Beetlejuice

In Colorado and the West, the pine beetle epidemic continues to devastate forests. See above.

USDA Forest Service just released what they think might be a surprising antidote to beetle infestation - herbal tea!

"Because the insects secrete the substance naturally to avoid overcrowding, aerial application of the [tea] flakes on a wide scale might help halt what has become the largest beetle outbreak in North American history, the researchers said. It would also present an environmentally safe alternative to insecticides."

I hope this works. Entire story here.

St. Patrick's Day Parade/Dog Show

Each March I enjoy a good St. Patrick's Day celebration and hearing about how St. Pat rid the snakes from Ireland with the power of the clover or green beer or however the story goes.

Well, it seems like Alexandria had too many Lucky Charms, because they also seem to believe that St. Pat rid the *dogs* from Ireland, brought them to Virginia, and gave them a glorious, elaborate parade.

I'm new, so I don't know exactly how it goes...but I did witness Alexandria's tradition of its Dog Show/St. Patrick's Day Parade. Quite fun, really.

This photo is from the "person who looks most like their dog," part of the competition.


And yes, the overachievers in Alexandria celebrate St. Patrick's Day 10 days in advance.

I have a "Children's Treasury of St. Pat's Dog Photos" if you want to see more. I won't keep them exclusively for my niece.




This is what they usually do in Alexandria:


But for Saturday's parade they added things like this:

Honest Tea at my house

The adorable new fun fact at my house is that since my housemate has become White House counsel, she now drinks Honest Tea - the President's favorite drink. It made me smile to open my fridge to the above stockpile. Maybe every lawyer should drink this?



For those of you who haven't had the chance to visit me in Virginia and hear mundane gossip about organic drinks, here's a photo of my townhouse during yesterday's snowfall.

Water Footprint and iPhorest

Just when I thought I'd been doing a pretty good job with my "Green Footprint" (I walk to work, I use a mug instead of the paper cups for coffee :))... now I've learned that I should also be conscious about my "Water Footprint."

Did you know that it takes 75 litres of water for one glass of beer? (a glass is about 250 ml of beer). I've never really thought about the amount of water it takes to make all the products I use, but this "Water Footprint" site has the stats. I guess that coffee I put in the mug has a water footprint of 140 litres.

I have no imminent plans to decrease my water footprint - mainly, just trying to be a trendspotter (though I'm probably behind the curve).

...Speaking of trends, my favorite new iPhone app (though I do not own an iPhone, yet) is iPhorest.


You can plant a tree from your phone. I do not understand what Facebook's "Lil' Green Patch" messages do, but I do know that iPhorest is the real deal. It will PLANT a tree for you, in a forest managed by The Conservation Fund. A REAL TREE, not just a virtual tree. Demi Moore even Twittered about iPhorest last month, ...so it will be amazing.

Skiing Winter Park

DC does not have a lot of snow covered mountains, I think it has to do with a rule about the Capitol building's height.

Thankfully, Colorado does have mountains, and I had an amazing trip out West this weekend. DC should think about getting some mountains, though, because this trip to Winter Park was pretty much the solution to keeping me same during the long congressional budget season.

Presidential Cupcakes

5,600 + cupcakes

http://tinyurl.com/ch4c8n

Joe Biden's Plates

Yesterday, in honor of the "MLK, Jr. Volunteer Day," I rolled up my sleeves and set the table for Vice President Joe Biden. My lifetime of prep as "table-setter" instead of cook at my family's Thanksgiving dinners was a primer for this fine day.

The dinner was for Joe Biden & 1,000 of his friends, at Union Station, on the eve of the Inauguration.

I spent about 5 hours prepping candles, placing candles, lighting candles, and then making sure the lit candles did not catch the wheat centerpieces on fire. I cannot actually take credit for setting any plates.

This "fire-watcher" status let me roam the room. I did my best to protect Dustin Hoffman, Al Roker, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Governor Tim Kaine, Senator Dianne Feinstein, and other guests from table fires.

I'm pretty sure volunteering at an elite dinner was *not* what MLK had in mind...but this year the holiday had good timing with inauguration events. To my surprise, at the end of the evening I dined with a bunch of donors from Aspen and Connecticut while we watched Biden and Obama speak. Best volunteer day ever! (Thanks to JS, and to KM, SW, DL, & ML).

Photos of other Inaugural events on my Facebook.

Book Exchange

Our first ever Book Exchange, this morning!

Great example of what constitutes the thrilling life of the DC nerd. It doesn't get much better than trading L'Engle, Merton, McEwan, Ellison, Lamott, & more on a Sunday morning at Tryst. Thanks to AK for planning.

All are welcome to the next event!

Group Home

My brother made fun of me over break for saying I live in a "group home." I probably shouldn't use that term.

Although it wasn't ideal to move from my own condo in Denver to a 4-person-shared-townhouse in Arlington, it's about the only reasonable means of living in the DC-area. It's been alright.

When I saw the link to this story today, I realized I was in good company. If 4 Members of Congress are living in a group home, I shouldn't feel strange about it!

Glad I ran into this NYT feature story from 2007.

[Photo: Representative George Miller (CA), Senator Richard J. Durbin (IL), Senator Charles E. Schumer (NY) and Representative Bill Delahunt (MA)]

111th

My training camp is over....yesterday was the opening of the 111th Congress!

Time to start making flashcards of Members, updating my voting wall, and selecting people for my Fantasy Congress team (want to join?)

No more Salazar-brother-combo from Colorado! Too bad, but I'm glad for the Department of the Interior.

I liked this photo of boys on their GameBoys and men on their BlackBerries.

LobsterCam

Seems like everyone has a favorite livefeed webcam these days. I need to step up to the trend. The most enthusiastic following I've seen so far is for the GrizzCam, at University of Montana. Check it out.

You can also watch Old Faithful on a webcam, as well as many National Park sites.

But the most controversial webcam this year is the LobsterCam, mainly because a certain Senator put the webcam on his list of "Worst Waste of the Year" for federal spending. Maine's Lobster Institute wrote a response, saying that the camera is run by volunteers and over the years the camera has cost them around $200. (article is on E&E Daily).

The Worst Waste of the Year is a great read, actually. I liked the entries for:

• Training for casino workers, Kansas City (p.9)
• Voicemail for the Homeless (p.9) (if you search the news, you'll see there's a reason why this is a good program).
• Program that teaches teens to make salsa, Cleveland (p. 10)
• Microchips in cactuses, Arizona (p. 16)
• IRS mailing stating that you'll receive your rebate, $42 million (p.14)
  

Transition Memo

The hot document to write in December, in DC, is the "transition memo" for the next Administration. It was fun to be a part of this process with my job.

I wish I had a "transition team" and briefing documents from experts to help me adjust. I guess I probably did, in a way. You know who you are.

If you want to go fast, go alone.

If you want to go far, go together.
- African proverb

If you need a quote for your next motivational talk, use this one. It's really been on my mind for the last 6 weeks, after hearing it in a speech. After looking it up online, I realize that a bunch of speakers have used it...but I decided to not let that stop me from posting it.

Maybe DC has taken a bit o' the individualism out of me, since this is a place where ppl have to work together to get anything done, despite the blatant divisiveness. This quote resonates with me because I'm connecting more with the 2nd half, although during most of my life I've valued the first line.

Well, I could write more about "what this quote means to me," but I'm going to go "all Augustine" on you and try to be somewhat vague. (so you can think about how it applies to your own life.) Peace.

ReinDog Parade, McLean, VA

Today was ReinDog Parade, a McClean, VA celebration and competition. The Hoang's kept up their tradition by borrowing a dog, adding a lot of bows to their son & wagon, & inviting a friend who looked like a turkey. It was a winning recipe to win the "group" prize from the McClean Board of Commerce & Channel 9 News. Congratulations!


Beckham Hoang

William the Turkey

The point of the parade is a competition for the dog, but this entire family dressed up as the Nativity, with their dog as baby Jesus.

The winners!

(Anthony H was out of the photo, filming.)

IntLawRvw

I've had a dearth of international law interactions, due to my new consumption of everything conservation.

Like any American, I decided the best way to connect back to the subject would be through a source with 3 tones of pink and a title composed with extrrra consonants, & abbrev's.

If you need the same, try:

IntLawGrrls

voices on international law, policy, practice

http://intlawgrrls.blogspot.com/

Cotter Family Christmas Photo!

Those 2 lil' bookends to this photo are the newest editions to the Cotter family! (Paul & Owen) They did a good job wearing "grandchild red," providing a poinsettia affect to what would otherwise look like a funeral theme.

I'm most impressed with how the Waterford entrance awning makes us look like we're wearing one giant crown/halo. The Cotters are angelic & perfect. Rulers, really. Merry Christmas from Leawood, KS.

Sorry A Cappella

What I Blame:

• myself
• the microphone
  
• the echo/Y generation
  
• books

What Happened:

This weekend AG & I went to see an elite DC U's A Cappella show (rhymes w/ Orange Brown).

First, it was pretty strange of us to attend a university singing show (Express Night Out events weren't enticing, so I slummed it & looked to the U site & we decided to try some free undergrad singing!)

It was VERY ENTERTAINING & very lame.

While the beat-boxing was excellent, the student solos were intriguingly pathetic. No one put their mouth to the microphone. It was passive singing, on pitch. It was like someone who could juggle a soccer ball, as sort of a skill, but couldn't figure out that the point was to move the ball toward the goal.

The room was tiny w/ a stage the size of a kitchen (held an audience of 110), yet the voices hardly went past the 3rd row (you could hear them, but you couldn't FEEL them.) The sound system was sub-par, but that wasn't the reason their gig-presence had the affect of someone practicing in the corner.

It was a series of soloists blandly mimicking the lyrics to A.Morrisette, Hanson, Death Cab & Obama campaign songs, in a nice "I memorized these words for my 'choir team'" sort of way.... w/ a weird 10 person entourage of humming-finger-snapping 18 year-olds as backup. Is this normal for the East? (When I visited Duke one weekend, most buildings I saw had a "circle of standing ppl" gathered in practice, which I was told was the "A Capella rave.")

I mention books and the Y generation, because this was the downfall of the Fall concert, I think. These students were too smart to be good singers. Secondly, they grew up in a "team-achiever" generation & didn't know how to punch a solo-performance.

What I appreciated:

• thinking about Andy Bernard
• the guy in the hockey jersey who sang an awful solo but broke stereotypes
• Miami's amazing A Capella choir, probs fueled by our lack of presence as a"world power political" feeder
  
• DC free events

Why did I write about this? I have no idea. I do know I will be attending the next Orange Brown singing show, because 1/2-ass talent by some of the most elite minds in the nation was wonderful.

Newseum & Map of Press Freedoms

Yesterday I finally visited the Newseum, a brand new DC museum whose facade brandishes the First Amendment 6 stories high & whose content I'm sure you can surmise.

It's high-tech (you can create your own newscast to take home) & not free ($20), but outstanding... as it is a place to view (1) a wall of 60+ of the day's front pages; (2) ALL of the Pulitzer prize photos; & (3) montages of famous historical events & debates, sorted by decade & allowing for the viewer to select her desired database of video-clips, though everyone - including myself - keep uploading the summary of the 2008 election.

One floor is dedicated to the First Amendment. An entire wall displays a world map, tri-color-coded as to each country's press freedom. (see above). I was entirely surprised to see that 1/3+ of the world does not have free press (the purple countries). I'm naive. Maybe I've thought about these countries' limitations on freedom in other contexts, but seeing this map was startling. (code: green is free press; yellow is partly free; purple is not free).

Interactive Press Freedoms map online.

The exhibit on 9/11 was the most memorable. Along with more three-dimensional tributes, the museum has a set-off room to view a 12 min video of the footage from the day's events. It's told in a chronological format, so that the viewer watches the destruction in the timeline as it happened - using the best video footage in the nation that documented the event. powerful and haunting. It makes you really re-live the day's events, undesirable as this is.

There's also a faux Berlin wall, a sappy but enjoyable orientation video showcasing how news covers "love, hate, war, peace" & an exhibit on journalism ethics.

Newseum

Sailing the Schooner Virginia

I never imagined law school would lead to attending a "Downrigging Festival," but surprise (!), working for a conservation firm leads to all sorts of outdoors adventures.

This weekend I sailed the Schooner Virginia, at an event celebrating something about old boats (hey, I'm from Missouri; I don't know boat-speak).

We sailed from Chestertown, MD, on the East side of the Chesapeake Bay.


My firm worked on the first water Nat'l Trail (i.e. like Appalachian Trail or Pacific Crest Trail), and they've created the John Smith Nat'l Chesapeake National Historic Water Trail. It traces 3000 miles of historic routes taken by John Smith from 1607-1608 in Chesapeake Bay. Link: http://www.nps.gov/cajo/ The Sultana was John Smith's boat. A recreated boat sailed in the festival.

Map for John Smith Nat'l Chesapeake National Historic Water Trail

More photos from sailing:



Sultana (above)

Dear East Coast, Your Fall Is Somewhat Very Disappointing

I always, always considered the #1 reason to move East was the Fall.

Unfortunately, I have spent my October reminiscing about the beautiful foliage in KC, OH, & CO because the Fall in VA has been a hot mess. Boring earth tones & everything being arrogantly green too long because of the prolonged warm weather. A pathetic display of death. Nothing POPS. No cherry red oaks, no electric oranges or yellows.

And I *tried* to find the Fall. I went to Harper's Ferry, WV (where I could see WV, VA, and MD at the same time); Gettysburg, PA (there's a ski resort in So. PA; get your passes now!); Shenandoah Nat'l Park (apple festival & Shenandoah skyline drive); and Chestertown, MD (there's a bookstore called "Idiot's Books.")

The most salient thing I observed was not the Fall colors but the non-diversity at the apple festival. There were about 10,000 ppl there. All 10,000 were white.

Here's some photos of WV, VA, MD:

Harper's Ferry Nat'l Park, WV


Harper's Ferry Nat'l Park, MD side.
Harper's Ferry is the confluence of the Potomac & Shenandoah Rivers. I have no idea which river this is.

Shenandoah Nat'l Park, Skyline Drive

Apple Harvest Festival, Graves Mountain, VA