A Book of Verses
Dear Philosophers:
There is a venerable joke about two elderly ladies complaining about
the food at their Catskills resort. “It's terrible,” says the first,
“it's either bland and tasteless, or it tastes bad.” “Yes,”
agrees the second, “and the portions are too small.” Today, for the
first time since I was a teenager, I reread the Edward Fitzgerald
translation of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, both the first and fifth
editions and also the rearrangement of the quatrains by the American
artist Elihu Vedder for his illustrated edition. Omar Khayyam has much
the same complaint as the Catskills ladies. Life is meaningless and
pointless, his poems say, and it's also too brief. But Khayyam finds
comfort in the fact that life can also be pleasurable, and when it isn't
pleasurable at least there's wine for solace. As Khayyam's poetry,
Fitzgerald's translation, and Vedder's illustrations prove, there's also
beauty. Wisdom lies in finding enjoyment in, as the most famous verse
says, “A Book of Verses underneath the Bough,/ A Jug of Wine, a Loaf
of Bread — and Thou/ Beside me singing in the Wilderness —/ Oh,
Wilderness were Paradise enow!” It's an attractive philosophy, most
amusingly conveyed in one of the lesser known verses: “You know, my
friends, with what a brave Carouse/ I made a second marriage in my
house./ Divorced old barren Reason from my Bed,/ And took the Daughter
of the Vine to Spouse.” The Rubaiyat is available on the net in
various translations on several sites, and the Vedder version is
available in a wonderful rendition of the National Museum of American
Art's exhibit at http://nmaa-ryder.si.edu/collections/exhibits/vedder/rubaiyatmain.html.
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
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As of 6 p.m. Friday night my cable service has been out for thirty
hours. I've made so many calls to Comcast's service line that I've lost
count. The service line is deliberately difficult to navigate. You have
to put in your phone number and when the representative picks up the
first thing that is asked is your phone number, the information is not
carried through. I have been lied to so much I feel like I’ve been
talking to used car salesmen. The last promise was that my service would
be on at 5 p.m., and it’s now 6. Want to bet I don’t have cable over
the weekend. I’ll let you know. Does anybody know if this is a
regulated business. Is there anybody in Government I can complain to
because Comcast doesn’t care a bit about restoring service. You pay
fees to these people and they don’t care if they provide the service
you paid for or not. What a rip off.
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And Another One Gets Away
Ed T. Barron, edtb@aoldotcom
Well we missed a great opportunity to land an experienced and proven
Police Commissioner named William Bratton. Formerly in that job in New
York, Bratton made a very viable police force out of a chaotic situation
that had prevailed for years. Under Bratton's guidance and leadership
the New York City police force became very organized and effective both
in solving and in preventing crimes in a city that is about ten times
larger than our town. Bratton has an ego about the size of Rhode Island,
but he came up against Mayor Guiliani, another New York hero, who has an
ego about the size of Arizona. Bratton left and was readily available
for work in DC, but was ignored. he now is taking over the reins of the
police force in the land of Looney Tunes, LA. Hard to believe that a New
York City kid like Bratton would have turned down any decent offer to
stay on the East Coast. So, another good one gets away.
And by my reckoning, Sunday, the 10th of November, is the day that
all signs from the primary election must be removed or face a $50 per
day per sign fine. I hope that law is enforced we might just be able to
balance the budget with all the money pouring in. In my limited travels
as a Patterson volunteer, I helped in pulling down all of Kathy
Patterson's signs this weekend. In my travels I counted eleven Eric
Gaull signs and four Beverly Wilbourne signs. I'm sure there are many
more from the primary election. Let's see how fast the signs can be
pulled down for those who were candidates in the general election.
Perhaps the best way to ensure that all signs are removed it would
make sense for every one of the candidates for election to pony up $100
of their campaign funds. These bucks would be used to hire some folks
(anybody but those who collected petition signatures for Tony Williams)
to pull down all signs the day after the general election day across the
city.
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Thoughts About Comparing General Elections
Richard Layman, Northeast DC, richlaymandc@yahoo.com
Just a couple comments about Dorothy Brizill's post about ever
declining numbers of voters in DC's mayoral elections. These are just
thoughts, not facts. 1) DC elections would have greater turnouts if
mayoral elections were coincident with presidential elections. 2) DC
elections would have greater turnout if we had voting representation in
Congress and voted for those positions (other than Delegate) as well. 3)
In a city with a large transient population, it's hard to get people
focused and voting in DC elections (this is a phenomenon common to
college towns — once Ann Arbor switched its local elections from the
spring to be coincident with the state/federal elections, student
turnout and overall turnout increased dramatically). 4) I used to say in
college that “you don't train people in relatively authoritarian
school systems for 13-17 years and expect them upon graduation to become
active, free thinking, participating members of society.” People have
to feel as if they, and their vote, matter. Many people don't.
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Correction in Percentages for the At-Large
Race
Connie Ridgway, Phil's proud spouse, kaniru@aol.com
The Washington Post (as well as themail and the Board of
Elections) reported that Phil Mendelson received 47 percent of the vote,
and that in no ward did he receive more than 50 percent of the vote.
However, Phil actually received votes from 67.75 percent of the voters,
Catania received 39.22 percent. and Kinlow received 13.19 percent. This
is due to the fact that we could vote for two at-large candidates. The
percentages used by the [Board of Elections] are based on the total
number of votes cast for the at-large position (182,721), not the total
number of people voting (126,964). In every other race — mayor,
council chair, etc. — the percentages are based on total number of
voters. Indeed, Phil received 10,000 more votes than the Mayor —
86,023 vs. 76,074 — yet it's reported that Williams got 60.59 percent
of the vote
Just wanted to correct a perception (was it just I who thought this?)
that the Post was saying Phil didn't get a majority of votes in the city
for At-Large Councilmember. 67.75 percent is more like a supermajority.
[Since voters have a choice of voting for two at-large councilmembers,
“bullet voting” for just one, or abstaining from the at-large race
entirely, I'd argue that reporting the vote as either the percentage of
voters or of total votes is somewhat misleading. However, I'd agree with
Connie that reporting the vote as the percentage of voters gives a more
accurate impression of the actual support for candidates. — Gary
Imhoff]
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Absentee Ballots
Adam Marshall, ajbm2@cam.ac.uk
I can only commiserate with those who didn’t receive their absentee
ballots for the general election — another major coup for the Board of
Elections and Ethics. I have lived in Britain for the past two and a
half years, and have now suffered through two electoral cycles of BOEE
incompetence. To wit: I requested absentee ballots for both the primary
and general elections in a letter which I sent to BOEE in August, duly
signed. My absentee ballot for the September primary cycle arrived here
one day before the primary election itself; I returned it anyway, as I
knew it would be counted even if it was too late to affect the results.
But BOEE had another trick up its sleeve — no general election ballot
was ever sent to me. Three phone calls to BOEE last week (“you need to
speak to Mrs. XYZ”) resulted in my being transferred to a line with no
seeming owner and no voice mail system. I encountered similar problems
in the 2000 election cycle, although my general election ballot did by
some miracle reach me in time (two days before the election).
This is the first election in which I have not voted since I reached
voting age six years ago. It is disillusioning that the desire to
complete one’s civic duty, no matter the distance or the cost (over 4
pounds to return the ballot!), can be so callously trumped by
inefficiency. Thank God I live in a colony — if I lived in a state
with House and Senate races in play yesterday, I would have been
powerless to register my vote and try to prevent the tragedy that has
now befallen us in Congress.
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DCBOEE Incompetent
Eric Lashner, eratfink@aol.com
The DCBOEE was unprepared for the 2002 ANC elections with new
redistricting. Not only did they not have a list of registered voters,
but when voters came to the polls they were given the wrong ballots.
Georgetown University students have been gerrymandered into a few
different districts this past election. Students registered in different
dorms vote in different ANC SMDs. However the poll workers had no idea
which dorms belonged in which SMD and numerous voters voted in the wrong
SMD. It was gross incompetence on the Board's part and unfair to voters
trying to cast a ballot in their correct SMD. When voters tried to
change their ballot they were sometimes harassed by poll watchers and
others. Only after we called the BOEE and complained another two times
was anything done to correct the situation.
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History and Politics
David Sobelsohn, dsobelsoatcapaccessdotorg
Mark David Richards, a usually reliable chronicler of DC political
history, wrote in last Wednesday's themail that “Republicans last
controlled the Presidency, the Senate, and the House of Representatives
48 years ago, from 1953-54.” I know the general media are repeating
this error, so Mark's not alone. But actually Republicans last
controlled the Presidency, the Senate, and the House of Representatives
two years ago, from January-May 2001, until Jim Jeffords left the
Republican Party, throwing control of the Senate to the Democrats. Of
course, since those months were early in the current Bush presidency,
they were much less dangerous than the next two years will be.
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For everyone who has ever gotten one of these ubiquitous scam
letters, promising untold millions in exchange for upfront fees,
Michelle Singletary's column in the Washington Post last Thursday
was particularly interesting. The US Secret Service is developing a
database of all the different versions of this scam, which it is sharing
with other law enforcement agencies. You can simply forward any scam
letters you get to 419.fcd@usss.treas.gov.
The link to the article in the Post is http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20607-2002Nov6.html.
If you lost money on one of these scams, it is still worthwhile
filing a complaint with the FBI's Internet Fraud Complaint Center at http://www.ifccfbi.gov,
but that is somewhat of a long, involved process. If all you want to do
is register annoying E-mail with the authorities, it is much easier to
forward it to the Secret Service.
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Yes, I hear the groans — not Klingle Road again! We have all wanted
this ill-tempered dispute to vanish. But it is still a hot-button issue,
as a number of my soon-to-be constituents (I'll be on the Mount Pleasant
ANC, come January) made clear to me. The debate has been remarkably
polarized, as one side has demanded that the road of old be fully
restored, the other that it be fully closed. Would the disputants be
receptive to a compromise solution? Begin with the Berger Report Option
G: a one-lane, one-way road, and a parallel bike/pedestrian lane,
together no wider than the existing roadway. The road would be one-way
westbound most of the day, reversing to eastbound during the afternoon
rush. The Berger Report predicts that the peak traffic load would be
about 280 vehicles per hour, which is not a lot, and my observations
here, on Park Road, indicate that for most of the day the traffic is
only half the rush hour peak.
Let us specify further that the road would be subject to the same
limitations as Beach Drive, namely no trucks, and no commercial
vehicles. One more provision: let the road be closed to all motor
vehicles on weekends. The commuters would thus have the cross-town route
they want, at the times that they want it. On weekends, when recreation
is most useful, the road would be a quiet pedestrian and bicycle route.
The environmental impact would be minor, because the width of the
roadbed would be no greater than at present. The bike/hike segment would
provide everyday recreational access, albeit with traffic noise on
weekdays. No traffic, nor traffic noise, would be imposed on residents
above Klingle on weekends, when people are most commonly at home. Such a
compromise works for Beach Drive, and it could be made to work for
Klingle Road as well.
###############
We are pleased to announce that the American Lung Association of the
District of Columbia (ALADC) joins a long list of supporters of the
Coalition to Repair and Reopen Klingle Road. ALADC has reviewed the MCV
Associates' transportation and environmental cost benefit analysis and
assessment and finds it to be a “credible report,” and are concerned
by its findings that closing Klingle Road leads to significant increase
in toxic emissions. “We all know how bad traffic congestion is in our
city. Sitting in traffic is not only bad for your nerves, but also for
the environment. When exhaust from your car mixes with sunlight, it can
combine to form ground-level ozone, a serious air pollutant and cause of
respiratory disease. Since the barricading of Klingle Road, thousands of
cars have been forced onto other, more congested roads, forcing them to
sit idling in traffic. Repairing and reopening Klingle Road will reduce
air pollution, lessen traffic congestion, and improve the quality of
life in our community,” says Rolando Andrewn, ALADC Executive
Director. Visit our web site at http://www.repairklingleroad.org
and join our growing list of supporters.
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This is to advise that the November 2002 on-line edition has been
uploaded and may be accessed at http://www.intowner.com.
Included are the lead stories, community news items and crime reports,
editorials (including prior months' archived), restaurant reviews (prior
months' also archived), and the text from the ever-popular “Scenes
from the Past” feature. Also included are all current classified ads.
The complete issue (along with prior issues back to July 2001) also is
available in PDF file format by direct access from our home page at no
charge simply by clicking the link provided. Here you will be able to
view the entire issue as it looks in print, including the new ABC Board
actions report, all photos and advertisements.
The next issue will publish on December 13. The complete PDF version
will be posted by early that Friday morning, following which the text of
the lead stories, community news, and selected features will be uploaded
shortly thereafter. To read this month's lead stories, simply click the
link on the home page to the following headlines: 1) “Heurich Mansion
Sale Seen Affected by Interior Landmarking, Proceeds Needed for City
Museum Move to Work”; 2) “Adams Morgan History to Get Spotlight,
'Heritage Trail' Will Tell the Story”; 3) “Historic Building's
Interior Restoration Takes Center Stage”; 4) “Shaw Neighborhood
Backdrop for 'Washington Interns Gone Bad' Film.”
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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
“The American Porch,” November 12
Mary Rowse, merowse@aol.com
On Tuesday, November 12, at 7:30 p.m., local author Michael Dolan
will discuss “The American Porch,” the title of his new book that
examines the important role porches have played in architecture,
politics, film, literature, photography and pop culture from ancient
Greece to modern times. Dolan will document the rise, fall and return of
the porch as a place of importance in the American home. His
presentation will feature slides of Washington porches and images from
his book, which will be available for sale.
This free lecture will take place at the Chevy Chase Community
Center, 5601 Connecticut Avenue, NW, (at the corner of Connecticut
Avenue and McKinley Street, NW). It is sponsored by Historic Washington
Architecture, a newly formed nonprofit dedicated to researching our
citywide architectural heritage and presenting educational programs
about it to the public. For more information, please contact Mary Rowse,
MERowse@aol.com, or 362-9279.
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Janney Elementary School Book Sale, November
16
Patricia Chittams, pchittams@yahoo.com
Janney Elementary School will be holding a used book sale on
Saturday, November 16, at the school, from 10:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. There
will also be a new book fair from Wednesday through Saturday, November
16. Please help us supplement the funds given to Janney by DCPS.
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Developing an Enduring Brand, November 16
Barbara Conn, bconn@cpcug.org
Drawing on cognitive psychology, marketing research, and business
strategy, speaker Janine Carey will describe the five elements of a
successful brand and present a road map for the development of an
enduring brand. Janine Carey founded and is president of The Mkt. Group,
Inc., a full-service marketing firm. A frequent speaker/lecturer at
industry events and universities, Janine has won more than a dozen
awards for her work in management consulting, strategic marketing, brand
development, and marketing communications.
Gather your questions, friends, and colleagues, and bring them to the
Saturday, November 16, 1:00 p.m. (check-in: 12:50 p.m.), meeting of the
Capital PC User Group (CPCUG) Entrepreneurs and Consultants Special
Interest Group (E&C SIG) at the Cleveland Park Library (Second Floor
Large Meeting Room), 3310 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Washington, DC, just a
block and a half south of the Cleveland Park Metrorail station, half a
block south of the Cineplex Odeon Uptown movie theater.
Meetings of the CPCUG Entrepreneurs and Consultants SIG are free and
are held each month. For more information about this presentation, the
speaker, CPCUG (a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational organization), and its
E&C SIG, and to register for this and/or future SIG meetings, visit
http://www.cpcug.org/user/entrepreneur/1102meet.html.
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Oyster School Book Fair, November 18
David Pansegrouw, dpansegrouw@atpco.net
The Oyster Bilingual Elementary School is hosting its Annual
Bilingual Holiday Book Fair from November 18th through November 23rd.
This event features wonderful books in English and Spanish from over 100
publishers and presents students, parents and teachers with a golden
opportunity to see the latest works by popular authors and illustrators
for children. Don't miss this exciting Bilingual Book Fair coming to
Oyster School just in time for the holiday season. Book Fair hours are
Monday, November 18, from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m.; Tuesday through Friday,
November 19 through 22, from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.; and Saturday, November
23, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more information, call 671-3111. Ask for
Laura Kleinmann.
The Oyster Book Fair is a great collection of children's books, and
profits constitute the major portion of the Oyster Library's yearly
budget for non-staff expenditures. Oyster is the only DC Public school
that is entirely bilingual Spanish/English — and it works!)
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Eric Owen Moss, FAIA, November 23
Kristi Dangoia, kdangoia@nbm.org
The designs of Los Angeles architect Eric Owen Moss, FAIA, are unique
explorations of space and materiality that result in complex and
evocative structures. Moss, principal of Eric Owen Moss Architects and
director of SCI-Arc, the Southern California Institute of Architecture,
will discuss his career and projects. These include the master plans and
buildings for Culver City, California, his plans for the
competition-winning Queens Museum of Art in New York, and his project
for a new cultural center in St. Petersburg, Russia, now on exhibit at
the Venice Biennale. Following his presentation, Moss will sign copies
of his books.
National Building Museum, 401 F Street, NW (Judiciary Square Metro,
Red Line), Saturday, November 23, 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. $15 for museum
members, $20 nonmembers, $10 students. Prepaid registration required.
Spotlight on Design is an ongoing lecture series featuring architects
and designers of distinction. Spotlight on Design is sponsored by the
worldwide building materials company, Lafarge. The National Building
Museum, created by an act of Congress in 1980, is a private, nonprofit
institution that examines and interprets American achievements in
building through exhibitions, education programs and publications. The
Museum is developing a permanent exhibition, Building America, to
explore quintessentially American aspects of our built environment.
Museum hours are Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday
from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free. For more information, visit http://www.nbm.org
or call 272-2448.
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CLASSIFIEDS — HOUSING
Furnished Apartment Starting January
Virginia Johnson, virginiajohnson@netzero.net
Furnished apartment available for rent in Adams Morgan. Available
starting January 1, 2003, through May 1, 2003. Large efficiency (575
square feet). Great location. Sunny with all the amenities. Rent $900
per month. Must be one person, no pets, no smoking. Need up-to-date
references with telephone numbers. Prefer someone who is tidy and
considerate. For more information, please E-mail virginiajohnson@netzero.net.
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CLASSIFIEDS — VOLUNTEERS
Volunteer Tax Preparers Needed — No
Experience Required
Colleen Dailey, East of the River Tax Campaign, colleen.dailey@verizon.net
Would you like to help low-income families in DC increase their
incomes by as much as 50 percent? The East of the River Tax Coalition is
organizing five free tax clinics to help low-income families in Ward 7
claim the valuable tax credits they've earned in 2002. All sites will
provide free electronic tax preparation and filing services using
TaxWise software. Volunteer tax preparers will be trained in early
December to work at tax sites in late January through April 15.
Volunteers are also needed to greet and interview clients and review
their tax-related paperwork. All volunteers will be expected to work a
minimum of three four-hour shifts during the tax season. For more
information, contact Colleen Dailey at colleen.dailey@verizon.net.
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CLASSIFIEDS — WANTED
Anybody know where I can get a DC flag suitable for hanging on my
wall?
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Looking for small computer for child to use for some games and
limited Internet. Wishlist: Pentium, sound-card, 64K ram; no monitor
needed.
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