Doing Lunch

Sikh Lunch

Took this photo today while I was downtown and waiting to meet a friend for a bite to eat at The Brown Bag at 14th & K.

Happy (Photo) Friday, everyone!


Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential, 03/09

Today's Tewkesbury Round-up in Photos

Today's round-up is a collection of photos brought to you by a couple of the folks who participate in City Daily Photo (CDP) blogging and one random blogger who follows my photography blog.

We'll start in St. Louis, Missouri, where CDP blogger Strangetastes found a House Divided in his neighborhood.

Jumping across the Pacific to Honolulu, Jamie and Kala provide this perspective on Scaracuda and violence against women. Here is Dedicated to Sarah Palin, Anti-Women, Anti-Children. In fact, if you scroll down beyond this entry, you'll find three more dedicated to Alaska Spice.

Meanwhile, over at The Inner Workings of My Mind, Amy shares a picture of her breakfast--an omelet called the Obamalette. No lie. You'll find her photo and write up in an entry titled simply 008.

And finally, this snap taken by yours truly at the neighborhood 7-11. Seems even our Coffee is Partisan.

Today's Post...

Brought to you by the letter G, the number five, and the color pink.

I'm making my debut appearance as guest blogger over at the fabulous Gunfighter's locale. Check out my post with five pictures about things in pink.

Thanks, Gunny, for the opp!

*****

Getting back on track with Photo Friday, this week's photo is one I took last night on my way home from Krispy Kreme down in Alexandria on Route 1. I decided to take the George Washington Memorial Parkway back to D.C. and en route passed Gravelly Point just south of National Airport.

Nighttime landing : Washington National Airport

Here, for your viewing pleasure, is a landing sequence. I think I'm going back tonight before it gets pitch dark and try again.

Happy (Photo) Friday everyone!

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential

Competing

Lincoln at Sunrise : The National Mall : Washington, D.C.

Last month, I entered my very first photo contest, which is being held at the Washington DC Temple Visitor's Center of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon) in Kensington, Maryland. If you live in the D.C. area and you want to see some good amateur and professional photography, stop in and see this exhibit. I submitted three pieces to the show and two of them made it onto the wall.

The photo above of the Lincoln Memorial was taken last fall at sunrise. The photo below was taken last summer at Widewater Gap on the C&O Canal near Great Falls-on-the-Potomac. The one photo that didn't make it into the exhibit was my picture of the Washington DC Temple. In hindsight, I should have submitted my photo Hopperesque, rather than the one of the temple. Still, I'm rather pleased to participate. I think I may enter this contest next.

Natural Bonsai : Widewater Gap : Great Falls-on-the-Potomac, Maryland

The free exhibit is called Monuments of Faith and is open to the public seven days a week until September 14. If you go, be sure to look for two pieces by this blogger and one by her four-and-three-quarters-year old daughter (who is mistakenly listed as 10 years old. The Dormouse was quite succinct and precise about her age, so far be it for me to say she's four! And someone on the photo committee needs to check and correct their information. Although, if you've ever met the Dormouse, you'd think she was 10!)

Ethereal Dusk : Washington DC LDS Temple : Kensington, Maryland

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential

Dark Knight? More Like Dark Bleh.

Tunnel : Beach Drive : Rock Creek Park

On my way home from my parents the other day, I snapped this photo from the "safety" of my dashboard while driving.

And now, for a change of pace on Photo Friday, a review of a movie...

*****

I'm getting old.

If I'm going to spend $10.25 for a movie, I want to get something out of it.

This week, Bee, the EcoFellow, and I saw Batman: Dark Knight. Batman: Dark Bleh is more like it. Or, Batman: How Men Screw Up the World, Then Try to Fix It Only to Screw It Up More and Still Think They've Done Us All a Great Favor might be a better title.

DK had several potentially important, philosophical scenes that really could have been the meat of this movie. As it is, it was just an overinflated comic book story that went on about 45 minutes longer than it should have. Plus, the sound effects sometimes overwhelmed the dialogue and the fight scenes were just a blur of bodies. At times it was hard to tell who was where and fighting whom. This movie was a mess. Oh, and the scene with Bruce Wayne arriving at a fundraiser for D.A. Harvey Dent with three beautiful women on his arm was so gratuitously testosterone laden, it was just stupid and added little to the movie except to let you know that Batman/Bruce Wayne's human flaw is, he has a tiny dick.

In short, this is a movie--as my longer, recommended title indicates--about men who make a mess of the world, try to clean it up, and make a bigger mess in the process. It did no favors in elevating men or women to a plane higher than their stereotypes. Not that I expected it to be on scale with a movie like Match Point or Lars and the Real Girl (neither of which are fair comparisons because this is a comic book action flick), but it was so gratuitously awful and missed so many opportunities to have some deeper meaning, I can't recommend it all that highly. It's certainly worth seeing on the big screen for all the effects, but I wouldn't pay full price. See it as a matinee.

As for Heath Ledger, his performance as The Joker was very good, but I'm not 100% sure I'd call it Oscar-worthy.

Out of five stars, I'll give this a one.

Happy (Photo) Friday, friends!

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential

Reflecting

U.S. Capitol Double Take

I've been doing some reflecting since learning that my Wretched Former Boss was canned last week. I know it's probably wrong for me to gloat about someone else's downfall. I wouldn't wish a vote of no-confidence and being fired on anyone. As someone who's been on the receiving end of downsizing, being told I was tedious to work with, and having a slew of wretched bosses, I wouldn't wish what happened to K.ate on my very worst, vilest enemy. But that's the rub. K.ate wasn't my very worst, vilest enemy. She was/is a good person with a desire to do right by the world who flatters herself and everyone around her to be an advocate for the downtrodden. She prides herself on coming from a place where live and let live is the standard and being someone who embodies that.

And that is why I gloat. She is none of that. She, like so many in this town, is driven by fear and an overabundance of self-protectionism. In the process, she ignored her primary responsibility: to manage and collaborate with a team of staff members who put their hearts into making this little non-profit-with-the-mission-that-could shine. Rather than seeing us as assets, we were a threat. Rather than collaborate with us and tie us in with the board of directors in a joint effort, she sabotaged us. Rather than accepting personal responsibility as the leader, she passed the buck and threw us under the bus.

The bottomline is, K.ate got what she deserved and what she got was a board of directors that was increasingly upset with her (lack of) performance and who finally passed a vote of no confidence in K.ate's leadership and fired her. While I'm not sorry she was fired, I am sorry it took the board so long to arrive at this action. It was long overdue.

Restful

Having said all that, I'm going to spend the weekend working in the yard and getting it shaped up. I think on Sunday I'm having dinner at my parents. Yesterday was my dad's 64th birthday, so I see cake in the immediate future.

Happy (Photo) Friday everyone! And have a great weekend!

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential

Guess What I'm Doing Today?

It's Photo Friday here at Tewkesbury Place. I have a new photo I'll show you in a minute, but first, I want to tell you where Bee and I will be hanging out today.

Chick-Fil-A in Silver Spring.

And why would we do that, you ask? Because of this: free food and cow tipping!

I'm going with camera in hand to capture the wild, wacky, and brave who are not beneath a little personal humiliation to get a chicken sandwich.

And now, here's today's picture, which was taken yesterday evening.

Watching the sunset from the stairs west of the Lincoln Memorial

I had another touron experience while at the Lincoln Memorial. Remember this rant with illustrations? Well, obviously, people still aren't doing their homework. Some dude was telling his friends that Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech from the Washington Monument looking west toward the Lincoln Memorial. It was everything I could do to not bean the moron with my tripod. Even though Wikipedia isn't the Encyclopedia Britannica, it's better than just makin' up shit. And believe me, I know a lot about the latter. When I'm not one-upping, I'm MUS.

Finally, I give you this photo from some paparazza in L.A. In an effort to get back at the aforementioned, Jim Carrey put on his girlfriend's swimming suit. I love it! Way to get back at those bastards! Yahoo's omg! is calling this a "fashion faux pas." Obviously they take themselves way too seriously as the fashion police of celebrity taste and don't know a good joke on them and their ilk when they see it. I think it's brilliant!


Happy (Photo) Friday, friends!

Photo copyrights: D.C. Confidential and some stupid-ass paparazza.

Hopperesque

People as Art : National Gallery of Art : Washington, D.C.

I'm posting Photo Friday early this week, since this Friday is a national holiday. I took this picture a couple of weeks ago when I was at the National Gallery of Art's East Building. Rather than taking pictures of the art, I decided to stretch myself a bit, use my surroundings, and create some art of my own. Having said that, let me throw in this disclaimer: I don't think my photography is all that spectacular and awe-inspiring. I do it as a creative outlet more than anything. I think some of it is good, but other than that, it's just pictures I'm taking. Nothing special.

Well, I'm starting to disabuse myself of that notion for three reasons. First, because the other day Bee and I went to Borders Books and I looked at the calendars that are already out for 2009, particularly the ones for D.C., and determined that some of my stuff is as good, if not better, than what's in some of those calendars. Second, I had someone inquire as to whether they could purchase one of my photos. And finally, because a very good friend and artist contacted me and asked if she could paint one of my pictures. Specifically, the picture I'm featuring as today's Photo Friday. I was flattered, but it didn't end there. She compared my photo to Edward Hopper's Nighthawks, which just blew me away! Wow.

A huge thanks everyone who kicks my stubborn butt up around my ears and helps me think maybe my stuff ain't too shabby after all!

MWAH!

Sign of the Times?

Deflated...

There's a house on my street that has been on the market for the better part of six months now. They have lovely gladiolas in the yard that I was shooting Tuesday evening. As I turned to leave, I caught this image and thought it was both amusing and unfortunate. I think that's what's known as irony, right?

In other photographic news, I have been having the best time with my new camera accessories. The pictures of flowers and birds and bees and the like that I've been able to capture have been amazing. I want to share them. All of them! But I'm already posting too much on my photography blog and I'm not about to start yet another blog. (Seriously? If I get one more blog, Bee and those who love me are going to have to put me on A&E's Intervention!)

So, here's a query: which online album do you like best and why? Picasa? Flikr? PhotoBucket? Mac's iWeb? None of the above? Something else entirely?

Help!

Hydrangeas, gladiolas, and a random daisy: all taken in the yards of homes in my immediate neighborhood. (Click on images to enlarge or go to the link below.)

In the meantime, here's a sampling of pretty pictures. (Well, I think they are. Pretty arrogant, huh?) To see the full spread, go here.

Happy (Photo) Friday!

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential

Green Light

Study in green

Last week, I left my piano primer at Mom's and Dad's, so Mom and I agreed to hook up on Friday night in Kensington. I figured I'd try out my new lenses by taking pictures in the area where I was meeting her. The above is one of the lights that line the sidewalks. I love the glow in this one.

Can't decide which I like better.
What do you think? Left or right? Or neither?
(Click on images to enlarge.)

These photos are of the tunnel that connects the west wing of the National Gallery of Art with the east wing of the same. I can't decide which I like. The one on the left is basically as I shot it with very little cropping. The second is obviously cropped considerably. Which do you like better? I may have to go back and reshoot this without a wide-angle and straight on.... I don't know. Feedback wanted.

Happy (Photo) Friday!

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential

Blue Skies Again

Metro and CSX bridges at Takoma Station

In an effort to spare the air, save on gas, and work on my waistline, I've taken to walking places lately. Wednesday, I needed to go to the bank. I pulled on my sneakers, grabbed my shoulder bag with camera and accessories, and headed out the door. On the way home from the bank, I snapped this picture as I walked under the Metro/CSX bridges at Takoma Station on the D.C./Maryland border. I know last week's Photo Friday featured blue skies, too, so this is unoriginal, but when we have blue skies, it's a treat. It also means the temperatures have fallen and the humidity is low--two things I can be very, very happy about!

Which is better? Color? Or black and white?
(Click on images to enlarge.)

This pair of photos are also ones I snapped in Takoma Park. I found this gentleman sitting serenely on a park bench near the Seventh Day Adventist church enjoying the beautiful weather and some shade. What I can't decide is which I like better. The one in color. Or the one in black and white. What do you think?

Oh, and don't forget to check out D.C. Confidential today for pictures of Roosevelt Lenin!

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential

Blue Skies...

Take-off: A plane on departure and headed up the Potomac River from National Airport.

I think the days of moderate temperatures and blue skies are a thing of the past. Spring is over (even though we haven't yet arrived at the official end of spring: June 21) and summer, in all its hell-hath-no-fury-like-a-woman-scorned* heat and humidity, is upon us.

A few days ago, while the temperatures were still in the 70s inching into the 80s, I took these pictures out on Roosevelt Island. I love going out there and seeing Lenin Roosevelt. It is probably the funkiest statue in all of Washington's collection of statuary, monuments, memorials, and bronze and marble tributes to dead guys. If you haven't been over to Roosevelt Island, you must go.** Decent trails to hike, some good bird watching, and Lenin Roosevelt.

Pretend you're at the eye doctor looking a charts through that contraption
to test sharpness and clarity. Which do you like better? The left one? Or the right one?
Left or right? Left....? Or right....?
(Click on images to enlarge.)

Today's pictures are obviously not of Lenin Roosevelt, but of other... stuff. The first is rather obvious, right? The last two are shots of Georgetown University and Key Bridge from the island. Question is, which of the two do you like better?

In other photography related news, I just bought a macro/wide-angle lens, telephoto lens, and filters for my camera. Life is about to be more fun! Oh, and I've started playing the piano again. Boy, is that painful. I haven't played in over 20 years, but I'm determined to be very good at it. Or die trying.

Happy (Photo) Friday, everyone!

* I know, I know. Bad use of Shakespeare. So shoot me. Or sue me. Whatever. It's hot and humid and just plain yuck, dammit!
** Or, visit my photo blog on next Friday and see pictures of Lenin Roosevelt.

P.S. What's up with Google/Blogger's auto-posting feature? This entry was scheduled to post at 9:00 AM EDT and I've just had to go in and manually post it? Waddup?! I'm just about over Blogger as a blog engine/provider.

P.P.S. Still no word from Heather. Hm.

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential

Symmetrical

Courtyard skylight at the L'Enfant Plaza Hotel

I'm out at my parents' this weekend helping my dad with a home improvement project. We're putting in a new bathroom off the master bedroom. My mom is in Salt Lake visiting with her three sisters. It's been two years since the funeral of my grandfather--her dad. Tomorrow, I'm going to hear a fellow blogger perform in a concert--Mozart and Dvorak! Very excited. (Must find the address to the concert venue...) And tonight, I'm attending an art and photography opening for my friend and realtor, Monica Youngling, up on Capitol Hill. Also very excited.

That's pretty much my weekend. How is yours shaping up?

The above photo is the skylight pyramid in the courtyard of the L'Enfant Plaza Hotel. To see more photos of the plaza, go here and here.

Happy (Photo) Friday, friends!

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential

In Which I Unintentionally Eat My Foot, Shoe and All...

Yesterday, if you hadn't noticed, was GORGEOUS. Gee-oh-are-ee-gee-ee-oh-you-ess, gorgeous! It being the aforementioned gorgeous, I decided to go out for a bit and ended up hanging with the EcoFellow and Sister NoMo. We traipsed all over the west end of the National Mall taking pictures of Flat Stanley for EcoFellow's nephew who lives in Idaho.

Sidebar: I had no idea Flat Stanley was such a phenomenon. It was like we were traveling with a minor celebrity. At one point, a whole touristing family, seeing us with Flat Stanley, cried out, "Flat Stanley! Hey, did you see their Flat Stanley? Remember how we took our Flat Stanley to New York City?" Who knew?

As the day was so generously gorgeous--bright blue skies, warm temps, cool breezes, zilch humidity (what is this? Fall?!)--bajillions of people were out and about. People in kickball leagues, kite fliers, families with little ones, and that ever ubiquitous, migratory, seasonal creature: the tourist. You know the species I'm talking about right? Dopey-eyed, rubbernecking, money-spending tourists. Those ones.

Honestly overheard: Standing at the top of the steps of the Lincoln Memorial looking east, which features a prominent view of the World War II Memorial, the Washington Monument, and the U.S. Capitol. Following is an exact quote:

Tourist woman to member of her tourist party, presumably a family member: "Oh honey, look!" Everyone in her party cranes their head eastward as she points. "Be sure to get a picture of the White House."

Sidebar: I want to get a Nerf bat to carry with me when I'm down on/near the Mall. When tourists say stupid shit like this, I want to hit 'em in the head.

Attention tourists: Before you visit a city--any city--do your friggin' homework! And if you can't be considerate enough to do it for whatever city you're visiting, please, for the love of all that is historically holy, at least do it for this city, especially if you're a citizen of this country. It's embarrassing and you look stupid when you can't tell the difference between the White House and the U.S. Capitol.

Visual aid: In case you're still unclear on which is which, here are a few pictures of each, so you'll be able to tell going forward. (Click on images to enlarge.)

On the left: The White House. Where the President of the United States lives and works. Contrary to popular stupidity, err, belief, you cannot see it from the Lincoln Memorial. On the right: The U.S. Capitol. You can see it from the Lincoln Memorial.

A Guide to What You're Seeing When You Stand on the Steps of the Lincoln Memorial and Look East:
The Reflecting Pool, the National World War II Memorial, the Washington Monument, the Smithsonian Castle, the U.S. Capitol, and the Library of Congress.
Click image to enlarge and read the Post-it Note-like-thingies.

Okay, site location lecture over. Moving on...

*****

My true purpose for today's entry, and the meaning of my title, is this: after taking pictures of Flat Stanley on the Mall and at a number of the Stan Embassies (Pakistan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, etc., for those tourists among you who not only failed U.S. history, but world geography, too), the EcoFellow, Sister NoMo, and I headed uphill to D.C.'s next-best-thing: Target!

Target would be the scene of the crime.

Scene: Three friends walking past the women's accessories on their way to the check out.

Sister NoMo: (teasing) Hey, Jay, do you want an ugly handbag for your birthday?

Jay: (sarcastically) Yeah, right. I need an ugly handbag like I need a hole in the head.

Jay (that's me) no sooner has the words out of her mouth than she looks up from her wallet where she's been extracting her credit card in preparation for payment and sees a young, male Target employee with a shaved head. On the side of his head, a clear bandage covering what appears to be a serious head wound, i.e. a hole in his head. The customer in front of Jay turns and glares at Jay, then shakes her head in disgust.

EcoFellow: I think we'll go stand over here.

EcoFellow and Sister NoMo exit toward stage left, separating themselves from Jay.

Did I mention it was a gorgeous day?


Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential/Janet M. Kincaid

Stained Glass

Stained glass window in the Renwick Chapel,
Oak Hill Cemetery, Georgetown, Washington, DC

Last week, while Bee was hanging out with her cousins, I toodled over to Georgetown to visit a cemetery I could only see from Rock Creek Parkway and have wanted to explore for more than a year now. I finally found my way into Oak Hill Cemetery and wandered its narrow lanes for the better part of an hour or so. I didn't see or photograph all I wanted to, so I plan to go back. But I did step into the Renwick Chapel to snap this picture of the chapel's largest stained glass window.

Among the notables buried in Oak Hill: Katherine Graham, one of Washington's most loved and respected women. Graham took over the reins of the Washington Post after the death of her husband, Philip, in the 1960s and led the paper to greatness. She oversaw Woodward and Bernstein as they broke the story that would lead to the resignation of Richard Nixon. She and her husband are buried in the small garden of the Renwick Chapel beneath a humble gravestone that says simply "Graham." Classy to the end!

Happy (Photo) Friday.

P.S. I misspoke earlier this week in my post on things that make me peckish... err... peevish. Microsoft Vista is an operating system. It's not too bad. What had my goat is Microsoft Office Suite 2007. That software upgrade is an absolute nightmare. It's so bad that later today, my brother is coming over and removing it from Bee's PC and installing Office 2003. Sorry for the confusion!

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential

Bridge

The Chesapeake Bay Bridge from Sandy Point State Park in Maryland

On my way home from Sue Thompson's house on Wednesday afternoon, I made a detour at Sandy Point State Park on the Bay to take pictures of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. I don't mind bridges over water, but I have to say, this bridge makes me nervous. Having traveled and commuted on bridges in the San Francisco Bay Area, I'm accustomed to bridges that are earthquake retrofitted and are constantly maintained with fresh paint to prevent corrosion. The CBB has minimal barriers, looks like its made from Tinker Toys, and needs a paint job worse than granny's house!

All of that aside, though, it does make a purty picture!

Happy (Photo) Friday!


Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential

Pure, Dumb Luck

Went out yesterday evening at the last minute and snapped pictures of the cherry blossoms around the Tidal Basin. This photo, which I honestly don't know how I managed to capture, completely took my breath away when I downloaded it. I thought I'd share. (To see a larger version, click on the image.)

If you want to see more pictures of the cherry blossoms, visit my photography blog over the next few days. I'll be shooting more pictures very early tomorrow morning. The one you're seeing today is just one of 114 I took. I'm sure tomorrow's shoot will yield an equal number to cull from over the next week.

Have a great weekend!

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential

Shadows Flee

Sun and shadows on Easter morning, Rock Creek Park off of Military Road

I was up kind of early this past Sunday, because I wanted to take pictures of an embankment of daffodils on Military Road in the morning light. I'm trying to pay more attention to things that seem banal and unphotographable--or, rather, not really photo "worthy"--like shadows and such. This stand of trees in Rock Creek Park caught my eye, so I stopped to snap a few pictures.

Happy (Photo) Friday!

P.S. If you wouldn't mind taking a stab at this question, I'd really appreciate it.

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential

Sun and Shadow + Cathedral = Cool

Washington National Cathedral in the afternoon sun

This week's Photo Friday picture is for Jess over at Du Wax Loolu. I was going to post it on my photography blog last week as part of a weekly posting I participate in called 2 Things Challenge, but then I found other stuff to photograph and post. Anyway--here you go, Jess! Have fun in Chicago and Happy Birthday!

And Happy (Photo) Friday to everyone else!

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential

Daffodils

Daffodils on Capitol Hill

This week, I was on Capitol Hill meeting with someone who'd read my thesis and wanted to discuss it. I had a lovely conversation with this individual and came away with a few nuggets to gnaw on. On my way home, I stopped at the B of A across from the Library of Congresses Madison Building and kitty-corner from the Jefferson Building. This little garden was shouting at me to photograph it, so I did.

Don't you love those daffodils? A sure sign spring is on the way!

Happy (Photo) Friday!

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential