street cleaning

1) boooo....this means i have to worry about moving my car back and forth across the street every week. it's really making me think about completely getting rid of it when it comes up for registration renewal this summer.

2) yaaay!!!! the street won't have so much garbage in them anymore. i was skeptical that cleaning would really start today, but i just got home, and lo and behold, the south side of seaton and the east side of 1st street both look to be free of detritus it in their respective gutters.

now, to get the garbage off the sidewalks....

dc vote

ok, this might be a running commentary on the house debate on voting rights...

1) pete sessions is an ass. his discussion of the voting rights bill notwithstanding, the fact that he has multiple times insisted on referring to the majority as the "democrat majority" instead of the "democratic majority". he knows his use of this is needling democrats.

hey pete sessions, stick to the issues. i agree the bill is flawed. but let's vote on this, not demagogue.

2) sensenbrenner is right...this shouldn't be an at-large seat for utah, it should use the four districts that were drawn up for this last year.

3) bob bishop has a good point. i don't know if i agree to him, but we have to take what we can here. his sense of humor is pretty lame though (i should know, i have a similar sense of humor).

4) lynn westmoreland is just rambling about stuff that isn't germane to the bill. he wants to make sure that DC can never have senate representation? and he just made up the word "bipartisanism"...at least i've never heard that word before.

5) david dreier brings up a point about amending the constitution. unless we figure out whether the tack we are on with this bill is really constitutional or not, we can't move forward on potentially amending the constitution. the minority party is not interested in statehood or representation for DC. you can claim constitutionality or not for this bill, but you can't actually RULE on that. the courts must. but THEY CAN'T RULE ON A BILL UNTIL YOU PASS IT. he's just demagoguing about taxes, not discussing the actual merits of this bill.

6) ahhh candice miller. she used to be the secretary of state in michigan. her name was on my first driver's license. but her statement about trying to get as many people as possible registered and able to vote in michigan while she was the SOS is baloney. she was intrumental in getting the motor-voter law passed there, which makes it more difficult for students to vote.

7) tom davis' discussion about what senators and representatives actually represent is interesting. the house can give us a vote because of the district clause, but we can't have senators without an amendment. interesting....

8) eleanor. lots of emotional stuff. meh. could be more moving, but oh well. is mike panetta allowed on the floor?

9) dana rohrabacher makes an interesting point, and a gracious offer, but DC wants to be able to represent itself. maryland's senators would not be able to dedicate their full attention to matters in their own state as well as our city.

in conclusion, statehood (or an amendment that gives us everything that statehood entails) is the conclusion we must meet.

mulch

is there work about to begin on carter woodson park? (scroll to the bottom for a picture). there's a big pile of mulch that was placed there yesterday. it looks like people are taking a fair amount of mulch out for their own use. if that's what it's there for, that's great. it's nice to have little neighborhood benefits like that around for everyone to use. if it actually is for work on the park, then the NPS better get to it, because the mulch might all be gone soon!

treebox vodka

ok, what an awesome name for a blog. it's great to see other people think that the city just needs a little spit and polish around the edges!

(h/t to remaking le slum for pointing this one out!)

graffiti

ok, one thing that i don't much enjoy about city life is graffiti. i know some will say that this is my rural upbringing coming to the fore here, but i don't buy the meme that it's simply 'kids expressing themselves' and 'kids are bored because there's nothing to do in the city'. i basically call nothing but b.s. on that. when i was a kid, i lived in three different towns where there was significantly less to do than there is to keep one entertained here in DC. for some reason, none of the kids in those three places (in georgia, pennsylvania, and michigan) graffitied anything.

i'm not saying that kids there were angels either, but the willful and wanton destruction of another's property (which is what graffiti is) is illegal and stupid. if there's anything that stuck with me from nine years of catholic school (and believe me, a lot stuck with me), it's the golden rule. treat other's as you want to be treated. and no one wants to have their house spray painted by someone else, especially without their permission.

in DC, there are parks, museums, open fields, etc., where kids can keep themselves entertained. all for free. and all within a bike or bus ride from anywhere in the city. i didn't have that opportunity as a kid, though i'm not complaining.

anyway, enough of my rant. i've reported a few graffiti issues to the city's service center, and the one across the street from my house hasn't been dealt with yet. one in shaw has though, so that's encouraging. the ongoing war to have a livable city goes on...

whole foods took my nerdiness away

i used to rely on the p street whole foods to supply me weekly (and monthly) with copies of the dupont current, city paper, intowner, dc north, and even the hill rag, if you got it within the first couple days of the month.

turns out that now, the store has decided to not allow community papers to be placed in the vestibule near the elevators. it's really a shame, because they were providing a great community service, keeping all those papers in one place (in addition to the papers i religiously read, the washington blade , metro weekly, and downtowner were always available there as well). it was one-stop shopping for a local news nerd like me, and now it's gone. for someone bicycle-commuting from downtown up to bloomingdale, it was a perfect location, since it was basically on my way home. now i've got to bike around town to get my newspaper fix. grrrr.....

laundromat in bloomingdale

in the old sylvan theater just west of 1st and rhode island nw (it's a little to the left of the arrow on that map) on the south side of the street, there is a sign for a laundromat, though it's closed.

well, looks like that's going to change. i saw a sign that said a new laundromat is soon to open in the building. i can't remember the name, but i'll post an update on that when i get home later (unless someone beats me to it in the comments).

UPDATE: ok, i finally walked back over and looked closely at the sign. if i only had a working camera, i'd put a picture here. anyway, it says 'COMING SOON - Dexter Laundry Equipment' and it has the horsehead logo found on this webpage on the sign as well. anyone care to speculate on what this all means?

potholes

there aren't any on my street. luckily, the 100 block of seaton place nw (and the unit block) were repaved in the fall. it was right after i moved into bloomingdale, and it was great to see all of the holes and patches gone on my block (it made riding my bike up and down the street a lot more comfortable).

unfortunately, there will be some soon. i know it's just something you have to expect living in an older part of the city, but a water main was leaking on our block last week. wasa came and fixed it, but it meant they had to jackhammer a big hole in the center of the street right in the middle of the block. they did a really half-assed job of patching the spot, and i'm sure that with just a couple freeze/thaws, and a plowing or two (we're going to get more snow tomorrow), potholes will begin to open up. at least we had a smooth street for almost six months.

and oh yeah, t street nw is going to have the same problem, because when i walked up the unit block on sunday, there was a water leak there, and i'm sure wasa will be doing the same thing there (they were also repaved last fall).

help us save internet radio, part 2

ok, the good folks at radio paradise and other internet radio stations have gotten together and decided to put up a petition and begin an informational drive to get folks to petition congress and make them aware of how this decision could negatively affect the future of internet radio. here's where you need to go to help make a difference:

- the petition

- send a letter to your member of congress

i've already sent a note to Eleanor Holmes Norton, and i hope that others out there will be sending letters or personally calling their representatives. congressional offices likely know little to nothing about this, so we have to lobby and educate them as concerned citizens in order to counter the professional lobbying that the RIAA and other large organizations can pay for. please, link to this blog post and spread the word!

thanks so much!

help us save internet radio!

alright, i'd like to enlist other blogs and people out there to pay attention to an important issue: the future of internet radio.

some quick background: i listen to radio paradise every day at work. it's the soundtrack to my day, and without the quality music running in the background, each day in my cube would be enormously less interesting. i am a supporting listener of radio paradise, meaning that i've donated money to bill and rebecca goldsmith to help keep their great station running. now, bill has let all the listeners know that a new ruling from the u.s. copyright office could shut down radio paradise, as well as other internet radio stations, because the fees would be more than they could possibly handle.

currently, he's waiting to hear from some experienced attorneys to determine what the best step would be to take to ensure that some agreement can be reached that will keep internet radio from being irreparably damaged. in the meantime, read his blog post here at the saveourinternetradio.com website. i'll update my blog when something new is announced, but basically, i'm hoping you'll all take interest in this, and help with potentially lobbying the relevant members of congress if that happens to be the direction that things should go in in the near future.

thanks for you interest and attention to this. and while you're at it, give radio paradise a listen, and maybe send a few dollars to bill and rebecca. they do yeoman's work and deserve our support for their fantastic efforts.

a woman with everything wrong

eventful night. just went downtown with stephanie to see last king of scotland at e street. i've seen it, she hasn't. it was sold out, and there was nothing else that we were interested in seeing, so we decided to walk over to chinatown to grab some ice cream. that's where the fun began.

walking up 11th street, a woman asked if we could stop and answer a question. she seemed harmess enough.

big mistake

what followed was the most amazing, rapid-fire story i've ever heard. this woman (with some interestingly chipped teeth) told us that there was a crazy homeless guy who had accosted her, and that she was scared. then, in rapid succession, we heard:

- that she was diabetic
- about to have a seizure
- she was from pittsburgh
- she worked for a hospital in oakland (PA, i assume)
- she was in DC with her church
- had her bags stolen from the hotel harrington
- needed to get to new carrollton so she could catch a bus to annapolis
- had her insulin waiting for her at new carrollton
- had reported her stolen bags to the police (we could go verify if we wanted)
- had her husband and son in the marines in iraq
- was 3 months pregnant and in risk of losing her child
- she was horribly embarrassed to tell us all this (even though she said a lot of it 3 or 4 times)
- there were a few other ramblings that didn't really make sense

it was obvious this woman was disturbed, to put it gently. i tried to cut to the chase and offer to get her on the metro to new carrollton, if that was true. she started to get irritable and said she needed more money to get to annapolis, since she was broke. i told her that i didn't have enough to help her out any further than getting her a metro fare.

she got angry now, and told me that she could see, by looking into my eyes, that i didn't want to help. she said that i'd have to answer to saint peter (apparently when i die, he's not going to bother me until then). then she finally called me a 'white bitch' (she was white too, this was no racial confrontation) and starting walking off.

seemed like that was it. we went up to häagen-dazs to get ice cream, and we were eating our ice cream outside when the woman walked past. i was hoping she'd start talking to one of the zendiks who were selling their goofy t-shirts outside the verizon center. unfortunately, that didn't happen. would have been potentially exciting to watch...

some notes

well, i've done a terrible job of keeping up on things. but here are some things to check out:

1) have you checked out the plans for the washington gateway project at florida and new york avenues? this building is going to be enormous. i'm especially excited to hear about the connection to the metropolitan branch trail. now, if feds, the railroad, and everyone else who is holding up that project can just get their asses in gear.

2) there is going to be a new restaurant at the northwest corner of north capitol and p streets. there used to be a chicken place there, and it's a fine looking location. i just hope that more foot traffic and renewal can quickly move into that area, to help the business thrive. here's the press release:

In what may prove to be a significant step forward for the Eckington-Bloomingdale-Truxton Circle area, a new sit-down restaurant will be opening on North Capitol Street N.W. within the next 30 days. This will be the first such restaurant located on North Capitol Street between New York Avenue and Rhode Island Avenue.

At the Hanover Civic Association meeting Wednesday evening, Julius Bell informed me that he will be opening J. Bell's, a restaurant located at P Street N.W. and North Capitol Street. That is the location of the former New York Fried Chicken takeout (1500 North Capitol Street NW).

Mr. Bell is seeking a liquor license and approval from the 5C Advisory Neighborhood Commission. His plans also include a permit for a sidewalk cafe with 24 seats. He will be providing guests with a full menu.

Understandably, Mr. Bell is planning to leave the defensive glass presently in place for at least the next 3-4 months. I am calling upon the community to provide support to Mr. Bell and give him the confidence to remove this barrier, in accordance with the lead of the sit-down restaurant Windows Cafe (located at Rhode Island and First Street N.W.).

Mr. Bell may be contact with any questions or suggestions at jbell01@verizon.net.

3) i went to the anc5c meeting last week. let me summarize it for you: i do not intend to attend another anc meeting anytime soon. unfortunately, our neighborhood leadership needs to do some work to make their meetings really worthwhile. first of all, they need to make the meetings longer to fit in the entire agenda. there is a strong agenda written for each meeting, with time blocked off for each speaker/discussion, but it isn't followed.

for example, this last meeting was supposed to have 5 minutes for our coucilmember to speak. he wasn't able to attend at the allotted time, which is fine, because there was discussion going on at the wilson building for a bill. but, when he did arrive, mr. thomas spoke for over 20 minutes. the council chair needed to reign things in and keep the meeting moving forward, but she seemed incapable of doing so.

i don't say this to denigrate anyone, but it's obvious that they all need to work harder at running an efficient meeting. until they can display that ability, i will have better things to do with those 3 hours of my day.

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well, that's it for now. it's raining out, and i didn't go to my usual karaoke tonight, which is disappointing. guess it's time for bed.