Update on DC

Hi people,
Lots has been going on, my weeks are so busy. In a good and bad way.


^This is a picture of me sitting on the steps of the Library of Congress.

Let's see if I can think of some important/cool things that have been going on...

1. Last week was overwhelming. Really busy between class and three jobs. Too much juggling and not enough sleeping. But SIW did get to go to a Capitols game!

2. I really like my job at DC Department of the Environment. They always ask me if I want to participate in all these cool things they have going on (usually can't because I don't have time, but one of these times it'll work out). I wish I was working for them more often. It feels good to be there because I think that I have a lot to give, but also a lot to learn. Which is a nice feeling.

3. Tuesdays I work at Old Glory (A restaurant in Georgetown). I can't decide what to think about working there. I like to meet people and I'm really nice to all my tables, but I'm not so sure I'm the best waitress. I forget things a lot... and no one likes a waitress who forgets things. Anyway, I'll just be really nice and do the best I can. I'm not going to worry about that place too much. Being a server is something that I could let stress me out a lot because it's often a very stressful environment, but I'm not going to do that. I'm just going to do my best, smile a lot, and hopefully make some money. (!!)

4. Island Press (my other internship) is getting better. I have a friend there now, Max, so that's nice. We have lunch together and complain about staring at excel too much. I get to go to a conference for them tomorrow morning, so that'll be fun, and a nice change. This weekend they paid for me to go to this environment conference... but more on that later.

5. This week during all my walking between jobs, I realized that even though there are a million people in this city, everyone is very much on their own. Even if you have tons of friends, this place is just too big for someone to be supported by others all the time. There are too many place to be, people to meet, opportunities to seize, and no two interests match 100%.
This sounds depressing, and it was to me before, but now I think it's good.
But anyway, what this means, is that even if things are a certain way for people who know you (i.e. stressed, tense, whatever), when you step outside, you're just another person on the street who has the opportunity to positively affect someone, or not. So, this week, after having realized that, despite my stress, I decided to be one of those people who totally rocks out to their music walking down the street (like, kinda dancing a lil bit...). And I said hi to people, and pet dogs, and held my head high, and smiled. It sounds ridiculous, but I actually did this. And it helped.
I don't think I have really made clear what I mean here... but I'll think about it and hopefully get back to it later.

6. On Friday, SIW went to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) for a conference about covering drug addiction in college papers. It was a poorly organized conference, but overall, I thought it was a good experience.It made me feel both naive (that I have no idea about all the drug use that goes on at college campuses) and happy (that I have no idea about all the drug use that goes on at college campuses). After the conference, we were done for the day and it was my first afternoon in forever to RELAX. And I did. I took a nap, worked out (a great one, while proudly representing my BUCKY t-shirt), hung out with Alex (my roommate)... it was great.

7. I forgot, after the NIDA event, I got off the metro downtown, and walked around (unfortunately in the rain) to see some sights, stop into a few stores, and rub my new positive attitude off on a few people. It must have been the Jason Mraz in my headphones. But that was nice. This is just a picture of a building that I took with my phone. I thought the red was really pretty with such a dark sky... but it's kind of hard to tell from this picture. I think I need to invest in a real camera....

8. On Saturday, I went to PowerShift at the Convention Center. PowerShift is the biggest youth environmental conference in the nation (12,000 students)! It was a very cool experience. Great atmosphere of motivated people, amazing speakers, lots of opportunities. I met some really great, interesting people. On Sat., I went around and interviewed people for another Planet Forward video and attended a seminar called, "Social Media for the Greener Good." They talked a lot about how to use new technology for certain causes. Basically... Twitter! DO IT! If you do not know what this is, or want more info... ask me! or, check it out! www.twitter.com. And look for me... I'm @jclynes.
But yeah, PowerShift was great. It taught me (once again) that I need to learn more, specialize, learn more, do more, ahhh.... so much to be done. It's kind of overwhelming, actually.

Anyway,

9. Saturday night I hung out with Alex and friends. We went to J. Paul's in Georgetown and then just relaxed.

10. This morning I went back to PowerShift to sell a book for one of Island Press' authors, Jon Isham, who was speaking at one of the seminars. The book is really cool, I highly recommend it. It's called Ignition.
I also sat next to the guy who wrote this book, Planetwalker. The book is my new friend, John Francis', biography telling the story of how he gave up riding in cars and ONLY walked for 22 years. He also gave up speaking for 17 years. WOW. You can read more about him here, but basically, I can't wait to read his book (and Ignition, too).

11. After PowerShift I was tired. I napped again (this was equally as excellent as the first nap). Then I had the lamest workout ever, then met Alex for dinner, then more procrastinating/grocery shopping/talking to my sister, etc.

12. PowerShift was good and I'm glad I went, but my mom and sister offered to come out here to visit and couldn't because I was busy there... so that made me sad. I'm excited to see my family over spring break... in 2 weeks. I'm not used to staying put for this long! It's a new record!

Ok, time to do my homework and go to bed early. I'm praying for a snow day in DC tomorrow, but I doubt that'll happen.

Sorry this is really long.
Love,
Jenny

Oh, also, we got to meet Chris Matthews and attend a live taping of Hardball with Chris Matthews last Friday. It was cool! The best part was when he encouraged me to go visit my friend Claire in Mozambique because its a place he has been and really enjoys. Random. Here we are with Chris in his office: