i just had some delicious grilled corn on the cob, consumed while sitting on a roof deck with a lovely view of washington dc, on a night when the humidity wasn’t all consuming.
sometimes summer in dc can be enjoyable.
did i mention how delicious the corn on the cob was? let me put it to you this way – take the word delicious, multiply it by a thousand, and you’ll start to approach the awesomeness that was this corn on the cob. hot damn mmmm.
in no particular order:
1. charo impersonators, courtesy of the pride parade.
2. a crisp blue sky EVERY DAY, and tons of modern buildings to frame against it.
3. hall and oates minigolf. yes, really.
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4. gorgeous views that make anyone look like a fantastic photographer.
5. ’nuff said.
6. streetcars! beautiful, shiny streetcars!
7. and finally, pigeons that eat fried chicken.
i’m not sure how i feel about the new my bike lane websitewhich has been reported on extensively in other areas. is it important to get people out of bike lanes if they are using them for parking? yes. should we cut people slack because sometimes they are picking stuff up and dropping stuff off? yes.
it seems kind of creepy to publish license plate numbers on a website – and yes, i do know that people are violating the law, but this seems to have privacy ramifications that go far beyond the minor assholish transgression of stopping in a bike lane.
i think the better thing to do is contact traffic enforcement and get them to give these folks a ticket, rather than posting information on a website with no enforcement capabilities that just makes cyclists seem like whiny wannabe vigilantes.
having said that, however, it’s not clear if there is a quick and dedicated way to get the attention of traffic enforcement. the mpd certainly doesn’t have any quick links on their website.
so yes, people using bike lanes to park is a lousy thing to do. but currently, there’s no good solution to addressing the issue. and yes, i’m putting my thinking cap on. for me, the far greater problem is getting cars out of the bike/bus lane on 7th street.
the gentrification of penn quarter continues with the closing of one of the things which helped build up the area in the first place. yes, olsson’s on 7th street is going out of business. the other locations in dupont and virginia will remain open.
i loved olsson’s penn quarter, even more so after i moved to southwest. it was the closest good bookstore to my house. the vegan hooked me up with dvd rentals there. my friend rusty worked behind the counter and always had tons of recommendations for something good to read. the two huge tables of sale books virtually ensured that i could walk away with something good for under $10, and one of my favorite things to do (although not something i did nearly enough) was to go to olssons, pick up a book, and then head to a local restaurant to eat lunch and read. mmmmm.
last night, i was planning to go to a movie, but i stopped by olsson’s beforehand because they were having a 50-75% off sale, to see if i could get any good deals. i ended up missing my movie, spending a ton of money, and getting about 75% of my birthday and holiday shopping done. i had to abandon my bike at the scene because I had too many books to carry. here’s a rough breakdown of my haul:
one night @ the call center (amit, i need to lend this to you)
things i’ve learned from women who have dumped me
punk love (the dc punk photo book)
beginner’s greek
witness to hope: the biography of pope john paul the second
librarian action figure (for my aunt)
the shroud of the thwacker
tempting faith (for my dad)
holidays on display (for my sister)
white house chef (for my sister)
the worst years of your life
the good german
the book of air and shadows (for my dad)
how to dunk a donut (for my dad)
make 50 wild and wacky contraptions (for my brother-in-law)
aunt dimitry goes west (for my mom)
all of these i got for roughly $8 a book. SCORE!
the line for the register took about a half-hour because so many people were buying books. there’s still stuff left, although i don’t know how long it’s going to last. head there while you can.
oh, and what’s going to replace the olsson’s? rumor has it that it’s going to be a wagamama, even though teaism is right around the corner, and there’s no good bookstore until barnes and noble (and no good independent bookstore until dupont circle.) maybe i’m biased. i love myself some cheap asian fast food, but given the plethora of dining locations in that town, i think it’s a little more important to keep an awesome bookstore open. plus, look at this photo from wagamama’s website:
the lady has an unironic mullet. UNACCEPTABLE!!!!
this weekend, i tried doing the first annual washington post hunt, a giant game that was spread throughout downtown dc. it was awesome.
the content of the puzzles can be found online at the washington post. i was proud to solve one (that’s right, ONE) out of the five, before it started raining so hard that i had to stop. i think i would have gotten two if i hadn’t lost my fortune cookie and needed to double back, but next year, i’m totally going to do this again with a proper team. who’s in?
not the fastest, but not the slowest.
and i beat the guy in the orange shorts who i picked out as the person i wanted to beat.
i realize that this is not a big deal to all of you – hell, what’s so hot about running 6 miles? – but considering my general out-of-shapeness, this is a huge thing for me. especially because i had a huge smile on my face throughout the entire race. can’t wait until the next one!
riding home from work today, i saw a large grey van with bars on the passenger side window. the truck was equipped with a bell that sounded just like a bank alarm, with a continuous clanging sound. it looked like an armored vehicle that had seen better days.
and then it turned the corner, and guess what? IT WAS AN ICE CREAM TRUCK!
oh yeah. forget the good humor man. we got the brinks humor man.
1.today’s eye irritant? gravel chunks! well, gravel chunks and other detritus coming from road construction along 7th street. i so love asphalt in my cornea.
2. a note from a reader:
you know why batman is cool? he’s cool because if he shows that if you completely overprepare for something, you can overcome any pain from the past.
my response? I’VE BEEN TRYING THAT FOR YEARS, AND IT HASN’T WORKED YET.
and you know what? it hasn’t worked for batman either. sure, he might be able to defeat a supervillian, but that’s not going to bring back his long-dead parents. c’mon. he’s the dark knight! still carrying around deep psychic wounds! your theory will be validated when batman appears on oprah to announce that he’s become the sunshine knight. until that time, i prefer my pained superheroes to have an actual superpower, thank you very much. so bring on the wolverine spinoff!
3. you know what to do when nothing feels good? listen to the promise ring’s nothing feels good.hot damn, their music is catchy. every three months or so, i go through a couple of days where i obsessively listen to the promise ring. you are all hereby put on notice – if they ever have a reunion show, you NEED to TELL ME so i can run out and go see them.
that is all for now.
haven’t posted much lately, because i’ve been having computer problems.
also, because it’s cold outside.
(that’s not actually an excuse, but i’m going to claim it as one.)
good news?
1. heroes ended with a huge bang.
2. i am still riding my bike in the cold, and upping moisturizer use as a result. i still feel very itchy and dry, however.
3. did i mention how much crossword puzzles rock? no? well, consider yourself schooled.
so certain people (cough amit cough) have been ragging me about how philadelphia ranked dead last on the attractive people category in a travel and leisure poll of america’s favorite cities.
the first thing i have to say is that travel and leisure clearly doesn’t have the same standards of attractiveness as some of us. philadelphia is a hotbed of cute, scruffy, tattooed, underfed bike messengers. you know the type. if travel and leisure had been trolling the streets of philadelphia a little more carefully – say, at gianna’s grille, or an r5 show, or relapse records – they may have indeed changed their assessment.
(also, it should be noted that dc scored only one rank higher on the attractiveness level, to which i have to say 100% agree with that assessment.)
BUT i also want to point out that one reason philadelphia scored last is because HOUSTON didn’t even make it onto this list of top 25 favorite cities.
philadelphians: we may be ugly, but america loves our city.
