February 28, 2006
GW Quad
The quad at GW near dusk. I took this picture from the 4th floor of Lisner, which sits on the south side of the quad. The law school is to the east (see image at right). This is pretty easily the nicest part of the GW campus in terms of giving you any sense of a classic university campus.
February 27, 2006
c o r c o r a n
The cool banner outside the Corcoran Museum on 17th Street across from the White House Oval. As you drive up or down 17th Street you can read this banner at a distance; when you get too close like this, it starts to break up. Pretty cool, I think.
February 26, 2006
YAMS
YAMS: Yet Another Metro Shot. This one is the Woodley Park station again as seen from the turnstyle balcony above the platform.
February 25, 2006
Subway Reflection II
The view both inside and outside a metro car on the Blue Line headed downtown from Capital Heights. The metro can sometimes offer some pretty good reflection shots.
February 24, 2006
Urban Desolation
A gutted high-rise complex in NE DC across the street from the Capital Heights blue line metro station. I'm told this building and another not visible here were once housing for elderly residents, like a nursing home or something. For reasons I do not understand, the building is very slowly being demolished. Meanwhile,it makes the area look like the middle of a war zone or something.
February 23, 2006
Sisu Sideways
Sisu relaxing on the bed. L. tells me I take too many pictures of our dog, but what's “too many” when she's this cute?
February 22, 2006
Why We Fight
The publicity poster for the movie, Why We Fight. L. and I saw this the other night and found it to be excellent. It's starting point is Dwight Eisenhower's warning to beware the rise of the military industrial complex. From there the film traces the growth of that complex and how it has taken control of U.S. foreign policy for the sake of its own profits. Sick, sad, scary stuff. The concluding line comes from Karen Kwiatkowski: “I think we fight because basically not enough people are standing up saying, 'I'm not doing this anymore.'”
So true. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it. If you *have* seen it, what did you think?
February 21, 2006
Eagle Doors
The entryway to some government building across the street from the Executive Office Building. This has always struck me as kind of cool—such a large eagle. I've considered stopping by during the day and taking a picture from inside the doors but so far this is the best I've got.
February 20, 2006
Executive Chute
A big chute draining the Executive Office Building next to the West Wing of the White House. As far as I know, this chute and its surrounding scaffolding has been there since Bush took office. I assume it's there because the Executive branch has been shoveling out so much shit in the last few years it needs some way to get rid of it all lest it drown in its own B.S.
(Bad taste? Sorry, I couldn't help it.)
February 19, 2006
Heurich House Sink II
Another shot of a sink inside the Heurich House. At right is the sink in its entirety. I'll be posting more photos from the house in Flickr, as well. The woodwork is incredibly awesome. And despite what I said yesterday, I do hope it gets preserved as a museum. It's one of those places that feels a bit like a time machine—walk into the house and you walk into the past.
February 18, 2006
Heurich House Sink I
An ornate antique sink inside the Heurich House in D.C. This is an old Victorian mansion in the Dupont area of the city. As DCist explains, Its current owners want to preserve it as a museum but are running short of funds.
We went during the $5 open house and I snapped a bunch of pictures. As we were leaving I noticed a little sign that said “no pictures.” Oops. But it's not like I was being the least bit secretive w/the camera so it didn't seem like they were caring too much about the no picture policy. At any rate, I was all in favor of helping to raise money to preserve the house until we wandered into one of the rooms where they were playing a video about its builder. The guy was a beer brewer, which is cool, but the video made jokes about what an ass he was to his workers, which is not cool. If the guy was such a jerk to work for, why should we preserve his stupid house? I mean, sure, it's gorgeous inside, but....
Ok, I understand that even if he was a jerk there are still good reasons to preserve the house. If you agree, visit the website and help out.
February 17, 2006
Muggle Prez
A bumper sticker on a car in Wyoming. My sister took this photo and sent it to me a long time ago and I'm choosing to post it now b/c the other things in the posting queue would just take too much time.
Posting a photo every day means much randomness, ok?
February 16, 2006
Rock Creek in Snow
Rock Creek last Sunday after our one big snowfalll of the season. Just four days later, about 99% of this snow is now gone.
February 15, 2006
White House Night
The White House a few nights ago. Your typical boring DC photo, yes, but someday fairly soon I won't be able to just wander down the street and snap a shot like this, so....
February 14, 2006
Not-So-Lucky Hearts
My non-winning Michigan lottery ticket. This was a Valentine's Day gift from L's parents. A great thought, but sadly, not a winner.
Happy V-Day or Anti-V-Day to everyone!
February 13, 2006
Tracks
Tire tracks in the early hours of DC's weekend snowstorm. DCist featured this photo on its weekend roundup last night.
February 12, 2006
Rock Creek Snow Tunnel
Last night's snow covered Rock Creek Park in white. I took a better shot of this scene a year ago, and here it is again last fall. I went out earlier this morning to get some shots of the 6 or more inches of snow we got last night, but nothing turned out too great. Ah well. You'll have to take my word for it: D.C. is a winter wonderland right now!
February 11, 2006
1700 Pennsylvania Ave.
Looking inside the entrance to 1700 Penn. Ave. at dusk. I just liked the color of the mural on the back wall.
February 10, 2006
Big Shot
Some VIP getting out of a big fat (bulletproof?) limo in front of the World Bank. When the person actually emerged it appeared to be a woman whom I did not recognize from this distance. About five minutes later I was at the corner of 17th and Pennsylvania and watched what appeared to be a Presidential motorcade zooming down Pennsylvania in the direction of the World Bank. It made me think perhaps the above was just an advance party of some kind.
At any rate, it's fascinating to me that anyone thinks he/she needs so much security. No wonder Bush is always trying to scare us witless—he's probably the most scared person on the planet.
February 09, 2006
WTO Wand
The half-moon hovers at the tip of the WTO's little spire. Humor me and pretend it looks like a magic wand with a glowing tip. Oh, and a big building hanging off of it. No? Nevermind....
This is the WTO building, isn't it? Or is it the World Bank or IMF? I always get them confused; they're all right next to each other so I can never remember...
February 08, 2006
Half-Mast Half-Moon
A half moon looks down at the Washington Monument surrounded by flags at half mast in honor of Corretta Scott King. it's kind of hard to tell it's a half moon, but trust me, it is. ;-)
February 07, 2006
Toasty Egg Muffin Goodness!
The control panel on my new toaster—a gift from L's sister for Christmas. As you can see (full pic at right), this is no ordinary toaster. This is the “Back to Basics TEM500 Egg & Muffin 2-Slice Toaster and Egg Poacher” ! Not only will it warm and brown your bread, but it also poaches an egg to perfection in about four minutes, and if you're more the hard-boiled type, it can do that, too! It may sound silly, but this little gadget is awesome! My one complaint is that the little poaching cup has such a thin teflon coating that it started to flake off after just a week or so of use and cleaning. But don't worry, I doubt this is giving me cancer b/c teflon only releases toxic cases if you heat it to 446 degrees. Can steam heat really get a little pan to 446 degrees in 4-5 minutes or less?
February 06, 2006
How do you roll?
A toilet paper dispenser. Obviously. But the reason for this photo is to raise a question: Is there a correct way to install a new roll of toilet paper? Should the “tail” be rolled back toward the wall (as shown above), or should it be rolled forward toward the user? Inquiring minds want to know!
February 05, 2006
Tungsten E2
L's Tungsten E2 charging in its cradle. I seriously considered springing for one of these after my z22 died its tragic death a few weeks ago. In the end, I decided it wasn't wise to spend $200 for a little machine I was highly likely to lose or break, so I got another z22 instead. I also just really like the z22's big screen and battery life, so it's a fine toy for me. I sometimes long for the E2's bigger, high-res screen, expandable memory, and mp3-playing capabilities, but then I slip the tiny z22 into my pocket or end up reading an ebook on it for several hours w/out hardly putting a dent in my battery life and I remember why the z22 works so well for me.
February 04, 2006
February 03, 2006
Dance A Jig!
An unknown band plays a lively tune at the Four Green Fields in Cleveland Park. Never heard of the Four Green Fields? That's because it's the pub formerly known as The Four Provinces. Apparently a change in ownership recently also meant a change in name. That's too bad; for some reason I liked the old name better.
My apologies to this band for not knowing its name. Although we left in search of a quieter place for conversation after they'd played only a few songs, they were actually very good. If I had just been hanging out rather than trying to catch up with friends, I definitely would have stayed to enjoy the show. I mean, come on — they had a fiddle and an accordion ! How are you going to beat that? The singing was good, too; very Poguesy, which is a great thing as far as I'm concerned.
February 02, 2006
Why Ford is cutting 35,000 jobs:
A data sheet for a Ford Explorer on display at the Washington Auto Show. This one vehicle can probably be blamed for at least half of the 35,000 jobs Ford is cutting. I feel really badly for all those workers and their families and communities, but I'm angry that a company like Ford was too short-sighted and profit hungry to see that its reliance on gas-guzzlers to sustain its business was a losing proposition in the long term. Duh. Duh. Duh.
Apple's Steve Jobs has been quoted as saying something like: “You can't just ask people what they want and then give that to them because by the time you've got it made they already want something else.” I think Ford and GM could learn a thing or two from Mr. Jobs.
