yes, our teeth and ambitions are bared

The month of January was a rock-star kind of a month, in a lot of ways. I'll try to remember them all. It started off pretty awfully, with the violence in Israel and Alli's really difficult decision to stay in the US rather than go to Beersheva for the semester, but after that it got better, and fast.

First of all, I got a new job doing Research and assistant-y things, and a new apartment in Van Ness/Forest Hills, DC, and I started work and began living in the new apartment. So far, I'm enjoying the new job, learning a lot every day. I'm not very busy yet, but I think that's just because I recently arrived, so I'm just learning the skills necessary for them to give me a lot of work. My favorite and least favorite thing (because sometimes Excel is evil) I'm working on is scoring all of the provisions we're pushing for the energy bill and stimulus bill (and if those don't work, the climate change bill).

The new apartment is great. The location isn't so happening in that there's not a lot of nightlife, etc there, but it has a Giant and a quizno's and it's right in between AU and Cleveland Park. Also, my commute to work is 25 minutes every morning, which beats the pants off the 1-1.5 hours i struggled through to and from the Franklin Institute. I live with two other Jewish women, one a law student at AU and one who works for a french nuclear company. So far,they're really sweet, and we get along great, although I'm realizing that I miss living with my best friends. That was kind of convenient for my life. The best part about the location is that I'm really close to Alli, and so far we've been able to see each other twice or more a week :)

My first weekend here was the inauguration, which was pretty ridiculously amazing. Lots of people were in town, including Schutz and Missy and others, and it was great to see them all. I went to the Newseum with Rachel Hillman and Mat, to the big concert (Beyonce! Shakira! Josh Groban! Obama!) with them and other friends, and watched the actual inauguration from my apartment with Alli and one of her friends. It was also Martin Luther King weekend, and I went to a wonderful dinner and okay service (although the speaker was gamazing) at Washington Hebrew Congregation with Jason and his friend from work. I also went with Jason and Matt Rogers and Alli to an event for the Alliance for Justice, which featured Bradley Whitford (with a very sad mustache), Peter Yarrow, and some great and inspiring speakers. Basically, I saw Josh Lyman singing "If I had a Hammer". That's amazing.

But inauguration weekend was not the only wonderfulness this month. No, siree. Rachel invited me to join her fabulous LOST group, which involves food, fun people, and one of my favorite shows ever. It turns out that my former suitemate Whitney has been living in DC, and I've hung out with her, her roommate Molly, and her bf Adam a few times.

The last time I hung out with them was last Saturday night, when I went to the Kennedy Center for a concert with influential Broadway composers and some of the stars who made their music famous. Highlights -- Stephen Schwartz explaining the process in writing the Wizard and I. Liz Callaway singing from Anastasia (did you know Aherns and Flaherty wrote that? I didn't.) Jeanine Tesori being awkward and cute and talking about Millie. Oh, and when Brian Stokes Mitchell sang Wheels of a Dream (a little weird with just him, since it's written as a duet), I cried. Basically, one of the most amazing nights of learning about and loving musical theater that I've ever encountered.

So that was my month. Whew, I'm tired just reading about it!