What is the What?

I recently finished this book, sent to me from my Uncle Bruce. It is the autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng, one of the "Lost Boys" of the Sudanese civil war. It is a novel by David Eggers who took Deng's story and incorporated elements of other stories from the "Lost Boys." It is in no shape a fictional account of the heartbreaking events of Deng's life though. This is not the type of book I normally read in the sense that it isn't in documentary or textbook form. However the story sucks you in very quickly and I had a hard time putting it down until I finished the 475th page. A great example of micro history it effectively pulls in other world events throughout the story such as the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and the Al-Qaeda funded attacks on the US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya. I would highly recommend it to anyone capable of reading.

Funny Newsworthy items

I read this article in "The Examiner" a Post publication on my commute to work on Wednesday under the title "Also His Carbon Footprint, Abysmal."
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/O/ODD_GAS_HEIST?SITE=NCASH&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

This one is hilarious.....Alabama State Senate......need I say more

What a Week!

This past week, my first at my internship has been a great experience. Everyone in Congressman McIntyre's office are so nice and uplifting to work with. Even with the crazy week that we had and the mountains of paperwork and stress compounded on top of it everyone is so jovial about their work and so easy to interact with.

I really got thrown into the mix pretty quickly for my first week. McIntyre has been working for the better part of a decade on a bill to grant the Lumbee Indians federal recognition and finally got a vote in the House this week which passed resoundingly 256-128. So much work went into the debate and vote assuring this past week and the months leading up to it. Needless to say the mood in the office was rather celebratory Thursday afterwards and in the Congressional softball league after work. Hangin out on the mall with some free beer and a great deal of the congressional office staff for the NC people was a pretty nice event, I got to meet some good people. Surprisingly these events are great for finding our job openings and offices and a good amount of the staffers actually found their jobs this way. All in all, quite a fun week! I'm looking forward to a fun weekend. I plan on taking the metro down to foggy bottom to check out GWU and the State Department, maybe Ill roll into some touristy museums while Im at it! Also, Ill be goin to Alexandria to visit my friend Mike Saturday night.

DC

Finally in DC! My neighborhood is real chill just north of Dupont Circle, a real nice area. I start my internship on Monday and I spent today getting acquainted with the area. Here's some pictures: