obla-di obla-da, life goes on, la

This past week has been very weird in that I'm transitioning out of this intense go-go-go mode for the 50 States study (the paper and set of resources I just released). I definitely feel good about the work that I spent most of my summer on, and I'm getting some new projects to work on (our glossary, an update of our ACELA analysis etc), so that's good.

Although work has cooled down a bit, I still feel like I've been going non-stop recently, but in a really good way -- this past weekend was particularly good for taking advantage of all the wonderfulness DC has to offer. Friday night, Alli and I ordered in Indian Ocean (SO good), and then I went to an engagement party for Seth and Stacy (I was responsible for getting them to the party for the surprise part of it, and I must say, I was very Mission Impossible.) Fun times were had by all.

I woke up uber-early Saturday (okay, 8 am is not so early normally but for a Saturday . .. ) to find confetti all over my leg from the party the night before. Sweet. I also woke to a dramadrama email that I ended up wasting half of the day stressing about, but I'll ignore that one for now. I hopped on the Metro, expecting a mostly empty train. Instead, I was confronted by a PACKED train, full of people bearing American flags and various and sundry Obama- and Pelosi-hatin' signs. Being my relatively inquisitive self, I asked lots of questions, and totally pretended I was from Schwenksville, PA and that we had anything in common . . . I felt like I was on some sort Margaret-Mead-eqsue anthropological experiment. I had nothing in common with these people . . . totally nutty.

I left the Metro full of 'tea-baggers' (teehee) for the warm, comfortable Darwin Day Symposium at the museum of natural history -- I enjoyed 3 hours of evolutionary bio topics, including one great one on phylogenetic trees and spiders and another lovely one on statistical methods for comparing whether a given phenotypic pattern is more like phyletic gradualism or punctuated equilibrium . . . turns out Gould was right -- most of the time, they're finding that species tend toward stasis or a 'random walk' and that really directional evolution is pretty rare. Anyway, I left the museum around lunchtime, and walked to Foggy Bottom, where I met Alli to walk around the DC Veg Fest. We caught up with our friends Paul and Josh, enjoyed a game show with a nutritionist, and ate lots of lovely food before parting ways and heading home for the afternoon. I took my first nap in easily a month (which I enjoyed vigorously), and then went out for Thai with Jason and Gavi and some of his friends from the RAC. Came home and dealt with the unfortunate situation from that morning, and collapsed from exhaustion.

The next day, I staffed a fun trip to the Newseum with Rachel and her very fun BBYO kids -- a. awesome that it was free. b. that museum is amazing. I think it might be my favorite 'history' museum, unless you count the Met, which is obviously the second greatest museum in the whole world, second only to the Natural History museum in NY. The Newseum is so well-focused, with great interactives, and a wonderfully well-planned out structure . . . so good.

Also, I've spent much of the past five days tracking the FedEx website for my iPod touch. can't wait. !

09/09/09 and 09/09/99. which is better? hard to tell.

Tomorrow is 09/09/09. I’ve been waiting for this day for 10 years. Not really waiting in the chewing-my-fingernails, on-tenterhooks (what does that phrase even means?) sense of the word, more in the every now and then I think about this date sense. And it’s for the randomest reason.

Ten years ago tomorrow, Alli, Mona, and I were in the Poconos for a vacation, staying at the Galkin’s lake house, and thoroughly enjoying the cable television in the living room. At the time,our home TV only had three channels – ABC, NBC, and CBS, and ABC was the only one with solidly reliable reception (hence: lots of Oprah and General Hospital in our childhood memories). Anyway, we we were enjoying the cable, especially the MTV (!). To a 7^th-grader without cable having MTV for days straight is akin to the nirvana my I felt the first time I watched listened to Julie Andrews sing Camelot. Anyway, that year, the MTV video music awards were held on 9/9/99, which seemed like the coolest date EVER. I remember thinking that the next decade would be full of really fun dates, like 01/01/01, and 06/06/06. Frankly, I don’t remember a thing about any of those dates (okay, vague recollection that I was relieved the world didn’t get on 01/01/01), but I do remember figuring out how old I’d be in 2009, and thinking that I wouldn’t even recognize the 23-year-old me.

I suppose that’s partially true. I still look the same (maybe the glasses are a little less egregious, and my teeth aren’t sticking out at entirely un-human-ly angles) and I’m still over-enthusiastic, into putting on a show, and a bookworm of sorts. I’m pretty much sure I know less than I did in 7^th grade (I did go to the 1999 PA State Geography Bee, after all), and I certainly read less (much to my chagrin). But in a lot of ways, I’m really happy where I’ve landed, especially because of what tomorrow represents.

Tomorrow, we release our 50 State study of the house climate and energy bill, ACES, where we document the savings from energy efficiency and talk about how the bill could be made better for consumers and the economy. It’s pretty exciting stuff (well, I think it is), and it’s being released by Environment America in 41 different states. I’m really happy about the fact that I was the lead author on a major national report, and I’ve only been at the organization 9 months – I feel like I’ve learned more than I could possibly document here, but I’m most excited about what I DON’T know – politics is still new to me, and the possibilities of delving further into this fascinating world seem at this moment to be endless (we’ll see how I feel after tomorrow, but that’s how it feels tonight). Time for bed; Hill briefing in the morning (!).

doing the john quincy adams thing

Seeing Julie and Julia this weekend put me in a frame of mind to think about blogging, and its value for me and for others. I’ve kept a blog in one form or another since my livejournal in high school, writing less and less frequently over time. In high school, I primarily wrote in my livejournal because it was a way to feel connected to the people I considered friends. I’ve always been enchanted by the idea of being a good diarist – as a child, my favorite books were always biographies of people who kept glorious diaries (to a certain extent, they still are. speaking of which, the John Q. Adams twitter project is fabulous), and livejournal seemed like a good way to fulfill my ambition to record my thoughts through the ease of the computer.

Somewhere around the time I graduated from college, I abandoned the livejournal and started this blog, which I’ve updated not even a dozen times since. Partially this is related to the 9-5 work day thing, and partially this is due to the fact that I don’t have an audience like I did with the livejournal – there is a large part of me that loves performing for an audience, and I think I’m just less motivated when I don’t think anyone reads it. Well, noone reads this blog (although I believe my sister Alli follows it), but I’ve decided to revive it nonetheless.

For me, blogs can serve a few purposes – the narcissistic look-at-me, look-at-my-life type entries that Julie’s husband judges in Julie and Julia, the very informative type entries in formal blogs like my favorite, ClimateProgress, or the diary-type entries. I’ve discovered that I truly love looking back on the 5 or so years where I documented much of my life on livejournal. Yes, I wrote entries as a way of reaching out when feeling lonely, yes, they’re narcissistic, and yes, noone really reads them anyway. But I’ve discovered that I’m amused by the version of myself I present in those old entries. 17-year-old me makes me smile, and cry, and guffaw. So I think I’ll try to write more, because when I’m 29, 23-year-old me is going to seem very peculiar.

P.S. - Julie and Julia - SUCH a cute movie. Meryl Streep is a goddess, Amy Adams was a little annoying but lovable nonetheless, and the marriages the movie portrayed were just a joy to watch. Go see it, nonexistent reader. No really, go see it.

oldish and brownish and grayish and mossy

apparently, they're making a CGI version of this soon. I can only say that after the resounding success of Horton Hears a Who, I am very very excited.

May was full of promises, but she couldn't keep em quick enough for some

June was a wonderful month, full of work goodness (got quoted in the New York Times! a number I put together was used by Obama mama!) and lots of good friend-time.

I was in particular a big fan of my most recent foray into NYC -- although I only got to see Schutz for a very little bit (he was in crazy trial mode), I got to see Matt Stern for the first time in a while (complete with Missy and Skrevsky gallumphing), and got to see a new broadway show (Shrek the Musical, which was surprisingly lovely). I also got my Jew-girl on -- Shabbos dinner at David's with Brandeis folks and shul on the upper West side with Jonathan and other Brandeisians. Highlights of the weekend were clearly when we met Allison Janey (of CJ Cregg fame) on the street outside her show 9 to 5 (this makes my second picture with a West Wing cast member in as many summers), and the Egg Rolls and Egg Creams eggstravaganza (teehee) with Jonathan, Katherine, and Ronis in Chinatown. SUCH a good weekend.

Other highlights included the Press Club pub quiz win by Team Low Hanging Fruits, Alexander and Lilly's engagement party (which necessitated a kosher vacation so I could enjoy the crab feast, and which included lots of lovely catching up time with old PV friends), and going to my first TV screening (followed by Coco Sala, SUCH a cool restaurant). Uncle Stu visited, and Alli and I went to the Gay Pride Festival, and I went to Eastern Market for the first time -- I actually went twice in one weekend, I liked it so much. I found a great bookstore right there, and have become obsessed with a spicy black bean dip that's sold in the market. Last but not least, junior staff had a rolicking good time at our first potluck party, which was clearly a wonderful success.

the darling month when everyone throws self-control away

May and June are past. Which is mostly sad because they're the months when I allow myself to sing The Lusty Month of May and June is Bustin' Out All Over on repeat for a month straight.

May was a lovely month, full of reunions and family and many wonderful things. Work-wise, it was pretty great -- W-M passed out of committee, necessitating an analysis at work, which was really fun (I'm starting to love this job!)

The month began with a visit to DC by Mommy Mona and Nor-man, culminating in the discovery of my new favorite restaurant: Founding Farmers in Foggy Bottom. Dad also visited that week (to help Alli move), and then Mom came the next weekend to bring Alli the car/back to DC, which clearly necessitated a wonderful day of Mother's Day celebrations.

We gallumphed about the Farmer's Market (check out these GORGEOUS mushrooms we found), and then took Mom for brunch at Afterwords Cafe -- happy avocado hollandaise breakfast sandwich day.

Other fun May activities included a tour of some of the European embassies (Spain, Germany, France, and Sweden) with Whitney. Favorite parts of the day included an afternoon stroll in Georgetown, flamenco dancers at the Spanish embassy, and cool energy saving designs at the Swedish embassy.

The next weekend was more laid-back, but equally fun. Max arrived in DC, and Whitney, Molly, and I journeyed to Middleburg, VA for wine tours at two vineyards and lovely walks around the very cute town. We sampled some really nice wines and basically just enjoyed frolicking in the green-ness after a winter full of cement and city.

Since it was Memorial Day weekend, we had Monday off, and Alli, Max, and I took full advantage of it, eating lunch at this great vegan Israeli falafel stand in Takoma Park and then walking around the Tidal Basin - note to self: need to paddleboat sometime this summer.

I finished off a month of great weekends with a trip home to Philadelphia for two different reunions -- first, reuniting with Skrevsky (!) after her year in Israel, and second, going to my 5-year high school reunion at the Trappe and then reunionizing with Audra and John, my essop posse kids. The next day, Mom and I saw The Producers at Walnut Street Theater (she hadn't seen it, but now she finally gets the max-a-menschen joke!)

Whew! what a month!

now that I'm two weeks into 23, the 22 best things about 22!

Okay, so my birthday was a week ago. But I'm feeling reflective, so in no particular order, here's a list of the 22 greatest things I did when I was 22.

1. I discovered the glory of Brothers and Sisters. and when I say discovered, I mean Schutzer told me to watch it because Jonathan told him to so I did.

2. I had a record number of jobs in one year (TBE, CA, Abramson, Or Ami, Franklin Institute, and ACEEE!). Two of those were my first real full-time jobs!

3. The moment Obama got elected was definitely one of the best moments. I was on the phone with Schutz in my little loft at Bubbie Ethel's house, and they called Virginia, and then we realized that all he needed was California, and then they called California, and then we flipped out.

4. Okay, similiar to #3 - but I was in DC for inauguration and the concert and inauguration itself (even if I didn't go outside because it was freezing and I had moved here a few days before) were wonderful.

5. Got obsessed with LOST. It was Katherine's fault (as many of my TV addictions tend to be), but then I came to DC and started watching with a v fun group of people.

6. Met E.O. Wilson, one of the greatest biologists alive today, when he gave a talk at the Free Library of Philadelphia.

7. Worked at the Franklin Institute for 6 months, thus following in the footsteps of my favorite Chem teacher ever, and getting to dissect eyeballs, make paper, and run an 80-year-old train for a living.

8. I signed up for Twitter, and now follow NPR, J Street, and Obama mama. Also, I've gone through Claire McCaskill and John McCain phases, like you do.

9. I got my first apartment! I mean, I share it with other people, but it's still my first apartment, full of IKEA furniture and other wonderfulness!

10. I saw Bradley Whitford (aka Josh Lyman) TWICE - once in his great play on Broadway, Boeing Boeing, and once at an Alliance for Justice event in DC (which involved him singing If I Had a Hammer on stage with Peter of Peter Paul and Mary :) )

11. I finally went to visit Prisco at St. Bonaventure's. five years into her living there, it was time

12. I moved to a city where people come to visit. a lot. It's wonderful! Mat and Matt and Elizabeth and Missy and Sarah and Katherine and Jenna and Jonathan (well, he's from here, that doesn't count) and Elana and David and Miriam (whew!) have all come here within the past few months, and that really does make me really really happy.

13. I transitioned very well to post-Brandeis life. Minus the bumpier months when I was living at home. But looking at the whole year, I've done quite well at becoming, if not a real person, a very happy not-in-college person. There was a time when I was really worried that wouldn't happen.

14. I got a job where I'm learning and growing and using the knowledge I acquired in college (okay, not the biology, but the environmental stuff!). This is a wonderful thing.

15. I've become interested in politics in a way that I never was before. I think part of this started with the fact that I had two hours of commute to fill up when I was working in Philly, so I did a lot of reading and NPR-listening. Plus, my job intersects with politics now, which is proving to be fascinating. Who knew I liked this stuff?

16. I've gotten to read lots more than 22 books this year, all for fun! Having access to the Free Library of Philadelphia, a glorious institution, and the DC Public Library (okay, not so glorious, but still useful) has been wonderful for my brain/life.

17. Speaking of books, I have discovered the wonderfulness that is 24-hour bookstores (Kramerbooks) and daily author readings (Politics and Prose). I am clearly spoiled by this bounty of bookishness.

18. I moved to an apartment one Metro stop from my favorite sister, two Metro stops from one of my favorite people from college, and three Metro stops from another wonderful college friend. (okay, and about 45 stops away from Whitney, but I haven't actually gone to Georgia Ave that much, we usually meet in the middle)

19. purchased my first pair of skinny jeans. I know this isn't actually one of the 22 best things I did when I was 22, but it was recent and I'm still excited about it.

20. I took and survived the GRE. Got almost the exact same score as teh SAT, but switched my verbal and math . .. someone (me) did a lot of science and very little writing in college . . .

21. I saw Brian Stokes Mitchell, Stephen Schwartz, Jeanine Tesori, Liz Callaway, and Aherns and Flaherty all in the same night. No, I did not attend the Tonys, I went to a FREE concert at the Kennedy Center. Life is beautiful.

22. I belatedly became a fan of Les Miserables. Well, I've always like the book, but Walnut Street Theater's production was GAMAZING.