Personal Life

Dear Personalities:

I’m writing this as I’m sitting in the Board of Elections hearing on the slots petition. It’s late Sunday evening; actually, it’s 10:00 p.m. Dorothy and I finished the ten-day slog through the petition challenge period just before filing it on Monday; all day Tuesday and Wednesday morning were spent wrangling on procedural issues, and since Wednesday afternoon the Board has held hearings for up to twelve hours daily (with no lunch breaks, by the way), and we’ve spent our evenings preparing responses to issues that have to be answered the next day.

Look, lots of people have much worse lives. We haven’t been working twelve-hour days digging in a salt mine, and we’re not in pain. I know I’m being petty, but here’s my whining complaint: there’s no time for a personal life. My eyeglasses have been broken for two weeks; the battery in Dorothy’s watch has gone out; the grass on the lawn is as high as the corn in Kansas; our clean laundry has been exhausted; we haven’t been at home to cook a dinner for at least two weeks; the food in the refrigerator has long since grown moldy; and the cupboard is bare. Lives fall apart when you don’t have time to tend to them.

So tell me about your personal lives, to give me — and us all — a little pleasure by proxy. What have you been doing in Washington that has made you happy? What’s been your summer delight? Please write in and make us happy, too.

Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com

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What’s Up, Brazil?
Vanessa Brooks, setpointinc@starpower.net

Councilmember Harold Brazil’s Chief of Staff, Mike Morgan, made a verbal promise to support SET POINT, Inc. (a 501(c)(3) youth initiative) in November 2003, after receiving a proposal to fund sixteen East-of-the-River children to attend the American Tennis Association’s 2004 tournament being held in Houston, Texas, July 30-August 8.He (Mr. Morgan) sent his assistant to meet with us in March of 2004, when she again reiterated the fact that they had the funds "for just this type of purpose" and that she would strongly recommend funding. One week later, after several follow-up phone calls, we were told that they would only give this organization $100.The proposal we submitted to them was for $40,000.

In the meantime, I’d met Mr. Brazil on two separate campaign occasions when he expressed a sincere interest in supporting this initiative. We followed up with several telephone calls to Mr. Brazil shortly thereafter. However, we never heard from him nor have we received the $100.

The Washington Tennis and Education Foundation (West of the River) is scheduled to sponsor approximately twenty children to this same tournament free of charge as well as the Tennis Center at College Park in Maryland. Brazil has oversight over the DC Sports and Entertainment Commission, which has funding available for just this type of program. We were advised to submit a proposal by one of the Commissioners because he knew there were funds available. We were denied.

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Interactive Journalism Spotted Anywhere Yet?
Phil Shapiro, pshapiro@his.com

I'm curious to hear if anyone has spotted any signs of the Washington Post moving from traditional lecture format journalism to conversation format journalism? Other than interactive chat sessions where readers are invited to politely submit questions to the all-knowing-ones, I haven't seen signs of interactivity happening yet. Meanwhile that bastion of journalistic excellence and leadership, the Dallas Morning News, is leaving DC in the dust: "Last year, the editorial board of this newspaper launched our own blog, which you can see at http://DallasNews.com/opinion/blog. We think you should know what's going on in the blogosphere, even if you're not an Internet junkie. Blogs react with lightning speed to the news of the day, which is why Old Media are often trailing them. That's why we've decided to bring the best of the blogosphere to you on Viewpoints, and in our new Sunday opinion section Points, which will debut later this summer. We'd like to share with you, our readers, great stuff we've found on blogs, and we want you to tip us off to smart, sharp, sassy blogs you've discovered."

Here in DC, the folks who are telling us we don't get it if we don't get it — don't get it. The Washington Post produces irony in greater quantities than Andrew Carnegie ever did. They're a veritable irony factory.

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Smokefree DC Incorporates, Becomes Nonprofit Membership Organization
Angela Bradbery, Angela@smokefreedc.org

Since its inception a year and a half ago, Smokefree DC has consisted of an informal but dedicated group of District residents and workers fighting to make all District workplaces 100 percent smokefree. Our efforts to pass legislation similar to New York and California failed to get out of D.C. Councilmember Carol Schwartz’s committee. That is why we have incorporated with the District of Columbia and have filed papers with the IRS to become a 501(c)4 nonprofit membership organization.

Secondhand smoke is more than a nuisance -- it is carcinogenic. It causes heart disease and lung cancer, and is linked to asthma and bronchitis. If you believe that all workers, including those who work in bars and restaurants, have a right to breathe clean air on the job, please join us today. Your support will help us educate the public about the dangers of secondhand smoke, make our voices heard by the City Council, and generate more attention to what is a critical issue for so many workers and patrons who suffer in smoky environments. To join, go to http://www.smokefreedc.org/member-join.php.

Please note that membership fees and donations to Smokefree DC are not tax deductible. We have no salary (we’re all volunteers), no rent (our meetings are at different people’s homes), no phone bills (our contact numbers are our home and cell numbers), so any money collected will go 100 percent toward the resources needed to help make DC smokefree.

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Good Food
Ruth Holder, rutheholder@yahoo.com

I share Gary’s delight at the prospect of hot Krispy Kreme doughnuts in DC [themail, July 21]. Of course we all need our veggies too, and I thought my neighbors might like to hear about this clever combination of convenient technology and old-fashioned farming. Every Wednesday, the online farmer’s market opens at http://www.starhollowfarm.com/store/merchant.mvc — there you can place your order for delicious fresh produce, much of it organically grown (it’s clearly marked when not), along with baked goods (try the sticky buns) and dairy (including fresh organic eggs). Then on Saturday you breeze through to pick up and pay for your order either at the Adams Morgan farmer’s market (between 8-1) or Takoma Park (8-5). It couldn’t be more convenient, unless you could also get someone to bring it home and cook it up for you.

I far prefer it to getting up at the crack of dawn to get to the farmer’s market before everything is picked over and sold out.

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Parking on the National Mall
Paul Wilson, Ward 6, pawilson at starpower dot net

In the July 21 edition of the mail, Gabe Goldberg commented on the restrictive parking policies along the National Mall. His contact in the DC government responded, "Unfortunately, the street you cite, Jefferson Drive, is controlled by the federal government and leaves me of no use to you regarding your inquiries. The district has no say in how those streets controlled by the federal government are used for parking or other purposes." The correspondent went on to suggest he direct his queries to the Capitol Police or the Architect of the Capitol."

Actually, the National Mall is the bailiwick of the National Park Service and the Park Police. I will agree with Mr. Goldberg that a land grab of sorts ensued after 9/11, in which various agencies and the Congress closed streets altogether or instituted parking permits in the name of security. This included several streets under District jurisdiction. I’m thinking principally of E Street, NW, and of the streets just south of the House Offices, but I’m sure others were involved. The net result appears to be that more on-street parking was "secured," secured principally for the convenience of agency and Congressional employees, at the expense of residents and visitors. There’s nothing like a national emergency for scoring a little free parking or realizing territorial ambitions. A DC transportation consultant once told me, "control parking and you can control the world." It may be a bit hyperbolic, but in this city and in this day and age it rings true.

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Ag Parking
Michael Bindner, mikeybdc at yahoo

Gabe Goldberg opined that Department of Agriculture employees are somehow below him in regards to parking near their offices [themail, July 21]. I wonder if Mr. Goldberg’s employer provides parking? DC is designed as a federal city where federal employees actually work and live. Don’t mess with the core functions.

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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS

DC Public Library Events, July 26-28
Debra Truhart, debra.truhart@dc.gov

Monday, July 26, 6:00 p.m., Capitol View Neighborhood Library, 5001 Central Avenue, SE. Learn how to make floral arrangements. Public contact: 645-0755.

Tuesday, July 27, 1:30 p.m., Cleveland Park Neighborhood Library, 3310 Connecticut Avenue, NW. City Museum display on Native American artifacts found in the Washington, DC, area and a brief talk about library resources by librarian, which includes a bibliography on the subject. Public contact: 282-3080.

Wednesday, July 28, 12:00 p.m., Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial Library, 901 G Street, NW, Main Lobby. Deaf author Stevie Platt will discuss his book, Go to the Hill. Sign language interpreters will be present. Public contact: 727-2145 (TTY or voice).

Wednesday, July 28, 12:00 p.m., Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial Library, 901 G Street, NW, Main Lobby. Smart investing: investor protection and awareness information presented by the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Public contact: 727-1171.

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CLASSIFIEDS — RECOMMENDATIONS

Got Milk? Sure
Rob Pegoraro, rob@~typo~speakeasy.net (remove the typo to send me mail)

Alverda Muhammad asked, "Does anyone know where milk can still be purchased in a glass bottle?" Definitely — there’s a guy at the Arlington Farmers Market (14th Street and Courthouse Road, one block from the Courthouse Metro) every Saturday who sells delicious whole milk in glass bottles. It’s expensive, even factoring in the deposit you get back with each empty bottle you return, but worth it. I’ll have to pick up some this weekend, come to think of it.

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