law & order: abandoned warehouse unit

so, here's something i've been thinking about recently. as many of you know, i harbor a crippling law & order addiction; law & order then served as a gateway crime drama, leading to addictions to CSI, cold case files, and without a trace. so, my point is that i spend several hours a week watching crimes being committed then solved, which i think makes me some sort of expert in the field. it has led me to one conclusion: the war on crime will not be successful until we declare war on abandoned warehouses.

i mean, seriously, guys. think about it. i would say that upwards of 60% of crimes featured on these crime dramas somehow involve abandoned warehouses. someone is either murdered in one, or hiding out in one, or using one as a home base for some sort of drug or prostitution ring. and where do these abandoned warehouses come from, anyway? i mean, i know the economy is in the shitter and lots of companies are jumping ship, but seriously - if i'm to believe what i see on law & order, there are tens of thousands of abandoned warehouses in the five burroughs alone.

so, i think you can all see where i'm going with this. clearly, the key to stopping crime is controlling access to abandoned warehouses. also, when someone goes missing, the first thing the police should do is check all the abandoned warehouses. who's with me?

*s

apparently, i'm an enigma.

so, tonight, my former dean campaign colleague chris jackson (see previous post) and i got together for dinner at a really bizarre restauraunt called the orleans house in arlington, VA. chris said that he'd passed by the place and was intrigued by it, so we went in and it turned out to be the strangest restaurant i've gone into in quite a while. it was somehow swanky and kitschy at the same time, and the menus had this insanely large font that you could have read from across the room. despite the name (orleans house, which to us implied some sort of creole theme) the only things on the menu were steak and fried shrimp and more steak. we both just had the salad bar, which cost like $10 and didn't even have any peas. outrageous. so, next time you're in arlington, VA and are intrigued by the orleans house, just remember that curiosity killed the cat, and walk on by.

but even though the food was questionable, the company was delightful. i hadn't seen chris in over a year and, while i have fond memories of him on the campaign trail (except for the time he made me cry, but that's a story for a different time) i had forgotten just how terribly smart, funny, and charming he is, and now that he's shaved his beard, i daresay he's quite a looker. the conversation was just the right mix of campaign reminiscing and personal trivia, and was just completely enjoyable every second. also, he said i was an enigma, which i could tell he meant as a compliment, and i found that very charming. i really hope i get to see more of him soon.

*s

when it rains, it pours

i spent last night reminiscing about new hampshire in honor of my dean-iversary, and by astounding coincidence this afternoon i ran into two of my favorite people from the campaign, josh peck and chris jackson, on connecticut avenue. it was so good to see them that i haven't been able to shut up about it since, much to the chagrin of my co-workers. hopefully i will be able to spend some time with one or both of them in the near future - chris mentioned getting together for drinks and i hope he meant it.

in other news, it has been blistering-fucking-cold in the district this week, though at least the sun is out a little today. i am not happy. and it doesn't help that all the stores are advertising their new spring wardrobes...

also, i will likely have an interview for the mental health specialist job at So Others Might Eat next week, and i'm quite nervous but hopeful. wish me luck, all! i'll keep you posted.

the anniversary party

time for some egregious sentimentality, folks.

so, i just realized that today is (was) the one-year anniversary of the new hampshire primary, at which point my dear howie's presidential campaign (un)officially ended. bittersweet, i guess. my work on the campaign was at times frustrating and always exhausting, but it made me realize that a few dedicated people can in fact change the world. lame, i know, but i'm serious. even though howie didn't become president, i believe we did change politics forever, and the campaign definitely changed me forever. i met some of the world's coolest people (mario, elliot, etc.), lived in the world's coldest house (the attic of the world's coldest house, no less), suffered from extreme sleep deprivation, drank 50-cent beers on wednesdays, and rode to work every day in the world's shittiest car.

thank you, howie.

welcome to my blog, which ruth made me make.

wow, this is a lot of pressure, right? i guess this blog will help me keep my new year's resolution, which is to have at least one insanely witty thought every day. now, i have an outlet for that one witty thought.

so, here's something. last night, as per my wednesday night tradition, i flipped on on the television at 10 pm, tuned to NBC, and prepared to wrap myself in the warm fuzzy goodness of law & order. then, in the cruelest twist of fate, i was instead faced with katie couric! apparently law & order was pre-empted for this horrifying farce of a special report with katie couric talking to a bunch of teenagers about sex. (have i mentioned that it was horrifying?) i watched in stunned silence during the show's intro, which showed clips from the special including katie couric, face scrunched, asking a group of high-school students, "what does 'friends with benefits' mean?" "what is 'hooking up'?" sweet jesus. can you imagine anything more harrowing than discussing hooking up with katie couric? hopefully NBC will be providing therapy for these kids.

i guess that's all for now. i'll be back if i have more witty thoughts.

*stef