I like finding little bits of urban artwork in unexpected places. Usually though, it’s the work of an unknown or independent artist expressing themselves through graffiti, stencil, murals, stickers, or otherwise. In this case though, a homeowner (or apartment dweller perhaps) in Dupont Circle added their own little take to “urban artwork” by having Frida to watch over the alleyway. Try walking by that window at night without feeling a set of eyes watching you.
I know it isn’t Halloween, but I still love these.
February 24th, 2010
We have posted in the past about local artist Diabetik. This morning on my way to work I saw one of their candy-corn streetcones had migrated from the traffic island just north of Dupont Circle to the mezzanine level platform at the Dupont North metro entrance. I’m assuming that this was not an installation by the artist, but rather the work of a WMATA employee that needed a streetcone to mark the manhole cover, but perhaps I’m wrong. Either way, seeing this little guy at the bottom of the escalator made me smile and was a pleasant start to the day.
….though now I have a strange hunger for highly processed seasonal candy….
Count us in as part of the 2,000 or so people who took part in the Dupont Circle snowball fight this past Saturday. It was quite the free-for-all for the most part, interspersed with moments of strategy when one side would organize a simultaneous launch. For my part, I threw a few snowballs into the middle of the melee, but quickly found the greater enjoyment in launching them into the trees around the periphery, causing a large plume of snow to fall out of the tree branches and onto the unsuspecting victims below. muhahahaha!!
The beautiful (in my humble opinion) images that you see below are my submissions to the 2010 DCist Exposed photography show. This is my third year submitting photos to the contest - fingers crossed! The entry pool for the show this year includes 1,130 photos from 435 photographers. Tough competition would be an understatement. Exposed will open on March 6th at Longview Gallery (1234 9th St NW). It is a great showcase of local photographers and most certainly worth visiting.
This image is taken with a Holga at the Dupont Circle North metro station. I love how the long exposure was able to pull a fire out of the evening sky.
We watched the fireworks from Meridian Hill park this year. The gentleman that climbed the Joan of Arc sculpture had the best view in the house. His focused gaze up towards the theatrics is the sky is eerily similar to the look on Joan of Arc’s face as she charges into battle.
My final submission was snapped during my morning commute. It is taken with a Vivitar Ultra Wide and Slim, a junk camera with a wide angle plastic lens. Even in the blustery weather that we have had recently, my morning rides always put me in a good mood. I think this photo captures the pure enjoyment of a leisurely ride.
Based on the continuous stop-and-go bumper-to-bumper traffic that I had the pleasure of witnessing last night, many people are behind the eight-ball on the Xmas shopping. Clearly, some of this is due to the heavy snow (snOMG, snowpocalypse, snowmagddon, etc) that we received over the weekend but I suspect a fair bit was due to plain old procrastination. We drove on Wisconsin Ave/Rockville Pike all the way from Georgetown to Rockville — during rush hour — through the major shopping arteries of Georgetown, Friendship Heights, Bethesda, and Rockville. The smartest idea? No, probably not, but I, like so many others out on the road, had plans of productivity that were derailed by the fluffy white stuff.
My reason for heading into the great suburban sprawl that is Rockville, or North Bethesda or whatever it is currently being branded as, was to pick up the artwork that I’d been commissioned by the Union Row condo board to complete for use in their building (full disclosure: Union Row was built by my employer, PN Hoffman and I did most of the original art in the building). During our initial hour and a half jaunt up the Pike the dreadfully slow traffic gave us a fair bit of time to reflect on the joys of living within a few miles of our place of employment. I honestly do not know if I could deal with having a mind numbing, stop-and-go commute out to the exurbs everyday. I have to hope that eventually it becomes so routine that you are able to zone out and reach some sort of “zen peacefulness” for the duration of the commute. Zoning out while driving has its own perils and based on the honking horns and frustrated faces that I saw on the faces of the surrounding motorists, no one was reaching any state of mental rest or clarity. I understand that last night was an extraordinary case due to the extenuating circumstances of holiday shopping and inclement weather but I’ve made that trip quite a few times and at varying times of the day — it is never pleasant.
What is pleasant is the three mile bike ride or six stop metro ride that normally comprises my commute from Dupont Circle to NoMa. As frustrating as WMATA can be when trains are packed and service is spotty, and as unnerving as getting across New York Avenue and North Capitol Street on a bike can be during rush hour, I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Often, my bike ride into work is one of the best parts of my day. I’m clearly the minority in actually enjoying my commute. When I drive in the city I tend to feel like a passive observer, just watching the life of the city pass by around me. I feel disconnected and have a tenancy to get frustrated at the actions of other on the road. The cycle commute breaks you out of the insulated single-occupancy-vehicle bubble and lets you take in the sights, sounds, and energy of the environment around you.
This entry got a bit off track but the point is I think more people need to think about how much time and sanity is being sacrificed to the commute when striving for the “drive til you qualify” American dream of a single family detached house in an anonymous subdivision. For those that have made the choice to live near their job, and I know that in this market that is not always a choice that is available, more commuters should try to eschew the impulse to make even the shortest of trips by automobile and embrace cycling or public transportation.
Okay off my soap box for now. The photo above was created by using my “point and click” camera and blurring the lights from traffic crossing the Calvert Street bridge with a four second exposure as I walked home from the metro. See, there can be some beauty in traffic.
An early morning shot of the Dupont Circle fountain, taken this past Saturday just as the snow began to fall. The well-recognized fountain was designed by Daniel Chester French and architect Henry Bacon, both of whom collaborated to create the Lincoln Memorial. The body of the fountain is made up of three classical figures that represent the sea, the stars, and the wind. It was erected there in 1921, replacing a statue of Samuel Francis Du Pont. As a tribute to his service as a rear admiral in the Civil War, Mr. Du Pont had been there since 1884, but he was moved to Wilmington, Delaware when the current fountain took his place.
This past Wednesday evening, we were on our way home from Christmas party #1 with Matt’s coworkers and decided to stop in and check out Mechanix at Steve’s Bar Room. The music was just getting going when we got in there, and it didn’t disappoint. You come straight off the elevator and right into the mix — the DJ booth is literally in your face, with all the various musicians on top of that. Billed as “classical music, jazz improvization and underground electronic music, the duo’s live ‘musican vs. DJ’ aural hybrid is both organic and original…” we weren’t quite sure what to expect, but for me, anything with live drums is usually worth it. We didn’t stay too long since this was already our second destination of the evening, but it looks like it’s a regular jam for Wednesday evenings? (hard to tell from their website?), but I would definitely check it out again.
A huge pile of old records sitting out on a nice day in Dupont Circle. For sale or for listening? You never know, because these guys also had a huge old vintage looking record player with them, so maybe they just wanted to break out the collection.
Last night was the infamous High Heel Drag Race, an annual costumed event held on 17th St. in Dupont Circle on the Tuesday before Halloween. There were plenty of lovely drag queens out last night, despite the heavy rain, and, since all of the action occurred just steps from our house, we had some friends over beforehand to enjoy some Giggle Juice (pictured above) and pizza. We didn’t get to snap too many pictures of the ladies from a few rows of people deep, where we had to poke our heads in and among the umbrellas, (or kneel on the ground to see through the crowds if your name is Andrea), so you’ll just have to check out the Flickr Pool for some funnies!
Giggle Juice
2 bottles dry white wine, such as Sauvignon Blanc, chilled
5 cups lemon-lime soda, chilled
2 cups white grape juice, chilled
6 limes, thinly sliced crosswise
Make ice block: Fill medium metal bowl with water and freeze overnight.
Make punch: In large punch bowl, stir together wine, soda, and grape juice. Add lime slices. Just before serving, remove ice block from freezer and defrost just long enough to be slipped out of bowl, 5 to 10 minutes. Transfer to punch bowl and serve immediately.
