missing stairs February 1st, 2012
I think there are some stairs missing here. That’s a problem… Hopefully the mailman is just tall enough to reach the mail slot.
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cousins! July 11th, 2011
The family visits continued!! This past weekend Jami and Kari flew out from Iowa (and mom and dad drove down from DE) to spend a long weekend with us in DC. On Thursday evening we enjoyed a Moroccan meal at Souk – somehow they managed to squeeze all 11 (Maine + Iowa) of us at one big table. The best part about dining on small plates with that many people is you can get a taste of nearly everything on the menu. Pepper hummus, baba ganoush, baklava… MMMMmmmm!
On Saturday afternoon, we spent some time being lazy and playing bocce ball in Lincoln Park. Bowser was the only one of us working really hard at moving all the balls around after they stopped rolling, but those are the rules – even though he was pretty lopsided towards chasing all the red balls, no arguing over whatever the dog does! He was like a team of his own. When we weren’t playing bocce, we took turns lounging in the grass (and lining up the ridiculous amounts of phones/cameras/technology we had with us for a simple trip to the park).
That night, we took our 6-person bike gang down to the Capitol and then across the National Mall to see some monuments at night. Jami and Kari took their very first CaBi rides and it was pretty sweet to see everything by moonlight. We stopped at the Capitol briefly, then rode past all the Folklife Festival tents on the Mall, then around the circle of the Washington Monument, passed by the WW2 memorial, rode along the under-construction reflecting pool, stopped to see Mr. Lincoln, where we were somehow more fascinated with the light coming from the kiosk at the base, and then finally walked along the Vietnam Memorial wall. The return trip was nice too – cruising along Pennsylvania Ave in the center bike lanes around 11pm — when the temperature in July in DC is finally tolerable — it’s always a pretty exhilarating feeling. No matter how long we live in DC, I will never get tired of seeing the city at night. It’s pretty amazing.
Sunday was pretty much the perfect day. Shopping at Eastern Market in the morning, pedicures in the afternoon, and sushi boat for late lunch/early dinner. Does it get any better than spending time with family doing those things?! I think Kari definitely enjoyed her first sushi experience and was pretty much a chopstick master by the time we finished. We came home and watched the DVR-ed women’s World Cup Soccer game — still can’t believe that header that tied us up with Brazil!!! Dinner was grilled corn with Old Bay and BBQ chicken followed by a vicious game of Asshole in which Jami was president the entire time . not fair!
It was sad to see them leave this morning. These visits always fly by so fast. Can’t wait until the next one…
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Tags: DC, The National Mall, Washington Monument, bicycle, capitol hill, family, parks
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Marine Parade May 7th, 2011
On Friday night, we attended the Evening Parade at Marine Barracks Washington, “8th and I”, which is the Marine Corps oldest active post. Every Friday in the summer, the parade starts at 8:45 pm, and includes a concert by the US Marine Band, precision marching, the Corps Color Guard and the Marine Corps Silent Drill Platoon, AND!!!! the most awesome LCpl. Chesty, a big, beefy bulldog, who is the official mascot of Marine Barracks Washington.
It was a pretty impressive show, especially because of the evening setting with dramatic lighting and the downright precision of everything. The silent drill platoon was especially amazing, tossing their 10-pound rifles with bayonets back and forth as if they were weightless. And not a one of them dropped (I was watching). Overall, a nice way to spend a summer evening.
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Tags: DC, People, capitol hill
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kidical mass April 25th, 2011
On Saturday, DC’s first Kidical Mass ride took place, and Matt was there to take photos and ride with the group, whose goal is: “Promoting safe, fun family biking in the Greater Washington area.” Here’s some more of the photos.
Hope everyone had a Happy Easter weekend!
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Tags: DC, People, bicycle, capitol hill, kids
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hitchcockian September 7th, 2010
We hope everyone had a nice, long labor day weekend. Weather-wise, it was just gahhh-geous dahhhling. We spent much of it relaxing, doing schoolwork, and watching college football, of course. Matt also found some time to scan the fujichrome sensia 200 slide film that came back in the mail last week. The results include this shot, from an alleyway in Capitol Hill, where we had been wandering sometime last month. I happened to look up and see a few birds perched on the lowest window sill, and then suddenly we realized the whole side of the building was covered in them. It was a very creepy Hitchcockian moment. The birds were all so quiet that we could have passed through the alley, looking at the ground, and never noticed the entire flock staring down at us. Freaky!
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Tags: DC, Exteriors, alley, birds, buildings, capitol hill, movies
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Cities, Bicycles, and the Future of Getting Around December 9th, 2009
Last night, Bruce Katz, Director of the Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institution, moderated an interesting discussion among three rock stars (sorry, couldn’t avoid saying it) in the world of urban bicycle policy at the Newseum. The panel was composed of David Byrne, of Talking Heads fame, Earl Blumenauer, House Democrat from Oregon, and Janette Sadik-Khan, the Commissioner for NYC Department of Transportation.
Byrne led the night off by taking attendees on a visual walk through his cycling travel memories. I purchased a signed copy of his book, Bicycle Diaries, which chronicles these travels. Having not yet read the book, I’m hoping it will offer more insights then were gained during his portion of the lecture, which amounted to a vacation slide show, that I found to be a little bit shy on content. To be fair, Byrne contributed more during the Q&A session and he was sharing the stage with some intellectual and political heavy weights. Regardless, it is great to have a celebrity advocate for the cycling community. He obviously cares strongly for the cause despite the lack of articulation during last nights’ discussion. Admittedly, I did have to Wikipedia the Talking Heads to familiarize myself with his work – sign of my age I suppose.
The second talking head (da dum tsh! I’ll be here all night, folks.) to take the stage was the Honorable Earl Blumenauer. Blumenauer is one of the strongest voice for the cycling community in the Federal Government. He has helped to make cycling part of the national policy debate for issues such as healthcare, childhood obesity, and foreign oil dependence. Coming from Portland, Blumenauer’s discussion had a frequently west coast slant but he did bring up some great local ideas. These ideas included bike lanes along Pennsylvania Ave, stating that the most iconic boulevard in the US needs to be a place where all modes of transportation are accommodated. I’d have to agree, making PA Ave a “complete street” would be a powerful and symbolic action. In discussing Portland’s approach to automobiles, Blumenauer said “we haven’t made war on the car, but we are not going to surrender to it” emphasising the importance of giving people SAFE and balanced choices of transportation.
Third at the lectern was Janette Sadik-Khan from New York, New York. JSK has been responsible for huge push to increase bike lanes around the city, as well as the “pedestrianization of Times Square.” She is a progressive among progressives, who has passion for pushing the envelop (her favorite five letter word is PILOT). Echoing Blumenauer’s statement, JSK underlined the importance of increasing cyclist safety in enhancing the number of riders — “make it safe and they will come.” Further, she indicated that NYC may soon get its own bike sharing system. Next time you are in NYC, watch out for the new yellow checkered bike sharing fleet that might be joining their checkered cabbie friends. Last but not least, JSK announced the launch of Cities for Cycling which is a coalition of member cities aimed at updating the antiquated design standards to reflect the current needs of cities. Their website includes a very interesting series of “best practices” for bicycle facilities that is worth reading over.
The main call to action was just that: DO SOMETHING, TALK TO SOMEONE, MAKE CYCLING AN ISSUE IN YOUR COMMUNITY.
I’ll leave you with few quoteables from the evening:
David Byrne: “Frank Lloyd Wright was a great architect, but thank god he didn’t get to be an urban planner.”
Earl Blumenauer: ”How many people are stuck in traffic on their way to ride a stationary bike at the gym?”
”Our goal was to make Portland America’s best European City.”
Janette Sadik-Khan: “The only way to get around New York City is to be born there.” “Getting cross-town in NYC is impossible – so the only way to get to the West Side is to be born there.”
Bruce Katz: “I’m glad Brookings was shamed tonight” regarding the institutes lack of bicycle facilities.
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Tags: DC, bicycle, capitol hill, commute
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gettin’ down to business August 18th, 2009
A few weekends ago, after visiting Eastern Market, we wandered into Capitol Hill Books on C St NE, just a few blocks away. Had never been in there before, but now this is a bookstore! Seems really cluttered at first glance, but once you look closer at all the signs (some of which are funny, like ‘Business Closet’), you realize there is a method to the madness of books piled high and wide, with narrow aisles. It was pretty packed in there, lots of people riffling through the shelves in search of a good read. I managed to get stuck in the ‘Teens/Children’ section and read through a whole chapter of an old Nancy Drew book before I remembered that I was looking for the art and architecture section. Neither of us ended up taking any books home, since we both still have big piles of “to read” books, but I would like to venture back in there when I have about an hour and see what else I could pick up to add to my list.
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Tags: DC, Interiors, books, capitol hill
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spine August 14th, 2009
The new and improved Eastern Market building roof. It’s spiffy! and newly reopened in June, following the fire that destroyed it in 2007.
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Tags: DC, Interiors, buildings, capitol hill, farmers market
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birthday suit bike ride June 15th, 2009
One of the more interesting protests I’ve witnessed took place this weekend. This being the 4th Annual World Naked Bike Ride. The WNBR is a protest against our dependence on foreign oil and a rally for improved cycling conditions in America’s cities. The DC WNBR started at Franklin Square in downtown DC, rode to the US Capitol, and finished out in front of the White House. All the participants said it was a lot more fun to moon Bush but they would make due with the new Administration. Upon arriving at Lafayette Square I am sure they ruined the days of the many tourists who were peering through fence trying to catch a glimpse of the President. Despite the name the riders were not technically naked, as that would be lewd and illegal, instead they wore an assortment of underwear, loin clothes, socks, and body paint. I hope their ride was a success. While I find their cause quite valid I’m not so sure about the execution. Regardless, it made for a VERY VERY funny (…and kind of awkward) event to photog.
HERE is a link to my other photos from the start of the protest.
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Tags: DC, bicycle, capitol hill, clothing, fisheye, moon, politics, white house
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Bocce report — week 1 April 29th, 2009
An abbreviated”Jersey’s Finest” team consisting of Keith and myself w/Brigid as our lone cheerleader lost a hard fought bocce match last night in the 1st official game of the season. We were up against a seasoned 8 person team named “Off in the Shower”(w/clever beer cozies claiming that they cannot be beaten…). After a large points deficit in the first 3 rounds we came back to briefly carry the lead. Our lead was eventually eroded and we ended up losing 10 to 16. There was some ethically questionable score accounting taking place but we determined that since we had not played in a year and we were thoroughly out gunned it did not make sense to put up a big stink, that and it is only a rec/drinking bocce league so no reason to be “that guy”. The photo above is of Summer, our friends’ beautiful french bulldog, at our crab feast triathlon fundraiser last year in Rock Creek Park — the last time we had honed our bocce skills. We will try again next week, by the end of the season Jersey’s Finest will be a well oiled bocce machine.
Oh, and one other thing: LETS GO CAPS!!!
