Thursday, July 27, 2023
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Late again! Yes yes I know, but it’s been a busy week and I think subconsciously I’ve been avoiding the blogs cause it’s a marker of time passing.
Monday of this past week involved a meeting with Dr. Midhat Farooq, and a few faculty fellows from the Career Mentoring Fellows program. My role was to give a student perspective on new career talks they were developing (someone wanted my input? Huh?). The meeting was an interesting look into some more of the behind the scenes work APS does to bolster students career resources. Post work, I went to my friends’ house to grab a few things. They graduated from GW this past semester and so are moving out for good now, as a parting gift and as a way to get rid of extra junk, they gave me a massive speaker, two smaller speakers, and a DJ turntable (all for free). Never really considered getting into music like that but maybe I’ll start mixing. Gotta brainstorm DJ names first though. Den? Jade? DJ J? DJ^2? MC Uncertainty?
Tuesday was a slow day at work, after which I took a walk through Georgetown. I found some incredibly dope art stores, got some cheap pizza, and scarfed down my ice cream before the swarm of birds following be could get any. The art stores were the destination because I thought I might try and find some affordable decorations for my apartment. You’ll be unsurprised to know that I blanched when the first price tag I saw was $78,000. So I merely window shopped, yelled a conversation with the mostly deaf owner, and made small talk with some overly friendly older women who keep remarking on my height.
Wednesday was my last day going into the office at ACP (American Center for Physics). The metro line will be undergoing maintenance and so ACP is no longer reachable. It was an uneventful last day, but bittersweet nonetheless. Post work, I tried to listen to a record I’d picked up recently (The Happy Cats - Joe Newman Sextet) but my record player was broken. This resulted in a fruitless, 2 hour escapade into the circuitry of the machine. Even after seeking help from the SPS Intern chat, the issue remained unidentified and I remained annoyed, sitting in silence.
Thursday was another average day of virtual work. I’ve been working on a final report that represents the culmination of all of my summer work, which has been eating up much of my time. Afterwards I ventured off to an antique sale in the West End and grabbed a few vintage cameras that look super cool (doing my best to become a photography poser). Later that night I saw Oppenheimer with two friends from school. All I can say is Ludwig Goransson aces every soundtrack he makes, Christopher Nolan doesn’t miss, and I’ve really gotta read the Bhagavad Gita.
Friday afternoon was spent by the pool at my apartment complex after some more work done on my final report. I managed to escape a sunburn, which is actually an incredible feat for me. After I defied the fiery wrath of the sun, I had a nice movie night. The Kennedy Center has secondary building attached on the grounds called The Reach, and every Friday they do showings of free outdoor movies. I went with a friend from school, brought snacks and a picnic blanket, watched the sunset, and then enjoyed Fantastic Mr. Fox (my first time seeing it).
Saturday was a slow morning, but in the afternoon I went to Bullpen with some friends from school. Bullpen is a large outdoor area by the Nationals stadium that has food, drinks, and live music. Enjoying the sunset and the concert was amazing. I then scrambled back to catch the rest of the interns, with which I enjoyed a fun night out.
Sunday was pretty quiet, but in the evening I went to a free National Symphony Orchestra concert at the Kennedy Center. The music was moving, the musicians were elegant, and my mind was blown.
I promise I will work doubly hard to get next week’s blog in on time. As I’m submitting this on Thursday (yikes), I already know that next week’s blog will be chock full of hectic stress, cool moments, and useless ramblings on my end. Get excited! Or don’t, I’m not in control here (or ever?).
Jaden Sicotte