Dear Senator Franken,
I met you at the Reagan National Aiport over Memorial Day Weekend when our flight to Minneapolis was delayed for several hours. I would like to take this opportunity to again express to you how impressed I have been with you and how proud I am to have helped vote you into office and to be able to call you my Senator. Every time I have seen you in a Congressional hearing or committee meeting I have been struck by how thoroughly you research the topic, and how resolutely you stick to your opinions and your morals.
It is with great reluctance that I have decided to switch my residency from Minnesota to DC. I have now lived in DC for two years, and have decided to stay for at least one more year. I confess that a large part of my reluctance to switch is because I will be very disappointed to lose you as my Senator. You are a great voice for level-headed resolution to stick to what one believes in, and you do Minnesota incredibly proud.
As you know, DC residents effectively have no representation -- though I have great respect for Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, she does not have the level of power to represent her constituents that is afforded to every other member of Congress has. I hope that you will raise your voice as an ally to the residents of DC who have no representation.
Again, I thank you for your service to the residents of Minnesota. Keep up the good work, and keep sticking to your morals!
All the best,
Inez Steigerwald
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Friday, July 8, 2011
Giving
Here's something I think about a lot: I think it would be good to give away as much money as I spend on myself. I don't mean as much as I spend on rent and groceries and paying off loans, but on things I don't really need: going out to dinner, beer, a new pair of flipflops when I already have two pairs. I think that if I can afford to spend the money on myself, I should be willing to spend it on people who don't have extras, too.
That would require a whole lot of tracking, though. Is that a cop-out reason not to do it?
That would require a whole lot of tracking, though. Is that a cop-out reason not to do it?
Clearness
Hello, world. Hello, early 20s.
I've spent the last year or so feeling a bit like a sailboat on a still day --not sure where I'm going or how to get there, just rocking back and forth and watching the occasional seagull fly by. If I know anything about myself, I'll probably be back to low-level anxiety within a week or a month or by the end of the summer, but for now, I'm pleased to say that I feel a bit more sure about the right now, and a little bit more sure about which general direction I'm heading (north northwest, if you must know), if not how to get there or what it will look like along the way.
Here's what I've been thinking about as I walk my dog in the mornings: When I got Raleigh, he pulled constantly on the leash. The world was just! so! exciting! that he preferred to pretend I wasn't there, on the other of the leash, with my own agenda and pace. In fact, when I insisted he pay attention to me he would literally lean to the side so he could look around my legs rather than look up at me and receive a treat.
Okay, I'm not going to pretend I didn't lose patience with him -- a LOT -- just like I won't pretend that I haven't spent large portions of the past year in low-level anxiety, but here's what I said to myself a month or so in to living with Raleigh: we have our whole lives to get it right. He doesn't have to be great on the leash right now. It would be nice if he was, it would make walking him much more enjoyable and relaxing, but it's probably not going to happen right now, and that's okay. We have a good 10-15 years ahead of us in which to get it right.
At the time I watched him choking himself in his excitement to get to the squirrel! squirrel! right there! and thought, "I would love to be able to walk my dog with just a leash and collar" (rather than choke chain, martingale, Gentle Leader, etc). And in the mean time I tried every strategy I could to get him to mellow out and recognize my presence on a walk. Hi! You know that person who feeds you and rubs your belly and throws the ball for you in the back yard? I'm here, on the other end of the leash! HELLO I'M RIGHT HERE.
And now, we walk twice a day with just a leash and collar. Sometimes we can even walk with other people! or another dog! with just a leash and collar. How wild is that? So cool.
So I guess what I'm trying to say is: it's good to have goals, and it's good to work hard to get to them. But it's also okay to say, "I have my whole life to get it right."
I've spent the last year or so feeling a bit like a sailboat on a still day --not sure where I'm going or how to get there, just rocking back and forth and watching the occasional seagull fly by. If I know anything about myself, I'll probably be back to low-level anxiety within a week or a month or by the end of the summer, but for now, I'm pleased to say that I feel a bit more sure about the right now, and a little bit more sure about which general direction I'm heading (north northwest, if you must know), if not how to get there or what it will look like along the way.
Here's what I've been thinking about as I walk my dog in the mornings: When I got Raleigh, he pulled constantly on the leash. The world was just! so! exciting! that he preferred to pretend I wasn't there, on the other of the leash, with my own agenda and pace. In fact, when I insisted he pay attention to me he would literally lean to the side so he could look around my legs rather than look up at me and receive a treat.
Okay, I'm not going to pretend I didn't lose patience with him -- a LOT -- just like I won't pretend that I haven't spent large portions of the past year in low-level anxiety, but here's what I said to myself a month or so in to living with Raleigh: we have our whole lives to get it right. He doesn't have to be great on the leash right now. It would be nice if he was, it would make walking him much more enjoyable and relaxing, but it's probably not going to happen right now, and that's okay. We have a good 10-15 years ahead of us in which to get it right.
At the time I watched him choking himself in his excitement to get to the squirrel! squirrel! right there! and thought, "I would love to be able to walk my dog with just a leash and collar" (rather than choke chain, martingale, Gentle Leader, etc). And in the mean time I tried every strategy I could to get him to mellow out and recognize my presence on a walk. Hi! You know that person who feeds you and rubs your belly and throws the ball for you in the back yard? I'm here, on the other end of the leash! HELLO I'M RIGHT HERE.
And now, we walk twice a day with just a leash and collar. Sometimes we can even walk with other people! or another dog! with just a leash and collar. How wild is that? So cool.
So I guess what I'm trying to say is: it's good to have goals, and it's good to work hard to get to them. But it's also okay to say, "I have my whole life to get it right."
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Harpers Ferry
Colin and I packed up some food and extra clothes and rode to Harpers Ferry to stay at a B&B for the weekend before riding back. On the way up we stopped for lunch at this sweet aqueduct right before we picked up the C&O Canal Trail. Coincidentally, there was a folk singing group gearing up for a 45 minute concert right as we got there. It was awesome.
I am either enjoying the kiss on the cheek or looking at the turtle out in the river. Hard to say which.
I'm not sure how this picture happened, but I think it's cool:
THERE ARE PEOPLE on this cliff. Awesome:
On the way back, we saw a peacock. A PEACOCK. It was amazing. We stopped so I could gawk and take pictures and a woman came out of the house right there and I said, "I'm just taking pictures of your peacock." She said it's not hers, it just comes around. She said there's some farm on the other side of the hill with exotic birds and this guy must have escaped, but they've called the exotic bird people and they haven't come to get him yet. She said sometimes he goes across the street and fights with the rooster over there, and he really likes to hang out in the middle of the road, causing traffic jams. (Quite the feat way out there.)
There was one small hiccup: we came back on Monday and we didn't make it back in time to take the bikes on the metro from Vienna (no bikes allowed during rush hour) so we ended up going an extra 15 miles. The worst 15 miles of my life. By which I mean I was straight up GRUMPY. But, other than that, awesome trip.
I am either enjoying the kiss on the cheek or looking at the turtle out in the river. Hard to say which.
I'm not sure how this picture happened, but I think it's cool:
THERE ARE PEOPLE on this cliff. Awesome:
On the way back, we saw a peacock. A PEACOCK. It was amazing. We stopped so I could gawk and take pictures and a woman came out of the house right there and I said, "I'm just taking pictures of your peacock." She said it's not hers, it just comes around. She said there's some farm on the other side of the hill with exotic birds and this guy must have escaped, but they've called the exotic bird people and they haven't come to get him yet. She said sometimes he goes across the street and fights with the rooster over there, and he really likes to hang out in the middle of the road, causing traffic jams. (Quite the feat way out there.)
There was one small hiccup: we came back on Monday and we didn't make it back in time to take the bikes on the metro from Vienna (no bikes allowed during rush hour) so we ended up going an extra 15 miles. The worst 15 miles of my life. By which I mean I was straight up GRUMPY. But, other than that, awesome trip.
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| Please take note of my sweet Nike kicks my dear, dear sister gave me. I love you, C! |
Friday, July 1, 2011
Riding tunes
Last weekend Colin and I biked to Harpers Ferry, WV for the weekend. I've always been more of a sprinter than a long distance runner, so to help me get through what ended up being 110 miles of riding, all told, I brought some MP3 speakers in my front bag and rocked out while I rode. Here is an excerpt of that playlist.
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