Yesterday was just a very inspiring day for me here in DC - getting to see all of the monuments and Georgetown, and that spectacular view at night from my hotel room window just made it a very memorable day... well, so far Day 3 is off to an absolutely AMAZING start...
I got up a little before 6am ET to get ready to head off to offices of McKenna, Long & Aldridge for an 8am breakfast event. Now why would I be going to a Law office 3000 miles away from home while on vacation so early in the morning? Well, I found out Miss DC, Kate Michael, was going to be there speaking at a breakfast the University of Georgia's "Bulldawg Breakfast Club" was holding in her honor so I just HAD to go! I got there very early - about 7:10am and then read while waiting for the guest of honor to arrive. Kate got there a little before 7:45... and I have to say, she is even more striking in person than in pictures. Needless to say, I just had to have my picture taken with her... I will post these as soon as I can get to a computer that will allow me to upload them.
Kate and I chatted before and during the breakfast about everything and anything - experiences with the Pageants, work, just a lot of different things. It was truly a joy to get to meet her - she's truly one of the nicest, most honest and sincere people I've ever met.
The breakfast itself included about 15 people in all, most of whom were fellow University of Georgia alumni - I think I was the only "oddball" UCLA Bruin there. The hour and a half went by really fast, and Kate made us all laugh several times with her wit and humor. Kate also answered a lot of questions about her Literacy platform and about plans for her future. Kate is talented in many different areas, so there are almost endless possibilities as to what she will end up doing for work... It was truly a pleasure and honor to be there, and it's an experience that I won't soon forget...
After meeting with Kate, I took the bus to Georgetown and met up with my cousin Melinda who is a sophomore at Georgetown. Melinda and I shared lunch together on campus and she then gave me a full tour of the University Campus. Once again, I took lots of pictures and was truly impressed by all of the history here... The conversation was thoroughly enjoyable as we shared stories about our relatives and the different things to experience here in D.C.
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In sports, the Los Angeles Lakers were predictably routed by the Pheonix Suns last night and the World Champion Miami Heat fell to the Chicago Bulls again. Tonight, we will see if the Denver Nuggets can surprise the San Antonio Spurs again and we will also see if the the crippled Washington Wizards can somehow summon the strength to get a win over the Cleveland Cavaliers...
As for baseball notes, I've cut bait on two of my early "Diamonds In The Rough." The first is Jorge Julio, who just has yet to find his good stuff this year form the Florida Marlins... the other is John Patterson of the Washington Nationals who is pitching like someone who isn't 100% - his fastball, which normally tops out in the mid 90's is peaking in the upper 80's and his breaking pitches simply don't have the bite they normally do... Patterson was someone I really wanted on my teams this year, so it's tough to cut bait on him... the loss of velocity though makes the decision a little easier... Earlier in the season, I thought maybe the distraction of getting engaged to Kate's predecessor, Miss 2005 D.C., Shannon Schambeau may have been the cause of his pitching woes... I don't think that's the case now.
In addition to Patterson, Ryan Zimmerman is another National that is off to a very slow start with just a .233 batting average as I write this... Ryan appears to be going through the dreaded "softmore slump"... Hopefully he will to be the 3rd baseman that everyone wanted so badly on my their fantasy teams this year. The hardest thing about drafting players for fantasy baseball teams are the intangibles... the things which on the surface you wouldn't think should have an effect on a player, but for some reason they end up causing the player to either achieve well above expectations or well below them.
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One last thing... wasn't it nice to not see Sanjaya on American Idol last night? I was so thankful that he was finally voted off the show last week. Nothing against him, but the bottom line is that he couldn't sing very well and American Idol is a singing contest... kudos to him though for parlaying his stage presence and image into something marketable... I definitely don't think you've seen the last of him... If I were to pick a winner now, it would be Melinda Doolittle. She remains a steady rock - consistently great, while the others always seem to be up or down. Lakiesha Jones (whom I considered the early favorite) had her third consecutive sub-standard performance last night. Will she be voted off this week??? It just might happen... tune in to find out... Two time Grammy winner Carrie Underwood will be amongst the singing guests!
Take care & hope you're all doing well!
John
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