Mr. Hat Goes to Washington

I realized today that I actually don't know how to "not" work. I love learning, and I love my internship, and I love to do both of them...all the time! But this week, my roomies and I took Mr. Hat on a tour of Washington.

Mr. Hat belongs to another TWC intern, Craig Wilkinson from Mount Union College in Ohio. Vicki, one of my roommates, stole Mr. Hat while Craig was playing Guitar Hero at our apartment. After he left, Mr. Hat was on her desk and subsequently on Vicki's head. He rode all over Washington on Vicki's head, since he doesn't have any legs. For his photo ops, he usually stood on his own. Pride, I guess.

Before Mr. Hat was given the opportunity to see the Capitol, he had to go on a Metro ride from where we live (Alexandria), all the way to the Metro stop at Capitol South. He rode on Vicki's head to get there. Vicki seemed to be really enjoying that we stole Mr. Hat from Craig :)

The agenda for the day was to see the Native American History Museum. It's one of the Smithsonian Museums, so that means it was free to get in. If it weren't free, I am curious if Mr. Hat would have been charged the adult fee, or the children's fee. Since he can't go anywhere unattended (and he's small), I figure he'd probably qualify as the child rate.

Mr. Hat posed so that the Capitol Building could be seen in the background. (Hi mom!!) It was really cold on Saturday, and so Mr. Hat went right back onto Vicki's head. When we got into the museum, we of course went through a metal detector (they are in almost every building, and usually they have one of those cool xray machines for your bag, too) and the police guy thought my laptop was a DVD player. I carry what I call my "office in a bag" at all times, because, like I said, I don't know how to NOT work. My office bag has a still camera (used it to take photos of Mr. Hat!), a small video camera (although I have a full size one), an MP3 voice recorder, and the laptop I already mentioned. You'd think that would be heavy, but I own an ASUS Eee, which is the world's smallest fully functional laptop. It weighs 2.3 pounds and is 7" big. More like... not big.

Mr. Hat posed in front of the really cool Indian art thing. I personally thought that art piece looked a lot like some odd Aztec or Incan thing, but then again, art is not my forte. I did take Art History, but all that did was make me think art was really cool. I remember art stuff about as well as I remember stuff about geology- not very well.

There was a lot of cool stuff up on the third floor of the museum. It was structured in such a way that you would follow the curvy walls, looking at small artifacts, televisions, and info-prints, until you actually had gone in a circle and ended up where you started. Mr. Hat's favorite piece was the Dragon thing, which is a representation of the devil, called DIABLADA. When I took a picture of it for Mr. Hat to admire later, the flash had gone off right where the eyeballs were. I thought that made it look SO cool.

All in all, Saturday was really cool (literally, since it was also about 36* out), but Mr. Hat also went with me to work on Wednesday. I work a couple of blocks from the Capitol Buildling, and the "office" is really more like a radio/recording studio with three computers and three office chairs in it. Mr. Hat hung out on the desk in front of the main computer. That's one of the places where I sit when I'm conducting phone interviews. When we're going to interview people and they can't be done in person, we call them up and record them on the computer. Then we edit the interview and put it up on the website for everyone to hear. I've done four phone interviews so far. Michael Martineau, Executive Producer of Movies for a Better World; Peter Bennett, musician and actor/artist promoter; Scott Rosenfelt, Movie Producer; and Joan Miller, mother of Eric Miller, a young man that desperately needs a kidney transplant.

On Thursday I'm going to be interviewing (in person) Congresswoman Watson. It's pretty cool- I called up the press secretary, told them I was with Talk Radio News Service, and three days later they called me back and now I get to interview one on one with a Representative of Congress. Now, I was able to do a whole bunch of that at the State of the Union Address, but this is much more fun because I set it up myself and I get her undivided attention for fifteen minutes. I also called Senator Burr and Senator Landrieau... we'll see what happens.

More adventures with Mr. Hat are sure to come!

Congress and Zoo Animals!

One of the people in the world I'd most like to meet is Jeff Corwin, simply because I think he's insane. He makes me laugh. When I was a kid I wanted to be a veterinarian until somewhere around age twelve when I realized that those cute fuzzy things eventually died, and that just clinched it for me.

I’m not a tremendous fan of zoos, but, well, they’re there and I guess they’ve got a purpose. One purpose, of course, is for research and trying to keep certain species from going extinct, and the other purpose is for people like me to go and stare at them. The animals are CUTE, oh yeah. Some of them. Not the snakes. Or spiders. Or other creepy crawly things.

I love all the rodent things. Mouse deer! Elephant shrew! Some of these little guys look a lot like giant hamsters and makes you want to take them home. I actually went to the zoo with Cassie, Vicki, and Craig, fellow TWC interns. We even saw the "happy toad" or something silly like that. At that point in time, I don’t think we were quite on par with the HAPPY part of said toad, because it was supposed to be 72* on Monday but it suddenly clouded over, dropped twenty degrees, and started pouring rain. Yay! We were soaked, but we stayed at the zoo anyway because most of the people left and so we had the place to ourselves.

Rare event in the zoo: the sloth was moving.

Well, Craig and I were told that it was moving by some nice zoo employee person. We stared at it for a good ten minutes and I don’t think it moved more than an inch. So, we went to look at the naked mole rats instead. Now, that was funny. For one thing, they are SO ugly, but their little homes are more like a hive. There is a big queen one, a couple "jack" ones that are the mates, and then lots of baby ones that are just workers. But they’re blind and have giant teeth... and apparently they have no issues with chomping each other right in the butt. Craig and I watched two of them trying to squiggle their ugly little booties down a clear tube from one little house to the next.

The connector tunnel was right up next to the wall where we could see it, and so the first one would start waddling along the pipe... the second one would run up behind it, chomp it in the butt, and drag it backwards. Then, it would do this bizarre leapfrog like move as it squashed the one in front to climb over it. The front runner would then take off in a fast waddle... and the other one would chomp it in the butt and the cycle repeated. There was quite a crowd laughing at these two for quite a while. We couldn’t figure out if they were playing or if they didn’t realize that they weren’t going anywhere!

Forcing yourself to laugh will cause actual glee and merriment! Of course, watching two naked mole rats chomp each other in the butt and play leapfrog makes it even better.

A Changing World

I am entertained easily. I have never lived in a building with a trash chute before. I went to the door labeled 'trash room' which is down the hallway from my apartment. It wasn't really much of a room; it was a closet. There was a little metal door on the wall, and so I opened it up and dropped my bag in. I made some sort of 'squee' noise as I heard it slide down five floors and land on the pile below. Cool.

I’d say one of the most interesting parts of my job, is the part where I get to watch history unfold right in my face. Now, a lot of people would say "I see that on TV," which is true, but I am literally standing in it. For example, I was two feet from all the directors of all the Department of Defense guys. Sparkling stars on shoulders everywhere! I really enjoy doing what I do. For example, I just had an email pop in from work telling me that I am covering a committee hearing that Condi Rice will be the witness at on Wednesday. Cool. I frequently attended hearings, conferences, whatever... and I get to sit there and not just watch it on CSPAN. Actually... I’m standing next to CSPAN... usually asking the very nice camera guy how much the camera weighs. 35 pounds fully loaded with battery, actually :)

On Sunday, fellow TWC friend Craig and I decided to find Taco Bell. Craig, apparently, was having withdrawals, since "there is a Taco Bell on every corner in Ohio and I can’t find one here!!" Well, it was a super windy day. Something like 50 mph gusts. And... it was 40* out. So, Craig and I were leaning into the wind, trapeizing all over D.C. since the directions we got weren’t very good. At one point, the wind blasted so hard, I was lifted right off the ground and flung into poor Craig. I grabbed on for dear life and we were screaming with laughter. It was hysterical. Awesome, is more like it!

When we finally got to Taco Bell, Craig ordered himself an entire Grande Meal and pledged to stuff himself with it, which he did. The whole thing. In one sitting. And tried to steal my nachos when he was done. But, I noticed something while I was sitting there. See, I saw a homeless man in a wheel chair come in, and there were four very young looking kids surrounding him. I watched them buy him food and then they sat down at a table and talked to him while he ate the food. I, of course, always carry my video camera and mp3 recorder, and so I pulled it out and filmed them for a moment. Then I interviewed them, edited it, and posted my video on YouTube:



This makes all sorts of other things, like "what sort of yummy dinner am I making everyone for poker night" questions... seem a whole lot more irrelevant. Presently, I am watching CNN sort of like "wow." Most likely, it doesn’t matter when this actually gets posted, you could go "wow" at CNN at any moment because of this election season. Tuesday I went to George Washington University’s polling spot (it just was one that we randomly picked) and asked people why they had decided to vote for whoever it was they voted for (didn’t ask them who). It is very, very weird, to be watching them do the exact same thing right on CNN. Bizarre. I mean, going from "freelancer" to "I’ve got a Congressional Press Pass, thank you," makes things seem a bit surreal.

I felt that way again while I was covering CPAC on Friday, which was the Conservative Political Action Conference. I was with a whole bunch of other people, of course, but I wandered around with my Marantz and nice big fat mic that I kept poking into people’s faces- and I got to watch person after person get a "no you can’t come in"... and by "person" I mean freelancer. I have never felt so privileged as I did at that moment- because of TWC and my internship at Talk Radio News Service, I have actual, real, bonafide press credentials and so I get to do the most fascinating things.

Where's Waldo?

I am geographically challenged. In my thirty-two years, I have been to England, France, Switzerland, Italy, Japan, Canada, Mexico, and to more than thirty of the United States. However, I always am feeling like I'm upside down. I lived on the West Coast till I was twenty, and then have bounced around a lot since. Well, since moving to the East, I think I am going North and I am actually traveling South, or I think I've turned East and I'm really going West. That is exactly how I do things like try to drive from Philadelphia to New York and I'll end up in Delaware. Oops. If you asked me right this second where Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, and D.C. are in relation to each other, there is no way I could do it.

So on Friday I was talking with my overlord, or goddess-of-TRNS, Lovisa. Lovisa is totally awesome and is originally from Sweden. Eventually I did my famous "I am sooooo lost" thing that I do on a regular basis. "Um," I said, "I don't know where Sweden is exactly...." Someone said "near Norway" which totally did not help at all. A couple of other countries were named and when they finally got to "Italy," I felt like EUREKA. I was then assigned homework by Lovisa. Find Sweden on the map. Ok! There is Sweden:

Living where I live makes seeing everything rather easy. It also makes hanging out with friends really convenient. My roommates Cassie and Vicki have decided to have Poker Night on Fridays. This involves me, Cassie, Vicki, and Craig Wilkinson, another TWC Intern. We get together, puts lots of chips and dips in bowls, and throw poker chips around whilst listening to 80s music. It's hysterically fun. I made a video of us and even got Craig singing "Just the Two of Us" in the Austing Powers version on it. It was so funny. All my fellow TWC Interns are so nice. The one that works with me, Evan, actually lives in the apartment right next door. I was standing on my sunporch last night waving at him.

Since I am a COMM major and also just a video nerd in general, I don't know how to make a home movie. I make mini-productions because I can't help it. On Saturday, Cassie, Vicki, me, and Tom went to Fairfax for a "Chocolate Lovers Festival." Oh! Tom is actually TOM TOM, the GPS. Without TOM, we would be so lost we'd end up in South Carolina before we knew it. I did mention being geographically challenged... but if I have a street map, I can find anything. It's really strange.

So we got to the chocolate festival and I spent eight bucks. Eesh. That's a lot for poor me. But the fudge was killer, and I also had to go back for more truffles that the Virginia Chocolate Company made. The owner, Tim Douglas, described to me how he made all of it by hand and that included the caramel. I briefly taped Tim and also set up a phone interview with him for College Media News. That's the branch of Talk Radio News Service where we personally get to interview and post clips of things that are interesting to College students. It includes pretty much anything, from politics to apparently candy. I have interviews set up with Pete Bennett (music and talent promoter... previously for the Rolling Stones and Elvis, to name a few), Michael Martineau (movie producer and environmental activist), Jordan Taylor (a singer that just got signed with Interscope records), Tim (the candy guy, who will hopefully love me or something and pass on some truffles), Kathy Boisseau Anderson (public school advocate for New Orleans), Scott Rosenfield (movie producer), and at the moment I'm working on Bon Jovi, Rush, a bunch of others... last semester some interns interviewed Bono from U2. Awesome. My interviews will be up on http://www.collegemedianews.com/ as they become finished. All the other interns at TRNS do those as well. There are only six of us running the whole shebang, and we pretty much have freedom to do any kind of interview that we would like as long as we figure other college students will be interested. Also some of our sound bites from the interviews (only that person speaking directly, not the actual interview) may be put up on TRNS's website if it is overall nationally newsworthy. Most likely my NOLA school advocate and environmental activist will be approved for TRNS posting. Of course, I post to TRNS often, but those are my assignments, such as the hearings I attend. So far the most interesting hearing was the Judicial Oversight one on waterboarding legality with AG Mukasey, and of course The State of the Union Address. But I'm sure that Super Tuesday is going to rock my little world and hopefully yours. Twenty-one states up?! WOW!! Love that, love that. I'll be doodling around at watch parties here in Washington, getting people's reactions to the candidates results. Can't wait.

Now that I'm puffed full of mounds of chocolate, I have been drinking my gallon of decaf coffee and eating nachos while I re-read my homework and write up my weekly reflective journal. I certainly have a lot to reflect on, I guess, since I love my job, I love the Washington Center, I love Washington D.C., I love my fellow interns... did I forget to pass the luv on to anyone? Hmmm. I love the Metro, I guess. "No large rats running loose" is a billboard in there, I kid you not. You cannot have food or drink anywhere in the metro system. That makes it really, REALLY clean. Can you imagine if New York tried that? For one thing, there would be a riot by the New Yorkers that drink Grande Skinny Milk Non Fat Splenda Whip Chocolate Mousse Triple Expressos from Starbucks. There is, I believe, a Starbucks on every corner. This makes every New Yorker completely wigged out on caffiene most likely. Therefore five zillion caffienated mad people would not be such a hot idea :) And so... I luv the Metro in
D.C.!!

I will now create enemies by saying that I hate football (I hear the booing! Stop it!!!). Cassie, Vicki, and I sat and watched. Okay, I sat at watched. Cassie yelled at the TV, Vicki yelled at the TV, and I sat here going.... "who has the ball?"

The conversation went something like this:

Me: Who are we cheering for?

Vicki: The Giants.

Me: Okay, which color are they?

Vicki: (looks at me like I have suddenly grown three heads) White and red.

Me: All right then. Yay Giants!

*laugh*

I later hung out with a different friend and cheered the Giants till victory. I am a little sad that the Patriots didn't become the second team in history to win everything all season including the Super Bowl (the first being the '72 Miami Dolphins), but I was happy they were roasted alive because they had previously stomped all over my home team, the San Diego Chargers! YAY GIANTS!!

My Zen Fish come in handy. I just went to PetSmart and got a little two gallon fish tank and put five fishies in it. I like to stare at them swim around and sort of zone out. It's how I relax. I also watch my Ghost Shrimp, which is this tiny little see-thru shrimp that swims around the tank by wildly beating its bitty little legs... of course, I killed it already, but it was only thirty cents and so I'll go get another one :)

In the meantime while I was mourning the death of ye-olde-shrimp, I ran around D.C. for three hours straight. I went on a tour of the Capitol Building with TWC. It was totally cool, and honestly, out of every single buildling in this city, the Capitol Buildling is my favorite. I love Greek architecture, and I've seen a LOT of places, like I said before. I think, though, that the Capitol Building is currently my favorite, even over palaces in France!

It was very, very overcast on the day I took these, and I took them with my cellphone. That makes them "not so impressive" but the White House? Fascinating. I sort of stared at it for a while. It's bigger than I thought. And it's bizarre because if you turn around from that exact spot where I was standing, you are staring directly at the Washington Monument (aka "that pointy thing"). A big fat hawk flew over and sat on the fence while I was looking at the White House. I tried to take its picture, but it came out looking like a blob on the fence post. But it was awesome anyway!

During that three hours, I went into one of the Smithsonian Museums. All the Smithsonians are FREE!! Yay! Poor me can go. I went into the Air and Space Museum briefly, pretty much just to see what was in it. There were FULL SIZE AIRPLANES in there, hanging from the roof. I asked the guy, and he told me that not only are they completely real, they usually have the engines and everything in it. Um, doesn't that make them REEEEeeeAAAaaaLLLLYYYYY heavy?! I know it was perfectly safe but it was still making me nervous to be standing under a full size jet that was cabled to the ceiling... I didn't figure out which was the Kitty Hawk, but I didn't stay long. I'll go back! I plan to go to museums a LOT.

Gotta prepare for the onslaught that is Super Tuesday! Yay! I love my job!