Christmas in the District

The above picture is of myself and the interns at the National Christmas tree lighting Dec. 7.
I'm in the middle of putting out our magazine at the SPLC, and my three interns, Marnette, Karla and April, all left me last week. So our newsroom is a lot quieter these days. My friend Abbie (who I share a cubicle with) has gone home for Christmas already, so actually it's just me. I go home (again) on Friday, for my birthday on the 23rd and Christmas. My dates in Louisiana/Mississippi will roughly go as follows:
Dec. 22-Dec. 23 New Orleans
Dec. 24-Dec. 26 Natchez
Dec. 27-Jan. 1 New Orleans
With a stop or two in Baton Rouge, of course.

My friend Lauren Tanner got married Dec. 16 weekend, and I was lucky enough to catch a late flight into Baton Rouge Friday night in time to be there. The wedding was great, and it was good to see so many friends from Natchez. I didn't leave until late afternoon on Sunday, so I got to spend some time with Breland. Leaving wasn't hard, it helped knowing I'd be back in less than five days.

Christmas in the district is interesting. Everyone is a.) working to get stuff done, particularly financial documents, before the new year. b.) running around buying christmas presents and c.) attending holiday parties. I've been doing A, B and C while negotiating a rather hectic travel schedule. Needless to say a lot of my Christmas gifts have been ordered online to save time.

Today I ran to the White House and stopped at the Christmas tree. Around the tree there are smaller trees for all the 50 states and other various U.S. Protectorates, etc. Louisiana's tree is covered with clear ornaments, inside of which are neatly written pieces of paper that say "Rebuild New Orleans" and expressions of thanks to every state in the union for their help during Katrina.

Hope to see everyone over the holidays. Call me at 225.978.7132.

Home again, home again

It just took me longer to get from Dulles Airport to my apartment in downtown Washington than it did to fly home from New Orleans.

Thanksgiving travel is awful, especially in this commuter city of DC. I thought I had dodged the bullet when I left for New Orleans Wednesday. I got out of work early, hopped on the bus, avoided the crowd, got on an earlier flight, and even used my first class upgrade coupon. A few cocktails and a cheese and fruit plate later I was home in New Orleans, eating at R&Os and hanging out with my girlfriend.

This was one of only a handful of Thanksgivings that I haven't spent in Albertville, Alabama, where my mother's family is originally from. The logistics just didn't work out for me to go this year. I spent Thanksgiving day with my dad and with Breland's family (see the picture with Sophie). Friday, we watched LSU's panic-attack inducing victory over Arkansas. Saturday I made it up to Baton Rouge to see my mom and some friends there.

The thing is, I'll be back in Louisiana in just a few short weeks, for a friend's wedding. And then for a week between Christmas and New Year's.

More later. I'm anxiously watching the Trinity Episcopal Saints, my high school team, who advanced to the Class A state championship game last week, five years after our team won state my senior year.

A few weeks ago, I had some friends over for a Red Beans and Rice. This is a picture I took to prove that I actually made this heavenly dish. I slaved over a hot stove all day. My mom helped with the technical support. Some people think its funny (read: stupid) that I took a picture. I leave you with it. Trust me, it was amazing.

Heading Home

I will be in Louisiana tomorrow evening until Sunday night, if any of you are in the NOLA/BR area. Give me a ring on my cell phone.

Vindication

Last night was one of the best nights I've had since moving to the District.

It's so great to be here, in the middle of everything, during such a monumental turnover in government power. One thing I won't miss, though, is the constant commercials for the Virginia and Maryland Senate races. One of the reasons its so interesting to live here is because we are basically in three major media markets (DC, VA, MD) and so when I had campaigners asking me to vote for Jim Webb I also had television commercials trumpeting Michael Steele.

I got off of work and hurried home to watch the first results coming in. At 8:30 we left for the Death Cab for Cutie concert at Constitution Hall, which was just a few blocks from our apartment. This place isn't a bar, it's a real concert hall. My friend Karla, who is an intern here at the SPLC, met us. Death Cab is this quasi-emo new-age American rock band. Lots of piano and electronica but they have a tendency to build up to a screaming-guitar, banging-drum climax. It's great stuff. One of the best concerts I've ever seen.

When I tell you I was maybe 10 rows from the stage, and we only paid $40 for the tickets. It was an experience. I really think that Chris, Karla and I saw something very special last night. Those guys are extremely talented. They played some new stuff as well that I had never heard, which was interesting.

Dennis Mitchell (in California) kept me up to date on the election results, and the band's guitarist actually announced with Ben Cardin won the Maryland Senate seat.

We went home and got some dinner, I watched the election returns until about 2 a.m.. It's exciting that the Democrats took back the House, and I'm cautiously optimistic about the Senate. I really believe that 2-party rule is so much better in Washington. When Bush 43 ran in 2000, he talked about his legacy of bipartisanship as governor of Texas. Hopefully we can see some more of that here in Washington now that there is a Democrat-controlled House and maybe the Senate.

Congress hasn't really done much, particularly for students (who primarily read this blog), in a very long time. Raising the minimum wage, increasing federal oversight of higher education and restoring some of the grant and loan programs that have been cut are all on the table now. The younger generations are the soldiers in Iraq, and the ones (like myself) with friends there (or waiting to go). This election was a sign from the American people that we need an exit strategy, not a quick pull-out, but a way out.

Finally Finished

I finally finished my Law School applications this week, just in time to get all my applications transmitted before November 1.

Here's my final list:
Georgetown
UNC-Chapel Hill
Wake Forest
University of Miami
University of Colorado
LSU
Tulane

I might tack on George Washington later on in the cycle. For all of you interested, you can check my progress on my law school numbers site here.

Chris and I invested in the NBA LeaguePass tonight. For $179 we now get every NBA game that plays on our television. Did I mention we have surround sound? It might be the best $90 I've ever spent. I might just watch basketball all winter.

Things are getting hectic around the office, but I'm looking forward to being at home for Thanksgiving.

Posts and iPods

Thanks to everyone who sent me props on my Washington Post article this weekend. Honestly, the gig kind of came out of nowhere. My roommate works at the Post and they were looking for someone to write an Op/Ed on the iPod and being the Mac believer that I am, he volunteered me. Interestingly enough, I've been having trouble with my iPod in the last few days. I guess that's poetic justice for you! I may be in the market for an upgrade sooner rather than later.

It's been a good month for me, after The Times-Picayune ran the seven stories I wrote for them.

I'm almost finished with my Law School Applications, at least the first round. Here are the schools I'm definately applying to:
LSU
Tulane
George Washington
Georgetown
U. of Miami (I got a fee waiver)
U. of Colorado (Also a fee waiver)
UNC-Chapel Hill

Still Considering:
Wake Forest
William and Mary
Indiana-Bloomington

These application fees are horrendus. I'm lucky that I was able to cut my list down.

In the city

Last weekend I wound up in New York City thanks to a free ride from my roommate, who was heading to New Hampshire and dropped me off along the way. About a 4 1/2 hour ride, I didn't actually get there until 2 a.m. Friday night, and he dropped me off in the Village close to where my buddy Jay and his roommate Danny were hanging out. The bar, which shall remain nameless, was definitely the highlight of the weekend, and lets just say that I was there until early morning singing showtunes with a bar full of talent and a live piano-playing gay man. We made it safely back to Jay and Danny's Upper-east side apartment, which is in a great area and they actually pay less than Chris and I do in DC (although our apartment is a little bigger).

Saturday we slept till noon, which is about 9 a.m. on Jay Melder time, and set out to get something to eat. After lunch we had the brilliant idea to buy a full-size NFL football and go play football in Central Park. Luckily, there was a Niketown along the way and $17 later, we were running plays and waiting for Tim and Danielle to come meet us. The newlyweds took us to their apartment and we caught "The Illusionist" at a local theater.

The next day I went for a run through Central Park and then Jay, Danny and I went and stood in line at the Carnegie Deli, which was just as good as I remembered it. We pretty much hung around the city the rest of the day, watching the Saints whip the Eagles online (they don't have a television in their apartment yet).

Chris finally picked me up later in the evening, and we drove straight back to DC, listening to classics like The Beatles' Abbey Road and Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here (which we listened to the whole way through, something I've never done. In a word, amazing) the whole way back. We finally arrived back home and were asleep by 2 a.m. I made it to work early the next morning, but I've been lagging in my sleep all week.

Our apartment is finally finished, for good. We hung our third-hand surround sound system on the wall and some art Chris' family sent us, and the place really feels like home.

Updating for all of you

Last weekend Breland came to see me, and we had a great long weekend over the Columbus day holiday. (I have more pictures if you'd like them). We went to 18th Amendment with the LSU crew on Saturday to watch the (awful) LSU football game. It was great to have her here, and it made me miss home a lot. I'll be home again soon though, Thanksgiving to be exact. After I dropped her off at the Baltimore airport, Dave Kurpius called me and said he was in town for a meeting, and we had dinner and drinks at a restaurant close to my place. Dave gave me some great perspective on Law School. Speaking of Law School, I'm should be finishing up my applications soon. My list is ambitious. But honestly, there's a big part of me that just wants to come back to Louisiana.

My stories ran in a special section of the Times-Picayune Thursday, for any of you who are interested in reading what I worked on for them this summer. I haven't been able to find it online yet, but the hard copy was a pull-out section in Thursday's paper.

I've decided to head to New York City Friday evening to see Jay. Give me a ring on my cell phone if you're in the city.

The best things in life are free

Almost a month in, I'm finding city life to be expensive. Of course, I knew it coming in, and so I'm doing my best with it.

I recently purchased my ticket home for Thanksgiving for $400+. Ouch. And my credit card bills from that shopping spree at Ikea are coming in too. Thankfully, my grandmother Audrey sent me an early birthday present of a down comforter, sheet set and a duvet cover. So I'll be sleeeping warm as it starts to turn colder (lows are in the 40s already).

However, there are some things that are free here, such as the museums and monuments, I visited the Air and Space museum last week with my friend's dad. Also free is my daily running route that takes me by the White House and past the National Mall. I have been running at night, which is surprisingly safer than you would expect, and the city is beautiful when it's lit up.

The cultural experience here is interesting (and free, most of the time) as well. I've attended a few panels and am trying to make the most of the culture here (today we attended a panel/luncheon for Banned Books Week, incredibly interesting). On Wednesday I left work early to attend a Law School fair on George Washington University's campus, located just one stop up the metro from my work (and two stops from my apt). I got some great information on a lot of law schools that I'm very interested in for next year. LSU and Tulane were there, as well as several of my top schools. Going to the fair was a great financial decision as well, as I actually managed to get fee waivers to apply to Indiana-Bloomington, U. of Miami and Colorado-Boulder, all schools I was thinking about in the first place. The fee waivers make those applications extremely easy and economical.

No pictures to post today. More after we get some more stuff in the apartment. At work, things are much more lively (as you'll see if you check our Web site regularly). My interns arrived two weeks ago and they're great, we've hung out outside of work and went to brunch at Nathan's in Georgetown last Sunday.

I've spent the last few weeks setting up the new apartment, acquiring things through craigslist and watching LSU football with the Tiger contingent up here. We all get together at a Capitol bar and there have been some long nights (usually after we win). Everyone watched the Saints' game Monday night at the bar as well.

I'm still trying to decide what I'm doing this weekend -- might be heading up to New York City to see Jay and some other folks. Need to evaluate the financial situation. More to come.

Big Victory

I just found out The Daily Reveille is a finalist for the National Newspaper Pacemaker Award, the most prestigous award in collegiate journalism, for my last semester as editor-in-chief as well as my friend Walter's semester as EnC.

We haven't won the award since 2003, when our campus safety special edition (during the Serial Killer crisis) was published. Granted, we're only a finalist, but it's still a great step.

Hurricane Katrina helped us along this time. This is a big personal vindication for many of us who worked at TDR through Katrina and covered the event in our special edition, Enduring Katrina. That hard work paid off earlier in the year with victories at the Louisiana Press Association Awards and another Pacemaker would be a great addition to the Newsroom.

What a great way to start the day.

Cold? In September?

It started off cold and gloomy, but now it's a beautiful day here in DC. Right now, in the middle of the day, it's about 68 degrees (it was 60 this morning) and I actually wore a jacket to work today, for all you Southern folk. I have a feeling I'm going to have a little trouble with this cold weather... probably need to look into more cold weather clothes. I don't think I'll be wearing shorts in December here.

My first intern arrived today, and we've been busy doing orientation and some writing stuff.

For my friends: I've created a new Facebook group specifically for student journalists, something we're doing here in the office to try and educate college and high school students about their rights. Join up if you're on Facebook. The group name is "Fight Student Censorship" and should be up and running this evening.

Hope you all have enjoyed my recent updates to the blog. I sent out mass e-mails last night to friends and family, letting them know I am now up and running!

My apartment and new job

OK -- time for post No. 2.

Chris picked me up from Dulles Sunday and we went to his place in Columbia Heights. Although his basement apartment was in a highly desirable part of town for our age range, it was quite small, so living there until Thursday was going to be roughing it.

Monday we spent way too much money at Ikea, and even drove to Baltimore to get a certain piece of furniture. We started using Craigslist to find a TV, and we actually have used the online classifieds service to find barstools, kitchen supplies, microwaves, really cheap.

Tuesday morning at 10 a.m. I started my new job at the Student Press Law Center in Rosslyn, Va. My first day was filled with going through the handbook, learning about policies, filling out forms, etc. The office is great. My cubicle, is in a corner area that I share with Abbie, our development director, who is from Oklahoma. Our desks are positioned on a window that overlooks the national mall and on even a cloudy day you can see the U.S. Capitol building. Planes landing at Reagan go by my window on a regular basis. The neighborhood, Rosslyn, is a corporate area (my mom's DC office actually used to be right across the street, so I have an idea of the area). The blue/orange line metro is two blocks away.

So for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday I spent the days at the SPLC learning my new job and writing stories.

My Job
So, about my new job. I work for a lawyer named Mark Goodman, who is the executive director of the SPLC. The SPLC shares a suite of offices with the Reporter's Committee for the Freedom of the Press, and we're based out of the Freedom Forum building in Rosslyn. Basically it's a huge First Amendment lovefest in our office, all overlooking the Capitol. There are lawyers, interns, fellows like myself. It's great. It's really laid back (no dress code, although I'm still in the dress-up mode. They say that will change). The office is right up my alley.

On the SPLC side of the office is Mark's office, Adam (a on-staff attorney from NYC), myself and Abbie. Our little cubicle offices are at the front of what doubles as our newsroom, which is basically three desks and a central meeting table in the middle of the room.

I write stories and run our Web site, manage our three college interns and also edit and lay out our thrice-yearly magazine, the SPLC Report. The SPLC basically covers anything that could affect the free press and expression rights of students. That's a very narrow spectrum but it has given me the opportunity to write some very interesting stories.

More about the new job later. It's a lot of fun, the view is great, the office is laid back. And after all, I get to write about George Bush t-shirts and banners about Jesus.

Two days into my new job, on Wednesday night, my grandmother Audrey came to visit. I met Audie and her friend Nancy, Nancy's granddaughter and my cousin Jay Sternberg for dinner in DuPont Circle.

Dinner in Dupont

We had a great dinner and then headed our separate ways. I personally left for my first look at my new apartment and spent the night moving things in.

New Apartment
We moved in Wednesday night until late, but didn't get to sleep there because our beds weren't being delivered until Thursday. I was impressed with the apartment, the living room/kitchen is great. My room, not so great. No windows!

So Thursday evening when I got off of work and went straight to my new place. Chris got off of work late, and we used his two-door Honda civic to move most of our stuff to the place. We had spent way too much money at Ikea the weekend before, and so they were kind enough to deliver the stuff we couldn't fit in the Civic (for a fee, of course). Ironically, Chris and I got the same bedframe.

Chris assembling his new bed. We worked late that night -- till about 3 a.m.

So now we're in and although we don't have a lot of art for the walls or little things to fill the shelves, we're working on it. My room is very small but I'm paying less and my closet is huge. Here are some more pics from the apt.

The Bar/Kitchen Area


The bar into the living room (Ikea furniture)


A glimpse into my room... it is quite small.

My neighborhood is great, I have about a 2-mile running route that takes me past the White House. I have a 15-minute walk every morning and a 10-minute metro ride straight to work. There's a whole foods about 10 minutes away and another grocery store closer. Chris has a reserved parking spot so we can drive when we need it. We even have TIVO and found a great TV on craiglist.

So that's where I am. Hope you all have enjoyed this blog so far, I'm going to keep it up to date with what's going on. I miss you all, I miss Louisiana and although I went to watch the game with all the LSU alums up here Saturday night, it's not the same. The food sucks -- send Tony's, po-boy bread, doberge and Community Coffee.

On the way out

So I'm new to this blogging thing, but I hope you all enjoy my thoughts and ramblings about my new life in Washington, D.C.

"At what point did you look around your Pulitzer-prize winning newsroom and thing to yourself... 'man, we better get Sternberg in on this action.' - Mat Sanders to Peter Kovacs, Managing Editor of The Times-Picayune.

I was just grateful to be there. Mat was talking with Kovacs while he visited The Daily Reveille recently, and decided to give him a hard time about my freelance job at the Picayune this summer. I wrote 7 stories for what basically amounts to a business Special Section, a pull-out section of the newspaper. It should be out in October and I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out. It was a great experience to be back at the Pic, I missed those guys back in the Money section. If you ever get a chance to see The Times-Picayune at work, it's a beautiful thing. The paper (especially post-K) really is about a conversation between the people and the system, and I like to think the paper is strongly on the people's side.

My last weekend in NOLA and BR was spent packing and shipping things up to my new apartment (more about that later). My dad and I ate some great food, and I bought a new camera to mark my exodus.

I started with pictures of my two-year-old brother and sister, Sam and Sophie.

From New Orleans I headed to Baton Rouge, where I got to eat breakfast with my mom and sister, Marylee, before they headed off to New York City.

Then, my last gameday. LSU vs. ULL. For all of you that I missed, I'm really sorry... it was an exhausting day. My friend Tyler came down from Jackson and I got to hang out with a lot of my Natchez friends as well as spend some time at the (huge) Sig Ep tailgate.

With Lauren at the tailgate


Tyler came down for my last weekend

Quality time with my lovely girlfriend


Are you getting the chills? I am.

It was a great weekend, but I'm glad that I finally made it to DC. My new roommate Chris Kirkham, a former T-P intern, picked me up from Dulles on Sunday and I started my new job Tuesday morning. So far, it's great. More to come later.

Test Post

This is my first post, everyone. I'm new to this whole blogging thing, but I'm hoping to keep you all updated about my adventures in DC. I have a bunch of great pictures to post as soon as I get Internet at my new place, which is between downtown DC and Shaw, near McPherson Square, for all you district folk.

More to come.