By Katie
Last week I warned everyonethat my favorite fall event was upcoming… the HIGH HEEL RACE! And last night, with a good dose of determination, and four layers of clothing, I staked out a front row spot at the race. I was able to get fantastic view of all the fabulosity, so I give you, dear reader: The High Heel Race 2008 in photos. Click on through to view them… Continue reading
By brownpau
Strike one: Calling 911 to complain about I-95 traffic. Strike two: Cursing out the operator when he asks why you’re calling 911 to complain about traffic. Strike three: Voice mail greeting saying you’re working on a “very important family political project.” Joe The McCain, you’re out.
By Ben H. Rome
National Air and Space Museum, courtesy of Ryan
Tell us a little about you.
Right now, I live in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle and spend my days working in aerospace procurement. My nights and weekends are spent attending live shows and being outside trying to enjoy any good weather Seattle has to offer.
Why did you choose to visit DC?
Simple: I’d never been to DC before. I’m 32 years old and while DC has been in the forefront of my mind because of its historical importance and the constant references to it on the news and in pop culture, I didn’t have a real sense of what it was like. In many ways, it’s America’s most important city and I really wanted to experience it.
Was this your first visit to the area?
Yep.
By Jenn Larsen
I freely admit that I know next to nothing about beer. Oh, except that 12 ounces of Guinness is actually less calories than 12 ounces of Budweiser or Heineken (a fun fact to casually toss out when someone says, “I can’t drink stout, it’s too fattening!” Watch their world shatter). So for me, if I’m going to a bar that primarily serves beer, I want to be able to put myself in someone else’s capable hands. In my ‘hood, those hands belong to The Saloon at 12th & U.
Long before the Belgian beer craze hit DC (noticing a trend about trends in this town?), before lines at Marvin, Granville Moore’s, or bibles of beer at Brasserie Beck, there was The Saloon. Billed as having the “most unique selection of beer on tap”, it’s a completely unpretentious spot that will never get ruined, because there’s nothing the least bit trendy about it – it’s a true neighborhood tavern, dependable, honest, with comfortable bare bones and even a social conscience.
For years I’ve only gone to The Saloon for dinner, sitting at one of the plain wooden tables, always getting the classic bacon cheeseburger and fries. I’m convinced that The Saloon has the best fries in town, but that’s another story. Continue reading
By Ben H. Rome
this is why i am a spy, courtesy of handwrite
The world today is as volatile a place as we’ve ever known. So how does the U.S. maintain its intelligence assets against the faceless enemy of terrorism and extremists? In his latest book Why Spy?, Frederick P. Hitz, former inspector general of the CIA, draws on his extensive experience to suggest how the U.S. can rise to the challenge. Hear from this insider’s perspective on the safety of America and why it depends on how well—and why—we spy. In this lunchtime conversation, he’ll discuss the pitfalls of the past and share suggestions for successful U.S. intelligence in the future.
Meet and greet the author at the International Spy Museum on Friday, 9/26 from noon – 1 p.m. This “debreifing” session is free and open to the public.
By Tom Bridge
Last night’s primary results are in and they spell defeat for Republican At-large Councilwoman Carol Schwartz at the hands of Upstart Patrick Mara, backed by big-business interests in DC. Mara has won the right to represent the Republican party for the two at-large seats on the Council this fall. He’ll face Kwame Brown, Michael Brown, Dee Hunter and David Schwartzman, with the top two vote-getters picking up seats on the council.
Of course, last night’s election wasn’t entirely drama-free, as the DCBOEE published erroneous results on their site more than once last night. The culprit ended up being an optical scan ballot-reader in one precinct which was showing a large number of write-in votes that were being counted incorrectly.
All of the other councilpersons defended their challenges successfully, including Mayor-for-Life Barry (Ward 8). While their elections are just for the party slot on the November ballot, in largely Democratic DC, they’re virtually guaranteed re-election.
By Ben H. Rome
Have you ever wondered what might be going through the mind of a tourist to our fair area? We see them all around every day, from all corners of the globe – wandering museums, walking the Mall, riding transit. So what if we took a moment to find out what it is they’re thinking as they visit what we see every day?
This is the first in a periodic series of interviews of tourists to our area. Call us curious, but I’m sure all of us at one time or another want to know what these out-of-towners really think about Washington, DC.
So let’s introduce a recent visitor. Meet Diane, from New York City. She actually was in town for the Cherry Blossom Festival; I had enjoyed talking with her then and felt she’d be a great start to this unique series here on WeLoveDC.
Roger Mursick is a standout in the local comedy scene- while most local comics I run into have day jobs and can only work on the road on weekends, Roger has been a working comic for 28 years, traveling to shows nationally as well as appearing at the DC Improv, Wolftrap, and the Laugh Riot at the Hyatt. While Roger has been a syndicated columnist, performed on Comedy Central, and written for The Tonight Show, he frequently does short sets at open mics and smaller venues around DC to stay sharp between corporate and national bookings.
As Tom and I left Proof the other night after a We Love DC writers meetup, we were approached by a young man who introduced himself thus:
“Young man, young lady, I’m Black Rain Man. Name a country. Name any country on God’s earth. Young lady, name a country.”
Amused, I responded, “Djibouti.”
By brownpau
So I was running a bit late for work this morning and took a cab. As we passed through downtown, WTOP on the radio warned of traffic around 18th and K Streets NW, as a pedestrian had been hit by a car around that intersection. As luck would have it, the taxi had just arrived there, and sure enough there was a backup of about half a block — nothing too bad, and I got to work just fine.
Well, guess who hit the pedestrian: Robert Novak, in his black Corvette. He says he didn’t even know he’d hit anyone till a passing biker told him. Police detained Novak on the scene for about an hour and gave him a citation (no arrest); the pedestrian, as yet unnamed, was brought to GWU with arm pain. WJLA has posted a raw video interview with Novak immediately following his emergence from an MPD cruiser.
Update: Additional info, commentary, and schadenfreude from Washington Post, DCist, Politico, TMZ (where he blames NPR for distracting him), Think Progress, Wonkette, and The Carpetbagger Report.
Friend-of-We Love DC Andy Myers is profiled in the Post Magazine this week as part of their “Washington Originals” series. Andy was chosen because he’s the sommelier at CityZen, and also a total metalhead who spends his free time playing in a metal band. The accompanying video, presenting each of Andy’s passions as alter egos of each other, was pretty entertaining, but I have to say that having met Andy… it’s not as incongruous as you think. Read the story, watch the video… and throw the goat the next time you have an especially tasty glass of wine.
By John Athayde
Let me be honest. I never meant to come to DC, let alone stay here.
I came here in the fall of 1995 as a college freshman. I had hoped to get into UVA’s architecture school, but I got into Catholic U’s program instead. I spent the last five years of the millennium in Northeast DC, rarely venturing outside of the typical college student haunts. Making the typical student mistakes; getting off at the GMU stop on the orange line when trying to go to a concert at the Patriot Center. Driving to the Southeast end of Pennsylvania Avenue at 11 at night because of shoddy directions. Going to Rumors. That’s just the tip of the iceberg.
By brownpau
Jerome Jones was the first African-American superintendent of St. Louis Public Schools from 1983 to 1990, hailed by many as one who extended new opportunities to women and people of color in the SLPS. More recently he left retirement to teach here in DC, at Howard University, where he founded the Department of Educational and Administrative Policy. He was about to move on to become Dean of Academic Affairs at University of the Virgin Islands at St. Croix — when he was hit by an SUV while crossing a street on June 26th. He died on July 4th, just three days after his 71st birthday.
I mention this because it turns out that all this time, Mr. Jones was my neighbor and I didn’t know it. He lived in my apartment building, and I would greet him frequently, though I knew him only as “that guy I see in the lobby who’s always going out jogging.” Only the day after he was hit by that SUV did I learn who he was, and only yesterday did I learn of his death.
Sad, sad passing of a neighbor whom I would have liked to know better. May he rest in peace.
By Max
Capitol Dawn by andertho
Oh, DC. How do I love thee? Let me count the ways (in no particular order)…
By bstanfield
It’s tough to find something unique to say near the end of a week when we’ve heard from so many other great writers about why they love DC. I could echo just about all of their reasons, from Tom’s love of the hidden wonders to Carl’s love of the people here to Brittany’s love of the cultural scene; I love it all, too. Part of loving DC is the sum total of those who have come before both here on the blog this week, and throughout our history as a nation.
But what drew me here 6 years ago was a love of politics and the sense that this town is the best place to experience the process of governing, and also see into the seedier underbelly of the system. While Profesionally I’ve pursued opportunities of a more geeky persuasion, becoming a system administrator and following other technological distractions, I try to remain engaged in local and not-so-local political happenings. In my spare time, I’ve volunteered for numerous campaigns, offered my technological know-how to political and advocacy groups, and even started a successful online grassroots political movement.
Being in DC is the perfect backdrop for such activities. The rich historical tapestry that DC presents, from the monuments to the architecture to the founding documents of our nation, mean there’s no better place to explore the history of our country, and engage in helping to shape it’s future. And that’s why I love DC.
By Jenn Larsen
Hallway, Rock and Roll Hotel. Photo credit: Jenn Larsen.
I came to DC on a whim, an instantaneous attraction. Initially the classicist in me was drawn to the cool solemnity of the federal architecture, the romantic to the cherry blossoms. But the pragmatist could see the long-term benefits, and so here I am, after nineteen crazy years.
(Or perhaps it’s because the procrastinator can’t make up her mind where to live next… Paris… Buenos Aires… Antwerp…)
I grew up thirty minutes outside what many people consider to be “THE City” – New York, naturally – but when it came time to go to college there, I balked at it, even though it was the pragmatic choice for a drama student. I also resisted the lure of that other Nor’eastern city, Boston, the classical choice for a chowda-oysta-slurping Yankee.
No, somehow I was seduced by the balmy breezes (what a shock, that first 100-degree day in September!), the courtly charm (what a surprise, that first night in the dorm, gunshots across the Metro tracks!), and the decorous beauty (oh, those baby rats hungrily gnawing in the alley outside my first solo apartment!) of our Capital City. Continue reading
By brownpau
Above: The author poses by the Reflecting Pool shortly after arriving in DC, some years ago. Note the in-line skates.
Before I came to Washington from the Philippines, most of my experience of America had been limited to occasional summer vacations in suburban California, so my general impression of U.S. cities was of vast pockets of sprawl connected by freeways, the isolation broken only by strip malls and Disney theme parks. Go ahead and laugh it up when I say this, but my first day after moving to DC (note how I called 16th St NW an “avenue”), the discovery that a city — any city — could be a livable, walkable, [somewhat] affordable place blew me away after a mostly-sheltered life living in a gated subdivision in Manila.
Continue reading
By Carl Weaver
I first came to DC as a child on one of my family’s vacations. We were lucky enough to have family here and thus a place to stay and all I remember is walking for what seemed like forever along streets lined with monuments and statues, foreign flags and a sense of majesty. I loved it immediately and we returned many times.
When my lovely wife and I had the opportunity to move here a couple years ago we jumped at the chance. We figured that the DC area was the perfect balance between not too cold (my requirement after living in the frigid north for eight years) and cosmopolitan and progressive (her requirement after living in my southern homeland before we moved north).
DC seemed like a negotiated agreement when we first got here but I quickly fell back in love with it for different reasons than previously. There is a sense of energy and excitement here that I have not felt elsewhere. Maybe it’s because of the constant influx of young, idealistic people to the area for their internships or first jobs. Maybe it’s just that national news is local news here. Maybe it’s the politics. Maybe it’s the tons and tons of free culture available. It’s all good, whatever it comes from.
Despite the sense of this being a very international, cosmopolitan area, I also find many of the people here approachable. It’s not like Boston, where I often found myself looking down to the cold street. Here you can say good morning to people, as I did back home, and hold the door and get a thank-you. You can get to know people in ways that you can’t up north.
I love DC. Nothing could please me more than calling this place my home.
By Ben H. Rome
So here we are. New website, new look, new day. And yet, fundamentally at the core of all this shiny stuff is a very deceptively simple question: “Why do you love DC?”
And before we go any further on this new journey together, I have to answer it. Partially out of obligation (Tom made me!) and partially out of the fact that how can you, our soon-to-be constant repeat visitor, continue coming here if you don’t know why we love DC?
Since I cannot answer for my fellow authors, I have to take the stab myself. And gladly. Continue reading
By Brittany
Photo courtesy of cupcakepanda
I love D.C. because it is my home. This city is where I became the person I am and will always be where I come back. Many people think of Washington as a place people move to for a step in their lives – maybe they come to pursue an education or a job, maybe to chase down the grand ideal of “making a difference.” My parents came here for all those reasons and also to raise a child.
The District of my youth was a dirtier place than today though decidedly more punk rock. Nonetheless, my family put down roots here. I grew up assuming Marion Barry actually was Mayor For Life and that every city had the kind of buzzy, intense energy that this one does. Time would prove me wrong on both accounts.
Each Thursday afternoon of high school, my friends would grab a City Paper and congregate by the fountain in Dupont Circle to plan what shows we would go to over the weekend, and would wear our big hand Xs with pride come Monday morning. Each morning of my college years at G.W., I would walk through Foggy Bottom, watching scruffy college kids, business people, politicians and diplomats happily share the sidewalks. Every spring when cherry blossoms turn the world into the sweetest pink-and-white confection, every winter when a blanket of sparkling snow settles over marble, and every night the red eyes of the Washington Monument blink to remind me that I am home, I am stunned by the beauty and how lucky I am to be of this place.
Washington D.C. has spoiled me. Now, after twenty-three years, I am crossing off the days before I move away. I will be packing my bags for California sooner than I would like to admit. In the meantime, expect me to talk about stuff I love about living here and want you to enjoy as well – the music, arts, museums, and culture all around us. This is a vibrant, cool city if you just look past the stodgy clichés. Also, be prepared for a bit of District nostalgia as my days as a resident dwindle in the city I love.
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