DSC_0245
Originally uploaded by Ghost_Bear

I hate static electricity. HATE. I hate brushing my hair and having my hair pouf up, or taking off my hat and having a big mess standing up on my head. I hate wearing skirts with tights and having the lining suction itself to my legs. I JUST HATE STATIC. HATE.

But there is a superman to my static situation, Static Guard. It comes in a can, and you spray it on whatever is clinging to you, and it will instantly release the static. It is amazing. My mom always had a can in our laundry room when I was growing up, and so I’ve known about said miracle for a long time.

I was recently recommending Static Guard to a friend, and giving her the link when I realized that Static Guard has a web site where you can look up the STATIC-NESS of cities across America. It is updated daily, I kid you not. You too, can check out the static-ness of our fine city, all day, every day. But I have some grave news for you. Today, DC, we are on STATIC ALERT.

This is very bad. Grab your babies, go get some milk and bread from the store, stay home! Don’t do laundry without a dryer sheet! Don’t brush your hair! Don’t get up from a cloth car seat and shut the door. THIS IS SERIOUS! THIS IS…. A STATIC ALERT! AAAH!

This year, I just could not get motivated to battle the crowds to do my holiday shopping. There are a LOT of people who live in the DC metro area, and they all seem to be able to read my mind and show up at the particular store or mall I’m headed to 15 minutes before me. The traffic situation at Tyson’s Corner is apparently so bad that businesses don’t want to set up shop there anymore.

The solution to this problem: online shopping. It’s easy, crowd-free, and so relaxing. The major drawback to online shopping is the shipping charges, but no more! Thursday, December 18 is free shipping day–with guaranteed delivery by Christmas! Participating stores include Apple, Crate & Barrel, Macy’s, and more. That is amazing, people. Viva la internet!

Yum
Originally uploaded by afagen

Afagen is being VERY UNREASONABLE posting all these shots of cookies to the We Love DC Flickr Pool. I just finished eating my very reasonable, portion-controlled, vegetable-oriented lunch, and there are like 5 pictures of cookies on the WLDC homepage, while my boss has a mountain of junk food on his desk sent by one of our vendors.

Gah. I am trying to be nutritionally responsible over here, afagen.

Numfar
courtesy of Me

It’s been a while since I indulged my license plate obsession here. Normally the ones that are difficult to figure out are odd abbreviations or number and letter combos, but his one is just flat out obscure. As a fellow Joss Whedon fan I recognized it, and it made me laugh. Had I not been in the car I might even have done the dance of joy.

Barbeque
Originally uploaded by Mess of Pottage

I’m going to repeat that. Customs seized three charred monkeys from a man’s luggage at Dulles this week.

They also stole the rest of his barbeque, which was mostly deer and dried beef.

But they let him come in just fine. Weird.

Asian Hymn Singing Guy on the Orange Line
Originally uploaded by brownpau

I took the Metro this morning from Clarendon in to Gallery Place this morning, and the Singing Korean Guy got on my train at Foggy Bottom, sang one verse of O Come All Ye Faithful, and got off at Farragut West. It’s not Christmas until I see this guy on the train, as it always seems to brighten my day whenever he does it. If he’d been in my part of the car, I’d have added the bass line to his carol, as O Come All Ye Faithful is one of the ones I like the best.

But he got me thinking, as I put my iPhone headset back in, and queued up Morton Lauridson’ s O Magnum Mysterium. Our beautiful underground cathedrals of concrete and iron would make for an incredible place for an impromptu concert. Get twenty voices to stand on the over-crossing of the Green/Yellow tracks at the southern end of L’Enfant and you could make some amazing sound, or maybe the Metro Sales Office side of Metro Center’s upper level.

I know there are rules prohibiting that kind of thing, but for something like the Sussex Mummers’ Carol arranged by Dana Perna and Peter Granger (iTunes Preview of Polyphony’s version) or Biebl’s Ave Maria (iTunes Preview of Dale Warland Singers’ version)

But I might be alone on this.

Little Village
Originally uploaded by M.V. Jantzen

So WLDC blogger Jasmine and I have been looking around the intarwebs for a newsworthy Daily Feed item, we can’t find much. Jasmine said “i think the city is on xmas break” and I can’t agree more. So here’s the feeble list I’ve got for you, dear reader.

As for events this week, basically the GOG has all kinds of holiday fun. You can hear tuba christmas music tonight at the kennedy center, or take a christmas tour of the Daughters of the American Revolution’s historic home.

Or you can shake this whole christian holiday thing and head to the Washington Jewish Film Festival. If you’re looking to shake the holidays totally, my lovely boyfriend suggests that you should do just that by going to Jukebox The Ghost at The Rock and Roll Hotel.

Any other suggestions? Leave ’em in the comments.

Contraband!
courtesy of Me

My darling fiancée was working our booth at the Downtown Holiday Market and was told to turn off and put away our portable propane heater. If you’ve ever sat mostly still in freezing weather you’ll understand just how horrific a request this is. It seems the DC fire marshal was going from booth to booth looking for them, supposedly because their use requires a permit. This was news to us, having used it for the last four years, and a little distressing since there was a tall standing heater just 15 feet away that the market management had put up for customers.

However a look around the DCGOV website eventually turned up this FAQ item on the DC fire and emergency medical services website. Sure enough, a $25 permit is required for up to 200lb of propane. Since our heater uses 5lb canisters I will admit to being a little peeved about it, but I am going to call tomorrow and see how specific the permit is. Perhaps I can simply buy one for all of us merchants…. and later ask exactly why the holiday market management didn’t pull one for all of us as part of our $150 a day booth fee.

Photo by Wayan

Please welcome the newest addition to the We Love DC roster: Hanalei Stockard Vota. She joined us this morning, coming into the world after a night of labor. Her mom is fine, resting and Facebooking while I try breast feeding. I only wish I could blog this event better, but GWU hospital’s WiFi service is only available to those who birth 7-4 on Mon-Fri.

Firefighters Going In
Originally uploaded by tbridge

As I was leaving Chinatown this afternoon after the fire, I had a chance to chat with one of the firefighters. He said there’d been a fire on the top floor, that it had not been too serious, and their quick response made a difference. WJLA is reporting that the fire was caused by a torch and some insulation. A fire pump, however, ruptured during the event, flooding the lower level of the Crime & Punishment Museum on the same block.

Bourbon
Originally uploaded by tbridge

Today is the 75th anniversary of the ratification of the 21st Amendment! That means it’s the perfect night to raise a glass to those brave legislators and citizens who worked together to repeal the 18th Amendment of the Constitution. So, raise a glass tonight, in favor of Change.

Fire at Terrell place
Originally uploaded by tbridge

There is a fire response in progress at 7th and F street across from the Verizon center. Currently, eight fire engines are in the immediate vicinity. No smoke is currently visible coming from the Terrell Plaza building, but at least four different firehouses have responded. The building has been evacuated, including the Rosa Mexicano restaurant on the ground level.

Ad homophobia, courtesy of Me

Well, at least the old-ass Hancock ad was just a waste of space. The above ad is either offensive or laughable, depending on your generosity of spirit. It’s not quite as obnoxious as the Mitchum ad I saw a few years ago, but it’s clearly in that same vein, given that it’s meant to hang in above-urinal ad frames.

What makes it funny is what bathroom it was in. I took this picture in the bathroom of Freddie’s, the Arlington gay bar that my darling fiancée accurately describes as looking “like South Beach threw up.” A more appropriate ad would say “Don’t step on that dude’s boa.”

ZoomMedia, the organization credited blamed on the bottom of the frame, has this bit of comedy on their website: “ZOOM MEDIA & MARKETING is the leader in targeted out-of-home solutions efficiently delivering distinct demographic and psychographic niches in consumer lifestyle destination to our advertisers.”

Yes, they bolded targeted and demographic. I do not think those words mean what you think they mean…

The Process of Change
Originally uploaded by voteprime

Change. The buzzword of 2008, but this time the word is used differently. I saw this picture in the We Love DC pool on flickr, by user VotePrime. Vote Prime snapped a picture of this sheet of paper stuck to the King Street Metro pole. The text of the page says:

“We don’t need to engage in grand heroic actions to participate in the process of change.

You know that guy you pass every day on your way to work? I actually stop to say hi.

Small acts, when multiplied by millions of people can transform the world. – Howard Zinn”

A little googling, and Howard Zinn is the author of A People’s History of the United States. And I’m guessing whoever posted this is just quoting him, and Zinn himself didn’t make these. Has anyone seen more of these around? Much like my beloved stikman, I appreciate street art that makes me think, or even just breaks up the monotony of my commute.

I’d love to see more, and I get the feeling there are variations to this one, so if you see any, snap them and add them to the WLDC pool on flickr. (And while you’re at it, enter your holiday pictures into our 2008 Holiday Photo contest.)

Gold Dress, by Flickr user kimberleyfaye

For this holiday season, how about giving a most thoughtful gift to your loved one: a donation to charity in their honor.  At today’s AGGW sponsored Alternative Gift Fair from 11:30am until 2pm at the NEA (1201 16th Street, NW) you can pick and choose from a selection of local, national and international beneficiary organizations; all of which address pressing problems in today’s world.

Gifts range from $10 and up, and purchase concrete items for the needy, such as books for children, water filters for families in Haiti, or toys for homeless dogs and cats.   Shoppers will find causes to match the interests and passions of everyone on their holiday shopping list.  And you gift recipients will be touched to know that the gift they have just received will have a very real and meaningful impact on people and communities in need.

If you can’t make today’s fair, other Alternative Gift Fairs are happening in Metro DC area and can be found at AGGW’s website.