Capitol Dome Tour and more...

Hey folks,

Well today was amazing. It was one of those typical D.C. days where when I lay my head on the pillow at 12:30am, I never could imagine what I was going to see when I lifting my head off the pillow some 18 hours before. Let's get started:

The congressman's office scheduled a tour of the White House for the other interns and me. I had been there on a tour about 10 years ago., but I didn't remember too much about it. It was actually much easier to get through security than I imagined.

It was really cool to see some of the rooms. They only show us the East Wing, which includes the State Dining Room, the Red Room, Blue Room, and the Library. We also saw the East Room. It is where most presidents hold their press conferences and other major ceremonies. It was kinda odd to be in a room I'm so used to seeing on television. They didn't allow pictures inside the White House, but don't worry I'll make up for it in just a bit...

When I got back to the office, they asked us if we wanted to go on a tour of the Capitol Dome. I jumped at the opportunity! I had heard about it just a few weeks earlier. These tours are very rare and most people never get the chance. You need to be escorted with a member of Congress and obviously, their schedules don't usually permit. During the tour, Congressman Camp told me that the last one he did was about 4 or 5 years ago! There was 7 of us in the group: Congressman Camp and his friends of his family, another staffer, the other intern, and me. We also had an amazing tourguide named Vernon, who led us up the over 600 stairs on the tour.

On right, you can see the route we took. Me being my creative self, used paint to outline it in red. We first went outside the present dome and saw where the old dome stood. (It's the grey bowl-shaped one in the map) It was made of copper and wood. They tore it down because it was a fire hazard and it also leaked when it rained.

We then took the original staircase from the old dome to head to the first balcony above the rotunda. (It's the first dot on the map) It was pretty high up, but little did I know I hadn't seen anything yet. From there, we could see the legendary frieze painted by three artists. A frieze is a painting that looks almost 3-d. It was designed by Constantino Brumidi in the 1870s. Brumidi is known as the Artist of the Capitol, painting the famed Brumidi corridors and a fresco on the rotunda ceiling. As Brumidi was about half done with the frieze, he slipped off his scaffolding and fell. However, his arm got caught in the rope and was broken. He hung stranded in mid-air for 15 minutes until someone came to his aid. About a month and a half later, Brumidi died of a heart attack. The work was taken up by his apprentice Filippo Costaggini. After painting another 1/3 of the mural, Costaggini was fired after the architect of the Capitol found out that he was planning to scrap Brumidi's own design for his own. The space lay dormant until the 1950s when Allyn Cox finished the frieze.

Here are a few photos:

Looking across you can see the frieze.

This is the view from the first balcony of the fresco on the ceiling (but more on that in a bit). Take note of those octagons around the top...


...because they open!! I never knew that! Apparently, it was to keep the rotunda cool before air conditioning.

We then made our way to the very top of the rotunda. It was really, really high up there. I didn't mind looking down but it was so hard to put my camera over the edge. I was so afraid I was going to drop it! Being up there that high also gave me a great look at Brumidi's fresco. It is called The Apotheosis of George Washington. Apotheosis essentially means "to take into heaven." It shows 13 maidens, and two other women (standing for freedom and liberty) around George Washington. On the outsides, it shows scenes of defense, seapower, commerce, and electricity.

Below you can see the view looking down.....(how cool is that?!)

I also took advantage of the scene to grab a picture with the Congressman.

Our next stop was heading outside to the very top of the Capitol. Remember the last post where I told you about the Statue of Freedom? To give you reference, we were about 10 feet under the statue. The view was unbelievable!!! I could see all of Washington and into Virginia!

There's the Supreme Court.

The National Mall of course!

There's the view looking up!

Wow, I love this town!

My third cool moment of the day was totally by chance. I was heading to class and had just come out of the Dupont Circle Metro station when I saw a familiar face trying to hail a cab. I kept thinking to myself that I had seen him in newspaper and on TV before. Then, it hit me! It was former Secretary of the Treasury Hank Paulson. (He was the Treasury Secretary under George W. Bush and orchestrated that bailout last fall.) Here's his wikipedia page just in case http://http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hank_Paulson He couldn't seem to hail a cab, so I thought quickly. I walked over to him and said "Excuse me, Mr. Paulson. If you sign this for me, I'll help you hail a cab." Sure enough, he signed my notepad and I helped him flag down a taxi. Haha! I now have the same signature that is printed on all the money in U.S.

Only in Washington folks. Only in Washington!

My parents are heading down this weekend! It'll be really nice to see them. In the meantime, take care!

And Noowww Jayyyy Lenooooo....and Me?!

Hey folks,

It's your good buddy Matt here. Welcome once again to the Gorm-zone! I had an interesting couple of days, so I figured I should fill you all in. But before I do, I want to update you on something that happened recently. I told you that I saw Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi on a tour of the Capitol. A gentleman who was on my tour took a few pictures and was gracious to send them to me for use in the Gorm-zone.

On Saturday, there was an event I was looking forward to for a couple weeks now: The National Book Festival. Every year it's held on the National Mall and brings forth really famous authors.

There's children's author Judy Blume

This year was no exception. From Jodi Picoult and Nicholas Sparks to John Grisham and filmmaker Ken Burns. The book signing schedule was my bible for the day as I spent most of the daylight hours in the shadow of the Capitol, buying books and then getting them signed.

I got down to the Mall at around 10:30 and heading to the book sales tent to stock up for the day. I bought A Time to Kill by John Grisham and took my place in line. However, as the minutes ticked down, the line wasn't moving. I decided to abandon my quest to meet John Grisham (who I really didn't care about anyway) and head over to Douglas Brinkley. Brinkley (son of former NBC News anchor David Brinkley) is a noted historian and author. He edited all of Ronald Reagan's presidential diaries into a book. (Apparently everyday of Reagan's presidency, he wrote an entry. Heck, I can barely write two blog posts a week!)

Ken Burns gave a lecture and signed books

Anyways, my parents gave me that book as a graduation gift from high school and I was able to get it signed my him. I also waited in line (for an HOUR AND A HALF!) to get American Lion signed. It is a book about Andrew Jackson by Newsweek editor Jon Meacham. It won the Pulitzer Prize this year. From there I rushed over to get a book signed by Gwen Ifill. She host a political show on PBS but many of you may know her as the moderator of the last two vice-presidential debates. Last trip of the day was to meet Dan Balz of the Washington Post. He wrote an amazing book on the 2008 election called The Battle for America. It took me about 2 days to read it. It was really good.
There's Gwen Ifill

On Sunday, I headed over to Georgetown to walk around a bit. I also really wanted to try some famous cupcakes from Georgetown Cupcake. They're supposed to be legendary. They were closed unfortunately. However I discovered a great little section of the city called Washington Harbor. It lies right on the Potamac and has a beautiful restaurant and marina. I also had dinner at one of my favorite burger joints: Fiver Guys Burgers and Fries. My family and I love it so much, we actually went there for Father's Day this year!

On Monday, I had some Washington Center events going on. In between, a few friends of mine got lunch at Union Station (a big mall, food court, and train station right near Capitol Hill). With our smoothies in hand walking to the next event, we see some cameras. Peering in for a closer look, we see that it's comedian D.L. Hughley! He was filming a segment for Jay Leno and was talking politics with people. He ends with one group and comes over to us. We think it is just to say hello, so we start talking to him. Then, all of a sudden, lights go on and BOOM!: we're being filmed. He starts talking to my two friends about being a Republican and a Democrat. All while we're in front of the camera! It finally ends and they tell us that it will probably be on either Friday or Monday. Look for me! I'm not sure how they edited it, you're probably going to be able to see me. But just in case, I'm the guy with the blue tie and pink shirt!

For this Capitol tour segment, we take you into the Visitors Center. It was just completed a few months ago, yet it took forever to build! In fact, they first started talking about adding a visitors center in the mid-1970s! That's Washington for ya! The picture is of the Statue of Freedom. It is the statue that is on top of the Capitol. I thought for many years that the Washington Monument was the highest point in D.C. Not true! It is the Capitol. The Washington Monument is technically the tallest, but according to the planners of the city, in a democracy nothing is of higher value than freedom...

That's all for me! Take it easy!

Farewell, Molly

I got some sad news to report tonight. My golden retriever Molly passed away last night. We discovered she had cancer late in the week. We decided to not let her suffer and put her down Saturday evening.

She lived until the ripe old age of 13. I got her when I was in 1st grade and we grew up together. I begged for a puppy when I was little and my parents finally acquiesced. My mother was not known for her love of dogs back then, but she quickly warmed to her and soon became truly another member of the family.

As a puppy, she used her paw to break free from her cage at night and roam around the house. Since she wouldn't use her own bed, I decided to use it on more than one occasion as a kid for my own naps (those pictures will never see the light of day!). She later would sleep at the end of my bed sprawled out across my feet. She would be perfectly comfortable, but I wouldn't be able to move. One night when I was little, she moved up the bed in the middle of the night. I woke up staring at Molly lying on the pillow next to me. I jumped out of bed, frightened. This caused her wake up and jump out too and we both raced into my parents' room scared of our own shadows.

Once, she jumped up on the counter and ate an entire pack of hot dogs and even candy necklace (string included). She was also known throughout the neighborhood for her ferocious bark, finely tuned to erupt when other dogs crossed her line of sight. However, she would only do this from the safety of the house. Once outside, she would cower meekly behind my legs, whether the intruder was a dog, frog, or fish. Once when playing fetch outside, she tripped over my old sandbox and fell onto her back. She was stranded like a turtle on it's shell, flailing her paws and head until my mom rolled her over. I sat on the porch laughing at the sight.

This past November, she caused quite the stir in my family when my dad tripped over her and broke his leg, causing him to have surgery and leaving him in a cast through January. She naturally came away without a scratch.

She was a dog of fine taste: her favorite foods included cheese, Smarties candy, hard-boiled eggs, and cannolis. At any meal, she would always rest her head on your leg and gaze wistfully at you...it usually worked. Her love of food was only matched by her love of tennis balls.

Goodbye, buddy. Thanks for thirteen great years. I'll miss you.

A Pilgrimage to Politics and Prose (and Pearl Jam too!)

Hey folks!

It's late Friday night/early Saturday morning and I'd figure that I would take this time to tell you about the last week. This week flew by, huh? I cannot believe that very soon we're going to be heading into October! You mean to tell me I've already been here a month?

Well, let's start from the top: I think I found a new favorite place in Washington D.C.: Politics and Prose. It's a "storied" bookstore on Connecticut Avenue. While not having the size or selection of a Borders or Barnes and Noble, they make up for it by attracting authors and celebrities who want to promote their book. Anyone who's anyone in the nation's capital pays a visit to Politics and Prose if they have a book to sell. I had heard much about it and spent the entire afternoon there on Saturday. I bought a book signed by Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia as well as Ted Kennedy's new memoir. They have a great cafe downstairs, so I then sat down, ate a reuben, and starting reading!

Saturday night, I hung out with some fellow Stonehillers who are studying at American University. I slept over there and in the morning, we woke up early and watched President Obama make the rounds on 5 Sunday political talk shows. (I swear we have friends...)

Once the work week started things really started taking off! On Tuesday, Congressman Camp introduced a resolution in the House. Therefore, I was sent to the Republican Cloak Room (which is a room right off the House floor that members gather in) to get a bill number. Unfortunately for me, the door is not marked. So after a bit of searching, I finally found the place. However, I also found this right next to the door! A statue of good ol' Joe Martin, namesake of Stonehill's Martin Institute!

I kept seeing congressmen and women walk by me in the hallway, so I figured it would be a good idea to turn off my ringer (a Bruce Springsteen ringtone would probably not be welcome in this type of environment). So I adjust my phone and am now confident in it's silence. About 45 seconds later, I spot another member of Congress and an aide walking by. Just as they walk by, I hear a ringtone; basically just a cacophony of drums, guitars, and what sounded like a man screaming. I laughed to myself inside, thinking how embarassed the staffer must be that his ringtone went off. However, it kept going and after getting a weird look for the congressional party, I look down to my pocket to see that it was me! Apparently, when putting my iPhone on silent, I had accidentily opened up iTunes and was currently previewing Pearl Jam's new album! Welcome to my life...

Later that day, I had to run something over to the Rayburn House Office Building. It was a pretty neat experience. On my way over, I see a pretty strange site: a man in the hallway with two dogs running about. The man was throwing them treats and they even rode the escalator with him! I snuck a picture of the two dogs.

Upon exiting the staircase in Rayburn, I peeked into Rep. Don Young's office. On the wall was a full bear-skin rug. It was really cool. I had to take a picture. I then went over to Rep. Dale Kildee's office to finish my errand. As I'm in there waiting, out walks the Congressman. I chatted with him for a bit about my internship and some Massachusetts ties we share. He incredibly nice and engaging man. He is also currently one of the longest serving members in the House.

On Thursday, I had the privilege to have breakfast with former Senator Bob Dole. Dole was Senate Majority Leader for many years, a distinguished war hero who spent 39 months in the hospital after being shot in World War II, and also ran for President against Bill Clinton in 1996. He also was in a Pepsi commercial with Britney Spears about 10 years ago...check Youtube!

It was another breakfast organized for members of Congress, staffers, and interns. Sen. Dole is certainly not young anymore but he still is quite active and looks good for his age. He was also an incredibly nice man. He really took note of and was very inclusive to all the interns in attendance. You can't always say that for people around Capitol Hill. I made sure to get a picture with him afterwards.

Later that day, I gave another Capitol tour. Meeting J. Lo and Arlen Specter on the first one certainly set a high bar, however this one came close. I was doing my usual tour schtick...when we set foot into Statuary Hall. All of a sudden down the middle of the room comes Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi! This was a large group of people in the room at that time (it is a popular tourist spot) so she smiled briefly before her and her entourage proceeded to politely ignore us.

Now for the new feature I am sure you are all dying to see: my virtual tour of the Capitol. We're starting small here today folks. I'll be showing the in's and out's of the House Office Buildings. I work in Cannon. It is the oldest House office building. It was completed in 1908. It was built after members complained that there was not enough room to house all of their offices in the Capitol. Some of them resorted to using committee rooms and other Capitol hideaways as their makeshift offices. It was named after former Speaker of the House Joe Cannon in 1962.

And this is the office where I work...Cannon 341. We occupy three rooms. One is solely the congressman's office, the other is the reception area and the chief of staff's office, and the third is a bullpen-type area where me and the rest of the staff are.

A few feet outside our room is the Cannon Rotunda. Between the Capitol and the Cannon, we're pretty big fans of rotundas here in the Capitol. There are 18 Doric columns in the center. You may recognize the setting as the backdrop to live reports from Capitol Hill on cable news stations. Oftentimes, when you see a reporter standing in front of columns and talking about Congress, thery're located right here.

Heading downstairs into the basement of Cannon, you can head in a couple different directions. There's a direct tunnel to the Capitol. This is often used by members of Congress who are heading over to vote and their staffs. But there are also tunnels that connect over to the other two House office buildings: Rayburn and Longworth.

The basement of Longworth is the de-facto mall for House staff. We have a large cafeteria -with a pretty good menu-and plenty of seating so you can enjoy your lunch. There is also a little convenience store and even an ice cream shop called The Creamery. I haven't tried the ice cream yet, but I hear they have pretty good shakes.

There is also a barber shop and dry cleaners located in the basement. I haven't tried either of those yet, but I hear the barber shop has cut some pretty famous hair.

There is a short tour of all that the House Office Buildings have to offer. Next we'll head into the Capitol to give you a glimpse into the new Capitol Visitors Center.

That's all for me. Take care everybody!

J. Lo, Buzz, Monuments, and More!

Hey folks,

Well, what a week it has been! Let me start from the top...

On Thursday, I was fortunate enough to have breakfast with Buzz Aldrin. Every Thursday morning, staffers, interns, and a few members of Congress get invited to a speaker to talk about a certain issue or policy. It was pretty interesting. He was on the Apollo 11 mission and was the 2nd man to walk on the moon. (He was also the namesake for Toy Story's Buzz Lightyear)

Back in the office, I've been quite busy working on constituent mail and going to different policy briefings. The briefings are a great way to study-up on different issues. Working in the Capitol is really something! I really still have to pinch myself everyday! I work in the Cannon House Office Building. (which is technically across the street from the Capitol.) The days can be long sometimes (I normally work from 8:30am-6pm), but I really enjoy the work I do. The office I work in has a beautiful balcony that looks out over the street, with the Capitol on the left and the Library of Congress on the right. However, all the House and Senate Office Buildings, as well as the Capitol and Library of Congress, are connected by tunnels and subways. That way it is really easy for members and staff to walk from building to building for votes or meetings.

While this is really a neat feature of these historic buildings, it is quite a headache when trying to learn your way around the place. Walking back from listening to Buzz Aldrin speak, I attempted to find my way back to the tunnel back to Cannon. However, after encountering a few locked doors and descending down some strange looking tunnels, I ended up in the basement of the Library of Congress?! (which is clear across the street!) After walking around the basement for some time, I made my way upstairs to see noted author and primate scholar Jane Goodall signing books. By the time it was all said and done, I had to walk outside and go back across the street quite embarrassed and quite late.

That weekend, I met up with some Stonehill friends and we made our way around the National Mall. One of my favorite things to do in D.C. is to go see the monuments at night. It really is moving seeing them all lit up and looking out over the beautiful view. My favorite view in the entire city is on the far left of the Lincoln Memorial looking out. There you can see the reflecting pool, Washington Monument, and the Capitol. It is breathtaking on a clear night! On the right, you can some Stonehill kids spelling out the name of our 16th President!

The next day I went back to the Mall with my friends Sam and Diana to check out The National Archives (which houses the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution) and The National Botanical Gardens. The Botanical Gardens is one of the few places that I hadn't been before in Washington and I really enjoyed it. The flowers and plants were very colorful. That night, I went over to my cousin's apartment. His girlfriend made some chicken noodle soup and we watched the MTV VMA's and Entourage.

When the work week started, things really got going again. Today I gave my first tour of the Capitol. It's an awesome part of the job. Last Friday, I did a walk through of the tour route and took notes on what to point out and some history behind it all. I was a little nervous with the actual route. (As you read before, my sense of the direction in the Capitol is like a bloodhound's...) But I used that good ol' tourguiding experience from Stonehill to pull it off. But the tour itself was secondary to what happened while I was on it...

I was in a room right off the Capitol rotunda about to talk a little about a lifesize statue of George Washington, when a group of people came from the stairs leading above the statue down to the hallway I was in. Being in D.C., you get used people dressed nicely traveling in packs so I waited paitently for them to pass. When all of sudden, I saw a stunningly beautiful women in the center of the entourage...it was Jennifer Lopez!! She was dressed in a long pink dress and by her side was her husband, Marc Anthony. Both the two people in my group and I sat in stunned silence for a minute. I mumbled a "Good Afternoon, Jennifer." But I was still in shock. She is one of the last people I would expect to be there! It was the Capitol Rotunda! It's a place normally chock-full o'tourists! She just waltzed right on through.

Not five minutes later, as I was in the Capitol Rotunda, I saw a somewhat familiar face walking towards me. Sure enough, it was Senator Arlen Spector . I was quite a bit more confident in my greeting and got a pleasant response back from the Pennsylvania Democrat. J. Lo and Arlen Spector! Being the political nerd that I am, I'm almost as excited meeting Arlen Spector as I am J. Lo!

Honestly, I mean it when I say that everyday is something new here in Washington!

A special treat for all you out there in cyber-land! Announcing a new feature in the Gorm-zone: with every new post, I am going to take you on a virtual tour of the Capitol! I show you a small room or part of the Capitol and tell you a little piece of history or the stories behind it! Stay tuned in the coming days!

Alright, that's going to do it for me! Everybody take care and I'll be seeing ya!

Weekend with the Stonehillers!

Hey again folks,

In the middle of the work-week here in the nation's capital. But before we get too lost in the daily grind, I think I should recap some exciting things that happened to me over Labor Day Weekend. I was fortunate enough to meet up with some fellow Stonehill students, who I know quite well, that are also in D.C. for the semester. Some of the them are in The Washington Center program, like me, and others are part of American University's semester in Washington program.

Brenna and TJ are interning in Senator Ted Kennedy's office (Brenna actually started the day after he passed away). Sam is interning at the Department of Homeland Security and Jen is interning at the Center for Education Reform. We all decided to meet up in Chinatown Friday night for some dinner. It was so good to see everybody again. I hadn't seen Brenna, TJ, and Jen since school got out in May! We all caught up pretty quickly and we were swapping stories from our summer and what it was like to finally be in D.C. It felt so odd; we had talked about it in the abstract for about a year now and here we were-right in the thick of it!

We headed back to where TJ, Brenna, and Jen are living: the campus of American University. I was able to meet many of their friends. Surprisingly to me, many of them were from outside of the country. For example, both of TJ's roommates are German.

The next day, I woke up early with my roommates Alec and Russel to head to a few Smithsonians. We decided to conquer the American History and Natural History buildings today. I'm a big fan of the American History museum. For both a political and pop culture junkie like myself, it's exhibits could keep me there for days. I particularly enjoyed seeing the American Flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to write The Star Spangled Banner, Abraham Lincoln's suit, and...the original Kermit the Frog! (Hellooo, Kerrmit deeee Frog herrre!) A personal favorite from my childhood, as you can see! The Natural History museum is pretty cool too! They have plenty of stuffed wildlife including a grizzly bear, panda, and a giant elephant to greet you at the door!

(I have no idea what the heck kinda animal this is, it was on display at the museum and just makes me laugh)

The grand foyer of the Natural History Museum

The famous Hope Diamond, on display at the Natural History Museum

Brenna, TJ, and Jen invited Alec and I to a Washington Nationals game that night. The Nats are D.C.'s baseball team, but they are pretty bad. Getting a good seat usually isn't a problem. We all bought tickets at the stadium for about $10 and just kept moving up a few rows an inning. (Shhh!) Also during the game, mascots of different Presidents race in the outfield. It was a beautiful night for baseball though! And what a beautiful stadium; it just opened last year!

But the most exciting moment came towards the end of the game. We had just hunkered down in a new row of seats when Nationals outfielder Elijah Dukes hit a foul ball that was headed right for me! I reached out my bare hands and...caught it on the fly!! The entire section stood and cheered! After waving my prized ball in the air and thanking the crowd, I sat back down in awe of what just happened! I still can't believe I caught a foul ball! It now has a home on the nightstand next to my bed.

Me and my foul ball and all of us with Thomas Jefferson!

Sunday, we made a daytrip out to Six Flags America in Maryland. Supposedly by car it only was only 15 minutes away, but our auto-less selves had to make due with public transportation. After about an hour on the metro and another 45 minutes on a bus, we arrived!! I had never

been to a Six Flags before in my life so this was a huge thrill. I was really excited because I had also never been on a roller coaster that went upside-down before. Let's just say I'm a pro now! Superman: Ride of Steel is a favorite of mine. It has a 200 foot drop! Another is Batwing: it's is a roller coaster that you lie on your back for. Once you go up the ramp on your back, you turn over and are suddenly 100 feet in the air, soaring as if you are flying. The entire ride you are either on you back or on your chest. It was nuts! Brenna, who is not a fan of those types of rides, was a real champ all day and did most of the rides that we dared her to!

After such a whirlwind couple of days, I spent Monday relaxing at my cousin's Ed's apartment. They live in Arlington, just a few short Metro stops away from me. Both diehard Yankee fans, we were in luck since they were nationally televised that night. We ordered some Chinese food with his girlfriend and watched the Yanks put a beating on the Tampa Bay Rays. I had to call it an early night though, my internship would start in the morning!


More to come from D.C.! Stay tuned in the next couple of days. We will have a "Guest Blog" from some friends at Stonehill and a whole lot more! Take care!