November 1, 2010 | 5:56 PM | By Anna
dbking
Dolley Madison, National Portrait Gallery
While I wait for my interview, I’m devouring the following, from the wonderful “Streets of Washington” history blog:
Dolley Madison may be best known today for her heroism during the War of 1812, specifically her valiant efforts (as she reported in a letter to Anna Cutts) to save the Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington from falling into British hands on August 24, 1814, when the British army captured Washington and burned public buildings, including the White House and the Capitol. She also packed important government papers into trunks for safekeeping. More than 30 years later, in May 1848, Dolley similarly saved her husband’s important papers, which she kept in an upstairs trunk, from immanent destruction. She was then spending her last years in her house on Lafayette Square, and the house caught fire, perhaps from arson. Dolley refused to be rescued from the top floor unless the trunk of papers was safely removed with her.
Nearly as well known as Dolley’s heroism were her personal foibles. She loved to dress well and had a famous predilection for extravagant turbans. When fleeing the White House in 1814, along with the Stuart portrait of Washington, she tellingly saved a set of red velvet drapes from the oval drawing room. Some have argued that her choice of these drapes when so much else had to be abandoned was reasonable given their high cost in those days, but the fact remains that the woman really loved red.
November 1, 2010 | 4:46 PM | By Anna
DC Love Bites
The cupcake which made me a fan of sweet potato-based desserts!
On Saturday evening, I took my costume-clad puppy for her usual nightly walk around the neighborhood. We weren’t Trick-or-Treating, but I ended up going home with something delightful and sweet anyway– a free cupcake! Anyone who reads DCentric knows that I love food trucks, and I thought I knew all of the rolling players, from the purveyors of sought-after, coveted Lobster Rolls to the trucks that cruelly aren’t allowed in the city yet.
But as we strolled down U street, I did a double-take at the big red van parked across from Ben’s. I had neither seen nor heard of Love Bites and as we walked up, the owner jumped out and asked if she could take a picture of my dressed-up pup. Flattered, I said, “Of course!” I was shocked when she handed me a free, “signature” cupcake, as a treat.
“It’s sweet potato with cream-cheese frosting”.
…and then I was surprised for the second time in five minutes. Long before I ran around and tried to sample every DC food truck’s fare, I was a cupcake-fiend whose Yelp take on Baked and Wired was once “Review of the Day”. I have a ridiculous sweet tooth, and I thought I had heard of every cupcake variation or flavor possible.
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November 1, 2010 | 1:59 PM | By Anna
TBD News Editor Sommer Mathis live-tweeted the ABRA (Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration) hearing for the suspension of DC9′s liquor license. There are three hours of tweets, but here are two excerpts which caught my attention (read up, from the bottom):
http://twitter.com/sommermathis
The “Mohammed” Mathis is referring to is 27-year old Ali Ahmed Mohammed, who died under confusing and mysterious circumstances after being refused entry to DC9. Mohammed allegedly threw a brick through the club’s window and five DC9 employees gave chase. What happened next is unclear; police say they arrived and found Mohammed unconscious, while others insist that DC9′s employees did not batter him to death.
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November 1, 2010 | 11:33 AM | By Anna
merfam
Random cab in D.C. I was too busy typing to photograph mine!
I opened the door and threw my laptop bag and purse down the expansive backseat of a weathered American sedan. “NPR, please”, I said. The driver looked at me in his rear view mirror, eyes crinkling.
“They are building a new building.” His voice was low and lovely. I instantly relaxed, as I often do, when I hear the lilt of an accent.
“NPR? Yes, they are.”
“I hope they tear all the walls. It’s just a warehouse, that thing was old.” He pronounces thing like “ting”. I love it.
“You’re awfully opinionated about a company you don’t even listen to,” I teased. “Isn’t this WTOP I’m hearing?” He decisively punches one button on his radio, and the car is filled with the Diane Rehm Show. “I work for WAMU,” I tell him.
“I switch from time to time. Whole thing is great. Rehm is doing well, Kojo is doing fine. You work with Kojo from time to time?”
I mention that I work on the same floor but that no, I don’t work with him. He changes the subject.
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November 1, 2010 | 8:01 AM | By Anna
Good morning, DCentric readers! Last night, when you were giving candy to trick-or-treaters, we were going door-to-virtual-door, searching for links!
In D.C., many angling for public office on Advisory Neighborhood Commissions “I’m tired of Ward 8 being considered the worst ward with all the problems that people think we can’t solve on our own,” said Janasha Thomas, 30, who had worked as an administrative assistant for the Fenty administration until recently. In the mayor’s office, she fielded residents’ complaints. A District native, she’s running for a seat near Skyland Mall, where she’s lived for 12 years. “You don’t have to move neighborhoods to make a change in your surroundings.” (The Washington Post)
Jon Stewart Rally: Transcripts and quotes “I think you know that the success or failure of a rally is judged by only two criteria: the intellectual coherence of the content and its correlation to the engagement – I’m just kidding. It’s color and size. I can’t even believe this has happened. It is a perfect demographic sampling of the American people. (laughter) Because as you know, if you have too many white people at a rally, then you’re cause is racist. But if you have too many people of color at a rally, well then you just must be asking for something, special rights like eating in restaurants or piggy-back rides.” — John Stewart (tbd.com)
The District’s Homophobic Bullies Part Two: It’s All About The Jeans “Shane Salter, the Executive Director of D.C.’s Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), recalls a case: “One foster parent put a kid out for creasing his jeans. He was a little too prim and proper. It was a conflict around the boy wanting a crease in his jeans—as if that was the end of the world.” Salter remembers another case, a transgender youth who ended up in the D.C. Jail. “He was put out, his father didn’t want him. His father beat him at one point. He dressed like a girl.” (Washington City Paper)
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October 29, 2010 | 1:45 PM | By Anna
I have a meeting I’m rushing off to, so posting will be light for a few hours, but you won’t even notice I’m gone, because you’ll be too busy looking at this photo set of the National Zoo’s baby Lion cubs taking a “swimming test”! I think they passed, with flying paddling colors.
Smithsonian's National Zoo
I would like to volunteer for the next swim test, thanks.
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October 29, 2010 | 12:52 PM | By Anna
BeyondDC
Nifty!
I never noticed it until BeyondDC posted about it, but the Wards are numbered in a clockwise-pattern:
I use the trick in the image at right to keep track of wards. It’s simple: Starting with Ward One in the center of the city, drawing a clockwise spiral results in a line that goes through the wards in ascending order.
If you can remember the spiral, you can remember which ward is which.
I ended up surfing over to Wikipedia to see another map and I read that there are 127 neighborhoods in D.C.:
The District of Columbia is divided into eight wards and 37 Advisory Neighborhood Commissions (ANCs) within these wards. The total number of named neighborhoods is 127.
I’m filing that away for trivia night.
October 29, 2010 | 10:50 AM | By Anna
Lab2112
This is NOT the corner store in question. This one is in Brooklyn.
I was reading Prince of Petworth, a blog which encourages readers to write in if they have a question. Today’s reader submission worried me; a corner market in D.C. is replacing the Manufacturer’s expiration date with their own (including meat products!):
“I caught this once…some Purdue chicken…I peeled back their sticker and found a manufacturers date that indicated expiration was 5 days sooner.
Anyways, I’ve gone back twice since to try and catch them, and both times found that they had scrubbed off the manufacturers expiration date before applying their own sticker.
I’m concerned for a lot of reasons…Is what they are doing illegal? Most disturbing is the fact that I reported this yesterday to the Department of Consumer and regulatory affairs food safety office…and no one has returned my message yet (It’s been over 24 hours).”
PoP blogger Dan Silverman offered to put them in touch with someone immediately, but what several commenters are disturbed by is the lack of identifying information for the market. Understandably, there is none because the letter-writer is worried about a defamation suit; he has offered to provide more details via email.
October 29, 2010 | 8:03 AM | By Anna
Good morning, DCentric readers! Who’s ready for some links?
NYT: Hey, this professor makes a good point when he compares global warming skeptics to defenders of slavery! “Just as few people saw a moral problem with slavery in the 18th century, few people in the 21st century see a moral problem with the burning of fossil fuels,” Professor [Andrew] Hoffman [of the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business and School of Natural Resources] said. “Will people in 100 years look at us with the same incomprehension we feel toward 18th-century defenders of slavery?” (Washington Examiner )
In Which We Express More Indignation Over D.C. Voting Rights “The Founders were pretty bright people. They chose, for reasons that they had, to not have voting rights in Washington, D.C. The folks who live there know that. They can live there or they can not, and it’s their choice to live there. I’m not in favor of tampering with the Constitution unless it absolutely must be done. It’s unfortunate that they don’t have the right to vote. … The fact is that the part of Washington, D.C. that is in Virginia is now part of Virginia. Why don’t we make the part of Washington, D.C. that’s in Maryland part of Maryland?” said Fimian. (DCist)
Census Violence: Redistricting Ward Boundaries Could Fracture D.C. Council “Barry frequently decries the income gap between white households and black households in the city, and he says he plans to mount a campaign to draw new lines that make wards more economically diverse. He says the wards, including his own, need to get more racially diverse, too. Redistricting, Barry says, is a good way to do both.” (Washington City Paper)
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October 28, 2010 | 4:36 PM | By Anna
I spotted this festively-attired statue as I left WAMU. He had a similarly-adorned twin, ten feet away.
This adverb abuse is brought to you by the number “1″ and the letters “E”, “V” and “O”.
