um, excuse me...?

while i have managed to resist the urge to post regarding work matters, the continually strange bathroom behavior of the women in the suite adjacent to ours forces me to compare notes with others. let me begin by noting that our bathroom is rather small, with 4 cramped stalls and only 1 toilet that properly flushes. imagine walking into this only to find a woman talking on her cell phone while going to the bathroom with the door open....that's right. is this not the strangest thing you've ever heard? its most surprising when you don't realize she's in there until you venture to the sink for some proper hand washing and see her half exposed, squatting body displayed in the mirror. this is not a one time thing -- my other coworker has been dealing with this for over a year. i wonder if i should be made aware of some phobia regarding a fear of locking your bathroom door. or perhaps its a cultural thing. i want to tell her there is a private, large handicap bathroom that she can use to chat in with ease and since its almost as big as the one with 4 stalls crammed in, she can probably feel much less "enclosed". seriously people, i can't make this kind of stuff up.

I have visited 7 countries

But only 3% of the world.






To see how much of the world you have trekked:
http://www.world66.com/myworld66/visitedCountries


Obviously nothing monumental is happening at the Capital.

Double Duty

So, after wondering for about 15 minutes how the heck to post to this thing, I think I finally figured it out. I promised to post by today so here goes... (I'm actually a little scared since I've never blogged before!)

I was reading a story today about Miss USA possibly being abused as a child. She was attributing some of her issues with drugs and alcohol to this abuse. While I doubt life for a gorgeous beauty queen has been really difficult hard, considering her hardest decision all day is probably "do I eat, or do I not eat? hmm... maybe just some Vodka instead.", I think it's fine that she still gets to keep her crown and represent America... which got me thinking. Didn't we just have the Miss America pageant? Do we really have a Miss USA and a Miss America?

So I decided to do some research...

We do, in fact, has a Miss USA and a Miss America (as well as a Miss Blue Devil, Miss Fire Ant, and Miss Rural Electrification). Miss USA has been running for 56 years and was started as a promotional campaign for a swimsuit company, while Miss America has been a scholarship competition for 86 years. The biggest difference I found was that The Miss USA pageant does not have a talent competition (but why do we need that with American Idol back on air?). No wonder Miss USA is using cocaine and alcohol! She doesn't have anything better to do like practice her piano or twirl flaming batons. The Miss America pageant is run by the non-profit Miss America Organization-- not Donald Trump. Interesting... I know.

To lead you through the Stephanie mind set of how I got to this topic at all... I was interested to know what would happen if Miss USA and Miss America showed up at the same place.

My question to you: Who holds the higher title: Miss USA or Miss America? Thoughts...

You know you live in DC when...

A valid excuse for being late to work is...."I was stuck waiting on 16th Street for the President's motorcade to go by..." As much as Mr. President drives me nuts, it is something to start the day with a wave and a smile from him and his ginormous security detail...

Also, did anyone else read the post article about racial profiling? Now, I in NO way condone racial profiling, but have you ever been to the corner of 17th & Euclid? There are like 9,000 bums, crack pots, etc. roaming around there and a family of like 17 people (that happen to be black) live in the house on the corner (which some of you may remember was featured in a lengthy City Paper article a couple of years ago.) The fact that more of them get stopped by the cops has nothing to do with race, and everything to do with the nefarious activities that have been going on on that corner for years! I just found it so odd they'd single out that location which is soooo notorious and use it as an example. It just goes to show how out of touch these researchers are with true community dynamics.

Now if they'd said 16th & U Street, I'd listen and think twice, it's a much better example of a diverse population....

DC Job at the Onion

Washington DC
City Editor

The Onion is looking for a qualified, culture-savvy writer to work as the full-time Washington D.C. City Editor. The Washington D.C. City Editor will oversee all local elements of The Onion A.V. Club, the entertainment section of The Onion. This will include managing listings and writing picks for cultural events of all kinds, overseeing contributing freelancers and interns, coordinating promotional events with the advertising staff, and conceiving and implementing new ideas for local coverage. **THIS JOB DOES NOT INVOLVE WRITING COMEDY/SATIRE**

Qualified candidates will possess:

• Strong writing, editing, and organizational skills
• An impressive knowledge of (and intense love for) music, restaurants, film, comedy, theater and an appreciation of what makes D.C. unique in these areas
• The ability to manage freelancers and work well with a national editor of local content, The Onion advertising staff, and the staff of The Onion A.V. Club
• Experience in journalism, publishing, or a related field
• A degree in journalism, English, communication arts or its equivalent (If you’re awesome and you don’t have a degree, you might still be considered.)
• Enough computer skills not to embarrass anyone

Is this you? Please send a resume with cover letter, salary requirements, writing and/or editing samples to jmodell@theonion.com

turning back the clock

who knew daylight savings time had changed? apparently, as congress and the world grows more aware and concerned with the global warming phenomenon, they are taking every possible step to reduce the use of energy. the change was actually initiated in 2005, and we saw the end of daylight savings time a week later in '06 -- november as opposed with october in previous years. now the second piece of change will be happening in two months, with the clocks rolling forward in March 11th, almost 3 weeks earlier! i for one am shocked, especially since i had no idea this was coming. it also means we early risers will be getting up in the dark again, as sunrise on the 11th is estimated to be around 7am. boo. it is also estimated, however, that the u.s. will save 100,000 barrels of oil by pushing more activity into the daylight hours. crazy.

in related energy news, california is trying to ban regular light bulbs. first smoking, then trans fat and now this....america says you are going to be healthy and live in a pollution free environment whether you like it or not.

Metro Center...not a foodie friendly locale

honestly, there isn't much interesting food-wise in the metro center area. the closest thing to a baja fresh is the qdoba down on E street, right next to the landmark theater. they are sadly lacking in the salsa bar department though. having worked right around the corner from kristen's new office for two and a half years, i was sick of eating at every restaurant in a 5 block radius. Thankfully, they did open the food court at the shoppes at some point during my tenure and there are some pretty good options there, including a $9.99/lbs. sushi bar (you can get about one roll and 5 pieces of nigeri for under $10) that will make what you want on request, as well as an indian place and, my all time favorite, Five Guys (best fries, ever). philipps, down on E street and 12th, has some pretty good salads and wraps -- they carve the turkey off a steaming carcass right in front of you. and i also really enjoyed the offerings of port of piraeus on 12th...however, they changed management and went from a greek restaurant run by, well greeks, to being run by latinos. not sure how the authenticity of the food is holding up with the original staff gone. cocina on 11th has yummy personal pizzas, but its a cash only establishment, which kind of drives me crazy. everything else in the area is pretty much a smattering of cosi's, starbucks and potbelly.