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| Even the carpet is beautiful! |
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| My friend Jennie, looking up a book in the card catalog. |
Monday, November 11, 2013
The Library of Congress, Part 2
The Library of Congress, Part 1
Twice a year, the Library of Congress opens the Reading Room to the public and lets visitors come in and take pictures. I went today and can honestly say, the Reading Room and the Library as a whole is the most beautiful building I have ever seen.
These pictures do not do it justice!
These pictures do not do it justice!
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| Not the Library of Congress, but a beautiful picture nonetheless. |
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| The conveyer belt. Dan Brown LIED! You can't ride on this! |
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| Moses with horns |
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| Even the chairs are beautiful! |
My Top Chef Obsession...
I love Top Chef and I cannot lie.
Yes, my love borders on obsession.
Yes, I did drive an hour and a half to wait in a parking lot for four hours to get the chance to taste Chef Ryan Scott's food.
But, hey, at least I admit I have a problem. That's a start, right?
So when I had the chance to talk to astronaut Dr. Sandy Magnus one on one, I didn't talk to her about space, I asked her about the time in Season 7 when she got to be a guest diner for the Gastronauts episode.
And to cap off the weekend, I had lunch today at We the Pizza, owned by Season 4 and All Stars Chef Spike Mendelsohn. I persuaded the guy on the line to give me a pizza box from the restaurant to store all of my DC goodies.
Yes, my love borders on obsession.
Yes, I did drive an hour and a half to wait in a parking lot for four hours to get the chance to taste Chef Ryan Scott's food.
But, hey, at least I admit I have a problem. That's a start, right?
So when I had the chance to talk to astronaut Dr. Sandy Magnus one on one, I didn't talk to her about space, I asked her about the time in Season 7 when she got to be a guest diner for the Gastronauts episode.
She said the food was amazing and that Tom Colicchio was a genuinely nice guy. She didn't mention Eric Rippert or Anthony Bordain. One day, I will get up the courage to ask Leland Melvin about it.
Anyway, it gave me the motivation to find the location of the Top Chef house here in DC. Turns out, it's very near Dupont Circle and is an easy bike ride from my apartment. So Sunday, I went!
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| Ta da! |
And to cap off the weekend, I had lunch today at We the Pizza, owned by Season 4 and All Stars Chef Spike Mendelsohn. I persuaded the guy on the line to give me a pizza box from the restaurant to store all of my DC goodies.
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| Spike, looking over my shoulder... |
And, it turns out, that Chef Spike is often found at one of his other restaurants Bearnaise and I missed seeing him by 15 minutes.
To be continued...
Earning my Ellie Badge
I finally earned my Ellie Badge! I am having some grand adventures here in Washington. Here are some of the things I have done in the last three weeks.
On October 24th, I got to travel to an elementary school in Virginia and demonstrate the Peeps in Peril lesson at a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) Fair. It was wonderful having a chance to work with kids again! I really miss it!
On October 29th, my fellow NASA Fellow, Melinda and I were host to the Finham Park School from the United Kingdom. Twenty 8th graders and three teachers came over to visit a partner school in Boston and finished up their trip with us. Since there is not much to see at Headquarters, we took them on a guided tour of the National Air and Space Museum.
On November 1st, I went outside of my comfort zone a little and went to a lecture/screening at the National Museum of the American Indian and saw Star Wars dubbed into Navajo. It was AMAZING to not only see a film I was so familiar with in a different way, but to hear the director and two translators discuss the process following the film.
The most interesting part of the night was listening to the translators talk of how they chose the words for the movie. For instance, the word they used for "Uncle" Owen was the Navajo word for father, because in your clan, your father's brother has the same role as your father. They also tried to match the syllables on the screen as best as possible so it would not looked like a poorly dubbed movie. So "Docking Bay 94" stayed in English, because the Navajo word for the number ninety-four has eight syllables. They were also careful in the word they chose for the Force, because the translators did not want to use anything that had sacred meaning to the Navajo. They chose to dub Star Wars because of its universal reach - it was a movie that could be enjoyed by all generations. A truly amazing evening!
On November 2nd, I got to meet Col. Chris Hadfield, former commander of the International Space Station.
This is just the beginning of my adventures this year! I really can't believe it myself sometimes.
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| Anne, Kennedy, and Zovig |
October 26th brought me to the White House (again!) for the Fall Garden Tour.
I visited a very special spot in the Rose Garden, where I had sat just a short 11 years ago.
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| I am fairly sure I sat to the right of that tree... |
October 28th was the official briefing at Headquarters about the upcoming mission to Mars. I got to watch the briefing live and was actually shown on NASA TV! You can see the briefing at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5bi32hZ7bw&feature=youtu.be
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| Screen grab from YouTube |
On October 29th, my fellow NASA Fellow, Melinda and I were host to the Finham Park School from the United Kingdom. Twenty 8th graders and three teachers came over to visit a partner school in Boston and finished up their trip with us. Since there is not much to see at Headquarters, we took them on a guided tour of the National Air and Space Museum.
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| Yes, I do own more than one NASA shirt... |
On November 1st, I went outside of my comfort zone a little and went to a lecture/screening at the National Museum of the American Indian and saw Star Wars dubbed into Navajo. It was AMAZING to not only see a film I was so familiar with in a different way, but to hear the director and two translators discuss the process following the film.
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| I have the same poster, but with the DC screening information on it.! |
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| Members of the 501st! |
On November 2nd, I got to meet Col. Chris Hadfield, former commander of the International Space Station.
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| See! I DO own other NASA shirts! |
He signed books and thanked everyone for waiting in line to meet him. What a nice guy!
November 7th brought me back to the National Air and Space Museum for a lecture on the Overview Effect. It was fascinating to listen to astronauts talk about our fragile Spaceship Earth and the new perspective they have when they view our thin atmosphere from space. They talked about seeing the planet as a system rather than individual parts. It was fascinating.
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| Astronaut Sandy Magnus |
A beautiful fall day...
I went for a long bike ride one afternoon this week. I wanted to share my pictures with you.
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| The Titanic Memorial on the Potomac Waterfront. He's king of the world... |
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| The Jefferson Memorial |
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| Trees along the Tidal Basin |
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| The light directly under the Statue of Freedom indicates that Congress is in session. |
Furlough Truth
First, I apologize that it has been so long since I have posted. But I plan on getting you all caught up the last month's worth of activities.
First, the truth about the furlough. I was directly affected by the furlough as was all of NASA. It was especially disappointing for me because all of my work leading up to the furlough was in preparation for working the NASA exhibit at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. I was to have been there for ten days, teaching everyone about pressure suits and what happens to your body at high altitudes.
It would have been an amazing event and I was really looking forward to going, but with the furlough, no one from NASA was allowed to travel to and work the event. So, even though all of our materials had already be shipped to New Mexico, the tent would never open. It was disappointing, to say the least.
The shutdown left me rather jaded, as for the first time, I experienced the journalistic slant that I didn't want to believe existed. Based on what I saw on CNN, there were hundreds of protesters, looking longingly at the memorials and the monuments. In reality, it was one guy with a sign. Everyone else was enjoying the memorial. Yes, the fountains were off, but it was still open.
But, I enjoyed the furlough, because it meant that I got to spend time with the best people ever!
First, the truth about the furlough. I was directly affected by the furlough as was all of NASA. It was especially disappointing for me because all of my work leading up to the furlough was in preparation for working the NASA exhibit at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. I was to have been there for ten days, teaching everyone about pressure suits and what happens to your body at high altitudes.
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| This is your body in a vacuum. |
It would have been an amazing event and I was really looking forward to going, but with the furlough, no one from NASA was allowed to travel to and work the event. So, even though all of our materials had already be shipped to New Mexico, the tent would never open. It was disappointing, to say the least.
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| Sorry, we're closed. |
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| The "barriers" in front of the World War II Memorial |
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| There were as many reporters at WWII as there were tourists. |
The shutdown left me rather jaded, as for the first time, I experienced the journalistic slant that I didn't want to believe existed. Based on what I saw on CNN, there were hundreds of protesters, looking longingly at the memorials and the monuments. In reality, it was one guy with a sign. Everyone else was enjoying the memorial. Yes, the fountains were off, but it was still open.
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| Yeah...I'm protesting. Or something... |
But, I enjoyed the furlough, because it meant that I got to spend time with the best people ever!
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