Month: July 2006

What is and where is Shaw? I am somewhat doubtful if you asked someone on the street in 1900 where was the Shaw neighborhood they would know how to direct you, as Shaw as a neighborhood, an area with borders was not there then. “Shaw” became “Shaw” in the late 60s. Looking at the Washington Post from that time first it was the Shaw school district and then it just became “Shaw”.
See the map and see the 1973 borders of Shaw. Note that Mt. Vernon Square is not included in its entirety. The eastern border is 15th St. NW, the northern border is roughly Florida Ave (formerly Boundary), east is North Capitol and M & N make up the southern side. This is the definition of Shaw I have clung to and it is confirmed occasionally in over 30 years of the odd Washington Post article when referring to different parts of the area as Shaw.
The key word is occasionally, because there was that odd article that defined Shaw as its middle being 9th and 6th St. Then last week I found on my doorstep the Fagon Community Guide: MidCity DC 2006. I found the maps on pages 22 & 23 of Shaw and U Street to be a bit off. For one, the Shaw map has annexed parts of Dupont and LeDroit, as anything past 16th is Dupont and that bordering Howard Hospital is LeDriot. And maybe it ate bits of Adams Morgan too as the boundary goes past Florida Ave and has part of Meridian Park… or is that more Mt. Pleasant?
Anyway as the blog says, I’m in Shaw. But wait you say, “Aren’t you in Truxton Circle?” Yes, why yes I am. “But how can you be ‘In Shaw’?” Elementary. Think of those Russian nested dolls. Truxton is in Shaw. As is Logan Circle. As is U Street. As is Blagden Alley. Shaw is a big neighborhood encompassing several other neighborhoods. We are bound together by the history of riots and revitalization and schools and hope.
If you want your very own copy of the above map, it is somewhere in the MLK’s Washingtonia Div’s vertical file.

This may never happen again. It might be like that time LB spotted a beat cop, on foot. have we seen anyone in uniform on foot since? Didn’t think so. Come to think of it, has anyone seen cops on bikes this year? Anyway, this weekend, as I was chatting with a neighbor and Ofc. M. who comes to the BACA meetings drives by and gives a friendly ‘hello’. Windows down and noticing what’s happening on the sidewalk (as opposed to driving by quickly), that’s a good thing.
I have been noticing more of a police presence since the ‘crime emergency’. About a week ago there was a little bust over on the corner that I noticed. Chatting with someone else there was another shake up on that same corner. So there has been some good ‘activity’ over there.

The commercials lie.
No one has short clipped conversations on those things. From what I have observed on several bus trips around the city, these things exist solely for the purpose of letting everyone within 20 feet hear both parts of the conversation. And the conversation, is nowhere near short. Gossip, plans, what are you doing, and other inane stuff I really don’t want to hear. It is not ‘how business gets done’. It is a form of torture on city buses. If plain old cell phone chatter is annoying, walkie talkie chatter is maddening.

I love Restaurant Week. Vegetate is one, as is Cafe St. Ex, but face it, Restaurant Week is also ‘restaurants too new or too expensive to go to normally’ week.

That equity thing? Yeah, I’m tapping into that for what I’m calling “Renovation 2007”. I’m in the middle of the financing bit, and this kids is where all that math in school comes in handy. Sadly, I suck at math.
The loan officer rattled off the monthly (fixed rate baby!) payment and for some odd reason my brain failed to factor in my 1st mortgage when I thought, “oh, that’s not that bad”. Later, the total did seep in and I realized that I was several hundred dollars out of my comfort zone. So I have informed the chauffeur that I’m going to let him go and I have resigned myself to the fact that I will have to give up the caviar and champagne lifestyle of which I have become accustomed. I’m going to have to cut back on some things I may want done with the house so I can balance out some other debts that take their monthly portion. And this means cutting up my credit card. And I will have to have a roommate.
But most funds will go to a good cause, the house. The major goal is to do the un-sexy thing of strengthening the structure along with undoing the crackhead design. So, can anyone recommend a good structural engineer?

Did it take this long last year to get tomatoes? For a few months I have been experiencing tomato envy as others have told me that they have been getting tomatoes and eating them. In that time I have gotten hard green globes. But now. And now. I have ripe tomatoes.
The tomatoes ripening are my yellow boy hybrids, cherry, the zebra varieties, plum and some plain ole red heirloom tomatoes. I have two zebra varieties, green and reddish. They are ‘zebra’ because of the striped skin. As you can imagine with the green zebra it is hard to tell when it is ready to eat. So I have been touching them to see when the fruit has softened up. I’m waiting till I have several ripe green, yellow and red tomatoes so I can create a colorful tomato salad.
Now occasionally, people ask is it OK to grow veggies in the city. Don’t know why that would be a question beyond the concerns of space and light. While waiting for a bus in Dupont, I looked up to see a south facing apartment balcony overflowing with tomato vines. I didn’t think I could grow anything in the back till B. and IT grew all sorts of plants, including tomatoes, in their yard. It seems that just enough light would get back into the alley and past the trees. I don’t concern myself with soil too much, as I have amended the formerly claybound yard with bags of Home Depot’s best. All the stuff in the back are in pots and I always add the compost from the bin. As far as thefts go, the urban wildlife has been more of a problem than people. Besides I give away a lot of what I grow.

House for Sale

1414 3rd Street, NW
2 Bedrooms, 1 Bath
2 Levels- No Basement
Needs to Be Renovated
About 90 Years Old
$230,000

For More Information, call Bart @ ReMax, 202.236.7937

(why am I posting it? Well the first number starts with a 2, so I’m a bit willing and there is a story behind it)

After 10 days or so after purchase, my baby Mac Mini died. Yesterday, I wandered over to the Apple Store in Clarendon to get it fixed/ replaced. They replaced it and on my way back to the metro, with a clear mind, I took note of my surroundings. Hey, I thought, I remember when there was a whole lotta ‘not much’ here. Back in the mid 90s Clarendon was that spot between Courthouse (where there was a Pizza Hut, a Greek place, the theater, and Wendy’s) and the library at Virginia Square. Yes you could also use the Ballston exit but Va Sq was easier. Ok, there was Witlows, a few Indian restaurants, but when it’s a night and it’s dark and you’re walking down Wilson by yourself, there was not a lot around or open. Also, back then, the sidewalks were crap. This is all pre-Whole Foods mind you. And now, it is Friendship Heights with a better grocery store and voting rights.

Good news from Eckington, according to the Eckington listserv the Emery Shelter has been downsized to 100 beds and no longer serves as emergency housing. Why is this important? Well for one, the Emery Shelter property is next to a rec center which is next to a school, two places for young girls and boys. According to residents, 3 sex offenders, including a child molester, listed in the sex offender database, had the block where the shelter sat, as a residence. Second, it is in a residential area that really could not absorb the numbers of homeless men coming to that site. According to the announcement, this took 18 years to come about.

As of 6:30AM today this beauty is located at the corner of R & 4th and ready for you to take away. It was in the alley behind the garden on Saturday where the Flower Power walk ended. Now it is on the corner and just begging to be taken away. If you can’t find it, I’m sure one of the residents of Sq. 507 will be happy to say where it has been relocated.