03/20/2008 -- DC Trip (Part 3) (updated)

It's late, and I don't feel like putting today into words ... so I'll just post these pictures for now. I'll come back in later and edit the text to explain the day.



ta ta for now..

Ah, Thursday.
Spent a lot of time on the phone this morning, trying to set up things with John P., Ken L., and Drew M. Travelled into the city and wandered around the Capitol Building (hence the pictures that you see). Saw some of the trees beginning to blossom, and lots of people wandering the grounds. It was sunny, but fairly windy, with gusts of 30-40 mph in the afternoon! I found some shelter while I was on the phone with Raymond R. in that brick "sitting place." There was a fountain in the middle, with drinking fountains around it. The "windows" looked out onto the lawn and up the hill. Some girls from a high school group wanted a picture in front of the fountain, so I snapped a shot while I was on the phone with Raymond. Funny story--a wind gust came up while they were standing by the fountain, and it blew the water several feet sideways and sprayed them.

I wandered around 1st Street, S.E. a little bit, and wandered in another park. Took a lap around the House office buildings, and wandered around some statues on the side of the Capitol lawn.

Also, went into the Folger Shakespeare Museum and learned about the Bard and his contemporary England. It was interesting.

Went and met Bill S. at Dutko, and had a great visit. He was pretty "high-energy," we sat down for a second, and then started making phone calls to find out about different paths. I mentioned my CIA interest, and he called a friend that worked there. Unfortunately, the website is correct; the Agency is really only looking for Arabic- and Asian-language speakers, and not really hiring anyone else. I guess their recruiting effort a few years ago has kept them in pretty good shape... We also talked about some Hill opportunities, and he suggested a few names to ask SZ to call. When we talked about my thoughts on future education, he joked about several of the people at the company, stating that several (including him) barely graduated with their Bachelors degree in various universities (Utah, Massachusetts, etc.), and hadn't needed anything else -- their long time on Capitol Hill and the Administration gave experience and a rolodex that was more valuable than a few more years in school...

Was getting hungry, and not ready to leave the city yet, and a few options presented themselves... On the way to my meeting with Bill, I noticed a Subway (can't go wrong with a chain, right?) and this Tex/Mex place that I had my eye on. My West Coast leanings won out, and I ventured to try "Tortilla Coast." It was a cross between tourist spot (right by the South Capital Metro Stop) and staffer lunch spot (only a few blocks from all the House office buildings; in fact, I could see the Cannon?), with it's Americanized food and "low" prices. Portions were decent lunch portions, but not what I was expecting per the camarero's description, and hopefully they "beef" them up for the dinner crowd... Anyway, it hit the spot, as I filled in my notebook of thoughts, munched chips and salsa, and people-watched from my window booth. Left with a dozen handmade tortillas--breakfast and snack!

Commuted home and thought about my day. Made it back to "base" in time to change and head over to John H.'s for the BYU basketball game. Met John, Jack M., and some of John's children and their friends. I guess there is a BYU "usenet" type group that they all participate on, and everyone talks about going to games at John's house. Watched the game in HD on the projector in the basement; we each had lazy-boy-type chairs, complete with cupholders for our soda while we munched pizza and chips. What a night; although BYU lost -- everyone was depressed.

Went back to "base" and watched the Jazz game, which Mac had TiVo'ed, and we sat in his home theatre. Went to bed very late. The Jazz lost. Not a Utah night... Hope that wasn't saying something about my Mountain West changes in DC...

03/19/2008 -- DC Trip (Part 2)

Awake. Get ready for the day. Double-check addresses and travel times. Read Drudge and my RSS feeds. Off we go!

If you want the picture version...watch below:


Drove to the Vienna Metro Station, found a place to park (finally) and hopped the Orange Line to Farragut West. Wandered on up to Rhode Island Ave -- had to make my way around streets blocked by protesters. Found a little place to eat breakfast, across from St. Matthew's Cathedral. Was ready for my appointment, but he had to reschedule.

Worked my way back to the Metro and rode it to Union Station. Walked down the road towards the Capitol and enjoyed the morning, looking out over the reflecting pool, sitting on a park bench. Had a phone call with Gretchen M. and discussed some places to look and her take on the "Hill scene." Brainstormed some other people in town to contact. Unfortunately, had their names in a spreadsheet on my laptop and not in my contacts... but looked them up when I got back to "base" and emailed them.

Decided I should find out where my next appointment was, so did a lap of the Senate Office Buildings. I was a little early, so I ran around the corner to stand on the steps of the Supreme Court. There were a bunch of people lined up, trying to get a spot in the general seating area to catch some of the hearings that were going on today. [[If my Google Reader serves me right, the Court is ruling on a "race case" and an, essentially, first hearing on the meaning of the 2nd Amendment, addressing the all-out DC gun ban.]] Definitely an historic year for the United States, what with the gun control case (very little precedence on what this part of the Bill of Rights means. Not sure if this counts as "first impression," maybe my law school-going buddies can lend a comment...), and the possibilities presented with this year's Presidential election.

Met up with Lance W. and grabbed lunch at a little place around the corner. Ran into a recently retired Hill staffer on our way there. She had some funny stuff to share about Cuba, and I'll leave it at that. Talked about various things over lunch, and how he got involved. Turns out his Deacon's quorum advisor won a seat in Congress and was looking for people for his DC office. After spending 4 years on the business world, LW thought he'd make the switch, and has been at it for over 5 years. Got some of "the scoop" about how things work on the House and Senate staff side of things. Government/bureaucracy is a very interesting beast. Unfortunately, none of my quorum advisors have been elected to Congress (that I know of--anyone?), and I don't have other forms of direct connections (that I've found yet), so getting a "foot in" is a little more difficult than I thought. Apparently, my experience isn't all that unique amidst the hundreds of job seekers who flood the streets of the District... And I thought I was "legendary for [my] capacity to add value..." I guess I need to work on getting some more experience and my name out more.

Spoke some more back at LW's office. Got a brief tour of a Hill office, and left feeling enlightened about some things, and thinking about other things. Snagged a few pics from my Hart Senate Office Building visit. (This is the sculpture that's in one of them.)

Took the Metro back up to to Rhode Island Ave NW and walked through the protesters again, and the rain, to meet with Bart M. Had a great visit with him, despite the fact that I probably looked a mess, dripping with rain, despite my umbrella's coverage. I'm very interested in this PAC thing he's thinking about doing. He made some very flattering phone calls on my behalf to some friends of his; hopefully they'll go somewhere. I hope that one day I can be in a position to help and advise as he did today.

[[I digress momentarily. I've had some great help and mentors along the way. From Charles Y. in my high school days, to Murray H. and Clark G. in college, and current contacts, I've been blessed to have association with great people. I hope I can "pay it forward" somehow.]]

After this visit, I left a message with a new contact, then boarded the Metro for the ride back to Vienna Station. I picked up the car and commuted back to "base." Grabbed a bite to eat on the way back.

Ate. Sent out a few more email solicitations; scheduled 3 phone calls (one firm, 2 tentative) and a lunch. Hoping to get in touch with some more people, and, although my schedule is fairly "open" right now for the rest of the week, I feel productive.

Chatted with Jill, got ready for bed, and called it a night.
To be continued...

03/18/2008 -- DC Trip (Part 1)

BOS to IAD

Arrived. Picked up. Drove to Fairfax, VA-area. Quick stop at Lowe's for some home decorating needs (not mine). End up at Gainesville to meet Mac H. and get the "grand tour" of the house. Drop my stuff in my "quarters," check my email and schedule, map the trip to the Metro station, check the train schedule, and confirm appointments. Sleep.

Welcome to VA !




Virginia is for Lovers

Too bad my love can't be here right now...

A la Descartes

So, I grabbed Descartes: Philosophical Essays off the shelf in our library yesterday and sat down to read it. We had picked up a paperback copy at a church rummage sale that we stopped by not long after we moved out here to Massachusetts. It looked interesting, and was in remarkably good shape for a 20-year old paperback--no bent corners, markings, highlighting, or water/mold damage.

Anyway, so on the shelf it sat, next to other important looking books like The Dilbert Principle, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, The Road Less Travelled, and 536 Puzzles and Curious Problems. But, something in me wanted to take a peek inside, so I did.

I found the opening pages of his essay Discourse on the Method of Rightly Conducting the Reason and Seeking Truth in the Sciences to be both refreshing and enlightening. So far, I am only about 20 pages in to this essay, and, while I'm not sure that I'll agree with what I continue to read, I couldn't not share some of these opening gems and my thoughts.

Good sense is mankind's most equitably divided endowment, for everyone thinks that he is so abundantly provided with it that even those with the most insatiable appetites and most difficult to please in other ways do not usually want more than they have of this. As it is not likely that everyone is mistaken, this evidence shows that the ability to judge correctly, and to distinguish the true from the false--which is really what is meant by good sense or reason--is the same by innnate nature in all men; and that differences of opinion are not due to differences in intelligence, but merely to the fact that we use different approaches and consider different things. For it is not enough to have a good mind: one must use it well. The greatest souls are capable of the greatest vices as well as of the greatest virtues; and those who walk slowly can, if they follow the right path, go much farther than those who run rapidly in the wrong direction.

As for myself, I have never supposed that my mind was above the ordinary. On the contrary, I have often wished to have as quick a wit or as clear and distinct an imagination, or as ready and retentitve a memory, as another person. And I know of no other qualities which make for a good mind, because as far as reason is concerned, it is the only thing which makes us men and distinguishes us from the animals, and I am therefore satisfied that it is fully present in each one of us.

First, I was intrigued by (what I take to be) his sense of humor in the opening lines. Perhaps the Darwin Awards are outlandish examples of individuals who "do not want more [good sense] than they have" and think they are "so abundantly provided with it." But, then again, I think all of us--Darwin Award winners or not--suffer from the occasional thought that we have enough and don't need any more. (Something similar comes to mind...).

Moving along, I thought his discussion the ability of men to distinguish "true from false" has echoes of the concept of the Light of Christ. In fact, Descartes uses a phrase a few pages later in this essay, "the light of nature," which the translator duly notes as:

The "light of nature" was to Descartes and to writers of the Renaissance generally a mental faculty given to man by God for the immediate apprehension of truth.

Cool, huh? This was something that I found refreshing; that the minds of man have been inspired, have expressed [the outlines of] correct principles, and that revelation of truth comes both within and without the Church [N.B. please not truth with a small "t", and not that Eternal Truth, necessary for salvation, which is revealed through the Lord's servants].

Next, his comments regarding a "good mind" brought me back, in my mind, to one of my favorite classes at college: Honors English, taught by Murray Hunt. In that class, we discussed principles of "thinking right" and of using our minds. Surely one must use a good mind well. And I thought Descartes' comments on great souls and walking slowly illuminating.

The next paragraph reminded me of a Hymn that I like, "Know This, That Every Soul Is Free." As Descartes discussed reason making men different from animals, this line from the hymn came to mind:

Freedom and reason make us men; Take these away, what are we then? Mere animals, ...

As the essay continues, Descartes speaks of living "in a world of books." Of his studies, he said, "I knew that the languages which one learns are necessary to understand the works of the ancients." This drew to my mind the writings of Nephi, who said that he had been taught in the learnings and the language of his father; and of the words of King Benjamin, who also taught the connection between learning languages and gaining knowledge. We, too, are taught in the languages and learnings of our "fathers," and can therefore be privy to the thoughts and teachings of great people.

"The reading of all the great books," says Descartes, "is like conversing with the best people of earlier times: it is even a studied conversation in which the authors show us only the best of their thoughts."

Have you had a conversation with a great mind lately?

something random

While looking up some political/campaign stuff online, I stumbled across this campaign ad. Someone is trying to build a webpage with all the presidential tv ads from 1948 until the present (he says he's to 1960 now).