Category: Uncategorized

Emergency Management Agency Tabletop Exercise in Our Community on Thursday March 8, 2007, from 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

From Jim:

Neighbors,

This is to remind you to mark your calendar for the evening of Thursday, March 8, 2007 to participate in the emergency exercise described below. The event is being held in our neighborhood, at Mount Sinai Baptist Church, 3rd and Q Streets, N.W.; hence, it is important that residents of Truxton Circle/Shaw East are strongly represented. Should a manmade or a natural disaster occur in our neighborhood, we need to know now to prepare to the maximum extent for the sake of ourselves and our family members. So, I urge you to register for this session today or if you don’t want to register in advance that you make it your business to attend the session and to require your family members to do the same.

Sincerely,

Jim Berry
Bates Area Civic Association, Inc.

Be Ready, DC!—Plan ahead. Be prepared. – On Thursday, March 8, 2007, between the hours of 6:30 p.m. and 9:00 p.m., the DC Emergency Management Agency is sponsoring a tabletop exercise in our community to help you, your family, and your neighbors to take appropriate steps to prepare for an emergency as well as understand recovery measures during and after a manmade or a natural disaster situation. The event will take place at Mount Sinai Baptist Church, 3rd and Q Streets, N.W. and involve residents from the Edgewood , Bloomingdale, Eckington, Truxton Circle/Shaw East neighborhoods, also known as Community Cluster No. 21. We all need to be prepared, as individuals and as a community, for whatever emergencies may occur. Experience has shown that after a major disaster, requests for fire, police, medical, and other public services begin to mount. At some point, the increased demand for services will likely result in delayed response times. For this reason, neighborhoods should learn to be self-reliant in an emergency. Individuals and organizations should be prepared to be without assistance for 72 hours or longer. A neighborhood that has organized prior to a disaster will know what to do when the disaster occurs and not waste precious time figuring out who can do what. Individuals and neighborhoods that are prepared will know what to expect during times of disaster, what to do, and how to come together in an organized, timely response. Therefore, please reserve this block of time on Thursday, March 8, 2007 now, in order to participate in this exercise with your neighbors. To register early, please call 202-448-9672 or visit www.bereadydc.org. Refreshments will be served.

[Insert offensive yet snarky title involving death & metrobuses]

I nearly got run over by the Georgetown Circulator walking home from work.
Lady, there are people on the street, in the cross walk with the right of way!
The driver had stopped for the light and I began to cross Mass Ave, when the driver decided to inch up two feet, bringing the front of the bus into the crosswalk. She (the driver) was looking north as she inched up. She was had moved the two feet before she bothered looking south, and saw me.
Lady, there is a big friggin line before the crosswalk lines, stay there!
The lights are on a timer. Your inching up ain’t gonna make the light change any faster.
Also.
There are pedestrians running around on the street. Some of them are in the crosswalk. Where, I suppose, pedestrians are allowed to walk. But considering what’s been going on lately….

Holes in the wall

I’ve been putting holes in my walls. Just to see how much wiggle room I have in creating a new space.
Well, now I know. And now I know why I can hear things so well. There was like an inch or two between my drywall and the party wall. With no insulation.
When I get insulation I see that I’m going to lose some floorspace and some square footage. I don’t know how I feel about that. It’s has yet to really sink in. I want quiet. I like space.

Idle finger food chatter

Tuesday night I attended a private event over at the Old Dominion Brewhouse and ran into Shaw Rez, as well as Kevin Chapple, and some other ANC people. Alex had tipped me off about the event and I did see him but we never got around to speaking.
Someone had asked if the food served up was from the restaurant or was it catered. The food I had seen on the menu before. The time I did go out to ODB with a friend I ordered the shrimp wrapped in thin strips of fried potato. They are good but they need a little something, like ketchup. I saw crab cakes on the menu in some form (maybe as a sandwich) and the mini cakes floating around were okay, but I’m picky about my cakes. Someone else had mentioned the chicken bits were excellent once they were dipped in the honey mustard.
Anyway, there was some mention about ANC stuff. One was something I don’t even want to report on but it involves a deposed mini-dictator and his plans. Another was a sentiment from Gallery Place to not be in the 2C-verse and join up with that area that calls itself Penn-Quarter. I totally understand that sentiment, as GP has a heck of a lot more in common with PQ than MVS. Then speaking with an ANC from 2F, he supposed that once the Whitman and other places fill up there may be a rearrangement of borders. I gather that won’t happen until the 2010 Census.
And lastly, ODB is a minority owned business.

A couple of thoughts

Yes, I did see the Post articles on the Convention Center, 9th Street, the Chinese New Year Celebration down in Gallery Place and the proposed merger of Sirius and XM, which may impact Eckington.
I’d been thinking about Gallery Place/ Chinatown since I’ve been running a number of errands ’round there lately, and the article just more or less confirmed a bit of my thinking. It seems that a fair number of Asian American attendees at the street celebration were from the ‘burbs. Face it, on any other regular day when running around Gallery Place many of the faces are Black, White and Latino. I thought of the Jewish quarter of Prague that the city hawks as a tourist area, which though having a Jewish graveyard, and monuments, but few Jews*. The buildings and signs say something in Chinese, but the spirit of the street says “Gallery Place”. When the MCI/Verizon Center was still off-gassing its new paint and floors there were a larger number of Chinese restaurants, that were later replaced by the Legal Seafoods and like chains. The impact wasn’t sudden, and the Gallery Place area is still changing. A place opens, then it closes and is replaced (hopefully quickly) by some other operation. And maybe it is still a little too soon to expect great things of the Convention Center.
Or maybe not. We’ve got our own set of problems and conditions north of the Square. For one, MVQ and the 7th and 9th St corridors are and were far more residential than Gallery Place. Yes, you compare condo to condo but there are also a lot of fee simple, low density housing, garden apartments and lots of non-luxury units. I mentioned that I lost the faith in projects yet to come, those things are on 9th St. Some of them are in the process of ‘becoming’, some are waiting for their developer/owners to get their act together, and while they aren’t yet what they are to be, you got ugly on the streets at present. Unlike Gallery Place we don’t have that huge office drone population crowding up the counters at Shaw eateries. I guess we were supposed to get a huge convention going populace, who aren’t staying in any Shaw hotels because, oh right. And last time I went to a convention I had lunch inside the building or ate at places I saw between the hotel and the center. Which would mean, if your hotel is at Gallery Place, you’re probably eating in Gallery Place.
Don’t even get me started on Shiloh. Senior housing. Not plain old affordable housing, because face it many of y’all moved to the burbs to get away from the affordable housing crowd.

*Yes, the population is growing but it is miniscule compared to its early 20th Century, pre-Holocaust numbers.

BAA meeting

|—————————————–|
| Blagden Alley Association |
| Monthly Meeting |
| |
| THURSDAY, February 22, 2007 |
| 7:30-9:00 pm |
| Marthlu and Hal’s |
| 905 M Street, NW |
|—————————————–|

The newsletter is at

[short cut]
Topics:
1. A relaxed meeting, centered on discussion
of where we see the neighborhood going:
Residential, commercial, and traffic.
2. Police.
3. More.

Renovation 2007: Bookshelves

A website/ blog I’ve just discovered and really enjoy just posted something that turned me into a puddle of joy. Desire to Inspire showed how books could be used in decorating. I have mentioned to a few people the idea that I want to line my first floor with bookshelves. The Bernstein & Andriulli shot is just what I fantasized about, floor to ceiling bookshelves, with a ladder.

My love my radiators

Please oh wonderful radiator heat never, never leave me again. I didn’t know how good I had until you left me. This house is not a home without you. I promise to treat you right this time. I will have you serviced every year, even if it means having some plumber talk down to me because I’m a woman. ‘Cause you are worth it.
For the past two mornings I have woken up to a hot bathrobe and towel. I’ve been able to dry my thick tights, socks and sweaters on the radiators, filling the room with that Downy fabric softner smell. My nose isn’t drying out anymore. I can leave the house with warmed gloves. Life is good again.

Jaded

I just got the following announcement:

The Howard Theatre–
Yesterday and Tomorrow!

Saturday, February 24

3 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.

The Carnegie at Mount Vernon Square
801 K Street, NW
(enter on K Street)
Gallery Place and Mount Vernon Square Metro Stops

The Circulator Bus stops at 9th and K

FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

SEE:
· Mercedes Ellington
· Historic pictures
· Plans for the restoration of the theatre
HEAR:
· Remembrances from those who played at and reported on the Howard Theatre
· Music by the Washington Jazz Arts Institute,
· Davey Yarborough, Director
· Shaw Jr. High School Concert Band, Wesley Hoover, Band Director
· Remembrances from the audience

BRING YOUR OWN MEMORIES AND MEMORABILIA

BROUGHT TO YOU BY:
Historical Society of Washington, D.C.
Howard Theatre Restoration, Inc.
National Music Center & Museum Foundation
Washington Jazz Arts Institute
Shaw Main Streets, Inc.
WPFW Radio 89.3 FM

RSVP so we can plan for numbers: 202-383-1837 or RSVP@historydc.org

Sadly, the Howard Theater is one of many projects I have heard plans for years ago. At least 2-3 years have passed since I’ve heard from the last person with plans. There were plans for the O Street Market back when it had a roof. There are plans for the Armstrong School over here in the TC and still nada. I know it takes time for these things to come to be and there are setbacks, but after hearing about plan after plan, I get jaded. I lose the faith and become a Doubting Thomas. I will not believe till I see scaffolding, construction crews working regularly, trucks blocking alleys, and other signs of the resurrection of place.
I know. Stuff happens, money needs to be raised, costs go up, permits are hard to come by, community groups must be met with, markets change and agreements must be had. However, after a certain amount of time, with very little visible progress, it is hard to keep believing and taking things on faith.

My comment policy: Anonymous Comments

So as not to go off topic in another post I’m going to create a post regarding my comment policy.

No anonymous comments.

I may let some fly but most I delete. Sometimes I acknowledge the comment I deleted, sometimes I don’t, and delete it forever so it doesn’t even register.

I have various reasons for my policy, but let me point out four:

1. My blog. As in I own it. Please do not confuse this with public space as it isn’t. I’ve created a space, which in all honesty was for the sheer entertainment of 5 people. And if I’m playing hostess, I’d like to know who my guests are.

2. Tone. I’ve noticed that sites that allow anon comments, no questions, can get fairly nasty. Not that InShaw has been free of such nastiness, it is just that I can put a cap on it or steer it in another direction. Also I truly believe that people will think before they post if they have to sign a name to it, thus moderating their tone.

3. Clarity. There was a post long time ago where there were at least two different anon posters. This was confusing to me and annoying.

4. Quirk. I just don’t like anonymous posts. They get on my nerves. I find them somewhat annoying on other people’s blogs, but other people can do what they want.

Yes, I recognize that by saying yes to my policy I’m saying no to some other things. One poster commenting on the comment policy mentioned privacy. Well, the thing is your IP address is tracked here by one of those buttons I put on the blog. I put it there to see how local my audience is, beyond those 5 people. If you want to be undercover, get AOL, Comcast, Quest, or Verizon and read the blog from home because a dozen regulars come from those IPs, so you can hide in the crowd. Or subscribe to the feed via some RSS aggregator like Bloglines, which I use to keep track of over 50 blogs & podcasts. Second, I don’t demand real names. I probably never will. I will demand that you pick an identity. Call yourself Bob, Jane Doh!, HRH Queen of Caffeine, the Raj of 9th St, whatever. However names like Phallic Cheney, or cruder, no. Anyway, my real name isn’t spelled Mari, and technically, legally, according to the woman in Personnel who wasn’t being particularly helpful, the name that EVERYONE calls me… apparently not my real name. Well, according to her.

Since I’m on the topic of Internet IDs, cultivate your real name in the places it should be. Also be aware of those other people who share your name. There is a woman running around with the simplified version of my name selling real estate in Seattle. When you throw in the initial, then it is pretty much 90% me, 85% in the right places, such as the history/ library/info sciences forums, things I’ve created for work, on lists of participants for conferences, etc. Your mamma might of given you a stupid middle name but thank her, because my friend Dr. So N Soh, PhD (obviously not his real name) who dabbles in SubjX as an amateur, keeps getting mixed up with Dr. So Han Soh, PhD who does SubjX as his profession. And there is a Dr. So Soh, MD, but he lives in Atlanta and there is little chance of confusion.