04.24.09
Getting on a Jet Plane
My travel schedule this week:
NYC to Las Vegas to Minneapolis to NYC to Houston to NYC.
01.29.09
Still awash in the glow
I’m in Washington DC for a few days manning our sponsor both a conference and was able to slip into the city a few hours earlier than expected to do some exploring. My previous times in DC have been so short and I’ve been so unprepared that besides walking around, ogling the bigger, more prevalent monuments and buildings, I don’t get much in. Years and years ago I inadvertently wandered into the National Archives and found the original Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights. I hadn’t planned on it but thought it was something I should see. It was beautiful in a historic kind of way but that is all I remember about it.
On this trip, still awash in the glow of President Obama’s Inauguration, I decided that with my few extra hours, I was walking back to the National Archives and taking another peak at the wares. I’ve read a lot more about the history of the US and while my national patriotism is still riding high on the O wave, I decided a refreshing look at the documents that form our political foundation was in order. Of course my most favorite thing to do in Washington is just leisurly stroll past the White House. I can’t get over how accessible it is and at almost every visit in the past, had almost inadvertantly turned and corner and found myself staring at it.
So I set off this afternoon in the cold and wet and finally made it to Pennsylvania Avenue and the blocked off areas that won’t allow traffic past any longer. I was surprised to see the Presidential veiwing stand from the Inauguration Parade was still in place though it was slowly being dismantled. The concourse in front of the White House was mostly empty except for a few tourists taking pictures and as I walked past the West Wing, you could see it lit up from within. Now my feelings might have had to do with riding that inauguration wave or I might have been cold or it might have just been enough time since the last time I was through DC and walked past the White House but I can say that the warm glow from the West Wing totally sucked me in. Was I actually looking into the windows while Obama was working? I wanted to go in…it felt so welcoming. I can say that whatever was happening in there just tacked on several more months of my presidential enthusiasm so it was worth the stroll.
I finally made it to the National Archives, forgetting the building is much further out than I had realized and was pretty soaked by the time I walked in. I seemed to remember the last time being able to walk up the steps directly into the Rotunda of the National Archives Building but I can’t say for sure whether I made that up or not. Today, you enter through the lower ground floor, go through the metal detectors and all that and then go up. The Public Vaults which make up part of the National Archives was having a retrospective of some sort with a ton of fascinating documents and desplays. I was drawn to many of the old, old letters of Washington, Lincoln, John Adams and others. I love penmanship and there isn’t anything like the styles used in the 18th and 19th centuries. There was also a faxsimile of the Emancipation Proclamation with a placard which indicated the actual document itself is only on display in the Rotunda a few special days each year.
When I finally made it to the Rotunda, I was pleasantly surprised to find it almost completely empty. I started around the left of the curve and read all the display cases as the foundation of the American government was formed out of the Revolutionary War and came to the original Declaration of Independence. There were several copies as well as the original copper scribed plate from the late 1700′s but to see the original is still powerful but also sad. The plaque around it talks about the significant fading of the document but tries to spin its wear and tear as the monumental importance of having the document accessible to the public through years and years of display under less than ideal archiving conditions. The lettering is almost all but illegible now and other than aspects of John Hancock’s signature, most of the other signer’s are almost completely lost. On around the rest of the Rotunda appears the Constitution of the United States and then the Bill of Rights.
In all, it was absolutely the best hour I spent in Washington today. It reconnected me to the ideals of our democracy and helped those become less abstract and distant. I think that is why I love coming to DC…I’m here so infrequently that the sausage factory still seems fresh and new and shiny and reinvigorating. There are so many other things to see and do here but those will have to wait for another day or three. I strolled back past the White House on the way to the hotel and it was all lit up from within besides just the West Wing. Still pretty impressive.
07.11.08
Nebraska, I love ya but give me Park Avenue
I’m finished with my onsite work in OmaHaHa, finally. New York bound for at least a few weeks while we finish up with the final report and then who knows. It sounds like Fort Lauderdale next, at a similar kind of engagement but different kind of health system. I’m thinking there are more Gays in Ft. Lauderdale than in Omaha. I really, REALLY got tired of everyone wearing a wedding band.
Also, I want hotel status so bad that I think I’ll never not stay at the Courtyards which are becoming more plain by the visit. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing as it prompts me to want to go out and explore.
07.05.08
Julie McCoy as Your Cruise Director
Atlantis Events reveals their “super secret” Asia Cruise that everyone has been talking about for a year and a half. We’re seriously thinking about scrapping our plans for their Baltic cruise next fall and doing the Asia adventure instead. Who’s coming with us?
06.27.08
Trapped!!! In Omaha!
So the thing is, anyone who has the misfortune of following me on Twitter already knows the travel drama I’m having. But because I’m Trapped! In Omaha! and have a viable Internet connection, I’m going to bitch and complain about it again:
I’m Trapped! In Omaha! which is the follow up to the earlier Rainbow Tour that started the week off. The Rainbow Tour was suppose to come to a stunning conclusion yesterday evening with my direct departure to EWR however weather, somewhere in the continental US but not actually in or around Nebraska cancelled the flight a full 10 hours before it was scheduled to leave. That bit of precognition left all my more travel-experienced team perplexed. I had been automatically rebooked to a 7am flight this morning. So I booked a room, went across the river into Iowa and played a little black jack and won some cash. Score! So really I was feeling fine and even picked up a little of the local flavor when the pit boss asked me if I’d been to the Playhouse yet. Why no, I hadn’t been to any theater in Omaha yet but if there was something he was recommending, I’d be sure to check it out.
Um, yeah. According to the pit boss, the Playhouse has the hottest, totally-nude bitches around these here parts. So that’s kinda nice to file away whenever that opportunity presents itself. I LOVE hot, totally-nude bitches. I AM one, for God’s sake.
So I’m up at 4am this morning to take the one available shuttle back out to the airport with a flight crew staying at the hotel, and get to the airport JUST as they cancel my flight this morning, finding myself rebooked on the next direct to NYC…at 7pm tonight. I did manage to fanaggle myself onto the standby list for an 12noon flight but that one is now on its second delay so, right, I’m thinking that one isn’t happening either.
On the plus side, I’m set up at Starbucks with a good, strong connection and Twittering the hell out of my encampment, giving running color commentary on the weirdness of the downtown coffee clutch crowd (mounted Omaha Police in big, black boots are hotness). Feel free to hook into and follow me on Twitter. It’s not always as much fun today, but I do try.
05.15.08
The City of Brotherly Love
I’ve been traveling quite a bit for work lately…ranging from Michigan to San Francisco but have really been in Philadelphia for the most part. Strange that all the time we’ve been in New York, I’ve spent so little time in Philly but I’m finding the city fantastic. Of course I’m only seeing about a 12 square block part of the city and it just happens to be the gayborhood, but still, fantastic. Great restaurants, great buildings, and a great city just to walk around in. Even though my work hours are stretching into the ridiculous range each day, I’ve managed to end up at the local neighborhood waterhole for gentleman for a night-cap and meeting really nice people. Definitely a keeper city.