On Thursday, I started off the day by meeting for coffee with another person from online, E*, who works in downtown DC. She sounded not like how I'd imagined----a bit of a New Yorker accent---but was a nice person all the same.
Afterwards, I set off for Capitol Hill to see the Supreme Court building. While I couldn't get into the courtrooms, I did get to see an (outdated) video about the importance of the Court, as well as get a copy of the Court's rulings for that day (something about inmates not guaranteed by the Constitution to have the right to DNA testing---another 5-4 narrowly-conservative ruling, natch).
I next went to my senator's office (Russ Feingold) for the prearranged tour of the Capitol building, which was interesting---various historical statues of famed and highly-regarded Americans like Martin Luther King, Abraham Lincoln, and George Washington. In contrast, there was also the new statue of Ronald Reagan (presumably per being conservatives' great hero and their ongoing attempt to make his name as ubiquitous/unquestioned-in-stature as JFK, FDR, Lincoln, etc. despite doing little if anything positive for the country---see Washington National, an airport already named after a president, now called "Reagan National"). I also got to sit in in the Senate gallery to see two Senators debate the merits of some Obama proposal for getting older and less fuel-efficient cars off the road.
After this, I had lunch in the Capitol's cafeteria, a lunch which included French fries, the fried-potatoes-formerly-known-in-that-cafeteria-as-"freedom fries." Was half-tempted to ask the staff about that name change, but decided against doing so.
Then there was a tour of the Library of Congress, which is lavishly decorated. Finally, I went on the hostel's tour of Georgetown, just to see what the neighborhood was like... it seemed a bit standoffish per the tour guide's description, the expense of the stuff there, and that it's a bit cut off from the city's mass transit system (supposedly on purpose per the tour guide, to keep the "rabble" away).
Today is my last full day here, so I'll be going shopping, followed by going to tonight's Nationals-Blue Jays baseball game with Carl from FoolBlog.
Afterwards, I set off for Capitol Hill to see the Supreme Court building. While I couldn't get into the courtrooms, I did get to see an (outdated) video about the importance of the Court, as well as get a copy of the Court's rulings for that day (something about inmates not guaranteed by the Constitution to have the right to DNA testing---another 5-4 narrowly-conservative ruling, natch).
I next went to my senator's office (Russ Feingold) for the prearranged tour of the Capitol building, which was interesting---various historical statues of famed and highly-regarded Americans like Martin Luther King, Abraham Lincoln, and George Washington. In contrast, there was also the new statue of Ronald Reagan (presumably per being conservatives' great hero and their ongoing attempt to make his name as ubiquitous/unquestioned-in-stature as JFK, FDR, Lincoln, etc. despite doing little if anything positive for the country---see Washington National, an airport already named after a president, now called "Reagan National"). I also got to sit in in the Senate gallery to see two Senators debate the merits of some Obama proposal for getting older and less fuel-efficient cars off the road.
After this, I had lunch in the Capitol's cafeteria, a lunch which included French fries, the fried-potatoes-formerly-known-in-that-cafeteria-as-"freedom fries." Was half-tempted to ask the staff about that name change, but decided against doing so.
Then there was a tour of the Library of Congress, which is lavishly decorated. Finally, I went on the hostel's tour of Georgetown, just to see what the neighborhood was like... it seemed a bit standoffish per the tour guide's description, the expense of the stuff there, and that it's a bit cut off from the city's mass transit system (supposedly on purpose per the tour guide, to keep the "rabble" away).
Today is my last full day here, so I'll be going shopping, followed by going to tonight's Nationals-Blue Jays baseball game with Carl from FoolBlog.
1 comments:
I'm jealous of you and your f2f meetings. Have fun!
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