Capitol Transmissions

Signing off from D.C. (for now)

2010-05-12T07:12:00.000-07:00

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)

2010-05-03T07:02:00.000-07:00

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.

With An Eye to the Future

2010-04-20T07:14:00.000-07:00

Time is cruelly accelerating as May approaches. Like an improbable Metro train with no stops and no delays, I can feel the velocity of the end of my junior year tugging at me, and I don’t really like it.

But, I have determined that I will do what I always do: plan. I’ll plan out what I want to do in the ever diminishing time left here, I already know I’ll enjoy it, and then I’ll go home to plot my return.

This past week I’ve already taken some additional time to enjoy the simple pleasures: spending time with friends, making time to do what I want to do (this may require venturing outside of Washington Center events once in awhile. While TWC offers a lot of events and opportunities, it's important to remember that the wider city can also offer you a great deal), and relaxing in a few favorite spots around town.

Last week, I tagged along with a local and urban politics class out of George Washington University as they took a walking tour of the Foggy Bottom campus, with an eye to that campus’ future. As someone fascinated by urban planning and architecture, I was a bit intent to absorb what was said. The school is obviously worlds away from my own Saint Anselm College, especially in basic areas like student population, campus design, and layout. As is to be expected, there are pros and cons on each side.

The group was led to a roof overlooking GWU’s current biggest project: the joint development on an extremely valuable piece of land formerly occupied by the old GWU hospital, right on Washington Circle. On the old site, a gigantic “mixed use town center” has shot up. A simple pit less than two years ago, the site now holds a huge concrete shell, whose outer walls are just being installed.

While I personally have always been fascinated with and admired the idea of large, sustainable buildings supporting entire communities, the concept of this site, “Square 54,” still remained frustratingly outside of my comfort zone. I guess I am far too used to my quaint, isolated and tiny St. A’s campus to get my head around the idea of a “campus” actually sharing space with public residential units, commercial space and retail space.

At any rate: the weekend arrived and I had the great honor and fortune to spend it with two people I have known for a long time, and yet was barred from spending more time with in high school. I thoroughly enjoyed myself, and tried to forget that soon I would be walking away from all of this. We wandered into town, around several monuments and over to Arlington Cemetery, as it was a beautiful day.

Someone very thoughtfully pointed out that the further back sections of that cemetery feel much more peaceful, more like a traditional American cemetery and less like a national tourist shrine. The more I’ve thought about this, the more I agree. In fact, that is the one thing I value above all else about cemeteries: the peacefulness.

In my time here, despite my newfound love for a fast-paced, high-powered environment, I have found a few quiet places, tucked away and carefully protected. My favorite would probably be the South Lawn of the White House. But, as that is off-limits for the most part, I’m quite content to sit in a nearby park and catch up on some pleasure reading.

As these weeks fly by, and as I count down the days left in which I can ride my beloved Metro system, I’m determined to balance two things: getting to each of the half-dozen items on my to-do-before-I-leave-list, and to keep finding those quiet places, sit back, and reflect on it all. For, after all, it’s in the quiet moments we have to ourselves after the excitement has receded where we can find the true significance in what has just happened.

Hospitality and Tourism

2010-04-12T12:52:00.000-07:00

These past two weeks have moved by with increasing speed, making me nervously eye the early May departure date set by The Washington Center for spring interns. I’ve warned friends back on campus ahead of time that yes, I will be miserable to go back and be stuck in New Hampshire after tasting what the wider world has to offer.

Last week culminated with an Easter weekend visit to relatives in southern Virginia. I’ve included several photos from the visit, which included a trip to historic Jamestown and Yorktown as well. I was also lucky enough to go on a miniature cruise into the Chesapeake Bay, with narration of the major sights by my uncle, a retired U.S. Navy captain.

Jamestown in particular was fascinating, as a rediscovery project begun around the 400 year birthday of the settlement is continuing to unearth new clues and concepts about where European America began. The settlement feels very much alive, very close and very accessible.

After returning to D.C., the city of Northern hospitality and Southern efficiency, it took me a day or so to readjust. The culture I found several hours south of the nation's capital was a night and day contrast to anything I’m used to back home.

The pace of work in the city is still relatively slow, compared to when Congress is in session. The city is heading into an awkward and frustrating week, with a Nuclear Security Summit wreaking havoc downtown, on top of the usual scourge of lost, oblivious tourists, school groups, and oversized tour buses.

This immediate past weekend included a Sunday brunch with my darling fellow interns (some of whom almost slept through the entire event) at the Old Ebbitt Grill. We were joined by John Weinfurter, President of KSCW, and Rebecca Taylor, whose organization is a subtenant, sharing KSCW office space. The latter had generously arranged for a West Wing of the White House tour after brunch, which we were all greatly excited about.

Our host, Rebecca’s friend, works for the National Security Council, and has an office next door in the Old Executive Office Building. He gave us an expert tour of the White House campus and the interior of the West Wing. I greatly appreciated this, being a historical trivia buff/snob.

The West Wing is fairly cramped. Nowhere near as spacious or as elaborate as the television show mockup of the same name (fantastic show, don’t get me wrong), the real West Wing was quiet on that Sunday afternoon. As we wound our way up from the basement to the ground floor, we had hoped to walk by the Oval Office. The presence of the President in that office dashed any such hopes. We toyed with the idea of knocking on the door, and informing him that we were interns, and thus would be needing the room. The presence of armed Secret Service deterred this.

However, we did spot Rahm Emmanuel. As we stood, staring lustfully down to the closed Oval Office door, flanked by Secret Service, the short figure of one of Washington’s most high-powered and short-tempered power centers walked right by. It was quite a sight. We later spotted Emmanuel outside, literally inhaling a muffin between talking to various staff.

Later on, as we stood in the visitor’s lobby, the President’s National Security Advisor, former Marine General Jim Jones walked on by. He greeted us with a smile and a quiet: “Hi, how are you?” before vanishing into a doorway marked: “No Tours Beyond This Point.”

Sadly, photographs were not allowed once inside the West Wing, aside from the James Brady press room. I’ve included some of the better shots taken.

I did pick up a fresh new batch of historical and political trivia while at the White House. The West Wing feels much more like a cramped but high-powered and comfortable office space than the Mansion, which feels like a museum. I was interested that, in the narrative provided by our host, several Presidents stood out most prominently in the construction, re-design and re-furbishing of the West Wing: Presidents Teddy Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, and Richard Nixon. This last, I was surprised to learn, actually personally bought and donated the current Cabinet Room table. This is unusual for Nixon, ever the penny pincher. My only conclusion is that he wanted to replace the more famous, previous table, which President Kennedy had sat at and resolved the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Each president since Teddy Roosevelt has had an office in this cramped building, first built as a temporary office space so Roosevelt could find quiet away from his six children. Decisions have been made in that small office space that have changed the course of world history. While there, I heard stories of busy days where junior staffers will pass political giants in the hallway, sometimes unescorted and between meetings. Looking at the close quarters of the whole setup, I can almost imagine the scenes.

Promising Blossoming of Spring Edition

2010-03-29T07:16:00.000-07:00

While it is still a weekend ahead of the National Park Services’ already bumped-up peak bloom date, this weekend past was still a marvelous opportunity to stroll through Downtown DC and over to the Tidal Basin in order to see the famous Cherry Blossom Festival.

After meeting two friends from work and combating unusually heavy weekend Metro crowds, I found myself in Downtown DC. After grabbing lunch from the delicious Five Guys, we headed over the National Mall to the Tidal Basin. There we found about a quarter of the trees were already in full bloom, with the rest of the blossoms just shy of coming fully into the spring air.

We wandered around the Tidal Basin, taking pictures like mad the whole way. We found ourselves first at that far-flung Greek temple to our third president, the Jefferson Memorial. After spending some time there, reading his rather radical political beliefs, now immortalized in stately carvings, we headed to the FDR Memorial. I was happy to note that the Park Service had turned on the water, which is critical in feeling the memorial’s intended effect, reflecting Roosevelt’s lifelong love of the sea.

I was also interested and pleased to see that the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Memorial is under construction. We peeked through the high construction fences surrounding the sight, only to see very minimal work has been done to date. However, the location is a quiet and beautiful one and it seems we are moving towards the final arrival of a long awaited memorial.

The day, in short, was a happy and relaxing change of pace from my rather tiring week. It is rare that I am in a place where I simultaneously have interesting people to spend time with, easy access to them, time to spend in leisurely moments, and a chance for some easy, relaxed conversation.

All in all, I must say it has been a week of delightful little surprises. From the chance to listen to Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg on Monday, to Ben and Jerry’s Free Cone Day on Tuesday, to my chance to attend two political fundraisers, my opportunity to cover a fascinating event on U.S. infrastructure and energy use, and finally to the chance to just wander around and enjoy the cherry blossoms, I’m constantly reminded of how lucky I am.

Now, as Easter approaches, Congress is in recess. Members head home to shore themselves up for re-elections, to explain their votes on health care reform, student loan reform, and financial regulatory reform. Watching these Members rush home to their districts, and listening personally to one or two pleas for campaign cash at fundraisers, I wonder how the country might benefit if we could limit the constant, 24/7 election mode for Members of Congress.

Unlike slower times, when Members were elected and sent to the District, where they focused on governing before having to make the long trip home to campaign for re-election, a great many of today’s elected officials seem to be engaged in constant campaigning. Forced to deal with a news cycle that never sleeps and partisan electorates hungry for answers and quick action, Members seem to spend less time here governing and far more time running for re-election.

Washington is a unique city, with a great many movers and shakers doing business within it’s boundaries on a daily basis. The city has so much to offer, and yet perhaps it’s most valuable offering is the fact that it often hosts 535 men and women representing every corner of the country. The city pulls together some of the most educated, most interesting people in the world. The city functions as a gigantic power center, and as a living museum, a monument to the American will. For any intelligent leader with a will to effect change, all these things should amount to more of a reason not to leave.

Of Man dates and Mandates

2010-03-25T06:54:00.000-07:00

This past week commenced with a thrilling man date with my friend and roommate, Tom. The weekend weather was Washington’s willing first flirtation with spring time, and we headed over to Georgetown for a stroll.

One of the main objectives for our visit to the area’s oldest neighborhood was the Georgetown Barnes & Noble, which sets a new, high standard for chain booksellers in my life. Several sprawling floors with a massive and well-picked selection led to a solid few hours of reading and shopping. As usual, I began making a gigantic pile of the books which I absolutely needed to take with me. Also as usual, I had to then sit down and figure out how to boil a $100+ bill down to considerably less.

I personally was interested to discover that I was living out the quote by the famous Catholic Dutch theologian Erasmus: “When I get a little money, I buy books. And if there is any left over, I buy food.” I’ve concluded that living this way is worthwhile. Sure, I went without lunch that day and I bought considerably less groceries, but the works of H.L. Mencken, Edgar Rice Burroughs and D.H. Lawrence are some of the few things in life which can distract me from food.

And one way or another, things tend to work out. I received a gigantic care package from my girlfriend that actually qualifies more as a United Nations humanitarian aid program.

Furthermore, I had twin, back-to-back opportunities to attend Congressional fundraisers this week. And fundraisers usually involve food: free for interns, and upwards of $1,000 for everyone else.

Fundraisers are interesting times. They’re essentially miniature parties, with varying levels of social comfort (usually dependent on the host and organizers), whose guests of honor are always Members of Congress. They are organized on a partisan basis, for obvious reasons. The attendees are relevant company and association representatives, people who represent an industry from the home state or an advocacy group allied with the Member over a particular issue. Sometimes, Washington feels like a very small town and cores of people recognize each other at fundraisers and clump together in a very familial circle that is hard to penetrate. Other times, nobody knows anyone in the room, which hardly limits these networking powerhouses.

As an intern, we are encouraged by our superiors to mingle, to make conversation and contacts. I have found this advice to be helpful, but in need of an addendum. The reality is, while you may be lucky enough to get a front row seat on some of the action on the Hill, you are in no way part of the action. This may sound harsh, but it’s a reality: these pleasant fundraisers, full of laughter, cheery drinks and delicious food are simply a slightly more relaxed version of a high stakes, high powered business meeting. In fact, I would say I’ve seen just as many important conversations, judgments and decisions made at semi-formal events such as fundraisers as I have in a formal, office setting.

For an intern, however, such events can be excellent learning opportunities. Aside from finding a guest or staffer who might be willing to talk to you, the opportunity may also arise to listen to off-the-record war stories from Members of Congress present. I was enthralled during one fundraiser this week to meet and listen to, personally, a Member of Congress who held the presiders chair during the health care reform debate, which I (and the rest of the world) had followed so eagerly earlier in the week.

It’s been an extremely long and tiring week, but I’ve enjoyed myself thoroughly (as usual). In addition, I’ve been buoyed by several victories which our President has engineered and which the American people now stand to benefit from: health care reform and the creation of a new, long sought nuclear arms control treaty with the Russian Federation. Across the world, Iraq appears to have held a successful election, giving everyone hope that perhaps something has been accomplished there.

The takeaway lesson learned here at Capitol Transmissions: no matter how long, exhausting, and grueling your week is, if you work hard in Washington, chances are there is someone who is working harder than you can even imagine. And a great deal of the time, such people are subject to derision and outright threats. I think that’s a fact that many cynical people outside the Beltway either don’t understand or choose to ignore, but would do well to remember.

Most leaders, especially those in public office here, understand the mandate they have been given, and they know what needs to be done. Our job, the job of the voters, remains the same: to learn what we can from serious, minimal bias sources and to make informed decisions about which leaders we send to the world’s most powerful city as our representative.

“Oh the weather outside is…actually, quite delightful.”

2010-03-20T06:43:00.000-07:00

This past week has been more of a routine week at the office. I haven’t attended any hearings, and everyone left Friday with baited breath, wondering how the Reconciliation Act of 2010 and it’s enclosed health care and student loan reform would fare in Sunday’s House vote.

In a different sense, my fellow interns and I are a bit distracted by Washington’s pleasantly balmy weather. As a Mainer, I am shocked that a scant few weeks after snow drifts were still piled high around the area, there is not a single trace of it left, and the temperature has flirted with the low-70’s range all week long. The major downside to this during the work week is, of course, that instead of enjoying the loveliness of nature, you’re inside an office under the blinding heat of fluorescent lights.

This past Monday, The Washington Center’s Political Leadership Program took us on a tour of the U.S. Capitol, which included a special perk: a chance to walk on to the floor of the House of Representatives. I had been to the Capitol a few times before, and the closest members of the public are usually allowed are the Senate and House galleries, which ring the upper level of each chamber. This time, with the help of a Washington Center alum, we were able to walk onto the floor.

A few notes on that excursion: first and foremost, pictures were strictly prohibited, and so I apologize for not having cool photos to share. Second: the chamber is far, far smaller than television makes it look. I had noticed this effect in the White House, and found it true on the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue as well. The chamber felt small enough that for a brief, confused moment, I thought we were in the Senate and not the House.

On another note: the chairs that are in place (should Representatives ever quit the constant campaigning back home and come to Washington to actually use their chairs outside of events like the State of the Union) are quite comfortable. Little details such as that fascinate me, because it’s something you can never really find out unless you’ve been there, there is no information out there that I’m aware of on chair comfort in high-up places.

Of course, by the time you read this, a historic vote will already have taken place in that chamber, a vote that will extend health care to millions of uninsured Americans, prohibit the “pre existing conditions” excuse popular among insurers, switch student lending back to a more efficient system (away from the banks), and reduce the deficit by about $138 billion over the next ten years.

It’s interesting to me that these stand as the basic facts, reported through various established print (online and paper) media sources, and yet when I talk to people outside of Washington, all I hear is a wash of partisan, misinformed rants which seem lifted directly from cable news. If my time at KSCW and in this city has confirmed anything for me, it’s that cable news has gotten so deeply into entertaining people that it should never be trusted for nuanced, in-depth coverage.

A final, unrelated note: in a previous entry, I related my adventure over in DC’s SE district, near the Anacostia River and the now defunct DC General Hospital, which for years was the city's only public health facility. Well, it turns out that portions of DC General are actually used for a gigantic homeless shelter, the integrity of which has been questioned recently.

Now, it seems to me that the DC General problem would be an easy fix. The city could invest in making necessary renovations and upgrades at the facility for a relatively minimal cost, in order to continue providing a place for the homeless to go. I don’t know if this is the case at DC General, but I would also think it would be worthwhile to establish vocational/training resources at the facility for people to make use of, in the hope of moving them on.

But, I am a stranger here myself, and sadly my tenure in the city is already past the halfway mark.

2010-03-15T09:41:00.000-07:00

One of the Vice Presidents at KSCW has a friend who is a member of the National Security Council. Aside from having that awesome title and responsibility, this NSC member also has White House staff clearance (and a lot of scary stories to tell). We were lucky enough to secure a few spots on an early morning South Lawn sendoff to the President as he boarded Marine One.

We arrived at one of the Secret Service checkpoints, had our information verified and passed through security. As we entered the White House grounds, we approached the side entrance to the West Wing, where a man stood waiting for a car. I had one of those classic double take moments that always hits me when I’m near a celebrity. I looked a bit more closely and then tried not to make a big deal when I realized it was Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. Standing alone, waiting for his car.

I readied my camera, but again, didn’t want to make a touristy scene. I did however, catch a rather useless shot of his back as he ducked into the SUV which pulled up seconds later.

From there we proceeded to a small, excavated area where the West Wing meets the main Mansion itself. This area was paved, set below ground level and seemed to be used for holding grills, equipment and other stuff. This is also the rather notorious "back door exit" that the Dalai Lama was urged out of after a meeting with President Obama. We waited here for about ten minutes (no trash or laundry bags present this time. But I did spy members of the cable news media, so: close enough), before we were taken through a corridor linking the West Wing to the Mansion, and out to the other side where the Rose Garden awaited us.

It was a beautiful day, really perfect in every way. Washington, shaken and battered by two record shattering snowstorms, was finally emerging into warmer weather. The grass was greenish, the fountain was on, the South Lawn was a perfectly sized paradise in the middle of the city. The land seemed carefully sculpted at each end of the lawn, creating small knolls to shield the area from the noise, smell and security issues that all percolate a few hundred meters away.

The president’s dog Bo was outside being tended to by Secret Service officers. Visitors stood near the Mansion, behind the rope line and watched. The press I mentioned above set up their cameras and boom mikes, just in case anything of interest happened. The weather was perfect, the temperature hovered in a strange 60 degree mark that allowed for jackets to be worn or not worn with comfort.

Marine One roared in from somewhere past the Washington Monument, came in close, turned to orient itself onto three pads for the wheels set into the lawn, and with a bump, it was on the ground. This of course, was after the powerful rotors sent bits of dirt, dust and leaves into onlookers eyes. But it was worth it.

Once on the ground, the waiting game began. The helicopter sat, its Marine pilots craning their necks to scope out the line the President would use in his walk from the Oval Office to the South Lawn. The crowd got excited and cameras were readied. This all proved premature, as the President took his time in emerging from the West Wing. I don’t understand what took so long, it’s not like he has anything to do right now.

Finally, the President emerged and the crowd began clapping and cheering. This was somewhat subdued, however, for two reasons: the first being that dozens of digital cameras were in action, the second being that it doesn’t do much good to try and shout over the noise of Marine One (see also: Sam Donaldson). President Obama waved, walked to the helicopter and boarded. Moments later, several aides and an Air Force officer joined him, the Air Force officer holding the “football” case containing nuclear launch codes for the President’s use in case of attack.

With everyone on board, the Marine pilots cracked their strained necks and prepared for takeoff. Moments later, the helicopter was off the ground, headed toward Andrews Air Force Base.

A Day In The Life

2010-03-08T05:49:00.000-08:00

It has been suggested that I provide the run through of an average day in the life of a Washington intern. Hopefully this can be of use for prospective students for The Washington Center, or for potential interns in general.

The work day in D.C. starts far earlier than what I call the triple-S back at school (Sleepy Student Stumble). Back at school, it is quite possible to roll out of bed at 9 or later every morning of the week. Here, it’s necessary to boot up a bit earlier, closer to 7 am.

I’ve completely given up trying to predict rush hour patterns on the Metro. The first few weeks I thought I saw a pattern: packed on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday and Friday, the crush of people seemed to taper off a bit. But since the snowstorm, the seething mass of well-dressed commuters is about as predictable as New England weather systems. Or New Englanders in general, for that matter.

After getting motion sickness from a Metro system which refuses to use their Automatic Train Operator mode (in a faulty attempt to make riders feel more safe after last June’s Red Line collision), I arrive at my stop, where I make my way topside, down K Street (home of the American lobbying empire), to KSCW, Inc.

Intern mornings are spent summarizing relevant and important news items for our clients. These summaries are carefully edited, which is a great learning process for me, as someone interested in writing. Once these summaries have cleared our outboxes, we turn our attention to various special projects which firm partners or associates assign to us.

These projects usually involve a great deal of in-depth research. Interns at this level are generally expected to know how to do that research, how to pull out only the most relevant data, summarize that and present it in an appropriate and easily accessible format. I wouldn’t be surprised if over 50% of what I learn and read during the day is never really used, but that’s my job: to act as a human filter for the volumes of information made available for and by millions of users worldwide.

It seems that the fluorescent-lit, cubicle contained American office environment does something to people. It either turns them into power-tripping petty dictators, or it makes them question why they took their job in the first place, or it makes them revert to school children complete with pranks and child-like joy at simple things. I think I can safely say that, after a long week in the office, we are most susceptible to this last behavior. Whether it’s the joy of having Girl Scout cookies for the very first time, or having a competition to name a pet fish, or celebrating a Canadian hockey victory; we try and keep the atmosphere fun.

There are a great deal of out and about opportunities for us as well. In my work so far, I’ve been lucky enough to get to witness something I came to K Street to see: the lobbying process. Because lobbying has been so intensely focused on in the past decade or so as the boogeyman of government, I wanted to see for myself how the governing process works, from the business and advocacy angle, which is not discussed in any textbooks I know of. In fact, the best information available to the general public on lobbyists is from large media outlets, and it’s not always pretty.

What I’ve seen so far, sitting in on business lunches, strategy sessions and Capitol Hill meetings is this: lobbyists are a sophisticated class of lawyers, experts, former staffers or elected officials. They are there because they have connections and they know how to get ideas turned into law. They are hired by every group possible from every corner of the country, any coalition, association or alliance imaginable. These groups pay well because they are paying for the experts to maneuver through Washington for them and get results. While it is an atmosphere that has seen it’s fair share of corruption, I’m still hard pressed to find a better system for advocacy within our capitalist based economy.

When I've finished a day's work of research, taking notes, sitting in on strategy sessions, meetings or hearings of interest, it’s time to head home. My work for KSCW being done for the day, I turn first to any assignments from my Washington Center program or academic course. If the chance comes up, I’ll meet friends for a few drinks after work or we’ll do dinner together.

Usually once or twice a week, we’ll go to one of many, many fascinating events hosted in the city: from talks by public figures (such as Howard Dean) to cultural events (such as the Chinese New Year celebration), to Kennedy Center performances. All these night-life attractions are easy to find out about, and some of them are either free or open to the public (or sometimes both).

In general, my days are fantastic. Doing an internship, especially removed from your home school, is a delightfully refreshing taste of the real world, a world without classes whose legitimacy you question, a world where people and events run on time, a world of responsibility, independence and so much more to do.

DC: Center of the Pie Edition

2010-02-25T04:39:00.000-08:00

I’ve concluded that the District is a very crowded center of a pie. Pick your favorite flavor; I’m going to have to go with a warm, still-gooey toll house pie on this one, just because I’m craving that right now. But anyway: hundreds of thousands of interests, from businesses to sovereign nations to associations and clubs, they all send whatever resources they can (usually money) to Washington in an effort to go through the center and influence other sides of the pie.

Washington should be about managing that pie and not letting any interests get out of control. Whether or not anyone here is really successful at that is up for debate.

This past Monday, the Washington Center arranged for their annual tour/speaker events at the Republican National Committee (RNC) and Democratic National Committee (DNC). I went into Monday afternoon interested in the superficial differences between the two, because we all know the larger issues at stake. So, I went hoping to see a culture shock and I was not disappointed.

Although the two buildings are a five minute walk away from each other, they could well be on opposite ends of the country. The RNC belongs deep in Virginia, with its heavy, staid atmosphere. The DNC belongs somewhere in California, with its hipster, dressed-down staff and its modern, sterile building.

At the RNC, we heard from Paris Dennard, who works in the RNC’s coalition and outreach office. Dennard was an animated speaker, expectedly aggressive when discussing the DNC. Ronald Reagan, the modern prophet for the Republican Party, was mentioned (in hushed, reverent tones) more than anyone else. Reagan’s big tent theory of politics for the party was also brought up and placed front and center. Dennard discussed that, while it is difficult to have (for example) moderate New England Republicans working with conservative Southern Republicans, the Republican party does what it can to manage the different parties under the big tent. At the end of the day, he told us, all that matters is that the Republicans have that majority.

After a walk to the DNC (again, only five minutes away but in a completely different atmosphere, a much more gritty neighborhood), we sat down in a larger but more sterile and blank presentation room and heard from Gillian Bergeron, who works for Organizing for America (OFA), the out-of-campaign-season version of President Obama’s vast 2008 network of campaign organizers, field workers and volunteers.

OFA bills itself as “a project of the DNC” and still seems to be looking for its footing. Bergeron, who has been with the project from the beginning, seemed emblematic of OFA and the DNC. Dressed casually in jeans, she spoke of how, ever after Obama’s election, there was no real plan for what would happen to his vast, well-organizing network of campaign volunteers and organizers. While OFA has asserted itself within the DNC, there still seems to be little vision for the future. Great potential, though.

At KSCW, I’ve been lucky enough to see how lobbying truly works. I was ridiculously fortunate to go along on a luncheon between a senior member of the firm and a client, as well as witness several other lobbyist-client interactions. It is true that a great deal is said and done over lunch, or dinner, or drinks and not always in the office by email or telephone. Such lunches are the real output of the mover-and-shaker Washingtonian class: they are where connections are revived and created, where names, allies and opponents are identified, where plans are made. In addition (or more importantly), there’s usually great food involved.

Washington is a city of titles, a city of power and connections. For the most part, it’s a humble town. Even if you are a sophisticated, well-connected Washingtonian with a law degree under your belt: chances are, a sizable swath of people around you are equally or better connected.

For an intern who is normally at school in Manchester, N.H., the city is a refreshing social experience. Rather than being isolated in a small New England city, on a small campus with limited options, the Metropolitan area offers choices exponentially more attractive. There are more places to go, and each new place attracts interesting people who clearly have an interest common with you, and each one of those people with a common interest usually knows more people. It’s just a refreshing change of place from ol’ Manchvegas.

For a policy and politics nerd like myself, D.C. is a place of overwhelming opportunity and choices. Starting from the basic blue/red division in Congress (and perpetuated by the RNC and DNC) and extending through nonprofits, businesses, embassies, state and regional interests, and advocacy groups, D.C. is the center where lots of tiny little slivers of a pie meet.

The City Re-Awakens

2010-02-18T10:21:00.000-08:00

Although the great federal city has removed itself from siege status as far as the snow is concerned, a naïve and optimistic intern such as myself almost wishes it was still a blizzard, and that Congress would get snowed in and they would all have to bond and make friends. The rest of the nation could go about its business, but the capitol would be buried in snowdrifts for weeks, at the conclusion of which, lawmakers would emerge en masse singing a rousing chorus of "American the Beautiful."

Sadly, the blizzards have ceased. Driving traffic is apparently horrendous still, but public transportation is grinding back into motion. A few notes from the tail end of Snowmaggedon (which everyone seems to like more than “Snowpocolypse”) before I bring this blog up to speed.

By the time the second blizzard hit, and almost every store, museum or public building was shuttered and locked, everyone was getting antsy. Let’s face it: interns are here for one primary reason: for their internship. With that removed for 10 days, and everything else shut down, things can get rather dull.

Luckily, one of my oldest and closest friends goes to school in the city. After a trip to one of the 9 billion CVS stores in this area for emergency snack supplies, we returned to the apartment and had a terrific afternoon. Note to that person, if she is reading this: you forgot your hat and I still have it.

I had also read an article from the Wall Street which mentioned that DC public works had decided to build a gigantic mountain of snow in an abandoned parking lot somewhere in the city. Up to 15 dump trucks an hour were just showing up, putting down the snow where they could and leaving. This sounded like something a Mainer should go and see. And judge for himself.

So I did a bit of research and a bit of Google Mapping, enlisted my New Hampshire sidekick, and took off to find this snow mountain. We eventually found it, in a lower parking lot of the abandoned DC General Hospital. It was massive. More sprawling than tall (remember: dump trucks can only dump so high), the pile of snow nearly covered a gigantic, Wal-Mart sized parking lot that sloped down towards the Anacostia River.

After exploring that, and the eerie abandoned hospital (I love old buildings. My sidekick was nervously frowning at me the entire time), we boarded the train and rode back home after scouting out other parts of the city to see if anything was open (it wasn’t). It was eerie again to see Metro stations with empty ghost trains on tracks, waiting for better weather to resume full service.

But now, the city has more or less started operating again. Congress is in recess, which results in a more relaxed pace at KSCW. My class at The Washington Center, suspended for two weeks in a row, has also resumed with an increase in the workload to make up for time lost.

Finally, I must confess that I became irate at a family blocking a sidewalk the other day. Clearly tourists from out of town, they were moving slowly, talking loudly and impossibly blocking anyone from passing them. I eventually passed them (only to have them catch up at the crosswalk) but realized, later that day, that I shouldn’t be as irate. Annoying as they might be, that touristy family was doing something admirable. They were broadening their horizons, they were stepping out to a different world and learning about something new.

Sometimes I wonder, if we could all travel to three or four different places around the country or around the world, would that be enough to break us out of our usual shells of routine and comfort and maybe leave us as better rounded people? At least that family was trying. My apologies to you, wherever you are. Just don’t block the sidewalk.

Snowed In Edition

2010-02-07T22:54:00.000-08:00

Today was declared a snow day by a lot of agencies here in D.C. That declaration is pretty unnessecary, but I’m not going to question an extra day to the weekend. More on the “Snowpocolypse of D.C.” further into this entry.

Working at KSCW continues to go quite swimmingly, thank you for asking. Every single day is a real learning experience. That’s such a dull cliché (learning experience) but it’s really the best phrase I can think of. The research and learning involved is complimented by a sense of practical application.

In other words, it’s nice to be out of the classroom. I’m learning as much if not more than I do in the classroom, and in turn the knowledge I sponge up gets used in the real world, outside of academia. Without going into details, it’s simply nice to know where that report you wrote went and that people actually read it. I know that, as an intern here, every bit of work is educational for me and useful for the people I turn it over to, which is important for me.

One great feature about cities in general and the nation’s capital in particular is the constant merry-go-round of people here. For instance, it was a pleasant surprise to find the President as well as the Dean of my home school, Saint Anselm College, here in town. It’s a credit to St. A’s that not only did they look myself and my sidekick, Tom, up but they also met us for a meal. As a side note, our school President has great taste in food.

Sometimes it’s fascinating to simply sit in a room with a selection of people from all over the world, with different backgrounds, and listen to what they have to share. I’ve found that Senate and House hearings and events are great forums for such gatherings. Just think of it: having business leaders, military experts, celebrities, people who are the best in their field come to town, sit down with public officials and talk about the topic at hand.

Needless to say, these discussions are usually pretty high powered. I’ve found I learn a great deal more listening to these people talk, it’s a chance to sit in the room with decision makers and experts, to see and hear what they see and hear. That’s one of the beauties of being in this town: I can go to where things are happening, I can go from zero to 90 miles an hour on an issue I knew nothing about hours before. It’s a refreshing and informative way to learn about what is really going on, without having to put your eye up to the colored lens of cable news histrionics.

It is amusing to see how the District, surrounding communities and my fellow interns hailing from sunnier locales deal with the snowfall. I am a bit upset about the unusually high snowfall for D.C. which has happened while I’ve been here. That, compounded with the fact that maintenance workers and city employees seem to be at a loss makes for an interesting situation. In the past few days, I’ve seen a man use a snow blower to remove a two-inch dusting from a sidewalk. I’ve seen huge piles of salt used on non-icy bits of snow. I’ve also seen a giant vacuum truck used to clean up the slushy water near the sidewalks, which you think would be a great idea, but the snow is still melting so I’m pretty sure it just burns money. Or sucks it up, either way.

I didn’t have my camera with me to capture the great useless snow/water/slush sucking machine. I did however have it with me to capture a street scene some two hours after a snowfall. You’ll be able to clearly see that the roads haven’t been touched by a plow.

In other news: I remain committed to my one of my original goals here; to see the city beyond the pre-packaged tourist stops and the well-worn routes of business/official Washington. I’ve been in looking into a few education-related volunteer opportunities around town, but have yet to hear back or find a free block of time that’s convenient for their needs. I’ll post more as soon as I have more to post. If anyone has any suggestions, that’d be great too.

A bit of advice to future interns or perspective students: if you don’t have concrete post-graduate plans like grad school, professional school, the military, a certain job field, etc…, try to find agencies that can offer a more general form of work, to both give you a taste of everything and allow you to have a more diversified resume. I’m glad I picked KSCW as an agency, because the variety of public policy work is applicable in almost any field I might consider entering.

A final note on the feel of D.C. My roommate and I had occasion to make a visit to Chinatown, a first visit for both of us. Again: I’m surprised at all the places I haven’t been in the numerous visits I’ve made to this city. Anyway: the Chinatown visit was interesting because it suddenly felt like we’d found the downtown part of a city. This also points to the feel of the rest of the city: not very downtown like. It’s still a great place, for the most part, but it’s filled with offices, federal buildings or hulking museums. Chinatown, its restaurants and nice (but small) shopping area is worth a visit.

Finding my footing

2010-02-03T06:32:00.000-08:00

I read somewhere, once that it takes about three weeks for most people to truly acclimate to a place. Or maybe I just made that up. If the latter is true, then that rule is probably somewhat less legitimate.

In any case, I believe in that idea. It’s taken me about three weeks to get truly settled in and relaxed in my apartment. This is only the second week on the job and going to classes and programming at The Washington Center however, so that is still an adjustment.

I have learned that Happy Hour is where a great deal of business actually gets done in this town. Happy Hour is taken quite seriously by both the official class, the business professional class and probably most seriously by the intern class. It seems like a great thing to have, the proximity and multitude of places observing Happy Hour creates a less pressured environment where co-workers can mingle and new contacts can be made. Business cards at any important gathering of important people are handed out and collected like baseball cards in the first grade.

In the time that has passed since my last blog entry, I’ve already learned a lot more about the area. I always tell people this (and it’s no exaggeration): despite this being my seventh trip down here, I still find places I haven’t been before. Mind you, I’m not talking about hole-in-the-wall spots that only locals know about. I’m taking about major sites, such as the Library of Congress (LOC).

I’d been to the James Madison Building on the LOC’s Capitol Hill complex, but never to the older main Thomas Jefferson Building (pictures below). I wasn’t at all disappointed. The story of that building, the rare pieces of further history it contains, the immense knowledge and the intricate care of the interior artwork are all stunning. One of the displays was a Gutenberg Bible, the physical sign of modern printing and all it’s benefits for civilization. Another display was Thomas Jefferson’s surviving original collection of books. It was fascinating to walk among them, to think of Jefferson’s eyes on their titles, idly wondering which to read or re-read next.

In fact, the only disappointment for me at the Library of Congress was the usual habit of students my age in being glued to their phones, the silence in between sentences from a tour guide punctuated by the click-click-click of thumbs on tiny plastic buttons.

Everyone has a BlackBerry or an iPhone and it doesn’t seem to matter if you are the most disciplined or most polite person ever: once you have one of those demonic devices, it’s all over. People literally could glue their faces to those tiny screens here.

Now, I understand their usefulness. I also understand that, at the pace everyone moves at today (enabled by technology), you would be doing yourself more harm than good to not have a smart phone. I guess I just wish for a simpler time when nobody had a smart phone and could occasionally turn work well and truly off.

I think it’s a serious problem beyond the annoying rudeness of talking about something and-wait, I need to check this email. In fact, I’m going to read most of this email and thumb out a response while you stand there. Ok now I’m back. Wait, what was I even talking about?

I just think such a culture takes away from a lot of beauty, a lot of normal social interaction and a lot of nature. For example, during that tour I mentioned of the Thomas Jefferson Building, half my fellow interns were busy texting. Even if they were texting about the tour, why not stop, enjoy the tour and then text about it afterwards?

I think one of my conclusions, even at this early stage in my stay here, is that to get ahead in this town, you need to be pressure cooked. You need to move fast, you need to be smart and you need a degree of humility in a town top heavy with names, titles and real power. That could be appealing to me, that’s why I’m here.

I just finished a fantastic book which, in one chapter, discusses a bit of a social experiment which happened here in D.C., in the busy Metro transfer hub of L’Enfant Plaza. A world class violinist, dressed as a street performer and played his rare violin in the station during rush hour.

Thousands rushed by, completely blocking him out. Apparently this is due to value attribution, our tendency to label things and ignore objective facts. The commuter value attribution to this talented performer was that of “street performer” and they totally ignored an apparent aural masterpiece that normally would have cost hundreds of dollars to hear live.

For me, the jury is still out…if being in that pressure cooker environment is going to wear down my ability to see things and build up a sense of blind value attribution, then I may come to find Washington isn’t the best place for me.

Who knows? I have a lot to learn and a lot to see. It’s too early to draw conclusions.

Taking the Plunge

2010-01-29T11:53:00.000-08:00

Tuesday I began work at KSCW, Inc., the governmental relations firm that I’ll be spending the next few months with. I now sit on K Street, the boogeyman of the national media and politicians alike as they rail against “special interests.”

I’ve only been at KSCW for two days, but I’m already starting to be skeptical of the conventional image presented of lobbying. Almost every group you can think of needs a governmental relations firm. Whether you’re a credit union president, a farmer, a doctor, a business owner or an artist…you still have needs and dreams that need to be articulated on Capitol Hill. Lobbyists enable that.

A bit of advice for prospective Washington Center applicants, students or interns: prepare yourself and know what you’re getting into. Don’t worry; I’m not saying that because I feel overwhelmed. That will come later, I am sure and these blog posts will take on a hysterical note. No, I’m saying that because of some feedback I heard from other interns yesterday. No names mentioned.

I was talking to several other interns at the Washington Center after work hours yesterday. We met in the hallway and they were completely exhausted. They were used to a normal weekday involving a few classes, with long breaks in between for lunch, snacks, dinner, naps and social time.

Most internships here are great simulations of real work environments. That means a 9-5ish day. You’ll have your night class once a week after that, which can add up to a long day. So just remember that and plan accordingly.

I will confess it is thrilling to be part of the working environment of DC and not be here as just a tourist, or a kid on a conference for a week. Sure, I’m still only an intern but I have keys that actually open real doors around here. AND I have one of those fancy ID holders on the retracting string that you attach to your belt. AND I wear a suit almost every day. AND I’m working on my Metro skillz so that I can keep my balance without holding onto a bar. So…watch out…you few tourists who might be around. I am no longer one of you.

One of the happy transitions from rural to urban life for me is the convenience of living in an urbanized environment. Instead of driving an hour to get food from somewhere, I literally can walk out of the building, go a block in any direction and have a few choices for lunch or dinner. I do have a mental number related to weekly food budget in my head, and I try and keep all on-the-go food purchases under that.

An aspect of starting an internship or choosing an internship that many students might overlook is the environment that can be created depending on your proximity to other interns. For instance, there are five regular, TWC full-timers at KSCW, including me. In addition, there is another part-time intern and a fellow who works closely with the interns.

For some, this arrangement might seem to lessen your chances for one-on-one time with your boss, or lessen your chances of being the star of the show. But I’ve found having other interns enhances the situation. It allows for collaboration on some levels and greater flexibility in working/socializing and general office interactions. Whether you like that idea or not, it’s a good thing to look for when talking to agencies and making that big choice.

I’ve included some pictures from work and orientation, so you can get some visuals. One shows my workspace, which is spacious and comfortable by intern standards. Another shows two of my roommates practicing their networking skills at the TWC orientation.

Travel Advisory Edition

2010-01-24T11:30:00.000-08:00

After arriving in more or less one piece at my quarters in Arlington, I thought it might be helpful to provide a few notes on traveling to future students.

First and foremost: if at all possible, think about having your parents drop you off. This will allow you to bring the stuff you need and have a fairly hassle-free journey. While TWC provides furniture, closet space and a fully stocked (utensil/dish/glass-wise) kitchen, there are a few necessities missing.

The most noticeable is Internet. There is one line available. So either bring a wireless router or a hub to break the line into the four necessary so everyone can get online. And check Facebook, because WHO KNOWS what might have happened since they last logged on.

If you can’t draft your parents to drive you down, you’ll probably have to fly. This is the route I followed. It seems the best approach is this: pack what you absolutely need for 2-3 days. That is your luggage. Everything else? Have mom and dad ship it after you arrive and TWC issues you a mailing address.

Another area that TWC isn’t responsible for is your bedding. That means packing or buying sheets, pillow and blanket. I can testify the mattresses here are in far better shape than the typical dorm mattress, but they’re completely bare when you arrive, so think ahead about that one.

To get around the city, you’ll need a Metro card. This is essentially a debit card for the Metro which you can buy at CVS, register online and easily swipe as you pass through the gates every day. Check with your intern agency, some compensate for travel costs.

The Metro is really fantastic. I’ve used subways in Boston, New York and DC and I have to rate the Metro as the best. It’s not built with 2-foot clearance ceilings in the stations, it smells almost clean and it’s ridiculously easy to use. That being said: pay attention so you don’t get in a fight you can’t win with a closing door or an escalator. I’ve engaged in both those activities in the past two days and my arm still hurts from getting stuck in a closing door.

I realize that a few readers may also be prospective students looking to apply to the Washington Center. My advice to them is this: good idea. If you know roughly what you want for a professional career option, DC is the place to pursue it. The Washington Center has the contacts, the people, the great housing and even the academic component so you can receive credit at school.

Other than that, there isn’t much to report. This is the first week here and I’m still getting settled in. I’ve already scoped out the area around this building. It includes: a dry cleaner, a UPS store, a pharmacy, several restaurants, a supermarket and a print/copy center all within a five minute walk.

The building itself is fantastic. The housing is the best take on student housing I’ve ever seen. It’s comfortable, classy and even roomy for four people. It is apartment-style living, which is a nice change for people like me who’ve only had the traditional dormitory experience.

I’m excited to start work next week. I suppose I’m unlike some people in that I’m happiest when I’m doing something productive. I need to get my hands dirty. Whether you’re like me, or if you prefer going out more than work, the District has a great deal of possibilities for you.

One thing I’ve already noticed about DC is that the “Washington” talked about in other parts of the country, or on the news, can really be overused and over generalized. I’ve read two articles about political issues in the last day. Both mention “the mood in Washington,” but nothing can really capture the mood of the city. It’s a place of striking contrasts: Republicans and Democrats, business people, tourists and locals, politicians and protestors, homeless people sleeping near grand national monuments. They all have different priorities, different opinions. Washington shouldn’t be synonymous with politics alone.

I’ve always been fascinated by the contrast in this city. While you can’t capture a city's “mood” in a line of print, you can get a feel for what the blending of people, sights, sounds and smells contributes to our understanding of a city. A personal goal of mine is to really look around the next few months and try to better understand this city as a living organism, with many different faces.

And of course, I will report what I find right here, on Capitol Transmissions.