So I've been slacking on my 27 things, but with good reason. I have comprehensive exams in less than two weeks, plus keeping up with the two classes I'm enrolled in. It has been a roller coaster of a semester. I'm pretty sure I'll make it through in one piece.
Although I have super motivation now - I just booked my trip to Greece! (#4 on the list.) I'll be going in May with my sister and a friend. The trip will allow us to spend a day on the Turkish coast as well!
I did go to a Vietnamese restaurant in February with a couple of friends (# 17 on the list). We decided this only half counted since I had previously had pho. I also need to revise the list since I missed the polar plunge. Any suggestions?
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Thing Number 14
Number 14 on my list of 27 things was to see a show on Broadway. We decided to see Wicked. If you ever get the chance to see it, go. It was fabulous, wonderful, spectacular.
Amy, Pam, Jenny and I headed up for a weekend in NYC. It was freezing, but we had a great weekend seeing the Empire State Building, visiting the Met, and eating A LOT in Chinatown, Lindy's (the cafe in Guys and Dolls was modeled after it), and Serendipity.
outside the theater!
More pictures from the weekend can be seen here (along with a few others).
Amy, Pam, Jenny and I headed up for a weekend in NYC. It was freezing, but we had a great weekend seeing the Empire State Building, visiting the Met, and eating A LOT in Chinatown, Lindy's (the cafe in Guys and Dolls was modeled after it), and Serendipity.
outside the theater! 
More pictures from the weekend can be seen here (along with a few others). Monday, January 12, 2009
A Few of My 27 Things
It's off to a great start. I have to accomplish at least 2 a month if everything is to get done this year.
In December, my Dad got tickets to tour the U.S. Capitol. They just opened a new Visitor's Center. This is #8 on my list. I didn't get very many picture inside. It's a huge open space with lots of natural light and lots of great exhibits. It's worth the trip.
me and my parents
It also happened to be the day my family was celebrating my birthday, so after we went to a fabulous little Mexican place behind the Library of Congress. I took the family on a tour of the tunnels under the Capitol and the Library of Congress.
dad and me in the tunnels
outside the DAR building
the DAR library
Amy and Kathleen in the library
one of the rooms in the DAR building
In December, my Dad got tickets to tour the U.S. Capitol. They just opened a new Visitor's Center. This is #8 on my list. I didn't get very many picture inside. It's a huge open space with lots of natural light and lots of great exhibits. It's worth the trip.
me and my parents It also happened to be the day my family was celebrating my birthday, so after we went to a fabulous little Mexican place behind the Library of Congress. I took the family on a tour of the tunnels under the Capitol and the Library of Congress.
dad and me in the tunnelsIn January, I started with #22 - Tour the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution). They have a small museum collection and a bunch of rooms done up in different time periods. AND they have a library. It's in an old theater, so it's pretty unique.
outside the DAR building
the DAR library
Amy and Kathleen in the library
one of the rooms in the DAR buildingSunday, December 28, 2008
27 Things for My 27th Year
So I've come up with a list of things to do this year that I've never done before. (I turned 27 on December 12th.) I will post updates as they are accomplished and pictures sometimes. If you'd like to join me in any of these things let me know. I have no set schedule for any of them (except numbers 1 and 16, and I guess number 16).
1. GRADUATE from Library School
2. Read “To Kill a Mockingbird”
3. Visit the Newseum
4. Take a trip somewhere I’ve never been before
5. Take a creative class (pottery, cooking, etc.)
6. Train for a half marathon
7. Read (or listen to) Anna Karenina
8. Visit the Capitol Visitor’s Center (Done)
9. Hike Old Rag
10. Whale Watch
11. See the Supreme Court in session
12. Pansy Skydiving (Vertical Wind Tunnel)
13. Go to the National Arboretum
14. See a show on Broadway
15. Take the water taxi to Georgetown
16. Attend the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
17. Sample a new ethnic food
18. Hike 3 miles on the Appalachian Trail
19. See an Opera
20. Visit the National Geographic Society
21. Go to Washington’s Grist Mill
22. Tour the DAR
23. Attend a professional soccer game
24. Play laser tag or paintball
25. Write a short story
26. Polar Bear Plunge
27. Is a secret
1. GRADUATE from Library School
2. Read “To Kill a Mockingbird”
3. Visit the Newseum
4. Take a trip somewhere I’ve never been before
5. Take a creative class (pottery, cooking, etc.)
6. Train for a half marathon
7. Read (or listen to) Anna Karenina
8. Visit the Capitol Visitor’s Center (Done)
9. Hike Old Rag
10. Whale Watch
11. See the Supreme Court in session
12. Pansy Skydiving (Vertical Wind Tunnel)
13. Go to the National Arboretum
14. See a show on Broadway
15. Take the water taxi to Georgetown
16. Attend the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
17. Sample a new ethnic food
18. Hike 3 miles on the Appalachian Trail
19. See an Opera
20. Visit the National Geographic Society
21. Go to Washington’s Grist Mill
22. Tour the DAR
23. Attend a professional soccer game
24. Play laser tag or paintball
25. Write a short story
26. Polar Bear Plunge
27. Is a secret
Sunday, June 8, 2008
A little bit of catch up
My sister Jenny and I have been taking lots of pictures of the fun things we've been doing and we wanted to share them with you. The picture links will take you to Facebook photo albums.
In March, we went up to Maryland for the Maple Syrup Festival. We learned how trees are tapped and syrup is made. They served pancake breakfasts - probably the best we've ever had. It was in a state park called Cunningham Falls. There is indeed a waterfall at the park. It a small hike there. (The pictures also include Jenny's birthday bowling party.)
In March, I went to Canada for my dear friend Tanya's wedding. She got married in Lethbridge, a small town about an hour north of the U.S. border.
Last month, I went with a co-worker and some friends to the Virginia Gold Cup. It's a steeple chase out in a beautiful part of Virginia. It was a perfect day. It was lots of fun to dress up and be outside and people watch. The horses were pretty interesting too. You can see pictures here.
A few weeks ago, we headed to the outter banks of North Carolina for Memorial Day weekend. We stayed in a great house with 25 friends. It was a wonderful weekend of sun, sand, friends, and a visit to Kitty Hawk. Pictures can be seen here and here.
We've also gone to a few Nationals games, visited the new National Harbor, watched kites at the Kite Festival, done musems and concerts. There are always things to do in D.C. =)
In March, we went up to Maryland for the Maple Syrup Festival. We learned how trees are tapped and syrup is made. They served pancake breakfasts - probably the best we've ever had. It was in a state park called Cunningham Falls. There is indeed a waterfall at the park. It a small hike there. (The pictures also include Jenny's birthday bowling party.)
In March, I went to Canada for my dear friend Tanya's wedding. She got married in Lethbridge, a small town about an hour north of the U.S. border.
Last month, I went with a co-worker and some friends to the Virginia Gold Cup. It's a steeple chase out in a beautiful part of Virginia. It was a perfect day. It was lots of fun to dress up and be outside and people watch. The horses were pretty interesting too. You can see pictures here.
A few weeks ago, we headed to the outter banks of North Carolina for Memorial Day weekend. We stayed in a great house with 25 friends. It was a wonderful weekend of sun, sand, friends, and a visit to Kitty Hawk. Pictures can be seen here and here.
We've also gone to a few Nationals games, visited the new National Harbor, watched kites at the Kite Festival, done musems and concerts. There are always things to do in D.C. =)
Friday, August 10, 2007
A fitting tribute to a great man
President James Faust will indeed be missed! He was a wonderful leader and a great example.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Spoiler Alert!!!
Everything in the news about Harry Potter has had spoiler alert attached to them. Here is one of my favorites from CNN:
Editor's Note: This story contains spoilers. If you're not done with "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," you'd better stop reading now.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Less than a week after the release of the final Harry Potter book, author J.K. Rowling is giving hints about its conclusion.
Before publication, Rowling pleaded for secrecy about the ending of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows." But in an interview broadcast Thursday on NBC's "Today" show and in one published Thursday in USA Today, she discussed Harry's fate.
THOSE WHO DO NOT WANT TO KNOW HOW IT ALL TURNS OUT FOR THE BOY WIZARD SHOULD STOP READING HERE.
Have you stopped yet?
This is your last warning.
Editor's Note: This story contains spoilers. If you're not done with "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," you'd better stop reading now.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Less than a week after the release of the final Harry Potter book, author J.K. Rowling is giving hints about its conclusion.
Before publication, Rowling pleaded for secrecy about the ending of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows." But in an interview broadcast Thursday on NBC's "Today" show and in one published Thursday in USA Today, she discussed Harry's fate.
THOSE WHO DO NOT WANT TO KNOW HOW IT ALL TURNS OUT FOR THE BOY WIZARD SHOULD STOP READING HERE.
Have you stopped yet?
This is your last warning.
For the full story, click here. But beware there are spoilers.
And also this from the Onion:
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Has anyone got 50 cents?
My sister, Jenny, our two friends, Amy and Kathleen, and I took a road trip this weekend to upstate New York to see the Hill Cumorah Pagent. We decided also to check out Niagra Falls. We rode the Maid of the Mist and got a little wet, but the vantage point from there is amazing!
After the boat ride, we wanted lunch and decided to walk over to the Canadian side becasue it looked cooler (and it was!). We had lunch at the only place that seemed Canadian, Boston Pizza. On our way back, we had to walk through customs. There were little pedestrian gates where you had to pay 50 cents to get through. 50 cents to walk back to America!
Amy joked that if they installed these gates on our southern border, there would be fewer immigration problems!
So we have to go through customs on the American side - show our driver licences and answer a few questions. The agent asked what the purpose of my visit to Canada. I said to have lunch. "Lunch?" he asked. Then he asked if I had come all the way from Virginia to have lunch in Canada.
After the boat ride, we wanted lunch and decided to walk over to the Canadian side becasue it looked cooler (and it was!). We had lunch at the only place that seemed Canadian, Boston Pizza. On our way back, we had to walk through customs. There were little pedestrian gates where you had to pay 50 cents to get through. 50 cents to walk back to America!
Amy joked that if they installed these gates on our southern border, there would be fewer immigration problems!So we have to go through customs on the American side - show our driver licences and answer a few questions. The agent asked what the purpose of my visit to Canada. I said to have lunch. "Lunch?" he asked. Then he asked if I had come all the way from Virginia to have lunch in Canada.
Monday, July 9, 2007
How Very American!
I found this in the Washington Post this morning...
In France, Jogging Is a Running Joke
President's Exercise Regime Has Critics in a Lather
By Joel Garreau
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, July 7, 2007
The sight of the new French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, jogging -- often wearing his favorite NYPD T-shirt -- has fired up a tempest in a Reebok in France and Britain this summer. Sarkozy's running is an un-French, right-wing conspiracy, suggests Paris' left-wing newspaper Libération. In response, British commentators gleefully conclude: The French have lost their minds, again.
On the primary state television channel, France 2, Alain Finkielkraut, a leading French intellectual, recently demanded that Sarkozy give up his "undignified" exercise. Not only did he imply that exposing the boss's naked knees is something that never would have occurred in the time of Mitterrand, much less Louis XIV, Finkielkraut claimed strolling is the proper activity of the thinking person, from Socrates to the poet Arthur Rimbaud.
"Western civilization, in its best sense, was born with the promenade," said Finkielkraut. "Walking is a sensitive, spiritual act. Jogging is management of the body. The jogger says I am in control. It has nothing to do with meditation."
Sarkozy has fueled a French suspicion that running is for self-centered individualists like Americans, reports Charles Bremner, Paris correspondent for the Times of London.
"Patrick Mignon, a sports sociologist, noted that French intellectuals had always held sport in contempt, while totalitarian regimes cultivated physical fitness," Bremner writes.
"Jogging is of course about performance and individualism, values that are traditionally ascribed to the right," Odile Baudrier, editor of V02 magazine, a sports publication, told Libération.
The British press is having a wonderful time with all this.
"The Sarkozy jog, say his critics, is a sad imitation of the habits of American presidents, and a capitulation to 'le défi Américain' (a phrase that was the title of a book published here as 'The American Challenge') as bad as the influx of Hollywood movies," writes Boris Johnson, a British member of Parliament and confirmed jogger, in the Telegraph.
"I am not deterred . . . by the accusation that jogging is right-wing," he says. "Of course it is right-wing, in the sense that the facts of life are generally right-wing. The very act of forcing yourself to go for a run, every morning, is a highly conservative business. There is the mental effort needed to overcome your laziness.
"Charles de Gaulle . . . moved with the stately undulation of a giraffe, and never broke into so much as a trot."
Jogging is not a new affectation for Sarkozy. When he was finance minister, visiting Washington for meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, he found it congenial to jog around the Mall, a French Embassy spokeswoman says. Former French ambassador to the United States (and recently named an adviser to Sarkozy) Jean-David Levitte does not indulge, however. Levitte "has a lot of things to do. He is on the run intellectually," she says.
Meanwhile, the readers of British press Web sites are piling on. "No decent conservative would dream of jogging. It's a vulgar, untraditional form of self-advertisement that might frighten the horses. What's wrong with croquet?" posted Ian Morrison on the Telegraph Web site. "Had it been a spot of extracurricular horizontal jogging instead, je pense que ze political classe wouldn't have batted an eye," posted Nixon McVicar.
In the heyday of vaudeville, there was a routine that had one woman complaining about the food at a Catskills resort. "It's terrible," she says. "Yes," agrees her friend, "and the portions are so small."
Just so, not only is Sarkozy's running being criticized, so is his style.
Renaud Longuèvre, a noted coach, tells L'Equipe magazine that Sarkozy's arms hang down, he bends too far forward, his stride is bad and his feet strike the ground incorrectly, Bremner reports. The coach advised the president to get his feet checked, strengthen his abdominal and posterior muscles and to "check your diet because it seems you are carrying a slight excess in weight."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/06/AR2007070602104.html?nav=rss_print/style
In France, Jogging Is a Running Joke
President's Exercise Regime Has Critics in a Lather
By Joel Garreau
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, July 7, 2007
The sight of the new French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, jogging -- often wearing his favorite NYPD T-shirt -- has fired up a tempest in a Reebok in France and Britain this summer. Sarkozy's running is an un-French, right-wing conspiracy, suggests Paris' left-wing newspaper Libération. In response, British commentators gleefully conclude: The French have lost their minds, again.
On the primary state television channel, France 2, Alain Finkielkraut, a leading French intellectual, recently demanded that Sarkozy give up his "undignified" exercise. Not only did he imply that exposing the boss's naked knees is something that never would have occurred in the time of Mitterrand, much less Louis XIV, Finkielkraut claimed strolling is the proper activity of the thinking person, from Socrates to the poet Arthur Rimbaud.
"Western civilization, in its best sense, was born with the promenade," said Finkielkraut. "Walking is a sensitive, spiritual act. Jogging is management of the body. The jogger says I am in control. It has nothing to do with meditation."
Sarkozy has fueled a French suspicion that running is for self-centered individualists like Americans, reports Charles Bremner, Paris correspondent for the Times of London.
"Patrick Mignon, a sports sociologist, noted that French intellectuals had always held sport in contempt, while totalitarian regimes cultivated physical fitness," Bremner writes.
"Jogging is of course about performance and individualism, values that are traditionally ascribed to the right," Odile Baudrier, editor of V02 magazine, a sports publication, told Libération.
The British press is having a wonderful time with all this.
"The Sarkozy jog, say his critics, is a sad imitation of the habits of American presidents, and a capitulation to 'le défi Américain' (a phrase that was the title of a book published here as 'The American Challenge') as bad as the influx of Hollywood movies," writes Boris Johnson, a British member of Parliament and confirmed jogger, in the Telegraph.
"I am not deterred . . . by the accusation that jogging is right-wing," he says. "Of course it is right-wing, in the sense that the facts of life are generally right-wing. The very act of forcing yourself to go for a run, every morning, is a highly conservative business. There is the mental effort needed to overcome your laziness.
"Charles de Gaulle . . . moved with the stately undulation of a giraffe, and never broke into so much as a trot."
Jogging is not a new affectation for Sarkozy. When he was finance minister, visiting Washington for meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, he found it congenial to jog around the Mall, a French Embassy spokeswoman says. Former French ambassador to the United States (and recently named an adviser to Sarkozy) Jean-David Levitte does not indulge, however. Levitte "has a lot of things to do. He is on the run intellectually," she says.
Meanwhile, the readers of British press Web sites are piling on. "No decent conservative would dream of jogging. It's a vulgar, untraditional form of self-advertisement that might frighten the horses. What's wrong with croquet?" posted Ian Morrison on the Telegraph Web site. "Had it been a spot of extracurricular horizontal jogging instead, je pense que ze political classe wouldn't have batted an eye," posted Nixon McVicar.
In the heyday of vaudeville, there was a routine that had one woman complaining about the food at a Catskills resort. "It's terrible," she says. "Yes," agrees her friend, "and the portions are so small."
Just so, not only is Sarkozy's running being criticized, so is his style.
Renaud Longuèvre, a noted coach, tells L'Equipe magazine that Sarkozy's arms hang down, he bends too far forward, his stride is bad and his feet strike the ground incorrectly, Bremner reports. The coach advised the president to get his feet checked, strengthen his abdominal and posterior muscles and to "check your diet because it seems you are carrying a slight excess in weight."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/06/AR2007070602104.html?nav=rss_print/style
Monday, July 2, 2007
Death by Nerf Gun
Last night I had a crazy dream....Nothing was actually happening to me, so I think I was more of an observer/narrator.
I was in a house with a young family: a mom, dad, and two kids. The British and the American soldiers were fighting on the lawn. From the looks of their costumes, you could tell they were actors, but we were still really scared. The soldiers on both sides were not only fighting with weapons but also with funoodles (like what kids play with at the pool). A couple British soldiers came up to the house and were peeking in the windows - which were so high that they could just barely see in. They were looking for the husband who was hiding under the laundry, standing up with bed sheet hanging off of him. As the soldiers were looking in, the husband thought it would be a good time to find a new hiding place. As he emerged, I saw that it was my coworker, Brian. Instantly the soldiers saw him and came into the house and threw him on the ground. They took a Nerf gun that could shoot tennis balls and sawed off the barrel. They shot Brian multiple times in the back. We were all in hysterics. In the next scene, I was helping the wife clean up. Brian was gone - dead I think. As we were cleaning, Purple Heart showed up and wanted a clothing donation that had been arranged previously by Brain. She said she could wait and understood the delay. I gathered some of Brian's tshirts and gave them to Purple Heart.
Then I woke up...not sure to what, but I had forgotten to set my alarm, and had overslept. Luckily, the 4th of July is this week and not many people went in to work today, so I was right on time.
I was in a house with a young family: a mom, dad, and two kids. The British and the American soldiers were fighting on the lawn. From the looks of their costumes, you could tell they were actors, but we were still really scared. The soldiers on both sides were not only fighting with weapons but also with funoodles (like what kids play with at the pool). A couple British soldiers came up to the house and were peeking in the windows - which were so high that they could just barely see in. They were looking for the husband who was hiding under the laundry, standing up with bed sheet hanging off of him. As the soldiers were looking in, the husband thought it would be a good time to find a new hiding place. As he emerged, I saw that it was my coworker, Brian. Instantly the soldiers saw him and came into the house and threw him on the ground. They took a Nerf gun that could shoot tennis balls and sawed off the barrel. They shot Brian multiple times in the back. We were all in hysterics. In the next scene, I was helping the wife clean up. Brian was gone - dead I think. As we were cleaning, Purple Heart showed up and wanted a clothing donation that had been arranged previously by Brain. She said she could wait and understood the delay. I gathered some of Brian's tshirts and gave them to Purple Heart.
Then I woke up...not sure to what, but I had forgotten to set my alarm, and had overslept. Luckily, the 4th of July is this week and not many people went in to work today, so I was right on time.
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