Adventures in Cupcaketopia, part II

Sunday was a beautiful day and half of the DC-metro area headed to Georgetown to enjoy it. As such, we had to wait on line for a full 30 minutes with a family from Rosslyn and about 100 of our closest friends before we could even darken the doorway of Georgetown Cupcake. And man, was it worth it.

The tiny shop offers a variety of cupcake flavors, some of which you may have never heard of. Key lime cupcake? They got it. Strawberry? They got it. Peanut butter fudge, with melty fudge center? Bernadette got it, all over her face. I tried a red velvet and a key lime, the classic and the crazy. The red velvet cupcake was quite good, but I'll be honest - my mom makes it better. It all comes down to the cream cheese frosting, which wasn't strong enough in my opinion.

So the red velvet was good, and watching Bernadette eat the peanut butter fudge was highly entertaining. But it all pales in comparison to the Key Lime 'cake (KLC). The KLC will go down in history as one of the greatest, most delicious cupcakes I have ever eaten. Really. The cake itself was moist and delicious, offering just the right balance of tarty sweetness. But the icing - how can I describe the icing? Sweet and sugary, holding visible pieces of lime zest and covering the 'cake in perfect proportion. The whole KLC masterpiece was adorably topped with a small lime slice-shaped gummi candy.

Now if you don't like key lime, well, I suppose you can't appreciate how excellent this little cuppy cake was. But if you grew up as I did, receiving boxes of fruit from Floridian grandparents and cracking into a key pie on holidays, then rest a assured: the KLC is everything you hope for. And there's plenty of variety for the rest of you, as well.

Adventures in Cupcaketopia, part I

I've just recently realized that I am apparently living not just in the Capital of the United States, but in the Cupcake Capital of the United States.

Hello Cupcake was the site of my first innocent foray into Cupcaketopia. It's pretty good, though the frosting is overpowering for me. They have plenty of variety and also sell single cupcake lunchboxes, in case you have to get your cupcake on the on go. Since they are based in Dupont Circle which is home to a lot of offices, this actually isn't a ridiculous idea.

Now, I thought that Hello Cupcake was a unique individual here in DC - but then I found lovecafe. lovecafe is the cupcake step-child of Cakelove bakery, and the two are situated directly across the street from one another on U St. The atmosphere is cozier than Hello Cupcake, with low ceilings and a windey little seating area. There isn't as much variety here as there is at Hello Cupcake, and the 'cakes won't fit inside your to-go lunchbox, but - and I'll just be frank about it - the cupcakes are better. The frosting is creamy and thick, but proportionally prefect to the moist mini-cakes that it decorates. I feel a little traitorous because Hello Cupcake was what first lead me on this Cupcake Adventure, but what is the point of traveling if not to learn?

Today I'm going to visit Georgetown Cupcake, which, surprise, is in Georgetown. This cupcakery made national news when they were featured on the Today Show and my mom has been prodding me to check it out ever since. Look forward to its review, as well as reviews of Red Velvet Cupcakery (in Penn Quarter) and Lavender Moon Cupcakery (Alexandria) as Adventures in Cupcaketopia continues.

**In the on-going debate about cake vs. ice cream, it should be noted that I will always choose ice cream, hands down, and that the best place to get it in D.C. is Gifford's near E Street Cinema. So if you don't have time to explore Cupcaketopia, skip it and go to Gifford's for the $2 special.

Back Again

It's snowing in DC. I'm staring out my 4th floor window watching it accumulate on the roof of Robert Kennedy's old church. Wonders never cease.

I haven't updated this, really, in over a month, which is too bad. It's been a busy month. I celebrated the sickest (literally) and most pathetic Christmas with my family to date. I rang in the New Year in New York, my 23rd birthday in Ireland, and the dawn of a new era in Washington, D.C. But more on all of that later.

I'm back in DC now, and experiencing something unexpected: unemployment. Oops. I moved down here to take a non-profit job, fighting the good fight for $24,000. As it turns out it really wasn't the job I thought I was being hired for. I'll spare the gory details here, but the highlights include a required 80 to 100 hour work week, being in the office 6 or (preferably) 7 days a week (how else do you work 100 hours a week?), and going door to door, alone, in the dark, everyday in random areas of VA and MD.

...

I don't think it's unreasonable to not want to do these things, especially for a salary that would be equivalent to making $5 or $6 per hour.

So back to square one. I have a couple interviews lined up, and we'll see what comes. Right now, I'm going to go take pictures of the Welcome to Washington snow. Maybe the Obama girls will be outside building snowmen.

Winding Down

This is my last week in DC. Tear! Currently, I'm still on the job hunt, but with a few bright spots on the horizon. I've had interviews at 2 different places that I'm waiting to hear from, and have 3 more interviews coming up. I've applied to several jobs in DC because I love the city and would love to continue to grow the social network I have here. In the name of adventure, however, I've applied all over the country - and by "country" I mean "the East Coast and New Orleans". We'll see.

I'm going home on Dec 20th, and all of my Bing friends will be home, however briefly, for Christmas & the Sparkle Party, so that's very exciting. I'm torn about what to do for New Year's this year. The people I usually celebrate with will be in Wisconsin and NYC, respectively, and I've also been invited down to DC to do...something. Details are unclear. Ideally, I think New Year's would be best spent playing Rock Band in somebody's basement, but people can never be that chill on New Year's.

But more exciting things are happening! For the first time in my life, my birthday will not be spent in Binghamton, NY because on January 11th I will be....

in Ireland!

I'm super psyched. I'm going to visit Ernest from January 9th - January 18th in Limerick, and wherever else we decide to journey - very possibly to Dublin because - OMG - Laura and Sofi might be coming to Dublin from Sweden January 16th - 18th!!! Ernest doesn't know that yet...but I guess he'll find out here. Don't worry Ernest, if it works out that way, they are very cool chicks, I swear.

So, then I return to the great state of New York for about oh, 12 hours, before battling my way back to DC for the inauguration on the 20th. I can't believe after 8 God awful years that it's only 5 weeks away. Should be a romping good time.

And then, hopefully, I start my new job. In DC. Or, you know, wherever.

Pictures

I just spent over 1/2 an hour trying to upload pictures from the last three months on to facebook with no luck. No DC pictures for you!

Okay, a couple.



ACT UP! Graffiti on the Berlin Wall, now preserved at the Newseum.



My pal, author Neil Gaimen reading from his new book way back in September.



A view of DC from atop the Washington Monument. You can almost see my building from there!



A great idea.



And because I can't find the brochure from the Alexandria walking tour, an explanation from Wikipedia:

In 1830, John Hollensbury's home in Alexandria, Virginia was one of two homes directly bordering an alleyway which received an annoying amount of horse-drawn wagon traffic and loiterers. To prevent people from using the alleyway, Hollensbury constructed a 7-foot (2.1 m) wide, 25-foot (7.6 m) deep, 325-square-foot (30.2 m2), two-story home using the existing brick walls of the adjacent homes for the sides of the new home. The brick walls of the Hollensbury Spite House living room have gouges from wagon-wheel hubs, and the house is still standing and occupied.

Tis the Season

This last week has been spent in Binghamton, baking and filling out job applications in between Rock Band sessions at Rachel's house. I've finally moved up to *medium* on guitar. Take that, actual musicians!

In the name of the season, I thought I'd tick off a few things that I am thankful for.

1. My friends and family. I love my friends, and my family is the most supportive, silly, wonderful family a person could ask for, and I'm glad once again that I got to spend the holiday with them.

2. DC & the last few months. I've loved living in DC, even at the Nunnery. I've gotten to do a ton of news things, I got to work for several political campaigns (most of which won!), I got to be in Washington on the night it exploded with Obama-flavored joy. I've also found that it's been pretty easy for me to meet new people in DC, and while many of them have been absolutely ridiculous, some of them are wonderful friends that I'm so glad I got the opportunity to meet. I have been unofficially invited to friends' weddings in Sweden and Barbados too, so really moving to DC was well worth it.

3. Upcoming adventures. After Dec 20th, I don't know what I'll be doing, but I'm sure it's going to be interesting. Plus, I still have several friends I want to visit in Wisconsin, Ireland, Sweden, NYC, and, you know, Ithaca.

So, now I'm thinking of Christmas gifts, but I'll be skipping out on Black Friday this year, unless shopping at the Philadelphia airport counts. Happy Holidays everyone - it's officially the Sparkle Season.

Update!

I'd first like to acknowledge that yesterday was my friend Rachel's 22nd birthday, so happy birthday Rachel!

And now the news from Washington. Things are a bit melancholy tonight. My good friend Laura is flying home to Sweden tomorrow, and we don't know when we will see each other again. I'm getting job hunt fatigue from trying to figure out the future (soon to be present...). My friend Juliana is moving next weekend to Virginia which, at least when compared to Sweden, isn't really all that far away.

On a happier note, the Prop 8 & Frienemies protest in DC was awesome. Somewhere between 5,000 and 7,000 people were there with some of the most creative protest signs I've seen. We started out in front of the Capitol Building, where I got an incriminating picture taking. I was climbing up a lamp post to try and spot my friend in the crowd when some freelancer took my picture. I'm sure it's floating out there on the internet with the caption "CRAZY GAY PROTESTERS ATTACK PUBLIC PROPERTY!!"

From the Capitol Building, we hit the Washington Monument and eventually the White House. It felt very surreal, after all the MLK references with Obama, to be protesting (at least for a short period of time) in front of the Lincoln Memorial. I suppose it's fitting. We've made a lot of great strides - particularly this month - but there's still all sorts of injustice. Separate is still not equal.

It was interesting to hear people's reasons for coming to the protest. One man spoke about his friend, who was denied bereavement time to go to his domestic partner's funeral in Florida. His domestic partner was his girlfriend. Obviously laws like Prop 8 and the rest are wrong because of the basic rights they deny to LGBTQ people. But the story is very telling about how when you mess with the laws to hurt one group, you risk hurting everybody.

Pictures to come, because they don't seem to be loading properly.

Back on the Hunt

Is it that time already?

Things are going great here in DC, mostly because the city is fabulous and I've met a few good people. Unfortunately, my internship (you know, the part-time-non-espionage-related job) finishes at the end of December, and with Christmas creeping around the corner, it may be time to consider my up & coming future. You know, beyond working at Russell's.

Have resume, will travel.

So expect some updates on that, as well as write-ups on the DC Prop H8 Protest and pictures from the campaign trail.

I originally intended to fill out some job applications tonight, but working 8:45 - 6 coupled with Tuesday's root canal has made me into a semi-lifeless blob, good only for sleeping and watching House reruns.

Speaking of grumpy old men, if anyone's looking to watch something either awful or hilarious, O'Reilly's going to be on the Daily Show tonight.

Remember, Remember the 4th of November

My generation woke up different today.

I've always been proud of where I come from - as long as we're talking about New York. If you were an Austrian or a Brazilian or a Swede, I'd tell you I come from New York. New York is a place people are proud to be from and a place that the international community respects, unlike the US as a whole. If I ever plainly said that I was an American, it was with an apologetic shrug and a promise that No, I didn't vote for Bush.

I think a lot of people have felt that way for a long time. The difference is that while older generations had some sense of what they had lost, we didn't. We came to political consciousness in the age of George Bush and fear politics; in the time of Katrina, global warming and radical conservatism; of Guantanamo Bay and two seemingly endless wars. In the grand scheme of history, these are all very recent events. To my generation, however, they are the only thing we have ever really known. We don't remember trusting our government. We don't remember not fearing our leaders. We don't remember when we could say we were Americans without a sense of shame because for most of us, that time never existed.

I don't mean we haven't been proud at some points. We are the post-9/11 generation, afterall. In the wake of a Tuesday in September, we watched rescue workers scoured the rubble and save people day after day. We watched strangers take in strangers in the wake of tragedy. We tried to contemplate, without reference, how everything was changing.

I was 15 at the time.

I felt a sense of pride in my country then. I think a lot of young people did. Watching national neighbors band together in the face of adversity was heartening and most definately something to be proud of. But it was a pride grown from despair, piled on top of emptiness, hurt and above all, fear. We were proud of "our fellow Americans", but that pride and unity toppled like a deck of cards under the weight of fear and anger.

Until November 4th, 2008.

At 11 o'clock last night, I felt something different. I felt excitement as I jumped on the furniture in Capitol Brewery. I felt joy as we celebrated in the streets. I felt love as 93% of DC went out of their way to express gratitude and relief. I felt pride.

All around the world, leaders and civilians alike are lauding the election, proclaiming a new day for absolutely everyone. We chose a leader based for once not on fear, but on hope. My generation ran to the polls after years of being told we didn't care. My country chose a leader who is intelligent and well-spoken, considerate and ready to lead not just to a select group of U.S. citizens, but the world. I really believe that. I think a lot of us do.

On November 5th the older generations of America woke up with a sense that things were finally getting back on track, that we could be proud again.

Most of my generation, however, awoke for the first time with a sense of national pride based not on what was done to us, but on what we did. For the first time, ever, I and others like me were truly proud to be a part of the United States of America.

And that itself is change indeed.

Phone Freak Outs and Blogger Greek Outs

I think that I've mentioned this: a big portion of my internship is helping run nightly phone banks for Obama & friends. The phone banks, I feel, are fun, important and always provide some good stories. For example:

I called a family tonight and asked to speak to one woman. The man who answered the phone told me "Yeah, you better because we are a household divided. I just donated $100 to you guys to mess with her. SHE'S voting for the other side!!"

Another guy told me "I might vote for Obama on the pro-choice, but I think he has a liberal agenda and he's going to drive this country into the ground so think about THAT!!" *hang up*

Or, everyone's ridiculously overzealous favorite: "I'd rather die than vote for ______!" Really?

Anyway, tonight one of the bloggers from feministing.com came and called with us. I was totally star-struck. Feministing was/is a fundamental part of how I learned about feminism and became a feminist rock star myself. Obviously it was a very big deal to me to meet someone who has unknowingly had a pretty big influence on my life. True to that unknown part, I don't think she realized that she was a really big deal to me. Which is clearly for the best, because one of the only things lamer than geeking out about meeting Barenaked Ladies or Neil Gaimen is geeking out about meeting a blogger.

No Zombies, No Voldemort.

I got a part time job at the Spy Museum. It's sweet.

I'm training to guide Operation Spy tours, "a one hour interactive tour" where visitors become spies. Basically. I've been there for a little over week, and my excitement about spies is at the same level (ZOMGSPIEZZ!!!), but my perception of them is slightly altered. It was a sad and startling realization that real spies are not James Bond. Real spies are by-the-book ordinary schmoes who don't draw attention to themselves and when you ask, tell boring stories such "Oh, you know, I worked a little in the US then just ended up here." However, as only a part time spy, I get to use a walkie-talkie and that's awesome.

Last night I did some non-walkie-talkie phone banking for Obama and on Saturday I'm going door-to-door with a friend in Virginia. I keep getting emails from various Obama-supporting groups that read "On the morning of November 5th, do you want to be saying you wish you'd done more? Go do ________." No, I *don't* want November 5th to suck! They're very convincing.

More importantly, this entire weekend was spent not working because MY FAMILY WAS HERE! My mom, brother, sister-in-law and nephews came down and we had several full days of going to the Zoo, the Air & Space Museum, and a bunch of monuments. The highlight for my nephews was seeing as orangutan at the zoo pick its nose. Seriously. They applauded. The highlight for me was the following:

After seeing the Washington Monument (Gavin, George Washington was the first president) and the Lincoln Memorial (Gavin, Abe Lincoln was a great president), we pointed out the White House. Being the smart kid he is, he applied his logic.

Becky: "Gavin, that's where the president lives."
Gavin: "Oh. [pause] Is he dead?"

No zombies in the White House. Not in 2008, not ever.

We also ordered out from Five Guys. Have you ever been to Five Guys? I hadn't either. It's a burger place and that's about it (although some of them now offer "VEGGIE DOGS!"). Sean psyched it up to be this awesome experience, and we went and ordered greasy, artery-clogging food for the whole family. A little of this, a little of that, plus five orders of fries.

Now, I don't know about you, but when I order fries, I expect them to come in a little box, maybe a paper cup. Call me old-fashioned. And I don't know what the cause of this was: maybe they are being green by cutting down on waste. Maybe they were frustrated with Sean for ordering so slowly. Maybe they were trying to mess with us. Whatever the cause, we ended up with one grease-stained grocery bag entirely full of several pounds of french fries...and nothing else. No box, no cups, not even a napkin.


Five ketchups just didn't cut it.

Fund raising, raising hell and trying to raise the bar

Before getting into the bulk of the post, I present my cewebrity debut (and don't worry, it's plenty embarrassing). I'd also like to take this time to stress that we are a non-profit and that while some of my friends work for high-end screen and stage producers I, uh, do not.

Anyhow, view it here: Liberty Lowdown: Election Day

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Three stories in three paragraphs.

On Saturday, I went to a fund raising dinner with work for the Human Rights Campaign. It was by far the fanciest dinner I've ever been to with lots of tuxes, heels and oddly shaped salads. When Joe Biden didn't show due to family illness, the crowd rejoiced when "his good friend" Hillary Clinton took his place. She delivered the best line of the night: "John McCain isn't a maverick. He's a mimic." Suze Orman, who received the National Equality Award offered up a great soundbite as well when she declared "I don't want to be a lesbian who is tolerated."

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It was dinner time at the nunnery and a heated debate was taking place. Unfortunately, (or fortunately) for once it wasn't republican vs. democrat - it was liberal vs. liberal. One of the girls at the table announced that she was undecided, which prompted another to announce that "if Sarah Palin becomes my Vice President, I will vomit all over the White House". A hilarious image (I thought), but the diatribe quickly crumbled under claims that both Palin and McCain are "whores" with bad accents. "That doesn't help our side!" one person said, while the other argued that she was just expressing her personal opinion. And there in lies the rub. The personal is political, and so is how you express it. Whatever your personal feelings about a candidate, calling the other side whore, Barbie, terrorist, etc doesn't help senators become presidents - but it does make their supporters look like jackasses. And when you're trying to sway every last swing voter, it does matter how your supporters present themselves. Just ask the guys supported by Rev. Wright and the worst president in U.S. history - winning people over when your base embarrasses you is tough work. This election is going to continue to be a circus. It's time we all start performing at our best.

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I went to an exhibit at the Smithsonian on Saturday about Jim Henson and the muppets. They had some of the puppets on display, including Kermy and Gobo (<3)from Fraggle Rock. It was amazing to see the sheer volume of work that this man produced. From 8-second commercials to multiple full-length feature films, Jim Henson changed the face of pop culture - and that was what was even more amazing. Every single person at the jam-packed exhibit was talking about their favorite muppet, arguing over the best muppet movie (it's Muppet Treasure Island) and talking about how much Labyrinth f-ed them up as a child. People reminisced about Sesame Street, relived Dark Crystal and wondered out loud what the hell was up with The Cube. We have to thank Jim Henson for raising the bar in terms of children's programming and in turn having a profound effect on millions. Face it - all of us have shared childhood memories because of this man. And I have to personally thank Jim Henson for potentially one of the most fulfilling moments of my life; because let me tell you: you honestly haven't lived until you've sung the entire Muppet Show theme song with a room full of strangers.

Time for Another Edition of KHB Fun Facts

After that heavy political post (think about it - if it's impossible for you to stop thinking about the election wherever you are, imagine being in DC), I figured it was time for some light-hearted facts about my first week here. Sorry about the swearing, Mom & Dad.

Firstly, I have run into more Cornell folks then I know what to do with. I met a guy who is a junior in ILR because we were both wearing Ithaca garb at the gym, I met two dudes on the street who were talking about applying to Cornell (again, ILR), and at the Book Festival, I met a family of former Ithaca residents who's little girl was wearing a map of I-town on her shirt. Ithaca isn't just gorges, Ithaca is everywhere. (Important to note: why has no one in Ithaca mailed me an "Obama is Gorges" shirt yet???)

Other fun facts: every day on the way to work, I walk by a private elementary school that is entirely arts-based. They have some awesome artwork hanging up outside the school, so I can't wait to go to the open house they're having next week.

I've applied to a couple interesting jobs including some at the Smithsonian and, importantly, at the Spy Museum.

I found a used bookstore and a gym a couple blocks down the street from me. What could be better? Probably my boss taking me out to California Pizza Kitchen instead of working (don't worry, we made the time up...), and then going salsa dancing after work.

Tomorrow I'm going up to Adams Morgan for an "alternative crafts fair" called Crafty Bastards, and on Monday I'm going to see Rusted Root at the 9:30 Club. Life is awesome.

38 days to go

I live on Capitol Hill now. Not like the lawmakers and policy pushers that live in their offices and work on Saturday nights, of course. I actually live here.

Last night there was a seemingly endless array of cop cars parked on every street surrounding the Capitol Building as the People Who (are supposed to) Represent us duked it out. The tension is absolutely palpable around here. Republicans prattle into cell phones about how the House is making the bail out impassible; protesters preach outside on the lawn waving signs that say "No bail outs for billionaires". Strangers wearing Obama gear give each other sly thumbs up. People wearing no political garb at all stop me in the street to tell me how my Obama pin makes them angry. Last night a bouncer told me "I'm pro-life and I'm voting for McCain. What are you gonna do about it?" Mostly just pay you $5 to get into your bar, but, you know.

It rained on the National Book Festival today, but I stuck it out and met Neil Gaimen without embarrassing myself (seriously! I was so proud) and heard R. L. Stine read from the latest Goosebumps spin-off. When the rain cleared, there was a beautiful rainbow that landed right in a big pot of gold - the Senate side of the Capitol. Everyone in line with me started joking "It's a sign! The economy's fixed! Rainbows don't lie!"

Everyone watched the debate last night. Unable to bear the thought of watching it with the building's plethora of Republicans, I went to Adams Morgan with my new friend Laura from Sweden to watch the debate with her friends. All of her friends are from outside the US, so the crowd was completely pro-Obama (doesn't that say something?) and putting a lot of pressure on me to vote (come on!). It really puts things in perspective, doesn't it? I was in a room of maybe 15 people, all from entirely different countries, and all of them care about our presidential race.

Tonight I sat through a painful dinner conversation as the R's I live with spoke their warped view of the world. Some of it was interesting - they admitted being disgusted with Bush for lying about why we are in Iraq, though they do believe we need to be there. Some of it was boring - Obama's foreign policy sucks, from the mouths of people willing to vote for Sarah Palin. But some of it...some of it is just down right mind blowing.

"I think a terrorist attack would be really good for John McCain's campaign," said one of his supporters tonight. I know, I know - McCain's adviser said it first. But hearing from the mouth of someone I share a dinner table with is different. It's not some ambiguous politico talking head anymore. It's a person. And I sit there, screaming on the inside, HOW can you support him when that's the line, that's the truth? How can you know that having a couple thousand people die will help your candidate and not realize that you are supporting the bad guys? How can you sleep at night? What is it going to take, voters of the once-United States? What is it going to take?

Working at my internship does make me feel better and even, as Obama would have it, hopeful. My job is to help our activists campaign for Obama, by giving them materials, resources and different ways to get involved with the campaign. I talk to people every day that have gotten so fed up with our hands-off political process that they feel compelled to get involved personally and bring about (another great Obama word) change. They're sick and tired of living in fear of Bush: the Second Coming, and they are starting to demand action from their friends, classmates and neighbors. Every time I speak with a volunteer, I feel like we're going to win. Maybe we've all been down so long it just looks like up to me.

Or maybe by one vote, one phone call, one person at a time, we're actually going to win.

Finding Balance in Washington D.C.

It's official; I'm in Washington. So here are some basic updates.

Living('s easy): I moved into the place that I'm staying which will henceforth be referred to as "the nunnery". It's extremely close to the Capitol Building and all the Senate offices. As a result, the street is patrolled 24/7 by the DC police department AND the Secret Service. Now, I know the Secret Service aren't there to protect me, per say, but it is rather reassuring to know that were something to go down, everyone and their mom would be there to step in. It's a nice building and I've met lots of people. A lot of them are Republican, which I honestly wasn't expecting. As a bleeding heart liberal, feminist, anti-capitalist, environmentalist troublemaker, this is very, very different for me. I've always been surrounded by people like me (except for that time I accidentally dated a Republican. Read my lips: never again). I'm learning to adapt. Just the same, I cannot tell a lie and none of them seem impressed by...

My Work: I started my internship on Monday, and so far I've been enjoying it. On the plus-side, I'm helping promote the Obama campaign and working to assure that we are not ruled by vengeful overlords come January. On the negative-side, it is very, very office-y - biz cas, inter-office memos, and lots of copy machine problems.

Pluses being what they are, I would still probably punch myself in the face if I had to go to an office every day. For that reason, I'm looking for a non-office based ppart time job. So I'm going to be crazy busy (at least I don't have prelims, bwahaha!!), but I think that they will all balance each other out after a while.

The Yin and the Yang. Office and outside. Young Republicans and bleeding heart liberals.

It's going to be an interesting few months.

Obama's Heading to Washington and so am I

Many of your may already know this, but I thought I'd give an update anyway.

On Saturday (so soon!) I'm moving to Washington D.C. to work for a non-profit. I'm going to be interning in their Affiliate and National Programs Department, which is more interesting than it sounds, I promise. Basically I'm going to be working with volunteers, doing trainings and canvassing supporters in an effort to protect and secure women's reproductive rights nationwide and help get Obama & Biden elected.

I'm very excited about the internship and think it will provide me with a lot of really great experience. That said, it pays basically squat. Therefore, I'm looking into other part-time jobs. I've applied a few places including the National Council Against Domestic Violence, a few after-school youth programs, and Greenpeace.

I'm living verrrry near the Capitol Building, which is going to be interesting. I can watch all those politicians that rule the world walk around during their lunch hour and get bagel sandwiches like the rest of us. Maybe I'll get to harass some of them on behalf of women or human rights or the environment. Maybe I'll meet Dennis Kucinich! <3 National Book Festival (so I guess that's just really, really dorky love). It happens on the National Mall, which by default is also near my abode, and even though it's hosted by Laura Bush, I'm going. I need to meet Neil Gaimen to get his autograph and R.L. Stine to discern that he's real. Let me know if you want signatures, Goosebumps fans.

I'm be in D.C. during the biggest, weirdest election in memory. That in mind, I'm headed down to the County Broad of Elections to get my absentee ballot - don't forget to register for an absentee ballot if you won't be home to vote! I would remind everyone else to remember to vote as well, but I honestly don't think anyone could "forget" during this particular scenes-from-the-apocalypse election cycle.