barack obollywood

i am moving saturday and in a sprint to the finish ... there is so much to blog about, and i will, but i am out of time and living on adrenaline. to keep me sane, dianna kindly shared the following video.

enjoy!

cycle safe city

i got this in an email from a listserv i am on. i thought i would share it with my blog readers with the hopes that people will feel compelled to sign. there are a number of reason i think DC needs a really amazing director of transportation, but my primary reason is because i want to feel safer when i commute on my bike.

when i move almost all my commuting will be on a bike. now i have the option of walking to work, which i choose regularly. i feel most danger from buses and cabs. it is also clear that there is no enforcement of bike safety. the garbage man who struck and killed a cyclist in dupont last week was not sited for any wrong doing (at least the last that i heard). there seems to be a common belief that because cyclists are small one doesn't have to look for them. i believe a bit of safety and some public awareness campaigns could change things. PLUS if we had more cyclist we would have less congested roads and cleaner air.

we also need better bus system; more regulated cabs; and expansion of metro. but that is really a far second to this bike safety stuff for me. anyway, take a look at what is below and if you feel inclined to sign, please do so. EVEN IF YOU DON'T LIVE IN DC!

As many of you have heard, DDOT Director Emeka Moneme resigned yesterday.
Mayor Fenty's choice for a successor will have a huge impact on the quality
of life in our neighborhoods. Please consider signing on to this open letter
to Mayor Fenty.

http://greatergreaterwashington.org/campaigns/ddotfuture/

To: Adrian Fenty, Mayor, District of Columbia
Cc: Dan Tangherlini, City Administrator

Dear Mayor Fenty,

With the departure of DDOT Director Emeka Moneme, the District of Columbia
stands at a crossroads. You have the opportunity to appoint a visionary,
innovative new Director that will bring our transportation network into the
21st century, making our roads safe and enjoyable for pedestrians, drivers,
bicyclists, transit riders, and all other users of all ages. Or, we could
end up stuck with a conventional-thinking traffic bureaucrat who will
singlemindedly speed automobiles without regard for their impact on other
commuters or the quality of life in our city. We urge you to conduct a
national search for a world-class leader for DDOT equal to your other
excellent cabinet appointees.

While it is important to have a Department of Transportation that provides
good service to citizen needs, transportation is not just a customer service
issue. Our transportation policy decisions will determine whether we
preserve and build upon the walkable neighborhoods that make DC such a
desirable and enjoyable place to live and work, or become a traffic-choked,
polluted, parking-lot-filled mess that discourages tourists, visitors, and
potential residents from living and shopping downtown and across the city.
Our economic vitality, not to mention the beauty of our neighborhoods, is at
stake.

You have shown leadership by selecting innovative, visionary cabinet members
before, like Michelle Rhee and Harriet Tregoning. Last year, your
counterpart in New York City likewise selected an innovator, Janette
Sadik-Khan, as Transportation Commissioner. Sadik-Khan has meaningfully
enhanced the quality of life in New York City. A visionary leader for DDOT,
a peer of Sadik-Khan, Rhee, or Tregoning, would bring innumerable benefits
to the District of Columbia.
Sign on here: http://greatergreaterwashington.org/campaigns/ddotfuture/

boxes

dear friends of teabelly -- dc chapter,

i am looking for boxes to pack up all this stuff. if your office has extra boxes sitting around, i would LOVE to get my hands on them.

also, 26 july i am renting a truck and moving most of my stuff to my house (and then sticking it under a tarp because the house will still not be finished. (BUMMER! more on why later). so if you are around, and would like to help move furniture, send me a note. i will send out an APB later today.

help with decisions and the answer to the age old question: "where do i take these old clothes?"

i have heaps of photos from my newly tiled/almost finished bathroom. i can't decide if i should post them now, or if i should wait until it is totally finished. which will be next week sometime.

also, i can't decide between 2 colors of counter tops. if you are willing to help, please email me or comment on the blog about which of these 2 colors you think would look better with my red kitchen cabinets. i am not looking for a patriotic kitchen. i just want it to look cool. i might have to hang a french flag or something?

cobalt ice

denim sky

i just got this via my neighborhood listserv. it came 2 weeks too late, because i just took some bags to planet earth or something like that to ship them off to be sold to raise money for projects in mozambique and malawi.

anyway, i thought there might be some people who read this blog with some clothes they might like to give away...

Dear Friends,

I'm reaching out to you because I've been working with my students at the DC Youth Advisory Council this summer training them on issues such as the importance of voting, civic engagement, public policy, financial literacy, etiquette, and more.

One of our upcoming sessions will be on professional development. As we prepare them for entering the workforce, many of them do not have professional attire- which is why I need your help.

We are asking young professionals in the DC area to donate new or gently worn clothes to our Career Closet. These clothes will help them tremendously as they prepare for job interviews, internships, and future careers. The following items are needed:

Females:

• Blazers
• Blouses
• Pants/Slacks
• Skirts
• Hosiery
• Dress Shoes

Males:

• Ties
• Dress Shirts
• Slacks
• Collared Knit Shirts
• Sports Jackets
• Dress Shoes

The donation deadline is Thursday, July 24th. You can drop items off at our office which is located at 441 4th St. NW, Suite 1140 A North. Please forward this out to your networks and don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.

Thanks!
Rebecca

DC Youth Advisory Council
Phone: 202.727.7976
Fax: 202.727.8179
E-mail: dcyac@dc.gov
Website: www.serve.dc.gov

photos of progress? at least i hope you can see progress

i am a lazy blogger. but because i have friends that want to see progress, and i think i will be glad that i am keeping some kind of "journal" of this experience, i will blog again. here is some of the progress. it is not without trial. this project is kinda a pain in the butt! AND i have to move all my furniture out of my house 26 july, so...i have a deadline. i hope the deadline pushes the contractors (and me) to get our butts in gear.

i do this super lame thing, where when i get stressed out i just pretend that the stressor is gone, or ignore it. so this house is sometimes ignored for weekends and then i panic. it is making me crazy. i have this week off of work to get stuff done. i am hoping that these photos will demonstrate that progress is being made, and hopefully by this time next week i will be able to demonstrate even more progress.

my friend christopher is coming into town this weekend to help me tile the bathroom, so that will be awesome. he is a designer with a keen eye, and into retro design, so i am pretty confident that we will come up with something spectacular.

so here goes

the kitchen cabinets
of course there is no counter
or electrical sockets
or lights
but there is progress

i am so glad the columns are gone

i am liking the color in the house

the dining room

dining room into the living room

living room
the window is stripped to get some paint
supposedly next week she will get painted

stairwell

skylight, minus the lay-light

star wars turned into a closet

the closet

new attic access in my bedroom
the space above my room will one day be a yoga studio
(not commercial, just for me and friends)

the room i hope to rent
and the radiator i am stripping
(lots of stripping in this house huh?)

hallway to study

bathroom

bathtub with walls around her

solar tube in bathroom covered to protect it from paint

the study

my sink

i really like these knobs
and now you know why i spent the extra money for the fancy shower facet

bedroom windows being stripped
(sheesh these naughty windows)
if you look closely you can see that the city has hung flowers from the lightpole
i hope they keep them up.
i think it is a sweet touch

the other side of star wars
this is now a nice big closet

out my bedroom door into the hall

my pride and joy

these are delicious
and i have to admit to being very boastful of these tomatoes in light of the
tomato scare of 2008
the truth is,
the whole food supply chain could be destroyed and i think i would be okay
i am more and more off that grid
take that!

arugula

zucchini
and a little nasturtium flower poking out

and little acknowledgment of who we are from the city
i confess, i am glad my neighborhood has such a cute name

car broken into

as if i need more trials in my life, my car was broken into last night.

i had bonked on a run with dianna (saw stars, got super cold but felt hot to the touch, dizzy and loopy). so i ended up spending the night at her house. her neighborhood is kinda sketchy, and seems to get sketchier. as evidenced by what happened last night. we have seen guys getting beat up, people shooting up, and had lots of crazies come by and be freaky.

apparently last night, some guy decided to break the glass on my passenger window and take my new stereo. a neighbor saw him and called the police. the police came straightaway and he ran off, only to come back later to try and get his loot. he opened my trunk and got my wetsuit and then tried to take my bike rack. thankfully, dianna's neighbor saw him doing this and called again and they arrested the guy. so he didn't get anything, but my new stereo and my window are pretty messed up.

here are some photos:




grrrrrr! i have to say, there are days when i wonder, why in the world did i buy a house in this city!!