Forward thinking

I'd like to take my next steps in a different direction.







Current music: Jet, Move On
Upcoming concert: Rufus Wainwright, 9:30 Club, Halloween

Happy Birthday! Again and again!

I think this is the longest birthday I've ever had! Since I went home last weekend to celebrate my little sister Abby's birthday along with mine, I've had two fun-filled weekends brimming with birthday activities. At home I hung out with the family, went to the movies with the sisters and visited with my favoritest Duck. We had two large birthday dinners, the first for Abby, then one for me, then birthday cake and birthday brownies! It was gorgeous outside so I was glad to get out into the pastures with my dad to round up a new calf and paddle around the lake with Abby. And Erin was home, too, and we had many fun times hanging out--not to mention that she gave me the coolest birthday presents ever.

After such good times at home it was almost a letdown to be here this weekend. Not only is my all my family in SC, but all the Furman people in DC minus about three of us went back to Greenville this weekend for Homecoming. Then, after all the DC adventures Rachel and I planned for the weekend fell through when she sprained her ankle (so sad! she's a trooper, though) on Friday morning, I thought all was lost. Especially since it was raining grossness from the sky on top of everything.

However, life does have a way of surprising me in good ways every so often. For example...

Friday night was International Night in Dupont Circle. Sam's friend Jen from Charlottesville came into town with two guys she worked with--a young Frenchman (her boyfriend) and a 40something Englishman. We went out to dinner/drink at Afterwords (the cool bookstore with a bar and restaurant attached to the back) and then to The Big Hunt on Connecticut Ave. At The Big Hunt Jen proposed that we play a game to get some more people to hang out with us at our table. So she sent us out in search of someone who played the violin.

This is how I found Canadian Corey and Sam met Barak the Israeli. (Sounds like a [bad] joke, I know.) Both were incredibly nice and interesting so we all talked for a while and drank some more beer and enjoyed the evening. I went home spinning.

Then, last night I went out to Adams Morgan for the first time with some people from the book club, two of whom also have coincidental/symbolic names--Roslyn from Rosslyn and Matt Crook. We went to a bar with a place name that starts with a C that I can't remember--the
Columbia or something?--and listened to a really good band with a cool singerman who sang Happy Birthday. Then we all ended up dancing in Heaven and Hell. Sounds so Miltonian. No spinning last night, but we did have to catch a cab back to Roslyn's. In Rosslyn.

Whew!

And today it is SUNNY so who knows what my actual birthday day will bring! Rachel and I may venture out to Georgetown later on.

But before I go, I just want to thank all of you who made plans with me or have sent me birthday cards, emails, IMs, facebook wall messages, and/or voicemails and phone calls. You are the ones that make the day (week!) special! Much love!

Thought for the day

I keep checking my blog to see if it has somehow changed since the last time I wrote and now even I'm getting bored, so I guess that means it is time to write again. Unfortunately, I don't have enough time to catch up with the week I missed since I last wrote tonight, so I'll just have to leave you with a small observation for now.

It's funny how when I went to Furman I kept meeting people that looked like friends I had in high school. Now, I'm in the real world and I keep finding people who look like friends I had in the bubble. Two of the people I met tonight at my book club meeting reminded me of people I already know. I think it must be my brain's way of making totally foreign surroundings in some way familiar so I don't become completely overwhelmed. But sometimes it is a bit startling to be sitting beside someone whose name is Ryan that I keep wanting to call Jared and ask what he thought of the English class we took with Dr. Visel. It can be a little embarrassing, too, when I can't remember the new people's names because they seem so much like the old ones. I'm fully convinced everyone in the world has a twin they don't know about who looks just like them and even has some of the same mannerisms. I wonder what are the odds, genetically speaking, that could happen?

The Yay List

There is so much I could write about, I think I'll make a list instead.

Yay for:
1. Getting paid tomorrow!
2. My amazing cool officemate Rachel!
3. Going home next weekend!
4. Having invitations to 3 different social events this weekend!
5. Free time (when I get it)!
6. Hearing from dear Furman friends in the past few days!
7. Semi-random people facebooking me every other day for the past week!
8. The vegetarian chili I'm going to eat in approximately 5 minutes...

Crazy coincidences and lots of red

The third week of my job (why did I almost write "internship"??) is off to a good start. I finally went to the book club meeting that I've been considering attending for the past two weeks. We are reading The Future of Freedom by Fareed Zakaria. It's all about politics and democracy and economics and history and all those things I avoided like the plague (and real life) while at Furman, so it's a bit over my head and definitely not so much on my interest level. But I met some new people that all seem very nice and interesting so I'm definitely going to hang around for a while. Until they kick me out because I'd rather read fiction...

This weekend was also filled with some new experiences. My roommate Sam and I went to Great Falls Park on Friday afternoon (see below). It was nice to get back to nature for a little while and hang out with my new roommie. And it was a gorgeous day for being outdoors so it made me happy.

Then on Saturday we explored the city some more. We went to the National Geographic Film Festival to hear a lecture. On the way to the auditorium, a random guy on the street decided to give Sam some unsolicited fashion advice (he said her shrug looked like something a grandma would wear). Turned out, he was on his way to the lecture, too, so we all sort of conversed as we walked even though he had made a really awkward comment for no apparent reason two seconds before. I didn't understand but I just went with it. You never know who you might meet. Including, but not limited to, the Red Dress Runners (below) that passed us down the street from the lecture. None of them would explain why they were running in red dresses or in general but at least 100 people (male and female) must have been involved.

After that strange sight and many pictures, we (I?) decided a beer was in order, so we stopped at the Lucky Bar on Connecticut Ave for a nice mid-afternoon drink. Later, we walked around Dupont Circle and found a really cool bookstore with a restaurant attached to it where I ate chocolate cake for dinner and our waiter was a guy Sam knew from Charlottesville. Talk about a small world--and amazing cake...

Luckily, Sunday wasn't nearly as interesting so I got my laundry done and made vegetarian chili, which I will be eating for the next week. Mmm Mmm.

Finally, for your viewing pleasure, here is a bad picture of my office. I will try to take a better one that more accurately reflects the space we have and the windows.

Also, for pictures from the ERG boat trip, check out My Flickr Pictures on the right toolbar thingy.