Day three of Kagan coverage

Kagan concluded her testimony today after three days of statements and questions from the Senate Judiciary Committee. I am happy to say I don't have to go back to that hearing room for quite awhile. After spending three days in the same room I'm going a little stir crazy and am ready to move on. The hearings have been enjoyable though. I'm seeing history being made by being apart of a Supreme Court confirmation hearing. I heard rumor I made a few appearances on CSPAN where the hearing was broadcast live and an appearance on NBC Nightly News as well. I thought that was pretty cool. I've put together a third slideshow to sum up the day. It can be viewed here:

http://blogs.chron.com/txpotomac/2010/06/kagan_confirmation_day_three_p.html

Tomorrow will be a slower day for sure. Maybe I'll even get to sit in a chair at my desk instead of kneeling on the floor for eight hours at a time. Check back in tomorrow to see what I end up doing. I haven't had much time to look ahead yet, but I'll definitely figure something out.

Kagan's Confirmation Hearings

Tonight will be a quick post since it's already pretty late. The last two days I've been living and breathing the Kagan hearings and will be for the next couple days too. I've spent at least 10 hours of the last two days photographing and working on multimedia coverage for these hearings with only a short break to photograph Gen. Petraeus' confirmation hearing as U.S. commander of Special Forces in Afghanistan for a few minutes. So far, I've put together a photo gallery for each day of the hearings. Those slideshows will give you the best perspective of what I've been doing during the hearings. For those that care, the hearings are being broadcast live on CSPAN3 and you can occasionally see me up at the front of the room.

Day One:

http://blogs.chron.com/txpotomac/2010/06/kagans_confirmation_day_one_ph.html

Day Two:

http://blogs.chron.com/txpotomac/2010/06/kagans_confirmation_day_two_ph.html

As some of you may have heard, Senator Byrd, who was the longest serving member of the Senate passed away on Monday at age 92. This offered a unique and unexpected opportunity to witness the way Congress mourns. On Monday, the flags at the Capitol flew at half mast and today at the Armed Services Committee hearing with Petraeus, a black drape was placed at his seat. See the photos below.

Day three of Kagan coverage starts tomorrow. We'll finish round one of questions and see where it goes from there. Look for more photos tomorrow if I'm still awake by dinner time.

Epic post after a long weekend

My favorite place that we visited!

My apologies to all for being a slacker on my blog the last couple days. I’ll do my best to recap the last four days and give the reader’s digest version of what’s been going on. Prepare yourself: It’s a long one.

Thursday: On the last day of my short work week, I photographed Senator John Cornyn, R-Texas, while he did an interview with Alan on Kagan’s upcoming confirmation hearing. After a short trip back to the office, I went back to the Hill to photograph the conference committee on financial reform. No, I didn’t understand anything they were saying. Unlike most committee hearings where the senators or representatives sit behind the dais like you see on C-SPAN, they were all sitting in a round table format. I have to say I prefer the dais because it’s easier to get unobstructed views of each member of Congress, but the round table offered a great opportunity for candid shots of members of Congress talking with aides, whispering to each other, etc. As some of you may know, the Russian president was in town last week. I attended a photo op with him, the Senate leadership, and several former presidential candidates like McCain and Kerry. It was a pretty powerful room, to say the least. Unfortunately, with so many people in the room and trying to get them all in one shot, it was a terrible time for my wide angle lens to break. I did have another camera with a zoom lens though so I just have really close photos of about two people at a time. Better than nothing, I guess. I’m hoping for a similar photo op later this summer when British Prime Minister David Cameron comes to visit.

Friday: I had an all too early start Friday morning, leaving my apartment at 7:30 to head to Union Station to take Amtrak to Philadelphia. For those that don’t know, the Alan I keep referring to is my boyfriend of a year and a half and we were visiting Philly for his annual check up at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). To put it simply, he has a complicated medical background and after getting sick his junior year of high school, he was sent to CHOP when no doctors in Atlanta could figure out what was wrong with him. After finding an answer at CHOP his case was featured in a New York Times Magazine column on medical mysteries and, for those interested, you can read it here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/15/magazine/15diagnosis-t.html

I was very honored when he asked me to come with him to Philly for his appointment because I know CHOP holds a special place in his heart and mine, as well. I feel forever indebted to Dr. Ichord, who manages his case and is also the doctor who was able to give him an answer to what was wrong. I enjoyed having lunch with her and being able to talk with her not just about Alan, but everyday things too like how our internships in DC are going and everywhere Dr. Ichord has traveled. After lunch, we went to visit a cousin of mine who lives in Philadelphia, Adrienne, who works at a gelato shop. We couldn’t visit long since she was working, but we did sample the gelato: a lemon/ cookies and cream combo that was both sweet and refreshing. We visited the historic district that afternoon and got our picture with the Liberty Bell and at Independence Hall. I must say, taking photos as a tourist is a little weird now. It’s not in my nature to take a snapshot and move on. I’m used to taking photos from all different angles and distances in order to get a true understanding of what is going on at a given scene. Made me think tourist photography was almost a little shallow and that everyone’s pictures will look the same, and it just struck me as very unoriginal. But I won’t go too far on that tangent. That night we had an amazingly delicious dinner at The Melting Pot, of which my favorite part was obviously the dessert chocolate fondue. Cheesecake drizzled in chocolate is terrible for you, but so tasty!

Saturday: We spent a short time in Philly on Saturday before heading to the train station for New York. I hadn’t visited New York since my junior year of high school (also my first trip to NYC), so I was very excited to go back. First priority on our agenda was lunch. We had a wonderful lunch at Bubba Gump at Times Square, although, the one disappointment of the trip came at this time. After a game of Forrest Gump trivia with our waiter, I asked him how many times he had to watch Forrest Gump before being hired. He said it wasn’t a requirement at all and the restaurant just hands out a sheet of trivia questions to ask and the waiters memorize the answers. Not cool. But he earned back a few points when he said he had watched the movie several times to form his own tough trivia questions. After lunch, we went in search of a new wide angle lens, which was a success and then started a pretty rigorous walking tour of New York. From about 4:00- 7:00 we managed to see NBC studios, Rockefeller Center, Central Park, Fifth Avenue, M&M World, and Hearst Tower. (Had to visit the home office and, may I say, it’s much nicer than the one I work in.) We had a wonderful dinner at Il Vagabando - thank you Mr. Blinder for the restaurant suggestion – followed by a night-time view of the city on top of the Empire State Building. It’s always a beautiful sight. After a whirlwind day, we crashed early to prepare for one final day in New York.

Sunday: I’m writing this post from the train on my way back to DC after a very busy day in New York. After walking everywhere all day on Saturday, Alan and I decided to experiment with the New York subway in order to save some time traveling between the sites. We somehow managed to squeeze everything in that we wanted to do despite on being in New York for about 29 hours. We started the day with lunch in Chinatown at one of its many Chinese restaurants. I am by no means a pro with chopsticks, but I made do since no silverware was provided. After lunch we went to Ground Zero, which has changed quite a bit since my last visit four years ago. Last time it was still a giant hole in the ground, but there have been great improvements in the construction of a memorial and building around it. We also saw a memorial at the fire station literally across the street from the World Trade Center site. An engraved mural outside the station shows all the faces and names of all the men who died trying to save others. The mural that spans the length of one side of the station says it best: “May we never forget.” Our next stop was Tiffany & Co. I had to stop in and see the famous Tiffany’s of New York. Many other tourists had the same idea. Our visit there was short and sweet, but stayed long enough to see lots of pretty diamonds. I was told by Allie Blinder I simply couldn’t leave New York without stopping at Magnolia Bakery. Man, was she right. Allie, my sister Liz, and I often spend way too much time talking about desserts and which places are best to go and I’m so glad I took her recommendation. I had an excellent chocolate chunk blondie and a homemade lemonade. Yum!

On a personal note, my family gets into town on Friday to spend the Fourth of July in our nation’s capitol. Can’t wait to see Mom, Dad, and my sister Liz and show them the city I’ve come to love over the last three weeks! But first, I must face the week ahead, which includes Kagan’s confirmation hearing and a visit from the Saudi king. At this point I’ve completed a third of my internship. I’m very thankful for the opportunities I’ve had and have really enjoyed watching our government up close. It’s way more interesting than a textbook. I realized how much I had learned when I stood in the Senate Press Gallery on Thursday and watched as many senators came in for a vote. At the start of my summer, I knew Georgia’s senators, the leadership, and maybe a few others, but I found myself able to recognize almost everyone in the room, senators from all regions of the country, from seeing them at various committee hearings or press conferences. I was very pleased and know I will continue learning more and more each day.

Double the Michelles

So as many of you know the president had a busy day handling everything going on with Gen. McChrystal. As a result, he was not able to attend the event with the first lady announcing the President's Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition. However, as a bonus a couple a couple members of the council were there including Michelle Kwan and Dominique Dawes, hence the blog title because I saw Michelle Obama and Michelle Kwan. Both beautiful and very well dressed might I add. Watch my slideshow of the event here:

http://blogs.chron.com/txpotomac/2010/06/photo_gallery_get_fit_with_mic_1.html

Or in case you just want to see a few photos...I think you'll recognize these faces.

Tomorrow might be the busiest day yet in Washington. I have five events to photograph and have time to do about three. This excludes any time it will take to edit and produce and photos or multimedia features I need to do. As a result, I'll have to prioritize not just what I want to attend, but use news judgement to figure out what events are most marketable to Hearst's many newspapers, which are non-negotiables, etc. My editors have been great about helping with that process and guiding me in the right direction. To give you some background on the people I'm working with our bureau chief, Rick Dunham, was the former president of the National Press Club and knows virtually everyone in Washington. Chuck Lewis is our senior editor and former bureau chief before Rick. He also served as AP bureau chief here in Washington and has covered presidents as far back as Ford. Both have had pretty impressive careers to say the least and I know I can learn a lot from them.

I'll let you know what I end up covering tomorrow and of course pictures will follow, but for now I'm calling it an early night.

Picking up the pace

My first two weeks have been a great transition into working in DC. Not too fast, not too slow...I've had many opportunities to go out and cover things, but haven't felt overwhelmed yet. And from here starts about two weeks of craziness and at it's center is the confirmation hearings. Everything is prepping for Kagan's hearings and next week actually covering Kagan's hearings. I have a few other events thrown in like getting photos of those debating financial reform and if all goes according to plan an event with the president and first lady tomorrow!

Today I attended an event at the White House on their initiative to end homelessness. Nothing immediately newsworthy came out of it, but it did give me a chance to get some archive photos of four Cabinet secretaries. The photos aren't particularly compelling so instead I'll post some from earlier this afternoon. I spent the afternoon chasing senators through the halls of the Capitol which was actually a lot of fun. On Tuesdays, both parties have luncheons which many members attend. Reporters and photographers will often wait outside the elevators leading up to these luncheons and try to grab the senators for a question or photo before they go inside. After, the leadership of both parties holds a brief press conference. Here are a few of the photos I got. First, the Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell speaks with other members of Republican leadership. I posted this photo for two reasons: to admire the gorgeous architecture inside the Capitol and to see the mass amounts of press that gather for these press conferences. The second photo is Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Another Monday

Mondays always give me a false impression of the week. They are often slow and involve lots of planning, but that's only so I can try to get ahead of the curve for the next few days. This week is the week before Kagan's confirmation hearing so we are doing a lot of prep work on what to expect during the hearing. Lots of soundslides productions coming soon.

In other news, I'm going to take a moment to vent. I was very exciting about living at George Washington this summer and for the most part I still am. I have a great roommate, a private bathroom, walk in closet etc. However, the kitchen that I paid extra to be sure to get has been a major disappointment. The first time I tried to use the oven it didn't work. Not a huge deal, I filed a maintenance request on Monday. But then it took until Friday for them to fix the oven and during that same period all four eyes on my stove quit working. Fortunately, all was working by Saturday. I was a little irritated it took a week to fix, but I had moved on. Then I came home to cook dinner tonight and guess what? The oven is broken again, won't heat up at all. Thankfully the stove was still working, but who knows if that will continue. Get to make a lovely customer service call tomorrow morning. But anyways, back to journalism.

Here is a link to my slideshow from the Vietnam Memorial event on Father's Day I mentioned in my previous post: http://blogs.chron.com/txpotomac/2010/06/they_were_our_fathers.html

Things to look forward to this week include another White House visit tomorrow, some hearings on financial reform, a possible event with the President and First Lady (not every day that they do events together), and prep for Kagan confirmation hearings. Should be a very busy week indeed, but I'll do my best to keep y'all posted as I go through it.

Weekends are way too fast

I had a fantastic weekend of both working and touring. Since Alan had pool duty on Saturday, Arleta and I took the opportunity to see some girly sites that Alan wouldn't enjoy. (See bottom of post and I'll explain pool duty and give you an inside look to the media and how it works.) First we ended up at the mall, not the National Mall, but a traditional shopping mall and obviously shopped accompanied by frozen yogurt that was delicious! We spent the better part of the afternoon at the National Museum of American History looking at the first ladies' gowns and accessories they've donated over the years. May I just say Abigail Adams had really tiny feet. I think my favorite gown was a toss up between Laura Bush and Michelle Obama. I loved the red color of Laura's dress, but the one-shoulder design of Michelle's. After, we ventured downstairs we went and saw Julia Child's kitchen. Since I just saw the movie earlier this year it was very real and cool to see exactly how her kitchen was laid out.

Sunday was more of a work day. I went with one of our reporting interns, Dana, to an event at the Vietnam Memorial where sons and daughters of those that lost their lives in Vietnam gather to celebrate the lives of their fathers each year on Father's Day. It was a very different atmosphere from the crowded, intense BP hearings I have been covering. An event as reverent as this one was refreshing and I felt blessed to be there. I relaxed and did some laundry and dishes this afternoon. Alan's friend from Alabama, Ian, got into town for his internship this afternoon so we along with Arleta went out to dinner with him at a place called Clyde's. Great food, not so good service. Not sure yet what this week will bring, but as always I'll k

eep you posted. Photos below are from today's event at the Vietnam Memorial. First, a man touches his rose to his father's name at the Wall. Over 2,000 roses were laid today. And second, the presentation of the colors.

Now to explain pool duty. Pool duty is a rotating system where a print reporter joins the regulars of the White House Press Pool on their assigned day for their paper. The rotation is done alphabetically. One print reporter is always in the pool to provide all the other print reporters with up to date info on the president and what he is doing. These are called pool reports and are sent out in live time, especially when the president is on the move or changing activities, etc. On Saturday, it was the Houston Chronicle's turn for pool duty and so Alan was sent. The president also known as POTUS (president of the United States) spent the day playing golf at Andrews Air Force Base with Biden. To give you an inside look on the reports the media gets on a daily basis I'm going to copy Alan's pool reports below.

Pool report #1: POTUS, who was not seen by the pool, left the South Lawn at 1:01, bound for golf at Andrews.

Motorcade of SUVs, which stopped at most lights, was uneventful and featured waving tourists and the occasional oblivious driver, who soon became knowledgeable of their surroundings with some encouragement using lights and sirens.
POTUS, still out of sight of the pool, arrived at 1:30. His playing partners are unknown to this point.
Now heading to our holding place.

Pool report #2: Just got word POTUS' playing partners are Biden, Marvin Nicholson and former campaign photographer David Katz. Pool is holding in the food court at Andrews.

Pool report #3: After playing 18 holes with three others - including the vice president
- POTUS departed Andrews at 5:49. The pool never saw POTUS. Your pool spent its afternoon in the food court, discussing snow cone flavors and the unusual works of art for sale, many of which featured POTUS, while eating fried seafood from Captain D's. To our disappointment, not a single TV was carrying the World Cup (all-star matchup of Cameroon v. Denmark), forcing an afternoon viewing of the College World Series' opening round. Motorcade of SUVs, which arrived at the White House at 6:13, got interesting by the Holocaust Museum when a few cyclists tried to run through the motorcade while we were stopped at a light. Your pool saw one black-clad agent with a weapon drawn emerge from a vehicle, and a car of agents remained after for what is likely to be an unpleasant discussion. We went lights and siren for the rest of the trip, which was
then uneventful. One additional note: David Katz's official title is now energy efficiency campaign manager at DOE.

Pool report #3a: Pool has now seen video of POTUS' departure from the White House at 1:01. He appears to have been wearing an ivory polo shirt, but our fashion sense is limited.

Pool report #4: We have a lid.

A lid means that the press is free to leave because the president isn't doing anything else for the day.

Thanks to all those who are reading my blog and keeping up with me. If there's ever something you want to hear more about or anything like that feel free to leave me a comment.

Published in a different way

Yesterday was an exciting day of bouncing back and forth between two major hearings. On the House side, I was photographing the CEO of BP, Tony Hayward, and on the Senate side I was photographing Secretary Clinton, Secretary Gates, Secretary Chu, and Admiral Mullen who were testifying together on the New START Treaty. The underground subways that connect the buildings and that I have access to with my press pass definitely came in handy that day. So as the title of my post mentions while I was at the Hayward hearing I was in photos taken by the NY Times and AP. As a result, I was in the lead photos on nytimes.com, latimes.com, and politico.com for a few hours yesterday. I'm also in the front page photos in the print edition of the New York Times, Denver Post, St. Petersburg Times, and Chicago Daily Herald. And yes, I have a copy of the New York Times and my mom probably has more. So it wasn't my photo on the front pages, but I thought being able to see myself on the front pages was pretty cool too.

Here is the link to the NY Times photo followed by a few photos of my own from Thursday.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/18/us/politics/18spill.html?hp

Look towards the middle of the photo. I'm one of two females in the picture.

Tony Hayward, CEO of BP, with jaw clenched as he listens to the opening remarks by the House Energy and Commerce Committee.


From left to right Secretary of Energy Chu, Secretary of State Clinton, Secretary of Defense Gates, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Admiral Mullen. There's a lot of power in that picture and don't they all look thrilled to be there.

Getting Published

So today was going to be a relatively quiet day at the office with just a few video interviews this afternoon, but after getting to the office I saw there was a hearing with the CEOs of Continental and United testifying about their merger. Since Continental is headquartered in Houston I ran over to the Hill to snap some photos real quick. I found out later tonight that my photo will appear in tomorrow's business section of the Houston Chronicle, possibly on the front page of the section. I've had photos online so far during my internship, but this will be my first photo in print. Houston is also a top ten paper in terms of circulation so that's pretty exciting as well. Here is my photo of United CEO Glenn Tilton and Continental CEO Jeff Smisek as they testify before the House Transportation Committee.

Later this afternoon Alan and I did another video interview with a NATO leader, a prime minister too...of Latvia. Don't worry, I had to look up where Latvia is on Google too. We're working on a video series of world views of the United States since Obama has become president. Believe it or not, Latvia was the country that was hit worst by the economic recession so it was very interesting to hear his opinion. I'm still working through some issues with trying to get video off the video camera since no computers will recognize the device, but we'll see how it goes.

Tomorrow includes two hearings simultaneously that I need to be at. First, Secretary of State Clinton, Secretary of Defense Gates, and Secretary of Energy Chu are testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee. It's not every day you see three members of the cabinet together. Also, the chairman of BP is testifying before the House Energy Committee in another building so it'll be interesting to juggle both.

Starting to wind down week two and still loving every minute of my job. Each day brings new experiences and new challenges. New people to talk to and new places to try and get published. Looking forward to developing relationships with photo editors at the Hearst papers and being better able to serve their photo needs in Washington.

My First Trip to the White House

I knew today would be a big day because the five executives of the major oil companies were testifying today before the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Since BP is headquartered in Houston and Hearst owns the Houston Chronicle I was there to photograph the hearing along with the rest of Washington. Here's my photo of all five executives getting sworn in.

During the hearing, General Petraeus was testifying on the Senate side in another hearing. As I'm sure as many of you know, he passed out during his testimony. Alan Blinder, a fellow Hearst intern was I believe the first to break the news on Twitter. I then overheard another photographer saying she was about to head over to see Petraeus so I had the pleasure as the newbie photographer to break the news to her. None of the veteran photographers knew of the instance so I was pleased that I had been the first to know.

After three hours and 1,000 photos of the oil hearing I went to lunch. While I was eating in the Senate cafeteria my phone rang and it was our senior editor. I answered and he quickly told me that if I could be at the White House in 20 minutes I could photograph the president's arrival on the south lawn as he came back from the Gulf Coast. I don't think I've ever moved so fast. Grabbed my stuff, threw my food away, and bolted for the closest exit of Dirksen, one of the Senate office buildings. Lucky enough, there was a cab sitting out front and I think I scared the driver when I told him I need to get to the White House ASAP. Lots of uncertainties crossed my mind of not knowing where I was going, if I would get hung up at security since I was a first time visitor etc. I arrived 17 minutes later, cleared security with no problems, and began to find my way to the press room. Took a wrong turn the first time around, but after finding someone else with a press badge I found my way to the right spot and waited. An agent came to escort us to the south lawn and then more waiting. I took in the beautiful view of the Washington Monument and Jefferson Memorial at the other end of the lawn and of course the gorgeous mansion that was behind me. It was all a bit surreal, but I snapped back to it when I saw not one or two, but three helicopters flying towards us all weaving in and out. One by one they peeled off as they got closer and then the president's helicopter started to land. As someone who has never been around a helicopter before I was nearly blown away. I hid behind my camera to avoid the dirt flying in my eyes. After the marine opened the helicopter Mr. President himself appeared a few moments later. He waved briefly to the tourists and press whowere there to greet him before heading into the Oval Office to prepare for tonight's speech. So within the hour my White House visit was concluded, but it was definitely memorable. The president and for those who care, Marine One.

A Slower Day in Washington

I'm winding down a very quiet Monday at the office. It's amazing how much calmer Washington is when there are no press conferences and hearings as most of Congress gets back into town tonight. I started the day by picking up my photo pass from the Senate Press Photographers' Gallery. Previously, Hearst had given me paperwork for a daily print pass, but that doesn't put me in the area with the other photographers during hearings and committee meetings on the Hill. It was an easy mistake to make for a bureau that doesn't usually have a photographer around, but I'm glad I was able to get it all cleared up. The bureau had our weekly staff meeting at 11:30 where the interns out numbered the full time staff (nine of us here this summer). The buzz words around the table were energy, oil, and financial reform. Since financial reform isn't very visual in nature, I'll be working on a soundslides presentation of the BP Oil Spill from start to finish. It will cover the highlights of what has been going on there, including some AP photos from the gulf, audio from initial reports of the TV broadcasts and some photos of my own when 5 CEOs of major oil companies testify before the House Energy Committee tomorrow. I'll post the link here when it's finished.

My afternoon will consist of video editing from a couple interviews last week to produce a 3 minute video of clips on the New START treaty. Hopefully a low key night will follow before I dive into several projects this week. So far, there's no photo of the day since I've just been in my cubicle, but if I go out to do something touristy later I'll be sure to put something up.

A Relaxing Weekend

To wrap up this week, I enjoyed the weekend as a tourist. Slept in on Saturday and watched the US tie England in the World Cup. I consider it a victory any way. Alan and I took a walk down I street, (where I live) which turns into Pennsylvania Avenue. It's really fun to be less than a 10 minute walk from the White House so we can just go see it whenever. After that, Alan, me, and my roommate ( a friend from high school) Arleta went to an awesome sports bar in Adams Morgan and watched the Braves beat the Twins! We also had a fantastic, but terribly unhealthy dessert of fried oreos. I think I need to do a lot more walking to get rid of all of those calories. After dinner, we ventured to the Lincoln Memorial and it was such a beautiful sight. The serenity and breeze made for a perfect evening to tour the Korea and Vietnam memorials as well. A very moving and powerful experience indeed. I loved being able to see the Washington Monument and the Capitol lit up at the other end of the Mall too. It was too dark for pictures, otherwise I would definitely include some.

Sunday was another laid back day. Alan, Arleta, and I went to the Newseum and stayed for three and a half hours. We still didn't get to see everything so we'll have to go back sometime. It was especially interesting since I'm a journalism nerd. I probably spent way too long in the Pulitzer Prize photos exhibit and Walter Iooss' sports photos. I saw Tim Russert's office as well which has been preserved at the Newseum for all to come and see. On the sixth floor there was a terrace with a spectacular view so we had to take some pictures there.

In journalism, the things I am covering can change in an instant. I have some idea of what my schedule will be this week, but it doesn't always work out like it's supposed to. If all goes according to plan, some things to look forward to include a hearing with several CEOs of major oil companies, photographing the Secretaries of State and Defense, and my first trip inside the gates of the White House!

The rest of week one

The rest of my week seemed to go by in a flash, weekend included. I've had many other firsts since my last post too. I'll try to give everyone the highlights and get on a daily blogging schedule this week.

Tuesday day was supposed to be a quiet day at the office, but then Admiral Allen, National Incident Commander of the BP oil spill announced a press conference the following morning. Since Hearst owns the Houston Chronicle and BP is headquartered in Houston this oil spill definitely matters. I was able to get some good shots of Admiral Allen which will be a part of a project I'll be working on this week: a soundslides presentation of the oil spill from start to finish. On Wednesday, I briefly visited the Czech Republic. Alan and I had a video interview with the Czech Ambassador and when you visit the embassy you are technically in that country. The embassy was in a beautiful area on the outskirts of Washington and had a modern, cool architectural flare on it's interior.

Thursday was by far my busiest day of the week. It began with the Senate Finance Committee meeting that I mentioned in my previous post. I saw my first member of the Cabinet there and look forward to seeing a few more this upcoming week. From the Hill, I went to another video interview with Ambassador Ryan Crocker who served in many Middle Eastern countries. Alan and I interviewed him at The Willard, a beautiful DC hotel. That afternoon I photographed another hearing where 4 women and 1 young girl shared their personal testimonies regarding immigration and why they oppose the Arizona immigration reform law. Below is a photo of the young girl crying as she retold the tale of her parents being arrested by the deputies and how she still fears them today.

Thursday night I attended my first movie premiere, technically documentary premiere titled "Gerrymandering," featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Hearst also owns the San Francisco Chronicle so they sent me to get a picture of their governor at the event. After the documentary, the press waited on the sidewalk for Schwarzenegger to come out of the theater to take questions before he left. Many tourists asked who we were waiting for. Some didn't believe us when we told them, but those that waited around got to see the governator himself before he hopped in his black suburban. Here is one of my photos from the event.

On Friday, I was thankful for a quiet day. I just had two video interviews with Steve Hadley, Bush's National Security Advisor and Ambassador Tom Pickering who served in places like India, Israel and the United Nations. To clarify, all of these video interviews will be divided into two episodes. Hadley and Pickering will be in one episode, to be online later this week, discussing New START. The other names I have mentioned will be combined with other interviews to come this summer to create a video on how the world view of the United States has or hasn't changed since Obama took office. I'll provide links here when those videos are completed.

Even in such a short amount of time this internship has been so rewarding and I know that feeling will only continue to grow. As a first time visitor to DC, I have been given the special privilege of getting an inside and up close look on how our government operates. Berry prides itself on allowing students to experience firsthand how their academic studies can carry over into the practical application of a student work position and that is exactly what this internship has done for me. I have had the privilege of shooting alongside Pulitzer Prize winning photographer Scott Applewhite when I covered Geithner and shooting the White House with many other tourists. I am absolutely loving every minute of being in DC and while I may be exhausted when I lay down every night, my energy is renewed when I think about the excitement of the day to come. Every day brings something new and that is what I love the most about what I'm doing.

Headed out to cover a documentary premiere featuring Governor Schwarzenegger in the next few minutes. Didn't have time for a full update before dinner, but I will try to get on that later tonight. But first, the photo of the day, which is from when I attended my first congressional hearing. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner was testifying before the Senate Finance Committee. Here is my favorite of the 356 images I took during my hour-long stay.

The First Day

There is never a dull moment in this big city and my first 48 hours in DC have been filled with all kinds of excitement. Just to provide some context, I’m planning to use this blog to chronicle my experience as the first multimedia intern with Hearst Newspapers. I was awarded a very generous scholarship to cover my tuition cost for the academic credit I’ll be receiving from the internship. As a part of that, I’ll be keeping a journal of reflections about my learning experiences and how that will influence my future career and all that jazz, but I’ll throw in plenty of fun stories and info about the exciting things I get to cover too.

I have to say, my first day was a bit more eventful than I had expected. It wasn’t in terms of workload, but the fact that one of the first things out of our editor, Chuck Lewis’, mouth was, "by the way Helen Thomas is retiring, but no one knows that yet." Her retirement was announced publicly a few hours later. That was a lot of take in first thing in the morning and was made even more real when I was assigned to a cubicle two down from hers. The phone rang off the hook literally all day long, but Ms. Thomas has not been back into the office yet and I’m not sure when I will see her.

My first day started as most new jobs do, with paperwork. But this time it was a bit different than ordinary paperwork. I was filling out my application for the Senate Press Gallery. After making sure my email account and voicemail were in working order, I ventured with two other interns over to the Capitol to get our press passes. I smiled for my picture and then with my new pass in hand rode the underground Senate train to the Senate cafeteria for lunch. I went back to the office to sift through all the media alert emails we get to see if there was anything interesting coming up, made a quick trip back to George Washington where I’m staying, and then Alan Blinder and I headed to the Woodrow Wilson Center to cover a public interview that Ben Bernanke, Federal Reserve Chairman, was giving.

See the photo from my first assignment and read about his interview here:

http://blogs.chron.com/txpotomac/2010/06/bernanke_says_recovery_coming_1.html

The interview finished at 9pm and after starting my day at 9am I was exhausted, but I felt accomplished. And also important (probably a bit too much) with my new Capitol press pass around my neck. I think this internship is going to teach me a lot about being assertive and working with others to collaborate on coverage. The first week will be a learning experience and a little different because our bureau chief is out of town until Thursday, but I have a full calendar and I’m ready to cover Washington. I had concerns about getting lost (literally and figuratively in the big city), but I am carving out my role as the first multimedia intern in the bureau and learning the metro system so I am confident those fears will soon disappear.

I am winding down Wednesday as I write this and trying to get caught up on blogs. Expect posts on the events of Tuesday and Wednesday soon.