Embassy Day - EU

Last weekend was an Open House celebration at the European Union Embassies. The day offered a glimpse inside the embassies - along with free food, drinks, bus between sites, music, and dancing. It was like Epcot in DC, only a little more authentic. A fun day.

Flamenco dancers in at the Spanish embassy.

Irish embassy

Bulgarian embassy, below.

Ship-Breaking

I recently attended the Goldman Prize Awards, also known as the Environmental Nobel. The award is given to one grassroots environmental hero from each continent.

All of the winners are inspiring - including the North American woman who fights against the destruction of land, water, and life during the mountaintop removal mining that takes place in West Virginia.

I particularly enjoyed the learning about the work of Rizwana Hasan, a female attorney in Bangladesh, who works to reduce the impact of the environmentally-devastating ship breaking industry.

Last year in Int'l World Trade Law, I wrote about the toxic harm to the people who break down electronic waste (e-waste) from the computer industry. Having been land-locked my whole life, I hadn't thought about the toxic harm to the people who break down retired ships - and how this business is exported to developing countries with less stringent environmental laws.

Rizwana is one of two female attorneys who won the Goldman Prize this year. I was moved by the power of the law as the means (& only means) to fight environmental exploitation in each winner's case (most of the 7).

In the short video about Rizwana's work, I smiled when I saw the dozens of binders she had on her bookshelf labeled "ship-breaking." She is now the leading attorney on ship-breaking law. What a specific but important way to practice law.

Rizwana Hasan and workers in the ship-breaking industry.

Bangladesh is one of only a few countries in the world with a thriving ship breaking industry. Decommissioned ships from around the world are sent to Bangladesh and dismantled by hand on the beaches by unskilled workers who are often paid less than one dollar per day. Coveted for their valuable steel and other scrap metals, aging vessels are sold to ship breaking yards and taken apart piece by piece with torches and other small tools, resulting in toxic contamination of the coastal waters and serious health hazards for the 20,000 workers. The ships, laden with asbestos, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), lead, arsenic and other substances, leach toxic chemicals into the environment. Ecosystems have been heavily polluted and hundreds of workers have been maimed or killed in the process, as they dismantle the ships with little or no protective equipment.

History is Pretty

It's common knowledge in Virginia that you can't drive 20 miles without running into a battlefield. An Historic Battlefield. I haven't been that eager to tour Petersburg, Fredericksburg and all the other battle-burgs.

Now that I've visited Gettysburg, PA, however, I might give the Virginia sites a try. It was beautiful! The photos above and below are from a lookout tower. The picture doesn't really capture the view we had at dusk on a clear day.

We visited Harper's Ferry National Park earlier in the day. I thought that was going to be the "pretty park" and Gettysburg was going to be the "let's learn history park," but it turned out that Gettysburg was even more beautiful. Too bad about the battle part. But also good. The freedom part.

Google Earth Flyover - Seattle

a program that works with nonprofits to further conservation goals by using technology. I've been trying to connect with them lately. I enjoy the legal/legislative side of conservation, but it's also not a bad day when I'm flying around the West, from my desk, all in a day's work.

Top photo is my real flyover, last summer.

Office of Youth

Today, Secretary Ken Salazar created an "Office of Youth" within the Department of Interior (DOI). Pretty cool.

Along with the DOI's new focus on "treasured landscapes," the Secretary has promised to work on connecting kids to nature.


I've been hearing a lot about this Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder book lately, so I thought I'd include the link.

Green Building

I know I'm getting greener by the day, but, bear with me - this "Incredible Edible House," featured in the WSJ today is pretty cool. I think they're growing chickpeas on the side of the house, along with other vegetables. Story here.

Serve America Act

Today, the President signed the Serve America Act.

I have a lot of positive thoughts on this, but I'm not sure how to say them. Maybe I will act and serve about it. I don't know. I probably won't, since I spent a great majority of this last decade volunteering. This is why I'm a fan of the Serve America Act!


Basically - AmeriCorps will be tripled, new "Corps" will be created for areas of national need, a "Volunteer Generation Fund" is established to help nonprofits manage more volunteers, plus other provisions.

Earth Day Concert - Flaming Lips

This Wednesday is Earth Day (40th Anniversary next year!), and Sunday kicked off the celebration with a concert on the Mall.


The Flaming Lips headlined the show, and they did not disappoint. The bubble came out (above) and each song had its own dynamics of streamer/confetti blasts, dancers, giant butterfly characters, a gong, and more. The high-energy-use, smoke, and littering made it a memorable Earth Day concert.


The day had many "public service announcement" type speakers, all telling us that we are the Green Generation. One review pointed out that the event felt like a high-school assembly. It did. Lots of backpacks, thrift clothes, and wandering teens.



At one point, Lisa Jackson, EPA Administrator, came to make an announcement. Wayne Cone kept clapping for her with these giant hands, then gave her a giant hug with the hands. I wish I had a picture of that.

Happy Easter!

Lots of family, friends, and bunnies hanging out in Kansas City for Easter.

Mary Clare and bunny (above). Kevin and bunny (Paul) (below).

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.