I just got back from my trip to Florida with Emily, Kat and Sara. We got to the beach house on Friday and took a short walk along the beach between rain storms. Saturday it rained in the morning, but we were able to spend the afternoon on the beach, before going out for pizza. Sunday we had better luck with the weather. We spent most of the day on the beach. I huddled in the shade of the umbrella fully clothed with a thick layer of sunblock covering my skin. Emily laid out in the sun and burnt herself to a crisp, except for the odd hand-print on her leg where she tried to use sunblock. We sat on the back deck at North Turn and ate dinner. Emily and Sara loved the Alaskan crab they ordered, but I refused to try it. I've never liked weird seafood like that.

Monday morning, Sara left and my parents and grandma came out. We spent most of the day on the beach, me under the tent and Emily in the sun burning any bit of pale skin she could find. My parents brought about 10 pounds of hamburgers and turkey burgers. I grilled all of it, but most was taken home for leftovers. Yesterday, Emily and I got our teeth cleaned at my dad's office, before heading back to Orlando for dinner. We went to Serena and Brad's house afterward and hung out with them. Emily won't admit it, but she had fun playing with their daughter Bella. This morning we had the mandatory First Watch breakfast, before heading back to DC. We are thinking of going back to Orlando in a couple months (when it might be less rainy) or meeting Serena and Brad for a camping trip somewhere in the Carolinas.

Kate and I are doing a story for Voice of America about how the recession is affecting people's eating habits. Yesterday, Lucy (our intern) and I went to the McDonalds at 14th and U to film some vox pops. I brought a small consumer grade camcorder and shot some interiors of the McDonalds. The last time I tried to shoot inside of a McDonalds, I brought the larger camera and was promptly kicked out. But while I was getting kicked out, I set the camera down on the counter and hit record. I was able to get a great shot of people ordering and receiving their food while I stalled the manager with pointless questions. Yesterday I had it much easier. No one seemed to care that I was shooting in the restaurant and I was able to get all of the shots I wanted.

The vox pops were hilarious. There was a large group of homeless people sitting outside and they all wanted to talk to us. I tried asking one man about McDonalds, but he just wanted to tell me how the soul food restaurant next door was much better. We interviewed many people as they left the restaurant and got them to say exactly what we wanted them to say. We may as well have written them a script. The basic idea was, "yes I know that McDonalds is unhealty, but it's cheap so I have been going there more during the recession."

At work we send all of our footage to Getty Images, who then sells it to other production companies for lots of money. One of the clips which sells every month is a shot of someone getting arrested. Around my neighborhood I see people getting arrested all of the time, so I decided to film it and make some money. Of course, when you're looking for something you never find it. Kat and I have spent the last couple nights driving around the neighborhood with a video camera and stopping when we see the police. So far we haven't seen anyone getting arrested, but we're going to keep trying until we get the shot.

I've has had a busy shoot schedule for the last couple days. Yesterday Emily and I did a two camera switched shoot for Rand Corporation. The event was held at the new visitor center of the US Capital, a beautiful facility which is well suited for these type of policy meetings. Plus they always serve delicious cookies. Immediately after that shoot, Malcolm and I walked over to the Heritage Foundation and shot an interview for Newsmax with former Attorney General Ed Meese.

Today I was at the National Press Club shooting a story on Diarrheal Disease for the South African Broadcasting Corporation. They also served nice food, but the topic sort of killed my appetite. I got back to the office just in time to leave again for our first two camera interview for Newsmax. The interview subject was Senator Kit Bond of Missouri. It was held in his office conference room. It is always easier to shoot interviews with people in the Senate rather than the House of Representatives, because they generally have much larger offices. You can check out the interview on the Newsmax website in the next couple days.

Saturday was the White House Correspondents dinner. Emily and I attended a brunch for the Washington big-wigs at Tammy Haddad's house. Most of the people there were from the news networks, but there were some Hollywood types there too like Val Kilmer and Christian Slater.

We arrived at the hotel where the Correspondents dinner was being held in the late afternoon and claimed our spots along the red carpet. Murry (our freelance cameraman friend) was shooting on one end and I was on the other. We hired Kat for the evening and got her to conduct the celebrity interviews. Before anyone even arrived, the photographers were trying to push their way in. There were a few photographers who showed up late and tried to squeeze into a spot up front. Those of us who were there early to claim our spots weren't having any of it. Some of them got pretty mouthy with me, claiming that I was taking up too much room with my tripod. I just said, "too bad, in this business you have to be on time." The guy next to us was from Extra, and he seemed to be personal friends with all of the celebrities. Kat just stood next to him and stuck her microphone near whoever was there. I will try to list the people we spoke to and hopefully I wont forget too many: Louis Gossett Jr., Barbra Walters, Woopie Goldberg, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Christian Slater, Samuel L Jackson, Wanda Sykes, Denis Leary, Jon Hamm, Mayor Villaraigosa, Alicia Keys, Carrol King, Ludacris, Rick Schroder, Al Sharpton, Clinton Portis, and Richard Belzer.

Last night I was really angry with someone in my dream. Emily had to wake me up when I started punching her. This morning, I let the dogs out. It was raining, so I grabbed an umbrella from my porch. When I opened it, a dead bird fell out and hit me on the head.