Favor the Bold

As I told you, I will be writing three blogs these week because I neglected to update my blog on Sunday night. It's sort of my penance. I'm sure you like it when I sin like this because you get more content.

Don't worry: I'm not going to be a crank in this one. In fact, I'll do what most people do when they get a blog and turn it into the cyberspace equivalent of when your Uncle Morty used to show the slides of his vacation to Barbados at Christmas Eve dinner. You know, "And here's a plate of the flying fish I ate," as the picture features the grilled fish and your uncle's hairy forearm reaching for the salt.

This has been a very busy week. I haven't even found time to do homework out of the three classes that I'm taking back home. I know I'm ahead of the game in my capstone class because I conducted a mock phone interview with the head of career services at Rogers State University and the director said I was the first one to do it. So there you go. At least I'm winning at something. I know I'm probably another week ahead in my online history class too. My goal has been to keep all of my RSU classes ahead of schedule so I can concentrate on my immediate tasks in Washington DC.

Last night, I went to the National Press Foundation's 28th Annual Awards banquet. All of the news outlets had tables there, and it was pretty much what you would expect from a trade show. Everyone made esoteric jokes about each other and you had to laugh or clap to act like you knew what they were talking about or that you wished you knew what they were talking about. Personally, I didn't laugh or clap unless I thought it was worthy of a laugh or a clap. You know, someone made a joke about the Metro, so that was worthy of a laugh. Someone else made a joke about their daughter saying something cute about Andrea Mitchell. I didn't laugh because I don't personally know the daughter or Andrea Mitchell. Andrea Mitchell, when accepting her award that night, paid homage to the late Tim Russert. I clapped. Someone else made a tribute to Jack Steinenbaum. I didn't clap because I didn't know who he was. Are you following me or not?

Here's what the banquet looked like. Again, I had to use technological trickery to shrink the size of the picture so I could share it with you. Look at these pictures while I plug my laptop into the charger:

In case you're wondering, yes, I did get my picture with Andrea Mitchell:

 Mmh. It's as close as I could get. Here's who I went with. On the left is Humberto, Carina, Sarah, and myself. We're all Media and Communications program students:

Oh, wait. Maybe I did get a good picture with Andrea Mitchell:

Thanks, Humberto. You're the boss. I couldn't have had that moment without you. It's now my crowning achievement, as evidenced by my Facebook profile picture.

If I would have had a chance to talk with Mrs. Mitchell a little while longer, which was impossible -- I mean, look at all the people surrounding us. Even though I was first to greet her from down below the rostrum, as soon as she stepped down, a gaggle of girls surrounded her and hugged her and told her how much she inspired them. So, I mean, there was no way I could tell her this, but if I could, I would have told Mrs. Mitchell that one of my prime professors in the communications program at Rogers State University KNOWS AND WORKED WITH Brian Williams. Believe it, because it's real.

The next day, which is today, I got up and had a radio interview with Congressman Dan Boren, Democrat, 2nd Congressional District in Oklahoma. Here's photo documentation of our encounter:

And you know what sucks about this? My parents are going to gripe at me over the way my hair looks, even though Congressman Boren and his staffer and me got along great and really chatted up a storm about Green Country. Yeah, never mind that I made a good impression with them. Instead, tell me they think I'm an infidel because my hair looked crazy. That's it. 

Oh, and here's audio confirmation we did a radio interview for my radio show:

The good news is that things should be simmered down by Friday. Actually, they won't be. Since I've neglected some of my RSU studies, I'll be mapping out a way to reclaim the weekend and spend the majority of it doing homework. Oh, well -- better then when I have energy than in the evenings when I don't.

Finally, let's leave you with one of my dad's sayings. Here's the new one:

"knock 'em to their knees with their elbows draggin'"

Definition: to exhaust oneself or another in a manner in which their knees are on the ground whilst their elbows continue to prop them up on a table or other similar fixture"

Example: "All of these interviews and introductions have knocked me to my knees with my elbows draggin'."