The Don of D.C.

Trip to Ethiopia

2007-12-11T11:13:00.000-05:00

One of the perks of working on International issues for the federal government is that every now and then Uncle Sam decides that it would be in its best interest to send a certain employee on a trip. While this is not my first trip on the taxpayer dime, it is my first trip to Africa. So, as such, I feel it deserves a specific mention in my blog (which I know I don't post on much - sorry to both of my readers).

Anyways, in November, I traveled to Ethiopia to help put on a Counterterrorism Seminar focusing on issues in East Africa. While there, I took advantage of the time to see some of the sights. I am including some pictures for the curious.

Me in front of St. Mary's Church on Mount Entoto, overlooking Addis Ababa

The view of Addis Ababa from Mount Entoto

Me at the Adadi Mariam Church. This rock-hewn church south-west of Addis Ababa was built in the 13th Century by Emperor Lalibela. It is carved into the ground out of a single rock.

Shark Week! OR Why I'm not getting much sleep!

2007-07-30T08:41:00.000-05:00

So, 9:00 on a Sunday night rolls around, and I'm just flipping through the channels, minding my own business, when all of the sudden I pass the Discovery Channel and realize, to both my joy and dismay, that Shark Week has indeed begun.

For the uninitiated (and culturally out of touch), Shark Week is a week-long programming theme for the Discovery Channel where most every show is about sharks. These shows range from documentaries about different sharks, to Mythbusters episodes where they test the plausibility of Jaws.

Now, I'm not sure why this week-long theme is so popular with the masses or why it captivates me so. All I know is that between 9:00 pm and 1:00 am last night, I watched shows ranging from the "Oceans of Fear" (about the sinking of the USS Indianapolis in shark infested waters during World War II) to "Air Jaws" (about Great White Sharks breaching the surface of the water as the feed on seals and sea lions), and I was enthralled for every minute. There is just something about sharks that touches a chord within us. Perhaps we pause and examine our own humanity. Maybe there is a touch of "shark" in all of us. Or maybe I just think that watching a Great White Shark fly through the air is frickin cool.

As I write this post, bleary-eyed at work, I can't help but look forward to this week with equal parts excitement and dread. I'm sure I will spend hours gorging on shark-related programming. I'll probably cheer out loud and make comments such as "dude, that was awesome" to no one in particular. I'll relish each and every minute I watch these predators of the deep do something cool. All while I neglect both my wife and sleep. Which is why I'm grateful that it is called Shark "Week" and not Shark "Month". I'm not sure my marriage or job can survive my addiction.

Why it can suck to be named Don

2007-04-11T09:32:00.000-05:00

Before I get into the meat of this post, let me preface by saying overall I do enjoy my name. It is unique enough that I don't share my name with anyone I know personally. However, it is common (and simple) enough that I don't get "How do you pronounce that". In addition it is a name that easily lends itself to other nicknames. I have rarely been called just "Don". It is often altered or mixed with other words/sounds (my name is often sung) to be creative. In addition, as it is used as a title in both Spanish and Italian, it often allows for fun variations such as "The Don" or "Don Corleone". So overall, I like my name.

However, every now and then I get reminded of one key fact that demotes my name: It is an OLD name. If you google image search "Don Cordell", this picture is the first one to come up. I mean seriously, doesn't everyone have an "old uncle Don" somewhere. While this has helped thin out the number of contemporaries I have to share my name with, it does make some things difficult. Namely, old people say and do stupid things at a much higher rate than we young adults do. This has been brought to media attention recently when Don Imus made his comments about the Rutgers Women's Basketball Team. I know, I know, he was trying to be funny. But it was a STUPID COMMENT. The type of stupid comment an old man makes when he is trying to be "hip" and "funny". In a response on Al Sharpton's radio show he said "I didn't think it was a racial insult, I thought it was in the process of us rapping and trying to be funny." Yeah. Anytime a 67 year old white man talks about "Nappy-Headed Ho's", he must be rapping.

Anyways, that's just the most recent example of a stupid old man doing my name "proud" (said sarcastically). Another example I ran into is at the following web address: http://www.doncordellforpresident.com/. To make it worse, this guy shares my LAST name too. His presidential platform is nothing more than a ridiculously long rant about why he hates Mexicans.

Is it up to me to redeem the name "Don" for future generations?

"300" and Marriage

2007-03-09T13:15:00.000-05:00

This potentially GMOAT (greatest movie of all time) comes out this weekend, and like most red-blooded American males out there, I'm absolutely stoked to see this. And while a post dedicated to how absolutely awesome this movie will be would normally be sufficient, I feel the need to utilize this topic to discuss one of the key components in marriage: compromise. The reality is that it would be a cold day in... well, you know, before my wife would go see this movie. Despite my best efforts, she just does not find the same joy I do in viewing 2 ancient armies stylistically and bloodily hack each other to bits. Early on in our marriage (yes, I realize I've only been married for 6 months now, but I'm talking about within the first month), discussions about which movies we would watch began to come up. For example, I wanted to go see "Snakes on a Plane". I could not understand why my wife would have no desire to see this movie. I mean, what could be better than watching Samuel L. Jackson trapped on an airplane full of poisonous snakes. She, on the other hand wanted to go see "Step Up". What made her think that I would have any desire to see some fruity dancing movie is beyond me. So, we compromised. We went to the movies together, and met up with our married friends Steve and Meghan. Steve and I went and saw "Snakes on a Plane" while Kim and Meghan saw "Step Up". We then met back up for ice cream afterwards. This method has worked extremely well since. Steve and I saw "Borat" together, while Kim and Meghan saw "The Queen". And now, we will do this once again for "300". I'm not sure if Kim and Meghan have decided what movie they will see, but I'm sure they will go see something that I wouldn't allow my cold, dead corpse to be drug into. And this is why we have a happy marriage. The End.

Crying!!!

2007-02-22T11:34:00.000-05:00

Wow! Three responses to my last post. That right there gives me the impetus to resume my past musings. As I now have over a year's worth of experiences, I figure I can post on virtually any topic I want.

So, I was reading an article on yahoo today entitled "What Scares a Man?"

http://health.yahoo.com/experts/menlovesex/17701/what-scares-a-man

And while some of this post is absolute rubbish (#11 - I don't fear the Speedo, I embrace the Speedo), item #9 is absolutely RIGHT ON! Her Tears! I've been married for over 6 months now, and absolutely nothing frustrates me more than when (metaphorically speaking) the faucet starts leaking. What are we men to do in face of such an onslaught?

I think there are two key reasons for this. The first is best summed up by Ben Stiller in Starsky and Hutch: "I'm not a crier, I don't cry, I work out. I have a job, I have hobbies..." This is what real men do. We have jobs and hobbies. We don't cry. So when a woman cries, we just don't understand it. It's just not in our nature.

The second reason for this is guilt. The moment the tears start flowing, we feel guilty. Men are by our nature guilty creatures. We do things that offend. We normally take pride in this fact. It is coded in our DNA (somewhere in the Y chromosome). So when a female cries, we naturally assume it was because of us.

Now the kicker is that these two key reasons combine. We assume the crying is because of us but we don't understand why the reaction to our supposed actions is crying. If we offend another guy, he would punch us, we would punch back, and all is solved. You just can't punch back when a woman is crying (aside from the moral, ethical, and legal problems, it would just make her cry more, thus compounding the problem). So what do we do? We don't know!!! When my kitchen faucet leaks, I get a monkeywrench and fix it. I can't do that to my wife (yes she has already told me I can't when I tried to get it out!). So what do we do? (This is rhetorical question, so please don't post any comments like "hold her", "comfort her", "tell her everything is all right", etc.)

And its even worse when she is not crying because of us. While we men feel an immediate sense of relief at being off the hook, we are then even more confused because we have absolutely no idea why she is crying. The guilt at least explains a portion of the crying. Remove the guilt, and we men are absolutely dumbfounded.

Thus, I wholly agree with #9 on Yahoo's list. I fear the tears.

Don is entering the Foreign Service

2007-02-20T11:46:00.000-05:00

While I'm not sure if anyone I know still reads this blog, I figured I'd put it up here anyways. So, last month I took the Foreign Service Oral Assesment and I passed. This means that pending a problem with my security clearance, medical exam, or budget cuts, I'll be entering the U.S. Foreign Service and working in Embassies and Consulates around the world. So, I kind of thought that was cool and deserved to be shared.

Peace out!

This is just a tribute.

2005-12-14T17:25:00.000-05:00

So, I normally wouldn't add so many posts in such a short period of time, but I recently heard of an event that I feel more than anything else deserves publication on the world-wide web. Most of you are aware of the one and only Ryan Daniels. Well, last weekend, Ryan did something he once swore to me he would never do. He ran a marathon. But not just any marathon. Ryan Daniels ran in the Ryan Daniels Invitational Saturday Night at 6:43 p.m. Marathon. As you can well imagine, he was the only runner. This was due to the fact that there was absolutely no advertisement for this marathon. Which was due to the fact that Ryan just decided on a whim on a Saturday night that he wanted to run a marathon. So he did. Ladies and gentlemen, this feat deserves the awe and respect of all of us. So, the next time you see Mr. Ryan Daniels, I want you to prostrate yourselves on the ground in front of him and chant "We're not worthy" three times. You may then stand upright again and resume your previous behavior. Thank you.

Tookie

2005-12-13T19:44:00.000-05:00

I trust all of you well-informed readers of my blog are aware that today, your friend and mine, Stanley "Tookie" Williams was put to death. Even those of you who read nothing more than People magazine should be aware of this incident. Such cultural giants as Snoop Dogg, Jamie Foxx and others who have animal last names with double final letters have made this a huge media issue. And well they should. By giving the drip to the crip we have put to death a man who was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize (take that Switzerland!) as a powerful anti-gang advocate. And yet for all of his children's literature (he was basically the hip-hop Dr. Seuss) he never fessed up to actually killing anyone. As if the founder of one of the most violent gangs in American history would ever need to kill anyone. And to make this story even more intriguing, his final fate was decided by a man best known for his title roles in the "Terminator" films.

Basically the point of this blog is thus: Irregardless of your personal opinion on whether Tookie deserved clemency or not, this certainly provided one hell of a news story!

Proof for the rumors you have heard.

2005-12-13T19:25:00.000-05:00

This is really more of a courtesy posting than anything else. I was trying to come up with something clever to say, but it just wasn't happening. So anyways, yes I am dating the girl in the above picture. Her name is Kim Holling and we've been dating for about 6 weeks now. I hope all of you can find the wonderful humor/irony in that as much as I can. I spend 4 years striking out in the supposed "dating capitol of mormondom" and yet not even a month after I leave I'm dating someone. Anyways, that's that.

2005-11-28T16:19:00.000-05:00

HAIR!!!

Tis a sad day. Once again, I have cut my hair. As this beautiful image to the left illustrates, I once again had grown the flowing afro, but as of today this image is no longer of what is, but of what used to be. Don has gone with a conservative haircut (I can even part it on the side!!!). I'm now sure if I like it much, but I might as well get used to it because it may be a bit before it grows out.

2005-11-22T12:44:00.000-05:00

Well friends, we now get to the present. Now that you have reread the past and reflected on the good times you had reading them initially, I will give you the lastest. Are you ready for this... wait for it... wait... and NOW: I'M STILL UNEMPLOYED!!! I know most you were bracing yourselves for the terrible news that I had possibly become a contributing member of society, but fortunately for all of us, this is not so. I am successfully maintaining my status as a drain and leech on all of you hard-working taxpayers. I'm actually rather enjoying this status. Just the other day I was checking out prime cardboard box real-estate for when I can no longer afford my apartment. The riverfront property is looking quite nice, although I'd have to kill off at least three winoes in order to make sufficient room for myself. But I digress.

Overall, the job hunt is going quite well. I've put in quite a few applications and resumes. Now I just have to get the employers to start calling me back.

So I went to my new ward on Sunday. I think I actually prefer this ward. Its much smaller. Only about 50 people at Sacrament meeting. I'm actually in the University Park ward that serves the University of Maryland. We meet at the Institute building right off the UM campus. It's only about 5 miles from where I live so I just take the bus up there. Quite convenient actually.

Well, Party on and don't let the man get you down. Stick it to him whenever you can.

2005-11-22T12:26:00.000-05:00

Well, just to update all of you, I did recently get hired on at a temp/placement agency specializing in providing employees for non-profit organizations. They seemed really focused on getting me hooked up with organizations that I would actually feel good working for, so that looks quite promising. I'll let you all know how that ends up. I'm also putting in my application at the House and Senate recruitment offices, so hopefully I'll be able to find employment working for an extremely left-wing Congressman. That would be cool.

2005-11-22T12:24:00.000-05:00

The time has come for the second chapter of this thrilling saga. When we last left our hero, he was training future public servants for their own futures in some sort of National Service. Well, as with all good things, that also had to come to an end. Don now faces the most daunting challenge of his adventure in the land of politics: Unemployment. Yes Don was officially canned on Sunday (after a one week extension to work a youth program on Law) and is now once again facing his nemesis: the job hunt. However, this time around, Don does not have his trusty parent's basement to serve as a base of operations against the dreaded fiend. However, he has relocated to Maryland with a fellow former member of the staff of the youth program who is also fighting the same beast. As Don attempts to attain the goal of sustained meaningful employment, many questions arise for our hero: Will he once again prove victorious as he always has in the past? Will he be able to find a job that will support his convictions? Or will he have to sell out to the man in order to make ends meet? Find out the answer to these and many more questions in the next exciting chapter of our ongoing Don in DC Epic.

2005-11-22T12:23:00.000-05:00

So, random thing happened to me last Saturday (10/15). I was out on the National Mall as our kids were exploring the Smithsonians. If any you caught the national news, you would know that last Saturday was the 10 year anniversary/sequel to the Million Man March. For those unfamiliar with the Million Man Movement, it is a black-power rally. I got to stand in the National Mall and listen to the likes of the Rev. Al Sharpton and Minister Louis Farakhan tirade about the current administration and how they sabotaged the levees in New Orleans, etc. It was pretty cool. So of course I signed my name on one of the official rosters to say I was there and to show support for my black brothers. Word.

2005-11-22T12:21:00.000-05:00

So, I was at church last Sunday (10/9), and who do I see? Not one, but two 177th ward alumni. You all remember Pete Keyworth? Yeah, he was there. And Anne Colton is in the ward as well. So, needless to say, it was nice to see a couple of friendly faces (Not that the other faces were unfriendy. Its just that I didn't know the other faces, and thus couldn't tell if they were friendly or not. You know how it is. What may appear to be a friendly face could actually be extremely unfriendly, and vice versa. But with those two, I knew the face and thus could accurately label them as either friendly or unfriendly. And they were friendly.)

2005-11-22T12:18:00.000-05:00

Greetings Friends!!

This is my new blog, so today I'm republishing the mass emails I've sent out in my blog so that those of you who wish to visit and revisit my adventures over and over again can have one convenient locale to do this.

So, here goes...

I'm doing great out here. The job is a ton of fun. The kids that are in the program are quite smart and well behaved, so I really haven't had to be much of a babysitter. I'm more of a mentor and guide as they embark on their journey towards a future in national security policy. OK, so that was dumb, but you get the picture.