Goodbye 2008, Hello 2009. As the year winds down we find ourselves reflecting on what was and will be in the coming year. Over here at Juxtaexposed headquarters we have had a nice 2008. While I should be able to remember more here is a quick summary of our past year:
It’s a photo from the Feeding Desire Exhibit at Winterthur Estate in Delaware, that’s what. If you thought there wasn’t much to silverware design, influence, or evolution — you are wrong. The utensils in this exhibit range from whimsical to ornate to practical to modern. And sporks!!!
singin’ the post holiday blues
December 29th, 2008
I am officially singing the post holiday blues. Doing the whole “work” thing just isn’t as nice as relaxing with the family, eating/drinking, and getting/giving gifts. I thought I’d put up this adorable little pup with a bow around his neck to try to bring some (minor) joy to others who are feeling a little blah today. I found him last year around this time keeping guard in front of one of the uber nice homes (mansions?) in Kalorama.
… fortunately New Years is just around the corner, woooohoooo bubbly!
So, this isn’t in D.C., but I thought it was a beautiful picture nonetheless. It’s in upstate New York — a photo taken on Matt’s snowboard trip 2 weekends ago. How desolate…
Happy Birthday to Juxtaexposed.com!! It was exactly one year ago today that we first tried to figure out how to make a posting. And now here we are, 309 posts later, celebrating the one year anniversary.
Some other stats for those of you with mathematical brains:
- 309 posts: 84.65% post to day percentage, 118% post to work-day percentage
- 497 comments: 160% comment to post percentage
- ~10,455 Unique Visitors
- 41,884 Visits (~4 vists per visitor)
- Highest # of unique visitors in a month: 1,339 vistors in October
- Most Popular Day of the week: Tuesday, 1,282 hits
- Peak Hour of the Day: 7am, 26,394 hits
- Top 3 Countries: USA: 351,574 hits, Canada: 2,210 hits, Australia: 2,155. (the Netherlands had a good showing at 1,459 hits)
- Most frequent visit duration: 0s – 30s (71%)
- Top keyword search: DC
Thanks for coming and commenting! See you next year.
Merry Christmas Eve! and a very happy holiday to all of our Juxtaexposed.com readers/viewers, friends, and family.
Juxtaexposed turns 1 years old on December 26th!!! Holy cow, we can’t believe it’s been an entire year of blogging in the blog-o-sphere. That’s right. Thanks to everyone who has left us comments, suggestions, or even rants, and also to those of you who have posted under the masquerade of being my mother. It’s been a great year!
singing O! Christmas Tree and other carols
December 23rd, 2008
On Sunday night, Jill and Pat and I (and sadly only my phone camera as you can see from the blurry picture above) walked down to the Ellipse to see the National Christmas Tree, the Yule Log, and the 50 State Trees. This had previously been attempted with Val and Ty, only the lights were already off by the time we got down there. so, we ventured down there a little earlier this time, and we were in luck. Not only were the lights on, but Jill was kind enough to sing us every Christmas song known to man during the walk down there. Oh what a melodic voice!
It was crowded and cold, but there was a nice little addition of toy trains running around the base of the tree — I don’t remember that from last year. And also a giant menorah, which you can kinda see in the left of the picture.
We wandered around to see all the necessary state trees (Maryland, DC, Pennsylvania for Pat, Alaska!, Iowa…) I guess those are the only important ones Oh and Delaware too! …Now we are in the true Christmas spirit! Merry Christmas Eve Eve!
Union Station, all decked out!
December 19th, 2008
Union Station is a great place for seeing giant Christmas decorations, and this tree, a gift from Norway, is no exception. It has been lit since November 25th, and symbolizes the friendship between the United States and Norway, and their gratitude for U.S. assistance during and after WW II. This marks the 12th year of the Norwegian Christmas at Union Station.
There is a new holiday decoration in the form of a snowflake tree in Georgetown! It’s in the park at the west end of M Street, right before the Key Bridge. It looks really beautiful at night, as captured there by M.V. Jantzen on Flickr, but it also has an interesting structural appeal in the day light too. (Wow I sound like a nerd.)
It’s the top half of our Christmas tree! …Yes, amazing that we were able to fit anything more into our home sweet tiny apartment, but there it is — in all its fake tree glory. We still don’t have anything on the top of it yet though. Usually we put the giant Testudo ornament there, but that might topple the poor thing over. So it’s empty for now. Do more people put stars or angels on top of theirs?
Cosmo Kramer: Is there a tree?
Frank Costanza: No, instead, there’s a pole. It requires no decoration. I find tinsel distracting.
It’s made from aluminum. Very high strength-to-weight ratio.
According to this guide on celebrating Festivus, you are supposed to tell your friends and family all of the instances where they disappointed you the previous year…. This photo is of a note from the one-and-only Adams Morgan festivus pole. (No, I was not the one who wrote that. In fact, I haven’t left a note yet.) I guess it is a chance for everyone to tell the city of DC how it has failed them. A few more funny notes here.
My cousin and I went to Zoo Lights at the National Zoo, and even though it was freeeeezing cold, we had a blast. The zoo is kept open late from 6-8p and is filled with colorful LED animal light displays, and most of the animal houses are open. Most of the gorillas were sleeping when we walked through — I guess that is normally their bedtime, and they weren’t staying up for nothing.
An oldie but a goodie — Matt took this picture three Christmas seasons ago (2005) of the lions with wreaths in Judiciary Square. They watch over the National Law Enforcement Officer’s memorial. “The Wicked Flee When No Man Pursueth, But The Righteous Are Bold As A Lion.”
I tried my damnedest to get the top of this fence in Mount Pleasant lined up correctly with the grill on the wall behind…but it was cold…and my hands were shaky. Oh, well.
so…anyone know how to start a farmer’s market??
December 5th, 2008
In an effort to become more involved in the world around me I have volunteered to help the NoMa BID with their effort to start a small farmer’s market by summer 2009. They are currently envisioning a small market (5-6 vendors) that will be located somewhere near Union Station which will have the ability to expand with time and eventually move further to the north towards the New York Avenue metro station once that part of town (where Constitution Square is located) develops the critical mass of residents and workers.
The photo above is taken at Eastern Market in Capital Hill DC which is by all accounts the creme dela creme of farmer’s markets in Washington (don’t those apples look delicious?). I have discovered more than 20 smaller markets that are active through out the District at various times of the year which was more than I expected. The currently theoretical NoMa Farmers Market would operate one day per week and would either run through the lunch hour or at the end of the day. What time/date do you think would be best for this? If any one of our loyal readers happens to know anyone with ties to running farmers markets please send me their way. Right now I’m just learning as much as I can about how these markets are typically set up and funded, and any insight would be helpful!
I saw this little gem of a license plate on my way into work this morning. Talk about mobile blogging! (at least I was at a red light…). I hope that car owner does not mind my publishing their plates. Out of curiosity, I did a little Google search to see if it was illegal to post pictures of plates… I didn’t find too much about it, so I’m guessing that it is public domain just like everything else. Go KNATS!
Here’s a shot of the Shepard Fairey mural on 14th St. near the Irvine Gallery . We checked it out the other weekend — pretty impressive stuff. The artwork along with the Al Farrow bullet creations really are one of the better art exhibits I’ve seen as of late. It ends this week, so hurry up and check it out before it’s too late.
Which also reminds me — the inauguration is coming up soon. I’ve heard news reports that the District could see up to 5 million visitors! Yikes! And people are already setting up plans to rent out their houses and condos for exorbitant amounts. All this and an economy in a recession. If you can spare $200,000, check out the Mandarin Oriental inauguration package. It includes private dinner for 8 and a Maserati chauffeur, among many other perks. Maybe in my next lifetime…
… and white and orange too, I suppose. This photo is yet another from Matt’s couple of days off of work, which he spent walking, skateboarding, and otherwise creeping around alleys and streets in NW, DC.
Holy cow it’s December 1st (and apparently Cyber Monday!!! as well, so thank you for taking a break from your online purchasing frenzy to visit our blog), and so now it’s also back to the grind – for a few weeks anyways. Anyone done with their holiday shopping yet?
Oh and Delaware too! …Now we are in the true Christmas spirit! Merry Christmas Eve Eve!
