Washington Monument

DC keeps me busy. I’ve been working hard at EPIC for the past 3 weeks. The past fortnight, I’ve been focused on researching the Google / DoubleClick merger. We put out some great work product (pdf) that I’m proud to be associated with. Check out the supplemental materials we submitted to the FTC if you’re into that sort of thing. And by “that sort of thing”, I clearly mean the evolving concepts of privacy in a digital society.

EPIC’s summer clerk program has given me the opportunity to meet some really cool folks from the policy world. I even got to rub some elbows on the Hill, and say whatup to everybody’s favorite socialist Senator.

Speaking of socialism, or rather, being social (terrible segue)… I saw some great shows recently. I managed to sneak in to the sold-out U.S. Air Guitar National Championships last week. I “air talked” my way in by convincing somebody with a press pass to let me have their badge. The competition was fierce, and in the end the victor was a geriatric man who shredded his air instrument like an atmospheric virtuoso. (Last year, my friend bit the air-head off of an air-dove. Sadly, he did not win).

This week, I got an authentic press pass from a buddy that works at NPR and saw the sold-out Feist and Grizzly Bear concert. I’m slightly infatuated with Feist now. The entire crowd was absolutely smitten with her stage antics. It was like watching a kitten paw at a crowd of 1,500 people. Her new album is amazing and I highly recommend it (I even bought it for my mom for Mother’s Day). Grizzly Bear had amazing control of their sound, even though their aesthetic is like an impromptu house party performance (Listen to Fix It, then go see if they’re playing near you in the near future).

So much music in the summer in the city.