In Related News

Today, as I was walking to the train station to get to work (sans umbrella which I idiotically left in my office last night (b.t. dubs, it was raining)) and I saw two interesting things. The first thing I saw on a corner was a styrofoam cup of urine. Approximately half a block later I saw a bag-o-pants. I spent the rest of my commute to work wondering if they were placed on the sidewalk in related incidents. If they weren't, what a delightful coincidence!

Just Another Day At Work

Yesterday as I rode my bike into work I was in a surprisingly good mood. I think it because this weekend I enjoyed some merriment under the auspice of my birthday. I hung out with a bunch of people this weekend and even ate some food and drank a few beverages of a refreshing nature. Anyhow, yesterday I rode my bike into work. I have started to do that when I feel like sleeping in for an extra couple of minutes. I am pretty sure I can bike to work faster than I could drive in, given morning traffic in D.C. Almost more importantly, the bike ride to work is only narrowly longer than the walk to the train station. So, if I am not in my Sunday best, I have started to opt for the bike to work.

I've digressed, as I was coming into work I rode past this. There have been several protests in D.C. lately and I believe they have all been led by a group called October Revolution. The protest yesterday morning was a large group consisting of the aforementioned rapping polar bears, Code Pink, and Veterans Against the War. I paused for a moment as I was entering my office building to watch at least six people get arrested. Now, before anyone flips their lid, saying that they were using their right to free assembly/petition the government, I would point you to the fact that they were standing in the the middle of the street ( not shown in the video) obstructing the flow of traffic on Independence Ave. This, by the way, is illegal. The protesters who remained on the sidewalk were free from the "iron fist" of the Capitol Hill police.

On a related side note, on Friday the October Rebellion folks marched in Georgetown to protest the World Bank's actions. My pal who resides in Georgetown and I planned on attending the protests to watch and learn. She ended up getting stuck in the library working, and I was taken out to a birthday dinner of Indian food by some gracious compatriots, so we ended up missing them. We also missed a lady getting hit in the face with a brick.

Stay tuned for more from the city where Democracy always works.

This I know

This is a list of things I've learned (or at least remembered (or been inclined to lookup again)) while reading The Count of Monte Cristo. (Let the record show I haven't finished it yet, I am trying to finish Nixon and Kissinger: Partners in Power and then another book so I can return it to its owner.)

1)taciturn
2)sapient
3)indefatigable
4)alacrity
5)munificent
6)propitiate
7)probity
8)expiation
9)officious
10)loquacious
11)punctilious
12)pusillanimous
13)truckle
14)sagacious
15)disquieted
16)kine
17)canimus surdis (I'm still waiting to use this, it's a sweet aphorism)
18)aphorism
19)exordium
20)deign
21)venal
22)perspicacious
23)revenge is a dish best served cold and as a billionaire
24)mala ducis avi domum*

Suck on that GRE.

*This list was compiled in no particular order.

New TV Show

I just had an idea for a new TV show, MTV Crypts. Instead of going to rich people's houses they go to dead rich people's crypts. Obviously they would start with the Crypt Keeper, but I am sure there are tons of other great crypts out there. There are some crypts under churches in Rome, heck there's even a crypt in the Capitol. I'm just saying, wouldn't this be a way better show than listening to stupid celebrities show of their cars on dubs? Dead people can't say anything, and we all know that medieval lords were way bigger bad-asses than Missy Elliot.

Excelsior

As of October 6th, I am employed. I now have a full-time staff position, no more paid intern for me! That is all.

Columbus Day

One of the perks of being a government employee is having Columbus Day off. That is one of the few perks I can think of, that and the Thrift Savings Plan, which I haven't started using yet. Anyway, I had Columbus Day off and I spent a good deal of time this weekend palling around with someone and drinking a beer or two. That was fun and we had some laughs but I needed a change of pace on Monday. It was pretty hot out so I wasn't feeling another bike ride to Mt. Vernon (about 45 miles round trip and definitely not worth it) like Saturday, so I walked to the Mall. There has been some great confusion about this when I told people I was at the Mall. It is not a mall, it is the Mall. Better known as the Smithsonian Complex. Here is a picture to aid in your understanding.

If you look closely you'll see an arrow and a stick figure, that is me (not to scale). Around 1:15pm I packed up a book in my backpack and took the 35 minute stroll down to the Mall. There were some nice shady spots on the North side of the street, so I grabbed a park bench and proceeded to read. I finally finished I book I'd been working on for a couple of weeks now, you may recall Dreaming in Cuba. It was a nice relaxing day in ridiculously hot weather for October and I eventually bought a hot dog and went home. (By the way, I still don't think that Dreaming in Cuba is a great book, but my impression of it warmed from my initial assessment, I would give it a B/B-.)

On my walk home I saw a local winery store and felt like stopping in to get something to cool me off. Sam Adams still has its seasonals going and I was able to pick up a Cherry Wheat, the only wheat beer that I can truly say I liked the first time I had it. It tastes sort of like a cheery soda, but it's beer.

Upon returning home and cooking dinner I decided to sit on the porch and have a beer. At this time the gentlemen living across the street from me invited me over to their house and asked me if I am in a band. Apparently, they have heard me playing guitar and harmonica on my roof and are interested in having me come to one of their practices. I am not too familiar with the type of music they play, Go-go, but if I have some free time when their next practice comes up, I'll see what my acoustic guitar and harmonica can add to their group.

Anyway, stay tuned for more news from the city where Jessie Jackson, Jr. can be seen riding a segway down K Street (the infamous lobby corridor).

Continued Success

My loyal reader base my be familiar with my previous successes of crashing, I use the term loosely as I technically received invitations, events wherein I received free foodstuffs and drinks without doing too much more than showing up; a similar thing happened Thursday evening. A group was having a happy hour at a local drinking establishment, a classy one at that—proper dress was required. The people whom I came with and I ended up showing up a couple of minutes before the event technically began and as such had our run of the place for a while. I've been to happy hours before, and they typically have some beer and maybe some rail-style hard alcohol. This was not the case on Thursday evening. The only thing off limits was the 100 dollar a bottle scotch. I took this opportunity to sample some Black Bush Whiskey, some Tanqueray 10, and some Chimay Blue. For the uninitiated, Chimay Blue is a delightful Trappist Ale, brewed in Belgium of course, as all Trappist Ales are. I have sampled many types of beer in my day and this one ranks in the top two or three.

Needless to say, I, as lowly as I am on the Hill, have little to no influence on anyone or anything. As such, it is wasted dollars to lobby me, but I am more than happy to be lobbied. I'm still not quite sure what the organization was lobbying for, but all the better, I suppose.

The Leaves They Are A-Changin'

Those of you keeping abreast of my latest moves will know that I have been spending a lot of time on my roof recently. It is a nice, calming place to be. It lets me drink a beer in peace, look up at the five visible stars, and ponder the happenings of the world and where I went wrong. Anyway, I noticed last night while enjoying a Sam Adams Octoberfest (yes it is out now and as delicious as I recalled (for those of you who don't recall, my previous roommate and I went through 16 of the 21 Sam Adams varieties last year in what we dubbed the "Sam Adams Challenge" (there were some real winners (Octoberfest was among them) and some real losers (Old Fezziwig Ale to name one of many)))) I happened to notice that the leaves were starting to change color on the tree across the street from my roof. It is not too noticeable yet, just a dozens leaves or so towards the bottom, but it is happening nonetheless. I don’t know if that insight it supposed to be poetic or somehow insightful, but it struck me last night and I thought I would share.

In other news, I have been listening to "Desire" almost non-stop for the past three days. It seems to me to be one of Bob Dylan's more overlooked albums. It has the nearly infamous song "Hurricane" on it, but I am willing to bet most people cannot name another track off of the album. The sad thing about that is "Hurricane" isn't even the best song on the album, "Sara," and "One More Cup of Coffee (Valley Below)" are superior on most accounts. Anyhow, I highly suggest you listen to it again if you already have it or you find some way of listening to it if you do not have it.