air conditioning, and I am not planning on moving for a while. I could get used to this free weekend thing...

Board meeting Day

Yesterday was the NSRC board meeting. It was a long day, with zero breaks, but lots of good food, and some interesting discussion topics. It was very similar to the CAA board meetings, but somehow, I think, more effective, and probably more interesting. THe room was filled with some huge names in Science Education:

D. Carr Thompson
Senior Program and Communications Officer
Burroughs Wellcome Fund
Research Triangle Park, NC

Jorge E. Allende
ICBM - Programa de Biología Celular y Molecular
Facultad de Medicina - Universidad de Chile
Santiago, Chile

Cathleen Aubin Barton
US Education Manager
Intel Corporation
Chandler, AZ

Elwyn Berlekamp
Professor, Department of Mathematics
University of California, Berkeley

Diane Bernstein
President
Diane and Norman Bernstein Foundation

Sandy Dust
Manager of Education Initiatives
Pre-College Education
The Dow Chemical Company
Midland, MI

Guillermo Fernandez de la Garza
Executive Director
US-Mexico Foundation for Science
Col. Del Valle, Mexico

Randolph J. Guschl
Director
Center for Collaborative Research & Education
DuPont
Wilmington, DE

Samuel H. Houston, Jr.
President and CEO
North Carolina Science, Mathematics and
Technology Education Center

Stephen P. Klein
Senior Research Scientist
RAND

Elizabeth Lodal
Principal
Thomas Jefferson High School for Science
and Technology, Virginia

Kenneth Miller
Alumni, Co-Chair, Education Committee
Smithsonian Institution National Board

C. Ford Morishita
Biology Teacher, Clackamas High School
Clackamas, OR

Kerstin Reimstad
Assistance Program Manager
Science and Technology for All Program
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and
Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering and Sciences
Linkoping, Sweden

Cristián Samper
Director, National Museum of Natural History
Smithsonian Institution

Dennis Schatz
Vice President for Education
Pacific Science Center

Richard D. Stephens
Senior Vice President, Internal Services
The Boeing Company
Seal Beach, CA

John D. Tully
Director, Community Relations
Michelin North America

Meredith (Peggy) Harris Willcuts
Science Coordinator/Science Specialist
Walla Walla School District
Walla Walla, WA

Anyway, so after shmoozing with all of these people for 8 hours, I feel like I could get a job in almost any state, Mexico, or even Sweden if I wanted one. Yea, life is good. They talked about the issue of evolution in national science classrooms, we talked about what new partners to NSRC wants to get involved with, we talked about endowments. Some of it was interesting, some of is forced me out of my coffee withdrawal for the summer just to stay awake.

Then last night I spent the night reading and watching TV, trying to stay awake until my laundry was done at like 10pm. Yea, it was a long first week, but I am loving it, and so glad I am here. There is just so much going on in this town, everyone is working toward a goal, something that helps a cause. People have real passion, they really care about what is going on around them. And they really believe they can make a difference. It is really inspiring.

Full day of action...

So it is 9:40pm, I just walked in the door, so this will have to be quick in order for me to get in bed and be asleep in a reasonable amount of time. Another amazing day in DC. This morning I got up and went down to the mall, and walked around the Air and Space Museum. This place is amazing. I have actually been to this museum before, when I was 17, some of you might remember being there with me, in the food court:

That is pretty much all I remember from that visit, so it was nice to see the rest of the museum. I took tons of pictures, but as you well know, the camera cord is not on the same coast as I am (it is now):




This first one is of one of the mirrors from Hubble. I thought about trying to get a picture of someone standing by it for a size reference, but it didn't happen. Anyway, in case you are wondering why it is not reflective, it never had the final reflective coat painted on because it was never used. I found this a lot at the air and space museum, stuff that was almost cool, but then was never used.

This is a special exhibit of the Wright Brothers plane. It was pretty cool, if you look carefully, the pilot is literally laying on top of the wings. Strange, I never thought about where the pilot was located in those really old planes.



These two pictures I just thought were cool, can't really remember what they were, but they must've been cool for some reason.



This is the model of the Apollo, um, 11, I think. I knew at the time, but it has been a while. Let's go with 11. It was right in front of the food court, so I feel like I might have seen it on the way in when I was younger.

Anyway, so then I met up with Matt, Lisa, and Isabel for a couple of hours. Isabel is about 18 months now, and she is adorable. Talking up a storm, she has a total personality, and she is a total ham. We walked around the sculpture garden, with Lisa, who is an artist and was loving it. Then we went to lunch at this total dive diner, which was a lot of fun. It was nice to see them, and I will post pictures of the cute little girl as soon as I can (here they are):




So, then the afternoon at work went by like lightening, and then we went over the Natioanl Museum of American Indian (or something like that), for a private after hours tour of one of the exhibits, and then a fancy reception and dinner. The tour was interesting, a little long, but fun. The reception was nothing short of a wedding reception. Wine, beer, sodas, and appetizers. So, I shmoozed, and then we had dinner, more shmoozing. I ate with a couple of other interns, this woman Heidi from the publsihing deapartment who is a riote, Steve, and then three board members. One from Walla Walla Washington (those of you that watch the Real World might recognize this as Tanya's home town, don't worry, I did not point this out to her), a guy from Carolina Biological Supply (Astrocamp main supplier of anything in Astrolab and elsewhere), and then a woman from Sweden who did something fancy I didn't catch. Anyway, a fancy salad, a salmon over risotto and a flan later, life was good. Oh, and I think probably four glasses of wine...they just keep filling up that glass, empty or not. It was fun to be all fancy, and it made me realize again how amazing this job is...again.

I also saw a great view of the sunset behind the Washington Memorial on the walk to the bus afterwards:
Again, I have the picture, will update this post with it eventually. The bus came ontime, and I even brought my book to keep me busy on the ride home. And now I will go and pass out, and be all ready to go to the board meeting in the morning. And then, the weekend...=)

People in Massachusetts need to stop having children...

Alright, at the request of some of you who apparently are living vicariously through me this summer, I will blog, despite the fact that I really just want to go to bed. Yup, it is 8:30, about an hour past what my body would like bedtime to be. It is hazy outside, and the humidity has arrived care of Alberto. I haven't seen rain yet, but supposedly it is happening somewhere around here.

Work was fine today, I worked on some National Science Education Standards for our upcoming academy (the conference in July), and then faxed a lot of brochures to a lot of middle schools on the east coast. Massachusetts has an obscene amount of middle schools! I also got my offer letter from the Smithsonian, along with some housing information. Seems like this maybe would have been useful, oh, I don't know, a month ago. I guess it's nothing I didn't know, but man, these people are so freakin' unorganized. Whatever, at least I will get a paycheck now.

I also checked out the gym scene in DC. It is not too pretty, actually rather expensive. I guess I will suck it up though, I can't go all summer sitting in the office without a gym, even if I am walking probably 3 miles a day on average. I like how I just walk up and down the mall, with no real idea about where I am going, and I just walk toward to capitol for a while, and then toward the monument for a while. I like to watch all the student groups in their matching fluorescent shirt and the stressed out chaperones who look like they haven't slept in a week. You know they are wondering, when was this trip a good idea?

Tomorrow I am not starting work until 1pm, due to our NSRC board dinner tomorrow night, which apparently counts as work. This board is made up of all sorts of high ups from all over the science education community, wo it will either be good networking, or just really really boring. I am hoping for the first option. Due to my morning off, tomorrow I am hoping to go up the Washington Monument and maybe see an IMAX show during the week, to avoid the crowds on the weekend. I am finding DC much more friendly during the week than on the weekends. It is just more relaxed, less crowded, and everyone is in a better mood.

Anyway, that is all, I am sure I will have a fun update tomorrow after this board dinner.

Benjamin Franklin, the fraud?

You know those time when things happen to you, and you think "wow, of course, this only happens to me..."? Yea, I know some of you know what I mean. Anyway, so this was basically how my day started. I went over to one of the museums with Steve, the new guy in the department (training for some admin job, I think). Anyway, on the way over, he explains to me that he worked for the Hands On Science Center for five years before this job, and he worked on this project where he was reconstructing the experiement Benjamin Franklin did, using only his original papers. Basically, he and this other guy, Richard (BIG BIG NERD) were trying to figure out if Benjamin Franklin did indeed do all the stuff that people say he did. Specifically, they think good ol' Ben might have embelished some of his experiments. Interesting, eh? I thought so too. Anyway, so he shows me all these experiements, ya know, the kite with the key, the lightening bells, the lyden jars (yup, I am going to pretend i knew what those were before I went in there this morning). Then this woman comes in to interview the guys about their whole project. An hour later, I am now included in this article, and this woman tells me that her best friend lives in Davis and is actually the assistant Dean of Graduate Studies at Davis. Typical. So, yea, look for my name in print, in the Torch, the official newspaper of the Smithsonian (or something like that).

So, after celebrity interview, we went back to the office, and then quickly made our way to the Washington hotel, which proved to relatively fancy. I think we rode the metro a total of 11 blocks...they say people in DC walk, but really, they just walk to the metro, walk to the buses, walk as little as possible. Anyway, so we had a lunch meeting with this very fancy guy from the hotel who basically could answer none of the questions my boss had for him, but whatever, free fancy lunch, so we were happy.

So, yea, life is good, work is good, it is getting warmer, although tomorrow they are saying Alberto might make his appearance south of here, and bring with him some thunderstorms to DC, so I am excited for my first DC thunder and lightening show. I am hoping to meet up with my old boss in the coming days, I'll let you know how that goes.

Security!

So I started work today. It was quite the adventure. My new i-pod alarm went off at 6:05 this morning. This whole i-pod thing is kinda funny actually. I didn't even have an ipod until my computer crashed and I had to buy a new one and the ipod was part of the deal, and now I am basically relying on it all day long. My room came with the ipod home, which as far as I can tell, is a good way to charge your ipod and use it like a stereo/alarm clock. It works well for me. So, anyway, woke up, showered, looked outside. Pouring rain. Perfect. Good thing I brought pants with me, cuz otherwise, it would have been a very wet day. An hour later I had successfully tranferred my way to the Aerospace Center. Supposedly, my name was on some list to get me through security. However, being that the person running the intern show upstairs is an intern herself, I knew better than to expect it to really happen. So, yea, no name, no one answers their phones, so I hang out and catch up on the Washington Post, feeling very local, reading the local paper, making friends with the security guard who had to keep calling upstiars for me. About an hour later, maybe a little more (9amish), someone finally answered and I was allowed to go through security and upstairs. There, I met David, my new boss. Now, David, he is british. So, of course, we are basically best friends from the start. He is from northwest of London. That is all I remember.

Davis wisks me off down the hall and introduces me to everyone. I don't remember any names, but whatever, they all wear name tags, so this can't be that bad. I meet another intern, who as far as I can tell, is a moron, is going into his sophomore year, and doesn't know what he is studying in college. I am not calling him a moron for that reason, cuz we all know we were there once, but seriously, how does this guy get this job? I guess the lack of an interview probably helped him. Anyway, so then I meet Kim, who I have emailed many times, and had this hunch she would be nice. She was the intern coordinator (not the intern who was running everything, she wasn't in today, apparently she only comes in once a week, which i am sure only helps the organization that is her job). Anyway, so Kim is very friendly, and she and the other intern and I head over to "the castle", which is part of the actual Smithsonian main building, where they are holding intern orientation. So, I get badged for the SMithsonian, which entitles me to 20% off at the museum stores and restaurants (according to Kim, this makes the $10 burger only $8 at McDonalds). I also get free Imax movie tickets and some sort of free shuttle bus. I am excited about the Imax movies, get ready for an influx of movie updates. Apparently there is also some sort of intern gym in the Air and Space Museum. This totally reminds me of Joy and I trying to find out where the employee gym is on the Valley Floor in Yosemite (I bet some of you didn't know there was one, but there is...). ANyway, so after orientation, we made it back to the Aerospace Center between downpours. Then the real work starts. Well, not really, but basically Davis gives me a list of things he wants me to complete this summer. I am pretty sure I can do them all by the end of the week, so i am going to pace myself. However, today I did not have computer access, so nothing was done except a lot of reading, something I am very used to doing. He actually have me this book to look over that will be perfect for my thesis, so I don't mind spending the time reading it. I read all afternoon, with numerous breaks to get my second badge for the Aerospace building, to fill up the water bottle four times, and then of course to use the bathroom about a dozen times. Also, I stopped once becuase Steve, who as far as I can tell, is training within the professional development to be the admin assistant (or something like that), drove his remote control car into my wall. It was quite amusing. Anyway, so I left work at 4:15, after not really taking a lunch and being there for more than 8 hours. I felt like it was ok, especially when David told me I should go home. As I was leaving Steve told me I could go with his tomorrow to the Natural History museum (I think) to hang out while he gets interviewed for the Smithosonian newspaper (don't remember the name). You know this means they will be quoting me. Get ready, you will all get copies.

Anyway, so then I made it home after I stopped to buy soap and an iron. Both useful things to have, I hear. I also met my other roommate, Tanya, who is totally fun, kinda reminds me of someone, although I can't pinpoint who. Anyway, made some dinner, and now I am laying on my futon, trying intently to not fall asleep before the sun goes down.

Hope things are going well on the west coast (or wherever you are). Oh, and I think I fixed the comments area so now anyone can leave comments, not just Kiyomi.

Attention Target Team Members...

I spent my first sunday in DC the same way I have spent many past Sundays... watchings a lifetime movie until 1pm in my pajamas. Yup, I'm home. But, then after the movie, I did some serious exploring. I took off on the 70 bus to find out where I was going to be working.

45 minutes on the bus put me right into the middle of downtown DC. I walked along D street looking for the Aerospace Center. After circling the FBI building twice, and talking to the friendly Visitor Services man, I discovered that DC actually is split into 2 (or maybe 4?) areas, and I was on the wrong side of the capitol building. So, I set off walking across the Mall. It's funny to just be walking, and then to look left and see the capital, and then look right and the Washington Monument. Just hanging out, high into the sky. I would love to post the pictures that I took of this today, but apparently, I packed both my camera cords and left them at home, so I am going to have to get one mailed to me (finally happened, thus the addition of some pictures). Anyway, I am sure the pictures I took are as amazing, if not moreso, than the ones you might find on line at any professional photo gallery: So, after a long walk through the mall and elsewhere, I found the Aerospace Center, 901 D St. SW (as opposed to NW). Also have pictures of this building, but still don't have the camera cord (yes I do):



After locating the building, I felt like my mission had been accomplished, so I slowly made my way back from the direction I had come from. I eventually had to stop and eat something, since the banana I had eaten before I left the house was no longer keeping me full. I found an overpriced cafe and ate a sandwhich. It's funny, the food I have eaten in the last two days has tasted amazing. I can't decide whether this is because it is really amazing food, or if I have just been really hungry everytime I eat, and therefore, the food just tastes better. Anyway, after about 5 hours of exploring, I was ready to go home. I asked at another one of these Info booths about buses, and was directed to the 52 line.

The bus ride home was much more entertaining than the ride into DC. There was this couple sitting in front of me, and they were talking about stores in DC. Eventually, the talk turned to Target, as all talk about shopping will. The girl spent a good part of the ride home trying to convince her boyfriend that Target was a tier above both WalMart and Kmart. He was not having it, and she was telling him to ask any suburban woman and they would tell him the same thing. He was stlll not having it. I almost got involved, but decided it was probably not the best idea. They eventually got off the bus, but he was not happy, and was no longer talking to her, which I found very amusing. Anyway, the bus actually stopped running about a mile before my house, so I spent another few minutes exploring my neighborghood by foot before getting home and crashing in front of the TV.

All in all, a good day exploring, and I am ready for work in the morning. I have even made a turkey and cheese wrap for lunch, see how organized I am? I know, I know, amazing.

Thrift Store Summer

For those of your who were concerned about my lack of a blanket in the previous post (Mom), I am now the proud owner of not only a Laura Ashley comforter/duvet, but also a nice duvet cover that even matches the sheets I brought with me. All of this from the Lovely Georgia Ave. Thrift Store.

Also, I found out my friend Heidi is living about 10 minutes away from me. This is another added bonus to this housing situation.

DC, Here I come...

I left my apartment in Sacramento on Thursday morning after a long night involving some beer and a lot of cleaning/throwing away things in the dead of the night liek boxsprings and desks... Thursday morning came a little too early for some of us. Kelly and I spent our last morning in DC at Noah's eating bagels and drinking weak coffee. I hung out in Sac until Thursday evening, had drinks with one of my classes from Davis, and then drove home. Made it home at 3am after two hours of driving with the window down and the radio blaring.

Friday was simly spent running errands and trying to catch on sleep (still haven't caught up, I am thinking I mught just be giving up).

Cara and Joy and I spent Friday night eating dinner on the beach and then eating ice cream sandwiches in LA (we tend to do a lot of eating when we are together). They dropped me off at LAX at 10:45, and thus began my summer of adventures. Checking in for a 12:30am flight will always lead to some confusion, and of course, I am next to the woman who is checking in for a 12:30am flight that left Friday morning. Being that it is now Friday night, she is slightly late, and not happy about it. I stuck around as long as I could to see what was going to happen, but after my bags weighed in at exactly 50lbs and 48lbs, I figured I better not push my luck, and left to find my gate.

I spent some time before the flight trying not to freak out. I checked some email, set up my new ipod nano, and did some people watching. Nothing too exciting to report. I scored an exit row window seat with no one in the middle seat, so I was pretty excited about possibly getting some sleep. My hopes were almost dashed when the seven year old behind me announced she was staying up all night long. Her parents quickly put an end to that, and she was out before we hit 10,000 feet. I slept on and off during the flight, and woke up as we made our final descent into Cleveland. My connection was short, and I found myself on this tiny puddle jumper with a whole bunch of commuters flying to Reagan National Airport. My first samll plane experience (Kelly somehow convinced me I would be fine) was not too bad, until the landing, when the captain announced it was a little windy in DC. We were tossed around quite a bit, so I was thrilled to finally be on the ground.

Baggage claim was easy, considering there were maybe 20 of us on the plane. I found the Shuttle right outside the door, and then got a silent tour of downtown DC on the way to my new home. It is amazing to be driving down the highway and, oh, on your left is the Jefferson Memorial. And then, oh, here comes Pennsylvania Ave. and the White House.

The row house I am staying is really nice! It has so much character and is really comfortable. I will take some pictures once I find the camera I packed somewhere, so you can all see my new vacation home (and yours too, if you come to visit). I have my own room and a den with a futon and TV. I have met one of the roommates so far, she is very friendly. The neighborhood seems nice from what I have seen. I am about two blocks from a little shopping area (a little bit ghetto). I took a nice nap and then went down to the shopping area to find some food and a grocery store. I hit up a Subway (yup, first meal in DC, coulda had it in CA, but really, I just needed sustinance). I am pretty sure I was ordering my sandwich from behind bullet proof glass. Kinda reminded me of Oakland. After doing some more careful people watching, I decided I probably won't be returning to that Subway, and moved on to the Safeway. This Safeway is about as nice as the one in Sacramento (for those of you who don't know, this isn't saying much), but it does have the essentials, and $80, I am now good to go for the week ahead. I also am the proud owner of the newest pictures of Brad and Angelina's baby, and some sour breathe savers (Thanks Cara). I stopped by the drug store to see if they sold blankets, since I am needing to buy one, but alas, only normal drug store things. So, I brought home my groceries, and now I am sitting in my new den, thinking about whether or not I need to go back out to find that blanket.

Tomorrow is the big exploration day. I will be making my way down to downtown DC on the bus, to make sure I can actually make it to work on Monday. Hopefully there will be some exciting pictures and stories to go with it. Until then, hope everyone is happy and healthy! Feel free to call or visit...miss you all!