On Being in DC....

So someone (Maureen) complained that my blogs were about my thoughts and not about me being in DC. So, for you Maureen, I dedicate this entry.


I'll write about whatever the hell I want to write about and if you don't like it you just stop reading. I don't even like you anyway.





Just kidding.

My time thus far has been amazing here. I really love my internship at the Court. Today, I had my first Justice sighting. Justice Stevens was walking around the first floor of the court and I saw him out of the corner of my eye. He moved like "a phantom," to quote my roommate Mike. Other than that, we did the National Gallery of Art this past weekend and I commentated on all the paintings as if they all had sexual undertones (most of them did). I saw the only Da Vinci in Western Hemisphere - a portrait of a young woman from when da Vinci was about 22 years old.

The gallery was pretty boring.

On Friday night, the CIW (Cornell in Washington) program attended the National Symphony. That was pretty amazing. Everyone in the program was all dressed up (I was clad in a suit, as usual, but the light up shoes were scoffed out before I got out the door and I was forced to change). We sat behind the stage, so to speak, so that the audience was looking directly at us. We were positioned right above the band with attention on the conductor who waved his hands as if in a trance and really felt the music. Having worked 8 hours that day and not even had time to change, I could not appreciate the beauty of the orchestra as much as I would have wanted. However, it was still a great experience.

Maureen, do you see why it is hard to just recant little stories of my travels here? My writing becomes terrible. Bleh. Now onto something with a little more substance to close this entry.

The National Symphony was at the Kennedy Center, which is on the banks of the Potomac River. Because of the seating arrangement, it felt like the lights were directly focused on our section of seats. Thus, for the duration of the program before intermission I felt as if I was being slowly roasted. By the time the break came around, I had to get some fresh air. Out the doors I went.

When I arrived outside, I was met by a breathtakingly beautiful view. Though still covered in snow (stupidly), the terrace overlooked the entire city nightscape on the banks of the river. It was if an artist had painted it (Full circle from art gallery! +200 points). Across the river, skyscrapers with sporadically lit windows lay beneath a clear sky. Orion was in sight as was a large, white moon. All of these were reflected on the calm, moving waters of the Potomac.

I stood outside alone for a long few minutes before having to return inside for the second half of the show. I felt pretty lonely out there with no one to share that view with. I made it a point to tell everyone inside to make sure to check it out on the way back.

Then the show started again and the lights continued to roast me to a perfect medium rare.