~a smattering of sarah~

Diggin' on DC

Posted on Sat, 2006-10-14 17:27 by sarahfelicity
Categories: |

I'm in Washington DC this weekend, (wo)manning the DeSmogBlog booth at the GreenFestival. It's my first visit to DC.

Me in DCYesterday afternoon Kevin took me on a power tour. We saw the Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam Vets Memorial, and all the other memorials too (there's lots). We blew over to the White House, too, which was actually less impressive than I thought. I mean, I'm sure it's pretty nice and all, but you can't get anywhere near it and it's not that amazing from 300 meters away. Just kinda crazy to know that you're standing outside the seat of ALL THAT POWER.

Last night I hung out with two dear friends who moved here six months ago, and we went to Busboys and Poets, which is one hella cool spot. I'm kinda ashamed somehow to admit this, but I had this moment of realization last night sitting there. I realized with some awe that it was the first time I had ever, I think, sat in a room where at least half the people were black. Because this just does not happen in Calgary, or in Edmonton, or in London, Victoria, or Vancouver, and those are all the places I've lived in my lil' life. So that was a humbling moment, realizing how narrow my world has been in some ways.

Then today I spent a lot of hours at the Washington Convention Center, telling anyone who would listen about the DeSmogBlog, and eating too many free samples of organic processed food. I had a good time though, and ran into some friends from Web of Change (Care2 and EchoDitto in the house!)

Tomorrow is back to the convention center, and then Monday I'm gonna hit up some museums before I fly out at 5pm. Til anon...

sarahfelicity's blog | Add new comment

I love George Bush

Wed, 2006-10-18 19:55 — jacobhauser

I really, really, really do, and so does everyone else, they just don't know it. Yet.

reply

D.C.

Thu, 2006-10-19 10:40 — Michael Stein (not verified)

you were in DC? Can't believe I missed a chance to meet you! I just posted a link to your site the other day on my blog.

reply

Diversity and other surprises

Wed, 2006-10-25 11:13 — j david

I was struck by your comment about sitting in a room that has a racial balance different than you usually experience. I have a similar story.

I went to business school late in life, with a bunch of seasoned executives and had the same experience-- 44% of my classmates were foreign born and most of those were of colour. I have spent most of my career in the not-for-profit sector and have found that it is racially and gender imbalanced as a rule (race=white, gender=almost all of one flavor and varies by topic).

This hit me hard when we put together a conference on sustainable food systems that used my B-school's facilties. The attendees were 95% white, nearly 70% female. We were in the same classrooms that held my MBA classes where we were 10% black, 40% brown, 15% yellow and 35% white. I hate to admit it, but the best of business is ahead of us in terms of attracting talent in many colours. We all seem to be challenged on the gender thing.

I've been working hard to expand my world.

Thanks for the thoughtfuls posts, Sarah.

reply

thanks

Sun, 2006-11-05 00:19 — sarahfelicity

... for the thoughtful comments, jdavid. :)

reply

Search

About this Site

A hodge-podge of random thoughts, musings, and links – sometimes about social change, sometimes about technology and the web, sometimes about yoga, and occasionally about knitting. Sometimes (because I'm a Canadian girl with deep roots in the British Isles) I even write about the weather.

I'm a yoga teacher, founder of Yoga for Geeks, and a freelance web writer, strategist, and project manager. I also help to co-create the amazing Web of Change Conference, every September in beautiful British Columbia.

My Del.icio.us Feed

  • globeandmail.com: Today's suburbs, tomorrow's slums?: According to some doomsday scenarios, spiking gas prices could turn the cul-de-sacs and two-car garages that surround North America's cities - built over the past 60 years and designed for the convenience of people with cars - into tomorrow's slums.
  • The Secret Strategies Behind Many “Viral” Videos: interesting read. it's not as organic as you think....
  • The Center for Whole Communities: Center for Whole Communities seeks to foster inclusive communities that are strongly rooted in place and where all people -- regardless of income, gender, race, ethnicity, or background -- have access to and a healthy relationship with the land. At the co
  • Vegetarian myths, debunked. - By Taylor Clark - Slate Magazine: Imagine a completely normal person with completely normal food cravings, someone who has a broad range of friends, enjoys a good time, is carbon-based, and so on. Now remove from this person's diet anything that once had eyes, and, wham!, you have yoursel
  • Urgency is poisonous - (37signals): why a 4 day work week is better, and why your so-called "urgency" might actually be a figment of your imagination.

Syndicate

Syndicate content