“White Horse?”

Scene from Armageddon:

Harry Stamper: Um, Bear would like to stay at the...
[tries to read writing]
Harry Stamper: "White horse"?
[looks up at Bear]
Bear: White, *House*. White House.
Harry Stamper: White House. Yeah, he'd like to stay in the Lincoln bedroom of the White House for the summer. Stuff like that.
Truman: Sure, I think we can, uh, take care of... some of that.

Sorry, Armageddon has been cycling through FX recently and I figured this quote applied.
Anyway, Ryan (my roommate), Matt (my suitemate), Amber (my friend), and I (myself) went to the White House today. Matt works for an Ohio Congressman and was able to book us last minute on the standard tour that goes through the White House. So after rising bright and early this morning we hobbled on over to the White House for an 8:30 tour. Fortunately the day is beautiful and even at 8:00am it was sunny and 30 degrees. So we began our visit at the Visitor Entrance building which is on the East side of the House. For the time we were on the first floor we passed the Library where Obama would give an interview for like 60 Minutes. We also passed the Vermeil Room and China Room. In this first corridor before we went up the stairs to the East Room I found what is probably the most hilarious thing in the White House, this Painting (note that I couldn't take any pictures so these are off the internet and you can click on them to get a bigger picture):


I find this Painting hilarious (and creepy) to me for multiple reasons. 1. It’s a painting of Hillary Clinton. 2. She looks creepy. 3. It’s a painting of Hillary Clinton. Now honestly it’s not because I dislike Hillary Clinton, it’s just that the painting feels “out of place.” Yes there are other paintings of first ladies in the White House, but she was just so recent that I wasn’t expecting a painting. Anyway…

So we go upstairs and move into the East Room:


This is the largest room in the White House and the President uses it for receptions, ceremonies, press conferences, and other events. Just last night Obama used it to sign an executive order strengthening the long-standing White House initiative on historically black colleges and universities. Now in this room is this famous painting:


I recognized it and wanted to know if that was the original. Uniformed Secret Service agents were in every room willing to answer questions so I asked and found out that this is one of the original eight that Gilbert Stuart painted, but more importantly it is the one Dolley Madison saved when the British burned the White House in 1814. Dolley had to have had some help or she was an iron woman because this is a huge 8 by 5 painting. Needless to say it was cool seeing that painting. Moving on…

Next room was the Green Room:


This was Thomas Jefferson’s dining room and it is now a parlor and is used for receptions.
This room is the Blue Room:


It is often used by the President to receive guests and is dead smack in the middle of the White House on the second floor. Outside is the South Portico and the view from what we could see is amazing. So whenever you’re watching a movie that shows the White House it’s the one in the middle of the rotunda. Coolest room by far. It’s blue, obviously, and houses the Christmas tree during the winter.

Fourth room, Red Room:


It’s used for small receptions, apparently the first ladies like it. John Adams used it as a breakfast room. It’s red.

Final room is the State Dining Room:


This can seat 130 guests and carved into the fireplace mantel is this quotation from John Adams: “I pray Heaven to bestow the best blessings on this house and all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but honest and wise men ever rule under this roof.” Now in this room is famous painting number two:


Now I didn’t get as much background on this as I did the Washington one but it was bequeathed to the White House in 1939 by the widow of Robert Todd Lincoln, the President’s oldest son.
Finally, we end up in a cross hall before the exit. It was pleasant, there was a black choir group singing fun gospel music to add to our touring experience. Also, this room had famous painting number three:


Now this was my favorite because we were able to get inches away from it unlike the Washington and Lincoln portraits. It’s really beautiful up close and in person. I wish I had someone to ask about the history of this one and why that pose was chosen (even though it is obviously quite symbolic).

After that room we exited the White House from behind and went off to Macy’s for a one day sale where I bought two ties and saved 50 bucks. When we got on the Metro everyone was surprised it was only 11:30. As you can tell my crowd doesn’t wake up in the a.m. on weekends. So that is about it.

T-minus 15 days till numero 21.

Ryan, Matt, Amber, and me

2nd Business Card Today!!!

HI EVERYBODY!!! (Now repeat it again with Will Farrell being Harry Carry from SNL in your head and it makes sense)

Another week down, t-minus 21 days till that 21 birthday.

Last week was a real busy week for the Center. We finally got in those 2,000 reports so last week and this week we've been sending out reports to all the addresses I've collected these last three weeks. As I'm reminiscing about last week I can't think of anything too noteworthy at work to discuss.

However today was a very good Monday as I got to sit in on a meeting with a very large British think-tank. Ryan and I met with the head of the transatlantic program from RUSI or The Royal United Services Institute for Defense and Security Studies. It was founded in 1831 by the Duke of Wellington and is considered the leading forum in the UK for national and international Defense and Security. Long story short I got another business card; soon enough I'll have a collection. We met for about two years talking about a possible future partnership, working together on a couple of NATO's disconnects. It's funny. We're pretty small and they're pretty big, but I guess they are relatively new to DC and we do have some very good connections thanks to Ambassador Abshire. Needless to say, it looks like we will be partnering up on some future events and projects. Meetings with three or four people are just fun because they make me feel important and I get a business card.

I also hand delivered some reports over to Madeline Albright's office as she, herself has also had contact with Ambassador Abshire in the past and has been assisting us with this NATO project recently. And I made another trip over to Capitol Hill to deliver more reports (I had also done the same last Friday) including to Ike Skelton's office (but I didn't see him). I'm trying to get a lot of these reports out so I can begin actual research on the supplemental project. However with me being the only full time intern for Ryan it's hard to do what he needs done and to get the reports mailed out all over the globe.

Socially, I didn't do too much this weekend because I have a paper due Wednesday and a project being presented on the 3rd. I did go to the zoo for a little bit, couldn't see too many animals but did see their prized pandas. can't say I've ever seen pandas before, but I'm not sure.

I did see Shutter Island yesterday. About a 5-10 minute walk up the street is a giant one screen theater called the Uptown Theater. It's very old school looking and low key on the inside. But the screen is huge and it wraps around the wall a little bit, so cool. Anyway, the movie was just okay. Leo was great, but the movie didn't have a climax. There was no rising action and no falling action. It just ended. So... yeah.

I would also like to give a shout out to my friend Mr. Garreth Cooksey. He's a wonderful performer and has been such a real asset to the industry. Thank you Garreth for everything you've done and we'll miss your karate.

Back to Work, Back to Work

Well for the first time since February 4th I have to wake up before 8:00. The two separate winter blasts kept the government closed Monday through Thursday of last week. I eventually went into work last Friday afternoon, the first time in a week. In addition, I didn’t have to go into work today due to President’s Day. So to sum everything up, I really haven’t worked/had to do anything in a long while. This also means I don’t have anything substantial to report. Despite the time off the winter weather kept us cooped up in the Washington Center. To put things in perspective, my friends and I on Thursday watched the final 22 episodes of Arrested Development, and there are only 53 episodes in the series. Though we did continue to go to the gym and made it out to dinner at a Mexican and Thai place on separate nights, I spent most of my time indoors.
Saturday was a big exception as some friends and I went shopping/exploring in Georgetown for most of the day. Georgetown has a wide variety of shops (we went into Urban Outfitters, Ralph Lauren, Banana Republic, Adidas…), but I only bought a new book from Barnes and Noble. I finished my second book on Afghanistan Sunday and started reading Three Cups of Tea today.
I also went to a Starbucks today to work on some of my school work. It’s really hard doing homework at the BU Center due to a lack of motivation. This is why you typically find me doing homework at Carrier Library on campus than back at my apartment in Sunchase. Though I was able to get some work accomplished Starbucks charges you for internet and I wasn’t going to pay 3.99 plus tax for it so work was somewhat limited.
Speaking of work, when I did return to the Center last Friday afternoon I discussed with my boss what assignments are coming up and it looks like I’ll be given some more substantive work. We are beginning research for a supplement to our report which will include updated NATO commitments since Jan 1st. I will get to conduct most of the research looking for announcements of increased aid/troops from NATO and ISAF countries. It will be a welcome change from finding expert addresses two weeks ago.
Like I said, outside of this, I don’t have too much else to report. It will be my birthday in one month, my 21st birthday, which is obviously exciting, but other than that I can’t think of any big events that I know of. So that’s going to have to do it for now. Thanks for reading.

Three, Maybe Four, Day Weekend!!!

So rumor has it that the federal government just closed again for Tuesday due to another snowstorm approaching the city which is suppose to dump another 10-20 inches. For all the taxpayers counting at home when the government closes it's 100 million dollars a day for lost productivity. Not to mention they're getting closer to breaking my insignificant high school snow day record of like three or four days. (Now currently reading online reports that the government is indeed closed for Tuesday. YIPPEE!!!) I spent three hours trying to send off my girlfriend's Valentine's Day package today so my snow day today was sort of non-existent. Only the main post office next to Union Station six metro stops down was open today and they seemed to have only two people working. Add on the slowness of the delayed metro system today and it was just a big fun trip. But I got the package off and I think she's going to love what she's getting.

Back to the snow. So, yes, it is a lot of snow. The most I have ever seen at one time. Friday I got off work early to go to the grocery store and to other shops to get Sarah's present ready. When Saturday came so did roughly 30 inches of snow, depending on where you were. Myself and two of the guys decided to go on a hike into the city. We took the metro (it can operate in the underground sections which is pretty much the entire city, just not the suburbs) down to Union Station where we walked to the Capitol. Though my pictures on Facebook may be deceiving there honestly was not many people on the streets. I figured that many people including tourists would set out on foot to view the city covered in a blanket of snow, but I guess they preferred to stay inside. Anyway, here is a picture of us walking to the Capitol.


We were able to walk in many of the streets, kinda cool walking in the middle of Constitution Ave without the fear of getting ran over. Capitol looked very picturesque covered with snow.


It was funny, there was a Capitol Hill police officer guarding high above on the Capitol steps and he was throwing snow balls down at the picture takers. Obviously, he was enjoying the non-lethal weapons that were provided to him on that cold and still snowy day. I remarked on my facebook that it's really easy to appreciate Washington DC in a snowstorm. Everything slows down, people are enjoying themselves, Capitol City Police are throwing snowballs at you... It makes me wish it snowed everyday in DC; it keeps people and things simple. We walked down to the Mall, past a rather large snowball fight (Dupont Circle had a massive snowball fight, but we didn't go.) and to the Washington Monument (no easy trek in the snow) before heading to the White House. And the White House was also nice in the snow.


The White House was our last stop as two of us including myself did not have the proper footwear and had frozen feet.

Super Bowl Sunday was great fun. We ordered dominoes (yes, the pizza is better) and had people over to our apt. The game was obviously great and my favorite commercial is probably a tie between the Betty White one and the Brett Favre one. And like I said today I watched Arrested Development and searched the city for an open post office.

Work this last week involved me still researching people to get on our "mailing list" for our report and also involved trying to get a package from DC to Munich. That was interesting. I got the package off, but we had to do an address change so I had to call 1800-G0Fedex to get the address changed, but I think it got there for the Munich Conference. Can't think of anything else right now. There is more photos of DC including this one on my Facebook (look closely):


Also, if anyone wants me to talk about something specific or ask a question please feel free to leave a comment. So yeah NBC Washington says no work tomorrow for Dane and ha! it might include Wednesday too if we get another 20 inches. Yeah, really weird I know. Peace! Also, to see the full picture actually click on the picture and you'll be able to see the whole thing. They are kinda big pictures. Thanks.