I'm Shutting Down The Studio

Due to a lapse of government funding, this blog is closed.

So I'm making my 3 mile trek through Rock Creek Park as I attempt to go pick up my daughter when I encounter this:



My immediate thought was, "Wow, they just shut down God. I guess if I keep walking all of the trees, dirt and rocks will be gone." Naturally, no one paid this sign any attention. I am not a government worker, but I'm certain I'll be affected by this soon enough. The same people who are so concerned about the economy don't seem to recognize the impact this will have on treasuries, consumer confidence, consumer spending, and (hopefully) their ability to get reelected.

The highlight of my day was watching the WWII vets walk right through the barricade in front of their memorial down on the mall. All of this is just infantile, and reinforces my long-held belief that I made the right choice turning down "a bright future" in politics. At the conclusion of my summer internship in a congressional office back in high school, I was offered the opportunity to stay on throughout the year. I gave a semi-professional declination, one that was completely undone by my commencement speech at the closing ceremony for the program.

In not so many (or so nice) words, I basically told a room full of congressmen that they don't do anything. Not only did I burn bridges, I set fire to highways, tunnels, and dirt paths. I'll never forget the one (and only) person who approached me after it was over, Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton. She told me that I was absolutely right, and that she appreciated my candor. My old "mentor" told me I was an idiot. "Say goodbye to that school trip to Europe."

In hindsight, it was probably the dumbest thing I've ever done at a job, but it was also the most sincere. The things I saw just bothered me. They bothered me so much that I pretty much set ablaze a fully paid European study tour (Rome, Paris, London), a guaranteed scholarship to college, and a TON of professional references.

Would I do the same thing today? I don't know. Only if it could prevent me having to explain this to my full-bladdered three year old on the way back home:

[caption id="attachment_3653" align="alignnone" width="604"] No, you can't go to the bathroom, because Congress needs to use it. Right now they're full of...[/caption]