The DC Handshake starts normally. CrankyInColumbiaMD.

The Rat Killing Hawk of Red Cross Square. Herb in DC gets a great photo of hawk and tells the story of the rat it got near the White House. Which rat you ask?

Tatter tots rave at the Tonic at Quigley’s Pharmacy in Foggy Bottom. Big Boned Blog. Tot photo.

A writer who has single-handedly solved any DC police officer pension underfunding problems by paying scads of parking tickets, vents about DC’s parking enforcement. Dutch Courage.

On the bus: I was listening to gospel music. The music of God, writes ao in dc, and then: Crotch in Face.

DC jury duty report. A good report on what you can expect after the summons arrives at Intangible Arts.

DC’s business friendly climate update: Dry Cleaners Now Open in Capitol Hill Tower – And Promptly Robbed. Near Southeast.

A graduate student in linguistics is also a food critic. Washingtonian Cheap Eats 2007: A Commentary. A Culinary Linguist

Mystery Truck Explained. Photo, too. Mr. T. in DC.

Profiled: Kelly Chen of the blog DC Culture and Fashion by Blog on the Cusp.

Best Guacamole I’ve Ever Had is at the Cafe Atlantico, writes Harmless Addictions.

Breast Cancer.  I have breast cancer, writes Toddler Planet, a young mother with a 5-month old son and a 2.5-year old son. The discovery to biopsy to diagnosis happened within a very short period of time. In one post this week she wrote:

Please be careful in your comments to me right now — I love and need the support and comments, but I will NOT feel sorry for myself, and I won’t have anyone else feeling sorry for me either right now.

Running out to buy an iPhone? Read DC Universe first. He makes a number of good points, including:  … buying any expensive gadget when it first comes out is like playing Russian Roulette with five bullets instead of six.

Circulator Circumspection. Mr. Anthrope offers advice.

Harry Potter book interrupted by the sight of finger nail cutting woman. Metro bus story at Sean’s Ramblings

Between 2 continents. The experience of flying to Dakar. Nomore a girl, Not yet a Woman!

Miserable turning to tolerable. Capital Weather.

Live Free and Die Hard review for people with very little time to read a review. Renee’s Blog.

Please, Learn from My Mistakes. Poofy Goo on vacation at Assateague Island National Seashore encounters crazy drivers and Deet and has a realization about ponies.

A tribute to a father was also an admiral and who taught the importance of RFQ2. ChrisMoreau

Dancing in front of Jumbo Slice. Watch the video. Dance-A-Day. He’s good.

Signs you might be pregnant. Where’s My Cape.

Bring uncomfortable back? A response from Who am I? Why am I here? to DC Sidewalk’s post, Ban flip-flops, bring sexy back.

DC’s First Annual Community Garden Bicycle Hop at DC Urban Gardener News. A report.

Sign of the environmental disaster in Logan Circle.  Herb of DC has photos of the mysterious missing bee memorial at 14th and S.

The Blues and DC at Throwing Hammers. Excerpt: 

“DC kind of grows on you unexpectedly over time,” I told a friend over the phone one time. “So does athlete’s foot,” he replied.

What distinguishes a bar from a club? Other than then the groping, bad alcohol and Lost-like syndrome. Writes Missing the Point: I like to think that I’m used to things here and that I know how things are.

A Case of Emotion in Dupont Circle. Lapplander’s moment of introspection.

The DC Caribbean Carnival drew some 250,000 spectators, and the writer at Intangible Arts returned from it with photos and a report, Of Mud-Men and Feathered Booty. 

Metro ads stand in a class by themselves. Global Chameleon. Sharp and pointed take.
 

Big Sky Girl, formerly Beauty and the Beltway, one of DC’s sharpest writers, is ending her blog. And her reasons for stopping may be warning for others. An excerpt:

… being a blogger presents serious liabilities. Industry colleagues and potential employers have all ended up on this blog thanks to Google Search (damn you). For many post-Jessica Cutler politicos, just the existence of this blog has been grounds not to hire me.

When is a pick up not a pick up? Grateful Dating.

What does it take to give an expectant mother a Metro seat? Urban Baby-DC: As a daily DC metro rider, I have to say, I’m surprised at the lack of people who actually offer their seat up to pregnant women.

Men Are So Predictable.  Sometimes you have to kiss a few frogs. 

Not before 9, gentlemen. A getting-hit-upon rule by Average Jane.

CIA isn’t as sharp as E. Talking Budgie.

The typical hellish experience of shopping at CVS is preempted by the song Rock Your Baby. If you see something, say something

Stark housing price data compiled by the Northern Viginia Housing Bubble Fallout blog. Its work received a shout-out from Business Week blogger Dean Foust, who writes: According to the data on the NOVA Bubble site, homes in the exurbs are being listed as much as 34% BELOW what they sold for just two years ago, and in the neighborhood that I used to live in, between Old Town Alexandria and Mount Vernon, asking prices are down roughly 12% below prior sales.

Washington City Paper’s video on street harassment.

Wednesday is half-price wine night at Whitlow’s on Wilson, reports DC Gastronome.

First blog ever* at The Raven? Photo.  American de Tocqueville

Would you butt in? Lemon Gloria.

Bleatings from a Caps Nut gets a screen shot of the team’s new logo before the source is zapped. Now, about the logo …  See his post. Also see the AOL blog, Fanhouse, which credits Caps Nut. 

Personal Space Invader. Now playing in the Kennedy Center’s woman’s rest room. E.J. Takes Life.

Raise the tax on cigarettes? Why not the overweight as well? Yellow is the Color.

Copyright infringement. A post by Attention Span of a Fly is stolen.

Take It Elsewhere. Rant about people who use their cell phones at restaurants. Looking2Live

An event that’s not to be missed at Politics and Prose. The Happy Booker 

Women who wear flip-flops waddle, complains the writer at the DC Sidewalk Blog, in the post: Ban flip-flops, bring sexy back.

A recently arriving intern from California writes: It seems like people here have less patience, are always moving about. MichaelMichaelMotorcycle.

Eats seven year old Raisin Bran. Dumb Things I Have Done Lately. On the plus side, it’s from a happier time.

What is in the cage? A woman’s ritual revealed at Sarah and the Good Squad.

Metro malfunctions. The first by the writer who is actually on the train stuck under the river, Candy Sandwich, and another by the writer who remembers the movie, Daylight, why.i.hate.dc.

Feel our pain. Quest for Quiet plans to make noise Sunday in Adams Morgan.

Columbia Heights reports: Counter Intelligence: Good food news from Columbia Heights, since the neighborhood could really use some. Intangible Art: Columbia Heights seems to be reveling in the extreme Dada of summertime.

007 in Africa reports a weird scene on the Metro.

An engagement story and its colorful cast of characters. A Modest Proposal at End the Cola Wars.

Advice sought: To iPhone or Not to iPhone? Carrie Broadshoulders

The Tempest at the Folger. A report by Countersignature.

A gorgeous woman arrives at a bar and El Guapo is smitten. But she’s with two guys and El Guapo needs a strategy. His wing man provides one. 

A new Hill intern describes her DC experiences so far. The blog is sometimes seismic. Excerpt: . . . And let me tell you, networking is one of the most horribly intimidating things in the world. Talking to people I don’t know and trying to make myself look and sound good is not fun. Not fun at all.

Two exceptional, powerfully written and life affirming posts by writers who lost their fathers. Tender Thoughts was six months old when a random bullet took her father. Church of the Big Sky recalls the last day her father saw the sky.

Wannabe Wino, a goverment minion (really an attorney) who harbors dreams of owning a vineyard, picks her five favorite DC restaurants.

More Harassment on Metro. An anonymous writer descibes an incident. Don’t Be Silent.

Missed opportunity. Hustle’s Hot Corner. In the checkout line of 7-11

The Consistent Inconsistency of Beauty. Fascinating video of beauty through the ages. Art News

Do condo sales parties work? Inside the DC Bubble has doubts, and writes: I  thought the first rule of effective sales is: make the client feel comfortable, not feel intimidated.

Security expert is charged twice for briefs. Texas Viking