DC Planning

Part of the reason I came to NREL was to explore the incredible professional opportunities that come with working at the world's leading organization on renewable energy. A few weeks ago I spoke at a major industry event where decision makers from Fortune 500 companies listened to me speak about the future of renewable energy. Today I landed an even cooler gig. I am going to participate in a working group assisting the DC Department of Environment with their drafting of a new DC energy plan, which will focus on concrete steps the District can take to encourage energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy in the District. I may also get the opportunity to contribute to comprehensive energy legislation to be proposed in the DC Council.

This is the kind of project that I always wanted to be a part of. It's got me quite excited!

RUSH

So, this weekend Pai and I went to see Rush at Nissan Pavilion. This was my sixth time seeing them in concert. This wasn't the best of their shows that I'd seen, but it was certainly no disappointment. Their last tour was their 30th anniversary tour so they indulged the crowd by playing lots of the fans' favorites. This time, they focused much more on their new album. The challenge here is that Amazon screwed up my order so I didn't have the new album before the concert. Even hearing these songs for the first time though, I really liked them.

As I study guitar, play in a band, and immerse myself much more in music theory I listen to music differently. I am hearing what's going on on more levels. It's funny because it has me appreciating complex music (like Rush) more, but it's also got me appreciating super simply music (like Art Brut) more as well. I like that. I like that I enjoy a broader range of music as I learn more about how it's made. We spend so much of our adult lives eliminating options - narrowing our focus - that it feels rejuvenating to actually broaden one of my foci.

Of course, while this was the first Rush concert where I paid more attention to Alex Lifeson than Neil Peart, it was still amazing to watch Neil play his kit with what I can only describe as inspired genius. Why is Neil a genius? Because he can do this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bIchqJoxFQ&mode=related&search= and this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkNGne4ZWB4

Been Sick & random updates

Sorry about the delay in posts, but I've been pretty ill. My dad, step mom, sister and nephew were all in town for Fathers day weekend. Evan is the cutest kid I've ever seen in my life. It was so great having him around. Our girlfriend's watched with smirks while Bryan and I did "Dad" duty with the little guy. It was great to see everyone, but Joanne and I both got pretty sick and that put rather a damper on the weekend. I'm better now though - finally.

Yesterday my awesome real estate agent called me up and offered me free tickets to the Nats game. Bryan, Kate and I were joined by Kate's friends Rose and Dave. It was lots of fun, even though the Nats got pretty trounced by the Detroit Tigers. There was also a kid behind me who kept screaming in my year "Triple Play! Get a triple play!!!!" and "Grand Slam!!!" I was seriously ready to slap him. I didn't though - cause I'm such a kind soul. I did get my beer, hot dog, nachos, and ice cream. My digestive system must love me.

On the way to the game I heard from my old friend Mary Santos. She hasn't really returned my calls in the last five months so I didn't really know what her deal was. She says she's been out of the country a lot. Anyway, she was writing to let me know that she got engaged. I'm very happy for her. I am really interested to meet this guy. Mary is a unique individual and I'm curious as to what kind of guy would eventually click with her on that level. Some people seem to fall right into serious relationships with who ever's around. Others need a very particular match in order to really fall in love. I wonder if it's because some people are more complex and have more trouble finding the right one or is it just that other people are just more willing to settle? I'm not sure.

The other thing that I'm excited about right now is that Kate and I have decided to plan a vacation for this March. We're not sure exactly where yet (researching that is part of the fun) but I think we're going to get scuba certified before we go and spend some of our trip diving. I'm SOOOO psyched for that.

Where's your next vacation?

Great weather

I hope the weather was as nice where you were this weekend as it was here in DC. I took advantage of it for sure. Saturday I played golf with Bryan and Linnea at Fairfax National Golf Club. I played like total crap but Linnea had her best round ever. That evening, Kate and I went to a BBQ at her friend Justin's place. That man knows ribs. On Sunday we joined some of Kate's other friends to watch the Orioles at Camden Yards. While the Rockies did beat the home team we all still had a great time. Sunday night was the final Collider mixing session for our demo, "Practice Makes Perfect." I just have a couple tiny tweaks to make tonight and they'll be posted on our myspace page by tomorrow!

Great clip

I'm not a huge fan of Bill Maher, but this is a great segment: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvYFvbVi6S0. The hard hitting fact here is that the Bush Administration currently employes 150 lawyers who attended Pat "The Gays are Coming!" Robertson's Regent law school.

In brighter news, recording on the Collider 3 song demo is complete. The band's getting together on Thursday to mix it and then it will be up on our myspace page by Friday: www.myspace.com/colliderdc.

Disturbing Meeting Title

We often have meetings here at NREL's DC office and you will see signs up in the hallway directing visitor to the conference room. This afternoon we have a meeting here titled

"Cradle-to-Grave: Nuclear Future Assurance Workshop."

Now, anyone who's familiar with hazardous waste policy knows the cradle-to-grave concept deals with following a substance from initial development through complete disposal and mitigation. And, I know that this meeting is being held to discuss nuclear power. Still, you could totally have a meeting wit this title at the league of super villains or something.

My atrophied imagination

Kate and I were talking the other night about the loss of creativity. When I was in high school and college I used to write poetry all the time. Now, I don't. I have sat down and tried from time to time (mostly to fuel my last bands need for bad lyrics) and found none of the inspiration I used to feel. I was never a good poet, but there was usually some corner of my imagination that I could stretch and find an interesting concept upon which to write. Where did that go?

Is it because I don't sit down to write as much? Is it because I simply don't do it enough and am out of practice? Has year upon year of 9-5 desk jockeying so sedated my right brain that my creativity has simply atropheyed? I miss my ability to create characters and strange locations off the top of my head and explain them to my friends during one of our many role playing sessions. I miss the amazing variety of possible futures played out in my various day dreams. I still have daydreams but they're usually the same things. I still value them, but I wonder why my imagination has given up on the universe of possibilitities it once explored at an almost break-neck pace.

I have noticed my own limitations in learning as well. Science tells us that children have a much higher capacity to learn new things (like speaking a language or playing a new instrument). As you may know, I am taking guitar lessons. Part of this is learning music theory. It's hard though - harder than it should be. I can almost feel my rather stale brain resist when I try to understand the relationships between concepts. It's frustrating because it makes me feel stupid and I know that I am not stupid.

Perhaps, above all, I am just too settled in my concept of what my future might hold. My father told me the story of his 30th birthday where he looked at his life - corporate job, wife, two kids, house in the suburbs - and wondered "what now?" He stared down the maw of a future with no variety - a set path that left little to creativity and person choice. It scared him and I can understand why. I think somehow we need to embrace the "plans" of our life (like employment, marriage, children) and not resent them for the restrictions they put on our freedom. At the same time, I see it as absolutely vital that we find ways to stretch out and use our creativity, our capacity to learn, the savor of the unknown and unknowable.

We Levite's say "you don't grow old, you stop learning and you become old." I've been feeling old lately. I will redouble my efforts. I will learn some new tricks.

Last Weekend

Hey there,

Sorry about the delayed posting but it's been a busy week. Work has been a full boat and Collider has bee hard at work finishing our demo. Tuesday night should see a final product - I'll let you know when we post it to our MySpace page.

I hope you had a great long weekend. I got a lot of R&R in. Satruday I played golf (Sam, George and I played the par 3 course at Haines Point) and did really well. I hit several greens from the tee and even drained a 25 foot put for a birdie!

Sunday morning Kate and I went to Luray Caverns down by the Shennandoah Valley. Supposedly I was there as a child but don't really remember. It was neat. Kate said "I love being in places that remind you how old the planet really is." I agree - it's easy to get an inflated sense of our own importance in the world, or the importance of things like cars of Lindsay Lohan's train wreck of a life. Being in a place that has been evolving for thousands and thousands of years really helps one keep it all in perspective. My favorite part of the caverns was this really cool standing water that perfectly reflected the stalagtites on the ceiling. It looked like two massive cities facing each other.

The other patrons at Luray were pretty diverse. We were surprised at the number of Indian families. There was also a rather boisterous Vietnamese group. Other than that it was your typical Virginia fare. The crowds were a little annoying while we were trying to enjoy nature's beauty but what're you gonna do, right? I wanted to play pirates but Kate was no fun - she wouldn't even give me one "Arrrrrrrg".

After Luray we went to a camp ground in Shennandoah national park where we were going to camp that night. We had a picnic and then went for a hike to this beutiful waterfall. On our hike back it started to rain. Then it started to rain HARD and the temperature dropped about 25 degrees. We were a mile from our campsite, soaking wet and running on the side of a road when a nice family in a pick up stopped and gave us a lift. Good thing too because a second later it started to hail really hard. The family dropped us off at my car (thank God we hadn't set up the tent already) where we waitend another 20 minutes before the hail storm let up and we could safely drive home (for some reason we didn't feel like camping anymore). Oh well, no camping this time. We went home and chilled out on the couch with some beers and microwaved smores.

Finally, Kate started her new job this week and that's going quite well. Check out her new employer: www.smartgrowthamerica.org/