After a rather uneventful day at work, the WISE gang ventured to Dukem, an Ethiopian restaurant:
Completely flustered by the restaurant's menu, I asked the waitress to bring me a dish of whatever was Sarah-safe. I ended up with dish number two - Dukem Special Tibs:
Cubed tender beef marianated with dukem sauce and sauteed with onion, rosemary, tomato, jalapeno, and a touch of fresh garlic.
The meal itself is served over injera, a pancake-like bread. To eat, you tear off pieces of the injera and scoop up little bits of food. No silverware required!
The restaurant also had traditional Ethiopian music and dancers:
On the way home from Dukem, I stopped at Giant. I had totally forgotten that this supermarket was under the umbrella of Royal Ahold, the Dutch company that also owns Tops (formerly Finast). All of the store brand packaging was IDENTICAL to Finast packaging circa 1995. The only difference was the Giant logo.
Needless to say, I found CRESCENT ROLLS and SQUARES MIX!!! The latter was particularly exciting; I grabbed the first bag I saw on the shelf, held it close to my heart, and screamed out "THIS IS THE BEST DAY EVERRRRR!" Luckily, no one seemed to mind ;)
Monday spending total: $55.61 (postage, dinner, and Giant run)
Tuesday, June 19
Chris and I started the day off by going to hear H.R. 6, the Clean Energy Act of 2007 debated on the Senate floor. I snapped these photos on the way to the Senate gallery:
Senator Bob Casey presided over the debate, and we got to hear Senators Jon Tester, Robert Byrd, and Pete Domenici speak.
Poor Senator Byrd. At ninety years old, he is definitely showing his age. His speech had to be written in size 48 font, and he handled each piece of paper with an unsteady hand. Forever beloved by the people of West Virginia, he just won reelection to an unprecedented NINTH term.
But I must give Senator Byrd credit. He is still introducing legislation and fighting zealously for his constituents. He also likes to spell:
"C-O-A-L. COAL can become our lifeline." "We need to A-C-T. ACT."
After hearing enough energy debate, we took in the House gallery. Debate was ensuing over the Army Corps of Engineers, and we only stayed a few minutes.
We came back to the office, and I swear that I was going to do work when I stumbled upon the Senate Chamber Desks website. I never knew that furniture could be so fascinating. The desk that Senator Brown has right now, LXXXVIII, has previously been occupied by both Al Gore Senior and Junior as well as Robert F. Kennedy. How cool!
A bunch of us had planned to attend the 2007 Metro World Music Concert at the Kennedy Center featuring the Ska-Talites, Plunky & Oneness, Shaggy, and Wyclef Jean. Capacity was reached right before we got through security, so we were stuck outside the gate. The massive queue of people waiting to get in began to creep up inch-by-inch, and we soon were packed like sardines. Emily and I stayed for a little while before electing to come home and run errands. Bummer.
Tuesday spending total: $0.00 (YAY!)
Wednesday, June 20
Erica, Dave, Jason, and I scored free tickets to hear Hillary Clinton speak super early in the morning at the Take Back America 2007 conference sponsored by the Campaign for America's Future:
Following Hillary, we stuck around to hear both Dennis Kucinich (my homeboy!) and Nancy Pelosi speak. We hit up the exhibition, too; I scavenged a John Edwards '08 sign (that's what I got looking for your Obama sign, Tom), a Gore '08 pin for Kathryn, and a Democracy For America (DFA) bumper sticker. How's that for random campaign paraphernalia?
We heard a former WISE intern and newly-minted patent lawyer speak in the afternoon. I aspired to do work afterward, but...I bought Connie Schultz's new book instead! I had no idea that ...and His Lovely Wife was off the presses until my mumsy told me so. Oh yes, YOU HINDERED MY PRODUCTIVITY MOM! But I heart you for it :)
My original goal was to buy the book and read it during my upcoming travels. But, but, I let myself read one chapter. Which turned into two. Which turned into three. Before I locked the book in my desk drawer, not to be opened until Friday at 5.
Connie Schultz is fabulous. I'm so glad that the rest of the world figured that out and awarded her the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 2005. I've gotten to meet Connie a few times, and I want to be just like her when I grow up. I admire her so much for speaking her mind and being such a strong, beautiful woman and feminist.
But I digress. Connie is married to SHERROD, and the book more or less is about his 2006 campaign for the Senate. I am even more absorbed in the book because it is about people that I KNOW, campaign events that I ATTENDED.
Volunteering for the Brown campaign was so much fun, and I nearly cried reading Connie's account of election night. I WAS THERE when we saw the results roll in after a long, soggy day of GOTV. I WAS THERE when the room went silent and we watched Mike DeWine concede. I WAS THERE when halfway through his victory speech, Sherrod jumped up and down upon learning that the Democrats had won the House. I HELPED TURN OHIO BLUE!!!
I left work at 5:30 and had just enough time to walk to Dupont and check out a thrift store that had caught my eye. Secondi has to be THE COOLEST consignment shop ever. The store only stocks designer duds, and the longer something stays on the racks, the lower the price becomes. I tried on some really, really cute clothes and decided to splurge on a fun green skirt (at the nobody-bought-it price). I also went to a wine tasting at Best Cellars and picked up two bottles of vino: a New Zealand sauvignon blanc and a veltliner. Finding veltliners in DC is much easier than finding veltliners in Cleveland for whatever reason.
Later in the evening, a bunch of us decided to go Nighttime Monument Hopping:
Taking nighttime photos is so complicated. I'm sure that Jim will show these up when he comes to visit. Regardless, I want a collapsible tripod for Christmas.
Wednesday spending total: $93.96 (...and His Lovely Wife, skirt, and wine)
Thursday, June 21
I had a super lazy morning. After lunch, free ice cream was to be had at 1776 Eye Street; we ventured over there ASAP to meet Erica and Jason:
I managed to snag free passes to the sneak preview of "A Mighty Heart." The movie was incredibly intense and inevitably depressing. I was engaged throughout the film and felt like I had been in the theater for four hours rather than 100 minutes. I would recommend this movie; the message sent by the lives of Daniel and Mariane Pearl is both thought-provoking and profound.
Thursday spending total: $0.00 (YAY!)
Friday, June 22
The majority of the WISE gang went to a lunchtime NIST briefing in Rayburn. We got to hear William Jeffrey, the director of NIST speak along with Representatives Phil Gingrey and David Wu.
I snapped these pictures of Bartholdi Park on the way back:
I ran a few errands at Union Station before coming back to the office for a bit. After work, I met up with fellow members of the Case Alumni Association at RFK to watch the Indians battle the Nationals. I had an excellent pulled-chicken sandwich and got to meet several very interesting Case alumns. One gentleman worked at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, and another was an ex-Case swimmer from the tdc3 era. The latter's wife was super involved with the Dartmouth Alumni Association and promised to invite me to their DC summer events as well.
The Indians played lethargically and lost by a score of 4 to 1. BUT, I got my picture with Teddy, Tom, George, Abe, and the GEICO Gecko:
Yes sir, yes ma'am. Milwaukee has sausages, Pittsburgh has pierogies, and Cleveland has Sugardale hot dogs. Not to be outdone, Washington has the Presidents:
Friday spending total: $40.25 (Borders run and RFK outing)
