In keeping with my resolution to eat more fruits and vegetables this summer (six consecutive mornings of Irish Breakfasts will do that to a girl), I got up early today to go to the new farmers’ market in my neighborhood (early for me on a Saturday, that is. I got there at 11:30am. I’m lazy, what can I say?).

The 14th & U Farmers’ Market opened last weekend and will run every Saturday 10am-2pm outside the Reeves Center until November 17. It’s small, about seven or eight local producers, and it’s going to become my new addiction. Just a five block stroll from my house and all the seasonal bounty I can carry back. Fantastic. I had about $25 in cash in my pocket and picked up apples, mesclun salad, arugula flowers, strawberries, and applewurst. I could easily also have been tempted by the delicate thin asparagus (I HATE thick asparagus with a passion), jugs of apple cider, farm-fresh eggs, and rhubarb (if I had any clue how to make rhubarb pie).

Back home my husband laughed at his city mouse ecstatically eating strawberries and waxing poetical about how adorably sweet they were (“and they’re not all the same size!” I cried, waving my now-red fingers in glee). As a former country boy he knows all about the virtues of farm produce and thinks my naivete pretty hilarious. It is, but that won’t stop me from indulging in my new Saturday ritual next week. Hope to see some of you there. I’ll be the girl buying all the honey she can carry.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Recently I was driving my lovely wife to work along the same route we always take, through Arlington along Lee Highway when I saw a line at the National Pawnbrokers store at Lee and Kirkwood. I don’t mean some guy was waiting for the place to open. About five people were waiting at the door.

I first assumed these were people who had somehow spilled out of the bus queue but they were definitely at the pawnshop door. Was there a sale on jewelry? Hand tools? Musical instruments?

The most curious thing of all is that one of the people in line was holding a toaster. Maybe he needed a buck before the plasma center opened or maybe he simply ran out of bread and no longer needed it. I hoped, for his sake, that he was just taking it for a walk and not reduced to trying to sell off a cheap appliance to a pawnbroker. That’s a desperate measure, to be sure.

So, DC area friends – what’s the weirdest thing you have sold at a pawnshop when you needed that early morning buck in your pocket?

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Sure it’s hotter than blazes at only 11 in the a.m. but it’s never too hot for a cricket match. The Washington Cricket League has its full schedule online with matches every weekend through the end of August.

I never thought I would advocate supporting cricket, having been brought up to think it was a wussy British sport but my friend Shriram talked me into giving it a shot, at least as a spectator, and from what I can tell it’s quite interesting. What better way to meet new people, have a great cultural experience and thoroughly heat up before traveling to Petworth to join Wayan for a cool drink?

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Photo by DC Metroblogger

With all due respect to WFY’s Gin & Tonic love, I have to say that the real summer drink should be a tall, cold glass of Absolute vodka with a splash of tonic and a twist of lime.

This version at Rumors, while not perfect, is perfect for me right now.

I prefer the version at Trios, there patio party time is not complete without the knock-your-socks-off straight up vodka over ice with a chaser of tonic (served in in little bottles of course).

Here, today, with the stupid hot heat, you’ll note that I am the only drunkard fool drinking outside at Rumors. But I am not the only one who prefers vodka to gin. In my company is Jenn, Max, and Jenn again.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

That’s hot

Originally uploaded by tbridge.

Yeah, it’s really, really hot out there. My Veedub says it’s 100°F in Arlington this afternoon, and it feels stuffier than a politician on a morality bender out there. Drink lots of water or other clear liquids, make sure to stay out of the heat if you can, and don’t even bother to drive anywhere or start up the lawnmower.

It’s largely supposed to suck until Sunday and Monday when temps will be back in the low 80s like they belong, so until then, hydrate, sunscreen, all those usual summer tips to make DC manageable in this oppressive heat.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

photo courtesy of Studio Theatre
and the LOLCat builder

My companions to go see Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead pushed our tickets out to the 22nd so I can’t give you my opinion yet, but I can give you someone else’s. Today’s Wall Street Journal, which rarely lowers itself to discuss shows outside NYC, has a glowing review of Studio‘s production of Stoppard’s play.

My most recent trip was to the Studio Theatre, which is putting on “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead” as its contribution to “Shakespeare in Washington,” the city-wide, season-long celebration of the Bard currently under way in the nation’s capital. I’ve been hearing good things about the Studio Theatre for the past couple of years, and this revival confirmed them all. It’s the best “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern” I’ve ever seen on stage.

The article goes on to praise actors Raymond Bokhour and Liam Craig as well as Kirk Jackson and Daniel Conway, the director and designer. Full text here [paid sub may be required]

Congrats to all involved on the national attention. I’m really looking forward to the show.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Photo by DC Metroblogger

In a move that should make Prince of Petworth proud, the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs has issued a Stop Work order on a Petworth eyesore.

The remodelers of the ugly ass house at the corner of Upshur Street and New Hampshire Avenue (4143 New Hampshire Ave) were excavating and backfilling without permits.

In addition the plumber on site wasn’t licensed. (No word if he was keeping it real though.)

I think the DCRA is missing a much larger code violation: color coding yellow brick to yellow vinyl. Yellow being a bad color for brick, it looks even worse when its mis-matched with a tan vinyl-clad addition.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Dana Ellyn is a pretty incredible DC artist and is having a show of some of her paintings opening on Saturday. Her work is unique, expressive and shows an interesting twist on some pretty touchy subjects. I got this information from an email she sent (not that I know her personally – I’m on a “big fan of Dana Ellyn” email list):

“I Call Shenanigans”
Solo Show
Opening reception THIS Saturday, June 9th 6-8pm
Long View Gallery, Washington DC

In my solo show, “I Call Shenanigans”, I am exhibiting approximately 70 paintings which tackle the subjects of religion, politics, family and a few other touchy issues. Included in the show is my new “Star Spangled Banner” series for which I created 15 paintings – one for each stanza of the national anthem. Also on display are select pieces from the past four years of my “31 Days In July” series in anticipation of this July’s work.

The works will be shown at Long View Gallery at 1302 9th Street, NW (9th & N) and will be on display until the end of the month. Go check it out.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

The Nationals lost last night, Chad Cordero gave up a 9th inning homer to the Pirates’ Jason Bay to drop to 24-36 for the season. That’s right, .400 ball. Granted, it’s probably better than we expected at the beginning of the season, and Dmitri Young is proving to be a firecracker in the offensive side.

But that doesn’t justify the insanity prices for next year’s tickets. Currently, I pay $23 a seat for my two seats in Section 426 at RFK. We have 20 games there, and I’ve come to even like RFK’s upper deck. But, this season will be my last as a Nationals Season Ticket holder. Come next season, I’ll be looking at $55 (an increase of 158%, I might add.) a seat for my upper deck tickets. I’ve been corrected, that was the club level that is $55, my seats would be $20. I’m slightly less irate now.

This part still stands, though, even if you’re just taking club seats into contention: What is this, the NBA? I’m not going to pay $55 a seat to sit all the way in the upper deck to watch the Nationals play anything less than .600 ball and win the goddamn division. Besides, it’s not like the team is having to pay for the construction of the Stadium. That was done on the backs of the taxpayers of the city of DC. Now you’re planning to hit us at the turnstiles, too? You’re insane. No one in their right mind is going to pay $55 to sit in the upper deck and watch the Nationals lose more than half their games. No one in their right mind is going to pay $60 to sit behind the dugout and watch the Nationals Pitching staff flounder and struggle game after game.

I’m sorry, Uncle Stan, the only way you get to charge that much money is if you win the World Series next season, not sit at the bottom of the cellar like you are now. I know the Lerner family spent a boatload on the team, and they want to make a profit back, but this is unacceptable. You’re now competing with Fenway and Yankee Stadium for the most expensive baseball experience around. That’s going to keep all the people in my section right now out of the ballpark entirely. You can’t afford to do that.

Here’s the real problem. The Nationals have 16,000 season ticket holders. That’s it. Doubling ticket prices isn’t going to fix that. Get a clue, Lerner Family, you can’t charge this kind of money for shit baseball.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Did you know that the District Department of Transportation is working with its bus shelter partners, Clear Channel Adshel, to launch an automated bicycle rental system in DC?

The first of its kind in North America, James Sebastian, Manager of Bicycle, Pedestrian, and Transportation Demand Management programs of the DDOT says this system will be similar to car sharing or airport luggage carts.

The automated bicycle rental system would allow members to swipe a card and release a bike from a kiosk. Clear Channel is operating similar systems in Europe, like this one in Barcelona. DDOT hopes to have the first few kiosks installed by the end of the summer, with all 10 in place by next summer.

Each rental kiosks holds 120 bikes, but as the bikes are rented without locks, you can only park them at other kiosks. And the kiosks require web-based registration and membership cards, so they are for locals, not tourists.

The kiosks will be located near each other, and in high traffic areas – in other words, Downtown DC, but the sites are not confirmed. They are roughly 30 feet by 6 feet and James is looking for 10 kiosk sites with lots or jobs, housing, retail, major attractions, and nearby bike facilities.

He reviewed census data, discussed locations internally and at a bicycle advisory council meeting, and has some initial ideas, and now is asking for public input from Washington area cyclists via a online survey.

I’m sure you, like I, have tons of questions about this effort, from its financial sustainability to its impact on increased bicycle traffic and traffic impacting cyclists. Then be sure to join me at the next bicycle advisory committee meeting on July 11.

James is promising more info and project details.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

The snazzy formatting in the marketing mail
Yes, that’s a numeric IP address where
they have their promo material. Pimp.

Megan Rosenfeld and Crew Creative Advertising want you to know about some movie really badly. So badly that they’re just blasting out half-assed emails to people like me and completely failing to comply with the CAN-SPAM act (specifically they provide no opt-out option or physical mailing address). With fines of $11,000 per offense they must be pretty desperate to promote this movie.

I’m not gonna bother to report them, but I dunno what difference it makes. This is an advertising firm that can’t get a handle on the basics of e-mail marketing law and who send out messages with all the glitz you can see in the screencap above. They may not do enough business to stay afloat long enough for an FTC ruling.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Since we seem to be on the road to All-Petworth-All-The-Time, why should Wayan have all the fun? Jare over at Ask.Metafilter is wondering what’s a well-managed apartment building for him to choose in Wayan’s new neighborhood.

In his shoes I’d personally be looking in HousingMaps but I realize some people prefer dealing with corporate entities. Any of our constant readers live in Columbia Heights/Petworth apartment buildings that they’d recommend?

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

WaPo has an article on the travesty of justice ‘tranfer’ of Paris Hilton from actual jail confinement to mansion house arrest with an ankle monitor. The concluding paragraph reads

It could not be immediately determined if personalizing the bracelet with Swarovski crystals would interfere with its transmission capabilities.

While I appreciate a little assistance with laugh-lest-you-cry, I wonder at the appropriateness of this quip in a news article, even if it’s news about a person who has no reason to be newsworthy. I realize it’s under the entertainment section but would this kind of joking be well received if it was in an article about, say, one of our local institutions? Am I holding the paper to an unfair standard?

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Draw your own conclusions.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Photo by DC Metroblogger

A question for the grammarians & sign makers: Is this store “Eatmore Fried Chicken” or “Eat More Fried Chicken”?

I would like to violate Don’s grammistic conventions and go for “EatMore” and violate my own diet to eat more fried chicken at this perfectly named store.

The next time you are driving north on Georgia Avenue in the Petworth neighbourhood, be sure to be hungry and eat more friend chicken!

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Have you heard about the Montgomery County “Monkey Woman”, Elyse Gazewitz, who is fighting to free her monkey, Armani, from county banishment?

While I don’t care if the powers at be say that Armani is illegal and seized him for extradition to an animal sanctuary “where a monkey can live as a monkey,” what strikes me as odd about this whole situation is Gazewitz’s commitment to her capuchin monkey man:

Gazewitz said she had made preparations this week for a homecoming, stocking up on Armani’s favorite bananas and apples. She has left his room — she built a $4,000 addition onto her home just for him, she said — untouched since he was seized.

Waiting for him are a little hammock, tire swings and infant toys. She also has his Huggies diapers (with holes cut out for his tail), his Osh Kosh B’Gosh outfits and baby bottles ready to go. “I have his little Tigger on my bed, and I have the little baby blanket that he loves,” Gazewitz said.

Pet owners, dog people, cat people, even guppy Dad’s, what do you think about that commitment to an animal, “wild” or not? I say its freaky-deeky.

To build a whole house addition with all the accruements mentioned, is a huge sign of addiction beyond the normal cat lady eccentrics or doggy mansion overbuilds. That says this lady is thinking monkey = child and going all gonzo over a primate.

That no matter what the Animal Matters Hearing Board says, maybe its best that Elyse Gazewitz be separated from her “little boy” and seek counseling for psycho-level anthropomorphism.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Photo by DC Metroblogger

Tonight at Domku I saw an amazing sight: a tourist family dining out after a long day on the National Mall.

Not this family, that would be mine. The other family, the tourist one from Texas, heard about Domku from Zagat’s restaurant guide.

Domku is listed as a good Russian restaurant. Who knew? Apparently the owner does.

Talking with her, I learned that the family from Texas was not the first tourists at Domku. Californian, New Yorkers, Texans are all flocking to Petworth, Washington DC’s newest gastro-tourism destination.

When are you coming over?

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

With circulation of newspapers trending downward, locak papers are forced to examine their business models and come up with methods of increasing repeat business, as well as keeping those already subscribing customers interested in what the Paper’s doing. Lately, the Post’s attempt at doing something unique and interesting with the concept of affinity program has been more widely marketed, with local TV and Radio spots, amongst other methods. If you’re a subscriber, and you sign up, you get reward points for each paper you buy.

But here’s the thing, it’s a losing proposition. If you sign up, you get around 1,000 or so points. Assume for a moment you’re an irregular reader. Each paper you buy is 5 points. The rewards tend to start around 7,000 or so points for a $25 gift certificate to a place like Williams Sonoma. Airplane tickets? A cruise? 150,000 points plus.

So, are Points the answer to keeping everyone? I’m not so sure, not with the long lead times on rewards.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

You: Didn’t stop at the stop sign or yield to oncoming traffic this morning as I tried to turn left from Arizona Ave. onto Loughboro Rd.

Me: Slamming on brakes. Honking. Giving you the finger. I assume you are always an asshole. What else am I to think?

Both of us: Benefited from the anonymity of traffic and the security afforded us by knowing we would never see each other again.

Was it you? Want to respond to the charge of being a dangerous public nitwit?

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Photo by DC Metroblogger

Just look at that smooth wet cement. Unblemished by name or print.

You know it calls out for a name, a mark, a permanent identification of presence. Some way to show that you were here today.

If it does call to just you, be sure to be quick and discrete on the fresh concrete. And no matter what you might think, don’t drive in it.

A simple “you ♥ someone” will do.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs