life in the heart of things

My attempt at updating every day has failed. Sorry, friends.

Life here is good. I moved into my apartment in DC on Sunday. I'm right next to GWU, at Foggybottom. It's right within walking distance of Georgetown, as well. In other words: amazingly convenient. The complex itself is right between a pub and a Thai restaurant, and across the street from Subway and Papa John's. Perfect.

My internship doesn't start until next week. I've been working on my project, which now has 12,000 words and counting. My goal is 15,000 by tonight. I'm thinking, a typical book has somewhere between 60,000-80,000 words, so I'm well on my way.

This morning I spent exploring. Even though I've lived here for 75% of my life, I've never just started walking to see where I'd end up. I wandered Pennsylvania, Constitution, and Independence Avenues and then C Street, and 23rd. Passed the Secretary of the Navy Bureau of Medicine, the Federal Reserve, the Holocaust Museum, the State Department, some monuments, and eventually ended up at the Smithsonian, where I ate at the gardens. I only turned back because my feet were developing blisters.

There is something very liberating about wandering a huge and confusing city by yourself.

Although I did miss Carl.

Yesterday was exciting. I went out with some new friends in pursuit of adventure, and we certainly found one. We got caught in a huge rainstorm while looking for my work, which is at Federal Triangle. It was ridiculous. We all got soaked to the bone and the people we passed laughed at us for not thinking ahead. John, the guy with us, had brought an umbrella, but the other chick and I had not been that smart. And in any case, the umbrella made next to no difference. In the end, we got lost in the rain, but ended up in Chinatown, which I luckily am slightly familiar with, and then went home. We decided to stop at CVS on our way, and were fortunate (?) enough to witness some pastry theft by this giant black guy. It was intense.

Other than that. Things are pretty good. Still waiting to hear back from that agent about The Melody of the Pawn. Hmm, and I should probably go shopping now...