Washingtonian Photo Contest Submissions
Recently
Washingtonian Magazine launched a new feature on their web site for photographers. It's a monthly contest where a topic is announced and photographers enter photos based on that topic. The editors then convene and select 5 finalists. They also select a handful of others they really liked. The public then votes and the winner's photo is printed in the print version of Washingtonian Magazine. It's a pretty cool little feature and great for local photographers to get some exposure. The basic rule is the photo has to be shot in the DC metro area. If the topic is skyscraper, you can't break out photos from NYC or Chicago...you have to go with what's available in this region.
Anyhow, I submitted a few images this month and wanted to share. The topic was architecture.
Labels: Architecture, DC, Urban, Washington
A Pause in My Daily Ritual
Each morning I walk to work. It's a daily ritual that doesn't change. Despite the cooler weather, the changing colors of the seasons and even an occasional rainfall, my walk is always there. It's that one part of my day where I can simply enjoy my little corner of the city and get much needed fresh air before I sit in an office for 8 hours.
My walk doesn't always follow the same path. One day I'll walk down Mass Ave. One day I'll head down 7th, 8th or 9th Street. Sometimes I go straight down 10th and cut through Chinatown on H Street. If it's 900 degrees outside, I usually pick the route that affords me the most shade. On mornings like today, I just followed the path of which walk signs allowed me to keep my pace.
The cool thing about this walk is I get to enjoy some of DC's most majestic buildings along the way. The picture above was actually taken a few weeks ago on my morning walk. It was just one of those mornings that I walked a bit slower enjoying the sights and sounds of a city waking up to a new day. When I walked through Mt. Vernon Square like I usually do, the old Carnegie Library just stood there as a testament to the vast monuments of our national city. She's off the beaten path of the national mall and doesn't garner the attention of other more popular buildings in DC. But she's a beauty non-the-less and something I cherish every morning I walk past her.
I haven't found another city on this earth that has left me speechless and standing idly as often as I do in Washington. Something as simple as a daily walk to work becomes a source for so much inspiration in ones life. Thank you DC!
Labels: DC, Urban, Washington
Beers for Siers 3 - Part One
This is the first posting in a three part series from the 3rd Annual Beers for Siers pub crawl in NYC.On Friday, July 25th, I jumped on a Bolt bus with my friend Dervon to head up to NYC for my good friend Adam Siers' annual birthday weekend pub-crawl. I've been back on the east coast for close to two years now and figured it was time I head up to visit Siers.
So when we got into town, we figured we'd take Friday night as a chance to hit up some NYC clubs and get our groove on. Naturally, I went online and found a few places that fit our interest and a few with some well-known DJs spinning. So we showered up and grabbed a cab from mid-town down to SoHo for our first stop, Sullivan Room.
Here's the cool thing about Sullivan Room. It was hidden off Bleeker Street on a side road in the neighborhood. To find it, you had to know where it was. There was no sign or anything else to let you know it was there, aside from the two very large men standing at a door. We walked up and they said we were in the right place. Ruben T was spinning on the decks, so I was excited to get into one of the cities true underground house music rooms. And let me tell you, it was underground. It was in the basement of a non-descript building. The room was dark, red and had one of the sweetest sound systems you could ever imagine. When Ruben T blended into his hard pulsing house beats, you felt it through every bone in your body. We were quite literally at the center of the NYC house music world.
Here's the strange thing about Sullivan Room...it reminded me of the Jam Cellar. Now let me explain. Most of you know of my passion for dancing. Well the Jam Cellar is regarded as one of the greatest swing dance venues in the world. It's small, intimate, and most people know each other. And it's full of some of the best dancers in the world, which makes it a tad bit intimidating for newbie’s. Well Sullivan Room clearly was the spot for house music dancers. People walked in around 12:30, dressed purely to dance and nothing else. They stretched, hugged others they knew and began practicing their craft on the dance floor. I swear it was no different than anything we see at a swing dance, except it was house music. And oh my, these people could dance. They moved their bodies unlike any club dancer I have ever seen. Sure, there were a few rave-kid types doing their glow-stick impersonations...but this was venue and the music was for hardcore house-heads. It was one of the more unique things I've ever seen.
So we finished our drinks there and decided it was time to open things up a bit. We wanted big. We wanted flashy. We wanted glitz and glamour. We wanted to experience a true mega-club in the greatest city on earth. So we got into a cab and set out to find Mansion, a club with a sister venue in Miami known for it's over-the-top club experiences. We got into the neighborhood where Mansion was, but we never made it there. We got sidetracked by a venue called Marquee.
Now there is no saying that Marquee was better than Mansion. We'll never know at this point. But the line to get into Marquee definitely had us curious at what all the fuss was about. So leave it to Dervon to work her magic. Two minutes talking with the bouncer and here we are being escorted past the line into the venue. I'm thinking her 2 inch shorts and 4 inch heals probably had something to do with it, but who's complaining.
So Marquee was exactly what we wanted. It was multiple rooms with house, trance, and hip-hop. Dervon got to do her booty dancing to hip hop, I got my trance fix and everyone was happy with quality beverages to go around. Night one in NYC was perfect except for one little flaw. Poor Dervon lost her little wallet at Marquee, where we assume it fell out of her pocket and was quickly swept up by the cleaning staff at the club. She tried over the next few days to get it back, but to no avail.
Aside from that little blemish, Friday in NYC was perfect! Even the tater tots at F.A.T.S. were amazing. Day two brings more...
Labels: Clubs, DJ, Nightlife, NYC, Urban, Vacation
The incredible waving squirrel
I've been meaning to post something on this for a few days now. Last week I grabbed some dinner and walked over to the National Mall to relax and watch the sunset at the Lincoln Memorial. It turned out to be an absolutely beautiful night to be outside and walking around this great city. Not too hot...but just right.
So here I am, sitting outside eating dinner when a little squirrel came wandering over. I figured he was used to tourist feeding him, so I tried to ignore his attempts to get my attention. Soon I realized that wasn't going to work when he came within 1 ft. of my food. At that point I knew I had to feed him a sun chip so he'd go away.
Five minutes later our little friend was back. So I waved at him. You'll never believe what he did next. The darn squirrel waved back. My friends didn't believe me until they turned to look and sure enough, he was waving again. Okay, okay...so maybe he was just imitating me. But if it wasn't the coolest thing to see.
The above photo was the best I could do. I tried to get one of him waving but he was more concerned with food and I had to keep my eyes out in case he tried to climb into my lap.
Overall it was a perfect evening to enjoy a picnic, the memorials and our little friend we now call "Chippy the Squirrel." The picture below was taken a few hours later after the sunset behind the Lincoln Memorial. I never get tired of all the great things to see and do in our nations capital.
Labels: Memorials, Random, Urban, Washington
Job Worth Applying For
Overheard in the Chinatown/Gallery Place Metro station on Thursday, Feb. 14th. Coming from an announcement throughout the station...
"Custodial poopman, please contact the Metrorail operator. Custodial poopman, please contact the operator."No kidding!
Labels: Metro, Transit, Urban
