Bradley Whitford!

Get this: Bradley Whitford, Martin Sheen, and Richard Shiff are on the
Hill today. But they are ALL THE WAY OVER on the Senate side! I heard
that last night he was excited to give me a high five but alas I can't
make it.

Nt.

Sent from my iPhone

When Your Friends Are in the NYTimes #2

Pictured above is the bearded physiognomy of AJ. AJ is the boyfriend of Katherine's college roommate, Kristen. AJ works for the Government Accountability Office, the GAO. He works as a lawyer for the IRS section and has been involved in numerous investigations. GAO experts are the cream of the crop when it comes to research and investigation, and are frequently called in to testify and provide support in oversight hearings - this one about Bernie Madoff. I'm sure Katherine would have posted this if she had a blog. Or time.

The Week Stretches Out Before Me.

This week promises to be busy. I have 24 staff level meetings, plus the omnibus public lands bill will be on the floor. This legislation includes the protection of 127,000 acres of public land around Mt. Hood, plus over 150 other pieces of natural resources legislation. My boss wants to speak on the floor, so I have to write his remarks and acquire him 2-3 minutes of time either during the debate on the Rule, or during general debate. Asking for time is like begging. I guess.


Because of my numerous meetings, I will make friends with the hand sanitizer this week. It has occurred to me that when I was sick two weeks ago it was right after my two weeks of marathon meetings, and so I plan on returning to the trough after each meeting to cleanse myself of the microbes of the 50 or so hands I'll be shaking this week. Don't worry, it says there is Vitamin E, so my hands will stay soft.


One of the best things about my job is that it has become to mirror what I've always thought of as my way of thinking. Intellectually I have never been able to settle down. I fail to see the need for me to become an expert in something. I want to know lots about lots of things! Of course my job requires me to know quite a bit about the issues that I cover, but I am not asked to know everything there is about one particular topic. I am, however, called to be able to be spread thin across several different areas and be able to tie it back to Oregon and the District. It's fun, I like it. I was at dinner the other night with a friend from out of town and I remarked that I feel this job has trained me to be able to "pivot" from one topic to the next, something I have to do two times an hour, and this job has made me consider myself apt to be a pretty good blind date: You know what I do so you call me and arrange a meeting; I meet you, we sit and chat about who we are, what each of us want; and in the conclusion we decide whether what we've made of this chat something that could progress further. Yes, I know, it's simplistic, and I have to admit doesn't truly transfer 100% as the people I generally meet aren't female and aren't attractive, but still. We all develop analogies to describe work. Some more humorous and better thought out than others. Mine well included in that.

Editorial Note.

For the sake of clarity and artistry, I ask that perhaps the reader withhold from viewing each posted entry for a tiny bit as the writer (me) gets the opportunity to view the entry from a larger screen than his iPhone for clarity's sake. Clarity and artistry, at times, can be a trifle. Thank you for the indulgence.

And so have the tourists.

That rhyme about what April showers bring should have started in March...and have included school groups. My bus stopped outside the National Gallery where it found twelve teenage girls and their wary looking chaperons. After hesitation they all clambered on with their over-sized coats and Ugg boots leaving their wards to negotiate with the driver over the fare. As the bus left I was left contemplating why I hadn't jumped ship as the volume had increased ten-fold with questions about which shop in Georgetown should endure them first. As I began the inevitable eye-roll I was completely caught off guard when four of them began singing in perfect harmony our national anthem, then followed by the rest of their friends filling in their parts perfectly.

A choir.

Unfortunately my stop came just as quickly as my mood changed.

Nt.

Sent from my iPhone

Sprung

Spring is slowly making her debut here.

With Friends Like These...

Brian and Lisa have been my friends for over three years. Brian used to be my Legislative Director; he informed the way I look at my job, educated me in the ways of the catty, and taught me to fly - his terminology for going out on my own in my career here. In a way he is my mentor. It's always fun to talk to Brian because I love to play to his inner snob - like last night at my boss's fundraiser we were chatting about his $5,000 suits and then conversation turned to how one of his coworkers who was staying with him loved his house because it was "out of a Pottery Barn catalog." Brian was shocked! Shocked! because he did loathes the idea that his style is contained in a store located in most malls. Oh my gosh Brian, make sure your wooden houses, and rattan globes have been dusted and properly arranged.

Lisa was our scheduler for more than a year and now she works for the Majority Leader. She's fancy now. She's originally from Denver so we have had lots to talk about -- mostly about missing the West and how much we pretend-hate our jobs. And her cats -- she's a bit of a cat lady. Oh, also how much we love food and how hungry we always are. But me less so. She eats a lot.

These people mean a lot to me. Oh, and Brian turns old (40) on Katherine's birthday. He thinks it's distinctive. I guess. We humor him.

Sometimes I'm Vain.

photo by Jonathan Maus/BikePortland.org

In the Rilo Kiley song "A Better Son/Daughter," right as the irrepressible Jenny Lewis finishes a breathy six lines in a spoken-word sing-song about a parent's apathy and its effect on their child, she triumphantly bursts out over the sudden power chords "and sometimes when you're on, you're really f%cking on, and your friends all sing a long and they love you." I always treated this part of the song as a mini-anthem for those moments when it all comes together in my day. You reach a great spot, things click, and people sit up and take notice. And they take nice photos of me.

The past week for me was stressful, but in a way where I saw fruits of labor actually take shape in front of me. Wednesday was a day that was filled with group meetings, transportation policy, celebrity, briefings, receptions, and Members making fools of themselves. Thursday also gave me the opportunity to see friends, manage the floor for the office, and take even more meetings.

On Wednesday my boss had a meeting with the Portland regional transportation group - a group made up of the top policymakers and elected officials from the area who came to lobby for transportation priorities for the region. It was a strange sensation to be standing in the back of the room filled with thirty people and have two lobbyists and a county commissioner whisper into your ear items to supplement what was being said to your boss by others. In the same day my boss had his meeting with Ms. Rimes. Our meeting with her actually was her fourth meeting of the day; she kept an extremely tight schedule. It was fun to pop out of our back room and into the front room crowded with her entourage and just chat with her. When we sat down with her, the meeting went very smoothly and my boss was interested in her story and got to chat about budget strategy for psoriasis. Next we went to the staff briefing for our psoriasis bill. The foundation had invited key staff from the relevant Senate and House committees to learn about the bill and felt that including me at the end of the briefing to go through the bill for staff would be helpful - generally if a member speaks at a briefing, that's it, staff isn't really included, so I was a little nervous for this event. David was introduced by the director of advocacy of the foundation, then our teen advocate, followed by Ms. Rimes, a dermatologist, and then me. I efficiently went through the bill, section by section justifying each one, then taking questions from staff. It was fun. When I answered the question, I kept scanning the audience just to catch people's eye, and then to check in with my lobbyist friends to receive affirmative nods for my answers.

As the day rolled to an end I found myself at a reception for transportation to catch up with people and grab some food, and then to a member's fundraiser mostly for laughs. The fundraiser was a comedy event and if you think you've seen people embarrass themselves, you haven't lived until you've seen stiff Members perform poorly written jokes about Rush Limbaugh and monkey bites. Although some people will surprise you - Emanuel Cleaver from Missouri rivaled Andy Kaufman in his ability to assume an uncomfortable personality and tell a story in a quiet voice that made you strain to hear him. It was pure genius.

photo by Jonathan Maus/BikePortland.org

Thursday was much easier in a way than Wednesday. My day started with one of my favorite meetings of the year: Portland area bicycle advocates. Oregon has been ahead of the game in many arenas and Portland has been held out year after year for its adoption of multi-modal transportation advocacy. It's no wonder that the Oregon delegation to the national bicycle advocacy conference is the largest and most cohesive. The envy. This was on display when I met with them and couldn't fit them in our office so I took them downstairs to our cafeteria where they were chided in the hallways by their counterparts from other states, "Oh look, it's Oregon. Aren't they great." I've been following Portland's bike scene via bikeportland.org, a blog started by Jonathan Maus, since I got here. He always makes the trip out for the advocacy day and I was totally pleased by the photos he took of the day so with his permission, I added them here. So yes. I'm totally vain. It was a vain week.

My dream: For Sale.

God bless the person who can afford this and has enough left over to furnish adequately. This house is a block away from my humble abode and is above all my favorite residence in this town, 1600 Penn. Ave., NW included.

119 12TH ST SE
WASHINGTON, DC 20003-1420
Price: $1,495,000
MLS#: DC6966882

Three lights.

Tonight I attended an event for a legislative project I've been working on for psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. The bill is designed to prompt the federal government's health institutes to focus research on psoriasis research, but since certain members of congress cringe when you tell these places to do specific things, you need to exact positive re-enforcement like you would with a child learning to like broccoli or mushrooms. And with many disease causes there are celebrities attached to them, and attached to psoriasis we are lucky, and I will explain, to have the Grammy award winning singer LeAnn Rimes.

Tomorrow Ms. Rimes makes her way across the Hill making close to 12 visits, which in itself is amazing. Then she will be joining me and my boss for a briefing aimed at key committee staff. Tonight I got the chance to meet her, and found her warm, smart, sincere and above solid on her 4 inch heels. We talked about her story, and then her use of time the next day and what to expect; making sure she knew the day was put together to maximize her efforts and her story. After about six minutes talking to her was when I realized who I was talking to. And it was after that moment I told her she should wear comfortable shoes. Apparently I was not the first, or the last. Lord.

Alyssa, a 14 year old from Texas, will accompany Ms. Rimes tomorrow for part of the day, but also making 7 of her own visits to both the Senate and House side. The ability for someone to share their health care story to strangers always astounds me, especially when they are young. Sometimes they stare at you glassy-eyed and breathlessly share their story, and sometimes, like Alyssa, they stand up there and transform themselves into a storybook of their plight, their pain, and their suffering. Alyssa was amazing and I am thankful for that fact that she's on our side.

I always look forward to meetings with the psoriasis folk because I know that we are all on the same team. We have one goal and there we bring no compromised positions to the table. Because of that I can always give 100% in my meetings with them and have in every step in this game. After three years we greet each other with hugs and hearty handshakes, and I don't think I've gotten better thank yous and accolades personally or in front of my boss than from them, and that means a lot to me personally, but also to the project and to the boss man. Standing in the back of the room I was sharing thoughts and strategy with the principal lobbyist on the project and she says to me, "We wish you a long and happy life on the Hill, but if you ever think of leaving, for whatever reason, come see me first." That statement means a lot, because up till this point I hadn't heard that kind of professional credit and appreciation before, and that made this week worth it.

I will have more to share about tomorrow, I'm sure.

It's the lack of meds

As I sit in the neighorhood park I'm watching six ten year old boys exchange foam bullets with wild abandon. It may be because my dayquil/zinc/tussin cocktail is wearing off but the irony of playing this game in one of the most deadly cities in the US is exhausting me. But at least the scene of two chihuahuas working as a team to bring down a mastiff is lighthearted. Dogs watch too much TV.

Full circles or intertwining weeds.

Whenever I run across someone I know from a previous part of my life, or someone my parents or close friends know, I am instantly torn between the thoughts of this being life presenting itself in a series of circles, ever overlapping and moving us forward to the intersections we make with others that we've overlapped with in the past. Or, we are all viney weeds growing in a dark spot that are clinging together as we reach up into the sunlight. I can't decide which visual metaphor works the best, but sometimes it's both - like weeds climbing up a chain link face.


So yes: All that was for a reason. My boss spoke at a meeting today for the waterways users group for the Columbia River - all the ports, shipping companies, and boat captains - and it was one of those times where the group is so big (60 or so people) that you are happy they aren't trying to get into your office, so you go to them. Anyway, David did a good job in a smart, folksy way, and was one point with all the issues. The guy he's talking to is Walt, who happens to be an old friend (chain link) and colleague (weed) of my parents when they lived here in DC in the 1970s. I have run into about 15 different people who know me through my parents, which I think is a different kind of cool, but cool none the less. They see who made the circle and planted the weed.

True Nerdiness

Ok, tell me where this is. What, you can't name nondescript hallways in the Capitol campus? I live by them. I live to jump through the blank doors, run down cramped staircases and blind turns until you pop out of a door ahead of the people that were ambling their Texas two-steppin butts in front of me. Sometimes I do get nervous that the next door will deposit me in a machineshop or out in the cold, but it hasn't happened yet. ALWAYS look serious and bring your purposeful walk - what? I totally meant to end up in this portico! One thing I've learned is that these paths are also a good way to share a moment with senior staff, or spry Members whose ability to climb stairs wasn't lost once they were elected to congress.

Prowl

The Taste of the NW reception was tonight. (Think port geeks and a ton of smoked salmon.) While we all look forward to this event each year, we loathe the walk to the Senate side. But when you walk back, the Capitol is empty.

Slow day, snow day

How do you slow this town down to a crawl? Give it three inches of
powdery snow. It's extremely effective.