4 guys, 4 girls + one pillar = impromptu pole dances!!! Whoa. And today we prance around in pajamas, out for lunch and then shopping at Burberry. The life of a working girl is great! I just wish they'd double my monthly pay of $0 to $0. *shrug*

**UPDATE***
Darn it... my hopes and dreams of meeting Kobe Bryant dashed... the Lakers picked up Luke Walton. Who the heck is that?! He better be good... no Joe Shipp... *sadness*

It's almost time... just three more teams before the Lakers decide who their second draft pick will be. Their first pick was Brian Cook. There have been rumors that Joe Shipp might be picked up by either the Warriors, Clippers, or LAKERS!!!! I seriously hope the Lakers get him. I think he would be an asset to the team, considering that the team is lacking in defense, as well as a good forward. Laker ball will be THAT much more interesting... though I'll still always be loyal to my Kobe. But having Shipp on the Lakers should give me some sort of bragging rights. I DID call him all the time my Freshman year at Berkeley AND I stood behind him in a Safeway line one time... think that'll score me some free Laker tickets??? Here's a proposition... I'll marry any guy that can supply me with a lifetime's worth of front row tickets to every Laker game. Anybody? Anybody?

Double score!!!

Yes... score!!!

I just got charged 9 bucks for a 4-block drive! I would've walked, except the sky opened up and big drops of rain poured down (Summer Solstice my @$$.) Damn cab drivers in DC, always trying to rip people off!!!!!

Random outing tonight: I ended up going to some internet/sushi bar that also sells hookahs. One of the girls with us decides to smoke an apple-flavored hookah. Honestly, it smelled pretty darn good... but I'm a stickler about not defiling the ol' temple (my body). It's been an interesting night, to say the least...

If Thursdays with Natalia aren't super enough, I am just LOVING my Fridays! I had such a GREAT day!!!! Walking to work with Amit and Gray was fabulous. I got to work 5 minutes early (always a plus!). Cassidy greeted me with a smile. I opened mail and then Gabbo called me around 10am, asking me to go help out her office with constituent tours. I'm always down for meeting people from my district, so I was very excited.

Solis' office had 31 people come in from some middle school that I've never heard of. Talk about strange and crazy encounters. For all you sappy folks out there, check out this story. So I'm checking out the crowd, seeing who these people are. I spy this lady amongst the crowd and was immediately attracted to her animated way of speaking that I just HAD to talk to her. I asked if she was a teacher. She replied with, "Yes, but not with this school." Said me, "You remind me so much of my old kindergarten teacher." Said she, "I never taught kindergarten, except a long time ago at Potrero..." Together in unison, "HEIGHTS!" I then burst out with, "Mrs. Hernandez!!!!" Three thousand miles away from home, and out of some random turn of Fate, I am reunited with one of my FAVORITE teachers... from kindergarten!!!! I used to never believe that people could cry tears of joy, but today was one of those days. I lost contact with her sometime after my 4th grade year, and I'm one of those students that periodically go back to visit old teachers. Apparently, she had taken some time off from teaching to take care of her two little boys and so nobody really knew how she was or how to get in touch with her.

It was great telling her about how I've been in the past decade and how she influenced my life. All the other teachers were very touched that we found each other, too. It's like one of those stories on Oprah... and I know how cheesy this entry is gonna read to everybody else, but for me, it was stupendous.

Fridays are also great because it's the only day that Natalia, Gabbo and I all work. We were able to catch lunch together and exchange stories about what we did last night. I live with Dumb (Gabbo) and Dumberer (Natalia). (I'm Dumber.) It's cool to give sandwiches soulmates and walk down 17th Street singing the theme song to "Pinky and the Brain" in a round, while marching in unison.

When I got home, I found not one, but TWO care packages waiting for me. Star Buddy and I have been reunited!!!! Thanks to Caroline and my momma, the care packages were like the cherry on top of the sundae.

All in all, a wonderfully great day... reunited with Mrs. Hernandez, good day at work, silly but wonderful roommates, and a lovely reminder that I am loved at home (both in Berkeley and LA).

This entry, taken from Gabbo's blog, has been one of THE funniest thing I've ever read. (I literally laughed out loud for 5 minutes in the computer lab.) For record keeping purposes, I have decided to include this into my blog so that I may reflect on the silly memories that we have shared.

Sunday, June 15, 2003
WEEK 2: ADJUSTING

Ohhhhhh.... I understand what Caroline said about blogger having a new format. I "likey" too. This past week has been a lot about self-discovery, and achieving a social balance in this political ambiance. Week 2 in DC Summarized (others): Jamie has developed a "questionable reputation" thanks to former speech boy Amit, and is juggling an MC (Most Compatible), MD (Most Desperate), and a MW (Most Wanted.) Natalia managed to remove her Heinneken wristband while at her congressional office and has found her soulmate, Maximo. She styles his hair. Together they are a combined age of 6, says Natalia. Adrian is dating "Reagan," Caleb's flannel pillow. She also formed ties to Lou Pearlman (creator of BSB and NSYNC to edify the non-pop-inclined) and was liberated by France. Caleb discovered Dupont Circle fashions for men: mesh muscle tees and Lebow shorts. Week 2 in DC Summarized (me): I have become a bit of an observer this past week. Long days shape me/the working girl routine is definining my daylight social life as my role as DC Intern Extraordinaire is on display at the Longworth HOB nine hours a day. Hard nights break me/ I have slept through my nights knowing work starts early each morning, missing out on Jamie dancing on blocks, Natalia fending off overeager 18-year-old clubgoers and Adrian making up names for people in CITC after $70 Long Island Iced Teas, like "Bah-HAHA," "Tsunami," and "Subaru." Next week I won't need to stay home while they party. Granted they all have days off during the week, but like I said in high school "sleep is for sissies!" I'm adapting. In all shapes and forms. The freak weather: no problem. I bought a $10 umbrella off a shady looking character off of Farragut West. The self-doubts: I have learned this past week to dismiss snide comments from jealous people. While I never wish anything bad upon anyone it was something else to witness someone fall down some slippery stairs after making some comments to me that made me feel, honestly, inferior. While I usually do not have a self-esteem problem, being in this city of high-caliber backgrounds and high-powered agendas for only one week it was all too easy to fall victim to such mindgames. Memo to self: If this were an episode of "DISMISSED" those 15-minutes of drama are now over, you are happy and in love and that corroded third-wheel has been kicked off the show. Furthermore, the California longings: I ate at CPK with Caleb. One BBQ Chicken pizza later I felt tons better. And finally, on Father's Day to complement Mother's Day and something that made my mom happy is that I attended a Catholic Mass with Caleb today at the first black Catholic church of DC--in Latin. Unfortunately, I took only one quarter of Latin my first semester at Berkeley (Latin school dropout, yup that's me)-- so, hodie latinae gaudium non est--meaning (I think) Latin is not (no longer) fun today. It was 10 AM. I felt just a bit lost. Caleb's singing in Latin was a highlight though. Go neumes. There is no music in this lab so the whole "what I am listening to" thing is defunct for the summer unless I figure out how to integrate sound into this machine. Until then have a quote:

Troy Dyer: There's no point to any of this. It's all just a... a random lottery of meaningless tragedy and a series of near escapes. So I take pleasure in the details. You know... a quarter-pounder with cheese, those are good, the sky about ten minutes before it starts to rain, the moment where your laughter becomes a cackle... and I, I sit back and I smoke my Camel Straights and I ride my own melt.

posted by Gabby | 7:27 PM

I gave my first tour of the Capitol! Oddly enough, I still have not received any training... I didn't even know where to take the people on the tours. I had to stop and ask other interns where to go... quite embarassing. My only experience with sightseeing is when I ran amuck with Natalia on our day off (Thursday.) Just think "Dyck" or "Legally Blond 2," that's how we were. I seriously think our pictures are up somewhere, blacklisting us from ever working for the government again. Yep... that's me, "Jamie: Troublemaker." But as of late, I seem to have taken on the reputation as "Jamie: Drunken Whore." Funny this is, I didn't even drink! Nor am I a whore... at least I don't think I am...

We went to go visit Dr. McGinnis' house today, OG Cal in the Capitol director. He actually founded the program... very nice guy. Is now filthy rich and lives in a beautiful house with a beautiful wife, beautiful kids and a beautiful Golden Retriever. Kinda makes me want to up and move to DC to partake in the "American Dream." Though it's not LA, there are things about DC that I really love... and I've only been here for a week!!! I've still got lots of sightseeing to do...

Not the first time I went to a bar, but definitely the first time I had a friend so drunk, she blew kisses to every guy that she passed as she stumbled home. When asked where her ID was to get into our UC Center, she said, "Will my fake ID work? If not, we'll leave." I regretfully had to inform her that we weren't going to another bar, but going home to sleep. Interestingly enough, we all had a good time. We even had a guy try to walk us home. *shrug* Boy, do interns know how to party...

My first day day interning, here in Washington, DC... Gabby and I keep getting lost! Ironically, we always manage to stumble home. Instead of walking towards the UC Center from the Metro station after work today, we somehow walked in one big circle and ended up right where we started from at the station. We have yet to make it to the Safeway... we're told that it's about 4 blocks away. (The sad part is that we've tried to find the darn place twice already!)

I just found out tonight that Mr. Hayami will be in town in July... and he wants to meet up with me! Amazing, the man is driving cross country in a RV with his family. I'm supposed to be trained in giving tours around the capital on Wednesday, so when Mr. Hayami actually comes to visit, I should be a pro. Emphasis on SHOULD. We'll see how far I actually progress.

I met with Congresswoman Barbara Lee today. The Members were in session, so it was difficult to talk to them for very long. I'll update more as I attempt to take over the government. (Just kidding.) Crappers... ever seen "Enemy of the State"? (I know Caroline has... hahah.) I'm probably going to end up on some blacklist for that comment.

Contrary to all the other Capitol Hill interns, work hasn't been too boring... nothing that I haven't done for Wally: cutting newspaper articles, editting speeches, faxing, xeroxing and tons and tons of filing. Oooh... I even get to open Barbara's mail. But that's the one thing that worries me... Republicans totally hate her. I think she's even known as a "traitor to America," according to one website She's received tons of threatening mail and phone calls... with even a couple of suspected anthrax incidents. I think I am in the most high-profile, targeted office in Longworth... hmm... make that of all the Congressional delegates. Oh well, if anything happens to me, Gabbo will be right there with me in the office next door. Muhahahhaha.

FYI: People who search for "Jamie Raves" often end up at my site. I did a search today and discovered that Jamie Raves is actually a very famous male gay escort. *shocked* We are NOT to be confused.

Moving sucks... if anybody questions why, please read this.

Am loving LA life. Where else can you catch a movie and then get a breakfast burrito 24 hours of the day? The Italian Job was excellent. Great action... very much a thinking movie, like Spy Game. But for some reason, nobody else seems to like Spy Game as much as me. So if you didn't like Spy Game, the Italian Job was better than that. And if you DID like Spy Game, the Italian Job was just as great.

Never in my 20 years of existence have I ever felt as sh.tty or as beat down as the past couple of days. I've been attributing my negativity to the multitude of things that have gone wrong; from housing drama to internship problems to ASUC staffing to more housing drama (and now sore limbs). But alas, my partner in crime knows me best... I'm stronger than all that. Those weren't the reasons why I was in a slump... just the scapegoat. My one weakness is in dealing with emotions, and that was the root of it. I tried to fool myself into thinking that I'm independent enough to not let these things get me down. But when it comes right down to it, I'm just like every other person. I'm no Raskolnikov – the rules of the heart pertain to me, too. The one person that I wanted and needed the most didn't want to be there for me... and that's what really hurts. Mrs. Wellenstein was right. You make time for the things that are important to you... and apparently, I wasn't important enough...