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Interviewer: Chris, go ahead and tell me your name,
where you are right now, who you are, what you do,
a little bit bit about yourself.
Chris: Okay, sure. I'm Chris Carlson, and now we're
sitting in the Congressional Members Room of the
Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress.
The library has over 150 million items in the collections.
My job is to try to get them out to the world via the web.
Anything that I'm interested in, I can go find out,
because this is a bottomless pit of content and knowledge.
On either side you have a person who has excelled in that field.
On this side you have Michelangelo,
and then on this side you have Beethoven listening.
Twice a week I ride my bike from my house to the library
and back, which is a 168-mile round trip.
During racing season I don't do it as much because
I need good legs for the week- ends when I'm racing.
I like being outside; it gives me time to reflect
on things that are important to me, kind of de-stress
and prepare myself mentally for work.
I try to take pictures with the camera on my mobile phone.
I majored in photography and worked as a photographer.
But this is like my little creative outlet.
Washington's a unique place, I think. When the sun sets,
we get that long, good light for a long time.
And there's so much stone, and the way the light hits it,
it's different every time of day.
From hour to hour you can drive around the city
and see something lit a certain way
that you would never have seen the hour before.
I think the best camera is the one that's with you,
and my mobile phone's always with me.
Okay ...
I'm fast.
I'm fun.
I'm a softy; I'll just admit it.
I'm a father. I'm a dad. I'm a patriot.
I'm a creative director at the Library of Congress.
My name is Chris Carlson, and I'm a Mormon.