Best of intentions blah blah blah

I give this excuse so many times. "I really did have the best of intentions to post about what's been going on, but I've been soooooo busy....."

It's true, but that's no excuse. I just need to make the time and get you all up to speed. Here are a few tidbits to entice you for now and hold you over:

I went to NYC the 1st of August and saw probably one of the best plays in my life with two of the best performances given by two equally powerful and strong women. I'm going back this weekend to watch the final show of Mary Stuart.

I'm embarking on a do-it-myself project mosaic-ing (is that a word?) a coffee table. It's been a journey and I don't think I'll actually mosaic it after all.

I start an internship tomorrow. I get to promote opera! I mean, I've already unofficially been doing that since I became a fan of opera, but now I get to do it for reals! Ahhhh. I'm so jazzed! Er make that, I'm so opera'ed!!! Just to set the record straight, it's an internship, not a job.

Julie/Julia is probably one of the best feel-good, make-you-happy movies I've seen in a really long time.

Mel is off on her 11 month mission trip all across the world. DC just got a little less awesome.

La Boheme at Wolf Trap with Jackie was super awesome. I didn't expect to hear singing that good. I mean, we're talking good!

Plans are in the works for a trip to NYC over Labor Day for a little US Open action.

I really do hope to be able to expand upon some of these tomorrow evening.

Urban Dare: BECAUSE WE CAN - Not Revisited

Last year, Mel and I participated in Urban Dare, "the adventure race that's part photo hunt, part trivia, and part DARES." We decided that since we did a lot of things just because we could, we would be team BECAUSE WE CAN. We surprised ourselves by finishing in 17th place out of just over 100 teams with a time hovering above two hours. It was one of the best times we had and a great way to learn and see the city.

I am sad to report that we will not be participating in the Dare this year. Mel will be in Arizona that weekend and I'm traveling to Boston for a Renee Fleming recital (not a total loss:). I strongly suggest checking their website to see if a Dare is coming to a city near you. I guarantee you'll have a great time. In the meantime, I'll see if I can talk my mom in doing Urban Dare: Las Vegas in October...

Check out the Urban Dare Blog for pictures and results from prior Dares.

I just learned how to hyperlink so my apologies for getting a little hyperlink happy in my posts.

Urban Dare: BECAUSE WE CAN

Melanie and I do a lot of things just because we can. So we decided to do the Urban Dare, and when we couldn’t think of anything clever for our team name, we decided to be BECAUSE WE CAN. Well, because we can. If you’ll recall, the Urban Dare is a mini Amazing Race with clues taking you all over a city. What is about to unfold is our journey around the district doing weird and cool things, because we can. I’ll give you the clue and answer and show you the picture we had to take.

1) Start – The Ellipse (White House) for the Guinness World Record attempt 3-legged race. Mel and I bound our legs together and practiced a strategy. It worked pretty well because we were one of the top ten teams to cross the finish line. And then the dare started.

We got our sheet of clues and called up two buddies for Google help. Shout out to the SB and Trey for mad googling skillz. I was able to answer a few of the questions, but would have no idea where to find them in the district. So we answered all the questions and located them on our handy dandy map and set out on our way.

I would just like to say that there were some pro looking teams that were in pretty good shape. I hadn’t played soccer since January so I had lost a bit of speed and my crap ankle was giving me problems. Mel and I agreed to just do our best and try to finish under three hours.

2) Get your picture with five different statues of persons known as the liberator.
I don’t remember their names, but they were all along Constitution Ave from 18th-25th streets. Most of them were up on a horse. We ran a lot. Also talked to a few people who were wondering what we were up to.

Did I mention we ran a lot? Plus it was a bit warm. And I kinda had to use the restroom. So we stopped at this gas station to grab some Gatorade – gotta replenish those electrolytes – made a quick pit stop, and had a dude take our picture of refueling at the gas tank (do you get that pun?).

3) He was first in war, first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen. Go to his circle for your spellbound dare.
So it’s Washington Circle. I got that it was Washington, but had no idea where it was. When we got there, we had to find the corresponding numbers to the letters that spelled out CONFIDENTIAL. It took us awhile to find one of the letters, and when I heard someone shout out “10 for T” I ran back to Mel and we submitted our number.

4) When Pinochet took power in Chile, Orlando Letelier went into exile in the US. Pinochet’s henchmen killed him here in DC with a car bomb. Get your picture with the memorial to this incident.
There’s a little plaque at Sheridan Circle on Embassy Row, Massachusetts and 23rd NW.

On the way to our next clue, we saw a statue of Ghandi. Some other Urban Dare-ites were getting their picture taken, and I told Mel we should to. You never know when we’d be back up in this neck of the woods, so might as well get a snap shot with Ghandi while you can. Plus, we ended up getting five minutes taken off our time with this pic. Don’t ask me how, but Mel finagled it out of the judge.

5) Remember a famous duo singing I Got You Babe? Get your picture with the plaque honoring the part of the duo who died in a skiing accident. That’s too easy – Sonny Bono of Sonny and Cher fame. The plaque was located in Dupont on New Hampshire and 20th street. A little tidbit for all you readers: did you know that Sonny was a US Congressman representing the Palm Spring, CA area? And his wife, Mary Bono know holds his seat since he died in the skiing accident? See, I know some stuff.

6) Across from the District of Columbia Courthouse, get your picture with the woman who is clearly gilty.
We didn’t really have an answer for a specific statue and just assumed we’d head over to the courthouse and look for the “gilty woman.” We metro’ed over from Dupont and had time to contemplate the clue. Obviously “gilty” is spelled wrong, and right as we approached the statue, I exclaimed, “she’s gonna be gold.” Sure enough she was.

I wanted to get really close, so Mel and I hopped into the empty fountain.

7) Go to the outdoor rotunda that lies on sovereign territory of our neighbor to the north. Let out a yell and check out the amazing acoustics, and take your picture to show you were there.
It’s the Canadian Embassy (forget the cross streets, but I can see it from the Capitol). We didn’t give a shout out – just took the picture.

Don't know what this is except for us being awesome???8) He is the only person to serve as the US president and as Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court. Go there for the next dare.
It’s Taft, and although I knew there was a president who became a chief justice after leaving the White House, I could not, for the life of me, think of his name. Anyways, once we got to his statue, we had to answer three trivial pursuit questions. They weren’t too hard, but it was definitely an outdated version.

Tired Still going strong


9) Do the words Pass and Stow ring a bell? Get your picture with a replica of a famous American icon with these words.
Ummm, yes they ring a bell! Thank you National Treasure. Pass and Stow – the Liberty Bell! I totally got that one. So we ran over to the replica that’s outside of Union Station.

10) When Andrew Jackson tried to fire this Secretary of War, he barricaded himself in his office and Congress began impeachment proceedings against the president. Go to this Secretary’s park for your next dare.
So it turned out to be John Henry Eaton and it was at Cleveland Park. Mel was a human wheelbarrow. After running all over the district, it’s hard to do a proper rendition of one, so we kinda struggled with this. Sadly, there is no video or photo documentation of this ridiculous stunt.

11) Go to the avenue where Barack and Hillary are currently doing battle and the intersection of the avenue where John Edwards is from for your connect four dare.
Mel got to this question before me and answered Pennsylvania and South Carolina. I thought about it for a second, and said, “that ain’t right.” John Edwards is not from SC. He’s from the same state as Elizabeth Dole and I always thought it was cool that Sam was represented by Dole in the Senate and Sam lived in NC. So we needed to head to Penn and NC. Where Mel played two games of connect four before moving on to the last clue.

Finish – There is only one amendment to the US Constitution that has been repealed. Go there for the finish and give thanks for the repeal.
Seriously??? Too easy!! The 18th Amendment established Prohibition of alcohol. It was later repealed. There’s a bar named the 18th Amendment and I knew exactly where it was. On Penn Ave near Eastern Market. We made a mad dash to the 18th. I turned on the turbo jets and kept my mind on that celebratory beer awaiting me.

Victory Face, which I guess is the same as tired and exhausted face. And the I really need a beer face.We made it in and our official time (with time bonuses) was 2:26:04 and we were 17th place out of 120+ teams. Ah-flippin-MAZING!!! I chugged a glass of water and threw back a glass of beer in no time. Then I hit the chips and salsa and two more cups of water and fell back into the couch in the corner of the bar. I was spent, but totally rocked the Urban Dare.

Oh man! Because we can, for sure! Sometimes I can't get over how cool I am and all the cool stuff Mel and I do. We're totally awesome. Next year, we're totally going balls to the wall and taking first place. Just you watch...

It's official!!!

Mel and I are such bad asses!!!

Our Urban Dare finish time is officially posted at 2:26:04 making us the #17th finishers out of like a lot of teams!!! Not bad for two Arizonans!

All the pictures are on Mel's camera and she's in Denver for a few days. Hopefully I can get pics and details up before I head out to Vegas on Friday. We are so awesome!

Urban Dare Today

Mini "Amazing Race" style. Pictures and stories soon to follow.

Root, root, root for the home team!!!

Now that our tickets were secured, Mel and I just had to get to the ballpark, find our seats, grab a beer, and sit back while all the awesomeness of baseball unfolded before us. The people at the Nats stadium must have know we were coming because they rolled out the red carpet for us. There were tons of people and it was so exciting to be a part of the buzzing crowd.




Once we strolled across the red carpet, we stood in line with the masses and made it through the security check point. The people in line behind us definitely pre-gamed it because they were already toast. Whatever you gots to do to enjoy the game. The gal taking our ticket was super nice and seemed like she was pretty happy to be a part of the buzz.



We located our section and then made a b-line towards the concession stands. Mel wanted one of the commemorative cups. I wanted a beer. So we coupled our ideas and got beers in commemorative cups. It was a lot of beer.

We made our way to our seats. They were pretty high up, but we had a great view of the Navy Yard and the Anacostia River. We found several of our friends from our four hour wait in line, and the dude that was collecting signatures of everyone who stood in line was still at it. He had several pages completely full and was asking the ticket lady who worked for the stadium for her John Hancock. That guy was awesome. I failed to mention that I danced with him when we got our pic taken. He was funny!

The opening game at the new stadium was not without fanfare. The DC National Guard came out and unraveled these two ginormous American Flags. I felt a rush of patriotism overcome me.

As the flags were being unfurled, Denyce Grave, a famous opera singer from the DC area came out to sing the National Anthem. I'm a huge fan of hers because I remember all the performances she gave during several of the 9/11 services. Because of that, her voice is very comforting to me. Anyways, we all sang the National Anthem and yelled out a resounding "Play Ball!!" The president marched to the mound sporting a National's jacket. He threw the first pitch a little high, and from our positioning I couldn't tell you if it was straight over the strike zone or not. He quickly walked off waving. Mel and I almost had to do a double take and asked if it really happened because it was super fast.

Now it was time for the big game! If you want major details on the play-by-play, check ESPN or Andrew - he keeps track of that stuff. I can't even remember what the final score was. I just remember that the Nationals scored first and it was a pretty close game and the Nationals were ahead by one run.

Mel had a lot of work she was neglecting and wanted to leave somewhat early so she could go to work early on Monday. I at least wanted to hang tight until the 7th inning stretch. Mel went and got hotdogs and nachos that are required to make a live baseball game official. While she was gone, she missed the running of the Presidents. Abe, Jefferson, Washington, and Teddy squared off in a leg race from center field to home plate. Teddy went a little off course, the Giecko Caveman entered midway through, it was either Jefferson or Abe but one of those two totally face-planted it in the dirt. As fitting, Washington took first!

We started heading out at the bottom of the 7th. As we approached the ground level, Denyce Graves came back out to lead us all in a hearty rendition of “God Bless America” and “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.” She’s awesome. With her conclusion, Mel and I headed back home. A 12 hour day consumed with lines, baseball, crazy fans, politics, beer, opera, and hotdogs. Not a bad day at all.

But we did miss the final inning clincher. Apparently the Braves scored off a bad play by the Nats, and with two outs, bottom of the 9th, Ryan Zimmerman pops the ball out and scored a homerun giving the Nats their first win at the new stadium. Baseball in the nations Capitol – America at it’s most awesome!

A visit with POTUS

So Mel, friend extraordinaire (see 'Ode to Mel') works for the President in a round about way – she's an assistant to the director of an executive branch agency. Every year, the President and Vice President hold a pep rally of sorts for the 'section C appointees' (I think that's what Mel told me they were). She asked me if I wanted to come. I said yes right away, but had to think twice when she told me it was Tuesday mid-afternoon and that I'd probably be away from work for three hours.

I was hesitant to ask our boss just because it would take so much time, but I really wanted to go so I sucked it up, asked, and got the okay. I plopped into a cab and rode over to the Daughters of the American Revolution Building. Never been there before, so I can now cross that off of places to see.

Taking the cab was smart because I would never have made it via metro/hoofing it before security shut down, plus it gave me some time to navigate the chaos and track down Mel to get my ticket. We got settled into our pretty awesome seats amongst hundreds of executive branch employees. A slide show from the President's Africa trip played across one of the screens. Apparently I was pretty tired because I definitely started drifting off to sleep. That's one thing about me, I never have problems sleeping – anywhere, anytime, any situation. Airplane, class, church, conference, President's pre-speech slide show, you name it and I've slept through it.

First up was the Vice President. He was pretty much just Dick Cheney being Dick Cheney with that little smirk that always seems to form on the corner of his mouth. This event was three weeks ago so I don’t remember what he said. I just remember that Dick Cheney is pretty cool for such an old dude. He can totally hang. However, it must have been awkward for the lady sitting next to him. What do you do when you sit next to the VP of the US? Is your arm accidentally allowed to brush against his or is that a breech of security? Can you make jokes w/ the veep while the president is speaking? It just seemed really awkward for the lady.

Next up was the President. Obviously, with a crowd full of Republicans, he was received rather well. A standing ovation, actually. With a friendly crowd, Bush is truly quite funny. He let his guard down and just kind of rolled with the punches. I laughed a lot. Everyone laughed a lot. It was a fun afternoon.

I can understand and appreciate that a lot of people don’t like his policies, but what I don’t understand is how people can hate him so much as a person. Brush politics aside, and you’ve got yourself a guy who’d probably be pretty cool to shoot the breeze with. Carter, I think, didn’t do a whole lot of good for the country and I’m not fond of his policies, but I don’t hate the guy. Anyways, that’s all I’ve got to say about that.

Ode to Mel

It amazes me at how well I have transitioned into my new life here in DC. I credit that to my go-with-the-flow personality, the fact that I knew everyone I'd be working with, and the several friends that are living here in DC or in nearby states.

And then there's Mel. Friend, roommate, pal extraordinare. The Thelma to my Louise (or maybe the Louise to my Thelma). My go to person for anything and everything - from butter to luggage to bedding and transportation. She's definitely been the saving grace that has helped to make this move to DC easy.

I came to DC with limited stuff. Whatever I couldn't shove into two large suitcases would be coming via UPS two weeks later. So Mel provided what I needed. And she carted my butt around the first weekend so I could get furniture and amenities to make my room a livable room.

Plus, Mel is just fun to hang out with. There are only a handful of friends that I can hang out with and totally just be a nut. And she's the only one here in DC that I can act like a total nerd around because she's just as much the nerd that I am. For instance, we both just got the newest blackberry for our respective jobs, and we're sitting in my room, five feet from each other, talking to each other via the blackberry messenger.

So pretty much Mel and I just have an awesome time all the time. There's never a dull moment. And she's super awesome for putting up with me and making sure I'm well taken care of. So my hat's off to you Mel!