Heh...

Something very comical happened recently. I have a 11x14" framed picture temporarily sitting on my desk, propped up against the wall. Anyway, my cat likes to sit on my desk and watch while I'm typing on the computer. So this one time, she was doing that, except she leaned against the picture which fell right on her! It didn't hurt her -- not that heavy -- but she bolted!

Anyway, I propped it back up, and soon she came back up on the desk. And sure enough, it fell on her again, and again she took off like a rocket! I propped it up, and a third time she came back, and again it fell on her, and again she bolted! The fun could've lasted all night, but at this point I realized it was probably better just to leave the picture lying down.

At the police station

Broken Bulb
Originally uploaded by alex.DC.

So I was standing at the counter of the police station today, filling out forms for the dent some hit-and-run driver left in my car. There was a guy standing next to me, also doing some paperwork. I didn't think anything of it, not even when the policewoman handed him a big clear plastic bag of stuff.

He started going through the bag, and only then did I notice that she was writing in a book that said "Prisoner Log," and that the stuff she had given him was his personal possessions. "My earring's missing," he complained, and the woman helped him find it. He started walking towards the door, no more hurried than someone who'd just stopped in to inquire about a traffic matter. But I realized that whatever he'd been through, he'd just gone through a really bad time, and perhaps now was at the end of it. As he walked through the door, out into the crisp, cold morning sun, I thought maybe he was walking into a new beginning, as well.

Break shot at Cue Bar

Break shot at Cue Bar
Originally uploaded by techne.

I wanted to share this really cool shot by Flickr user Techne (click photo to see her other stuff) taken at Cue Bar on U Street. The photo is awesome, and although I haven't been, Cue Bar sounds cool, too!


One more thing... while Googling Cue Bar, I also stumbled upon this really cool-sounding presentation at the Spy Museum about the FBI and the Weather Underground. It's one day only, this Thursday the 26th.

Closet finished!

Home improvement
Originally uploaded by alex.DC.

A majorly important event occurred this weekend. I finished rehabbing my living room closet, which meant painting it, and more importantly, going from two flimsy shelves to seven sturdy ones. Anyone who lives in an apartment will appreciate the amazing changes in my life that this extra storage space will bring. I've also added some hooks to hang stuff like the broom and mop (previously they just stood in a corner of the kitchen), and my printer will go in there too on that table in the back, giving me more room on my desk.

This was not without pain though -- putting in three rails and mounting shelves to them sounds easy, but everything imaginable that could go wrong did!

New York

Waiting for the F
Originally uploaded by alex.DC.

I just realized that I forgot to blog about my trip to NYC over the Martin Luther King weekend! The trip, via Amtrak's milk train, was marred sighly by a bitter, bitter cold wave that swept in on Saturday. Of course one of the best things to do in New York City is walk, and walking just isn't as much fun when the wind chill is a zillion below.

Fortunately, wearing six layers of clothing (on Saturday I wore a t-shirt; a long-sleeved t-shirt; a flannel shirt; a sweater; a fleece; and a jacket) helped mitigate the cold somewhat. We stayed in the Chelsea Star Hotel on the West Side up around 30th, possibly the best bargain one can get in Manhattan around $85 a night for a room with Salvador Dali's clocks painted on the walls.

Highlights of the trip included a couple of trips out to Brooklyn including to Jimmy's party in his new Brooklyn apartment on Sunday night (thanks for the Maker's Mark, Jimmy), a visit to the Darwin exhibit at the Museum of Natural History, and The Downtown Show, an exhibit showcasing New York's downtown art scene from 1984-1974. I gotta tell ya, it makes me feel old to see stuff I remember from my teenage years under glass, in a gallery.

Oh, one more thing, I found a really cool blog dedicated to the New York subway.

Madam's Organ

Madam's Organ
Originally uploaded by alex.DC.

So last night I hit the town with my friend Al. We started out at Pharoah's, a relatively new Adams-Morgan blues/rock club founded by a guy who idolizes Jimi Hendrix (and does a pretty good impression of him on guitar). The place was dead, and the house band was playing songs which sounded frustratingly familiar, yet weren't. I thought perhaps we were in a parallel universe, and Al wondered what a perpendicular universe would be like.

Then we went to Madam's Organ, a place which can be hit-or-miss. But that night it was definitely a hit. We went up to the top floor, where Debra, a bartender who once threw Al out of the bar many years ago, welcomed us with a big smile. I told Al he should try to get thrown out again, but nothing of the sort happened. Later in the evening, after I'd successfully bummed a delicious pizza slice off a girl, we walked down to see the Johnny Artis R&B band (pictured), which had the place jumping, people all over the dance floor and the stage. The evening ended late, with a ride to Mt Pleasant on the 42 where Al entertained a busload of people with his antics, and then took my cell phone from me and drunk-dialed my girlfriend.

Crime spree in downtown DC

Police line - do not cross
Originally uploaded by alex.DC.

I've been on the trail of a troubling series of brutal crimes in downtown DC. The first one occurred outside the Whole Foods Market on P Street, NW. The brazen killer struck in broad daylight, cutting down a streetlight, decapitating it, and leaving its head in a shopping basket. The Police responded to this horrifying attack by tying yellow "police line - do not cross" tape to the victim.

Crime Scene
Originally uploaded by alex.DC.

I thought this was an isolated case. But late Saturday night, I spotted a tell-tale trail of needles where a Christmas tree had been dragged down the street and left for dead at the curb. Different modus operandi, same brutality -- the same killer or a second one at large?

Crime Scene
Originally uploaded by alex.DC.

In the coming days, more corpses turned up -- helpless trees sawed off at the base, and left lifeless on DC's mean, cold streets. In one case, the killer had even bagged up the tree as he prepared to dispose of the corpse, but he must have fled the scene as police arrived. Again, though, they just left the victim on the cold concrete.

Crime Scene
Originally uploaded by alex.DC.

Crime Scene
Originally uploaded by alex.DC.

Crime Scene
Originally uploaded by alex.DC.

And now the latest - a hapless traffic cone, sawed off at the top! Again the police responded by tying "police line" tape to the victim and leaving the scene.

Can nobody stop this brutal killer?

An unexpected find

An unexpected find
Originally uploaded by alex.DC.

I started demolition of some old shelves in my closet today to make room for new shelves. When the shelves came off the wall, these slides fell free. They look like somewhere in the MIddle East (Cairo?) They must have belonged to the former tenant, and I think they've been there at least 15 years.

Happy New Years!

A grainy evening
Originally uploaded by alex.DC.

Yes, I like traffic lights. This is at 14th and Park Road, NW.

I wish everyone who reads this page all the best for a happy 2006....

Alex