It’s amazing what a difference a new job can make in your outlook. A two-week check-in from One Wino’s Search for Clarity.

Ever wonder why everyone seems so concerned about other people’s family choices? So does WashingTina.

As it’s been awhile since I’ve brought you a randomly striking photograph, here’s downtown Silver Spring, resplendent in purple, from Silver Spring Daily Photo.

Finally! Someone else is as perplexed by the McRib fetishization as I am! Thanks, Listen to Leon, for making it OK to stand up to this trend.

In keeping with the “taking on society” theme of today’s collection, a manifesto from DC Dating Divas. As someone who was once part of a tall-short relationship from the girl side, I can identify with the dynamic here (though it would be charitable to call me “tall”).

There were so many beautiful, eloquent and meaningful Veterans Day tributes yesterday that it’d be hard to bring you just one. So instead, Make Lemons summed up how we civilians all feel about our men and women in uniform, in a fittingly piquant and tart graphic. (Sorry – that was a terrible citrus-related pun. Language NSFW.)

A day that started off well doesn’t end well.  The Art of Observing chronicles such a day.

Metro DC Lawn and Garden Blog has some suggestions for how to honor veterans (and those currently serving) on Veterans’ Day, which is today, November 11.

Kids feel changes in routine deeply and can’t always understand why a change occurs.  Feast After Famine writes about one child’s reaction to a parent’s change in routine.

Recovering from chemotherapy isn’t fun.  I’m wishing Susan Niebur of Toddler Planet a quick recovery from the chemo and the underlying illness, inflammatory breast cancer.

Is asking to have “a child lovers code of conduct” removed from Amazon censorship, or is it common sense?  Before the Baby Wakes had requested the book’s removal, but now is reconsidering her position.

Republic of T has some ideas for the deficit commission, also known as the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform.

What began as bullet-pointed musings on recent events in the life of the Choosey Beggar, quickly morphed into a laugh inducing, behind-the-scenes look at restaurant life… and not for nothing, but his About Me page is a riot too.

For most things in life, timing is critical. Lemon Gloria’s post about the Sunset of Butterbean13 (her Match profile) illustrates that dating is no exception to the vagaries and fickleness of timing.

A Single Girl Doing Single Things is a newish blog from a recently single and recently transplanted woman living in DC. Her latest post laments the influence of technology on the dating habits of 20somethings. While it includes some usual generalizations (i.e. – guys always do this, girls do that) it also has some funny stories and interesting observations too.

The Bitches who Brunch offer a point/counter-point deconstruction of their experience at Beacon Bar & Grill. Unsurprisingly, the only matter of consensus is the bottomless mimosas.

Do not be fooled by the name of her blog – I Spy Things DC is not a fan of the local football team. The events of the last few months, however, have softened her position from playful derision to sympathy.

In a city filled with people who take too much joy in bashing it, I Drank What?!? has a charming love letter to her adopted hometown.

Veteran’s Day is Thursday, and DC Like a Local has a guide to events in honor of those who served who served this country in our armed forces.

Who doesn’t love a bake sale for a good cause? Certainly not the blogger behind Black Pearls & Bitch Boots.

Though this is not a DC Blog, the concept is extremely cool and demonstrative of the generous spirit that our virtual community continuously exudes. Read about Just Daisy’s Comments for Cans Drive, and maybe get inspired to start your own? Hat tip to the delightfully snarky Firecracker’s Follies for alerting me to this.

As One Bite At a Time takes on her first Thanksgiving dinner, she’s going on the defensive and reaching out for help- join her Twitter chat this Wednesday to give or get TDay cooking advice.

Life Outtacontext has an interesting look at the “two faces” of Rep. John Boehner, the likely new Speaker of the House.

This post from The AntiDC is sort of a Washington Post mockery inside a mockery inside a mockery (are Inception references passé yet?) – but I like it.

Ballston is looking to improve its reputation, like neighbors Rosslyn and Crystal City have done. ARLnow.com.

Princess Sparkle Pony has a theory about why Republicans- yes, Republicans- will be faced with the consequences of last week’s election sooner than they think.

Social media alerted Joe Flood to the fact that his building was on fire, but it was his neighbors who gave him a place to stay that night.

A man sharpens his knife on the Metro, while another tries to ride his wheelchair up the escalator. 10th and Mayville reports in the post: Exciting people on the Metro.

Gina Arlotto of the Washington Area Bicyclist Association, tells what is was like to bicycle commute, in the post, My First Year as a Bike Commuter. She writes: At 43, with three children to see into adulthood, safety was my main concern.

The writer of Occam’s Razor hires someone off Craiglist to remove a basketball post. He writes about the experience in The Craigslist economy.

Write Spell’s Web cam doubles as a mirror.

The perk of owning a scooter is minor celebrity status on the streets of DC, writes Pamela’s Punch.

What is a ‘Mews,” is explained by Preserving DC Stables.

A Bitchin Kithen has a recipe for oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.

Mean Louise on her resignation from NaNoWriMo, and the swirling controversy Slate caused by endorsing that path.

Wow, has BeyondDC really shown the stark reality that is the massive expansion of Arlington over the years. Apparently, this isn’t just a recent thing…

Did you #tweetyour16yearoldself yesterday? I did. A lot, actually. Scary Mommy has some thoughts on this, too. Oh, hindsight.

Who doesn’t love a good old-fashioned “kids say the darnedest things” story, especially about the naughty bits? Thanks, Alice’s Adventures Underground, for reminding me why I am not yet ready to be a mother.

Mistopia’s adventures in getting a motorcycle license not only entertain, but also remind me why those things scare the daylights out of me.

I really like to cap these lists off with a pleasant note to send you into your weekend. To that end, please enjoy some election-themed happy thoughts, with no ideological bent whatsoever, from Not Enough Tequila in the World.

Doctor Moxie, writes: I’m not the first woman to confuse a hangover with pregnancy, right? The post is called Shock.

Disaffect Scanner Jockey is already thinking about the next election and the possibility of a Tea Party Barbiegeddon.

How I almost accidentally got myself elected to office this week. Eric Nuzum. A last minute grab for power.

Uppopped Collar takes a long-shot exposure of a flashmob at Dupont Circle.

John Boehner & Compromise Go Together Like Bologna & Peanut Butter. PunditMom.

Alyssa Rosenburg opens with a disclosure that she is fascinated by “Lady Gaga’s efforts to uglify sex and to glorify loneliness” and goes on to contrast that aesthetic with the deliberately distorted Barbie doll aesthetic of Nicki Manaj. The result is intriguing and insightful commentary.

Freckled K tells a story of what can happen on a date when you let bad hang around long enough to predictably metastasize into horrific.

The subject is too familiar for too many people. The blogger behind Not So Linear writes chillingly, hauntingly, and oddly lyrically about a critical crossroad and how a bowl of soup helped choose the course towards not pulling the trigger.

As a matter of policy, DCBlogs generally does not feature posts that explicitly solicit sales that benefit the blogger. This contributing editor is making an exception for the announcement of the Food Truck Fiesta’s iPhone App because a) it’s only $.99, b) they will be offering coupons to get the app without even that negligible fee, and c) having the location of DC’s Food Trucks at one’s fingertips is exceptionally cool.

Public Service Announcement: despite the existence of two holidays between now and the lighting of the National Christmas tree, and the logical reluctance to encourage the premature humming of Holiday Jingles, hanging of decorations, or early onsets of any manner of Jolliness, however, the tree lighting is an event that requires prior planning. DC Like a Local has the details.

I don’t care about your fatigue with recaps of the Rally to Restore Sanity/and or Fear. If you don’t click this link from BuzzFeed and view the 100 Best Signs, then you’re not a real American.

I once wrote “time does parlor tricks with your memory of all but your most horrible loves.” The once DC based (but we still claim her) blogger, Life Goes On, I Think, understands and experiences those parlor tricks and spins them into an unbelievably silky metaphor of a blog post.

And finally, we’d like to give a big fat wet kiss to the whole DC Blogosphere because too many of you to count posted to implore people to vote. Good citizenship is sexy.

Date the District tries to identify exactly what it is that makes it so easy for singles to connect on Halloween, and suggests tips for bringing that attitude to your everyday dating life (but, you know, without the fishnets).

Leftover Halloween candy you’d prefer to keep off your thighs? Why not send it to the troops? All Life is Local has the info on how to do it.

Newly pregnant ladies Doctor Moxie and Elizabeth Nolan Brown (congrats!!) make it clear that they will not be your average mommy bloggers.

With the end of October begins the increasingly popular Movember! Land Shark will be participating in the ’stache movement this year that’s evolved from simply fun to fun AND philanthropic.

Washington City Paper has an interesting follow up on the DC9 liquor license hearing.

While student debt is at an alarming rate nationwide, Vox Populi announces that, based on the Project on Student Debt’s figures, D.C. takes the first-place ribbon as having the highest in the country.

I know we’re probably all rally’d out by now, but just one more: icantbelievable has one of my favorite recaps (and pictures of the signs).

Regarding Metro and the restore sanity/fear rally organizers, thinklynsen says it was a catastrophic failure and embarrassment.

If you see something, say something writes this about the rally: Above all, the day was a huge rebuttal to Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, and the teabaggers, by a diverse crowd representing all ages, all walks of life, and seemingly from all over. This gathering effectively refudiated the claims by the right to represent the “real America.”

The Rally for Sanity? It Was Insane! Life Outtacontext shows off his poster.

Halloween scares. Photo. MtnGrl Musings.

Rally poster photo wrap: Eat Drink More More and Nutgraph

Reya has a homecoming in Missouri reflects on the differences in this land in Home Sweet Home: If you get a cold on the west coast, you try to figure out WHY. You haven’t been eating well or maybe you’ve skipped your yoga class too often. If you get a cold on the east coast, you don’t have a cold. You take over-the-counter meds and go to work. If you get a cold in the midwest, you get in bed, eat chicken soup, watch movies on TV, read magazines, and recover. According to the Cosmology of Reya.

Dear Mom and Dad, If I die today…Marathon’s Mistress writes a letter with an asterisk.