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Archive for December, 2005

Blog furball

Posted in DC Blogs Noted on December 12th, 2005 by dcblogs

Background is 24th Street at New Hampshire

Tai Shan, Democrat for Congress Assorted blogs In the past 14 days the Washington Post has cited Tai Shan in 40 news stories and 73 photos and videos. In contrast, Dennis Hastert made it into 21 news stories and 52 photos, and his counterpart Nancy Pelosi was cited in 48 Post news stories and 52 photos. Obviously, Tai Shan’s panda press clout is huge. Republican and Democratic leaders immediately reached out to this savvy furball

. In an exclusive interview, Tai Shan let the dcblogs team know that he’ll be running as a Democrat. Tai Shan told us that he opposes tax cuts (he worries about the impact of tax cuts on his federally subsidized rocks), favors universal health care (It’s only fair, he noted, since he has full medical coverage.), and supports the Kyoto Protocol. (You would worry about global warming, too, if you were covered with fur, Tai Shan told us.) The dc blogging universe is taking note. I have to admit that when I moved to DC a year ago, I never thought the city would be gripped by the Vulcan mind control of a baby panda bent on total mediadomination. — Beauty and the Beltway. Panda Fanzines: I wanna go tear into some geckos or something. I gotta take my rage somewhere. — Inner Monologue of Bandit the Panda Momma says this is the bandit. — Life in Black and White. Can art. The Butterstick Blog. (Nod to Dennis for getting this idea going) DC Snow Rides and Rants A round-up by Dennis. Diary of a Mad Asian Woman asks DC drivers to wipe the snow off their cars before driving. how now, brownpau? has some great photos of DC in the snow. The Pictures Are All I Can Feel: The idiocy of snow-based stockpiling. Robin Worldwide: Well, someone’s happy with the federal government’s snow-squeamishness. Wednesday’s Child: The panic. Also Noted: Dog-isms. Introducing the newest member of our family, Belle!!! From 2at1ce. Yuk alert. Coca-Cola is giving French caffeine addicts a new drug. Coca-Cola Blak, the illegitimate love child of coffee and Coke, will hit stores in France this January. From Collegienne. A blog that makes clever use of county-specific domain, the Belgium .be extension is DC Wann.be. Many countries restrict use of country specific extensions to Web sites operating in their countries, but Belgium is one of the few that is unrestricted. Peace Corps reading advice from Brokekid, who served in Guyana. DC Guerilla Poetry in public places, including DuPont Circle, by the fountain, every 1st and 3rd Monday, from 6:45 until 8:30/9:00pm From First to Third.

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DC Blogs Noted:

Posted in DC Blogs Noted on December 9th, 2005 by dcblogs

Online etiquette & mea culpa in real time No Taming This Shrew After using an image off another blog, this writer, Megarita, gets a note from its owner objecting to its use. It’s an experience that serves as a framework for a good

discussion on some of copyright and fair use issues. Megarita deserves our thanks for writing about this common practice. (Thanks to Reya for spotting this one)

I had an interesting note from a fellow in New York today. Turned out I’d boosted an image of his for the blog. I try to be somewhat aware of what I copy, and I often use my own photos, but his language discussed my actions as theft and copyright infringement, which took me aback. I took down his photo, per his request, but I’m wondering about this phenomenon on a larger scale. Is This Healthy For Us? Is This It? This blog has been posting since May and just turned up in a search. There’s a good, self-aware writer working here. Read the title post as well as 100 things about C$ This excerpt is from Is This Healthy For Us.

Maybe I was wrong, but really, was there need to make out with him at HARRY POTTER to make him call me? And if that is the case, do I really want to date someone that can’t just chill for a few hours?

I Do Believe I Have a Problem On My Hands Two-Timing The Cosmos Our writer, Heather, is having CalBar letter problems and is looking for advice.

The post begins cleverly.

And I don’t mean listening to my cube-mate talk about how she wishes people wouldn’t call the police when she hits her children in public. Or how I hang up on every single person I try to transfer. Both of those are problems, but not the ones I’m concerned about at the moment.

Also Noted: Tequila with her eight youngin’s. Photo of puppy newborns. Journeys with Jrod. The Baby Looked At You? Hint: Fur. Nice photos. Pygmalion In A Blanket Magic stealth powers and grad school personal statements: I am drawn to the things that people leave behind: the dirty, dusty, sometimes rusty and almost always vaguely creepy detritus of other lives, and the stories that they have to tell. From Tres Chicas. Fort Totten snow. Photo. Swapping Tales. Holiday treats in the District include: Afterwords Café at Kramerbooks in Dupont Circle serves a bowl of Butternut Squash Soup to bookies who need an intellectual snack—a bowl is $4.75. The Kitchenette.

Bird Flu Symptoms From D.C.’s Legal Beagle

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Blog Smoke

Posted in DC Blogs Noted on December 8th, 2005 by dcblogs

Georgetown Smoking Debate: The DC council voted this week to ban smoking in restaurants and bars. The DC city council “extinguished my right like I would extinguish my cigarette in a beer-soaked ashtray.” The Rock Creek Rambler. Thank God, is all I have to say. I’m sick of my clothes and hair smelling like smoke every time I venture out, not to mention having to breathe in secondhand smoke. K Street Blues I felt Like a Republican Today. Wanta Fanta – Do You Wanna (Scottish Lass) Hair Son of Clown Ops Highlights of high school.

No, what really made me angry and frustrated all of my efforts to achieve teenage happiness was my hair.

Also Noted: Opening Up: I tend to keep things to myself and not really talk about my life. Ever since I moved to DC, I have changed that one characteristic since EVERYONE in DC is private and reserved. From The Life and Times of Chai. Tourist Report: I was hit on by a homeless man. Citizen Plain from Fort Worth. Esquire. Congratulations to this DC to Bay Area transplant. Maisnon. Dating: Must have own tractor. Ramble On. Winter storm resources: Capital Weather and DC Weather

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DC Blogs Noted:

Posted in DC Blogs Noted on December 7th, 2005 by dcblogs

Safety Statistics Make Me Angry True Believer (serving in Iraq) Our writer, serving in Iraq, brings a strong mix of wit and smarts to his posts. When not in Iraq he’s a DC metro area resident, according to DC Cookie, who

recommended this blog and wrote: He’s a really good writer, so I expect big things. The post linked above is a rant and analysis military’s safety statistics, but also read his most recent post. An excerpt:

Not only do the leaders of our military lack the backbone and moral honesty to adequately justify this war and the strategic imperative … but they also lack the intellectual rigor to understand the tragic safety statistics they flog themselves and their troops with at every opportunity. A Blogger Opportunity DC Sleeps Alone Tonight The TLC is coming to DC next month to shoot a show called Ultimate Blunders and they are looking for material. Yes, blunders – your blunders. DC Sleeps Alone Tonight was contacted by the show, and set up a Web site, Ultimate Blunders, for the show’s producers to tap. Our writer, who has been performing on-the-road in the Kennedy Center production, “Alexander and I’m Not…Going to Move,” explains what’s going on. An excerpt from her own blunder post:

Backstage before the scene, I rushed through the change into the nighty, and realized that I had no place to pin the mic pac. I didn’t want to stop the flow of the rehearsal, so I stuck the mic pac into the back of my panties and charged onstage ….

Also Noted Snow debrief: My boss appeared in my doorway giggling, “We’re the only ones left in the office. The southerners all wigged out early.” DC Donut. Why I left New England: In DC, the snowfall is pleasant, whereas in Cambridge it is malicious. The Welcome Matt. Haiku Tu: Icy Cold Blue Balls Edition. From Militant Hedonist. (This gets Reya’s Best Haiku of the Day Award) An Open Letter to the Guy in the Alley (Get Your Mind Our of the Gutter) Dragon in Retrograde. Wonder what a dorker is? For metro riders it is a “person who crowds or blocks Metro doors, making it difficult for others to exit or enter promptly.” From Lost in America

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DC Blogs Noted:

Posted in DC Blogs Noted on December 6th, 2005 by dcblogs

A Cancer Story Till human voices wake us, and we drown It’s an amazing story about the author’s teenage bout with malignant melanoma. It’s long but a great, moving read. — Jamy An excerpt:

It was a malignant skin tumor. Upon first

glance, it just looked like a birthmark or mole. But when the professor showed it close up, it had some disturbing characteristics. It had strange shading, the borders didn’t look right, it was very asymmetrical—and it looked frighteningly similar to a mole I had on my leg.

The ‘Not-So‘ Great Apple Incident Herman’s Head When a five-year-old starts choking on an apple paramedics are called and doctors spring into action.

I got a call from a number I didn’t recognize as I was approaching Dupont Circle, only 5 minutes from my office.

There was something wrong at school.

Jake was choking on a piece of an apple.

Firewall Sudoku Painting DC Pink Corporate firewalls behaving badly. – (Dennis! find) It begins like this:

My world came crashing down yesterday afternoon when I was given news I didn’t want to hear. I received a message that will change how I view my day. “Shock” doesnt’ even begin to express how I felt when I saw the words in front of me. To be honest with you, I’m not sure if I’ll ever be the same.

Also Noted: The entertaining blog, The Butterfly Network, is “now officially on hiatus.”

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Why We Blog Edition

Posted in DC Blogs Noted on December 5th, 2005 by dcblogs

Blogging Myth Deflated Looking2Live Baby boomers are in the minority among DC bloggers, and the same is probably true nationally. That may change in time but this writer, Barbara, is already one of the trailblazers of her generation. In this post, excerpted, she writes about the reaction of her family and friends to her blog, and shares this observation about the younger generation as well:

I am so intrigued with the fact that this younger generation basically lays it all out there. There is a basic honesty and willingness to tell all that seems to be totally absent in my generation – at least among those I have tried to lure in. So it looks to me like I am just going to have to find a younger audience among those who are already as addicted to this pastime as I am. Nothing like preaching to the already converted.

All The Lights That Lead Us There Are Blinding Velvet In Dupont If you read the post above, you’ll likely appreciate this one as well. Blogging can open some new doors, as this writer discovers. Few have said it better. An excerpt:

Unexpected things have come as a result of the blog. I became interested in other blogs. I started talking to other bloggers via email. Other bloggers started reading my blog. I started attending Happy Hours. Then I met other bloggers in person. Finally, I expanded my network, realized that other women endure the same dating trials and tribulations that I do, and ultimately, made some very good friends. I never realized that this seemingly insignificant decision would result in all these new friendships, none of which I take for granted.

Bookstore Perv Advancing the Plot A potentially good date, possibly ruined by a perv in a bookstore – Dennis! (The post is called Knitting, just read through) An excerpt:

After having a couple of really good phone conversations, the face-to-face fell flat. It could have been the crowded Starbucks, or the fact that I am the first white woman he has pursued romantically, or that I was still flustered from my encounter with the pervert at Books a Million who was trying to look up my skirt.

Also Noted: The Monster Christmas Tree The tree practically leered at us from the corner as though narrowing in for the kill. The American Dream for Country Mice

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DC Blogs Noted:

Posted in DC Blogs Noted on December 2nd, 2005 by dcblogs

Outbreak GreenCanary This is a very well told story about a series of encounters and scenes in

a medical facility waiting room. Content warning for the squeamish. It begins simply: (Nod to Cube for this find)

Oh. Holy. Vishnu.

This morning I did a good deed and am now going to pay for it with my life.

A friend leaves for Iraq (Nearly) Internal Dialogue Someone this writer has known since first grade is heading to Iraq. An excerpt:

He’s shipping out and will be over there for approximately 14 months, training Iraqi soldiers. I was so proud of him when he graduated from West Point. And then, when he made it through training as an Army Ranger. Now, I can’t believe he’s actually doing this and I’m really scared for him.

Blogging Angst Round Up A cubist collection Even though this has been great place to vent out my fustration and heartache, it has also become fuel for others to ridicule these very thoughts. – Diary of an Overly Sexualized and Criticized Drama Queen. Otherwise, my head would just explode with repressed thoughts, and that would not be a pretty sight. The Real World I tell myself “put the blog down, step away from the blog,” but I always cave … The Blinding Glare of the Obvious Also Noted DCBachelor goes to Rome and returns with some very good photos and notes about the trip. Check out the Vatican panorama in particular. Food point: They just don’t have the dense fat-laden foods that we have here, so when I arrived back home the first thing I did was eat a huge greasy burger with bacon and fries. Being full is an American thing. My (sur) name is misspelled in my passport, writes Seenster, and the French aren’t happy. Mac Inequality. Interesting observation about test administered Mac v. Windows. From First to Third. Note: Good grief. Thanks everyone for that superlative. The entire dcblogs team is honored, truly. And Kathryn especially for drawing the blogging universe together.

Party Photos winner by the talented DCCookie (I should have had this link up earlier!)

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DC Blogs Noted:

Posted in DC Blogs Noted on December 1st, 2005 by dcblogs

Fame Virginity Lost The Countdown of V Not two days after Larissa starts this blog it’s picked up in the Washington Post Express’ Blog Log – an impressive accomplishment, but also recognition of its unique (for DC at least) news value. The Countdown of V is the story of a twentysomething ‘accidental’ virgin who is counting down the days until she joins the ranks of the ‘initiated.’ (We’d love to know what key words the good folks at WaPo are using to search for blogs.) At 25, Larissa, a snappy writer, considers herself something of anomaly. An excerpt from one suitor encounter:

It was at a rooftop Fourth of July party in Brooklyn years ago that he caught my eye. I saw him carrying in a pack of Bud, and loved how his T-shirt was just the right amount of snug. Oh and he had the most gorgeous eyes — Unfortunately I was so lost in them that it didn’t really sink when he told me that he didn’t drink and was from Utah. The night ended innocently with a switch of cell numbers, and we began dating soon after.

Also Noted: Unsure if we are preparing for a terrorist attack or a night at Velvet Nation. A report by EJ Takes Life. The Big Dog is Out of the Room and has Left Her Red Ball Totally Unprotected and Now I Shall Lick It. Photo Essay. From Wednesday’s Child. So here’s the deal District. You want to pass a commuter tax? Fine. But I want something in return: the right to park my damn car on the street and have a job that doesn’t cost me $30/day in tickets. From Not For Profit Dad Only in DC: bipartisan music. From Secret Simmerings and Shameful Scandals of the Singular Smash. “So, what do you do?” Office party magic. From mypurpleink Snow: DC & Utah. On Rush Hour in DC GoodSearch. Charitable search tool. From Where is My Mind?

A note: Blogging really does return far more than it takes in time and effort. And after attending last night’s Blog Bash, that has never been more true for me. The people I met were wonderful, warmhearted and generous — just like their blogs. A big thanks to the organizers, City Sparkle, DC Cookie, Kathryn On…, and Rhinestone Cowgirl.

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