"Dumber than this, our country shall not get."

Today I attended the 164th Meeting of the National Council on the Arts, the NEA's advisory council. The tri-annual meetings are open to the public, and if I lived in DC year-round, I would go to all of them. The Council is composed of artists, arts execs, and general patrons of the arts. The NEA sometimes seems like this nebulous, remote agency, but the meeting put a face on the federal body that brings art to the people. It's chaired by the chairman of the NEA, Dana Gioia.

After talking shop, a presentation on the NEA's latest and largest project, The Big Read, began. Putting aside the somewhat ironic fact that the National Endowment for the Arts is sponsoring a literacy program, while the National Endowment for the Humanities is concurrently sponsoring a visual arts program, it was an inspiring presentation about the potential of this country to better itself — precisely what both of these agencies exist for.

(I suppose this makes me an elitist. I think we should all aspire to read more, do more, be more. We can always find ways to improve ourselves. I want a president who thinks so, too.)

The talk started out on an abysmal note: Less than 50% of Americans read for 'fun'. This isn't all that surprising, since I'm one of those folks who should actually read more. Don't get me wrong — I love books, but I'm a painfully slow reader, which often discourages me. Add the mountain of reading for grad school, and the last thing I want to do is read more on my 'free time'. But, I'm trying. I've read half a collection of short stories since I've arrived, and just started a novel. Commuting is great for reading.

Anyway, I digress.

The Big Read aims to make sure that that percentage does not get any lower. As Mr. Gioia stated, with The Big Read, we can draw a line and say [the title of this post].

I won't regurgitate the whole presentation here, but I'll share what I found most interesting. Assuming you all followed that convenient link, you know what the Big Read project is all about. One of the communities participating is Norman, Oklahoma. Over the course of two years of Big Read-ing, public library patronage (the # of adults checking out books) has increased by 23% overall. The citizens of Norman voted to voluntarily raise their taxes to increase library funding by 50%. Their program also featured the most hilarious promotional tie-in for Bless Me, Ultima.

Another element of the project which instantly caught my eye, cultural diplomat that I am, was the international component: Big Read Russia, Big Read Mexico, and the most extensive, Big Read Egypt/US. One criticism leveraged against the program was its emphasis on American authors to the exclusion of many many fantastic non-American authors. In this program, participating organizations in the US read Naguib Mahfouz's The Thief and the Dogs, while the Egyptian orgs read Fahrenheit 451, To Kill a Mockingbird, or The Grapes of Wrath. While book selection is always going to be debated, I think this is a really interesting approach since literature is such an excellent entry into gaining some perspective about another culture.

I also must say that the NEA employs the nicest people on the planet. I was talking with one of my new colleagues, and an NEA rep came over to introduce himself because he'd never seen us at any other NEA events. Then I met their director for research, also amazingly friendly and chill (and he gave me his card). Then yet another lady came over to introduce herself, and to complement my shoes. NEA is good people.

So, this overly drawn out post is just another way of saying, I'm really loving my internship because I get to do things like this.

Two Weeks

I am one-fifth through my time here in DC. When you fractionalize it like that, time seems much smaller than it is. I'm more homesick than I planned (because, of course, you can plan for these things), but at the same time, I'm embracing life here. Living in a new city, I've sort of adopted a new lifestyle. I'm a notorious homebody, but I've yet to turn down an invitation to go out here (not like there have been many...), and I'm making a concerted attempt to get in shape, girl.

Thus far, at the two-week mark I've...
- Visited the zoo and the Hirshhorn
- Made new friends and reconnected with old, old, old ones
- Attended two Senate markup meetings (Specter, Leahy, Byrd, Inouye, Feinstein... but no Durbin. Boo.)
- Watched (and waited, impatiently) Dick Cheney's motorcade roll by
- Met the president of a cultural NGO from Mexico
- Not quite mastered the Metro, but getting there
- Been to Virginia three times, Maryland once
- Learned that a travel tube of toothpaste lasts at least two weeks

Certainly much more will be added to that list this weekend, because I have my first visitors!!

The Love Affair Is Over

It's going to be 92 today. I'm already sweating.

Oh Yes I Did

...and totally got caught doing it.

Saturday

I took a four-hour walk.










yes, that is an elephant sprinkler, and yes, i want one


after four hours, i deserved some love

Friday

Work was pretty slow on Friday, as most everyone was off at our annual convention. It was a lovely day, so I took a long walk at lunch.


McPherson Square, my new lunch spot




Tourists ride around on segways. I'm sorry, unless you're Job Bluth, it looks ridiculous and gets in my way



After work, I went out to the aforementioned Jazz in the Sculpture Garden and then to After Hours at the Hirshhorn Gallery. So much fun!

Jazz was PACKED. It's very much a picnic outing, and every square scrap of green lawn was occupied. Heavy on the young professional crowd. Met up with housemates Zach and Anthony and Zach's girlfriend, Maria. We both commented on how weird it is to say our name out loud, being the only Marias in our respective social circles. Anthony's friends Mike and Ryan also came out—yep, that Ryan (see previous post). After some snacks, some laughs, a pitcher of sangria, and barely audible jazz, we headed across the Mall to the Hirshhorn. (Which I keep wanting to spell with a C.)



Within five minutes of walking into the party, I run into the only other person I kinda sorta know in DC: Jesse's friend Jason who I met at a wedding last summer. Is DC really this small?? And to top it off, he lives in my neighborhood! So pumped.



The new exhibit at the Hirshhorn, the Cinema Effect, Part II (I missed Part I) had some really, really interesting work, and some kind of boring work. I will definitely be checking it out again, so I'll save my review for when 1) it's not packed with drunk people and 2) I'm not drunk. But I particularly enjoyed the pieces by Runa Islam and Francesco Vizzoli.

All in all, it was a night of seeing some sights, meeting awesome new people (between Anthony's friends and Jason's), and getting to know my housemates some more.

Meet My New Bike!!

A beat-up little beauty of a Schwinn, on loan for the summer from my new pal Ryan. My first bike in Chicago was a Schwinn Caliente, although that one was pink. Let's just hope this one doesn't get stolen.

So, what have I been up to besides eating cupcakes and getting free bikes from strange boys? I believe a weekend recap is in order.

The Love Affair Continues

It was about 85 degrees today, and still, my housemate made a pie. A completely delicious summer blueberry pie.

Earlier, I discovered the vegetarian/vegan cafe and bakery up the street. Then I passed by Cake Love and had to stop in.

And then, at Target, they were giving away free pints of ice cream. My favorite flavors, too.

And on the walk home from Target, I passed a "Bake Sale for Obama". Now, ordinarily I would stop to support two of my favorite things, but with a Cake Love cupcake and a pint of ice cream in my bag, and a pie waiting at home, it seemed a bit much, even for me.

DC has figured out my weakness, and is pulling out all the stops to exploit it.






(I also joined a gym today.)

DC Weekends

On the weekends, our next-door neighbor pops open his garage door in the alley and cranks up the stereo inside. I'm pretty sure it's audible for at least five blocks. He plays a mix of classic soul, some R&B, and Spanish music.

This, apparently, is the caveat, the asterisk to my awesome porch. The music is completely inescapable. But I can't even get mad about the numbing volume level, or the blatant intrusiveness of it all (forget about trying to play my own music—my wussy computer speakers don't stand a chance).

All of the backyards of our city block meet up in the middle, so I can look out at the backs of houses from the streets to the east, north, and south from my porch view. People come out from their own yards, chatting it up with each other. With the tunes, and the intoxicating smell of BBQ all day long, it's like a block party every weekend out there.

(This must be a best-of-the-80s CD: 'Eye of the Tiger' just finished playing, and now 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun' is on.)

A Little Dose of Home

Chicago pals Mannequin Men were in town last night, playing not too far away at the Black Cat. My first DC show!



My school chum Andrea came out to meet me. She's in DC for a couple days preparing for a summer program in Turkey, on the Mediterranean coast. (Nope, not jealous at all, not one bit.)

Then tomorrow after work, my housemates and I are going to Jazz in the Garden at the National Gallery of Art, then to the Hirshhorn After Hours. Yay, culture! I should finally have some snaps of the actual city, too.

This Time, With Plants!

I swear I do more than just take photos of my porch.

(The Day After) My First Day as an Arts Advocate

Postponed because my internet connection wasn't working last night. There wasn't much to report on anyway. Like all first days at a new job, it involved a lot of paperwork, training videos, 'here's the copier and here's the fax' tours, and meeting 50 people whose names you forget 30 seconds after shaking their hands.

It also poured rain when I left, and I had no umbrella.

I did, however, get taken out to a nice lunch (Georgia Brown's) and got a spiffy new bag and keychain. My commute was less than 30 minutes door-to-door, and I caught the bus immediately both ways. Everyone in the office is genuinely nice and interesting and weird.


my new office

Today was much more exciting, not the least because it was a breezy 75 degrees with sun. After an intro meeting with the vice president of policy and research (my cup o' tea), I finally got to sit down with my new supervisor and find out what exactly it is the "Government and Public Affairs" intern does.

Turns out, some pretty neat stuff.

Sure, there's the requisite tedium inherent to any internship, but my minutiae appears to involve number crunching. More fun.

I'll also be sitting in on some Congressional sessions next week, as the Senate mark-up begins on the Interior appropriations bill (which encompasses the NEA, one of our primary interests, of course). The House approved a $15mil increase in the NEA's funding for next year; now it goes to the Senate. Ms Maria Officially Goes To Washington!

I also have a mini-project researching Barack Obama's arts policy committee, which includes my former supervisor and a professor who works closely with my old museum.

My long-term summer project is to review and revise my organization's federal resource guide for international cultural exchange. The State Department's position and funding for cultural exchange seems to vary year to year, so the existing document needs some updating and analysis. Woohoo!


this is the first time i've ever had a cubicle. it's empty and sad and right next to the noisy copier

Also: there were two homemade cakes in the office Monday, and two more cakes today!! (Including one from my housemate/co-worker's mom, but I'll tell you about that in another post.)


So far, I am liking DC a whole lot more than I thought I would.

Eleventh Heaven

First Impressions :: My Neighborhood

I'm coming up on 48 hours since I arrived in DC. The transition has been surprisingly smooth, and I feel unsettlingly settled. I'm comfortable. Maybe it's a testament to my adaptability. All these years of traveling alone have prepared me well to move to a city where my friends number exactly one.

I also believe the attenuated period of adjustment has something to do with my new neighborhood, Columbia Heights. It's charming and colorful, and just dirty enough to be interesting. The mix of people reminds me of Hyde Park and Humboldt Park, two neighborhoods I'm very familiar with in Chicago, while the look and feel reminds me of Carroll Gardens in Brooklyn: brightly painted rowhouses with front yards, some meticulously manicured, others overgrown with weeds. And with awesome burritos right down the street, I'm home.



Columbia Heights is also undergoing gentrification/urban renewal/whatever. Bling to the west; blight to the east. All of the expected big box names -- Target; Bed, Bath & Beyond; Staples; Starbucks; Marshalls -- lumped into a shiny boring complex. My housemate tells me it opened only two months ago.

I went to New York City about a month ago, and I remember being surprised and somewhat dismayed that in a span of like twenty blocks, I passed by two TJ Maxx/Linens 'n Things behemoth shopping centers, followed by a few Jamba Juices, Old Navys, and a DSW. Now, I have no claim to be fussing about NY's suburbanizing urban landscape given I've been there maybe half a dozen times, but that experience coupled with my DC move is bumming me out. Everywhere looks the same. Yet, because everywhere looks the same, I feel 'at home' immediately. Bleh.

Christopher Hitchens writes about lost Bohemia in this month's Vanity Fair: "On the day when everywhere looks like everywhere else we shall all be very much impoverished, and not only that — we will be unable to express or even understand or depict what we have lost."

Despicable as I often find his views, this rings true today. And yet, I would be lying if I said I wasn't elated that Target is a five-minute walk away.

Postcards from Washington :: Day 1

Three Months Later

As I sit and sweat in sweltering Washington, DC, it's easy to forget that there ever was a time when I felt cold. But cold, cold, cold I was, oh so freakin' cold, on my "spring break" to Berlin and Stockholm. If I close my eyes, I can almost feel the cool, pelting hail and the crisp, blinding snow.*

Brrrrlin

Snowholm





*Actually, that's just the water I squirted into the fan spitting back in my face.