My Oyster

Urban Living...

Urban Tint, originally uploaded by Tim Noonan.

The pic above is by phototgrapher Tim Noonan - on flickr.

The video below is from the local news a couple days ago. It's about a homeless man who was beaten by some others over a beer - here in Columbia Heights.

The story is sad but I think I was as disturbed by the sensationalist and one-sided reporting as by the story itself. WJLA paints a pretty prejudiced view of the neighborhood as uncaring and of its residents as unwilling to assist each other. Neither is accurate.

For every story like the one below, there are probably 1000 ones of neighbor quietly helping neighbor and the community working together to make Columbia Heights better. Those stories don't make the news.

The WJLA story and video are here.

The soul never thinks without a picture.

Up the Stairwell, originally uploaded by dcjay64.

That's Aristotle.

I finally got these picture ledges mounted up my stairwell. Thanks to Majid my handyman. I couldn't quite do it. The Crate & Barrel instructions seemed easy. I had a drill and all the tools. Still couldn't get even one up. Majid did it in 90 minutes.

So now the fun part. I am picking through more than 20,000 pictures to highlight about a dozen of my favorite snaps from my travels over the past 30 years. Not easy.

Maybe I will share some here once I make the tough choices.

Snow Day in DC...

whispering white rain
frozen warmth comes through my door
whets my soul for now

That haiku is by Jean Veltri - posted on the Denver Post's Haiku of the Week section. Kinda fun.

Nature in DC: US Botanic Garden...

Ahhhh. Perfect. Lush, colorful, fragrant - even (piped in) frog chirpings. Just what was needed on this cold, January, Sunday morning.

Jean and I tried out the new Le Pain Quotidien (my regular Brussels breakfast spot) at Eastern Market then headed to the Botanic Gardens to escape winter for a couple hours.

I haven't been to these Gardens, nestled up next to the Capitol, in many years.

It's bigger now and is a real treasure.  I am planning on bringing my parents when they are both next down in DC.  I think it may be one of the few tourist stops my father can tolerate.

Here is some of the beauty...

And even more snaps here.

A 6 Ws Movie Review: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, originally uploaded by bah mosley.

Who: With Jean and a full crowd of others clearly out to see what the Oscar buzz is all about.
What: Hmm. Hard to describe. A sort of fantasy about love that transcends a lifetime. A very emotional premise. It reminded me of Big Fish.
Where: Gallery Place Regal Cinema. DC.
When: Saturday night. 6:15pm Show.
Why: I am trying to see as many of the Oscar nominees as I can before the big night. Otherwise, I probably would have skipped it. I am not a huge Brad Pitt fan, but I love Cate Blanchett
How: mostly awake - but half asleep several times.  I did get weepy at the end. But this movie is too long. I liked the second half way better than the first.

And The Bottom-line:
Go out and see it?
Wait til it hits Showtime? Yes, unless you are also wanting to see the nominees - wait til it hits cable.
Only worth seeing on an airplane?

What a day...

To celebrate. To look to the future. For a shared experience.

I think we all were moved by watching historic events unfold - whether on the Mall's jumbotrons, on the TV, or even outside my windows. 

After a full day of Inauguratin', Jean and I went down the street to the most logical spot for dinner and community - Ben's Chili Bowl...

I couldn't get to the Parade, but...

...The Parade came to me.

Well, not THE Parade, but a parade. 

While I was watching the Inaugural Parade on TV with Ma, Suz & Grant - we heard another parade coming right down my street.  I have no idea what was their cause or message, but I enjoyed watching and listening. 

I love this neighborhood.  Here it is...

Sunrise on a New Day in America...

IMG_3308, originally uploaded by dcjay64.

The view from my balcony at sunrise on January 20, 2009.

Cold. Windy. But I watched streams of people making their way to that building, the Capitol, for a moment of history and a return to hope.

Inauguration Eve on the Green Line...

It snowed a tiny bit today in DC. But that did not stop the growing throngs descending on the city from enjoying the city. Including us.

I live along the Green Line and there is always a lot happening along the Green Line - especially this week - so I guess it's not surprising that the Green Line was where we spent our Inauguration Eve.

The pic above is Ben's Chili Bowl. A local landmark and always busy. But Obama went there last week with Mayor Fenty and the place has been over-run with people jonesing for a chili half-smoke. Yum. They are very good. The line went an entire block and around the corner.

Ben's is on U Street. U Street was the "Black Broadway" and is still the center of black life/culture here in DC.  Howard University is nearby and so is the African-American Civil War Memorial. There were lots of out-of-towners wanting to spend this historic moment in our neighborhood. Here are Ma, Suz, and Grant at the Memorial.

 

Tonight Jean and I hopped on the Green Line and went down to Gallery Place and the Mall.  Lots of ball gowns and champagne bottles and celebrating.  I think we even got on the Rachel Maddow show.

Here are some pics...

We are One. And I means lots of us...

 

Me (above).

And thousands and thousands of my friends...

We didn't even get into the secure area - but the Mall is big enough for All.  Including the 4 of us.  We headed to the Jumbotrons back toward the Washington Monument.

 

We were happy to be shoulder to shoulder for a couple hours with many other Americans who were clearly thrilled to be celebrating Change and Hope.

You could really feel the pride and anticipation.

Here is a video of some of the good feelin'.