I oficially received an offer today from the US Chamber of Commerce as a Corporate Communications Intern. I beat my competitors. They reviewed my sample writings, and called right away. Finally, somebody appreciated my papers, not to mention, they actually read them, and thought I am skilled enough to write for a premier US political organ! I was thrilled but I hope I can find a real job, maybe as a senior writer. My responsibilities as an intern will be joining sessions, doing research for speechwriters, and writing articles for uscamber.com. Finally, an exciting opportunity to be a writer. What this means is I will be close to America's political heartland. Well, VERY close. The Chamber is right next to the White House!I asked my supervisor about career prospects, and he told me previous interns crossed the road, they are working as researchers and writers at the White House. I do not have this aspiration. I prefer to stay on my side of the road. Who knows, some day I may do this for a living. Not road-crossing, writing...:).

So, finally I have finished working on my blog. Levent's suggestions were valuable, indeed, he made the whole thing:). I watched and tried to learn strange words such as valign (for vertical align), and this and that.... (a la Swarzenegger).

yep, Levent just looked at my new blog style...and told me it needs a major uplift:). Hm, I am trying hard, but should try a little bit harder, he showed a color book, where you can pick color combinations etc, I want soft coffee hues, simple but aromatic, kind of. I should feel this cozzy feeling I feel everytime I sip my cappucino in a coffee shop, even smell the aroma:). Any suggestions anyone?

Today

Today, for the first time in DC, we had a Friday night- we went to Black Cat, a populat night club that featured a reportedly famous rock band: Beauty Pill. The band consisted of an Asian girl, a Black guitarist, and a Turkish-looking dark girl who was my favorite. The band that played before Beauty Pill, Medication, was so mediocre, the music so laud and spiritless, that I could barely wait for their last song. I can't believe I actually listened to their entire repertoire-a total of 12 songs! By the last song, I was seriously disturbed and ordered Levent to order me a drink, I told him "Bu sarkilar ayik kafayla hic cekilmiyor". He told me "Iyi bir noktaya parmak bastin, sen kafayi cek, ben arabayi kullanacagim." Then he was gone into the crowd and returned with a vodka. I drank it in a shot, and spent the rest of the night merrily drank and happily insensitive to tunes and honks. No wonder I "loved" Beauty Pill, they were really good, at least after a glass of vodka... We continued the night in a Mexican pizza shop, Levent ordered us a calzone, the seller tried to trick us into buying two calzones, betting on us being drunk, but Levent was sober enough to object. In the meantime, I was busy analyzing the neighborhood, "100% Mexican". This is the name of an area joint, and a god description of the place. It is also artsy fartsy. We also discovered, as we walked to our Black Cat, a cool theatre, The Studio, that offers rare Russian plays in English versions, such as the plays of Anton Chekhov! Now, this is something I can love DC for. We will definitely frequent the place. We learned later that the district that we "discovered" was in fact Adams Morgan. A historic district, once very prosperous and upscale. Judging by its artistic architecture, and non-mainstream atmosphere, I can tell that when the up-scale glitterati fled, the low-scale litterati invaded the place! Today it is a popular venue for the latte youth. The real news of the day, however, is not Black Cat or Beauty Pill. I cut my hair real short, a la garson. I love my new self. I look different now, part of my re-vitalization efforts. So far, so good. Yes, I haven't changed that much-I still get drunk with half a beer, and I am still not the party girl. But appearance-wise, I was one of the coolest tonight. DC people are real boring-all in black and following the latest fashion. Everybody looked the same. A black crowd with oocasional blondes in between. Black boots, black skirts, black blouses...c'mon, give me a breakkk, I miss the pleazantly wierd, self-expressive people of New York. Especially Soho.

I am playing with HTML color codes. Learning how to build a website on my own, this is only a trial, I will continue to update it as I discover new colors and styles, and, of course, skins.

Across the highwaying, it autumned. A very bad rendering of Borges' invented language. In the shadow of Selmin, I am digging into another shadow: Borges. I might as well become an owl. I fell in love with 'Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius,'' a story about language. Here is part of the review: "In 'Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius', perhaps the height of philosophical playfulness as literature, Borges invents an orderly alternative way of thinking and talking. He sets down the principles of a language in which there are no nouns, only ''impersonal verbs, modified by monosyllabic suffixes (or prefixes) functioning as adverbs.'' '' 'The moon rose above the river' is 'hlor u fang axaxaxas mlo,' or, as Xul Solar succinctly translates: Upward, behind the onstreaming it mooned.'' Marvelous." Yes, marvelling. Before learning this imaginary language, though, I have to improve my basic French, and hone my poor Turkish. Sunday evening. Sitting alone on my favorite French-country-style wooden table, enjoying the great pastoral view across our spacious balcony. No fireplace. :) The romance of the spectacle is intermittently disturbed by long convoys of wailing ambulances... Our apartment overlooks an upscale neighborhood, Belle Haven, an 'American dream' collection of houses and mansions, buried under a thick veil of autumn extravaganza. I realize it is almost December. Yet one more autumn is passing by, almost unnoticed, in all its earthy hues and whispering. I find myself yearning for the profound - to me almost unworldly - serenity of those aging giant trees. From where I stand, I see nothing but a leafy sequel of yellow, brown, ruby petals; naked branches breathing fresh air across the busy highway. Today is my 'no coffee' day; fighting insomnia. Lots of things passing through my mind as I scribble down today's monologue. The current state of affairs in this country (and how little I can do to change the reality, in fact, how indifferent I am) and my job search (I am not despairing yet)...."Nothing shows a man's character more than what he laughs at."
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Here is what Selmin said for my blog:"Leman started her own blog: the Burning Girl. This is a news, on my part, that should shake the whole cyberworld and alter people's lives forever. Alas, it is rare that true talent gets the veneration it deserves. Take my word and peruse her site once in a while. Can't wait to delve into her writings myself." Yep, we officially started quoting each other, soon we will develop a Derridean obscurity and incomprehensibility in our writings!

Stars but no bucks

I am at Starbucks! Well, stars, but no bucks. Had a funny interview today. A no-go. It was the most absurd job I ever heard of. Working hours 6:45 am to 1 am (!) full time, including sundays. The job: Program Instructor. A semi-academic city guide for high school students. Even though I felt I was desperate enough to go to the interview, when the moment of actual interviewing and presentations arrived, I felt I was not 'desperate enough' to work for a minimal wage for 80 hours a week, not to mention that the job did not stimulate or inspire me at all, and had no career advancements whatsoever, unless you want to upgrade to manager of new instructors. Will keep looking. And... I was actually called for an interview for what I can call my ideal job, more on this later. Now must study for the interview!

A balmy late- autumn day..

A balmy late- autumn day. Had to wake up earlier than usual, to drop Levent to work at Freddie Mac. I am still having hard time adjusting to this state of total auto-dependency; granted, we have a state-of-the-art metro in DC (much cleaner and cozier compared to NY metro), but it doesn't have lines in most suburban areas, which means, a car is a must even in this metropolitan city. Ellen called me today again from the US Chamber of Commerce for a Corporate Communications Internship. She was apparently impressed by my sample writings, and she e-mailed me later to let me know everyone agreed that I was a very strong candidate. I hope I make it to the final. The downside is that I will not get paid, and will work full time. Join hearings, summarize sessions, and publish articles online. Exactly what I would like to do for a living! Still haven't found a research/writing job, though. Called an Indian Journalist today, she gave me valuable tips, unbelievable, I just learned from her that Voice of America has a Turkish team in DC to produce Turkish news. Hm. This is something. I can try to contact them. Finally a place that may appreciate my background. On the personal side, I am still in total eclipse, the thesis nightmare. Relocating to DC from Kansas City consumed all my energy. Our shabby appartment is very close to Old Town-Alexandria, Misha's Cafe is the only joint I frequent besides Starbucks. Stopped cooking. We discovered a very nice Chipotle in Old Town, most patrons were nice couples, students, and young families. The music was psychedelic, and they had bar stools! Strangely, it reminds me of Rumelihisarustu cafes and kabob house in some way. No friends yet:).

Midnight Melancholy in DC

Washington DC. I have been so lonely recently. To the point of desperation. I have managed to reduce myself to the status of a passive, complaining, paralyzed somebody asking myself: what is the point of socializing and networking. I have been missing a lot of things in my life: magic is the first. I was chatting with Selmin, another wandering soul, today, as the idea came up to put myself to some online use. This is when I decided to revamp my writing skills and do something. As part of my self- revitalization efforts, I have also decided to translate books in the near future. Sent an e-mail to Everest publishing house today. Hope they take me seriously. After all, this is the only thing on earth I can call my job.

Welcome to the "Burning Girl Project". I have created this casual space as a venue where everyone dear but not-so-near to me could meet and exchange ideas, opinions, or just say hello. I called it the burning girl as a tribute to the original "Burning Man Project", a dire test of survival that brings together thousands of people every year; ordinary people like you and I, people hoping to find themselves in the desert. The Burning Man is created by thousands of hands in the heat of desert. Once finished, he is burned along with all other works of art. The occupants of the desert city leave behind - destroy - all material expressions, pieces, things and everything they have created during the course of one month, and disappear without leaving a trace. The philosophy of the Burning Man Project is to teach that life is not about the product born after a moment of inspiration, but the moment of inspiration itself. When I applied this to my unfinished life, I realized this is who I ever wanted to be: the Burning Girl, not burdened by the fetish of all those things I have created, and had to leave behind. The burning girl is a nomad, she has no history to turn back to, and the future is just around the next corner. If you want to share a few moments, and then burn them with me, the burning girl is waiting for you.