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.