‘In the Shadow of the Capitol’
courtesy of ‘Bogotron’

I love this city because of its shadows, what casts them, and who lives within them.

I love the promise of the dream and the bitterness of the truth and how they coexist here. I love the power-brokers, hypocrites, and professional liars. I love the bus drivers, cab drivers, and the waitstaff at New Big Wong.

I love all the idealistic young people who flood to our city every new Fall college term. I love watching them evolve into social climbing jerks and cynical drunks. I love the few who make it through and actually do some good. I love all the wonks, feds, consultants, soldiers, and spies.

I love the Federal Employee who has to practically murder someone just to get a slap on the wrist. I love the ridiculous bureaucracy at Police Headquarters. I love the metro system (even with all of its recent woes, I still wouldn’t trade it away). I love the charter schools trying to save a failing school system. And I love the insanity of church parking on Sunday.

I love the glorious sheen of urban renewal and the reality that it tries to pave over. I love the people who try to eke out a living here and who could give a crap about politics or new over-priced condos on U. I love the people who complain about police checkpoints on their street (I agree, there has to be a better way).

I love the music venues. I love the dive bars. I love Dischord, ESL Music, and Go-Go. I love that in the early 90’s the S.H.A.R.P.s beat the Nazi’s out and DC has been a unity town ever since. I love that bands don’t really like playing here anymore (it’s hilarious and it’s our own damn fault).

I love the history, the history, the history. I love the stories, anecdotes, and scandals. I love that the White House burned, the Lincoln Memorial was hit with artillery, and a cat jumped off of the Washington Monument. I love that I recently learned that Ambrose Bierce lived here. I love that 16 years in, I am still learning about this incredible place. I love to share what I’ve learned about this incredible place.

I love watching this city grow, evolve, fail, and thrive. I love all the different walks of life that coexist here but rarely, meaningfully interact. I love the odd, random occasions when they do. I love that every home I have ever had here has either been torn down or gussied up, renamed, and repriced so that I couldn’t afford to live there again (even now at my most prosperous). I love hearing some clueless idiot describe a neighborhood as ‘sketchy’ while over-hearing so many others call the same neighborhood home. I love all of this about Washington DC. The good and the bad, you can’t have one without the other, and if we did then our city wouldn’t be any fun.

Michael Darpino

Michael splits his free time between defending the little guy and championing the underdog. He has been haunting the concert halls, dive bars, and greasy spoons of DC for the last 16 years. His interests include live rock music, researching obscure military/political conflicts, and good hamburgers. He is a friendly grump, has wisdom beyond his years, and is on a life-long quest to attain music nirvana. Follow him on Twitter if you dare!