Two Wishes

And Suddenly, DC is Popular

My hometown is currently having a teen-makeover-movie moment. Personally, I was OK with DC when it was the geeky kid with glasses, the one in the sensible clothes who bored people at parties with a little too much policy talk. But then the coolest boy in school claimed DC as his own. And suddenly, all the other kids want to hang out here too.

(Yes, this IS my best Photoshop effort. Also, I had a crush on Patrick Dempsey in this movie and therefore called dibs long before all the McDreamy nonsense.)

Need proof? Among other things, DC is the hottest new site for reality shows. First there was CW's new July show Blonde Charity Mafia (based on a group called Late Night Shots, which, don't even get me started). Sarah Jessica Parker is producing a new HBO show based on Washingtonienne (fiction, and it apparently shoots in Baltimore, but it fits my theme so we'll run with it). Mr T and I recently learned that a producer from The Real Housewives of New Jersey is moving into our building, and sure enough it appears The Real Housewives of DC is in the works. And now local hiring has begun for The Real World: DC.

Let's face it -- when these shows hit the air, I will watch. After all, this is my town. But I strongly question how much "reality" will actually make the air. It was the "Real Housewives" that first got me thinking: I am the only "real housewife" I know (by disability, but still). And based on other incarnations of the Bravo series, I predict the chosen women will not even vaguely resemble my own real life, in all its sleep-deprived, baby-weight, hoping-to-make-it-to-a-museum-someday, living-in-700sf-so-you-can-afford-Capitol-Hill glory.

In some ways, that's kind of sad. Sure, my life doesn't offer much by way of trendy shopping or fabulous fundraisers. But when Mr T and I walked the dog last night, within 20 feet we were greeted first by a Congressman and then by a trio of African-American homeless people. To me, juxtapositions like that speak volumes on the real DC. It may not make for good TV, but personally I find that reality -- the real reality -- all the more interesting.

A Few Reasons I Love DC

Before I moved to Washington, DC, I was ambivalent about the place.  In law school, I sat down to figure out where to move upon graduation and chose DC based on an analysis of factors like jobs, weather, and culture.  I interviewed at a number of DC firms, but at the very last moment I decided DC was far too serious and boring, and I fled to the one NYC firm on my list.  It took several years and lots of lobbying by government-lawyer friends to finally lure me here for a government job of my own.

But now, I love it!  There's always something going on, but the lifestyle is SO much easier than it was in NYC.  There's far more green space than I imagined.  The city plan was designed by a Parisian, and something about the major boulevards does feel a bit like Paris.  Most of all, I love the diversity.  In addition to a stunning array of ethnic and cultural groups, there are lawyers and lobbyists; policy wonks and non-profiteers; military, spies, and government contractors; students and diplomats; the usual yuppies and hipsters; all mixed together with a seriously disadvantaged underclass that exists within miles (sometimes blocks) of the Nation's Capitol.  

 

(image sources one, two)

Last month, local blog DCist ran a 2008 retrospective of some "overheard on the street" DC conversations, and I thought the snippets captured DC in a nutshell.  Here are a few of my favorites:

A man and a woman are walking dogs in Logan Circle:

Man: "You look familiar..."
Woman: "I think we are neighbors. 1st and Bates?"
Man: "Yeah, we live on the 1st street side."
Woman: "Ah, I live near the crackhouse on Bates."
Man: "Can you be more specific?"
Woman: "The RED crackhouse on Bates."

Saturday by the Reflecting Pool:

Six-year-old boy: "Daddy, I want to run in the water and catch a goose!"
Dad: "You do that and you'll never get security clearance."

The little boy's face falls and he turns away from the pool.

At the GW Emergency Room at 4 a.m., from the next bed over:

Doctor: "Do you have any medical problems we should know about?"
Man: "Nope...(long pause)...except Hepatitis C...and I've been shot four times."

In Crystal City:

An early- to mid-40s male walking down Crystal Drive, talking on a cell phone:

Guy, loudly into the phone: "(Name), the weapons are fine..."
(pause)
Shouting into the phone while holding it in front of his mouth: "I SAID THE WEAPONS ARE FINE! THEY ARRIVED SAFELY!"

While walking down King St. in Alexandria:

Well-dressed mid-20s man: ... "Let's go in here and buy a lot of stuff now that we have tons of money."

Inauguration ... The View from Our Couch

This week marks an exciting time to be a proud resident of DC.  But it's strange to be surrounded by historic events when you're not allowed out of your house!  Most of my exposure to this weekend's Inaugural events has come from TV and the Web, just like for everybody else.  

 

Nixon, 1969

I do get the occasional man-on-the-street update from Mr. T.  He returned from walking Zoe late last night with tales of National Guard members guarding our block.  Earlier, he reported lots of frantic people trying to catch cabs in the cold.  Revelers pass our front door loudly at all hours (we have a convenient-but-not-quiet location between the building's front door and elevator), including a few hearty souls who left at 4:00 this morning to reserve a spot for the day's festivities.  

 

Eisenhower, 1953

Although we live a mere 5 blocks from the Capitol, Mr. T and I watched the swearing-in on TV.  We did hear the cannon salute, and the Bush helicopter leaving after the ceremony.  So there's that.  (Now the sounds outside are almost entirely emergency vehicle sirens.  Mr. T's theory is that today's estimated 2 million visitors are starting to succumb to exhaustion and cold.)

 

Johnson, 1965

The Capitol looked fantastically red-white-and-blue this morning.  But I figure we've all seen the same photos, so here are a few from Inaugurations past.  Here's hoping that when we look back on archive photos of this Inauguration, some 30 or 40 years hence, we will remember today as the start of a flourishing period in this Nation's history.

 

Kennedy, 1961

 

Eisenhower, 1953

How are you marking today's historic events?

The List of Grievances Only Grows Longer

As mentioned before, Mr T and I sometimes fight the worries of impending parenthood by brainstorming ways to mess with our child's mind.  In fact, Mr T recently suggested we perfect this practice by studying the works of the masters -- we now take our parenting inspiration from TV mothers like Lucille Bluth, Angela Petrelli, and Elizabeth Perkins' character on Weeds. 

My favorite idea to date?  Keep a list of all the ways Wallaby has made our lives more difficult.  Once she is able to read, this list should be posted on her bedroom wall as a reminder of our sacrifices.  Or perhaps we could have a ceremonial reading every year on Mother's Day?

(Wallaby's bedtime reading?)

Anyway, tonight the Post's Inauguration Watch offered up a major new entry for that list:

Sources: Springsteen to Perform at Inaugural Welcome Event

The Presidential Inaugural Committee has been mum, but sources tell the Post's Lena Sun that Bruce Springsteen will perform at Barack Obama's inauguration week welcome event Jan. 18 on the National Mall. The event will be on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and open to the public for free.

You may recall that I am on bedrest and cannot leave the house.  Frankly, most of the Inauguration events I don't mind missing.  Tickets are impossible to come by, the practical logistics of so many visitors will be a nightmare, and it's rumored the balls are more "cattle herd" than "grand occasion."  But this?  One of my favorite musicians, playing in town, for free, and with the historic associations of a Lincoln Memorial gathering...?  

(Source)

Oh yeah, the kid owes me.  She owes me big.  

An Election, and a Midnight Pilgrimage

[Sorry if this is a bit disjointed, everyone -- I am writing at 4 a.m., still on a high after this historic night.]

Yesterday, in the midst of voting, my mother was so overcome with a sense of history that she cried.  It took me much longer to appreciate the excitement of this election.  Voting itself was less than eventful -- we walked one block and were out the door in 5 minutes.  Later, we had dinner near the Capitol, soaking up a bit of party atmosphere as Hill staffers cheered and downed shots when key states were called. But then we went home to watch TV, with no plans beyond maybe snapping a few photos of the dog in an election tiara.

And then came Obama's historic, amazing acceptance speech.  Which left me in tears. And when our President-Elect was done speaking, somehow sitting quietly at home -- even with a dog in a tiara -- no longer seemed enough.  So we put on our coats, grabbed the dog and an umbrella, and made a midnight pilgrimage to join the jubilant crowds gathering outside the White House.

Quite simply, I have never seen anything like tonight.  Even before we reached the White House, the streets were lined with cheering pedestrians and honking drivers.  Some drivers waved victory signals to the crowd.  One cheering, honking driver dangled a poster of Obama out the car window.  (And suddenly those accident statistics all make sense.) 

The crowd outside the White House was an incredible mix of humanity.  People in business suits, partying students, aging hippies, middle-aged married couples, sleeping children, journalists.  The occasional dog (Zoe made friends with one fellow in a "Pugs for Obama" t-shirt).  Black people and white people.  People conversing in a variety of foreign languages....  The watching police seemed nervous, and in a way I can't blame them -- it was, after all, a rowdy, spontaneously formed mob directly outside the White House.  But the wonder of it all was that no one seemed to have an agenda other than to marvel at the moment and to share some joy with the crowd.  Some people waved flags and signs. Some beat cheers on the lampposts.  A couple of random girls gave us "Hugs for Obama."  But most people just stood in the crowd, looked around, exchanged nods, grinned and maybe cheered.  

I got teary again at both the spectacle and the many shades of meaning behind it.  (Among other things, having a baby on the way makes every event feel that much more historic, with everything a statement on "the world our baby will be born into.")  And then we went home. 

Soon, the real work of reuniting and strengthening our nation will begin.  In the meantime, I leave you with a 4-second video of the White House tonight, shot by chief correspondent Mr T.  He calls it: "Bush Gives Up and Turns Off the Lights":

Happy Birthday, Union Station!

As a former New Yorker, my heart will always belong to Grand Central Station and its lovely astronomical ceiling.  (I used to own an umbrella with an image of the ceiling; I loved it THAT much.)  

But DC's Union Station wins an easy second place. And it turns 100 this year -- not bad! 

(Image source)

Union Station was the largest train station in the world when it opened in 1908 -- a time when nearly everyone traveled by train, so it was likely the first thing a visitor would see when entering Washington, DC.  The monumental Beaux Arts design covered more ground than any other building in the United States, featuring grand open spaces befitting the station's role as gateway to the Nation's Capital.  

Union Station has always served as a hub of commerce as well as transportation -- besides the usal stores and restaurants, the station has featured services as varied as Turkish baths, an ice house, hotel, mortuary, bowling alley, and YMCA.

(Image source one, two)

Sadly, the once-great building fell into such disrepair by the late 1970s that part of the roof collapsed and toadstools grew inside the station.  The station was closed in 1981 and in danger of being razed. Instead, a public-private partnership restored the building to its former glory and redeveloped the station as a bustling hub of shops and restaurants.  Between its transportation functions (Metro, Amtrak, and local commuter lines), the variety of commercial services (including even a movie theater and a post office), and the tourists who drop in just to see the building, Union Station now enjoys 32 million visitors a year.

    

As with all historic train stations, I love to imagine the days when train travel held a bit of magic, the entrance hall served as a bustling waiting room with endless rows of benches, and you might easily spot a dignitary or celebrity traveling in and out of town....

And when I paused to freshen up after my trip?  I would have looked like this:

(Image source one, two)

Craigslist Missed Connections

In honor of Ellie and her sometime-feature on Craigslist posts, here's a local Missed Connections I couldn't resist sharing with you all.  

[Personally, I don't know that my first reaction on witnessing this drama would be to think "Yes! That's the man for me!"  But ... um ... to each her own?]:

Nat'l Wholesale Liquidators- the man who wasn't afraid to bare it all. - w4m - 18 (Hechinger Mall, NE)

It was at 3:00 PM today. 

I was wearing a pink tee and a denim mini. 

You wore: nothing. 

It was an interesting sight. 

I was looking for some cheap maple furniture, and I saw your wood instead. 

I was actually intrigued when the two security guards took you down. 

How did it feel on that cold grimy floor? 

Please, reply if you see this. I'm a student at Howard U. 

-Shawna

Why I Heart DC Public Transportation

Those of you who read my recent post on the Zipcar Low-Car Diet may wonder how it's going....  Er, it's not.

Which is not to say I cheated -- haven't used my car keys since the "Diet" began.  But I've been feeling awful, the weather is extra hot at this time of year, and overall I've dealt with things by just not leaving the house.

Despite my limited contact with DC public transportation in the past couple of weeks, I really am a fan.  Our local public transportation system has had its epic stuggles, and not all the news is good.  But there's a certain forward momentum at the moment that makes me excited to be a DC resident.  So consider this post my little love letter.

Example 1 -- SmartBikes!

DC's SmartBike rental program officially got up and running this week.  Like similar programs in Europe, the DC program allows members to pick up a public bike at one of 10 locations around town and return it to any other SmartBike location.  I'm so proud that DC is the first city in the US to adopt this program.  (Even if they did have to go and name it after ClearChannel....  Gotta pay the bills somehow, I suppose.)

Example 2 -- Streetcars

Streetcars are cool.  Mr. T and I rode vintage ones in San Francisco on our honeymoon tour, and I liked them even better than the much-more-famous cable cars.  (Plus, it was a rare opportunity to discuss the Great General Motors Streetcar Conspiracy.)  And DC will soon have spiffy red streetcars of our very own.  The program is limited at first, with just one line running from a Metro station to an Air Force Base roughly a mile away.  But we're looking forward to seeing the lines expand one of these days.  (Image courtesy of the Frozen Tropics blog.)

Example 3 -- Good Design

It all started with the DC Circulator bus.  Running every 10 minutes and charging only $1, these buses run several loops through DC's most commonly visited areas.  But forget the actual transportation uses -- I enjoy them because, as buses go, they're darn attractive.  Future plans are in the works to redesign DC Metrobuses with sleeker lines, Kevlar seats, and eco-friendly hybrid technology.  (Image courtesy of Washington.org.)

Honorable Mention -- The WMATA Website

Even after a few years in DC, I can't get anywhere without the Trip Planner on the Washington Metro Area Transit Authority website.  Punch in your location, where you'd like to go, and when, and the calculator tells you exactly which trains and/or buses will get you there on time, and even how far you'll need to walk from Metro stop to destination.  It's like Mapquest for public transit, and it's a lifesaver.

Honorable Mention -- Emeka Moneme 

When the Zipcar Low-Car Diet started, fellow participant Emeka Moneme was Director of the DC Department of Transporation.  A few days later, he resigned to become Chief Administrative Officer for the DC Metro.  Either way, I find it heartening to see someone in charge willing to give up his own car for a month and rely entirely on the public transportation he helps to run.  Kudos!

Losing Weight. (About 2,400 Pounds.)

This month I am trying out a new diet -- the "low-car diet" sponsored by the popular car-sharing service Zipcar. 

As part of the Zipcar Low-Car Diet, participants in 12 cities have pledged to give up their cars for a month and commit to getting around by public transportation, shared cars, foot-power, bicycle -- basically, anything but our own cars.  The DC group had a kick-off yesterday with short speeches by "my" DC Council member (go, Sassy Sixth!) and the head of the DC Department of Transportation.  Then we threw our keys in a bag (symbolic gesture only -- they gave them back), and the diet had begun.  (Photo from DCist)

I have been disabled for a couple of years, and lack of energy has changed my attitude from yay-public-transportation to if-I-can't-drive-door-to-door-I'm-not-going.  Among other things, my weight has slowly crept up as the walking tapered off.  And doctors say some exertion is good, but the trick is making myself do it.  So, this is the experiment.

And how did Day One go?  Er, let's call it "mixed." 

After the kickoff, I had a doctor's appointment.  My knowledge of the area is questionable, but for some reason I didn't see the need to check a map.  I just figured, "it's in Bethesda [wrong!], so I'll get off the Metro in Bethesda and all will be golden."  As it turned out, I got out on the right street, but 20 blocks from where I wanted to be.  And in some crazy fit of wanting to live healthy, I decided to WALK.  Picture Girl With Heart Problem, carrying a heavy bag of magazines, crimson-faced and sweating out of pores I didn't know I *had*, as I labored 1.7 miles in the brutal sun and 90+ degree heat.  By the time I arrived, everyone was giving me the "if she collapses, I really don't want to be the one to have to do something" look.

On the plus side, the ride home from the correct station only took 30 minutes -- less time and much less traffic aggravation than the comparable drive.

Will the World's Least Active Girl make it a month on her new Diet?  Stay tuned!