Like this:

Campus Progress Conference

A couple of weeks ago  I took the day off work on a Wednesday and took the Metro with my roommate Ariel to a hotel/conference place in DC. The Campus Progress conference had over 1400 college students, many who were in DC for the summer as interns but also quite a few who had flown in just for the occasion. I must say, being the cynical person I am I wasn’t expecting that great of a show, but it was pretty spectactular. Campus Progress is the college part of the Center for American Progress, which is a huge progressive organization, so they were able to pull in a ton of big names to come speak to us. The headliner was Bill Clinton, who I had already seen at the CA Dem. Convention. I had forgotten, however, what an engaging and funny speaker he was. Also speaking: Nancy Pelosi, Secretary of Heath Kathleen Sebelius, Van Jones (White House advisor on green jobs), and the Daily Show’s John Oliver (interviewed on stage by a Berkeley person for some reason) who is HILARIOUS in real life and also seemed really nice. He talked about the possibility of being deported in 3 days because of some visa issues, and how he watches way too much cable news, which he hates. He also repeatedly refused to call the Daily Show “journalism” even though people during the Q and A session kept trying to force him to. Love that man.

Beyond just the speakers were the two work sessions we went to. You basically chose from 4 or 5 options during two different time periods in which you went and listened to a panel and discussed issues such as Global Warming, Labor Rights, Hip Hop, Social Networking, Journalism, Health Care, Human Rights, etc. I chose one about global warming (interesting but nothing really new learned) and a second on global security, which featured  bunch of really interesting speakers including Matthew Yglesias from The Atlantic (www.atlantic.com) and a… real live Republican! He even defended the Iraq War and everything, and said that history would look fondly on George W. Bush. It was cute. (I also should add that I was very pleasantly surprised that the audience questions during this time avoided directly attacking everything he said in order to make a political point, which I had feared. He was basically the only conservative at the conference so it was pretty cool of him to come.)

So the conference was pretty great, being with a lot of young progressive-types, many of them showing off by wearing business clothes (not me, it was my day off). Plus, at the end there was a reception that had really good food and ice cream sundaes (with fresh strawberry topping!!!)! I will probably never forget that.

Met Assistant Administrator/Softball

These events are entirely out of any sort of chronological order, mostly because I wrote them down in the order I remembered them. Anyway, the Office of Pesticides, Pollution, and Toxic Substances (in which I work) has been waiting forever to get a new Assistant Administrator, the person who reports directly to the Administrator of the EPA, Lisa Jackson. This is a political appointment that requires Congressional confirmation. Not having an AA meant that the person who normally would be my branch boss became the division director, the normal division director became acting AA, and so on. Anyway, the guy (his name is Steve Owen.. or Owens…) finally got confirmed and the next day was walking around the halls of the EPA.  He happened to me and Mike (my supervisor) as well as the acting AA, and I happened to mention to him that I went to Berkeley. “Oh, you have tree sitters there,” he said (turns out he was a Tennesee fan and had been to the football game at Berkeley). Right. Then I complained about how no one ever says anything about Berkeley being a “fine academic institution” anymore, all anyone cares about is tree sitters. I realized about half-way through this that I should probably turn down the mockery in my voice about a half-notch, lest he be insulted. But Mike later told this story at the softball game as “the longest conversation yet any of us has had with the new AA. You made a good impression, Kate.” If you say so.

Chilean Embassy

Fui a la embajada de Chile! Finally. After a long time of trying to convince myself to do so, I went into the Chilean embassy, which is honestly located about block away from my apartment (although normal open hours are generally when I am at work). The thing was that I really wanted to go in there and speak Spanish, but I am a terrible coward. So I went in there, saw that the girl at the desk was my age and therefore immediately went into English mode. I don’t know why that mattered but it did. I really didn’t have anything specific to say… I asked something dumb about it being cold in the south at winter (yes, duh), but they kindly gave me a map of the country (which is very cool because unlike boring American rectangular maps, this one, like the country, is very tall and skinny, and now hangs in my kitchen) and a tourist pamphlet thing full of pictures of mountains and city-scapes and turtles and whatnot with words like “SPECTACULAR” on them. I cut out the cool ones and hung them on my wall, along with my other posters. Between the arts-and-craft stars that I put on the living room wall, the dried roses in an old Brita water filter vase on the coffee table, and various maps and landscapes scattered throughout the apartment, I am literally the only one who has put any effort into decorating. I probably prefer it this way.

That was really actually a very short story that I managed to make a small novel. My apologies, I have a tendency to do that. Ramble, I mean. So.

Need to Visit Museums

Despite being here over a month my museum visiting has been very lax, mostly because I want to avoid dealing with all the “tourists” who come and plague this fine city of which I am a native resident. I have gone to the Newseum twice (despite the almost $20 entrance fee, it is AWESOME and TOTALLY WORTH IT, and I STILL DIDN’T FINISH seeing everything even the second time I went). I also went to  the Air and Space Museum when my friend Megan (from New Zealand and I-House) came to visit as part of her insane cross-country “see America, even the flyover parts” trip. It was very crowded. But since I only have 3 weeks left here I have decided to start exploring them after work, since during the summer they are open until 7:30. Today I started with the American history museum, and made it until about 6:30 (and one half of one floor) before I got hungry and tired and headed home. So it will be a gradual process, but I have a lot to see, including the National Archives, the Museum of Natural History, and various other museums and monuments around the city. I also want to go up the Washington Monument, although that may involve waking up early and standing in line. So we’ll see.

Work- Awards Ceremony, etc

My final work note for this post is the work awards ceremony that was held on Tuesday. In addition to offering free food on a day in which I didn’t have time to pack a lunch, it was also a cool opportunity to see all the people in the Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, most of whom I have called or emailed at one time (but never seen), out of their cubicles. I also got to hear about some of the acheivements of various Office programs, including the International Mercury Program and the lead programs. Also, the previously mentioned new AA spoke, and he is very funny. But perhaps the best part was “The EPA Warblers,” a group of employees who wrote lyrics about OPPT to the tune of various hit songs from years in which I did not yet exist. It was pretty hilarious, particularly when a guy with a guitar came out and we were expected to since along to what I gathered after much brain-wracking was “The Age of Aquarius, ” sung as “the Age of the EPA”. Anyway, at the end we got bags that say “2009 OPPT Awards Ceremony” on them, which I will accept as payment for my summer’s labor, in addition to the USB stick they gave me earlier.

That’s it! I will try to think of more to tell later. I only just recently got used to this place and  have to leave soon, so hopefully there will be many more stories to come.

Advertisement