Signing off from D.C. (for now)

My time in the District has come and gone, for now. I am writing this last Capitol Transmission from home, back in Maine, and the absolute silence, coldness, and darkness punctuated by stars is a sharp contrast to the last five months spent in the Washington D.C. area.
    
The time has come for retrospection. During my time in Washington, I fell in love with the city, the atmosphere, the type of people that move the town. Washington, unlike Maine or even most of New England, is more urban, more young, more professional and faster paced. While my drive back to Maine gave me a renewed appreciation for the natural beauty of my home state, I still miss the accessibility, the social atmosphere, the pace in Washington. Sure, most cities will share this, but Washington is home to the policy wonk, a Hollywood for political nerds.
       
In my last weekend or two, I am proud to report that I powered through a miniature bucket-list of to-do items. The first weekend in May saw me visit the National Building Museum (which I have long wanted to see, being a hopeless addict for infrastructure), the National Zoo (always a must-see), and King Street, down in Alexandria, VA.
   

A brief plug for the National Building Museum is in order. Sexy in name it is not, and its exhibits can seem as laughable as one on a Parking Garage. But, if you are anything like me, the history and information about buildings and infrastructure makes this a must-see. Housed in the gigantic and historic former Pension Office, the museum structure itself is worth checking out. Also: don’t miss an exhibit (as I did the first time) on the history of Washington, D.C. from the vantage of infrastructure and development. 

The National Zoo, of course, is always fascinating and fun for the whole family. I was accompanied on this particular adventure with my roommate Tom, who came along despite a general lack of interest in most animals. A side benefit for me, aside from the pandas and so forth, was getting to ride one of Northern America’s longest escalators up from the red line Metro station at Woodley Park (a 2 minute, 20 second ride). I never quite had the chance to use the Wheaton escalator, which I am told is even longer.

My time in Washington would not have been nearly as enjoyable if I weren’t so damn lucky with the people I met there. My biggest tip of the hat must go to my high school classmate Chelsea, who kicked my interlude in the city up several dozen notches. Further nods of my head go to my fellow interns at KSCW, who provided endless amusement, great conversation, and who also put up with my various eccentricities (such as my fascination with the Metro). Another nod must go to my employers at KSCW, who have created an intern program that is, without a doubt, among the best I have ever heard of. Final nods are in order for friends I met through The Washington Center: we had many laughs together.
       
While I’m on a roll: a special thank you to Sara, who is one of the most approachable, bright and simultaneously humble people at The Washington Center (no, she didn’t pay me to say this). Sara provided a great mentor for the bloggers, and she entertained a few harebrained ideas from this particular blogger. In doing so, she taught me a great deal and I will always remember her as a great mentor in that regard.
       
On a final note: a round of thanks are in order for my family and my girlfriend. Without their support and patience, Washington would not have been at all enjoyable for me. Now, even though I’m sad to have left D.C., I can look forward to a summer with them.
   
Before I start weeping and thanking the cleaning staff, the crazy guy who looks like Dr. Brown on the Metro, and that persistent cashier at Manchu Wok, I will sign off. Thank you, dear reader, for following this blog and I hope we can talk again in the future.

Wrapping It Up (and recycling it)

I’ve tried to stop the funereal marches playing in my head all week as I mentally count down the days left here in Washington. It feels like an unnatural force is about to suck me out of this place, and back into a world where people don’t read Politico, The Hill and The Washington Post on an hourly basis, a world where people who understand The Onion are as scattered and as rare as watchable Tom Cruise movies.
       
I will have to give up seeing my beloved Metro everyday. My food and drink choices will go from the healthy variety of locally-owned Washington restaurants, grills, steak houses, foreign food joints, and dive bars back down to TGI Friday’s and Ruby Tuesday’s. My social life with will go from a wide, cultured variety of people back down to hanging out with the dog and the goat. New England: you’ve been great and all, but let’s face it: you’re about as diverse as a Mayflower reunion and it’s so damn cold that everyone just ends up not talking to conserve body heat.

However, I promise I’m not being mopey. I’m trying to embrace every minute I have left. This past weekend, I headed on down to the National Mall for the Earth Day (really more like Earth Week, but whatever) Climate Rally. When I arrived, the rally was still in full super-liberal-and-patronizing-speakers-screaming-into-the-microphone-before-an-impassive-crowd mode. I browsed a few of the tents set back from the stage, with various environmentally friendly displays of green cars, green building products, etc… I also snagged a free Frisbee, which of course is made from plastic which uses oil…but hey, they’re fun to throw around.

What I had really come for (and I suspect everyone else was with me in this) was the concert/music side of things. Joss Stone quickly became a new favorite of mine. The Roots were alright. John Legend sounded…legendary, as I had hoped. By this time, an already lackluster crowd was thinning out even more: it was a work night, it was cold, windy and a bit drizzly on the Mall. Woodstock this was not.
 

However, we stuck it out for the appearance of Sting. And it was well worth it. Although he only performed about five songs, the sound was great and not as echoey as I had originally thought. It was rather amusing that people listened more attentively to whatever Sting said in passing about saving the environment over the dozens of professors, foundation heads, and even the odd few public officials who spoke. That being said, I can’t blame them. Superstar status aside, Sting seems like a pretty laid back guy, and that different tone, plus his music, was much healthier to listen to than the incessant screeching that had dominated the event earlier.

At work, we’re making a gradual shift from our daily email updates, instead summarizing top news stories on a Beltway News Portal which is a much easier-to-access, cleaner way of providing news updates and summaries. In addition, it gives us as interns a chance to learn our way around web content editing. The shift to the new process has caused some frustration, of course, but, as the outgoing interns it makes more sense to test the new procedure on us and get feedback before trying to teach the next round of interns.
       
An additional perk this week came as I had the opportunity to accompany a member of the firm and a client to a meeting in the Old Executive Office Building. The OEOB is adjacent to the White House, “on-campus” as some staff say, and has been a subject of fascination for me. Aside from the powerful men and women the building houses, the history in that place is palpable. The furnishings, walls, ceilings, doors, floors have been meticulously restored and brought to a blend of 21^st century functionality and 19^th century décor. I snuck a random picture of a hallway.
   

 

It’s this spirit, this attention to detail, intelligence, and understanding of history and politics that I will miss. This city, which attracts many types and only really retains some of the best and brightest minds in the country, is filled with treasures: from the people I’ve met, to the buildings that surround us, to the Metro beneath our feet. It’s a town of opportunity and challenge, and I will miss it.