Mr. Dungan Goes to Washington

Quick! Update!!

2009-03-15T00:01:00.002-04:00

Still alive, I promise!

Weeks have been long (but enjoyable...).

I will leave a long and detailed post soon, but long story short the clock is running out on Mike's Midwest events so I've just been working on that.

Hope you all are well, and keep checking the blog...I WILL update soon.

Nearly a Month...

2009-03-08T16:23:00.006-04:00

Wow, I am completely shocked that it has been this long since my last update. While I feel as though so much has happened, it seems like I've only missed a week of updates. I guess I should try and fill you all in on some highlights.

New York was outstanding. Gina flew in and we spent a few days in DC just looking around and checking out the monuments, and then on that Friday drove into New Jersey and took the train into the city. It turns out that it's only 21 dollars round trip from Trenton to NYC, so that was a great deal. Once in NYC, we just had an incredible time. The hotel was only a block away from times square, so we were able to see some cool places and even catch a Broadway show (Guys and Dolls with Lauren Graham and Oliver Platt) all while attending some interesting seminars and meeting some good people. Also fun was stopping at Len's place on the way to Trenton. As I've said, it's been so nice to have someone that close who can act as a friend when I need to just escape for a weekend.

After my NY trip, things sort of started to pick up at work. The last two weeks have just been crazy trying to plan events in Kansas and Nebraska for Mike. Of those events, the only one I'm really worried about so far is taking place at UNL. Everybody that I invited gave me the "ehh" treatment on facebook and only replied with maybe to the event. Hopefully I'll be able to reach out to enough student groups and professors that the turn out won't be disappointing. For those of you reading this who are in Lincoln and have some relation to UNL, feel free to attend. It will be on Tuesday March 24th at 7:00 PM in the Student Union downtown. Ask me for any other details.

For those of you in Lincoln who might be reading this that don't have a relation to the University, never fear, for Mike will also be doing a book signing at Lee Booksellers that Thursday (March 26th) at 7:30 PM. I would really appreciate it if people could go to either (or both) of these events. I'm sure they're going to be fun and interesting, and hey, it really helps me out to have folks show up at events that I coordinate.

On the Lawrence side of things, Mike is going to be at Alice Lieberman's house (754 Sunset Ln.) on March 23rd at 7:00 PM. I'm hoping that this event is going to attract some professors and KDP folk, but the more students there the better. So if you're at KU and reading this, please consider taking some time out of your Monday and showing up.

(plug for events ends here)

While work has been getting busier, I also think that I've been doing a better job at juggling the craziness. Also, I really feel like I've been getting along with folks at the office better as they've gotten to know me more. For example, because it was so nice the other day Adam took me out for ice cream . Yes, that's right, my boss takes out employees for ice cream. Long story short, this is a great job.

Outside of the work realm, I've been keeping busy too. The other day the interns and I went to see a panel on women in politics at the National Archives featuring a few congresswomen and governors. While not all of the participants on the panel said what I wanted to hear (one of the congresswomen didn't seem to know what she was talking about) I thought the discussion was fascinating and inspiring.

Also with the intern group, I've had the chance to meet with various congressmen since I last updated. One of these was Jerry Moran from the KS-01 district. While I may not agree with the man on political issues, I'll be damned if he wasn't charming and amiable. I suppose people like Congressman Moran are important to talk to so that I don't associate everyone of the opposite party with it's more incendiary members (Limbaugh?). Obviously, when he runs for the Senate I'm not going to be voting for him, but I'll definitely not be taking hits at the his personality, and hopefully that kind of attitude will help keep the race focused on the issues and above the petty stuff.

I feel like there is so much I am leaving out, but I can't for the life of me think of anything else to update about right this minute. Hopefully I'll update again soon and try to include anything I forgot to touch on in this entry.

The weather is beautiful here.

I am excited for Spring.

Rumblings

2009-02-19T12:13:00.003-05:00

So it is seeming more and more like Governor Sebelius is going to be our HHS Sec. I'm actually very happy about this choice. Even though she is doing great work in Kansas, it will be nice to get her out on a national stage. I've talked to some people here who agree that she would be great, and needs to get out of Kansas somehow, whether that means running for U.S. Senate (please...please...please) or doing something in the cabinet.

The more I talk about that, the more I see a divide in the kinds of democrats in Kansas. There are those who on November 4th were sitting in the smaller room at the election night watch party saying that they didn't care if Obama won, because to them local elections are all that matter. Then there those who appreciate local politics and their effect on how quickly progressive change can be brought about, but also feel that national level politics need to be a priority in order to bring about actual policy change. I'm not saying either of these are wrong, and I see the merits of both approaches, but I most certainly fall into the latter category. It isn't enough to simply create a number of liberal oases in a conservative sea. I truly believe that one must create big, bold progressive policy at the national level.

This isn't to say, however, that I don't believe in grassroots organizing. I think it is important to bring about this national change from a bottom-up approach so that individuals at every level can get involved. I just don't believe that grassroots organizing is a strictly local affair.

Getting back to Governor Sebelius, I read an interesting article that wonders if the pro-life backlash against her will be too much for President Obama, effectively pushing her name down to the bottom of the list of nominees. This same article claims that Governor Sebelius was much higher on the list of VP nom's, but given her tumultuous past with characters like Phil Kline, she was a much less likely of a choice.

I really hope that this does not hurt her chances. If we let others dictate our policy, then we've no right being here. Let's start taking chances and running into brick walls. We'll get no where if we sit still and try to make everyone happy.

Long Time, No Talk

2009-02-17T17:35:00.002-05:00

And so it goes, once again, that I fail to update for nearly a week. Sigh.

This last week has been a good one though. Perhaps we can chalk up my lack of updates to the sheer awesomeness that was this last week? OK, it might not have been that great...but I did have a good time.

The work was more of the same: talking to schools and organizations about Mike coming to visit. I'd like to think that I'm really starting to get the pitch down seeing as I'm getting to the point that I don't tense up when I hit the send button on my emails requesting that folks consider Mike as a speaker. Whether this is due to an increase in my ability to sound convincing, or merely a growing numbness to rejection, I still welcome the comfort level.

I am,however, growing frustrated at the number of people who don't respond. While some school groups such as the Young Dems at USC just haven't updated their websites in a long time (it still has Clinton/Gore propaganda...) other student groups just don't feel the need to even drop me a polite "no thank you". I understand that school is busy and if you're not interested in having Mike come and talk to your group, but the least you can do is write a one sentence response...

Luckily, I have gotten a few events booked (i.e. the UNL one I spoke about) and am currently working on more. (To answer your question Kathy, it doesn't appear that Mike will be in the Nashville area...so sorry!)

I have had some good experiences outside of the work sphere in this last week too. Len came down on Saturday and we took a drive out to the Udvar-Hazy Center by Dulles Airport. It's sort of like an extension of the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum. Simply put, it was incredible. Unlike the other Air & Space Museum, it was actually built as an enormous hanger where they can keep mass amounts of planes, helicopters, and assorted other vehicles year round. And I'm not talking about a Cessna here, and a hang glider there. This hanger has in it the prototype for the Boeing 707, an SR-71 Black Bird, a space shuttle, a Concord, and the Enola Gay. A trip that I expected to take only an hour, ended up taking about 3.5 hours and I enjoyed every minute of it. Had Len not have gone with me, however, I'm sure I would have appreciated it far less than I did. It was nice to not only see all of this with someone else who appreciated it, but could answer any question I asked in full.

Here are a few pictures of the place thanks to Len:

On Sunday, my roommate and I went to Mt. Vernon, which was equally impressive. What I expected to be just a house and maybe a visitor's center was actually acres and acres of gorgeous land open to the public to walk around. Not only was it really intense to walk where you knew George Washington had lived, but they had his tomb open for the public to see which was equally impressive.

Oh yes, and I saw his dentures. Cool.

Coming up this weekend I will be heading to New York with Gina (who is coming to visit tomorrow) for the Young Democrats of America winter conference. I'm looking forward to getting out of DC for a while, and hopefully attending some interesting seminars while I'm there.

And in case you were wondering, or if there was any doubt in your mind, the Kansas GOP is ridiculous. Right now they are essentially blackmailing Governor Sebelius by not allowing her to pay state employees (any of them) unless she approves a bill that has worked it's way onto her desk. I knew that they were desperate for attention, but to actually affect that many individuals in such a negative way is downright criminal.

Also, I'm glad that the Stimulus was finally signed today. I'm still worried, but any concern I have over the stimulus is fueled by my concern that the package is too small. I wish that someone would sit down congressional Republicans and explain to them that not only are they holding back economic recovery, but they're not even listening to those within their own party.

Hopefully NYC is enjoyable, and I'll be able to update on the road.

I'll try to get some pictures of Mount Vernon up soon, so keep an eye out for them.

Snowboarding and such

2009-02-09T20:17:00.002-05:00

This last weekend was one of the best that I have had in a long time. After a rather low-key Friday in the office that consisted of emails and reading, I came home, packed up my laundry, and took off to go see my Uncle Len in Delaware.

It was only about a 2 hour drive, and to tell you the truth it felt really nice to get out on the road and go somewhere. One thing I did notice that was ridiculous were the excessive tolls that I had to pay on the way out there. It was, literally, 15 dollars on a trip that wasn't even 2 hours. Besides that it was a really easy drive and I had little trouble getting there.

After I arrived Len and I just kind of sat around and chatted for most of the night. It is really nice to have someone up here who is not just family, but really feels more like a friend. We stayed up pretty late, and decided that the next day we would wake up late and head up to Camelback in PA to go skiing/snowboarding.

The snowboarding, let me tell you, was great. Granted, I fell quite a bit, and I am rather sore today, but it was really fun. I took a lesson and after learning how to stand-up, stop, and turn I feel comfortable enough about it that I am really looking forward to doing it again. There's no point in taking the lesson once and then just dropping it, so my goal is that by the time I leave DC I am able to say I can "snowboard" and mean that I can do it without going down the mountain on my hands and knees.

Coming back from Camelback, Len and I drove to my Grandma and Grandpa (Dungan)'s house (which was about half of the way to his place) and had dinner with them. It was really wonderful to see them both again. Given that they live in PA and I'm always in the midwest, it is hard to see them frequently, so it was great to sit and talk with them for a while. Plus, Grandma was great and made me a cake, so that's always a plus.

On Sunday Len helped me a bit with my car (It was leaking water into the passenger side whenever it got wet...no good...) and showed me some cool stuff about how the car actually worked. Once again, it was nice to just spend some time with him and hang out with some people outside of the program for a while.

So, that takes me to today. Adam, Mike, and Carla from my office are all in New York for an event, so it was a very laid back day for me and Phil. In fact, I got to leave around 2 pm. That really made my day. With the time off, I decided to check out the museum of American history, and that was incredible. I actually got to see the flag that Francis Scott Key was looking at when he was inspired to write the Star Spangled Banner. I know that it might sound nerdy, but I was completely enamored with it. Just feeling that sort of historical presence was amazing.

So that catches everyone up. I really have got to start doing this nightly seeing as I am not a fan of just writing "I did this....then this...then this..." kind of posts. I like keeping you all up to date, but also being able to just talk about random things, as well as share my opinions. Hopefully I'll get better about this soon...

One cool thing that did happen during work was that I was able to watch the town hall style meeting that President Obama held to talk about the stimulus bill. I thought the entire thing was brilliant. There was no screening of the questions so it felt natural, and he was actually answering the majority of the questions with (somewhat) straight forward answers. I think the President plays so well in those kind of situations that it might be the best way for him to get his message across to people about what needs to be done.

Along those lines, I am watching his press conference as I type this, and am enjoying it for the most part. I wish that he had straight up said "yes, I will overturn the policy banning media from covering the bodies of soldiers who are killed overseas as they fly back into the states". I 100% agree that it is shameful for us to just slide them in without letting anyone know what is going on. People need to a.) see the men and women who have died over there, and b.) realize that this ridiculous war in Iraq is affecting people every single day whether or not we know it. Hiding the bodies as they come off of those planes is like trying to convince us that nothing is really wrong. It really, really bothers me.

That is about all I have for now.

KU is playing Missou tonight...so, go Jayhawks.

Hope you're all well. I miss you.

of course...

2009-02-03T18:11:00.003-05:00

Two things I forgot to mention.

First, I spent last Thursday morning with Senator Sam Brownback. Given that it was a part of the program I'm here with I was somewhat helpless and had to go. Originally, I was quite upset that I would have to wake up that early to go and spend my time with someone like him. As the morning progressed, however, I was pleasantly surprised.

Don't get me wrong, I still strongly disagree with nearly everything the man stands for. I was, however, impressed with his strong and steady convictions. When he says he believes in the sanctity of life he means it. He said that while he was opposed to abortion, he hinted that he was also opposed to the death penalty. He even went as far as to say he thought that Guantanamo should have been shut down because we weren't treating those detainees like human beings. We weren't respecting their life. It has been my experience that politicians who use the "right to life" argument tend to suddenly flip views in respect to the death penalty. I actually believe that Senator Brownback, on the other hand, believes what he says and knows what he believes.

Furthermore, he ended our little meet and greet with a little talk on head and heart. While the subject might sound contrite or overly sentimental, I actually could not agree with him more. He said that if there was one thing we could take away from him, he would have it be that we do our best to develop not just a sharp mind, but a moral compass. Without this compass, he said, we could be the smartest person in the room but it wouldn't matter. While my moral compass tends to point in the opposite direction of his the majority of the time, I think that this is one of the most important things in politics. I can argue with people and spout facts until my voice is gone, but when it comes down to it there are certain things that I believe because they are just right. I know that not everyone will agree with me, but I believe that certain aspects of certain things should operate one way or another because it is the just thing to do.

The government should look out for the poor, the underprivileged, and the weak.

Everybody, regardless of sex, gender, colour, or orientation should be allowed to live what life they choose free from persecution, harrasment, or judgment.

No one should ever have to feel as though the government is looking over their shoulder when they go to the library and check out a book.

No child should ever have to go to the hospital, only to be turned away because their parents can't afford insurance.

In my world, these are not opinions. They are axioms.

Secondly, the interns were all able to meet with Congressman Dennis Moore this morning for coffee. I have always like Congressman Moore. He is a funny, genuine guy who seems to care about his constituents more than a political label. Granted, he's a blue dog and we differ on some fiscal issues, but I think he really does what he thinks is best and tries to keep an eye out for the little guy.

It is nice to have Internet.

More later, I'm sure.

Not dead...

2009-02-03T16:48:00.003-05:00

I am, in fact, still alive.

This last week went by very quickly and the lack of Internet (which we finally have) combined with my sleepiness made me less inclined to find wireless. Now that we finally have it, however, I can update regularly. I expect you to hold me to that.

My intent was to update with everything that I did this last week, but now that I am faced with that daunting task I am unable to think of what I did each and every day. Here are a few things that I did for sure:

Went to the national archives. They were incredible. I know that it might sound "lame", but the entire time that I was in line getting ready to check them out, I had a giant knot in my stomach. Just being able to see the actual documents that we've studied for so long in person was one of the best things I've ever done. I was shocked at the good condition of them. Granted, the Declaration of Independence has faded significantly, but the Constitution and Bill of rights are good as new.
I have a bit more focused roll here at work. Rather than doing a little bit of everything (I always get a bit of this kind of work...but it's what interns do!) I have been put "in charge" of contacting university groups and college entities that are in cities Mike is traveling to in order to set up events regarding the book. This can range from a book signing to a speaking slot at a conference. It is nice to have a bit more defined role at work.
Ate some great Thai food...I believe that peanut curry tofu is one of my new favourites.

Is it sad that those are the three things that come to mind? I'm sure there are many others and as I remember, I'll update.

One thing that has had me really upset is what seems to be the Democrats' inability to keep out of stupid situations. We nearly have 59 seats in the senate, a good hold on the house, and the control of the White House, but we still seem to be having trouble tying our shoes in the morning.

I'm not say that Democrats are infallible or that I think they should be held to a different standard. I'm merely expressing my discontent for what seems to be our ability to get ourselves in trouble.

On the other side of the aisle, however, I have had it up to here with house Republicans ( and the vast majority of the party leaders in general). After the Democrats made their concessions on tax cuts and after President Obama came to the Capitol in order to extend a hand to Republican leaders, not one single member of the republican party could bring themselves to vote yes on the bill. No, they were so busy getting air time with Fox News and publicly ridiculing the Democrats for trying to help people, that they didn't take a second to look at the bigger picture and realize that tax cuts aren't going to do a thing to stimulate the economy.

Pardon the partisan rant.

It has just been on my mind all day.

Political talk aside, however, I have been doing very well. I hope everyone reading this is doing OK and I look forward to hearing from anyone anytime!

More updates will probably come tonight, since I have the web.

Also, for anyone reading this in Lincoln or Lawrence, I just wanted to mention that there is a very real possibility that Mike will be coming to both of those places in late March to do stuff for his book! I'll keep everyone posted, but if it happens then you should all go and bring plenty of friends.

Back to work

2009-01-26T06:06:00.004-05:00

I woke up excruciatingly early today...somewhere around 5:00 AM...and am already dressed and ready to go. Why? I have no idea. My sleeping patterns been so terrible since I got here. I go to bed really early (as I've mentioned) but still, I don't wake up to my alarm. I'm either up far to early or oversleep. I'm sure it is just a transition that I need to get used to, but believe you me, it is no fun right now.

Sunday was relaxed. I spent the majority of the day in sweats just bumming around my room and watching The West Wing on my computer. In the evening I finally got some laundry done (which was good because I was down to just t-shirts and I think that might be a tad casual for the office) and watched a movie with Jacque.

I haven't the slightest what I'll be doing at work today. They sent me up to the capitol the other day to drop off a book...that was nice...maybe I can do that again.

My roommate was upset that she had to go to the capitol today to take notes on a congressional hearing. While I understand that these hearings are a bit mundane and can make little to no sense sometimes, I think it sounds fantastic. I may be easily impressed or perhaps I just get more excited about things than I should...but to go to the nation's capitol to work sounds amazing to me. I have been there multiple times now and am still in awe just walking by it and knowing I'm where it all happens. To tell you the truth I hope that never goes away. I think people are too easily numbed to the grandeur that is this city. Obviously, my perspective is a bit skewed given my obsession with politics, but this is like Mecca to me. For years I have studied what happens here and wanted to be involved with it, and now that I am, I'm not going to complain about "having" to go the hill.

Also, in my attempt to figure out blogspot, I accidentally deleted a couple of comments. My apologies to Zahra and Gina! It wasn't done intentionally!

Hope everybody's week goes well. I really appreciate how many people have been reading this. It is nice to know that I'm not just typing these thoughts to myself.

And how could it not be a good day? President Obama is allowing states to set stricter regulations on auto-emissions. Three days at work and already I'm seeing progress!

I was so close..

2009-01-24T21:22:00.002-05:00

to having the internet this morning. The cable company came by at 8 am to install it, along with our cable, but upon arrival they found there was some issue with the apartment complex not leaving them the proper key to turn on our cable. So, we're not going to get it until later this week. It wouldn't be that big of a deal, but we ordered this nearly three weeks ago and I am really getting sick of shoddy internet connections from other people's wireless in my building.

Tonight I finally just made some time for myself and am relaxing at Panera bread co. while using their wireless. It is nice to just sit, relax, and be able to freely use the internet.

Not much has really happened in the last few days. On Thursday night I went to an event where Mike was talking about his book and snapped a few pictures so Adam could post them on our website. Beyond that, however, the last two days have been really laid back.

I'm feeling more and more confident at work. Strangely enough i think it was the phones that were giving me the most problems. When you get a call for Mike and accidentally hang up on them or put them through improperly it really make you feel stupid. This Friday, however, I finally started to feel "at home" in the office. I wasn't asking Adam to explain things to me 3-4 times, I wasn't transferring people improperly, and I wasn't getting lost downtown for 2 hours.

Long story short, I'm getting the hang of it.

The work I've been doing hasn't been too bad either. It has mostly been running errands or checking things out online. It is nice to feel a bit more plugged in to the progressive blogosphere.

Finally, as a small plug, I would love it if anyone here purchased Mike's book. You can do so fairly cheaply here. Like I have said before, it is a great read and the more I hear Mike talk about it, the more passionate I become about it as well.

Despite the fact that it is Saturday, I believe I'm going to go turn in soon. Since my arrival I have just been completely drained. Is this what it is like not being in college? Bed before 2 am? Really?

Hope you all are well. Feel free to leave me comments asking about anything specific I am leaving out.

Inauguration day and more

2009-01-22T05:55:00.003-05:00

Monday:
Apparently, Martin Luther King Jr. Day is huge in D.C. The day's crowds were also exacerbated by the throngs of people in town for the ceremonies on Tuesday and the thousands of people who were wanting to do service projects that day per Obama's urging. At RFK stadium they actually had to turn people away or limit their time because there was such an influx of volunteers. To me that was simply amazing.

That morning all of the interns had to head down to the capitol to get our tickets for the inauguration, so we all woke up and went down around noon. Little did we realize that this was the day that everyone else had to pick up their tickets as well. Each of the House Office Buildings had lines that stretched out to the street and in many cases around the corner. It was ridiculous. Lucky for us, one of our interns worked for Dennis Moore and that was the office that we were getting our tickets through, so we all just gave David our tickets and he marched through the line with his credentials and grabbed everyone's ticket. 'Twas pretty sweet.

A few of the intern folk and I then just went to Macaroni Grill and grabbed some lunch. At first I was thinking to myself, "why would you go to a chain when there are so many unique places here to eat?" but once I got my food I remembered it was because their food is...you know...great.

I spent that night hanging out with my friend Chris Terry who was in town for everything on tuesday. It was really nice to see him. We just grabbed food at another italian restaurant (too much pasta for one day I tell you) and walked around downtown trying to find the apartment they were staying at. It was the first time I had walked through Adam's Morgan at night (the bar/food district) and I now I understand what all of the hubub is about. The place is hoppin.

Tuesday:
So, after not sleeping more than an hour, I willingly got up and met up with other interns in my living room so that we could leave around 6 am. The Metro had started running as early as 4 am, so we figured we were being pretty smart by leaving that early. We didn't expect, however, that leaving at 6 meant not getting to the stop we were trying to get to until 9 am. It was insane. Every other stop we tried to get on a train at was either too busy for us to get on, or the metro we needed to hop on didn't even stop to open its doors due to the crowds on the platform.

Finally, after arriving at the mall we proceeded to wait in line for around an hour. Now understand that when I say "line", I'm being generous. There was little to no form to this mass of bodies huddled together in the cold, save the fact that we were all slowly shuffling towards the security points. After this hour in "line" all of us saw an opening in the people and made a mad dash for the security check point. Once through, we just staked our claim on a spot and stood until the ceremonies started.

The actual inauguration was...breathtaking. Just seeing the enourmos crowd who was gathered, and hearing the speech live as it echoed across the mall. Hearing the words of our first black President echo off of the lincoln memorial and back into a mass of 1 million people there, screaming his name...it was one of the most beautiful things I'd ever seen. For about 20 minutes while he was speaking you forgot you were cold. You forgot you woke up at 6 am. You forgot that the people next to you were complaining or that you had to walk all the way back home and you just listened to this man who 2 years ago started his journey toward the impossible and inexplicably accomplished what no one thought he could. It was just breathtaking.

Afterwards, they apparently had a very poor exit planned for all of the masses and it ended with groups tearing down fences or climbing walls. Through all of the cops yelling and people running, we finally made our way out of it and into the streets, only to be met with more crowds and waiting in "lines". It took us nearly 2 hours to walk through all of downtown D.C. and back across the mall to a metro station that was actually empty enough we could get on.

By this point, my already tired and sick body (I've had a sinus infection) was exhuasted. I felt sick to my stomach and literally fell asleep standing up on the metro ride home. Once I got back to my bed I passed out around 5:30 pm.

Wednesday:
This morning was terrible. After falling asleep at 5:30 you would think I'd wake up to my alarms, but due to my sinus thing sapping all of my strength out of me I overslept and groggily woke up about an hour late. I felt terrible for being late so I called in and explained what had happened while rushing into work. I sounded pretty terrible too just given that I was all stuffy and coughing for most of the day. At work they were really nice about it and understood that I was sick, but that doesn't make me feel any better. These are people who I respect, like a lot, and want to respect me. Everytime I do something wrong, or get in late I feel like I let them all down.

Luckily the rest of the day went pretty well and I thought that the work I did get done was good. Hopefully tomorrow is a bit better.

So that is what I have for daily updates. The internet is being installed this weekend ( along with cable) and I believe I'm getting my xbox today, so that is exciting. The xbox was being fixed, so I was without dvd player or gaming system for about a month...it was terrible.

Politically speaking, I've been fairly happy lately. I was outraged by the displeasure of the conservative right over the benediction at the inauguration. Dr. Joseph Lowery, long time friend of MLK jr. and Rosa Parks delievered a gorgeous prayer in which, while discussing racism, he called for white to embrace whats right. Of course, conservative pundits began to jump all over this, comparing Dr. Lowery to Jeremiah Wright in their disdain for America.

This made me so mad I could barely contain myself. The prayer was simply asking for an end to racism, but apparently if you point out the truth of a matter, you're being insensitve. I guess racism is just one of those things that conservatives would rather we not talk about in public because it makes them too uncomfortable. We'll go ahead and stack that on top of sex, homosexuality, and drugs.

If these are issues that we really want to face we liberals need to talk about them with the same ferver that we talk health care or social security. We can't abide by the rules of what is safe and what is publicly acceptable if we really want to bring about change. I'm sick of the Democratic Party playing defense on issues like this.

Today, January 22, is the 36 anniversary of the Supreme Court handing down the decision of Roe v. Wade. This is an issue that is so personal to so many people that many times there is no such thing as winning an argument when it is discussed. The fundamental mind set that a person has about life, religion, or the law tend to make this an issue that is so set in peoples mind's it often seems as though it is not worth debating.

I do believe, however, that the debate should continue. Without this debate and without this conversation going on, new ideas would never form. Some people out there who haven't made up their mind would just go on believeing whatever they are told without having the opportunity to hear both sides of the story. In fact, it is issues like this that I believe deserve the most discussion. Politics have become so over run with, well, politics that often times people forget why they believe what they do or what their fundamental policy beliefs even are.

I know I'm rambling, but please, take today to really think about how you feel on some issues. Start up a conversation with a friend or family member about a controversial topic. Keep your debate civil but don't be afraid for it to get lively. This is how ideas are shared, and this is how great minds are exercised. Don't be scared to talk about it, don't be scared that you might upset someone. Just say what you think is right. After all, no matter how many things you can lose, your opinion will always be yours. It is your right, and I would say your obligation, to make it heard.

tonight was...

2009-01-19T02:13:00.003-05:00

incredible!

So let me back track here first. I apologize, again, that I am so terrible about daily updates. I assure you that once interwebs are installed in my home it'll become exponentially easier to get on a regular schedule about this.

Friday:
Friday was , for the most part, very chill. I had a light load at work and was able to leave around 5. Getting home this early, of course, meant that I was tired starting even earlier than usual...so the majority of the night was spent just kind of putzing around and (if I recall correctly) sitting around while talking to other intern folk. I don't know when it happened, but my apartment became the happening place to be.

Saturday:
I woke up relatively early for a Saturday (I'm sure many would still see waking up by 11 as a leisurely morning...). Len decided to come into town and hang out for a while, which made me really happy. Not only did he get here, drop off a chair, bring me groceries, and chill, but he then proceeded to take me to IKEA to get some glasses and a lamp. It was pretty great. I really enjoy having him so close because even more than just having 'family' near by, it's like I have a friend who I can hang out with. We just sat and talked and had a grand ol' time!

He also let me drive his Audi, which was incredible. I want a car like that....now.

Sunday:
So, tonight was simply incredible. To start off the day, I went with Rachel, Jacque, and Jacque's brother's girlfriend who is staying with us until the inauguration, to an outdoor market this morning. They had food, clothes, paintings...you name it! Finally, once we got too cold, we stepped into a tavern and had some brunch.

After an amazing grilled chicken sandwich with blue cheese on it, we wandered down to the mall to check out the sights.

Stupid me forgot that today was the day of the enormous concert that was going on down there. So we wander in and I'm thinking to myself, what the hell are all of these people doing down here today? And then I turn around, see a jumbotron and think "Hey...that's John Mellencamp!". We ended up seeing Mary J. Blige, Steve Carrell, Jamie Foxx, Bon Jovi and James Taylor too! Rachel and I then headed back to the metro to hang out at home before tonight.

What was tonight you ask?

I got to go to the "declare yourself" inaugural ball! I'm not sure if any of you are remember the campaign, but it was the one that had ads of Jessica Alba with tape over her mouth saying that only you could silence your voice. Anyway, this event, which was held in a tiny hotel ballroom, was hosted by Jessica Alba, had Jamie Foxx speaking, and performances by Maroon 5, John Legend, and Samantha Ronson. Also, Hayden Panetierre showed up and so did Lindsay Lohan. All in all it was an outstandingly fun evening, given that I was about 25 feet away from all of these people. Apparently Ben Aflek was there somewhere too, as was Sarah Silverman. Honestly, none of this is meant to sound "braggish", I'm just still really excited about the whole thing, and wanted to make sure I wrote about it while it was fresh!

Anyway, that was my night. I also finally got tickets to the swearing in ceremony on Tuesday, so I'll try to take pictures and post them on here for everyone to see. I have a few more to put up, so expect a picture post soon!

And like I said...one the internet is installed, please expect lengthier wordier more involved posts. These blurbs are just to keep it updated!

Hope all is well, and I miss people very much!

Test post

2009-01-17T16:41:00.001-05:00

Test post from my ipod! Len and i set it up so that i can update via
e-mail...it's pretty cool and makes life a bit easier.

Thanks to Len...

2009-01-16T05:52:00.001-05:00

For the banner at the top. The picture on the left is me (obviously...) while we were driving here and the right is a really nice picture Len took when we saw the Lincoln monument. Thoughts?

It's hard to update when the internet isn't installed...

2009-01-16T04:12:00.003-05:00

So sorry it has been so long since my last update...The Internet hasn't been installed in my apartment so I've been having trouble stealing the Internet long enough to update for all the days I've missed! So here we go...I'm going to try and back track into this last week (and weekend) and remember enough to fill y'all in.

Saturday:
After waking up I was picked up by Mom, Doug, Papa and Uncle Len (he drove two hours to meet us...it was really nice) at the apartment. This was our day to, you know, sight see and what not. First, however, we needed to get my apartment set up a bit more which meant bringing in this great chair Len brought down for me and shopping for some cheap furniture to make the apartment complete. We all went to Costco first and got some food (really really good food...Len is a master of Costco speed shopping...it took us half the time it would have taken me to grab all of that stuff) and then hit up Ikea for a few pieces of cheap furniture ( a book shelf and lamp for my room...made it look like a real room rather than a spartan white box with a cot in it). After all of that we hit up the mall for some monuments. It was crazy rainy and chilly but to tell you the truth I wouldn't have had it any other way. If you know me, you know that I love the rain and that I love American history, so to stand on the spot where MLK Jr. delivered his "I have a dream speech" and look out over the entire mall, all saturated and cloudy, was incredible. I love that sense of historical presence you feel at times like that. It's part of the reason I love DC so much...I feel it nearly all the time when I'm here.

That night was fairly mundane...just kind of hung out and went to bed early (which has become a trend since I've been here).

Sunday:
I woke up and was picked up by mom, Doug, and papa so that we could hit up the Smithsonian air and space museum (which we missed the day before because it closes at 5:30 pm...who closes that early??). It was incredible! Once again with the historical presence I was talking about...just seeing the actual plane that broke the sound barrier or the capsule from Apollo 13 is one of those things that humbles you on the spot. After the museum though all of them had to leave which was...ya know...pretty sad. I enjoy my family so much it's hard to see them off even though I know I'll being seeing them again soon. I'm just glad that they were all here to help me get settled in. It made the transition extraordinarily more simple.

That night I believe, once again, the interns all sat around and talked.

Monday:
I woke up ridiculously early that morning and just kind of...wandered about the apartment for a couple of hours until I had to get ready. I think I was still just excited for work, but it was not fun to wake up that early. Once I got on the metro and started heading in, however, I was fully awake and ready to rock. At work that day we were just gearing up for the book and what not.

In case I haven't said this before, Mike Lux just released a book called The Progressive Revolution: How the Best in America Came to Be. I've read some of it already (mostly when I'm typing up excerpts from the book to put online...) and it's really very good. The majority of people who are reading this would probably like it quite a bit and should buy it if they get a chance. I promise I'm not just saying this because I work for the guy, I'm saying it because it is both an easy read and fascinating. Anyway...now that I'm done plugging the book...

After work that night I came home, made ravioli, watched the West Wing, and slept. Like I said, early bed has been an increasingly common thing which, if you know me, is really weird.

Tuesday:
Monday night was the first night here that I actually slept "well". I passed out around ten and woke up right on time for work Tuesday morning. Finally I felt completely rested. Going into work on Tuesday I was in a good mood and it showed when I got in. I was working quickly and had a good attitude...up until about...noon. That's when the wheels came off. Adam, someone else in the office, had asked me to mail some packages and drop a copy of the book off at someones office. This relatively mundane task quickly became a 2 hour affair. First, I took a wrong turn on the way to the post office. After wandering around downtown D.C. for about 15-20 minutes with a box in my arms I ran across a FedEx and I figured "hey...this is just as good right?". I walked in and started getting the packages ready when I realized that I had left the sheet of paper with all of the addresses and names on it back on my desk. By this time I should have already been done, and I hadn't started actually sending them. Embarrassed by this fact, I sprinted back to the office (yes...I ran, full speed, weaving in and out of lunchtime sidewalk traffic, in D.C....I looked ridiculous). After grabbing the list and apologizing profusely to Adam, I ran back to FedEx and wrote all of the names on the packages . When I got to the desk to send the packages, however, I found out that I had to write all of the information on these stupid cards rather than the packages. Frustrated that this was taking so unnecessarily long, I made a couple of errors on the slips and had to keep starting over. Then, an employee came over and let me know that the slips I was filling out for express were actually for ground and the ground ones I had filled out were actually for express (Adam had specified which packages needed air and which needed regular). I. was. Pissed. Finally, I angrily just bought the envelopes I had used and left searching for a real US post office. After walking around for another 30-40 minutes with a box full of giant packages in my arms (I felt like Podunk George from Kansas to the max at this point) I found the post office and got the packages sent. Turns out the USPS was literally right around the block from where I work. I should have gotten there in about...2 minutes and mailed things in about 10. Instead, I took about 2 hours and looked like a fool. Once I got back to the office I just worked quietly and sat with my head hung low. It was pretty un-fun.

That night KU played K-State (I think it was Tuesday) and all of the interns went to this bar/grill called porters which is KU place. It's owned by and run by alum I believe and all of the people who were there had graduated from KU. It was fantastic! I felt like I was back in Lawrence again what with all of the blue shirts and Jayhawk talk.

Wednesday:
Work was substantially better. The book was officially released so the majority of my tasks were about that. Up until that point I'd been spending a lot of time creating and refining Mike Lux's wikipedia page (I think it's pretty good, thank you very much) and just doing prep work for his book, so this was a big day. I spent the majority of the morning running errands (and not getting lost!!) like giving offices around D.C. a copy of the book and making sure local bookstores were carrying it. Let me just say it's pretty cool to see his name in Borders. In the afternoon I just poked around online seeing if any blogs had picked the story about Mike off of Huffpo or about his book.

After work I was exhausted and just came home, ate at a great little diner with the roommates right by where I live and passed out early.

Thursday:
The day started out pretty badly. I woke up at 9 and had to be into work around 9:30. Luckily for me I'm crazy fast when I need to be and got into the office at 9:45 (which is totally fine with them) and didn't get in any trouble. I think the problem is that I've been getting some sort of sinus infection, which I get a lot, and was just terribly groggy when the alarms went off. Either way, this made me quite flustered and so I spent the majority of the morning in a sort of adrenaline fueled haze.

Since this was Thursday, the KU interns all had their first "seminar" this afternoon. These are just times when we all come together and do something like listen to a senator speak or see a monument. So around 2 we all met at the capitol and talked to Stephene Moore (Dennis Moore's wife...she's in charge of us here sort of) and had a lecture about safety from the head of capitol security. He painted the ugliest picture of DC he could have in order to scare us into not doing something stupid...it was kind of good that we heard it but it wasn't anything I hadn't heard before about being in a big city. After that, we took a tour of the capitol which, I'm sorry, is still incredible to me. Just to be in the heart of it all and to see the history and really feel what it's like to be there...I don't know...I guess it's that historical presence I was talking about earlier, but I just loved it. Some other people seemed fairly bored because they'd been there before but I just couldn't get enough. The entire time we were there and talking about the history of this country all I could think was "GOD I love this country". I know it's ridiculous and probably lame, but I really do.

After the tour a few interns wanted to go to some restaurant and hang out, so we wound up at the Hawk and Dove on Penn. ave. It was really cool! Right away when we walked in we saw some congressman eating a steak and a bunch of hill staffers getting drinks. As the night went on it got packed and was full of people who I'm sure had some importance even though I didn't recognize them. I would love to just go back there and sit and watch who all walks in. Afterward I just took the metro back and sat around watching shows on my computer until I went to bed! I'm up far to early...again...but since it's Friday I'm not too worried about it. I'll be able to sleep in tomorrow and get all caught up on my sleep.

So that has been my experience thus far. It really has been great. I hope work keeps going well and that I get on a more regular sleeping pattern. I also truly do plan to update this daily once I get real Internet access, it has just been hard to get the stolen one long enough to update. Also, I plan on my daily posts being more detailed and writen substatially better...it's just early and I'm trying to get it all down quickly so I can remember everything.

Hope all is well in your lives, and you know I miss you all!

Oh, and a very happy birthday to Ms. Emily Lux! Hope it's good and you know I wish I could be there for it.

Updates are in order

2009-01-12T05:24:00.006-05:00

Wow...I feel as though there is so much to say. It has only been a few days since I last posted and already it feels like weeks. I suppose the best way to go about doing this is day by day...so despite my lack of remembrance regarding details I think I can piece it all together so everyone has a picture in their head of how things are!

Thursday, January 8:
After spending the night in a magnificent little hotel (I enjoy hyatts) in South Bend, Indiana, we set off for the second leg of the long journey to Washington. Before leaving the town, however, we decided to drive through the campus of Notre Dame. While this might sound strange, I have always had somewhat of a fondness for Notre Dame and have been curious about what the university looked like all these years. The architecture was gorgeous! It actually reminded me of the University of Kansas in its layout only it was flat. And what trip to Notre Dame would be complete without checking out touchdown Jesus. If you're not sure what that is, just google it...it's pretty great.

So we ended up hittin' the road between eight and nine, when I then proceeded to sleep for about 4 hours. Needless to say this sped up the drive considerably. Once I awoke, we had some lunch and continued to drive with us swapping around who was driving when. It ended up working out so that I was the one who drove the last 3-4 hours and therefore into D.C. At night. On the Beltway. That was ...exciting. But in all seriousness it wasn't too bad. However, once I got behind the wheel the snow began to hit in small bursts all through PA and it would go from clear to blizzardy in 2.5 seconds, so that wasn't exactly cool.

After driving into D.C. we arrived at the hotel to find my Grandpa (who I call papa), who was supposed to meet us there, already waiting for us to arrive! You have to understand that Papa is the nicest, funniest person...ever. We came in and there he was, dressed to a T, with a suit and fedora on waiting to go to dinner with us. After we had gone this long distance we decided that we should just eat at the restaurant located within the hotel and it turned out to be really nice. It was this smaller, trendier, Asian-Indian-fusion kind of thing and the food tasted wonderful!

Post- dinner, Doug and I decided to drop off some things at the apartment even though I wasn't going to move in until Friday so that we could see the layout and I could say hi to the roomies. Let me just say that I really really enjoy the place. It is so much nicer than I could ever have asked for as my first real 'outside' living experience from student housing. I will most likely take pictures and post them here for all to see sooner or later.

That first night in D.C. then I ended up coming back to the hotel with Doug and slept there for that first night. Once again, I really enjoyed the hotel. I believe it was a double tree and the general atmosphere was just really cool! That night I was really excited to come into work the next day (my first day was friday, if I haven't already said that) and so I had some trouble sleeping...maybe it's lame...but still, I was stoked!

Friday, January 9th.
My first day on the job. To sum it all up, it was incredible. While I might not have done very much, I felt as though I was doing actual work instead of just licking envelopes the entire time, and it was nice. My office is fairly small...just a few actual offices and three-four desks for the rest of us. I do get my own desk and phone which is pretty great, as well an actual work e-mail to use with clients! It's hard to sum up what exactly all I did that day, but to put it shortly there was a lot of typing, a bit of editing, some e-mailing, and a bunch of talking to people who I'll be working with. It was also very nice of them to take me out to lunch on my first day. We went to this delicious restaurant called Olives that is about a block away from the White House and had these great flatbreads. I Know that this description of my first day is somewhat lackluster, I just am not quite sure what all to say about my job...it was so overwhelmingly exciting to walk around that area, see the places that you hear about so often, and know that I'm working there! For someone like me it was like being in Hollywood, you just keep your eyes open all the time for someone who you might recognize or a place that you've heard of.

I will say that I am probably the only guy in DC who walked to his first day of work with his grandpa. Papa thought he'd help me out with the metro the first day and walk with me to the office. It was really cute and pretty great. Like I said, Papa is the best.

That night, after work and dinner (at this nice place called Clyde's?), we all went over to my appartment and moved some of my stuff in. It turns out that I have the big room with the small bed, so when I walked in it was rather funny looking. I love the room itself though...once everything got moved in it looked wonderful. This first night, however, it was rather...spartan. I decided to spend the night there so that I could start getting used to sleeping in the place, given that I would have to do it soon anyway. So that night I just sat around and talked with Rachel and Jacque, and both seem to really enjoy their jobs out here.

So those were my first two days! I know it may not sound like a lot ( or maybe it does...I'm not sure) but it was intense, exciting, and exhausting. I'll do the second half of this catch up-update here in a bit. I have to start getting ready for work and this post is getting rather long winded.

Hope everyone is doing well! I miss you all.

On da' road

2009-01-07T15:26:00.003-05:00

Thanks to the glorious invention of wireless cards I am able to be online whilst my mother is driving. And it is awesome. So far the drive has been fine. Granted we've only been at it now for a couple of hours, but I'm sure it'll be fine. It's been a bit stressful I suppose with so many semis being crazy...but oh well.

In the political realm, I have been rather pleased lately. I know that there has been worry among left/liberal/progressive democrats (who I identify with) about President elect Obama's cabinet picks thus far in regard to their centrist nature. I do believe that a few of these picks have been sub par, along with the choice of Rev. Rick Warren to do the invocation at the inauguration. I also believe, however, that some folks who have been critical of the transition team have ignored the good parts.

We have a pretty damn good team lined up for the environment and energy

We have an openly gay official leading an office

Again, this doesn't mean that all of the other choices were stellar...but it isn't as though he appointed a bunch of Bush lackeys in the name of 'bipartisanship'. I am confident that on Jan.20 things will start getting done.

One other thing that I had been worried about was the back burner effect I was seeing at the end of the general election. This entire time we had heard Barack Obama discussing the many things he wanted to do once elected and to be honest I believed him and still do. I think he is a genuine and honest man who wants true progressive change for this country. Right before the election, however, the economy went bonkers (...yes...that is the best adjective for it) and all of a sudden that was the number one issue for everyone. So naturally, I was concerned that any other issues would get ignored until the economy was put back together.

Needless to say I was relieved and excited to see that once the 111th congress was in session yesterday, The first two bills introduced were on women's pay! Granted when one is discussing fair pay it obviously affects the economy, but to have the first two bills introduced be women's issues is wonderful. I haven't read the bills in their entirety yet, but given what I've seen of them they are fairly helpful pieces of legislation! The first attempts to counter the ridiculous precident set in the Ledbetter case, and the second just seems to fight for stronger enforcement of equal pay laws and tries to close some legal loopholes. I know that the first of these bills had been introduced in 2008 and was defeated by republicans but its nice to see that perhaps it can finally be enacted (the republicans claimed that it would cause too many 'frivolous' lawsuits...apparently taking time away that women could be making them sammiches).

All I'm getting at here with this long rant (it's helping pass the time!) is that perhaps the outlook for Jan.20 and onward isn't as bleak as some would have you think. I truly believe that this may be the time for broad sweeping change to occur...now I just hope that congress agrees with me...

I might post again on this drive given how much longer we have. I'm sure you're all just on the edge of your seats waiting...

Leaving tomorrow

2009-01-07T01:20:00.002-05:00

I'm just hanging out in my room trying to go to sleep and I figured I'd update this one more time before I got out there. The car is all packed (dear lord is it full...) and I'm just geared up to go.

Today I had me some lunch with some friends which was really fun, but a wee bit sad for me. I feel kind of strange saying 'bye' to people this time just because usually it's a three hour difference where I know I can come back whenever and say hey. This time, Emily will be in Amsterdam, Haley will be in the Czech Republic, and Meg will be Italy. Granted some will still be in Lincoln, but its still just a weird feeling that we won't all be together again until mid-summer. Pardon the sentimentality, I just get overly nostalgic sometimes.

Beyond that, however, I am simply ecstatic to get started out in DC. My roommates, Rachel and Jacque, have already moved in and say that the apartment is great! Apparently I get the big room which might be strange given that I have a twin bed and little furniture to fill it up with. Either way, the space will be nice and I'm sure I'll make it look alright.

I had better go to bed now though. We're leaving around mid-morning/noonish and driving to south bend Indiana(?). Hopefully I'll be able to update this in the hotel tomorrow night...if there is anything important to say.

So that is my life right now. I intend to keep this blog mostly to my everyday events, but from time to time I'm sure that I will get into politics. And I just want to say (even though I assume its common sense) that this entire Israel/Gaza situation is completely ridiculous. I understand that Hamas had launched rockets at Israel...but this is most definately a disproportianate response. I get that Israel is upset and feels threatened, but to kill this many innocent civilians and to kill this many children is absolutely ludacris. In my opinion, no side is right or wrong...I just think that as of right now its almost as if Israel has finally snapped and just won't stop until they've leveled everything and anything in their path. Having the kind of military capabilities to carry out these sort of attacks brings with it an obvious responsibilty (not to invoke uncle Ben too much...). Anyway....the entire thing just saddens me.

Hope everyone is doing well, talk to you again soon.

There in a week

2008-12-30T18:15:00.003-05:00

So I haven't left yet, but I figured I'd jump on the wagon that is blogging. I kind of just plan to use this to keep people up to date on my day to day activities and what not because I'm so bad at telling people details about my life. From time to time I predict that this might get somewhat political in nature so yeah...just take that for what it is :-). Hopefully this will help y'all keep in touch with me and my going ons.