Rhetorical Expressions

January 26, 2012

{9} L.O.V.E

This “LOVE” sign is a familiar sight around Philadelphia. ”The City of Brotherly Love” will become “The City of Married Love” this weekend! JPJD arrives this afternoon and I can hardly contain my excitement. I think I’ve told everyone I know here (which is a small number of people, but still).

I’ve been working away at my first research memo this week, resulting in many good “conversations” with former presidents. I’m in 2011 now (I started in 1630) and am working my way through President Obama and the 2012 Republican Primary Candidates. After about a hundred more speeches, I’ll do some editing, formating, and provide some “interesting observations” before sending it off. It’s a major accomplishment.

And then, let the weekend commence! We have plans for Independence Hall (maybe stream National Treasure on Netflix, too, just to set the scene?), the “Betsy Ross” House, Philadelphia Museum of Art, cheesesteaks, ice skating at Penn’s Landing, beer & mussels with AC and significant other, a lecture on Nixon at the school, church, Philly Restaurant Week, and watching tonight’s Republican debate together on cable (this is a big deal, people). Oh, and sleeping in my tiny twin bed. But I don’t think that will be a problem.

{8} Fun Facts

This post feels a bit like this scene from West Wing:

I’m a little brain-dead because I’m in the midst of keyword searching 2,351 presidential addresses. Fun facts I learned today:

Common (and popular) words ending in “city”: sagacity, electricity, capacity, tenacity, simplicity, reciprocity, publicity, veracity, incapacity, atrocity, multiplicity, scarcity
Common (and popular) words containing “hill”: chilly, Hillary, The Hill (as in Capitol), Churchill, uphill, hillside
And, going with the U.S. National Parks theme, Theodore Roosevelt established many state parks and had an acting secretary of state named David J. Hill (who signed the orders). Since national parks frequently consist of hills and the proclamations to designate said parks are “Done in the city of Washington, D.C.” (or at least they were in 1903), I got to know Acting Secretary Hill quite well.

I’ll conclude with, hands down, one of my favorite West Wing clips ever. Ever. Unfortunately somehow the embed function has been removed from this clip, so just click here for the beloved episode of C.J.’s root canal.

{7} Boots and Panzanella

Today the rain came down, cold and damp, for hours. I ventured out around 2 pm for lattes to warm us up. My wonderful red rain boots kept my feet cozy and dry as I splashed across the main thoroughfare of our semester home. When I returned, we talked FDR and Lincoln and Hoover and Reagan. And I got my first major project today — I’m thrilled and can’t wait to begin.

Dinner tonight is courtesy of friend/colleague/writing partner SB: Barefoot Contessa’s Greek Panzanella. I substituted Trader Joe’s Balsamic Vinaigrette for the dressing, but otherwise everything else is the same. Light, fresh, and flavorful, I’d highly recommend it!