Did you finish?

So tonight at a church activity this guy sees me wearing my Eco-Challenge shirt from BYU and asks if I did it. I say yes, and he asks, "Did you finish?" I gave him the Ryan face for 'What!?!' If you're reading this, you know the face.

It had never even occurred to me that I might not finish. Literally - it had never even occurred to me. Anyway, he didn't really keep the conversation going - maybe he read my face.

"If the word quit is part of your vocabulary, then the word finish is likely not." - B.G. Jett

A hard decision

No, I'm not making my blog private. And yes, I'm still going to occasionally put things on it that probably will offend someone.

Instead, I'm publicly committing to the goal of no more sweets (cookies/cake/candy) or food that's bad for me (french fries/ranch/pastries) until after I run the St. George Marathon in October.

There are some exceptions - I can eat whatever I feel like on Saturdays, after my long runs. Also, if someone makes me cookies, or dinner, or I'm on a date and it would be weird not to, I'll do it in moderation.

My biggest weakness on this will be pizza, which is normally fine so long as I limit myself to 2 slices. But I feel like it's time to take my training to the next level in preparation for the race, and I haven't had the most success out here in DC at being regular about my exercising. The diet will (hopefully) compensate.

Museum Day

Yesterday I went to the National Museum of American History, the American Indian Museum, the Hirshhorn Musuem, and the western wing of the National American Art Gallery. It was a long day!

A few thoughts:
- apparently fanny packs are back in, and I've just been out of the loop
- the American Indian museum was, in my opinion, awful. They could have made it really cool. As someone who really enjoys reading about Native American cultures, and the interactions and changes that have occurred throughout their interactions with European cultures, I was sorely disappointed. Was there anything about the Trail of Tears? Red Cloud? I saw 1 bow - and it was for fishing. And then when I had some questions and wanted to ask someone about some stuff, was there anyone around? No. More on this later.
- I totally ran into my friend Emily Garrett (who went to high school with me) and her husband at the American History museum. I hadn't seen Emily in at least 5 years, and it was totally unplanned, so it was an amazing coincidence. A small world indeed!
- I have no clue what the 'bag check' at the Smithsonians is for. I'm guessing it must just be for a gun and drugs, maybe spray paint.
- The Hirshhorn building is amazing. The art I could do without.
- Somehow I didn't make the line for the 'First Ladies' exhibit, but I did make time for the 'Americans at War' exhibit. It was AMAZING!

The only other DC things I still have on my list are the Iwa Jima memorial and the Holocaust Museum.

I also wanted to say that I think it's a shame that the museums have to spend so much money on Security that they can't spend much money on curators who and inform the patrons about what they're seeing. The organized tours always have tons of people, and if you go on your own you miss out on so much. It ticks me off that I couldn't find anybody at the Native American museum to answer my questions about the building design, or the usage of war clubs in the indigeonus cultures.

What are you worth?

So I read an interesting article about health care, a topic everyone and their mom has an opinion about these days. It discusses how much we should pay to heal someone. For example, should we pay $50,000 to save a 90 yr old man for 6 months? What if it were for a week? Should we spend $100,000 to completely cure a teenager of some harmful disease? What about an elderly grandmother?

The point is, under socialized medicine (which is ANY medical plan enforced by the government, where you will go to jail if you don't pay the associated taxes) it will be a government bureaucrat making that decision. Under the present, though arguably equally cruel system, it's the market and one's earning power that determine if you live or die. I think both systems have their drawbacks, but I think it's important we realize that like it or not, the value of our life can be monetized (or perhaps quantized, as the article points out). I highly recommend the article, located here.

Also, there's a pretty funny joke in the 4th paragraph...

No slowdown

I feel like this week flew by. Everyday was something new & crazy, fun and exciting. I won't do a complete log of my weekend here, but here are some of the highlights.

On Thursday I went to the Air & Space museum to see the Apollo 11 stuff - I went on the 40th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 launch, and checked out the actual return capsule. It was pretty cool stuff.

Then yesterday I went and saw Mt. Vernon with my buddy Ken and my friends Shannon & Mikelle, in from Salt Lake. Mt. Vernon was a pretty cool place, with a beautiful outlook over the Potomac River.









Also, I realized I never posted about my little trip to Arlington National Cemetery last week. I went last Sunday after Church and it was amazing. Saw JFK's eternal flame, saw the changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown soldier. Very sobering.

Capitol Tour

So today I went on a tour of our nation's Capitol building. It was pretty cool.

Before going I called my Congressman's office and arranged a tour. While the intern giving the tour didn't really know jack about the Capitol (I think I could have read a wiki article for 5 minutes and learned more) it was very nice to be on a private tour rather than a general tour. Instead of a group of 20ish people, it was the intern, myself, and the other Texas Tech law student that works with me. That's it, so we were able to move fast, see things, and move on. It's pretty much the best way to do it. We finished in an hour and 1/2, and I'll bet a normal tour is ~ 3 hours.

I haven't uploaded my pictures to my computer yet.... but seeing it was incredible. Especially the Rotunda and the Crypt. Both were way cool. The intern did show us the "whispering crack" - haha! No, it's these two spots in the House statue room where you can hear someone whisper on the far side - in a crowded room! It was freaky.

Then we went into the House gallery right when it was starting for the day - saw Nanci Pelosi, and there were maybe 3 other House members there at the start. The whole thing was sweet.

Living in a rough(er) neighborhood

So I'm living the 2nd half of the summer here in Alexandria, VA, and umm.... I don't live in the nicest part of Alexandria. Alexandria as a whole is very nice. But I happen to live about 2 blocks from a rough part. As in, I can see a homeless shelter across the street rough part. Luckily, it's a family homeless shelter, so isn't that rough, but it's a little more ethnic than I'm used to.

On that subject, 2 quick stories:
My first night living here, a Saturday, I got back from visiting my friends Ken and Jim up in Maryland. Got back via the metro (train) at 2 AM and walked back right through the ghetto. Groups of black teens hanging out all over the place - I was scared I was going to get jumped. I walked past a black family and I heard a little kid ask what the white boy was doing out. Some girl said something I couldn't hear so I just turned around and smiled, but kept walking. It was a brisk walk, and I've since found a safer way home.

Tonight I went to the neighborhood rec. center to see about using their boxing equipment. I'm pretty sure I'm the only white person to ever walk in, from the looks I was getting. Anyway, so I introduce myself to the guy who runs the gym, and he says that it's normally $60 a month, but since I'm only here another 5 weeks I can just use it for free. Sweet.

I've experienced being a minority before - South America, Kuwait... but I never felt in danger because of my minority status until I moved here. It's scary. Having felt only a modicum of the fear minorities must have felt pre-60's, I have to respect the trials they went through to obtain equal rights.

Chillin' in DC

So I had my first week of work - it's pretty sweeet. In a week I'm already adjusting to a lot of things about DC living - and living with roommates again. It's pretty annoying not to be able to buy what I want at the grocery store because there might not be room in the refrigerator.

But work is great - I really enjoyed my first week, and I'm hoping I can really start providing some things of substance in the weeks to come. It's nice to have friends nearby - Jim and Ken have been very willing to drop me off at the metro after going to the movies or what not. And it's nice getting to know DC, and seeing the sights and museums on a daily basis.

On Friday for the 3rd I went to the National Zoo, which was pretty cool. Yesterday for the 4th I hung out with my friend Jenn. We went kayaking in the Potomic, went out to Great Falls, and then watched the fireworks on the National Mall right by the Lincoln memorial. It was amazing! I've never been a big fan of fireworks, but these were incredible.