Blogging on the Powwow

It was a pretty quiet morning in the office today. One of the higher-level staff in the Senate office where I work came into "my" end of the long office and said, "Voigt..." (speaking to a law fellow near me) "and Douglas... Want to go to the Senate floor?" The Senate floor?!  "Yes! Of course!" I turned around from my desk to look at him. He was putting on a suit jacket and had a tie, untied, draped around his neck. He seemed a little agitated; he was in a hurry. "Okay, then. The Senator is over there now getting ready to speak and he's going to give you floor privileges. Are you wearing a suit jacket?" He paused to look at me. "Yep, you are. Women  are required to wear a jacket on the Senate floor. You're all set. Let's go. I'll explain the rules on the way." Then we were off! We followed him, as he tied his tie, down to the basement of the Senate office building, onto the Senate train to the Capit...

It's been over two weeks since my last blog post. I really should be prepping for the class that I am teaching that starts tomorrow, but like all academics I know, I can put class prep off indefinitely. Heck - if I can't improvise in the classroom after 13 years of teaching, then what am I doing there anyway, right? The fact that I have taught this class, or a class like it, three or four times means that I should  essentially be a pro by now. We'll see if I'm feeling like a pro when my class starts tomorrow at 9:00pm. Yes, that's right, a 9:00pm class. Thank goodness it's online. Did you hear about those classes that Bunker Hill Community College was offering at 11:45pm-2:30am ? I can't imagine. But, I digress. So much has happened since I last blogged on November 1. Little did we know about the upset that we would experience in the presidential election. I'm reluctant to say too much about that because of my current position. So, I'll tal...

One of the things that has interested me most about being in Washington and working for Congress is that proximity really matters. Even in the world of technology and alternative forms of communication, people want to sit down, face-to-face, to discuss matters that are important -- and to try to convince staffers why it should matter to them as well. I have been surprised at how far people will travel to convey their messages to Congressional staffers in a room that is no bigger than 5x5 feet. The layout of Capitol Hill just reinforces this propensity. I am still astonished, daily, at how close together everything is in Washington. Look at the map below. In the center outlined in pink is the Capitol building. Below that in purple, are three House office buildings, (the map is only showing one, but there are three), where all of the Congresspersons have offices. Above, outlined in orange there are three Senate office buildings. Finally, on the right, in blue, is the Supreme Court. Wal...

I should probably be practicing oboe tonight. In fact, I know that I should  be practicing, but I'm "wimping out." After all, today I ran a marathon. Surely, a practice session would put me over the edge. We'll see how I feel about that tomorrow night when I'm in rehearsal... Today I ran my 11th marathon. In truth, in 2008 I also ran a 50k race, which is 31 miles, and of course, longer than a marathon. Anything longer than a marathon is called "ultra running." I think that's because you're ultra, ultra insane. But, to make things easier, I just tell people that I've run 12 marathons, because most people don't really care about the nuisances of 26 miles vs. 31 miles, etc. So, indeed, today I ran my 12th marathon at the Marine Corps Marathon (MCM). I ran this race last year, too. I didn't as much fun last year as I did today. Last year, I went into it totally exhausted - week 8 or 9 of the semester and I had been surviving on very ...

As many of you know, I have spent the last 20-25 years driving... everywhere . When I was in high school I started my treks into Massachusetts, traveling about 130 miles each way for voice lessons. When I was finishing college, I commuted 135 miles each way. Grad school? I had it down to about 100 miles each way. My first two years at Bridgewater State University, I traveled from Saco, Maine to Bridgewater, MA -- 120 miles each way. When we moved to Massachusetts we knocked 50 miles off my commute to Bridgewater, so now it's only 70 miles each way. To further complicate this, for decades, Neil commuted 30,000-50,000 miles a year, like most free lance musicians living in New England (and likely other places) do. Now I'm in Washington for 12 months and I have been driving about 10 miles a week.  Our Camry just sits in the garage where I am renting an apartment. I drive it each week 4 miles to Catholic University for wind ensemble rehearsal and every other week I drive it 12 blo...

Whenever you start working in a new environment, new discipline, or new setting, new words creep into your language - that is, after that hit you over the head, first. Do you know what I mean? I don't mean acronyms or words that are actually new to you, rather words that you know, but that are being used in a way that you have never encountered before. This happened to me when I joined the social work field 10 years ago. One of the core areas of social work education is "human behavior in the social environment" (HBSE). I remember thinking, what?! What nonsense have some academics come up with now?  Soon I grew to understand the meaning and intent behind HBSE courses, or what are sometimes pronounced "hib-zee" courses. The purpose is for social work to distinguish itself from the field of psychology, which focuses on the individual, and sociology, which focuses on the social environment. Social workers pride themselves for training new professionals to look at...

Congress is now on recess until after the November elections. That's five weeks. The Senate went on recess before the House. In my office, I was given instructions on how this impacted operations in-house. The dress is more casual, there are fewer demands on productivity, there will be fewer meetings, fewer encounters with constituents and interested parties, and in general, things are just more low-key. One of the challenges of blogging is that sometimes some of the most interesting parts of life -- professional life, family, friends, and whatnot -- may provide the best material for commentary, but it's not really appropriate for pubic consumption. Since arriving in Washington, we have been schooled about the importance of exercising discretion. I've been wanting to blog about the culture of being on "The Hill," but the presumed Congressional "code of ethics" doesn't really permit me to do so. I've been trying to find a way to get around thi...