Groundhog Day 2008

I am not a fan of the song "I got you babe" by Cher. I think the disdain originates from karaoke; any time a couple chooses to sing it, I make sure to step outside for a quick "phone call". Interesting hook for this blog, huh? For those of you that have seen Groundhog Day with Bill Murray, this comment may make a bit more sense.

In the movie, Bill Murray wakes up every morning to this song while on assignment covering Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney, PA. And every morning, his character is stuck reliving the previous day's events, as he has been trapped in a time loop.

The relevance? One of the topics that our REU students chose for us to write about in this week's blog is to explain what day we would choose to relive over and over if we were cursed to be stuck in a similar time loop as Bill Murray. For starters, whatever day I would choose would not begin at 6 am to "I got you babe"! Second, I have to include the obligatory because my wife might read this: my wedding day and the days that my two boys were born. Ok, now that I've got those covered I will choose a day a bit more fun to expand upon: my first day after moving to Washington, DC.

In May of 2008 when I graduated with my undergraduate degree, I decided to pack up my bags and head out to DC to work as an (unpaid) intern for then-Senator Russ Feingold. As an unpaid intern, I was unfortunately limited in the things I could do (e.g., free museums, very cheap happy hours, dollar taco nights at bars on the Hill); if I remember correctly, I had $3000 for 10 weeks. Now, if I were "cursed" to have my own groundhog day, I think I could start to really experience the DC that I couldn't back as a 21 year old. I could see all the museums, experience all the parks and history of the town, and explore every nook and cranny. And seeing as how I had never been outside the Midwest, I could experience all sorts of east coast cities that would be (still!) new and exciting. That day was such an exciting experience that I only half expect something like this to be a curse.

(I think I could also make quite a movie out of this: "21 year old Zach Raff Sees Big City for First Time".)

Another blog topic suggested was what we would like to research if we could choose anything. Although I do not think I am smart enough (or that I have the correct training), I would definitely choose something like this.