Tonight, for the first time ever, I will get to eat at 1789, the famous gourmet restaurant in Georgetown that normally costs about a billion dollars per person. However, on this cold January Monday, my entire meal will only cost 30 dollars. Granted, this still is not exactly a meal on a budget, but it is a rather great price for a three-course gourmet meal.

No, I’m not being taken on a date by a beautiful and rich man (though if you have any takers-let me know!) Rather, DC is finishing up its Restaurant Week, a time when many exclusive (a.k.a. expensive) restaurants offer their food at much cheaper prices, though the menus are often fixed. There is nothing more to say except that this is a rather great way for poor college students and twenty-somethings to eat really nice food for a change.

I regret to inform the other residents of Washington D.C. that this post is a bit late, as Restaurant Week is coming to an end. However, while many restaurants did end on the 20th, there are a few restaurants such as 1789 that keep their cheaper menus till January 31st. In fact, I just learned that cities across the country engage in their own restaurants week at various times throughout the year. Check out the restaurants extending Restaurant Week in Washington DC, as well as Bethesda’s participating restaurants in their own Restaurant Week, happening now.

Hayden Panettiere, of Heroes fame, is coming to Georgetown University tomorrow to raise awareness for saving the whales...again, because once just wasn’t enough.

Though I know that celebrities often use their status to support causes they tend to know little about, it seemed to me a particularly large stretch that the little girl from Remember the Titans(my favorite movie—by the way) would have advanced knowledge on marine biology. Furthermore, of all the causes to support in the world today, I initially wondered why saving the whales was number one on Hayden’s list of priorities. Haven’t we protected them enough?

Nonetheless, after investigating the situation, apparently Hayden (or whoever writes for her) has a point. According to the “Save the Whales” data, the whales are indeed in danger again, or rather, the danger never went away.  Yet, I still think that the cause would be more fruitful if it attempted to stop the underlying reasons for this in the first place, from pollution to global warming. Honing in on saving the whales, though I know now that it is a real issue, makes the cause seem a bit childish and out-of-date.  Especially with Hayden running the show, it is hard to take seriously.

In any case, I am going to try and go see her, if only to ask her what it is like to date Milo Ventimiglia. Also, you can click here if you now have an overwhelming desire to Free Willy!—I mean donate—rather.

Nikol Hasler has decided to take her unique personal experiences and put them to good use. The 28-year-old mother of three is now creating weekly pod-casts on teen sex advice. The article from the Boston Globe notes how “Hasler uses her experiences to talk to teens about such topics as "The First Time," "The Older Boyfriend" and "Female Masturbation" on the online video series that started this summer.”

Though I am sure that many would protest the scientific fact of everything Hasler discusses, I think I wouldn’t be alone in commending her for this innovative idea. Coming from a very open-minded family, I often take for granted open dialogue about sex, among other more “taboo” topics. When I came to college, I was amazed to learn that many of my peers were still a bit clueless about information I believe is imperative for everyone to know, things that I just assumed everyone knew and that I had known since I was thirteen. In fact, I couldn’t help but draw parallels with her to my own life. No, I am not a mother of three children—or any children, for clarification—but there are countless times in my life when I have been forced to play the role of Hasler.

Unfortunately, not everyone is blessed with a close relationship with their parents, an older sibling, or even feel comfortable enough with their peers to talk about that which really warrants discussion. Despite today’s so-called modern world, some of my friends are still becoming acclimated to the fact that merely learning about sex is not a direct sentence to eternal damnation.  In lieu of the recent anniversary of Roe V. Wade, sex discussion is especially relevant even to those who are pro-life. One of the main goals of an open dialogue such as Hasler’s, as she herself admits, is to prevent unwanted pregnancies in the first place. Overall, in addition to being amusing and relatable, Hasler’s pod-cast fulfills an important role. For those of you who do not have the privilege of attending my weekly advice talk that is.

When explaining to my mother that one of my assignments for my new internship was regular blogging, she responded by asking me what in the world that met. My mother is an extremely intelligent woman, and thus her response made me wonder how many Americans actually blog, read blogs, or even know what a blog is. I will admit to the fact that it is only since becoming a college student that I started reading blogs myself (unless you count the infamous Xanga), and that my political blog viewing is still often interlaced with perezhilton.com or various Hoya basketball blogs.

Nevertheless, the research proved to be favorable for my mother. The most recent data I could find was from the Pew Internet & American Life Project, which reported in 2006 that about twelve million American adults were blogging. While this represents only about 4% of the population, it is a great deal more than I had expected. However, I still do not think that the percentage is high enough that I can guiltlessly patronize my mother for not knowing what a blog even was. Not to mention that fact she knows much more about the world than our neighbors, whose knowledge of the internet probably does not extend past QVC.com

What’s my point? I think that while blogging is certainly becoming more and more mainstream, it still should not be assumed that most Americans, even most professionals, regularly read blogs, never mind keep one of their own.  Then again, I could just be justifying this because I anticipate that the amount of people who will read my first blog will equal about two.