Take Your Blessing Where You Can Get Them

Talk about a close call. As most of you know, my girlfriends and I just returned last week from quite the little adventure down in the Dominican Republic. Those tales and pictures are to come, but this morning we woke to some terrible news: a 7.0 earthquake that shook the hell out of Hispaniola, the island shared by the DR and Haiti.

Being a San Diego girl, (California breaking off in to the ocean blah, blah, blah) I know hairy earthquakes, but we expect them and have built accordingly. Our Caribbean friends have other natural concerns - like hurricanes to deal with. (Which still scare the daylights out of me.) Not-to-mention a 7.0 is still HUGE! They didn't see it coming.

Now the details are starting to surface. I had one mother call the newsroom this morning. Her son was able to escape and send this email back stateside. Thank goodness for this near miss.

Dear Family and Friends,

Thanks for all the kind words.  I climbed out of my 4th story apt as it was collapsing and was happy my four other colleagues from State got out alright too.  One guy from UN had some leg injuries but we carried him when we got out.  Some Haitians and I were fortunate to pull out a woman and her daughter just as a slight
tremor hit a second time, but I am so glad they got out safely. All of us in our apt complex lost everything and got out with the clothes on our backs (a couple of us not even with that!)

We spent the night in the surprising cool Haitian night air and felt unnerving tremors and collapsing structures all night.  The State Dpt military attache's house was pretty much intact so he gave us supplies and his front yard to sleep in (away from walls and other buildings.)  The neighboring four story apt was flattened like a ham sandwich.

It has been so hard to see a people already suffering difficult conditions to now be hit by this kind of devastation.  As we faded in and out of sleep and conversation under the dark and starry night sky we could hear people in the lower lamds wailing with each tremor, often singing prayerful songs, clapping or chanting.  It was eerie, terrifying and beautiful at the same time.  The roads we took to get us back to the Embassy were amazingly calm and many structures we standing but we heard that in other neighborhoods houses simply caved in.

I'm back at the Embassy now raiding the caf for something to eat and seeing all the wreckage (it got hit too
but the building is new and entirely intact.)  My clothes and hair are full of dust and I look like, well, I've been in an earthquake.

  But it has been amazing to see the spirit of the Haitian people in light of this disaster.  I will need to pitch in for the time being and there is talk of evacuation which I can't see how they could not (there is little safe housing and virtually no hotels.)   I have been thinking so much about my family, loved ones and dear friends who mean and have meant so much to me.  Thank you again for your thoughts.

Peace and know that I am thinking of you!

HOLY Captain FACEBOOK

Sure, there's 5000 miles between us, but my sister Carly and I usually check each-other's vitals at least once a week. That's why we are on the same cell phone plan. To get the scoop first hand. Then BAM I see this in my news feed. Gimpie brakes her arm and I find out about it A-MONTH-LATER on Facebook? Yeah stick that in your box and shake it.

You Had Me At Venti

Starbucks Experiments with New Name, Adding Alcohol to its Menu

Don't expect grande wines or venti beers anytime soon at your local Starbucks. (SBUX) But in a move to attract hard-to-find evening business, the struggling coffeehouse chain is about to test the addition of wine and beer to the menu at one of its Seattle stores, which it has even given a new name. The store, opening next week, is called "15th Ave. Coffee and Tea inspired by Starbucks" — a reflection of the neighborhood in which it's located. Starbucks plans to create two more similar stores in the Seattle area at locations that aren't currently Starbucks stores. And if the concept works, it could be tested in other cities, says Major Cohen, senior project manager at Starbucks. For Starbucks, which has suffered a humbling mix of closed stores, employee layoffs and same-store sales declines during the recession, the move is an attempt to extend the brand into the evening, when business is typically at its slowest. The first store, which will look very different from a typical Starbucks, will serve a half-dozen kinds of beers and wines — most with connections to the Northwest. A bottle of beer or a glass of wine will sell for $4 to $7, Cohen says. Beer and wine will not be sold to go because of state law, he says. "We'll be equally as proud of our beer and wine as we are of our coffee," Cohen says. He says he didn't yet know if this concept would be incorporated into all Starbucks stores if it's successful. "If you stop innovating, you're dead," says Scott Bedbury, CEO of consulting firm Brandstream and former marketing chief at Starbucks. While Bedbury likes the move — which he says is common for European coffeehouses — it also could twist the chain's hard-earned image, he warns. "The reason Starbucks became the number one place to go for a blind date is because women are comfortable there — and the men aren't drunk." The test move to sell alcohol is clearly an attempt to fight off growing competition from McDonald's and Dunkin' Donuts, says Ron Paul, president of Technomic, a restaurant consulting firm. "But if I were sitting in Seattle, I'd go after the evening snack and dessert business, not alcoholic beverages."

Russian Cabin Fever

I would hurt someone.....not because of the confined space....because I couldn't talk. Mom used to ask my sister (3 years younger) how her school day went. She never asked how mine was. Just a daily briefing a la Jen's whopping 6-hour class schedule would run her minimum 45 min. By the time we hit recess she either changed the subject or left the room. I was seven, you can imagine how our phone calls go at 25.


 New York Times 3/31/2009

MOSCOW — On Tuesday, six people will be voluntarily locked into a cloister of cramped, hermetically sealed tubes woven inside a Moscow research facility the size of a high school gymnasium. They will eat dehydrated food, breathe recycled air and be denied conversation with practically everyone else but one another.

And they must stay inside for 105 days.

In a small step in the direction of Mars, the international crew is embarking on a simulated flight to the planet to test the limits of human tolerance for the isolation and monotony of interplanetary travel.

Obama: Do I Need A Doctor's Note?

Refreshing: Taking some time from running the country to head up to my neighborhood for Sasha's class presentation:

President Obama, Michelle Visit Daughter's School

by The Huffington Post News Editors

WASHINGTON — A day after President Barack Obama publicly teased local school officials for canceling classes because of wintry weather, he and his wife visited their younger daughter's school on Thursday.
Obama and his wife, Michelle, left the White House around 8:15 a.m. for the ride to the Bethesda, Md., campus of the Sidwell Friends School, a private school where their 7-year-old daughter, Sasha, is in the second grade.
The Obamas spent a little more than an hour at the school attending a class presentation before they returned to the White House. Michelle Obama's mother, Marian Robinson, joined them.
Obama had ridiculed local officials for closing school Wednesday, saying "we're going to have to apply some flinty Chicago toughness to this town."
Older daughter Malia, 10, is a fifth-grader at Sidwell's middle school in the District of Columbia.

Ultimate Buzz Kill

Comment of the day:
(from a former roomie no less)

Megan: i'll never figure out how you make it to work on time at 5am even if you are a coffee whore

Will someone explain decaf to me? No seriously...it's hard for an addict to understand why you would waste a perfectly good bevie....so what's the point?

Apparently you no-caffers are going to throw a temper tantrum with this new development from the Coffee Kings and I can't imagine what level of rioting to expect, but I can't imagine it to be a very energetic one.

Starbucks Ditches Decaf
Metrosource, 1/28/09

(Seattle, WA) -- Starbucks is ditching decaf in an effort to save money. The cash-strapped company brews fresh pots of coffee every 30 minutes and was apparently pouring a lot of decaf down the drain. As of noon today, customers who want to have "coffee without coffee" will have to special order their custom cup of java and it'll be fresh brewed just for them. Bloomberg news says Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz is trying to save 400-million-dollars by September in labor and product expenses. Part of that plan includes brewing smaller pots of coffee so there's less waste.

About a month ago, Linds and I bought the Costco size bag of Dunkin' Donuts coffee grounds and I have to say I have been completely spoiled. The coffee is amazing and as a caffeine addict I know my beans.

In an effort to save money, I bought over the weekend the Costco size Maxwell House and let me tell you, it was anything but 'good to the last drop.'

Regardless, I downed it so I could function at 5 this morning at the station to help with the weather closings, but that baby is headed right back to be exchanged for the yummie stuff.

So I have to ask, why would anyone drink decaf? It's not for the taste or connoisseurship. Decaffeinated beans are regular coffee beans that have been processed and stripped of their caffeine, but with it go some of the chemicals that contribute to aroma and flavor.

Wikipedia: The process is usually performed on unroasted (green) beans, and starts with steaming of the beans. They are then rinsed in solvent that contains as much of the chemical composition of coffee as possible without also containing the caffeine in a soluble form. The process is repeated anywhere from 8 to 12 times until it meets either the international standard of having removed 97% of the caffeine in the beans or the EU standard of having the beans 99.9% caffeine free by mass. Coffee contains over 400 chemicals important to the taste and aroma of the final drink; this effectively means that no physical process or chemical reaction will remove only caffeine while leaving the other chemicals at their original concentrations.

And, you obviously aren't drinking it for the side effect of a nice energy jolt.

Is it for it's temperature or texture? If so why wouldn't you opt for a tasty bev like cocoa?

Not like this affects me personally, but since you're reading this, you are going to get my opinion anyway:

I think it may time to grow up and grab a real cup o' joe folks.

Boys on the Bus

I got the chance to ride along in the McCain motorcade last Wednesday. More details to come.

The Easiest Way To A News Woman is Through Her.....

....

Google is making the headlines again (as well as rocking my world.) Here are the big developments: One - the launching of their new web browser: Google Chrome:

You had me at hello. This web browser is the death of internet explorer. There are so many flipping awesome features it makes you wonder how the Microsoft Monster didn't get to it first. If you haven't made the switch do it now. I have been using for about a week now and can't get enough of it.

It's slick, quick and intuitive- obviously designed with a women in mind. Just look at the toolbar -it searches the internet and your desktop, in addition to accessing the web address you type. Plus, you can toggle all your web pages within a single window (a tribute to Mozilla) as well as customize your home page to display your most visited websites.

And if that wasn't enough to make a girl swoon, hear this fellow news junkies ...Google will start posting and archiving the world's newspapers - at their own expense.

With newsrooms on a shoestring budget, who can afford to convert over 244 years of print? That's right the guys at Google.

Have no fear capitalists, there's something in it for them - with an expanded GoogleNews library, there is more opportunity for advertising = more money for google stock holders. But how lovely it is that we can reap the benefits of such a lucrative cooperation.

March of Brides

It's the annual pilgrimage of discounted couture...exclusively for brides. Ladies settle in as early as three am in the line that circles the block around Filene's Basement where they will try their fate, hoping to find the perfect designer gown for $99 dollars.

The doors open at 8 am and the madness ensures, dresses ripped off racks to later be used as collateral in size wars and members of bridal teams attempts to trade.

But the reality is that only a handful of brides actually find their dress. Managers offer this advice for future brides looking for a deal, " sleep in, have a cup of coffee with your girlfriends and come to the store around 10 am, after the madness. The dresses are usually all still here, and you won't have to fight the caffeinated mayhem."

Heroes Tour II: Christiane Amanpour

Taking those principles outside US boarders are Christiane Amanpour and Kimberly Dozier. Christiane, chief international correspondent for CNN.

She has access to high level officials but is a consummate reporter, asking the questions that demand to be asked.

Speaking during the Kalb Report at the Press Club last March, “I am committed to this profession because I feel it is a noble one…..my job is to ask the rigorous questions and show the pictures and to report the facts as we see them.”

This Just In....

So Tommy and I finally made it over to the relocated, redesigned NEWSeum!

Originally housed at Freedom Park in Roslyn, this homage to the fourth estate has reopened on the mall with it's museum brethren.

Aside from exhibiting history altering headlines and taped first drafts of history, the multi-storied building houses some amazing tangible chunks of time, like a full section of the Berlin Wall. The exhibit that blew me away was the 9-11 display. The museum has one of the radio towers from the trade center's roof.

It sucked the air right out of my lungs as I remember standing next to that same tower while it was posted in its original location. I was in eight grade in New York on our middle school trip to the east coast. My two friends and I had snuck up to the roof to observe the city from it's highest point.

We snapped a couple of 35mm, before hustling back downstairs to blend back into our tour group before our absence was noticed. Now that tower stands indoors, crippled, with a satallite of the worlds headlines posted to the wall from the day it came crashing down.

While I was having my oxygen depleated moment of realization, I looked on as a young teacher tried explaining to her rambunctious field trippers what that tower meant. She was up for the challenge, but the explanation fell hallow on the group, who couldn't have been more than 2 years old at the time.

Fear not, there was fun to be had as well! We both tried our hand at reading the teleprompter too! I reported from the Supreme Court and was just as laughable in April as I was in eighth grade!

Back to You In the Studio

Mommie - Reporting for 630 WMAL on the Earthquake

CHINO HILLS, Calif. (AP) - An expert at CalTech says yesterday's big shaker in Southern California should be looked at like an earthquake drill.
The magnitude 5.4 quake wasn't the "Big One" scientists have long feared -- but it was strong enough to rattle nerves and get people talking again about emergency plans.

A fire official in Chino Hills, where the quake was centered, says the region was "really fortunate." It caused limited damage and only minor injuries.
Chino Hills was incorporated in 1991, so much of the construction is newer and built to modern safety standards.

Though it rocked Los Angeles and was felt as far away as San Diego and Las Vegas, yesterday's quake was far less powerful than the deadly Northridge earthquake that toppled bridges and buildings in 1994.

With A Clipboard And An Air of Confidence

WMAL's THE SOURCE!!!

Politico: Bob Novak's victim

Washington Post: Man Hit by Novak Has Hurt Shoulder but Is 'Doing Fine'

The Examiner: Novak's Victim Speaks! "Bob Novak is the one that hit me?!? ... That makes it a great story!"

TMZ:Novak's Victim: Am I Famous Now?

Associated Press:
Man hit by columnist Robert Novak recovering

WASHINGTON (AP) - The homeless man who was struck by a car driven by syndicated columnist Robert Novak says he's surprised to hear the prominent journalist was the driver who hit him.

Don Clifford Liljenquist asked a reporter from WMAL Radio repeatedly whether Novak was the person who hit him. The 86-year-old seemed amused. He said, "Well I think that makes it a great story!"

Liljenquist says his shoulder was dislocated when he was struck Wednesday. He says doctors reset his shoulder and he's "doing fine."

Witnesses say Novak was driving a Chevrolet Corvette near K Street when he hit a pedestrian who rolled up onto the hood of the car. Novak kept driving until a bicyclist stopped him.
Novak has said he didn't know he hit anyone. He was given a $50 traffic citation.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Take me out to the OPERA

Ugh I love it! Remember I am a 60 year-old in a mid-twenties body! My grandmother used to have season tickets and would take me as her guest. (Usually because I was the only grandchild that got excited about the outings! So opera will always hold a special little spot in my heart, not to mention it's awesome!!



And here in the nations capital we are really fortunate to have a fabulous opera company. Angela and I went to see Cavalleria Rusticana preceded by four orchestral works.

It's a one act tragic love triangle of rustic chivalry (the title translated). Although this performance omitted stage scenery and costumes, replacing the staging with the orchestra instead, the masterful headliners carried the powerful tale with ease.


We were blown away by the performance by Dolora Zajick and Salvatore Licitra, the latter having just performed for the Pope while he was in New York.

I also sang for the Pope while he was here in Washington DC. Ok no singing, but I did get to attend the mass.