1.  Where are you from?, and how did you end up in
Washington, DC?  How long have you lived there?, and Do you like living
on Capitol Hill?

I was born in Bogotá, Colombia, and lived there until my early teens; but truly consider myself a Californian, since I have lived longer (and more actively conscious years) there than anywhere else.  However, there is still a very Colombian part of me– I speak Spanish, I can dance (ha!), and I crave Colombian food… mmmm.  I am in DC because of my husband’s job, and that’s all I’ll say about that.  And we’re in Capitol Hill because that’s where we stayed temporarily upon our arrival.  We liked it soooooooooooo much we made a big effort to stay here.   I am talking about love, love, love– of course, it was spring when we arrived, so it’s easy to love Washington in the spring, but still… the friendliness and the Victorian charm won us over big time.

I love Target and World Market and even the commissaries at military bases, but nothing is quite like Wal-Mart, is it?  I don’t think I’ve seen quite the amalgam of humanity in any of those places in as intense a concentration as any Wal-Mart, really.

Well, Bogotá is cool year-round and –something that seems to shock people– the sun rises and sets pretty much at the same time every day.  This is something I always took for granted until I moved to these here latitudes, where the days are either long, long, long or so short you feel your will to live ebbing away.  As boring as it sounds, there is some comfort in having the same amount of daylight every day.
There were some nice things about Bogotá; mostly these are happy memories associated with particular places, like going to the Gold Museum (an absolutely magical place); or having the best steaks in the world in outdoor picnic benches around the north side; or the most amazing ice cream and pandeyucas at San Jerónimo; or driving around the mountains to the east of Bogotá and seeing the city as a distant memory, as the road ascends; or smelling the eucalyptus trees near my old school.

I hadn’t really thought about all the things I do miss.  And yes, I do miss it.  But everyday, I miss it a little less, as my memories fade.

I think that sometimes everyday life is the best antidote against caring too much.  Everyday life with its humdrum and its problems and its tiredness –getting groceries, changing diapers, reading the paper, getting the garbage, whining about the neighbors, saying hello, cleaning up after breakfast and lunch and snacks and dinner, and so on– distracts us from the big-picture kinds of problems.  This is not necessarily an excuse: it’s just the way life is must of the time.  Which is why people who dedicate themselves with their heart and soul to noble causes are so rare and so worthy of praise, in my opinion.  There will only be one Mother Teresa of Calcutta in our time.

Okay, just kidding.  I love food, as you can tell from the answers to almost all the questions.  But the one food that takes center stage in my heart and always will, no matter how bad it might be, is french fried potatoes.  I love them.  They make me happy, and they make me smile.  There is never a bad time to eat some fries, and they taste good with almost anything.  They are classy enough to be eaten with caviar; subtle enough to compliment ice cream (try them dipped in soft serve… oooooh); and they smell sooooooooo goood.  Plus potatoes are the fruit of the loins of where I come from (ahem.  I said "loins"), and that is just an extra point of pride for this Andean mountain goat.

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Do you know what makes this day extra special, though?
LARRY BIRKHEAD IS DANIELYNN’S DADDY!!!!!!!!!!!!!  WE FINALLY KNOW!!!!!