Happy Birthday Kori Hamman!

a cupcake + an indie cd

...per our birthday tradition

wish we could celebrate together here or at mcnellies.

love you more than the whole wide world.

Surviving DC Summer 09: Avoid the Red Line and Crazy Elderly Bigots at Holocaust Museum.

I have a thing for chinese wave illustrations.

My favorite thing in the world is now Tapas.

Howard Dean was in my Metro car. My first DC celebrity! Thinner in person.

A lot going on in the sports world: I'm insanely happy Shaq's being traded, because he ruined everything the Suns had going for them. And, though heartbreaking, I think it's ultimately good for the world that soccer glory remains an elusive sport for the United States.

It's been a frustrating and busy week for me as far as legislation and issues are concerned, but Saturday morning I was walking toward Georgetown and out of nowhere comes this massive march of people peaceably protesting the elections in Iran. 

I started crying, literally overwhelmed by how amazing it is that I live in a country where opinions can be voiced without shots being fired. How healthy that is for a country. And how much I take that for granted.

Most importantly, come to me and my friend Emily's PARTY for all things Michael, Farrah and 4th of July!

Public Service Announcement.

I generally consider myself a very healthy person - I don't have allergies or asthma, I've never been hospitalized, never broken a bone, I'm not constantly fighting off colds or mono or strep or swine flu...

But, since summer 2008, I've suffered from miserable bouts of Vertigo often occurring after flights or trains, etc.

And when I describe it to people, I often feel like I'm making it up, like I stole it from an Alfred Hitchcock film and there's not possibly something out there really entitled Vertigo.

But now that I'm in almost a constant state of Vertigo (thanks public transportation), I've decided to enlighten everyone on the symptoms of this random/weird malady so that people can feel sufficiently sympathetic toward me when I complain.

First, my eyes get really red and watery.

And then I feel as if I am constantly moving: mostly falling or sloping downward, but if I'm in a chair or lying in bed I feel like I'm on a boat bobbing in water...

This is not to be confused with dizziness or motion sickness. I never feel dizzy or nauseated.

When it's really bad I run into walls.

...it's very disorienting, even scary, because it's so inescapable and it becomes harder than normal to function in society.

Since the source is some sort of inner ear equilibrium mechanism that nobody knows how to explain to me in a way that makes any sense, my ears begin to pop and ring.

I then go to a doctor who gives me glorified sleeping pills and instructs me through a series embarrassing stretches/exercises that do not help. As of right now, time seems to be the only cure.

According to Web MD, I will either be living with this for the rest of my life or am dying of a brain tumor. 

If I Had Any Say In "Hott 100" Lists, Beyonce Would Be #1 Every Time.

Because I Feel Like I Have So Much More To Say Than Twitter Allows...

Update:

Bill Clinton is speaking at the Conference I'm currently working on.

I believe in public education 110 percent. State school kids are my kinda people.

My Mom is the new Assistant Dean at the Architecture College. Basically, she kicks ass.

I am insanely busy. Work sucks up your entire day. And all you want to do when you get home is curl up to watch TV and fall asleep. Eeeeeeks.

I really just love getting dressed in the morning.

I love this city.

I love nights out in this city.

I feel like I'm living what I believe in, if that even makes sense...

I feel lost as to what the next step is.

I miss the comfort of school awaiting me in the fall. 

I am gaining a crash course in hardcore budgeting.

I really really miss my life in Oklahoma, especially especially my friends. 

I'm sad I didn't get to see Christa skip down the aisle at Jamie and Joe's wedding (of the Century).

...it's stuff like that I miss the most.

I love listening to Mykonos by Fleet Foxes. Could listen to it forever.

It's also Father's Day, thus a big shout out to Kelley Callahan!

So awhile ago, I was at home for a weekend and I rented MILK (so so good) and my Dad watched it with me. 

And when it was finished, he turned to me and says, in reference to Harvey Milk, "Now that's a hero."

And in that moment, it struck me how heroic my Dad is. 

That I was raised in an atmosphere where I can easily watch MILK with a Dad who has no qualms calling a gay man heroic. 

With a Dad who, despite loving and living and breathing sports and wanting five boys, was raised by a single mom and two sisters and has three artsy daughters who he has supported wholeheartedly, so that they've never second guessed their place in the world or their abilities.

With a Dad who read novels to me every single night when I was little: To Kill a Mockingbird (my Dad will always be Atticus Finch to me), Babbit, The Hobbit, Tony Hillerman detective novels...

With a Dad whose thoughtful intelligence has evidenced itself in his answers to my bazillion questions and the way he rarely talks about politics, but repeatedly placed Obama and Rice signs in the front yard in quiet defiance after every midnight steal.

So, I love my Dad.

National Building Museum.

Okay, so my DC must see is the Arlington Cemetery. Because it's incredibly moving and poignant and sacred and stirring and beautiful. 

And jazz in the Sculpture Gardens during Friday afternoon happy hour is perfection.

Oh, and early morning runs past the State Department, Lincoln Monument and reflecting pool. So worth waking up for.

But I also went to the National Building Museum this weekend and loved it. There were all these really cool, random exhibits.

For instance: 

Architecture of Authority by Richard Ross, which are all these haunting, clinical photographs of structures where people are submitted to authority: everything from prisons, high school hallways, the DMV, Cambodian torture chambers, interrogation rooms, Guantanamo Bay, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's office, airport customs...

How the Other Half Worships by Camilo Jose Vergara, which pairs amazingly gritty photographs with a sociological examination of these storefront churches converted from laundromats and car repair shops in these really poor, desperate areas

Green Community which is this study of how different cities are combating urban sprawl, innovating and seeking sustainability. Fascinating! (Portland wins for best city ever, by the way).

It further sparked my newest career interest: urban planner. I am officially obsessed with how all the different components of a city function.

...I really love museums. Especially when they're free.

SYTYCD: Why I Don't Hate Reality TV

What I'm In Love With Right This Second:

Gmail.

Arnold Palmers (half lemonade, half ice tea). 

Greek yogurt.

Farmers markets.

Georgetown.

Dupont.

Sculpture gardens.

Michigan accents.

ENOUGH and Campus Progress interns.

Dinner parties on Natalie's balcony.

Five Guys.

Taking the Metro.

Blackberry talks with Meg.

Blackberry texts from Casey.

Mail from my Mom.

"Suppressing Ideas Never Makes Them Go Away."

I think Obama's antries into the Muslim world are so important.
*But I'd like more action less rhetoric.

So here's my plea: please do not travel to Africa, Central America, India, Bulgaria, China, etc. to do amazing things and not gave a damn or know a thing about your country's foreign policy. It just doesn't make sense.



And on that note:

Obama's speech in Cairo.

And a very scary response in Jerusalem.

It's Pouring Down Rain In DC, Thus An Update:

So, I've been in DC for a couple days now:

Living space is comical and completely temporary, but includes great roommates and great Foggy Bottom location. 

I work at Center for American Progress with the student mobilization arm, Campus Progress, where really profound things are written and events with free drinks are hosted.

The people are awesome, intimidatingly smart and so much more committed to causes than I could ever hope to be. I'm sort of realizing that I'm much more opinionated than activist.

Just an example: I am completely disturbed, outraged and overwhelmed with feelings about the George Tiller murder and think certain conservative pundits are absolute criminals. 

I can't wait to further explore the city, take a weekend trip to Cape Cod, experience more of the DC political scene and ride the metro with easy confidence (so, right now I get lost an average of three times per day...).

The view from Natalie's balcony is insane.

This city is run on pure youth.

Shopping at the Safeway inside the Watergate building sufficiently creeps me out - I literally got goosebumps.

Other than that, I'm exhausted and have trouble processing my thoughts/talking in complete sentences. Whew, 9 to 6.

And, of course, I miss everyone. Wish you were here.

Also, just watched Glee pilot - both entertaining and oddly inspiring.