‘Iwo Jima at Sunrise’
courtesy of ‘A B Pan’

The sun goes down tonight at 5:08pm, so look out for some sparkly vampires as you head out to Happy Hour.  The nine circles of Gay Hell, consequences of the Internet, a mental typo gone public, and the newest National.  All here for your edification just before you hit the bricks to enjoy your weekend.

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‘Fall Foreclosures, Westwood Gardens Wheaton MD’
courtesy of ‘Photos by Chip Py’

The DC Housing Finance Agency is piloting a program in Wards 5, 7 and 8 starting this week that will help the underemployed keep their houses while they find new employment.  Through a $20M grant from the government, if you lost your job and have fallen behind on your mortgage payments, but are not yet in foreclosure or bankruptcy, you can receive up to 15 months of assistance from the HFA to help keep your home. It may be best also to look at other methods of getting out of a mortgage.

You have a variety of loan products to choose from and one of the most popular methods today is “streamline refinance”. This is because it’s a simple way to refinance with reduced documentation required. The loan process is more efficient, and the approval process is much faster. 

The program will spread to the rest of the District in April, but the pilot is available now for the hardest hit areas of the city.  if you’re currently out of work, and are struggling to keep your home, give the DCHFA a call at 202.777.1690 and ask about the HomeSaver Program.  You’ll need to stay in your home for five years after receiving the assistance in most cases, as a lien is place against the property, but the loan will be totally forgiven after five years.  There’s a PDF flyer on the HFA website if you’re interested, as well.

‘(heart) D.C.’
courtesy of ‘rockcreek’

It’s no secret that I think Mt. Pleasant is the greatest thing since Atari. I write about it a lot, talk about it more, and try and convince people that beer tastes better here and the sun shines more brightly (both are facts, look them up). But just when I thought my lovefest had reached its saturation point, a new Temporium goes and ups the awesome ante.

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‘Grift’
courtesy of ‘dickobrien’

As has been widely reported, members of the Westboro Baptist Church will be spewing their nonsense at American University at 4pm today. Most reports make mention of the group’s brand of speed-protesting and how they’ll be in and out in under an hour. This generates a lot of head scratching in the public and the media because everyone wonders why someone who wants to get their message out wouldn’t do it longer and allow more people to see it.

Simple: because their mission isn’t to communicate or convince anyone, it’s to incite someone into doing something that they can turn into profit. If they can’t manage that almost immediately then there’s no reason to stick around. They’re grifters. Con artists. Profiteering litigants.

Phelps intentionally targets people that are being victimized, or good people doing their jobs to create more outrage. He kicks people when they’re down. He does that so someone will come up and defend them. Then he will sue you.

You can be sure that there’s nothing these bozos love more than the counter-protests because it gathers larger groups and increases the odds someone will do something stupid. Don’t engage, don’t get mad. Our legal system has enough to do without being a profit center for folks who peddle hate… even if they just use it as a tool to indirectly make money.

Update at 3:35p: Note this tweet from TBD’s Amanda Hess at the WBC’s Islamic center protest: “protesters and counterprotesters now filming each other. counterpro taps protester on shoulder with scripture. protester accuses assault.”

‘Tim and the Sweetflow Mobile!’
courtesy of ‘Carly & Art’
It’s been a while, but the Sweetgreen truck is finally back after some technical difficulties. Welcome them back to the street at L’Enfant today. Because nothing hits the mid-January spot like a little frozen yogurt.

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‘Snow’
courtesy of ‘a digital cure’

Today, we’ve got stripper on stripper violence, an all-hands piece from TBD on the violence in Prince George’s County, Arlington throws out a textbook, and Mayor Fenty’s got a new job.  The Sun sets today at 5:07pm. We’re picking up a minute of daylight a day, and it can’t come fast enough.  Here’s some light reading for your evening.

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‘A Matched Set’
courtesy of ‘Tobyotter’
It’s about time someone started respecting the belly instead of claiming it has something to do with “poor health” or “bad eating habits.” So thank you Kyle Bailey and the rest of the Birch & Barley team, for not pointing out our botched New Year’s resolutions and instead just feeding our, well…bellies. But Bailey and his kitchen are not exactly potato chip and frozen pizza people, so they’ve uped the fancy pants ante.

On Monday, January 31st at 7pm, he will be hosting his Beer Belly Dinner. The dinner will consist of five courses that feature the best bellies money can buy. No, not J-Lo’s belly, we’re talking about anything from goat to lamb to fish. Beer Director Greg Engert obviously wants to keep things traditional, because he’ll be adding to your belly with a expert beer pairing for each course.

The dinner will run you $76 per person and includes the beer pairings as well as a belly friendly dessert prepared by their wonderful pastry chef, Tiffany MacIsaac. Reservations can be made by calling 202-567-2576.

‘volunteer service’
courtesy of ‘Miscelena’

Monday is the MLK Jr. Holiday, traditionally a day of service.  If you haven’t yet made arrangements to volunteer, it’s not too late.  Serve DC has a great project finder that will show you which service projects still need volunteers and which are fully staffed.  Projects that could still use your help include three opportunities in literacy workshops at various DCPS locations, a citizen farmer project and a knit-a-thon with clothing drive to donate to various homeless-related charities.

Be active in your community this Monday, sign up for a project.