ambivalent images

Flooding Hains Point

A park bench sits half-submerged on Ohio Drive near the 14th Street Bridge. I was here last weekend for the GW EJF Race for Justice 5k. It was a chilly morning to be out, but once we started running it was beautiful.

Orange Web Egg

This is what an orange-colored Easter egg might look like after being thrown around in a baggie inside your book bag all day before being peeled. It looked a little funny, but it tasted fine. I really don't have that much of a thing for eggs, but I do think they make interesting pictures.

Urban Waterfall II

Water cascades down the escalator at the Woodley Park Metro station on the red line yesterday. The rain was just pouring down in buckets, which was a little miserable, but at the same time it was fun b/c it was a spring rain—just about warm enough out that even if you got wet you probably wouldn't feel too cold. We're not quite there yet, but almost. The pouring rain also turned gutters into little gurgling streams so if you found yourself on a quiet hillside street where the water was really moving you could close your eyes and imagine being in the mountains somewhere listening to the language of water, rocks, and trees. It all reminded me of another urban waterfall I saw last fall, except yesterday's rain was better. It's nice to be reminded that the city can be beautiful, even or especially in the rain. As for the photo above, I realize it's a little crooked. I took one that was more "square" but it had less detail in the water and the rain. ---- PIWIT: D.C. in B&W a terrific shot of lines and textures and subtle tones of gray at the National Cathedral. ---- Flickr Fun: Transparent Screens—a bunch of photos where people have made their computer monitors look like, well, windows or just empty cases. Some of them are incredibly cool.

Easter Eggs '05

Colored Easter eggs sit ready for the hunt during yesterday's Easter celebration. We didn't actually have a hunt, so these eggs were probably just sitting there waiting for me to eat them, but that doesn't sound as good, does it? ---- PIWIT: For serious Easter-type flowers, check out the orchids at Ten Years of My Life here and here. Nice shots of some crazy funky flowers. These lambs at Shutter at the Thought also seem very springy/Eastery.

Happy Easter '05

Bright spring flowers seem like a great way to celebrate Easter.

GreenBloom

A green flowering plant blooms for spring. This was the first plant exactly like this I recall seeing. It's not showy, but it is pretty loaded up w/blooms like this.

Corporate Coffee

A big chain coffee counter waits for customers around the corner of F and 8th Streets, or something like that. I was waiting around for a meeting the other day and wandered in for a warm and comfy place to sit. Coffee shops are generally good for that, even corporate coffee shops. Speaking of coffee, how cool is htis latte art?

Cro-Cro-Crocuses

Two crocuses shout about spring. The crocuses and daffodils have been blooming for a couple of weeks now. Yay!

The Diner, Adams Morgan

The Diner on 18th Street. L. and I had dinner here last week for the first time. We've often considered it for a weekend brunch, but the line is always insane on weekends. We generally eat dinner earlier than most DC peeps, so we usually beat the crowds for dinner when we go out. If the constant lines at The Diner aren't enough to recommend it, I can tell you that the lines seem to be justified. The food was quite good (standard American fare, mostly) and the atmosphere is relaxed and open. Prices are similar to other options in the neighborhood—plan to pay about $8-12/person, more or less. If the lines are too long, try The Left Bank right across the street. The atmosphere and menu are a little more avant-garde, but still comfy, and the prices are similar.

Who is BORF?

One of the many BORF posters scattered around the city. In addition to posters like this, BORF has scrawled messages all over the city—especially on trash cans and light poles. For example, this “Alienation Kills” message (click thumbnail for larger version) was written around the edge of a circular trash can on Columbia Ave. near Connecticut. Another trash can in the neighborhood has “BORF recycles!” written in large letters across the top. I don't know BORF, but I tend to agree with its messages, so I think we could be friends. ---- In photo-related news, welcome to “Photo Blog,” a new daily photo project by a fellow DC law student who also writes Parenthetical Statement. Also, I really like the simplicity of this photo at me, 2.0. The tracks are small and subtle, and the snow looks so light and ephemeral, like this scene is just going to disappear any second. The dark left edge of the photo suggests the snow is already melting in that area, which only adds to the impression that this was really a fleeting moment. Great catch, Jose!

Parked Car

A new Toyota Prius sitting in a parking lot along 19th St. NW. So what, you say? Why would I take and post a picture of a parked car, even if it is a cool hybrid that's all the rage? Well, because this car did not move from this spot from about August of 2004 until possibly recently. I took this picture a few days ago, and at that time the car still had its dealer temp tags on it, tags that expired in August '04, so unless the driver of this car was getting around illegally, I don't think this car moved for about the first six months of its life. Of course, I could be wrong, but I pass by this spot pretty often and at all hours of the day and night and this car has always been in this same spot, zero changes, with the temp tags on. This struck me as very weird. Why would anyone buy a $20k car, let alone one that people are waiting in line for, and then let it sit apparently undriven for six months? I have no idea, and no, it's none of my business, but it was fun to think of scenarios to explain this, such as that the owner was murdered and the body has yet to be discovered but the killer couldn't find the keys to the Prius. Or the owner bought the car, then learned of an opportunity to go to Botswana for six months, so she left it parked and took off. Yesterday when I passed by this car, it was there, but it had actual license plates, so I take that to mean it's going to move soon, or has moved recently. At any rate, something's changed. On the subject of parked cars, there's a lime green VW Beetle parked on the street in front of our apartment that has not moved since at least the first week of January. Odd, no? I know, it's weird for me to care about parked cars. And I don't care, except that it just seems so unusual. Cars parked on city streets usually move. A lot. But ok, I'll stop recording parked car movement patterns before you lock me in a rubber room.

Bare Branches

A bare tree stands beside the Washington Hilton on Connecticut Ave. I've looked around a little online to find out what kind of tree this is, but no luck so far. Whatever it is, its branches are exceptionally smooth, bare, and almost white, making them look even more interesting with a “sepia” tint, as you see here.

Custom Chainguard

A custom-made chainguard sets off this bike parked in front of the World Bank building. I don't know how effective this would be, but it looks cool, and is the first I've seen of its kind.

Fadó St. Pat's

St. Patrick's Day celebrants line up outside Fadó, the Irish bar near 7th and H streets in DC. I took this picture at about 5 p.m., so things were getting off to a fairly early start. One of my classmates in a 10 a.m. class said he'd started the day with cocktails, so I guess a lot of people were taking the drinking aspect of St. Patrick's Day seriously. PIWIT: Yakusha features a great shot of the train and metro tracks in Alexandria today. The black and white format seems very appropriate for a photo like this with such strong lines.

Pointing is Polite

A statue across Penn. Ave. from the White House. I forget to make a note of who this is supposed to be, but the hat and the pointing suggest George Washington crossing the Delaware, don't they? There must be a thousand statutes of Washington in Washington. And since I'm just making this up, the woman below is “Freedom” or something, helping Washington slay the enemies of oppression? (Sorry, I'll try to take better notes next time.)

Mackey's

People eating outside on the sidewalk a week ago at Mackey's, a downtown D.C. bar. This is a bad picture, I know, but it's a memory of a couple of things. First, my part-time job had its spring “intern dinner” here last week. We sat outside and enjoyed a warm spring evening, then the next day temperatures plummeted and it felt like winter again. Love that DC spring weather! But the other memory is what happened while we were eating. Sitting on the sidewalk, you're only about ten feet from the passing traffic of L street (between 18th and 19th, I think). At one point, our conversation was interrupted by the whoop! of a police siren blipping on. We looked up to see this guy in a suit sitting at the wheel of something like a Lexus or Mercedes, pulled over to the curb, with a cop behind him, lights flashing. The cop blipped his siren again. The driver looked bewildered and shrugged his shoulders into the rearview mirror as if to say, “I'm already pulled over, what do you want me to do?” And then the good part: The cop (whose window was rolled down because it was so warm out) picked up his radio mic, turned on his loudspeaker, and said very slowly, “Drive. Your. Car.” It took a second for the driver to realize the cop was not pulling him over, but asking him to get moving. When realization dawned, the driver smiled and drove off. The cop followed and that was it. Maybe you had to be there, but trust me, it was hilarious. Everyone sitting at Mackey's paused their conversation during the short episode and burst out laughing as soon as the cop spoke. To me the event was more evidence that it's a bad idea for cops to drive around w/their lights flashing all the time (DC cops do this for some reason) because many drivers and others are confused by the flashing lights, but it was also an entertaining dinner diversion.

Dean's Fellows 05-06

The list of GW students named as Dean's Fellows for 2005-06. Dean's Fellows are third-year law students who lead a discussion section one hour each week for first-year students taking their legal research and writing course. I applied for this position, but my name is not on this list. Congratulations to those who made the cut! - - - - - PIWIT: This brilliant stairway at FloridaNorthCoast.net, which also features this great panorama of docked sailboats..

GW Law Mailboxes

One of three banks of student mailboxes at GW law school. It's back-to-school time after a delightful week of spring break, and I'm not exactly thrilled about going back. Perhaps it would be different if I'd spent the break catching up as I'd intended, but, well, that didn't happen. (It never does.) The empty hallway pictured in the the thumbnail will be packed full with law students today, all of them asking each other the same question: “How was your break?” Does it make me a bad person to be annoyed by having to answer the same question at least a hundred times in one day? Five and a half more weeks, then two weeks of finals, and the whole shooting match is over May 6. PIWIT (Pics I Wish I'd Taken): Any of the shots on Oliver Daily, such as this great leaping shot or this great closeup. Dean Allen, the man behind the site (he also created Textpattern and Textile), describes it very simply:

Each day since 30 June 2002, this page has displayed a different photograph of my dog, Oliver. The image is updated at midnight GMT, unless I’ve forgotten to put one up the night before, which does sometimes happen. A pedigreed Weimaraner, Oliver was born 30 July 2001 on a lavender farm in Le Vaucluse, Provence. He came to join us two months later. You’d like him. Also appearing regularly is Oliver’s little brother Hugo (same parents, different litter), who arrived on 12 April 2003.

Simple. Beautiful dog. Beautiful shots. Plus, he lives in France, so the background to the shots is often worth seeing, as well.

The Octagon

The Octagon, an octagonal building on the corner of 18th and New York Ave. just about two blocks from the White House. The heavily weathered sign next to the Octagon reads

The Octagon: Built in 1800 by Colonel John Tayloe, William Thornton—Architect. Occupied by President Madison after the burning of the White House in August of 1814. The Treaty of Ghent was ratified? (fuzzy) here on February ... (date obscured). Headquarters of the American Institute of Architects fromm 1898 to 1949. Now owned by the American Institute of Architects Foundation.

Some people claim the house is haunted. (Insert scary music here.)

Book Sale

A table of used books awaits the throngs of eager book-buyers at the Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School Book Sale last week, which I mentioned here. I'm nearly through The Hitchhiker's Guide again...

Box by Hand

The top of a beautiful handmade box built by one of my best friends. The Superdilettante makes boxes and books like these beauties, which you can buy, and these that you can just look at with longing. They make terrific gifts for the analog journal-writer in your life! This particular box was custom-made to hold several wonderful plastic discs full of some of the best music I've enjoyed in recent memory. The Superdilettante is not only a terrific artist, but she's kind and generous, as well. Thank you, SuperD!

One Year

A special happy birthday candle to celebrate one year of photos here at ambivalent images. As crazy as it seems, I bought this candle in South Australia during the month I spent there in the spring of 1992 (I think; you know you're getting old when you can't figure out years like that). Since then, I have moved it around in boxes, shut it up in cabinets, and displayed it on shelves. Now, for the next decade that I move it around with me, this candle will have this additional meaning—it helped mark the one year anniversary of this site. Although I thought briefly about ending this photo-a-day project at this one year mark, I quickly decided to continue for another year. . . or at least for the time being. I'm still having tons of fun with the project and it often helps me look more closely and in different ways at the world around me, so it still seems very worth the small effort it requires. Thanks to everyone who has visited in the last year and especially to those who return regularly and to those who comment now and then. If you have suggestions or requests or tips for making these images better or more interesting, I'd be happy to hear them! Please leave a comment on a photo page or contact me via email using the link at the bottom of the about page. As noted on the “about” page, I've made a few very small changes for the coming year. Most importantly, I've added a growing list of links to other photoblogs I enjoy checking in on when I get the chance—you'll find it on the right side of the Archives page, and I encourage you to visit them for to see some really terrific images. I've also recently begun categorizing the photos (using pretty broad categories) and the archives are now broken down into monthly pages, as well as category pages, for whatever that's worth. You may also notice that the vertical photos are now larger; instead of resizing so the vertical photos are only 480 pixels tall, they are now 640x480, just like the horizontals. Compare, for example, this small vertical from last December with this larger vertical from last week. This may make them harder to view on small monitors (I only have a 12“ myself), but it always seemed like the verticals were being short-changed when they had to be sized so small before, so now they're even with their horizontal friends.

Streetcorner Tech

An unusual computer interface sits exposed on the corner of 18th and Penn Ave in downtown DC. This equipment sits inside one of those large, rectangular metal boxes that are common on many city street corners—see the full box with open door in the thumbnail at the right. The workman who had opened this box was working out of a van that said something like “building services” (I forget exactly what it was), leading me to believe that these boxes control some of the infrastructure in the surrounding office buildings. Do private buildings get to use public street corners and sidewalks to house the electronics that run their HVAC systems and other things? I have no idea. Maybe this box merely controls the area's street signals and lights, but that seems like overkill, don't you think?

Harley Cops

A string of DC's finest waits on their sidecar-equipped Harleys outside the White House gates on Pennsylvania Ave. I'm sure they were waiting for the president or some other VIP to leave the White House. At the time I took this shot, the national park police who patrol Penn. Ave. were ordering all pedestrians and bicyclists onto the sidewalk and off the “street.” I put “street” in quotes since this stretch of Penn Ave. in front of the White House is less a street now than it is a pedestrian mall because it's closed to all traffic except law enforcement and VIP limos. I waited around a few minutes after taking this picture to see if I could catch whomever was so important, but nothing seemed to be happening and I had to go. I'm sure I'll have another chance; DC has a high number of police-led limo caravans shutting down traffic on any given day, so I should be able to get a shot of one at some point. ------------------------------------------------------------ Date/Time: 2005:03:03 17:45:58 Exposure time: 0.020 s (1/50) Aperture: f/3.2

Mourn : Honor II

A regularly-updated display of the number of U.S. soldiers killed and wounded so far in Iraq. This is an update to a picture I took in December of the same display, which is on the corner of 18th and K Streets in downtown D.C.

Spring Snow

A thick layer of snow blanketed Rock Creek Park last Tuesday—for about six hours. This was a storm that the weather people got all excited about, predicting as much as 10 or more inches of snow in the D.C. region. However, the storm apparently took an unexpected direction and, although it snowed pretty hard all day last Monday, none of it stuck. It continuted snowing through the night, which is where all the snow you see here came from. By about noon on Tuesday, the snow was gone. It was a strange day to go from this much snow in the morning to basically not a trace by afternoon. I wish I would have had time to take more pictures, though. It was a really wet snow that stuck to everything; you may notice that even the tree branches were thickly coated. Very beautiful. UPDATE 3-7-05: For more (and really awesome) photos of last week's big but short-lived snow in D.C., check out the dcsnowthrowdown on flickr, courtesy of the Washington DC/Metro Area flickr group. [link via DCist]

GW Pro Bono Board

A bulletin board at GW rewards students with shiny stars when they do pro bono work. As the school describes it, “[t]hrough pro bono, you provide legal help to those who need but can not afford an attorney. Pro bono enables you to make a big difference in a person's life.” That sounds good, doesn't it? Sure. So how does GW encourage people to do this valuable pro bono work?

To encourage pro bono activity, the Law School recognizes students who provide significant Pro Bono Legal Services (defined below). Each student who provides sixty (60) hours or more of Pro Bono Legal Services while a student at the Law School will be recognized upon graduation.

Wow. If you do 60 hours of pro bono work you'll “be recognized upon graduation.” That's a pretty big incentive, isn't it? And hey, if that's not enough to encourage you, you'll also get some shiny stars! To me, this picture says a great deal about GW. First, out of a student body of around 800 students, approximately 120 names are on this board. Second, the best the school can do to support this kind of community service and encourage a public service ethic in its students is to give them shiny stars and “recognize” them upon graduation. (What does “recognize” mean? No one seems sure.) Although it's nice that the school encourages students to do pro bono work, this seems like half-hearted encouragement, at best. And while I know the people involved in this aspect of the school are all very nice people and are all very well-intentioned and are doing their best, this is still a disappointing level of institutional support for public service work. I realize that the benefits intrinsic to pro bono work should be enough encouragement by themselves, but since law school is the first time many students would even consider this kind of work, it seems important that a school provide more institutional support to get them started, otherwise they may never understand or appreciate the intrinsic benefits of such work. Btw, my name is not on this board. Pot kettle black? Perhaps. I justify my lack of pro bono work w/the fact that nearly all the legal work I've done is for nonprofits and gov't agencies that provide direct legal services to indigent clients. This would qualify as pro bono work if it weren't part of a “formal internship.” Still, I know that's no excuse and I do hope to get my 60 hours done before I graduate, but the shiny stars and “recognition” have nothing to do with it.

Cheese!

A gift box from Brennan's in Wisconsin. It arrived last week full off some of the best cheese I've ever had. The cheese was a gift from Professor Smith of Conglomerate for my help in moving his blog from MT to TypePad. (There are still a few bugs to iron out, but the move is mostly complete, I think.) Did I mention how tasty this cheese is? The box contained the best sharp cheddar I've ever tasted, I think—it was aged 4 years, which I'm guessing makes for a much better cheese. The gouda was also absolutely delicious—best all by itself, w/out crackers or anything. The baby swiss was the workhorse in the box, the basic cheese that's good w/just about anything. And finally there was the cranberry cheddar (above right), which we're saving for a special treat. Thanks, Professor Smith! For more on cheese, check out Professor Smith's cheese category, which contains reviews and recommendations for the cheese lover in you or in your life.

Got Your Towel?

A towel dispenser in a GW bathroom with door wide open. I don't think this is what The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is talking about, but hey, it's still a towel.

Art Deco Address

A cool art deco address on the corner of Calvert and Connecticut. There's lots of cool art deco architecture and accents around D.C. Downtown Silver Spring, MD, has some good art deco buildings, and suddenly my mind is blanking but I know there are others in the area.

Water Pressure

A pressure gauge in the building where I work. For some reason there's one of these on each floor. PIWIT: Great shot of a fortune cookie by photogene. It makes me wish I had a better camera w/more serious macro and adjustable depth of field. I might be able to do something like this, though, given the right light. Something to keep in mind...