Still blogging after all these years

The somewhat home-wide Internet crash of 2008, exacerbated by the poor blogging habits of the Italian and the Diplomat, has indeed cut into my public writing of late. In one sense, this has been good because I have focused my energies on actual writing projects (the likes of which I have not touched in years), and I haven’t had all that much to report. But I have a strange conscience that annoys me when I fail to blog and makes me feel like I have plans on days when my calendar is empty.
It is somewhat difficult to believe that we are already three weeks into the new year. The march of time means many things: the dropping out of my preferred presidential candidate (great sadness), my Chargers being dropped out of Super Bowl contention (inevitability central), the imminent State of the Union and ensuing budget/appropriations season (I can has Tylenol, please?).
Speaking of predictable cycles, it was three years ago today that I first commuted to Capitol Hill – an intern then, and green, green, green. I have learned a great deal about life and politics in three years, including:
* More 20-somethings are in charge of this country then there should be.
* Congress is in session a lot more than it should be.
* The adage “if you want a friend in Washington, get a dog,” is wrong.
* Inasmuch as the people getting the government they deserve, democracy actually does work.
* SGR, CMS, LTCH, DMEPOS, MLN, Part D, PFFS, MedPac, ASC, NCQA, CAH, DRA, MMA, and, of course, SCHIP.
* Even I can burn out on writing.
* There are still politicians worth admiring, and many worth loathing.
* You really haven’t been a staffer until you have seen the rotunda from the inside at midnight.
I could go on, but I’m not feeling particularly creative or witty at the moment and don’t want to make you suffer.
Finally, while I despise the tabloids and the 24-hour news stations that emulate them, I must take this opportunity to express my sadness over the death of Heath Ledger – my first real celebrity crush. After seeing him in The Patriot I printed out the picture below, which sat on my vanity for the remainder of high school. (Yes, a glimpse into my mind as a teenager. Scary? Perhaps.) Another star falls, and another piece of Leeann’s innocence shatters. Such is life.