the day of awesome
let me just say that this placement for my internship could not have been much better. that day of awesome that i'm alluding to, heres what i did:
first, we went to go see King Abdullah of Jordan speak to a joint session of congress. yes, yes thats right, i went there. not only that, but i didnt just stand up in the gallery (the balcony of the main house chamber where the speech was held for those of you who dont know). no, i wasnt standing up on the chamber floor either... i was sitting right behind the republican house leadership right next to my boss. i was less than 15 feet away from the King and the two people who are 1 and 2 heart beats away from being president of the united states, altho with cheney's health i should probably say pelosi is 1 1/2 heart beats from the job.
second, our office gave a tour to a group of 60 high school kids. normally, this sort of thing blows because they just dick around and never listen to anything you say, but this gave me a chance to do somethin ingenious judi told me to do: make shit up... and i mean REALLY make shit up. i told them that the rotunda of the capitol building was the actual site of pocahantas' baptism. this caught the attention of one kid who said "really?" wow, so the only kid listenin to me didnt have th intelligence to figure out that pocahantas would have not been baptised in that CENTURY, let alone that continent. i also said something else incredibly entertaining to me. there are these redcoated tour guides who are allowed to individually take around groups of like 100 (we can only take 15 so we had to take 4 interns to break them up). these people are typically 85 year old women (and they are ALL over 60). i convinced these poor children that these women were the capitol's version of the swiss guard. i then went on to explain to them who the swiss guard were (some of the most well trained soldiers in hand to hand combat in the world) and that got everyones attention. some toolbag dude says to me "so that old lady there could kick my ass" to which i respond "to within an inch of your life if she wanted." i gotta say, i sold it pretty well on them and i nearly crapped myself laughing so hard when i got back and told the other interns.
of course while i was on my tour... i saw something i dont normally see... a professional athlete. not just any professional athlete, but probably one of the most dominating athletes in the history of his sport... TIGER FUCKIN WOODS! he walked right by my group and i turned my head, started to walk after him (i guess i figured that all those kids would be ok without me just lookin at the pretty pictures and statues in the rotunda) and then a bunch of people started running after him and i could see him no more. that was sad, but freakin awesome.
of course, that day was not perfect as later that day, my gunners were sent crashing out of their last realistic chance at a piece of silverware by one of the shittiest playing teams i've ever seen in my life. i hate those soccer teams who place winning above all else. it disgusts me. teams like the italian national team, bolton FC, PSV eindhoven to name a few. i dont mind it when a team like chelsea goes out and buys a roster that makes george steinbrenner look like he shops at walmart for the yankees. as long as you play beautiful soccer, thats what matters. thats why i love arsenal. when these teams take no risks and sit back and just kick everything away by putting 10 men behind the ball and wait for their front man to get lucky. its not fun to watch, unless that team gives up a goal or two and has to fight back. i know its just a different tactical choice, but soccer is known as the beautiful game. no team plays the game more beautifully than arsenal and to see them all but bow out of every competition this year with no silverware to show for it gives me a heavy heart, not just as a gooner, but as a fan of the sport itself.
first, we went to go see King Abdullah of Jordan speak to a joint session of congress. yes, yes thats right, i went there. not only that, but i didnt just stand up in the gallery (the balcony of the main house chamber where the speech was held for those of you who dont know). no, i wasnt standing up on the chamber floor either... i was sitting right behind the republican house leadership right next to my boss. i was less than 15 feet away from the King and the two people who are 1 and 2 heart beats away from being president of the united states, altho with cheney's health i should probably say pelosi is 1 1/2 heart beats from the job.
second, our office gave a tour to a group of 60 high school kids. normally, this sort of thing blows because they just dick around and never listen to anything you say, but this gave me a chance to do somethin ingenious judi told me to do: make shit up... and i mean REALLY make shit up. i told them that the rotunda of the capitol building was the actual site of pocahantas' baptism. this caught the attention of one kid who said "really?" wow, so the only kid listenin to me didnt have th intelligence to figure out that pocahantas would have not been baptised in that CENTURY, let alone that continent. i also said something else incredibly entertaining to me. there are these redcoated tour guides who are allowed to individually take around groups of like 100 (we can only take 15 so we had to take 4 interns to break them up). these people are typically 85 year old women (and they are ALL over 60). i convinced these poor children that these women were the capitol's version of the swiss guard. i then went on to explain to them who the swiss guard were (some of the most well trained soldiers in hand to hand combat in the world) and that got everyones attention. some toolbag dude says to me "so that old lady there could kick my ass" to which i respond "to within an inch of your life if she wanted." i gotta say, i sold it pretty well on them and i nearly crapped myself laughing so hard when i got back and told the other interns.
of course while i was on my tour... i saw something i dont normally see... a professional athlete. not just any professional athlete, but probably one of the most dominating athletes in the history of his sport... TIGER FUCKIN WOODS! he walked right by my group and i turned my head, started to walk after him (i guess i figured that all those kids would be ok without me just lookin at the pretty pictures and statues in the rotunda) and then a bunch of people started running after him and i could see him no more. that was sad, but freakin awesome.
of course, that day was not perfect as later that day, my gunners were sent crashing out of their last realistic chance at a piece of silverware by one of the shittiest playing teams i've ever seen in my life. i hate those soccer teams who place winning above all else. it disgusts me. teams like the italian national team, bolton FC, PSV eindhoven to name a few. i dont mind it when a team like chelsea goes out and buys a roster that makes george steinbrenner look like he shops at walmart for the yankees. as long as you play beautiful soccer, thats what matters. thats why i love arsenal. when these teams take no risks and sit back and just kick everything away by putting 10 men behind the ball and wait for their front man to get lucky. its not fun to watch, unless that team gives up a goal or two and has to fight back. i know its just a different tactical choice, but soccer is known as the beautiful game. no team plays the game more beautifully than arsenal and to see them all but bow out of every competition this year with no silverware to show for it gives me a heavy heart, not just as a gooner, but as a fan of the sport itself.