Paper lanterns hangin' from the ceiling. Sticky stars aglow. Mappin' out some constellation…

First, I hope you all enjoyed the Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin lyrics that have comprised this week’s blog title :)

Okay, so this week… AMAZING!!!! In the post conference wake I’ve been able to relax at work. While I’m still busy working on surveys, mailings, attending meetings, and helping to get our local program reports ready, things are nowhere near as hectic as they were during Conference. Its been really, really nice.

My class this week… phenomenal and so I once again have to sincerely urge all of you to take “Politics, Power, and Poetry” with Professor Swerdlow. You know when you have a professor who makes class incredible? A professor who makes you think about things you’d never thought about before and makes class fun, exciting, and a place you actually look forward to going to? That’s what this class is like. So okay yea, it’s every Monday night from 6:30-9:30pm and that’s rough, especially after working all day and being at TWC programming, but its SO worth it.

This week we had a mock debate over the new health care bill. There were two sets of debaters. A pro and con group addressing the 1945 bill submitted by former President Truman and then a pro and con group addressing the bill currently facing Congress today. Everyone in class was assigned a role and we talked about how the bill was applicable then and now, how it’s changed, and how the need for it has changed as time has progressed. I was lucky enough to be given the role of blogger… I wonder why. ;) The entire class was involved in the discussion talking about a variety of different subjects which I soon realized are all related to health care in one way or another. This class was truly one of the greatest classes I’ve ever attended in my college career (and I’m including classes that involved field trips across London and to the London theater in that).

Now as amazing as my class was, and it was truly amazing, nothing, and I mean nothing from this week tops my Thursday night. In my first blog entry I urged you guys to check out a venue called the Black Cat. Well, I’m once again going to tell you to go check this place out. Thursday night I left work at 5:30pm, headed to the famous Ben’s Chili Bowl for some veggie chili cheese fries with my friends, stopped by the London-esque bar Cafe Saint-Ex and then saw three AMAZINGLY INCREDIBLE bands perform at Black Cat.

Small, insanely awesome concerts are something D.C. is a great place for. There is an endless number of great venues in the city that bring not only the wonderful quirky bands that tug on my heart strings to their stages, but also bigger named bands that have developed a die hard following. The best thing about these venues… cheap ticket prices! As an unpaid intern the possibility of seeing three amazing bands perform for four hours in a killer venue for $13 is something you will quickly learn to cherish.

This Thursday Darwin Deez, Throw Me the Statue and Bishop Allen graced the stage at Black Cat and put on a phenomenal show. I’m a concert junkie. Much like good dive bars and farmer’s markets, I have a passion for concerts, especially those in smaller, slightly dingier venues where you can literally be standing up against the stage (as I fortunately was). The atmosphere at these types of concerts is other worldly. People there come together in a very unique way. When the music starts to play everyone feels it. We clap, we jump, we dance ridiculously with no shame, and we let the music take us over. If you’ve never heard of Bishop Allen, Darwin Deez, or Throw Me the Statue, go check them out…. NOW! They are phenomenal.

Darwin Deez is a quirky band that wears bright day glow colors, old man style sweaters, backwards caps and jumps off the stage into the crowd to dance along side avid listeners. They make you laugh and make you want to sing at the top of your lungs… even if you don’t know the words to any of their songs. I’d never heard them before, but let me tell you, I am now a HUGE fan! Throw Me the Statue, a Seattle-based band, takes a less crowd involved approach but still delivers an excellent performance. I’ve been a fan for many years and seeing them perform live made my weekend.

Now if you don’t know Bishop Allen…I highly suggest that you correct that as soon as is humanly possible. I’ve listened to this band for years and this Thursday was the first time I’d ever seen them perform life. They are so great and this concert was particularly wonderful because they played several of my all time favorite songs including, “South China Moon”, Middle Management”, and the awesome ukulele jam, “Butterfly Net”.

I jumped, I screamed, and I sang every wonderful word at the top of my lungs… it was great :)

Top 2 Places to Visit This Week:

1. Saint Ex: If you want to experience a tiny taste of what it’s like to be in London, head to this bar on 14th street. Located just a few doors down from the wonderful Black Cat, Saint Ex is a bar/restaurant. Up stairs offers seating, food, and more of dining style atmosphere. Head to the back and down a flight of stairs and you find yourself at Gate 59. Now the bar is advertised as a “French-American” style bistro, but all I could think of was London while I was there. The laid back atmosphere, bartender who looked scarily like the lead singer of Bloc Party, and crazy paraphernalia littering the walls made me long for the football crazy, pint hungry, laid back neighborhood pubs of good ol’ London town.

2. Georgetown C & O Canal: This intricate canal system is a great place to go for a run, a walk, or get lost in your thoughts. The canals almost right next to the waterfront in beautiful Georgetown and provide a more quiet and peaceful setting from the bustling, crowded, streets. I’ve been only a couple of times, but I’ve developed quite a liking for going down to the canals when I’m in the area and wandering aimlessly along the paths. If you’re in the city and in need of new running route, or just looking to step outside the city for a bit, I highly suggest you check this place out.

This Week’s Top 5 Songs:

1. Bishop Allen: “Butterfly Nets”
2. Darwin Deez: “Bad Day”
3. Throw Me the Statue: “Ship”
4. Passion Pit: “Little Secrets”
5. Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin: “Some Constellation”

Riding trains to end of lines, still we’ve got nothing but time…

So my time here is sort of coming to an end. Its weird really to think about because its hard to fathom the fact that I’ve been here for almost three months already, that Thanksgiving and class registration are right around the corner, and that in only a few weeks I’ll be packing up, moving back to NH, and writing my final blog entry (don’t worry I’ll make it a good one) :)

This was actually one of the less eventful weeks for me in regards to work. With the end of Conference and people settling back into their routines at the office, not a lot has been going on. In all honesty the Share Our Strength office was sort of dead this week, at least for me. There was an eerie silence my first day back and things didn’t pick up too much by the time Friday rolled around. It was kind of nice though. It gave me a chance to acclimate to office life again and I enjoyed not having to run around getting materials boxed up. :)
       
Friday I headed to another farmers market event, which was definitely… eventful. Hurricane Ida attacked Washington D.C. I was at the City Harvest Farmer’s Market at the Reagan Building spreading the good word about Operation Frontline when massive gusts of wind took our tent and the tents of fellow vendors. All around me people were grasping desperately to tent poles and table tops trying to stop their items from blowing away. Despite the gale force winds, the stream of papers swirling up into the air with each gust, and the freezing down pour rain, people came out to sample foods, but meat and produce, and make small talk with us and I once again had a great time!  Farmer’s markets are amazing, there’s no possible way to argue that statement. I don’t know why I love them so much, but I do. They are full of friendly people, good food, tons of information, and they’re a great place to go get fresh fruits and veggies. This was sadly our last farmer’s market of the season!!!! No more sampling OFL recipes, no more chit chatting with friendly vendors, and no more coffee from Saint Lucia, located in my hometown (well current hometown) of Rockville, MD. (AMAZING coffee). :(

As sad as it is to say goodbye to my time as a farmer’s market participant, it was the start of a very good weekend. My weekend was consumed with running, museums, aimless wandering, live music, and friends, all the necessary ingredients to a good time. I headed into the city Saturday afternoon for a day of me time and went to the National Mall. I watched a soccer match going on as I slowly made my way to the Hirshhorn Museum. When you come to this city please make sure you take some time and visit the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden because it is seriously one of the most amazing places. 

As I’ve said before I love parks and gardens, especially in cities. Living in Regent’s Park in London was amazing because when I wanted to feel disconnected from the world, or the craziness of the city, I would wander through that park. I’d head up to Primrose Hill and sit on a bench and I could see all the way to the river Thames. There was no noise, things were quite and peaceful, it made you feel as if the world had stopped and everything around you was standing still, it was amazing. The Sculpture Garden is similar while you’re there you can almost forget you're in the city. 

After spending an hour and a half getting lost in artwork I continued my journey back down the mall. Trudging through mud and what seemed like a million tourists I notice how beautiful everything looked in that moment. It wasn’t conventionally beautiful. It was beautiful in that way that things are when you catch them in a specific moment, a moment that you’re not looking for, that just sort of happens. (Those are the best kinds of moments). The sky was gray, the leaves were a burnt orange color, the carousel was full of passengers, and all around me were families, kids running through the grass, couples sitting on park benches, and museum steps flooded with patrons. For a moment I just stood and looked around as if I was seeing the city for the first time.
    
These are the moments I think I’ve come to appreciate most over the last year. In London I feel as if they happened almost every second of every day. That city was constantly surprising me, constantly leaving me in awe of everything, and constantly stealing my heart. Maybe it’s a growing sense of nostalgia since my time here is quickly coming to an end, but in a lot of ways I’m starting to see that same beauty here in D.C. All I have to say is come to D.C. Whether or not you decide to participate in The Washington Center, come to this city. Its not a place I think I’ll live in again, but it really is beautiful and it really is worth spending some time in.

This Week’s Top Two Places to Visit:

1. Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden: Located just outside the Hirshhorn Museum of modern art on the National Mall is the sculpture garden. Here you can see works from Monroe, Auguste, and Yoko Ono. The garden includes an audio exhibit, and several surrealist style sculptures. It also include The Wish Tree (Yoko’s creation). 

One of the cool things about this particular piece is that you can write your own wish and put it on the tree. There are wishes for peace, happiness, love, and so on and it’s really cool to be able to contribute to the art. 

There are also several benches randomly strewn through the garden, perfect places to sit, relax, and write if your journal (if you happen to enjoy writing in a journal) J As I’ve said before I’m a huge advocate for wandering aimlessly through museums and the sculpture garden is an outdoor museum so its extra cool!

2. Madam’s Organ: On 18^th St. in Adam’s Morgan, is this tiny, dark, crowded bar. Madam’s Organ features live music, a warm atmosphere, good drinks, and tons of fun. This is one of few bars in the area that charges a cover but the $5 is definitely worth it.  A different band plays every weekend offering a variety of different music styles, there are three floors, and friendly people. So if you’re looking for a more low key night out, check out Madam’s Organ.

Top 5 Songs of the Week: 

1. The Mountain Goats: “International Small Arms Traffic Blues” 
2. Greg Laswell: “Like How the Day Sounds”
3. The Kooks: “Shine On”
4. Noah and the Whale: “My Door Is Always Open”
5. Sleepy Rebels: “Magic Girl”

A Weekend In The City…

Well it’s done. Conference of Leaders is over. Two long months of planning (many more on the part of the Share Our Strength full time staff) and the conference is done. It was AMAZING!!!! I feel as if I will never be able to fully explain how wonderful conference was. I had such an incredible time and I feel so unbelievably lucky to have been able to be part of something so informational and wonderful. I honestly never thought Conference would happen. We were planning and planning and I never thought the day would actually arrive. Now I can’t believe it’s over!!!

Conference started last Friday at 9 am when I got to my office. From there I headed to the Fairmont Hotel where I stuffed goodie bags, helped assist FEED meeting attendees and boxed materials for Operation Frontline. Now before I continue I do realize how boring these tasks must sound but trust me… they weren’t and they were also just the beginning of the incredibly wonderful things I got to do while at conference. I was given the opportunity to interview OFL’s Hall of Fame chefs (volunteer chefs who teach our nutrition education classes), I sat in on lectures regarding SNAP (food stamps), meals served in school, and I was able to participate in our service day.
       
I spent service day, an INCREDIBLE day, at Miller Farms in Prince George’s county, Maryland. While there I helped to glean crops. (Gleaning is a term used to refer to the picking of crops left behind by commercial harvesters).

Over forty volunteers, myself included picked mixed greens to be donated to a local school for food baskets for the holidays. The sun was shining, we had our white polo shirts on, and it was a ton of fun working on the farm. I had been lucky enough to be able to help work on the organization of service day and it felt really good to be able to be part of something that would help someone else.        

During my time at the farm I learned that more than 10 million pounds of crops a year go unharvested because they are not aesthetically appealing enough to be served in chain grocery stores. How disgusting is that? I’m asking because in a country where 14 million children go hungry every day, wasting 15 million pounds of perfectly edible food seems horrific to me. As does the fact that SNAP doesn’t provide incentives for buying healthy food and the fact that food served to kids in school contain almost no nutritional value.
   
I don’t want to ramble and I don’t want to turn this week’s blog entry into a rant on the injustices in our country, but I did want to give you some food for thought. This conference taught me a lot about programs like WIC and SNAP, about the issue of obesity and hunger, about school meal programs, and hunger in America. It’s a really important issue that unfortunately is ignored by the mainstream media. So think about these things and I encourage you to do some research because it’s truly a dire situation facing the people of this country.
       
Back to better fun things about the conference. Along with all the great knowledge that I gained I also got to meet Aaron McCargo from “Big Daddy’s House” on Food Network.  

He was a key note speaker at our conference and he was a brilliant speaker. Meeting him was truly one of the highlights of conference for me. His speech was truly inspirational and coupled with the hip-hop choir, Saturday night was definitely a great time at conference. George Stephanopoulos also spoke along with the USDA under secretary and the founders of Share Our Strength. I gained so much from this weekend and if I could, I’d go back and do it all again!!
       
However now I’m incredibly tired and in desperate need of some relaxation. As wonderful as this weekend was and as wonderful as it was… it will be nice to have some down time in the office. Although its now time to prep for the next farmer’s market event. Work at Share Our Strength has definitely picked up and it’s been great!

This Week’s Top Two Places to Visit:

1. Miller Farm: Located in Clinton MD, Miller Farm is one of the coolest local farms you will ever go to. You pull up and a beautiful array of flowers decorates the outside of the store, which is surrounded on two sides with fields of green vegetables. Inside the store barrels of fruits and veggie fill the space.  There is a bakery to your left that sells a variety of homemade baked goods and ice cream. The walls are covered in signs and unique pieces of artwork. You can watch the staff hand pick crops and if you’re lucky, you’ll get to engage is some truly wonderful conversation with them. 

2. Mie N Yu: This is perhaps one of the coolest restaurants I’ve been to in this city. Located in Georgetown on Wisconsin Ave, Mie N Yu offers authentic Middle Eastern food in a crazy atmosphere. There are two floors this restaurant, one with a bar, a cabana style seating area, and purple lighting. The second floor is more laid back. The Venetian room has chairs made of old tree trunks that are so heavy you need the help of your waiter to pull it away from the table (no joke). The coolest part of this place though isn’t the lighting, the furniture, or the food; it’s the coveted Birdcage table. It’s a table… in a giant birdcage tucked into a corner in a stairwell hovering between the first and second floor.

This Week’s Top Five Songs:

1. French Kicks: “So Far We Are”
2. Voxtrot: “Berlin, Without Return”
3. Los Campesinos: “This Is How You Spell HAHAHA”
4. OK GO: “Shooting the Moon
5. The Submarines: “1940”

Ghouls, Goblins, Witches, Wizards, oh and Conference of Leaders…

Halloween. Greatest holiday… ever. Not only is it a holiday of zombie movies, haunted houses, and ghost stories, but it’s the one time of the year when it really is okay to act like a total idiot and do crazy, ridiculous things (and no one second guesses you!) There is nothing and I mean NOTHING better than Halloween. I love this holiday, basically because I love any excuse to dress up ridiculously, act like a fool, and eat more candy than human being ever should. I successfully accomplished this mission this Halloween. Dressed as a 1980’s camp counselor, my roommates and I took Georgetown by storm.

If you ever find yourself in Washington D.C. on Halloween, do me a favor and please go to Georgeetown. There is an endless list of great things to do in this city on Halloween, but Georgetown turns in to a fashion show. A fashion show of ridiculous, crazy, outlandish, and weird outfits that is. Within ten minutes of stepping into Georgetown I saw Gilligan from “Gilligan’s Island” J.D. from Scrubs, several mobsters, flappers, a giant bottle of mustard, and the cops from “Reno 911”. I was seriously impressed with the creative costume ideas people came up with and was very happy to know that there are other people out there who get as into Halloween as I do.

I was also seriously impressed by the number of cool things you can do in this city during Halloween. Case in point: you can go trick or treating on Embassy Row. That’s right. You can wear your craziest, most outrageous costume and go to every single embassy in the city and get free candy, from diplomats….from foreign countries!!!! Maybe its just me, but I think that’s pretty awesome. The White House also welcomes hundreds of children wearing adorable costumes and gives out candy. Basically what I learned this week… D.C. loves candy. And because of that I love D.C. ;)

All of the crazy Halloween festivities this week were greatly needed. Conference of Leaders is THIS WEEKEND!!!! Can you believe it? No, of course you can’t, neither can I. I have no words for the fact that it is right around the corner. I’m freaking out a little bit to be completely honest, I feel like there is so much to do and really no time to do it. But as stressful as all the pre COL planning is, I am incredibly excited. I can’t wait to spend the weekend in the city meeting people from Share Our Strength programs and getting the opportunity to learn even more about the work SOS has done over the years. I think the part of COL I’m most excited for is Service Day. I’m excited to get the opportunity to do more hands on work in the D.C. community.

The countdown to Conference of Leaders has begun and the aftermath of Halloween has set in. This coming week will most definitely be one of chaotic craziness, feeble attempts at getting some much needed sleep, and preparation for a weekend of Share Our Strength awesomeness.

This Week’s Top Two Places to Visit:

1. Toledo Lounge: I have this quirky obsession with dive bars. I don’t know what it is, but there is something strangely wonderful about a bar where none of the chairs match, paint is peeling off the walls, the linoleum floor sticks to your feet, and thought of using the bathroom scars the crap out of you. Toledo Lounge encompasses all these things. They’ve got PBR on tap, grungy lighting, red walls, and a bar tender who is so chill and so laid back he makes Jeff Spicoli (Fast Times At Ridgemont High) look straight edge. It’s a great place to go out with your friends for cheap drinks, loads of laughs, and a night full of awesomeness.

2. Meridian Hill Park: Also known as the Malcolm X Park, Meridian Hill Park is located near U St., a really great part of the district. Its one of few places in this city you can go too where for a moment, you don’t feel like you’re in the city anymore. There is a beautiful waterfall at the entrance and a drum circle that’s open to the public most Sunday afternoons. It’s a truly great place to go and relax when you need to get away from the chaotic hustle and bustle of the city.

Top 5 Songs of the Week:

1. The National: “Lucky You”
2. We Were Promised Jetpacks: “Quite Little Voices”
3. My Morning Jacket: “Off the Record”
4. Kanye West: “Paranoid”
5. White Lies: “Death”