I actually did this at work today:

A writing assignment at work required that I rent a car for research. And so instead of going into work this morning:

(don't get me wrong, I enjoy my cubicle)

I picked up my Mini Cooper:

I had some trouble driving in the big city. Very fast, very crazy, not a lot of turn signals going on. This little car had TWO sun roofs, leather seats, CD player, etc. I parked for a while and laid in the shade to read and have lunch. Returned the car, showered went into the office, went out for coffee with one of the writers and stayed late to work on my project. After work I went to the Kennedy Center to see the National Symphony Orchestra perform. It was so so lovely!

Yesterday was a good day too. I went with one of the staff writers to an interview a woman who is an expert on renewable resources. And, of course, went out for coffee. I also saw a play yesterday. The Fringe Festival is going on right now, which means there are theater performances all around the city all the time. I saw Super Glossy!, a satire of women's magazines and what they stereotype women as - it was very good. This particular play was in the basement of an art gallery that I really like so I was really content.

Ordinary life is pretty complex stuff

That's a quote from American Splendor. It's really nice. My ordinary has been really great lately. I went back to Ohio last weekend, it was a quick trip and an unplanned trip for the most part. DC had been getting pretty lonesome and it was making me gross. I started wishing that when the metro tunnels got dark it would turn into some sort of tragic Willy Wonka ride and it would end up somewhere else.
Ohio was wonderful, I...
+ sat on the back porch with my family
+ hung out in downtown Tipp City with my mom and drank chi
+ played fetch with my dog
+ hung out with my cousin
+ visited my Gram
+ and went up to BG to see Joey!

I saw both Waitress and Knocked Up with Joey while I was visiting, I enjoyed them both. I super-enjoyed Waitress, as many people warned me I would. It was beautiful and inspiring without being cliche, which rocks. I also had a cotton candy blizzard at the best Dairy Queen in the country, dreamy!! It was a splendid weekend.

So, I am energized about the city again, and I feel refreshed. I have about two weeks left here. Job is still more than I could have imagined. Yesterday I went to Union Station after work to sit and people watch, have some soup and some coffee. There is a really good news stand there and I bought a Vogue to go with my dinner.

Politics from my cubicle

My hair is getting pretty long since I left the Mid-West.

Today in the lobby of my apartment building I overheard two kids talking about how fake global warming is. I felt like there was onion juice dripping onto my heart. Why.

Did you know: in 2008 President Bush will cut the budget for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services by 28%. Because we have a deficit and we are in a time of war. Sometimes reading the newspaper makes me so negative.

Last week I went to the Mother Earth event, part of the worldwide Live Earth event. It was okay, there was not as much info as I was expecting.

But I also saw Ratatouille with my friend, it was lovely. I friggin' love talking animals. And France.

Work: My cubicle seeing a lot of action these days. Most commonly it sees coffee, coffee spills, writing, fact-checking, phone calls, frantically putting together story idea folders for scary meetings, photo proofs and sketches and paper clip chains. And maybe some overwhelmed sighs.

Still doing a lot of wandering around the city! I most enjoy eating outside at restaurants, catching the metro just in time to slide in the door, the Smithsonian Garden, Starbucks at every turn, calls from home, and getting The Onion free on the street.

Bookmark

Most notably: The fireworks, which were incredibly explosive. I sat on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and the sound of the fireworks slammed into the memorial and bounced onto the back of my neck. It looked like I was holding the Washington Monument in a snow globe and there were sparkles drifting by when I shook it. The fireworks were so so so very pretty. I was so content with my watermelon and beach towel set-up.

I saw an art show opening last week that was also super. They were calling it "low-brow pop surrealism", but it was really great stuff, captivating stuff. There were fancy people with trays of cheese and mingling too.

Today I found a farmer's market on the edge of the city, mostly jewelry and books. I talked to this guy who had stacks and stacks of Life magazine. He was kind and some sort of history buff. I told him that I was a journalism student. He said to let him know when I get famous, and he will start keeping my stuff. and THAT was a refreshing reaction. (I digress) There has been a lot of people, with my best interest in mind I think, that are warning me about the business of journalism. Print is not dying though. And I'm sure I want to be a writer right now. And I will be fine.

Besides, right now at work I am loving it! The magazine biz is still on the up and up. I went on another photo shoot and with luck, my fingers will appear in the September issue of the Kip. And it seems when I'm not working, I'm going out to lunch. One day last week, I got taken out to lunch twice in the same day - business people love to "do lunch."

I have finished two books since my last post. I read very often and it's a healthy feeling.:
A Farewell to Arms = fantastic. True Hemingway. I cried. And literally could not keep my eyes off it.
Ant Farm = Pretty good. It's a series of witty observations, I enjoyed it. Very light reading.

And today I got a library card! And picked up:
-A Sylvia Plath biography
-Door Wide Open: A Beat Love Affair in Letters (about Jack Kerouac and Joyce Johnson)

But Ohio sounds awfully nice too...

Vogue intern

Not actually. But today I went on my first 'cover shoot' when Kiplinger shot their September cover. It was a blast. They flew in the photographer, the photographer's assistant, a wardrobe stylist and a hair and makeup stylist. [big time] I was really just there to observe and hang out with the photo editor to see how these shoots run. And while I were there I picked up odd jobs like getting water for people, making sure there were no kayaks in the background of the photos, steaming these $300 dress shirts and guarding the $400 Chloe flats. But I got to get out of the city and go to Virginia's Great Falls Park - b e a utiful! The shoot lasted over 7 hours and it was so hot that I was dripping sweat just standing by the river where we were shooting. But I loved seeing how perfect everything has to be for a magazine cover photo and seeing the process first hand.

Tomorrow I will head back to my business attire and my cubicle for some good old fashioned reporting. I am writing a piece for the web and doing a couple of other things too. I keep very busy at work, but I have a really good time.

America

The Arlington National Cemetery. I spent hours at the cemetery on Sunday – it was my first time. By the time I was done I felt like my guts were all shoved in the bottomest-bottom of my stomach and my heart was feeling heavy. It’s a dichotomy because I really enjoyed being there but really really thought it was awful. I saw the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown and chatted it up with the tour guide at General Lee’s old home. I only cried once, but because I saw a plot that was new. Son of a bitch war.

one of my pics from the cemetery

But tonight, as I sat on the steps of our nation’s capitol, I felt so patriotic that I wanted to dance. I saw The Navy Band Commodores Jazz band play. I smiled through “Sing Sing Sing” and swooned through Stevie Wonder and heard the best rendition of “America the Beautiful” that I can remember.

[have a listen: http://www.navyband.navy.mil/commodores.shtml]

The band, in their squeaky uniforms and the Washington Monument all lit up and the people, it was nice. I went with my roommate Emily and her friends from Harvard. This kind of patriotism I expect only to be rivaled by the Fourth of July in DC next week.

Another band, all be it pretty unrelated, Rooney! Who I saw on Saturday with the ASME intern from the Smithsonian Magazine. They played at a little club in northern DC. Lots and lots of fun. About half new and half old songs, they were fun guys - the band.

How is it.

I’m not sure exactly how it is. But it’s better:

I finished Plath’s Ariel: lived up to the hype. I read most of it in the Hirshhorn sculpture garden, so the book smells like sunscreen and Brisk's new Green Tea(thanks Brisk!). Her stuff is almost all ultra-heavy but it’s so worth the trip to the dark side of the imagination. And Joey got me the version with her original manuscript, which is clutch. I’ve never read The Bell Jar, but need to.


Sylvia



Now I am starting A Farewell to Arms: sure to be a hit, Hemingway is the man.

I don’t have a TV, but my roommate has three seasons of The Office on iTunes. We watch it and eat guacamole.

It is hot and humid like a rainforest in this city.


Speaking of rainforests, please add the National Botanical Gardens to my favorite places.

And still speaking of rainforests, please recycle.

Work is really great. I do a lot of things while I’m there for 8 or 9 hours a day. I got my first writing assignment yesterday. It’s earlier than I expected to start writing. And I got paid. More than I was expecting to get paid. So the magazine biz is all on the up and up.

I still get homesick.


DC drivers don’t yield to pedestrians. Harsh.


Orange mocha frappacino from Starbucks – surprisingly not a Zoolander reference – is delicious.

EndNote: Today Emmy Berens reminded me that “blogging is a big responsibility, Candice” and
she’s right, it’s been a little while. But to be fair, I keep a journal too and archiving my life takes time.

Also: Why did I begin this blog without capitalizations? Poor grammar will get me nowhere. It changes now.

working stiff

It’s the second week of my internship at the magazine. It has been more than i could have hoped for so far. There are so many nice people at work and I have been working hard already so I have a good time. I eat lunch with a group of younger girls every day – you can sit on the roof of my building and the Kiplinger cafeteria makes a tasty grilled cheese. And I have a cubicle! It’s something I have not ever wanted, but it seems fun for now. This week is ‘close week’ which, among other things, means everyone is a little on edge. Today I had my first intern-panic moment (aside from the time that I couldn’t find the bathroom on my first day). When I brought a copy of a story to the executive editor, and she looked it – for about 2 seconds – and said:

This is 8 lines too long.

I said, yes it needs cut.

She said 8 lines is way too much.

Then she slid it back and said “tighten that up, I don’t have time for this.”

Picture me running down the stairs – in heels – trying to catch the writer that I knew would go to lunch any minute. Missing her, I ran back up the stairs – in heels – and started looking at the story. Showed the changes to the editor, victory! It felt good. Glad to know I played my part in showing readers how to set up their own personal finances!

And I am getting more used to city life(sirens, horns, lackofgrass). Hanging out with my roommates and other magazine interns, reading a lot. Some DC highlights: the Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden (Picasso, Man Ray, fountain, not a lot of tourists, good for reading), FDR memorial (very cool, very smart), Hall of Mammals (Museum of Natural History), hot dogs (I love street vendors), lots of walking (despite busy business types stampeding around).
I miss home and homepeople, sometimes unbearably. Anyways, I’m alive.

skittles today, work tomorrow

today i ate what seems like a quarter pound of Skittles chewy candy. it was raining – all day – so i was sitting by the windows – which i washed today – and eating Skittles. and thinking about being in a Skittles commercial – TASTE THE RAINBOW – where the Skittles are the rain. possibly the highlight of my day? no. i had to buy an umbrella so that i could go outside and it turns out that the ONLY umbrella left in our convenience store was one with a Red Hat Lady pattern on it. making that purchase was the highlight.

i start work tomorrow. i have a schedule of what i will be doing for the next two months. here are a few of the phrases from said schedule that concern me:
“Try not to panic”
“This is where you will no doubt earn your combat stripes”
“Don’t get scared”
“It will be hectic”

i feel nauseous but i have ironed a very professional looking outfit. as if that will help.

there would be pictures in this post, but my camera is in the mail

Day 3 in our nation’s capitol: still alive

Yesterday was shaky. I just let the city get the best of me. I got tired of being lost. I was frustrated that my biggest victory of the day was buying a bar of soap. And i was lonely too – so that’s no help at all.
BUT
Today was better though, most defiantly. I bought a Metro train pass, so I can swipe in like the locals. I found the public library – which is huge but not as classy as I thought it would be. Anyway I have to bring a piece of mail to get a library card so I will have to work on that. I did see a man dressed as Ronald McDonald in the library – he blew bubbles at me and gave me a sticker. But luckily the library was at the Chinatown train stop. And that was a cool place to be. I had a hot dog from a street vendor on the steps of a large important looking building. Very cool stuff around and I stumbled upon the Smithsonian American Art and the American Portraits Museum. Two thumbs up for both. Loved the American Art – lots of contemporary and lots of nice photography [like Harry Benson!... http://www.harrybenson.com/].
Then I hopped on the train and headed for some sight-seeing/people watching:
White House
Washington Monument
Lincoln Memorial [wich is on the same street that I live on, though pretty far away, Honest Abe and I are neighbors]

I spent about 7 hours out there. And I felt more and more at peace. I was eating a popsicle at the Reflecting Pool (between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial) and I, cliché-ishly, was reflecting. I’m feeling like the world is my oyster again.

D.C. all the way

i'm here! in DC!

it's a lovely city, i think!

woke up at 4 am, me and my daddy went to the Dayton Airport [937!!]. couldn't keep my breakfast down. We flew out to Baltimore, got on a bus, then got on a train, then another train, and then we arrived at my apartment building - much to my relief. It was a cool adventure, for sure.
>>fastforward through wandering in the city<<
i'm all unpacked in my room. minus the clothes that i can't hang up because i dont have any hangers because they are in the mail on their way to me along with the other things, like dishes, that i sent myself. one of my roomies, Kali, is here. she hails from Georgia! very nice too. our other two roommates will get here on Sunday.

the sidewalks around here are mostly brick. there are people around everywhere. most of them are all dressed up. and busy looking. but there are nice parks where people are laying in the grass.

in my apartment building, called the IVORY TOWER, there is a pita pit and a basken robins ice cream [score] and a little convienience store, and a couple other food-y places.

anyways i'm very delighted to be here. there have been alot of tears, and i know that i will miss having people i love around - but it's only 2 months, right?

mellow yellow

Today I made a change. I wasn't doing anything at all. And then I realized that my favorite color is yellow. Then I thought, no couldn't be. But now I'm sure of it. It's been green ever since it was purple in the 6th grade. Yellow for sure though. I am sort of excited in a lame way.

I woke up really early this morning to help my mom make breakfast for her co-workers. Then I thought I would just stay up, which meant that I lounged on the floor with the dog and watched Hoosiers.

I am about ready to be employed again, and so pumped to work this summer. But at the same time, my last days of summer break and unemployment are nice. After all, I will be 21 in four days. Since I leave for DC so soon after, I've sort of let the day go to the wayside. I think my mom ordered an ice cream cake though [yay] and Joey is coming down for a few days to stay with my family [yay x 100].

On doughnuts and getting old

One of my favorite places to sit is the doughnut shop in Vandalia. Only a 10 or 15 minute drive from my house and open 24 hours a day 7 days a week it’s a real steady hang out. I really only ever go by myself but there’s usually someone there to talk to. Most of the decorations are bright orange and there are about 2 employees – one makes the doughnuts and the other takes the orders. I sit at the counter, on the corner, facing the door. I have a large coffee for 70 cents and whatever the freshest doughnut is. The best part though is, followed closely by the fresh glazed blueberry doughnuts, the culture of the whole little place. Last night I was at my corner reading [The Orchid Thief, recommended to me by one of my professors, is lovely… so far] and watching the customers. The crowd is of an older demographic and they love the doughnuts too. The other two old men at the counter asked what I was reading that was so interesting. I showed them and smiled. Then they started asking about me, asked how old I was. “21 next week.” Then they got distracted talking about how they didn’t trust banks and how they’ve heard of people hiding money in their houses and how that might be a good idea. THAT is my favorite part about the doughnut shop! I have scads of napkins from all the nights I sit and listen to the old doughnut lovers talk. The strangest things like where people hide their money [wrapped up in rolls of toilet paper(?!)] and I write down all the odd and interesting and sad things [like war stories]. I’ve thought seriously about writing a series of poems that I physically write IN the doughnut shop that come from the doughnut shop people. I’m working on it. When the two old men left the one with the beard slid me a dollar and told me that he’d like to pay for my coffee – “happy birthday.” I gave the server a big tip with my birthday money. I overheard her say that she had two jobs.

As much as I complain about growing up [and it’s a bunch] I don’t think it will be bad. I like old people. Really truly. On Saturday I went to the Dayton Women’s Federation luncheon to receive a scholarship that my neighbor nominated me for. Those ladies were having a blast, sitting around in their dresses surrounded by pink lace everywhere and ferns sitting on big white pillars and talking about book club.

I will probably still complain about growing up – but it doesn’t look so bad. At least it gives you an excuse to do things like have too many lawn ornaments and forget things.

Tipp City and Tiffany's

Everything is going nicely in Tipp City. I like sitting in the kitchen with my parents and I like petting my dog, Mosby. This morning he and I watch Breakfast at Tiffany's and ate ice cream and waffles for breakfast. I'm not lazy, I'm just trying to stock up on lazy before I go to DC.

Which brings me to: DC. I may be moving in earlier than I thought. That will make things easier on me and my dad when we fly out there. But despite the logistical perks, it's a little scary that I will be out there even sooner than I had braced myself for. I'm not taking my car at all, which makes me happy because I think I will feel good without it - think of the air I will save. I like big cities for that reason, I wish we weren't so dependant on cars. Though, maybe I don't need to be and I should just be less dependant... But anyway I think I will work about 5 minutes from my apartment, good news.

Tonight I am going to a Dayton Dragons game with Michelle! I read in the paper that there are 6,634 people on the waiting list for season tickets. Makes me feel lucky that my dad has em. Feel like some member of an exclusive club that gathers to watch the great American sport. But I only go for the Dippin' Dots. Go DRAGONS!


Tomorrow I am going to Joey's sister's house in Columbus. I'm excited, his family is good people.

last days

i'm going home tomorrow - which is why i will spend today packing. the apartment has been very lonely. the stuff that is still here is strewn and spare, and it's very quiet. so i just woke up to sit on the couch and eat Honey Smacks and look at the stuff i should pack up. i think i strained my ankle playing basketball with joey yesterday... maybe i cant pack.

packing is most wierd when you know your not coming back. though, i am looking forward to being with my family (VERY) much. that will be a nice couple weeks before the capitol.

post #1

i am starting a blog. i was sitting in the newsroom today and thinking about this summer. then i was thinking that i should start a blog, so that i can keep track of this summer. then i thought that was a good idea, so i did it.

this summer is very crazy sounding. i will be in DC for two months working for Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine. i got the internship through the American Society of Magazine Editors, and after a long application process, i got it. then they place you with a magazine in either DC or NY City. i am stoked out of my mind. ive never been to DC or that far from home for that long - so i am looking forward to it. thought i am not looking forward to a long break a long distance from my friends and my family(at alllllll). and im worried about the DC-busy-professionals and learning about finance at my internship... BUT it will work out i think

blogs!