Yes, I am alive.

Well it might as well have been a decade since I last blogged, so I figured I'd humor the world. Quite a bit has happened since my previous entry. I'll start from where I remember.

A few weeks ago I got to help prepare for our company's board meeting. It was quite an experience. So much preparation goes into an event that lasts about two hours. Nonetheless, it was an incredible experience. There's been a lot going on. We got a new chairman, who seems to be taking the organization in a very new and exciting direction. It was absolutely fascinating to see the inner-trappings of such a complex place. Luckily, I got to sit in on the whole thing and observe how it all goes down. It was a very humbling experience. There were so many important people in one place, but very few who didn't know how to rein in the egos. Every one of them has a whole lot of sway in a number of areas, but most were a lot more down to earth than I expected.

I've since been doing a lot of administrative work for our president and CEO. INCREDIBLE. Just getting to connect with a lot of the people he knows is something that very few get to do, and not something that I've taken lightly. Each day my palms sweat a little less, but its still usually pretty nerve-racking. I don't really know how he does all that he does. Back to back meetings and trips, he pretty much never seems to stop. It can be overwhelming just planning the schedule. I can't even fathom living it. It's given me a great chance to get to know a lot of the people that lead the company. Once again, its very humbling. They're all quite accomplished, and all very bright, but, for the most part, very down to earth. My desk is located in an area that a couple of people call "the fish bowl." Pretty much like a giant high rise where like ten different highways connect. It can be rather overwhelming, but I get to see almost everything that goes down behind the scenes at the very top. I've established somewhat of a rivalry with our unnecessarily complicated printer/copier/scanner/bane of my existence. Its a machine that should make everyone's life easier, but really accomplished the opposite. It can be rather embarrassing. It's very centrally located (right near the water cooler and in between like 50 offices. Most of its kind have no trouble letting you know when you've made a mistake. This one, however, takes it to a whole new level. Instead of a simple error message. It combines a gauntlet of air-raid siren-like beeps that let the whole office know you've messed up. IMPRESSIVE. Luckily, it seems to be mastered by few and thwarts the masses. I hope I don't take a jack-hammer to it at some point.

A couple weeks a go I ventured to the big apple for the first time to visit my friend Toni, whose dad is the third base coach for the Mets. It was, to say the least, overwhelming, but also insanely cool at the same time. I took a train up there (a method of transportation I now much prefer to planes). She lives in Flushing, the place where Fran Drescher hails from. (You can only imagine) But it's just a subway ride away from manhattan. The first night I was there, that is where we explored. There was a small gathering of OU people, most of whom I'd never met, celebrating a girl's birthday. All were very sweet and fun to be around, but we, unfortunately, got caught up with a socialite friend one of them had and that kind of spoiled it. The latter tried to take us to this absurd night club where the line was like 10 miles long. I guess I don't understand what it means to be trendy because I'd rather hit the bar and get to the booze before the doors close. We ended up going to this dive of a tavern to start the night, then headed to the east village. I wish I would have paid more attention to where we went. People keep asking me, but I was just too caught up in the masses to really pay attention. The next night me and Toni went out in queens for an early birthday celebration for her. It was a rather upscale pool hall that brought out queens fines, and really wasn't that bad. I spent too much at the bar, but birthdays are def a legit justification for that. In addition to galavanting through the strange mix of night life, I got to go to two Mets games. We got the VIP treatment, slipping in and out of underground tunnels as Toni and her mom flashed their special ID badges. I've def never experienced anything like that before. New Yorkers are an interesting breed, especially mets fans. It doesn't take much for them to turn on their own players, but, despite the booing when a play went bad, they're loyal as hell. The team didn't win either game, but it was still fun to be there.

Coming back was amazing. I, again, loved the train ride, but it was the strange sense of being at home that I got when I arrived at union station that really made me realize how much I love it here. DC can be nuts, but to a much lesser extent than NYC.

I've been continuing on with my classes that I'm doing through Gaylord. Perhaps the most fascinating experience was a trip to the RNC. Much to my shock, no alarms went off went I entered the building, and I actually learned a lot. We spoke with a deputy finance director. She was one of the most lively people I've met and, despite being a staunch republican, was very respectful. I got a tote bag full of RNC paraphernalia that was given out to major donors at an '08 winter retreat. I'm thinking about sewing an Obama patch over the logo and making it a permanent toy. All of the crap inside must have cost at least $200. I got everything from a crystal wine cork, to a leather bound notebook and cheap plastic pens. I imagine my grandparents will appreciate the re-gifting that lies ahead.

Last weekend was the fourth, and the fireworks were incredible. I climbed up onto a rooftop and got to see a 360 view of about 4 different shows. None were terribly close, but being surrounded was pretty sweet.

I've yet to do much more sight-seeing, but I imagine a trip from my grandparents in a few weeks and another from my mom/brother will take care of a lot of that. Otherwise, an addiction to frozen stouffer's lasagna's has pretty much consumed my life. Also, I've finally started to master the public transportation system (or at least the busses to and from work). The stigma is pretty much gone. The characters never cease to amaze me, but knowing that I'm going where I'm supposed to be headed is a good feeling, especially when I don't have to trek on foot. I hope to get more of a chance to use the metro, but, unfortunately, it doesn't really come near where I live. Or at least not anywhere efficient enough for where I want to do. All in due time, though. All in due time.

I'm sure there's much more I could inform the few people who actually read this about, but my mind's slightly zapped from combing receipts at work, so I'm going to give it a break.

who'll stop the rain? I guess the fire alarm...

Well here I am. Work week 1 down. the rest of it went great. Minus the fact that it literally rained for what felt like 4 days straight. It can be nice when it cools things off, but not when it gets so damn humid. A light drizzle is pretty decent, too. It did finally stop raining sometime saturday, presumably when I was rudely awoken by a fire alarm. Being from Oklahoma (and still asleep at the time) I almost just thought it was the friday tornado siren test. I think that was the only time in my life I wished it actually had been. 

But not the torrential downpour I experienced wednesday night when I was hanging out with a friend of a friend from camp. It was nice to have that connection and it was all kinds of fun. We went to this awesome restaurant called Cafe Asia. (of course I liked it b/c I could live off chinese). Unfortunately, I picked the worst night to forget my umbrella.

As far as work goes, I finally got a desk and got access to the server I need to do a lot of the work. Me and the other 2 interns finished the first drafts of the write-ups for the newsletter/blog we're hoping to get going next week. They helped out SO much! I'm glad I'm working with competent people. Jake and another one of our supervisors are going to look at them over the weekend so we can make corrections, edit, revise, etc. 

I also worked on a list of citations of each time we've been mentioned in the press since February. It's probably not comprehensive and I struggled with it a bit, but all and all I think it went okay. My other big project for the week was a social networking brief on the 7-10 most popular sites in the world (facebook's, essentially, from around the globe.) I was pretty proud of that, but we'll see how the powers that be respond. 

One of the highlights of the week was when a brazilian rapper named MV Bill came and spoke at Meridian. It was incredible. I didn't really know what to expect when I went in to cover it, and didn't really take it seriously beforehand. But, once he got started I was blown away. He's from the town that the movie City of God is based off of. Its a shantytown in rural brazil thats plagued with violence, corruption, and drug trafficking. This isn't unusual in many of the neglected areas where the population is dominantly black. Most people don't realize that so much of the population isn't light-skinned. He's such an accomplished philanthropist and you can tell he actually cares very much about what he's doing. He showed us a DVD he made in which he traveled around and got footage of the tragic conditions in a lot of the places. It was mind-boggling. Much of the background music was him and his lyrics were actually very impressive. The DVD wasn't completely focused on the sad aspects of the situation. There were sections he showed us in which local children were in classrooms starting to get the education they so desperately need. Both parts were very moving and MV Bill actually had to pause after the first bit to gather himself. It was pretty touching. I had to choke back tears a couple of times. We shot footage of it, so hopefully that will be up ASAP.

My new desk is outside the president of our company's office. Its a pretty high traffic area so things can get a bit overwhelming, but its a great way to meet people and he's an awesome guy. regardless, its a bit terrifying to have to answer phones when really important people call him. I actually dropped a really important phone call on Friday, but the person called back and everyone was understanding. I kind of just had to jump into the deep end, but I'm sure it won't be too difficult. His executive assistant will be back from vacation on Monday. Its insane because she actually graduated from lake highlands and her little brother graduated with me. INSANELY small world. Apparently she's incredible at her job and I can't wait to learn a lot from her. 

I'm also kind of relieve that she will be back b/c she has a drivers license, ha. Which is apparently a commodity around here. Another absolutely terrifying part of my week occurred when the big man came out of his office, looked at me, and asked "do you have a drivers license?" when I told him I did he just said "Okay, lets go." And off we were, my first driving experience with DC and it was the most important person in our company. Luckily he drove to the place where is lunch meeting was and I only at to make a straight shot back down a one way street to our building. If I would have had to navigate around I might have ended up in Baltimore, or worse.

I finished my online class and got a A. YAY! I start the seminar workshops and stuff for the gaylord fellowship next week and I'm excited to see what that will bring. It will drive me crazy to take time away from work, but at least I KNOW it will be for an incredible experience.

Friday night was also awesome. I went to hang out with Jake and some of his friends again. They're all so incredible there really aren't enough words to explain. SO intelligent, SO educated, that I don't even feel like its real. We had cocktails and then a few of us went out for a bit. It was such a good time. I don't know what I would do if I didn't have them all to show me around.

Today I did a bit of my first sight-seeing. Me and a couple of friends went to the National Gallery of Art. Once again, I was completely blown away. There's so much to see that its almost impossible NOT to miss out on something. As far as the older works went, the sculptures and landscapes were awesome. I was particularly captivated by a couple of paintings that had fallen trees on them. The colors and details were incredible. The modern art was probably what I favored, though. I saw some Jackson Pollock and  Henri Matisse that were inexplicable awesome. My favorite part was this piece by Thomas Demand and, not surprisingly featured the oval office. It looked like photographs, but instead the artist used magazines and other images to paint a circular view of the room. Then, he took pictures of the paintings and it looked SOOO realistic. Who knows what I will do tonight. Maybe take it easy? Maybe go out again? We shall see. Either way, I'm off.  

note to self: buy better walking shoes

well the weekend is over and it was absolutely incredible. (for the most part) my boss, jake, introduced me to even more of his awesome friends and I can't wait to get to know them. his god sister actually lives in the same building as me and we didn't even know. what are the odds? she's also very very cool. they grew up in south carolina, so i got to hear a lot of awesome stories about plantations and the luxurious old south. on saturday we had brunch at this wonderful place in georgetown and then went on a walk to dupont circle. the weather was gorgeous and has been since i got here. (i think i brought it with me) after the walk we all drank wine for hours. unfortunately i ended up losing my debit card, so i've been living off of credit. SO PRACTICAL.

i had quite the headache sunday, but it gave me a good excuse to work on my dumb online intersession class. thank god it ends next week. very easy 3 hours. then i finally finished angels and demons and watched the movie online. it was absurdly different, but i guess it works as a summer blockbuster. i fell asleep pretty early trying to watch another movie, so i had trouble passing back out. if the dumb air conditioner in my room weren't on the ceiling i would have kicked it off by now. i makes this dumb clicking noise that didn't help my partial insomnia. i eventually woke up at about 6 ish and read some more of that Fareed Zakaria book. GET INVOLVED. 

i made sure to shower early. a bunch of people have moved in and i'm not up for competing or waiting in line to clean myself. for some reason i've developed an obsession for a fruit salad/honey butter croissant combo. best breakfast ever. since the weather has been so nice, the walk to work this morning was incredible. its not exactly down the street, but with an ipod its actually kind of nice. i was pretty nervous about getting there because i didn't know exactly what i was going to be doing. i actually beat my boss to work (go me) and i got to read the times. 

it didnt take long to dive right into work. Meridian is switching their newsletter to an online version, so i'm going to be drafting articles for that for the next couple of weeks. i started with an article about a visit from a group of Tajik Imam's who came to study religious freedom and such in the U.S. its actually very cool. they got to hold a friday prayer session in the actual Capitol building. i bet that was really moving. stay tuned for a link sometime in the future. in the meantime, you should def check out the web site. meridian.org b/c its very cool and getting even better.

I also helped work on expanding our presence on social networking sites like facebook. there's a really awesome girl name Beth who has been working on it for months anon. she's a grad student at GW. sadly, she's headed back to europe this week, so i won't get to work with her very much. but, she's teaching me a lot before she takes off. i helped compile data about social networking sites i'd never even heard of: bebo, hi-5, and linked-in. we're focusing, for now at least, mainly on facebook. so, if you're on it then you should def become a fan of meridian international center. not the group, but the fan page. if you have questions about that, ask me.

In addition, i got to sit in on a briefing with two small delegations from south korea and palestine. it was an interesting experience b/c they had translators and stuff so it was like miniature-UN-esque. in reality, though, it was a snooze. a lecture from a george mason teacher about the basics of american gov't. all info i learned in 8th grade history an intro to american fed gov't freshman year. because of my lack of sleep i had trouble not nodding off. i wasn't, however, as bad as the rando Arab guy from the UK who literally fell asleep or the old white man next to him with a manilla folder full of crosswords. 

lesson of the day: buy walking shoes if you plan to trekk to and fro work. my blisters from the other day are not very happy with me. 

well until next time,

LOVE.

Well its day # 3 and somehow I've been convinced to do a blog. We'll see how this goes. 

Getting here was pretty interesting. My old man cab driver wasn't too sure where he was going, but I was much worse once I actually got to GW. The campus is open and I just happen to be in the farthest building away from where I had to get my key and stuff. Actually its the farthest building away from anything. So I traversed the streets around campus with a full backpack, a heavy hanging bag, and an even heavier rolling suitcase. It was a pain, but totally worth all the clothes I brought.

The rooms are alright. I think I've kind of been spoiled by my summers at duke, but this def has it perks. One of them being that its attached to a 7-11. Which means slurpees. (people not from oklahoma probably don't realize that they don't make slurpees in the armpit of america). I have a weird fridge/microwave combo thing that is attached but cant be plugged in at the same time. the cords don't fit. i'm sure i'll have to rearrange, but still seems counterproductive. oh well. i'm over it. One thing I'm not over is the fact that the full length mirror in my closet is missing everything from my shins up. I must remedy that soon.

My second day here I was awoken by an hispanic janitor cleaning the floors and singing obnoxiously loud due to the fact that he was listening to his ipod. Not many people on my floor had checked in at that point, so I don't think he realized I was actually here. When I got up to take a shower though, the serenading quieted. Following my shower, I spent a good 45 min finally learning how to tie a tie. Who knew it would be such a confidence booster? Perspective. 

Later, when my cab dropped me off at the place I'll be working, I was blown away. I knew it was located in old mansions, but its impossible to anticipate how gorgeous they are. Both remind me of those rooms in your house or your grandparents house that has all the most valuable things, none of which you can touch. By force of habit I found myself keeping my hands in my pockets. Despite that, everything was absolutely incredible. There's this awesome tapestry of Alexander the Great and Diogenes thats indescribable. The only other one in the world is hanging in one of the Queen of Scots castle in Edinburgh. or at least thats what my new boss said. He's pretty awesome. His name is Jake and he's from Charleston. There's also this awesome exhibit right now that features contemporary chinese art. It has some awesome stuff. there are these interesting sculptures of ants that are iridescent in the sun. very cool. I don't start work until monday, but my boss recommended a really cool book by Fareed Zakaria called "The Post American World." I've seen him quite a bit on CNN so I can't wait to start reading.

After not seeing anyone on my hall, I finally ran into this cool guy when we both caught eye of a motorcade flying down the street by our dorm. it was my 2nd of the day but I got a much closer look this time. it was pretty sweet. i saw sniper like guys in one car with the window rolled down. INTENSE. The guy is interning for Harry Reid (badass). We ended trekking to CVS (my third trip there since I arrived. I had no idea it was so prevalent.) when we got back we met a dude across the hall from me and went to watch the basketball game at a local pub. there was this obnoxiously loud guy there in, SURPRISINGLY, a texas longhorns hat. i was going to say something but he was already bothering to other people and I didn't think it was worth upsetting a drunk guy about his inferior football team. 

Anyways, this has been a ridiculously long entry, so I'm cutting myself off. Godspeed.