take me anywhere

I spent the weekend being ridiculous in general.

Friday, some interesting stuff happened and I spent the majority of the day sleeping. Just because I could, and I had to. On Saturday, went to Wheaton Plaza (HAHHAHAA) on the Red Line and laughed at the largest escalator in the Western Hemisphere. Sunday, Folklife Festival craziness and fun.

And now here I am at work. Hmmmm. I want to go exploring. I want an adventure that doesn't involve me trying to scrounge up $10,000. I want everything to be okay. I know it will be, but there's just too much tension.

I will be strong.

somnambulating

Since I can't sleep, I'm going to go to work now.

I'm going to take pictures of my commute. I've been meaning to take pictures of the crap I do in like a "day in the life of Nitt" thing, but I've never EVER gotten around to it.

Might as well start now, right?

i know this

One of my friends asked me today--if I could do it over again, would I still pick Claremont McKenna over Berkeley or Stanford, considering the type of experiences I've had at the college?

I know now the answer has to be yes. It has to. There's no other way.

I've gotten a thicker skin, I've gotten much stronger. I've proven to myself that I'm a survivor, and things that mean the world to others mean absolutely jack to me because I know that things are trivial and that they too will pass and that there are other things to worry about. Like being alive and taking every moment and making sure that you do something with each moment that you actually want to do--because you never get a chance to do that moment over. One chance, one life, one shot. I'm proud of who I am for once (in my adult life--sorry Michelle Obama) and I think that is something I need to think about.

Because sitting around and being self-satisfied is too easy.

i will use this more often

But--between the DOT, graphic design, and chilling with the frawesomest roommates ever, it's hard to find time. Brrrrrb.

By the way, apapipeline.org has been absorbing all my time.

i swear i'll start using my camera again

What exactly have I been up to in this city?

Nice question. I work at the Department of Transportation, do volunteer stuff for the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies, am currently under the auspices of OCA (another APA advocacy org), and am freelancing my graphic and web design skills to whoever wants them. I also think of starting a graphic design business/portfolio thing from time to time, and am going to go through with it by the end of the summer. (I guess at the happy hour on Wednesday, I am also continuing to be a masseuse.) Hopefully, no bouncering-of-parties where girls want to pee in the elevator this time around. (how classy)

I'm also attempting to recover from Claremont and get myself back, and I gotta say it's great to be here. Something interesting's happened almost every day I've been here, from dinners with friends and nice conversations about how to take over the Hill and job opportunities and other tasty things like that.

I just need to take more photos so that I can actually remember all this, I think. Hahaha.

i'm soooo graceful, call me miss swan

On the first day on the job, I managed to spill a bunch of chili in the DOT kitchen. WOOOOHOOOO I'M SO GRACEFUL YOU SHOULD GIVE ME GIRL HAIR AND CALL ME KRISTI YAMAGUCHI. (no, don't do that, that would be an insult to her forrealz)

Yet, people liked me better because of it. I tried to clean up what I could of it with a bunch of napkins, and I guess people saw that and one lady came up to me afterwards and was like "you know, you're a nice man for doing that. Most people woulda just walked away."

Which lends itself to the fact that if people in government would actually clean up after their own mistakes once in a while, we wouldn't have as many issues. Hmmmmm. I WONDER WHY. Take responsibility for yourself, kiddos. Please.

Spent the day at a conference about the Air Transit Access Act. I actually thought it was quite interesting, but then again, I'm that much of a transit geek. Talking about regulations regarding codeshares was actually really cool. It's going to be interesting to see if this affects how the airline alliances do anything because I know there's some hella disparate service and hella dissent (especially from the EU airlines).

And I got my new laptop. Thank goodness. Gratuitous webcam test.

humanity reloaded

Traveling makes you realize things about yourself.

After being turned down at KramerBooks because we all couldn't sit at one table together (because I'm not 21, daaaaaamn) yeaaaah, that kinda sucked. I was kinda bummed about the whole 21-thing, mostly because I really like hanging out with these people. I started walking home and then I decided to, on a whim, duck into the Walgreens on 23rd and N, about a block away from my apartment.

I met Keith O'Donnell there.

He's no politician, he's no student, hell, he's not even my age, but in his own right he's important, just like everyone else is. Nope, he's homeless. And he was trying to scrounge up $10.56 to pay for some food at Walgreens. I felt something inside of me I haven't felt for a while, and I decided to just swipe my card and be done with it. Had a conversation and I was on my way. Before I left, I asked him his name.

I remember when I was begging for money in Greyhound stations people would just give you money so you'd go away. No one wanted to hear your story. I wasn't about to let that happen again. That's why I talk to people the way I do, I realize. I want to hear their stories. I want to hear your story. It's common dignity. We're social creatures, as awkward as some of us can be--and being desocialized, dehumanized, and deconstructed leaves you broke-down and dead. It's scary how much just being called by your name can do for you, by the way. I know this.

I hope Keith's okay. If I see him around again, I'll try to help him out and see what else I can do. Street smarts tell me he's no addict, he's genuinely in a tough situation. One much worse than mine, for all I complain about.

I'm lucky. And I'm sucking all that poison out. I ain't no fuckin' robot, and I can never be. Thanks.