Wall Confidential

Wall Drug : Famous Worldwide : Wall, South Dakota

Due to inclement weather across Washington and Montana today, we decided to stay in Rapid City, South Dakota, an additional day and give the snow time to work its way out of our way! The result was seeing parts of western South Dakota that we otherwise would have skipped because we would have been long on our way to Montana. Because we saw so much, I'm breaking today's posts up into three separate entries. Hope you enjoy them!

L: Animatronic Campfire Quartet
R: The pharmacy section of Wall Drug, complete with hunting mounts.

Our first stop for the day was 50 miles back up the road in Wall, South Dakota. Wall is famous for one thing and one thing only: its ginormous frontier drug store. It is quite literally the largest employer in the tiny town of Wall.

The Traveler's Chapel : Wall Drug : Wall, South Dakota

There are entire city blocks that are nothing but parking lots for tourists and tour buses filled with people coming to see Wall Drug. Here are a few pictures from this unique South Dakota attraction and the town of Wall.

Wall, South Dakota's Public Library and Public Utilities Bill Paying Boxes

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

Parts

Uptown Auto Parts : Urban as Art

Nothing too exciting today. I just liked this sign outside a corner auto parts store on Georgia Avenue. That is all.

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential

Clean

Clean enough to eat off of the floor!

At least once a week, I drive past this laundromat on Georgia Avenue at Rittenhouse. Most urban laundromats are poorly kept, smell bad, are dark and dank, and could use a good scrubbing from top to bottom. Curious about this one, I decided to pop my head in the other day while I was out walking. It was well-lit, smelled nice, and was spotless. In fact, this laundromat is so clean, you could eat off the floor! (Not that you would, but you could.)

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential, 01/09

Portrait Sitting

My client in a totally unscripted, spontaneous moment.
This ended up being her favorite picture and is the one she's now using on her site.

As many of you know, I recently decided to go into business for myself. Most of my work involves writing and editing, but sometimes I have a client with a request outside of those skills. Case in point: today's photos feature a client of mine who needed a new head shot for her website. She's a very successful, independent lobbyist and paper industry expert, but the picture she originally had on her site made her look like a criminal. (Seriously.) She called me a couple of weeks ago and asked if I would come over to her offices downtown and take pictures she could use on her site.

We used a table lamp set on the floor to give us some side lighting,
which resulted in a picture that had sort of a magazine feel and quality to it.
We both liked this picture a lot, but it is definitely posed and less spontaneous.

I'd never done anything like this before, but I'm always game for a challenge, so I told her I'd do it. These three pictures are some of the results of that portrait session. Even though I don't have professional equipment and even though we improvised with the available lighting, both my client and I were pleased with the outcome.

This picture is similar to the one above,
but just a touch darker and, obviously, in black and white.

I have to give a shout-out to a friend for giving me pointers on how to pose people and to a freelance graphic designer I use to work with who Photoshopped an annoying plug out of the pictures that I totally missed while I was doing this shoot. I learned a lot and I really appreciated the opportunity to explore and expand my photo skills.

Thank you, Grace, Maya, and Judi!

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential, 10/08

Non-Partisan Coffee

Mayorga Coffee in Silver Spring, Maryland: The not-Starbucks coffee shop

Despite the proliferation of that West-Coast-coffee-chain-that-shall-not-be-named, there are still some independent shops around the area. One of the more popular ones is Mayorga Coffee Roasters. There are only a few locations in the D.C. area, but they are well-loved by their patrons. The other day, I met a friend--who is a Mayorga aficionado--at the company's coffee factory in Silver Spring to hang out and catch up for a few hours. Of course, I took my camera along and the result is the photo above.

While Melissa sipped her Mayorga special blend coffee and I enjoyed a hot chocolate with whipped cream, we chatted about books we're reading and stuff we're writing. We also swapped pleasantries about our families. I love getting together with friends and Mayorga is a nice place to do that on occasion. If you don't care for the hustle and bustle of Starbucks, Mayorga (and any of its non-'Buck counterparts) is the place to go.

Oh, and you don't have to declare your candidate loyalty for this cuppa joe! (Speaking of 7-11, check out their website for a running tally of votes based on sales of coffee cups.)

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential, 10/08

Two Things Challenge: East / West

Newly remodeled Giant Food at Loehmann's Plaza, Arlington, Virginia.
An East Coast-based company.

This week's 2 Things Challenge was East / West. Honestly? Some weeks, I don't know what the hell I'm thinking when I come up with a challenge. I thought this one would be a no-brainer for me. I thought wrong. Of course, the most obvious thing would be to take a picture of the Capitol on the east end of the National Mall and the Lincoln Memorial on the west end, but I've done that already. Then I thought about doing a picture of Indian food versus California cuisine, but I didn't eat out this week or do a lot of cooking so that was out. I finally settled on grocery stores.

If you live in the D.C. area, you're familiar with Giant Food. While it isn't a national chain, it is a very big regional supermarket with stores in Maryland, Virginia, the District of Columbia, and Delaware. The company was founded in 1936 by N.M. Cohen and Samuel Lehrman. Hence, East. In 1998, the company was purchased by Netherlands-based Ahold. I have a personal affection for Giant. When I was in student, I worked as a cashier for the company. Basically, it paid for college, and I'm grateful.

Banner inside Safeway on Fenton Ave., Silver Spring, Maryland.
An West Coast-based company.

Another big grocery chain in the area is Safeway. Unlike Giant Food, Safeway is a national chain. The company is headquartered in Pleasanton, California. Hence, West.

Near East Rice Pilaf and the West Coast's Rice-a-Roni:
East and West as a side dish!

Just for fun, I went into Giant and took a couple of pictures of products that represent eastern cuisine--Asia and the Middle East, for example, and western cuisine--North American and European. This was my favorite picture featuring Near East rice dishes next to Rice-a-Roni, "The San Francisco Treat!"

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential, 10/08

Two Things Challenge: Music / Note

Music : Choir in the Washington National Cathedral
(Click image to enlarge)

This week's Two Things Challenge was a bit unusual: Music / Note. (Of course, I'm the one who picks 'em, so I have no one to blame for the weirdness and/or difficulty of weekly challenges but me.) For Music, I chose this picture of the choir in Washington National Cathedral. At the time I took the picture, I was going for a dramatic, soaring angle of the flying buttresses, but what I ended up with was a darkly mysterious view of the choir area between the transept and the apse. Choral music plays a significant role at the cathedral, both as a national church for all people and as a sanctuary of worship in the liturgical tradition of the Episcopal Church. In addition to weekly participation in church services, the choir also has a seasonal performance schedule. Check it out here.

Note : Scribblings and bibblings on a client's résumé

For Note, I chose an eye-level view of notes I made on a client's résumé the other evening. Contrary to popular notion, as an editor and writer, I don't use a red pen to mark my changes or make notes on a document. I generally go with anything but. In this case, it's a turquoise blue fountain pen!

Just a note about this resume format, in case anyone is looking closely and in another stab at shameless self-promotion, I offer two résumé formats: a chronological format and a skills-accomplishments format. The former is the one most of us are familiar with and lists your professional experience based on each job you've had in the last 15 years and a description of your responsibilities within that job. The latter format uses keywords and phrases to emphasize your skills and accomplishments and only lists your employers, job titles, and dates later in the résumé.

This particular format works well for people who have either stayed with the same company for more than 15 years and have only worked for two or three organizations or for someone who has had a variety of jobs that, when listed chronologically, don't really come together in a comprehensive manner to tell an employer what you have to offer as an employee. I have clients who have had great success with both formats!

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential, 09/08

New Business

Today's entry isn't so much a photo as it is a screen shot and a plug for my new business venture.

As of today, Write Brain Publishing is open for business! My initial focus will be on resume writing and career continuity and transition documents. As I build my workload, I'll also take on manuscript editing (harking back to my first professional job), technical writing, and marketing communications/public relations writing.

If you know someone who needs a resume rebuilt or is starting from scratch, I can help! And for anyone who enlists my services between now and October 31, 2008, I'll give you a 10% discount. If you have a friend you pass my information along to, tell them to mention D.C. Confidential and I'll give them the same discount!

Screen shot copyright: D.C. Confidential

Discovery

Discovery Communications HQ:
Georgia Avenue and Colesville Road in Silver Spring, Maryland

For a number of years, the City of Silver Spring, Maryland, was an industrial, rundown blight. Then, in the 1990s, Discovery Communications located their headquarters here and the area began a period of revitalization that has resulted in a downtown that is attractive and enjoyable. I was down there the other day to shop at Whole Foods and Panera and couldn't resist snapping this picture. To see a photo of Silver Spring every day, visit this City Daily Photo Blog. I think I've said this before, but one of these evenings, I need to go down and take pictures of this building at night. It's pretty cool all lit up.

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential, 6/08

Signs

Dry cleaner on the corner of Georgia and Rittenhouse: They Martinize!

Yesterday's 2.3 mile walk took me along Georgia Avenue and past a number of signs on shops and in bus shelters. Here are just two of the 24 pictures I took before my batteries died, dang it all! I also had my first run in with the po-po (police), as the kids around here call them. I was taking pictures outside the offices for the Metropolitan Police Department's District 4 offices, when an officer came out and informed me that taking pictures of MPD facilities was a security concern and prohibited. Even though I was standing on a public sidewalk, I was gently admonished to refrain from any future picture taking.

Radio/dispatch tower behind the MPD-4D station

My point in taking the picture of the MPD-4D was to capture the radio/dispatch tower behind the building. When I first moved to my neighborhood, I hated that thing. I thought it was ugly and an eyesore. Over time, though, it's grown on me and I'm always looking for new ways to capture it. This photo is just one more perspective on what I now deem a cool tower and one of my favorite landmarks to look for on the D.C. horizon. To see other instances of this tower, go here, here, here, here, and here.

To see a few more of the signs I snapped yesterday, as well as one or two other things that caught my eye, visit Standing Room Only.


Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential, 07/08