President Obama gets his priorities straight

I was glad to read in the White House blog today that President Obama is finally getting his priorities straight this month.

White House Photo, 3/17/09, Pete Souza

Which battle would you rather watch?
Louisville versus UNC or the U.S. gov't versus AIG?

And your pick for the winners?

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/09/03/18/March-Madness-At-the-White-House/

Kayaking on the Potomac River!

Had another trip yesterday to kayak in the Potomac River with my dad. What a treat! It was sunny, warm, not a cloud in the sky, and the colors were just brilliant. Take a look:

Kayaking on the Potomac

Cruisin' on Lake Anna

IMG_3305.jpg
Originally uploaded by andyghatch

I haven't posted in a while because I've just been busy having way too much fun! Labor Day weekend as well as last weekend was spent at Lake Anna, the Hatch/Morris family compound, with family and a great group of friends.

Thankfully, I've got a brother not only with a high tech camera, but with the skills to go with it too!

Take a look at his flickr page!

Another fun event was the 1/2 marathon I did up in Plymouth, MA about two weekends ago. Pouring rain and good company - seriously couldn't have been any better!

USA Women's Vball defeats Venezuela

Gotta love this game! Check out the game video highlights HERE

Photo: FIVB

Wanna Meetup?

Since returning home, I've been far from all my friends from camp and college and I've had a fun time trying to fill in my social calendar. I discovered recently that the opportunities are endless. I discovered this great website called Meetup.com. You can sign up for free and there are an infinite number of groups that you can join in your specific area of the world depending on your interests. Want to meet other singles?, or maybe you prefer to meet other withches or track ghosts in your town. Perhaps your style is a little more refined and you'd rather go to a museum or theatre show. Whatever your taste there's likely to be others in your area to who'd love to revel in a common interest. Can't find a group you like? Just start your own!

The webpage is a bit like Facebook where you can create a profile with a photo for each group to which you belong and people can leave posts on your "shout out" wall. Depending on the group, there are periodic e-mail updates on the schedule of events. When an event is nearing you just RSVP - Yes, No, Maybe, and online you can see who has RSVPd. If you attend the event you're asked to rate it and provide a short comment.

I just think this is an awesome idea. Just last week I went to a Spanish meetup at California Tortilla in Clarendon, VA, not too far from the city. There were over 35 people there and the whole purpose was to just get to know each other and, of course, todo en español. Yesterday I met up with another Spanish group for intermediate/advanced/native speakers to play games on the Washington mall in between the Wash. Monument and the Capitol building. We had name tags and started the meeting by introducing ourselves. Because this is such an international city there were people from all over the states and world. the leader of the group is Argentine and there were people from Bolivia, Peru, Ukraine, Colombia, and obviously the U.S. We had a blast playing frisbee, peppering with the volleyball, and ending with a game of soccer.

What's so great about this type of social activity is that it's not the awkward encounter of meeting up with a friend who introduces you into his or her social circle and you stay the newcomer the whole time. Everyone is the newcomer in these meetup things because that's the whole point - to meet people. And then what glues it all together is that there is instantly something to talk about because the groups exists around a common interests, so obviously everyone can talk on that subject or participate in that activity. So I encourage you all to step out of your normal routine and go have some fun with some new people!