Too little time

This has probably been my busiest week since the inauuration. With all of our group activities, events and reporting I can hardly keep up.

Yesterday morning we toured the Supreme Court and listened to the oral arguments. Our docent showed us the library, emptier than ever becasue of the internet, the spiral staircase, which is no longer in use, and the busts and portraits of justices past. She described the symbolism of the architecture and artwork throughout the bulding to us - I was surprised to learn that the small turtles incorporated into some of the lamps and outdoor decorations represent the slow and steady pace of justice.

Last night we left the office as a group and went to a reception in honor of the Knight International Journalism Fellows and this afternoon we're going to the Newseum to hear Justice John Paul Stevens speak.

House Press Gallery experience

Last night we arrived at the House Press Gallery at about 7 to sign in and get our tickets for Obama's address. We had been there before but I had never seen it as busy as it was last night. It was like a zoo. Very hot, overcrowded and kind of dirty. Trash cans overflowing with empty cups, pop cans and food wrappers. Reporters on their cell phones and laptops, filling up every chair and crouched in every corner.
We waited for about an hour and a half observing the scene and watching for a free place to sit. Eventually Alex, Caitlyn and I shared a large leather chair that was apparently free, except for a small bag that someone had left. When the owner of the bag returned he said it was OK for us to sit there and he gave us cookies. We watched a three-minute tutorial on how to use the gas masks in the gallery should an emergency arise, and then filed into the House chamber with only our notepads and pens. Nothing electronic or battery operted is allowed in with the exception of watches, though we did see a number of reporters ignore the rule and take their phones with them anyway.
The press gallery is located directly above the platform where Obama spoke so we only saw him enter and occasionally the back of the top of his head while he spoke. We listened to most of his address and then left for Statuary Hall just a few minutes before he finished. There we stood among the many other reporters who were waiting to speak with Senators and other officials as they left. We stayed for a while longer and just made it to Metro before it stopped running for the night.

Obama's congressional address tonight

Our amazing editor Jody got press gallery tickets for all of us for Obama's congressional address tonight. We have to meet in the Capitol at 7 p.m. and report to the House Gallery to attend the speech at 9.

Alternatives to torture

Saturday Megan and I spent 8 hours shopping and too much money at the Pentagon City Mall, Target, Marshalls and Payless. Sunday I caught up on reading, gorcery shopping, cleaning and napping. Overall, it was a relaxing weekend.

I reported on a book discussion today at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Matthew Alexander (a pseudonymn), author of "How to Break a Terrorist: The U.S. Interrogators Who Used Brains, Not Brutality, To Take Down the Deadliest Man in Iraq," spoke about his experience in Iraq and how his team of interrogators located Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, leader of al-Qaida in Iraq. Alexander said torture is immoral in all scenarios and is often ineffective and counterproductive.

Newseum

Yesterday afternoon we participated in a team building exercise at the Newseum. It's a four-hour long studio experience designed to improve communication skills among a group of coworkers or colleagues while also allowing them to experiencing the excitement of producing a newscast. We were the test group.

The six of us joined about 12 other people of different professions for the exercise and we created a TV show from writing the script to recording the show. Everyone had a different job. I was the video clips operator. I decided to join the technical production team rather than the writers and producers because I wanted to try something I had never done before. It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed my job more than I thought I would.

Today we returned to the Newseum and spent the entire day there, this time as tourists. I loved it. Six floors of world history as recorded and told by journalists. We saw a section of the Burlin Wall and walked into a Berlin watch tower. We read front pages of newspapers from all over the world covering every major news event. A special exhibit documenting the FBI's first 100 years consisted of photos and letters from the Waco disaster and the actual cabin the unabomber lived in for twenty years.


My favorite exhibit but also the most difficult to look at was of Pulitzer Prize winning photographs throughout time. Most I had seen before, but even after seeing them three or ten times I am never less affected.

Exciting things to come...

Tomorrow afternoon we're all taking part in a TV production class at the Newseum. It's a new educational program for adults, and we're part of a test group. Then Thursday we're going back to the Newseum but as tourists, because Jody got us free tickets!

Friday my professor Joe Grimm is visiting us from Michigan to have lunch with the group and give us some pointers on our resumes and such.

Next week is also pretty full. Jody scheduled tours of the Supreme Court and of the Student Press Law Center. We've also been invited to a reception Wednesday night honoring the Knight International Journalism Fellows.

And we'll be fitting in some reporting at some point, of course.

Valentine's weekend

This weekend was Scott's first visit to Washington and I was his tour guide. There is so much to do and see here that one weekend is not nearly enough time. Fortunately the weather was pretty nice and it didn't rain as forecasted.

We had dinner Friday night at a Chinese restaurant in Georgetown. The food was great but we ordered way too much.

Saturday was busy. We went to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum and Library of Congress. We walked around Capitol Hill and saw the Capitol, Supreme Court and the National Mall. Later we had dinner at Lebanese Taverna, another great meal and not too expensive. It was the closest thing we've found to Taboon yet.

We spent most of Sunday at the National Zoo. It was busy and we saw almost everything there was to see, including the giant panda habitat, the invertebrates exhibit and the cheetah conservation station.

Happy birthday Lincoln and Darwin

Today is the bicentennial of the birth of both Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin. I reported on the Congressional Tribute to the bicentennial of Lincoln's birth at the Capitol Rotunda today and it was amazing, even though I couldn't really hear or see much of the program. President Obama spoke along with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and others.

Yesterday Ford's Theatre reopened after 18 months of renovations. The mayor of D.C. and other local and Ford's Theatre officials came together for a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The theater had a day-long open house today for Lincoln's bicentennial.

More photos from the National Press Foundation dinner

Charles Gibson

Last night at the dinner we met and had our photo taken with Charles Gibson and White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. The dinner was great and we all had a lot of fun.

And the high today is 68 degrees!

National Press Foundation 26th Annual Dinner

We're all going to the National Press Foundation Dinner at the Hilton Washington Hotel tonight after work. None of us really knows what to wear becasue Jody said this is the first year the formerly black-tie event will instead require business attire. Cocktail attire, which would be the next logical step down, is also out. But no matter what we wear it will be a very nice (free) dinner and an opportunity to meet professionals in the field. Cocktails at 6:30 p.m., dinner at 7:30 and an after party at 9:30.

Lincoln the Inventor

I went to Jason Emerson's lecture on his new book, "Lincoln the Inventor," yesterday at the National Archives. He focused on a device Lincoln invented to buoy vessels over shoals, or more simply, "a system to get a boat unstuck from a sandbar." Lincoln was the only U.S. president ever to hold a patent. After his lecture Emerson gave me a copy of his book and signed it for me.







The photo of me with Jason Emerson was taken by Bruce Guthrie.

The weekend

The past few days have been pretty relaxing. Friday night a few of us went to see He's Just Not That Into You at the Chinatown theatre. We wanted to go to the 10:20 p.m. show but it was sold out, so we stayed for the 12:20 show. I liked the movie more than I thought I would and somehow I was able to stay awake until 4, which I can never do (Bridgette and Kim would be proud).

Saturday I went with Emily and Megan to the Eastern Market, an outdoor flea market and farmers market. I bought a pretty blue scarf, strawberries and red onions. Unfortunately, when I later opened the scarf from its plastic wrapper it was damp and had a terrible chemical smell. It was inexpensive and not the best quality, so maybe the manufacturer used some sort of chemicals to preserve it. I washed it later and it was fine.

Today I went to Georgetown for the first time and had my hair trimmed at an Aveda salon. I'm happy with the haircut overall and I'll probably go back, though it was more expensive than I would have liked. After my haircut I went to Trader Joe's for a few groceries, and now I'm home again preparing for the week.

Lincoln Logs

Next Thursday marks Abraham Lincoln's 200th birthday and, of course, there are a lot of events planned in D.C. for the coming week. I'll be attending and reporting on some of them, and as I was researching I came across The Original Lincoln Logs Bicentennial Edition! My grandparents had a set that I used to play with, so I thought this was kind of neat.

Chinese New Year celebrations in D.C. Chinatown

I went to Chinatown to report on the New Year's parade, which I thought was supposed to begin at 2 and end at 5 p.m., but somehow I was wrong and I missed it. I arrived at about 3:30 and it had just ended. I got a few good photos though, and I bought a small paper lion.
There were also supposed to be firecrackers, but a suspected gas leak forced officials to cancel them and evacuate the area.

http://picasaweb.google.com/heatherllockwoood
/ChinatownNewYearSParade21091008PM?authkey=i0J2i7RXHt4#

National Museum of Natural History

I spent a few hours at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History yesterday and because the museum is so large and I wanted to take my time looking at the exhibits, I only saw about a fifth of it.

The gemstones and minerals exhibit featured the Hope Diamond, and I saw a large sheet of copper that could coat more than 2 1/2 million pennies. It was recovered in 1985 and is one of few that have ever been found, all of which were found in northern Michigan.

The great thing about D.C. is that all federal museums, and there are many of them, have free admission, seven days a week. My goal is to see all of them at least once while I'm here.