Where to find me

FYI, these days I post exclusively to friendshipisnonpartisan.blogspot.com

Doing it for the story

****CROSS-POSTED from the friendshipisnonpartisan blog****

So I've been, like, beyond neglectful in my contributions to this blog. In my defense, life has been a steady whirlwind of interviewing, picture-taking, littering the internet with cross-posted video to draw attention to McCain's OPPOSITION to "Buy American" provisions (because why should the Secret Service ride around on American-made motorcycles??), preparing for a visit from the boss, deciding which impromptu press conferences are worth my time and which events might get me into legal trouble, occasionally drinking with various local politicos ("C didn't ask me to go drinking with you guys when he called earlier." My coworker's response was instantaneous: "That's because C doesn't like you." "Good," I said, "I don't like him either."), dragging myself out of bed at 4am for the unique union event that is the worksite leaflet ("You know, you learn a lot about a person at a 5am worksite leaflet." "I bet you do...") and getting asked out by scruffy union guys and having to tactfully yet forcefully decline.

Which reminds me, a new staffer arrived last week from national, and we instantly hit it off. "So have you dated since you've been in Wisconsin?" she asked.

"Well," I replied. "I went on one godawful boring date with a vegan, I was hooking up for a minute with this guy but now that's done, and I guess I pretty much have my pick of the building trades."

In summary, I'm still pretty much doing it all for the story.

Still alive

Still alive. Still in Wisconsin. I'm getting into a nice little weekend routine of spending my afternoons at the pool, soaking up the Midwestern sunshine and trying to forget everything that consumes me during the week. I try and catch up with phone calls to family and friends, and not miss everyone so much I want to cry. But I'm starting to make some friends here (I'm headed into my seventh week here in Wisco, and I can hardly believe it), so the loneliness is less pressing than it was at first.

I still really miss my amazing Plaza hotel bed, though.

I have a plan for tonight, and it involves meeting new people socially who have absolutely nothing to do with politics or unions, and drinking lots of beer and listening to live music. Yes. A plan. I love it.

The weather here in Wisconsin is lovely, except when it's been flooding and tornadoing (see: first week in state) but the loneliness is a bit much, and I wake up almost every morning wondering if this is, perhaps, the craziest, most impulsive decision I've ever made, and will I actually survive until November? But hey, I've already been here a month(!!) and accomplished so much and managed to do things I've never done before (like, um, buy a car in one day) and, here's the key: it's only temporary. This has been my philosophy of life for the past couple years and it seems to serve me well. Punter even told me the other day on the phone that my "it's only temporary" outlook on life has helped her out, too, so I'm sharing it now in the hopes that it might, maybe, help you too.

Let me tell you this, also: They've never seen anything like me before in Wisconsin. Even in the big city of Milwaukee. Also, Everyone's Favorite DC Rollergirl and I came to the conclusion a few weekends back when she was in town visiting that Milwaukee is to Chicago as B-more is to DC. Which, if you're not familiar with either part of the country, can be explained this way: Milwaukee & B-more are the smaller, scruffier one-hour drive away step-sisters of the bigger cities of Chicago and DC.

Off to start my night!

Oh yeah...I have a blog...

Oh yeah, I have a personal blog. If it's any comfort, I think about it all the time, and all the funny things I want to write about, but by the time I have "personal time" at the end of the day my brain tends to be shot from all the work writing I do. (What else is new?) So...someday (like, in November) when I'm unemployed again I'll devote myself to this casetheplace blog. Until then, expect the occasional sporadic update.

Holla.

Bemused

Today I bought a car.

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The sound of cracking

I think I've almost got this great big oyster open. By DC standards, I have definitely arrived: I have an employer-issued Blackberry and a brand new stack of business cards ready to be pressed into the palms of potentially useful persons. I don't have a car yet (hopefully will have one before the weekend is through) or a place to live, and I won't even get properly trained until Sunday, but I've already jumped right in and started meeting people and working on projects and trying to learn all I can about the million and one things I don't know anything about. My life is beyond hectic and I'm loving every minute of it.

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Best. Day. Ever. (in bullet form)

It's the day before my birthday, so I consider each of the following bullets a birthday present for me on my 2nd 22nd:

• Dad's fiancee's visa is finalized - yay, the wedding can finally happen!
  
• Barack Obama wins majority of pledged delgates - Holla!
• I receive calls from THREE different places wanting to schedule job interviews - the relentless plastering of my resume all over town finally pays off!
• During the late afternoon conference call interview for my dream job, I am told one of my answers gets an A+ - and who doesn't like to get an A+??
• Mr. Smith Goes to Washington on the big screen
  
• And, finally, the most bestest birthday present of all...I AM OFFICIALLY OFFERED MY DREAM JOB at 5:20 this afternoon! Best. Day. Ever.

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I hate waiting

I hate waiting. Hate it. Especially when I have no idea when the waiting might end. Which makes this whole job hunting thing horribly painful. However, everyone tells me I'm doing well, since I've had a couple of interviews already, with another scheduled for Thursday. Of course, if I get the job that I really want, I might be...well, let's wait and reveal that once I know for certain that it's really going to happen. Keep you in suspense a bit and all that.

I slept for more than ten hours last night, and it felt fantastic.

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Hangover

Yup, I have a hell of a hangover right now. Last night was my birthday party (actual birthday is Wednesday) and boy, did I celebrate. I haven't done much today, but the roommate and I did make it to IKEA, so there was a sense of accomplishment in finally buying a dresser and a chair for my desk. I've made a few plans for tomorrow, so that I don't have an empty, yawning day ahead of me. I will devote several hours in the morning to applying for jobs, and then I have things to do in the afternoon and evening, which is good for me, because what terrifies me most about not having a job (besides the lack of income) is not having anything to do. I plan to go to a different museum every day, to alleviate boredom and get me out of the house. I think it's a good plan.

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Jittery possibility

It's slowly starting to feel like home here, in my new place. I've been here about a month, and slowly things are getting settled and put in order. The next year and a half will undoubtedly fly by. My plan right now, which is subject to change at any moment without a bit of public notice, is to be in DC until 2010, and then go someplace else for my next adventure. Maybe grad school, even. We'll see.

Yesterday was my last day as an intern. I've been interning at one place or another since January 2006, and I couldn't wait to be done as an intern, but of course now that it's actually done I'm feeling kind of 'aw, this part of my life is so over' about it. The world is still my oyster, and while I haven't quite figured out how to crack it open and get at the really big pearl yet, the past four months in DC have pushed me ever closer to my goals. I'm so close to something really great and really big I just want to sit and cry at the possibility and hope that permeates my life right now...So close, so close...

And I have been a horribly irregular blogger. Blame it on the hectic nature of the past few weeks, blame it on me not making writing a priority (which is a shame, because I need to write to feel whole, and I have not been writing as I should AT ALL, which leaves me feeling anxious and needy). Now that I am officially unemployed I'm gonna do my best to post here everyday until I have a job. It's the right thing to do.

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Brief, brief update

While re-experiencing the keg stands and dorm drama of undergrad has been amusing, casetheplace will soon be returning to her regularly scheduled adulthood. To all her 21-year-olds: It's been real, y'all. It's been real.

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Oh Jenna...

One of many rules casetheplace lives by: If a White House wedding is an option, always choose the White House wedding.

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80

It's all racing towards May 1st with a speed and intensity I should have seen coming. The way the pollen makes my skin itch, the blisters on my feet where the flip flop straps rub at newly bared feet...spring is finally here.

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Home sickness is sometimes just a twinge of 'what could of been,' not full-blown longing

I had to make phone calls to media outlets in Atlanta today, and the sound of the voices, despite being rushed and mostly disinterested, was enough to give me the slightest twinge of homesickness.
My fellow interns commented on my heightened drawl, and it was true: my voice rang strangely in my ears, sounding like a sugared version of me I didn't completely recognize anymore.

The twinge quickly passed, as I enlisted Mitz and his car to aid in moving Saturday, and started to concoct plans for the weekend. But the drawl has clung into the evening, and I wonder how much longer the softer vowels will roll from my tongue.

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Things My Friends Say: Really, really (really!) gay edition

"You know, my day would have a whole lot less meaning if I wasn't your pet."
- Mitz, commenting on my ability to make him accompany me to various office locales (coffee machine, copier, basement) with just an arched eyebrow and a head toss.

"It just doesn't tend to end well with people who are white."
- Jay-ber, explaining why he doesn't date people of his own ethnicity.

"I would expect nothing less from casetheplace and a gay man."
- Out-of-town guest, regarding some long since forgotten anecdote.

"Is it a penis...oh, no, it's a bunny."
- (This one is actually a casetheplace said, when handed an Easter-themed lollipop by the Religion & Faith program intern.)

"I'm working for a big ol' gay organization and I don't know who the biggest homos are."
- Jay-ber, on why he needed to spend time studying Out magazine's Power 50 list.

"Casetheplace is like Google for Georgia - no, the whole South!"
- Jay-ber (again, I know! This kid is full of it - er, I mean, them, full of them), after I once again had to explain some Atlanta-ism or Southern-ism none of the Northerners and Midwesterners understood.

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The ATLien mutates

I'm quickly morphing from an Atlantan to a Washingtonian, and I have decided to posit Saturday as the official day I start saying I'm from DC. I'll still be originally from Atlanta, of course, since it is, after all, impossible to change the city you grew up in, but from Saturday on I officially live in DC.

(I chose Saturday and not the day I signed my lease because Saturday is the day I will actually take up residency in my new house.)

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I don't think Patrick Swayze meant a tornado when he sang "She's Like the Wind."

Commercial

I have to say, I think the 30 second commercial my practicum group and I created for the mock Senatorial campaign we're running this semester is quite good. And I'm not just saying that because I produced the damn thing and wrote the script and spent a great deal of time compiling stock footage and looking up our opponent's House votes (thank you, Project Vote Smart, you're a life saver!) and coordinated with our film and video guy. (Ok, maybe that is why I'm saying that.) But really, I think it's quite good, and once the competition is over May 1st I will try and remember to post it here for all of y'all to see.

Life continues on, just as jam-packed as ever.

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Things to do on a Sunday

1) Brunch.
2) Use the timestamps on your text messages to reconstruct the previous night's shenanigans.
3) Do homework.
4) Write a blog entry.
5) Return phone calls, e-mails, and other modes of communication.
6) Read the Sunday New York Times.
7) Lounge/lollygag.
8) Go shopping.
9) Catch up with the roommate.
10) Go for a walk.
11) Consider...everything.
12) Laundry.
13) Prepare for the upcoming week.

How many of these will I do this Sunday? How many have you done?

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