One of my goals this year, it being my senior year at Mason, is to really get to know Washington, DC. I’ve barely spent any time at all in the district the last few years. There wasn’t any particular reason for me to avoid it- it just didn’t happen. However, every time I went clubbing or to a museum or to a restaurant- I loved it. DC’s got such a fun and eclectic blend of locales and cultures.

This weekend, I went into the District three days in a row, with Ben, my visiting buddy from Dallas. This entry only covers one night of fun, weirdly enough.

Ben and I decided to head out to Columbia Station on the advice of a Yelp.com Washington DC newsletter I received on the wonders of Adams Morgan, an area known for its night life along 18th Street. Yelp is a pretty darn cool review site that’s great for finding fun places to eat, shop and party at in various cities. Like no joke, I’ve used this website successfully everywhere from Dallas to Fairfax to London. It’s quite useful. And I really do like the newspaper geared towards getting you to see things you never would before.

After taking the Metro down to McPherson Square, we planned to grab a bus up to Adams Morgan, but figured out pretty quickly that the next one wasn’t going to even be at our stop for 30 minutes. This looks like it could be a fairly frequent problem for partygoers past 9 p.m. We decided to hoof it up Connecticut Avenue on foot instead- see the night life on the way. It was a pretty pleasant walk. It was a colder night for September- I enjoyed watching how many girls in short skirts and high heels were shivering their way through the city streets.

I was delighted to come randomly across Julia’s Empanadas near Dupont Circle. I’d been here once before with a former friend years ago. I immediately purchased a Chilean Beef empanada, filled with beef, raisins, hard-boiled egg, olives and onions. It’s excellent and easy food to walk with and warms you up quickly.

There was a club right across the street with a tiny entrance located next to a Mattress store. A long line stretched outside- I had great fun imagining all these partygoers lining up to go in and jump on all the beds inside- to TECHNO MUSIC. : D

We continued up Connecticut until we came across a Cosi (decent little sandwich chain). I would have totally just walked past, but I spotted four of the girls I live with inside. After greeting each other happily, we managed to talk three of them into carrying on with us to the jazz club. My uber friendly and happy friend Whitney also brought two Turkish guys she’d met randomly along. They had some great stories.

It was a bit more of a walk than we planned up to Adams Morgan- I regretted wearing my knee-high leather boots after all- but still very doable.

We finally got to Columbia Station after 11 sometime. It was a great little jazz place with no cover charge and live music every night. That night in particular featured a band fronted by a well-known bassist. I can’t remember the name right now and unfortunately, it appears that the club’s website is now uhm…covered with porn. I’m not exactly certain why. But believe me, despite the site’s appearances, it’s a legitimate, excellent club. It’s actually quite beautiful- there’re all sorts of interesting art motifs painted on the wall and on the ceiling. A sculpture made out of old musical instruments was also on display.

All of us crowded around a few tables in the center and ordered drinks and such. I got a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale that was pretty good (I LOVE trying new beers). It’s totally friendly for people under 21 however- my young’un housemates contented themselves with yummy chocolate cake.

Afterwards, we wandered back down 18th street to a hookah bar. I can’t be positive, but I’m pretty sure it was Soussi. We chilled on the patio with orange shisha to share. I had another beer- a Hoegaarden, I believe. It was quite nice. The upstairs lounge looked even nicer- it was packed with partygoers chilling on couches and comfy chairs. The only weird spot about the bar was the bathroom upstairs- it was kinda sketchy and hidden behind a black curtain so it was really dark. I was glad one of my friends already knew where it was before I got in there.

At that point, it was really too late for us to walk over to DC’s most classic restaurant, Ben’s Chili Bowl. like we wanted. We decided to walk up to the Adams Morgan Metro stop instead. I must say, it was a LONG walk- not at all close.

On the way we grabbed some post 2 a.m. munchies from Alberto’s Pizzeria on 18th Street. I got a very large piece of tomato and artichoke pizza that I split with Ben. Then we ran off to the Metro station. We were afraid we’d miss the last train out of DC (it supposedly “stops running at 3″) but actually we had plenty of time. The last train pulled into Adams Morgan around 3:10-ish and hung around waiting for late night partiers until 3:30. We took it all the way down the Orange Line back to Vienna/Fairfax where my car was parked.

All in all, an excellent night. Can’t wait to get back there. I plan on checking out Ingrid Michaelson’s concert this Friday night at the 9:30 club with my fellow C2M director Kevin (it was totally his idea- he’s obsessed with this talented lady singer).

DC Entertainment Tip: A ton of places in DC only take cash, and though there are ATMs easily accessible in various shops, the withdrawal fees can stack up. It’s a really good idea to bring cash with you.

Wow. Well it’s been a while hasn’t it?

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So Life….

I’ve moved up to Fairfax at this point- I’m settled in at my townhouse off campus. I live in the basement in a room formerly known as a living room- through cleverly assembled bookshelves and curtains, I achieve a fair amount of privacy. My room also opens on to the backyard- something pretty awesome but annoying occasionally. The ants in the backyard don’t like me very much.

I’ve made a promise to myself that I will not be purchasing a parking permit for Mason this semester. They’re $225 at the cheapest -ouch- and it’s only going to be stressful trying to find a parking space on campus every morning. Instead, I plan on taking advantage of the short, beautiful, tree-lined walk to the bus stop from my house and ride the bus daily to school. Though I have to be a little more organized with my time schedule, I think ultimately I’ll be much less stressed. I’ve already begun to really appreciate the time I can spend listening to music or reading a book that otherwise would be spent cursing at other drivers. Plus, I get to feel all happy about taking a car off the road and saving some air for my future children.

The ultimate test run will be in the first few weeks of school. I’m a very busy person with a verryy full schedule this semester- so it should be interesting to see how it works. I’m not worried about the mornings so much. It’s more the afternoon/evenings that get me a little nervous- that’s when the buses stop running so often and only come by every hour or so. But again, planning should save me.

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Connect2Mason Rockzors

This year, I’m serving as the Managing Director of Connect2Mason- an awesome news site covering the school with photos, videos, stories, and everything you can imagine.

I’m crazy excited about everything starting up with it- we have a small but ultra-committed team right now. I think we’re going to bring a lot of fun, passion and humor to the site. For example, today we posted up tons of fun content- including the start to a new photo series called “SPOTTED,” of snapshots from around campus of local Mason celebrities. Our first photo in the series features the Student Government President at the Catholic Campus Ministry Luau….so we named it, “SG Prez Dasgupta Gets Lei’ed.”

Heh. I might get in trouble for that one later, but hey, it was so worth it.

I’m enjoying getting back in the news groove- writing stories, putting together content, posting it online, etc. etc. I get such a rush from seeing a well-edited piece- my name online- a fun video. It gets me pumped up like nothing else ever does. Mmmm I just love my job. We have a whole lot of other stuff planned for the future, so get excited. : )

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Working Out for Dallas Pride

Ever since I got in such good shape in London from just walking everywhere, I’ve wanted to work out more and get in an actual healthy shape. I worked out with a personal trainer a very few times during the summer (at which time, I also had a gym membership I used an embarrassingly few times…). This school year, I really want to recommit to it and really get into a healthy lifestyle.

Honestly, I’ve never had a time in my life that I worked out on a regular basis (except as a young gymnast and my time in high school marching band). I want to change that. My few workouts with my personal trainer got me much more motivated and excited about going to the gym. I plan to really use the Aquatics and Fitness Center at Mason as much as possible while I’m here. It’s a great facility, yet in my three years at Mason, I’ve barely set foot in it. How lame is that?

I made a deal with a buddy back at home that we’d have a workout competition while I’m away at school. Last I checked, he’d made arrangements to start working out with a personal trainer twice a week. Now, I’m a fairly competitive person, and I’m determined to work out better and more often than Ben does. (And no, we haven’t actually laid out terms for what defines the winner of the competition- since we have completely different body types, we haven’t come up with anything that makes sense)

As an additional motivation for me to work out, I’ve decided to state publicly here on my blog my plans to wear a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader outfit for Halloween this year. No clue where to yet- maybe a party or something. I think it’s a good goal though- have you seen exactly how little those uniforms cover? We’re talking completely exposed abs and thighs. It’s slightly terrifying to think of me in one of those outfits right now. However, I have two months to get in decent enough shape to be seen in public dressed as a Cowboy cheerleader.

It’s going to happen, no matter what I look like. That’s some SERIOUS motivation right there. I can already hear my muscles complaining from all the work I plan to make them do…

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Anyways, that’s life. Wooo.

I know- old football pictures seem to be a fairly random thing to post in August, especially for someone who has little to no interest in football- but this article on newspapers that may challenge restrictions of video at football games- made me remember the pictures and video I’d taken earlier in the summer.

My awesome boss at my internship this summer Ann Marie plays on the Dallas Diamonds- I went to a game in June to cheer her on.

The resulting pictures were pretty good- although I’m totally not a sports photographer. Keep in mind all these players are LADIES. Awesome, awesome LADIES.

Ann Marie is the tall one in the back- Number 83. : D

Honestly, even though I am not a sports girl in any way, shape or form, I LOVE what these women are doing and I support it completely. In fact, if I ever live in Dallas for a solid year again (maybe I’ll do law school here?) I plan on trying out for the team- see if they need any smart-aleck pipsqueak short girls to balance out the tall ones.

It’s a good day. Enjoy it! : D

I have woefully neglected my blog lately. I’ve just been so busy hanging out with family and friends and sucking all the life I can out of my days in Dallas this summer. School’s starting soon- so I’m trying to get back into the groove of blogging regularly so that when the craziness REALLY starts, I’ll be able to write more than once or twice a month. This semester, I’m taking thirteen hours of high level classes, assisting with one class, acting as managing director at a news site, working with Lutheran Campus Ministry, being active with Society of Professional Journalists and joining the Ballroom Club, so…..it’ll be a challenge.

Here’s a blog I wrote a while ago and just haven’t posted yet!

I attended a Rowlett City Council meeting a couple weeks ago for the Rowlett Lakeshore Times. I brought my dad’s laptop along and used it to take notes, but also to tweet a little. Nothing really about the meeting- more just things like “I think I’m the only reporter here,” and “I hope none of them think I’m a teenager.”

The meeting went a bit into the evening. As I was packing everything up to go, one of the councilmen came up to me, asked if I was Rachael, said Hi, and told me he followed me on Twitter. Slightly taken aback, I was just like, “Oh really?” He told me he liked my tweets about cupcakes.

I was uh, surprised. I don’t know why I was so shocked by this. It’s not like I didn’t know anyone who wanted to could find me on Twitter- especially since I go by my real first and last name. I just never really thought one of my story subjects would run a search for me and follow me. I guess I just got the tables turned on me.

That’s one of the wonders of social networking- you have little control over who will read your work or follow your life. That used to scare me, but now I just find it an exciting adventure. I put out my thoughts there for anyone to read and I have to say, I’m really glad people are reading them! I’m humbled that people would find anything I say interesting.

Despite all that, I have to admit, that as I was driving home from the council meeting, I was frantically going through everything I could remember writing on Twitter in the past two weeks (since I’m assuming he started following me after my stories on city council showed up online). Did I write anything too childish? Offensive? Too silly?

When I got home, I did a thorough check. It was fine. I really do try to keep my public image pretty clear online- honest to who I am but suitable for all viewing- from my mother to my employers, from my friends to the people who read my articles and are curious about me. I try to refrain from writing about anything I think would reveal too much of my own opinion on news stories or topics I report on- I don’t want anyone to think I’m biased on a story. Also, though I love bragging about my family and my friends, I try to keep any personal problems from appearing online. That’s not the arena to deal with drama.

I know some people were a little alarmed when I told them about the councilman following me, but I happen to think it’s great. Who cares if a story subject or a politician reads about my love of Muppets and cupcakes? I really do love the Muppets and cupcakes. It’s part of who I am- and I don’t think that fact makes me any less qualified for my job as a journalist. I’m very much a professional.

I did make a few further conclusions about what I talk about online though- I have decided that it’s time to totally cut down on the OMGs! on Twitter. Reading through my blogs over the weekend made me think I was reverting to valley girl lolspeak.

And also, though I do want to address my depression and ADD fairly and publicly, as I do think they’re important and are disorders that are too often feared, repressed, and misunderstood, there is a line between addressing it positively and effectively and being self-indulgent. I don’t really want to go over that line, so I need to be smart about what I post online about my actual emotions.

Though I’ve always been pretty careful, I plan to be ten times more vigilant now.

And oh boy am I glad that I didn’t write on Twitter that after the length of that meeting I just wanted to go swim in a margarita…..oops. : )

This is totally random and has nothing to do with my week in New Orleans or my continuing attempts to kiss a penguin. However, it’s awesome.

Last fall, a group of foreign correspondents were brought to George Mason University during one of the Mason Votes watch parties for a presidential candidate debate. I talked to a couple of them and had great fun hearing all the countries they were from. A few of them interviewed me but I didn’t really think about it after that.

Well! I was googling myself a little while back and managed to find a German article written from that event quoting me! Pretty awesome. Stephanie Plagens, a cool woman from my church, was kind enough to provide a free translation for me. : )

To avoid breaking any copyright laws, I’ve only put the English translation here. Go check out the original German article!

(And for the record, no, I was and am not the director of Mason Votes- there was clearly a miscommunication there. I worked in association with Mason Votes on a lot of things during the election, as a live-blogger, reporter and whatever.)

I am entering the Blog Your Way to Antarctica Contest from Quark Expeditions. The deal is, you write up a little bit about yourself online, post a picture, and try to get people to vote for you to win this prize. The person with the most votes by September 30 will win a free expedition/cruise for two to Antarctica!!!! The only catch is the winning person has to blog 24 times about their experience. And pssh, is that really a catch? I would jump at the chance to blog from freaking Antarctica!

(Here’s my profile, please vote for me, and I will love you forever)

This would be, in an addition to the MOST AWESOME VACATION IN THE WORLD, a fantastic opportunity for me as a journalist. It really is my goal to become a foreign correspondent of some sort- whether for a newspaper or magazine or a travel book company- I want to travel the world and write about everything and everyone I see and meet. In the current economic climate in journalism, I really thought I would have to give up my dream for a while. No one’s going to pay someone to travel around the world and write when blogs and the Internet allow anyone out there to write about their particular patch of the globe.

(Did I mention that my profile is right here, written and ready to be voted on?)

Honestly, winning this trip would help me keep my dream of someday being a foreign correspondent alive. So please, do a good deed to day and vote for me- I think the top person currently has a bit under 2,000 votes- I think I can get that with a bit of hard work. What do you think?

And I’m making a campaign promise right here and now that if I do indeed win this trip, I will kiss a penguin on the nose/beak/whatever he has. I will also dance with penguins. And serenade them with Alanis Morrisette’s “Head Over Feet” (a seemingly appropriate song, since penguins slide down ice hills, if I recall).

The only bummer is you have to register to vote. But it really doesn’t take that long. Don’t let such silliness stand in the way of you getting to see me kiss a penguin someday!

Please VOTE FOR RACHAEL to MEET PENGUINS IN 2010!

Looking at the profile yesterday got me thinking. I seriously need to get some decent photos of myself with my current hair cut and hair color that I can send to potential employers, profilers, etc.. One in which I’m not posing in front of the Colosseum. I love that picture, but I’ve honestly sent it out to UWire and the others because I had nothing else that would really work. Any Photogs want to volunteer their lovely services?

Here’s a little montage of Rachael’s hair through college….going from natural Blonde (freshman year) to its current light red color.

Dan Reimold of College Media Matters contacted me a while ago for an interview - He posted a J-Student profile on me July 11.

Amusingly enough- I’ve checked his website regularly for the last few months to see when it would go up, and then the week I forget to check- it goes up! Oh the wonders of Googling yourself and finding out where your name is online…

I’m tremendously flattered by the profile and excited at how it came out. I’m surprised by the description of me having “reporting wunderkind status,” but I’m pleased by that as well.

I also love his intro-

“Rachael Dickson is an award-winning, professionally-trained harpist.  Over the years, she has even played “rock harp” in a few bars, which immediately makes her cooler than you.”

Hah. I don’t mention much about the harp here, but yes, I have studied harp since I was in 4th grade with some excellent teachers, all directly in the Carlos Salzedo line. I won a harp solo competition in uhm…8th grade, I think, and made All-State Orchestra three years in a row in high school. I also played with the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra Philharmonic in junior high, GDYO in high school, and have twice performed with GDYO Wind Symphony as a guest (although curiously enough, I actually never auditioned for GDYO- they just tended to call my teacher when they needed a harpist). I also put on a full-length junior and senior recital. At this point I play very little, only really at church occasionally, but it is still very much part of my life.

Here are some old pics from my high school senior recital- me playing a duet with a friend, All my friends that came to the recital, and a fantastic Harp cake the baker for my sister’s wedding made for me. : D

College Media Matters really is a great website that looks at a lot of college journalism issues with great depth and insight. I encourage y’all to go look at other posts on the site as well. : )

In Other News:

I’ve been crazy lax about updating this website the last couple weeks. I’ve been unhappy with my lack of focus in posts lately- I’m working up plans to revamp the website with a new design (something more than a blog) and a new schedule of alternating posts on journalism and law. I definitely want this website to be more than just my place to show off- I’d like it to be something that’s actually interesting and useful for other people.

You can expect an exciting relaunch of FourPointReport.com in the next few weeks. I know I can’t wait

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Two George Mason University Law Professors will be testifying at the Senate hearings of Sonia Sotomayor, President Barack Obama’s nomination for the Supreme Court, this Monday. Neomi Rao and Ilya Somin are listed among the Republican witnesses. Both have published articles on Sotomayor’s nomination in the past few months.

Assistant Professor of Law Neomi Rao recently served as Associate Counsel and Special Assistant to President George W. Bush. Rao also served as nominations counsel to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Interesting Fact: She’s a qualified solicitor in England and Wales (meaning she can practice law there).

Rao wrote “Questions for Sotomayor: The Confirmation Process shouldn’t be a rubber stamp“, published in the May 27 edition of the Wall Street Journal. Rao suggested a number of questions regarding Sotomayor’s judicial philosophy, including “Do you believe that interpretations of the Constitution should evolve to keep up with the times?”, and “What is the Supreme Court’s role in interpreting ambiguous laws?”

Assistant Professor of Law Ilya Somin is the current co-editor of the Supreme Court Economic Review and a writer for the Volokh Conspiracy. Interesting Fact: He has previously been a visiting professor at the University of Hamburg, Germany, and the University of Torcuato Di Tella in Buenos Aires, Argentina. (I wonder how many languages he speaks)

Somin has written several posts regarding Sotomayor on the Volokh Conspiracy. I’m unfamiliar with the Volokh Conspiracy so I don’t know if there’s any way to link to these stories directly that I’m unaware of- you’ll have to scroll down to find them. Post titles include “Would Sonia Sotomayor be the first Hispanic justice?,” “Sotomayor may be wrong about Race but she’s no Racist,” several posts regarding property rights and her ruling in the Didden case, and others. Make sure you’re reading the articles by him- that page contains the work of several authors.

I’m going to be a big nerd here and dissect all the foreshadowing in the first episode of season five of Grey’s Anatomy. I rewatched it today and I was just amazed at how many plot points and twists were hinted at or joked about in this episode. Shonda Rimes, the writer of Grey’s Anatomy, must have done this on purpose, but I would imagine that she did, as she has said before that she envisions the last episode of the season before she writes the first one.

Oh and I actually checked out her blog post on this episode- In it she says- “All the clues for this season are right there in this first episode. Nothing happens without a reason. Every line of dialogue has a point.”

I had great fun noticing all the “Oh man, that shows up later” moments. I’d suggest that other fans watch the episode again as well- let me know if you see anything I missed! : D

• Dreams: The title itself, “Dream a Little Dream of Me” refers to the dreams throughout the season- Izzy’s brain tumor hallucinations, Izzy’s dreaming up Meredith’s perfect wedding, and the dream/heaven sequence at the end of the season that leaves so many confused. Though dream/heaven sequences have been used in the past in the show, most distinctly when Meredith almost drowned at the ferryboat crash, I don’t think a season has used as many as there were in this one before.

• Main Characters Possibly Dying: Meredith dreams at the very beginning of the episode that Derek has died in a car accident. At the very end of the season it’s unclear whether Izzy is dead from a brain tumor or whether George is dead from saving a woman from the path of an oncoming bus.

• Meredith’s Mother’s continuing effect: The Chief commenting on how he’s been too easy on Meredith because she’s Ellis’s daughter. This becomes an important plot point later on.
• Loss of memory: The lady patient Izzy keeps an eye on who loses her memory every 30 seconds. Izzy later loses her long-term memory for a while.
• Alex as potential marriage material: Izzy commenting on the “good men” in the hospital, including Alex, while talking to Meredith about whether she could marry Derek. Izzy later marries Alex.
• Izzy in a Prom Dress: In Izzy’s dream, she goes up the elevator wearing the pink dress she wore the night Denny died before greeting him at the door. At the end of the season, the same thing happens, yet when the door opens, she sees George in an army uniform.
• Izzy and Denny: When Izzy sees Denny in the dream, he tells her she looks better than a bride. Denny later appears to Izzy, eventually revealed as a manifestation of her brain tumor. She becomes a bride later in the season.
• Lexie and Sloan: Sloan tells Lexie that George is an idiot if he doesn’t like her back. This hints at their future relationship. The fact that it takes him so long throughout the episode to admit that reflects the similar troubles he’ll have admitting to Derek that he’s dating her.
• MerDer Marriage: Derek jokes to Meredith that they should just get married instead of moving in together. He later does propose to her in an elevator and they get married….with a post-it note.
• Moving to Peds: This may be a stretch, but Rose tells Derek in this episode that she’s switching over to Peds (pediatrics) to avoid having the problems she’s had working as a scrub nurse with him, though as she said, she was a damn good scrub nurse where she was. Bailey later wrestles with her desire to switch over to Pedes despite her comfort with where she is.
• Doctors Working Together to Make Someone Walk Again: Here’s another one that might be a stretch- Hunt suggests freezing a man’s spine to try to preserve his ability to walk- Torres runs with it and Bailey helps her, along with the Chief. They’re delighted later that they’re able to make this man walk, despite Shepherd’s anger, doubt and disagreement. These same people later act to try to help Shepherd “walk” again, by working to pull him out of the woods. All his emotions are too much at this point though- leaving Meredith to pull him out.
• Killing People: When the Chief yells at Meredith, Derek defends her by saying that sometimes people die no matter what you do. Hunt says a similar thing to Christina- telling her that his mistakes have killed heroic people before. This ethical dilemma is later what drags Derek down for so long.
• Disappearing George: Although I doubt this was intended, George played very much a background role in this episode, with barely any mention of him. Lexie was really the central figure in the area he was mentioned, with Sloan as counterpart. This reflects George’s disappearance into the background all season until, in the last episode, he was unrecognizable to the people who knew him when he showed up in the ER as “John Doe.”
• Heroic Actions of Army Doctors: In the first episode, Major Hunt saves a man from a wreck by giving him a tracheotomy with a pen, something considered rather extraordinary. In the last episode, George, after enlisting in the army, steps in front of a bus to save a woman.
• “Reality, it’s so much more interesting than living happily ever after”: Meredith’s line at the very end of the episode forebodes great changes for the future- such as the fact that despite the seeming happy ending for Izzy, she might die, and despite George’s success as a resident later in the season, he might also die.