Theme Day: Paths / Passages

Path to the parking lot

I missed this month's Theme Day--Paths/Passages--for City Daily Photo bloggers, so I'm posting a day late. This is a narrow alley way between a doggie day care and an empty retail/commercial space on the corner of Georgia and Missouri Avenues NW.

Happy belated Theme Day to everyone! To see how others interpreted this theme, click here.

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential

Yes We Will

Yes We Can : Yes We Did : Yes We Will

Moving along down Georgia Avenue, I ran across this poster on the side of a bus shelter. (Click on the image to enlarge it.) In one week from today, America will inaugurate a new president. His clarion call to us for the last two years was "Yes We Can." We responded with "Yes We Did." Now, the new call is "Yes We Will."

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

Red Shoes a la Rothko

Red Shoes a la Rothko

Out walking along Georgia Avenue the other day, I saw a woman talking on a cell phone. What drew me to her were her red shoes. I asked if I could take a picture and she said yes. I'm calling this one "Red Shoes a la Rothko."

*****

Today's photo From the Archives is a snap I took as my family (parents and siblings) was making the drive cross-country from Utah to our new home in Virginia. This was taken just outside of Laramie, Wyoming, in June 1988.

Ominous : Laramie, Wyoming : 1988

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

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

Service with a Smile

Ms. Terry: Brightwood Post Office's friendly postal clerk

Continuing my 100 Strangers series, this is Ms. Terry. She's a United States Postal Service employee who sells stamps and helps customers with their mail and packages at the USPS' post office on Georgia Avenue at Tuckerman Street. Ms. Terry has worked for the USPS for 26 years and has been at this location for the last two years. The last couple of times I've gone to the post office, she's always been there ready to help all of us and doing it with a smile.

Today, I happened to have my camera with me and she asked me if I was a photographer. I replied, "Erstwhile." Then I asked if I could take her picture. She very graciously said yes and here is the result!

If you live in Brightwood, be sure to stop in and say hello to Ms. Terry. And maybe the next time I go in, they'll have the Chinese Lunar New Year stamps I was hoping to buy!

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

Coffee is Partisan

Show your support with a cuppa for your candidate. What next?!

On Friday, I happened to be walking past a 7-11 and saw a banner that said "7-Election '08." I stepped in to see what that was all about and imagine my dismay when I saw these coffee cups near the self-serve coffee. Last night, I popped into my local 7-11 and snapped this picture.*

That's right, folks. 7-11 has coffee cups that let you show your support for your candidate. When the clerk scans the UPC on the cup, it collects the information and "counts your vote." I guess near or on election day, the marketing geniuses at 7-11 will tell us the results of their polling data a la coffee?!?!

Who knew coffee could be such a partisan activity?

Have you seen U.S. presidential campaign oddities in your neighborhood, state, or country?** If so, share what you're seeing with us and leave a comment here. On Friday, if I have enough entries, I'll do a round-up with links to your photos on this blog.

* Why I didn't take a picture on Friday, when I first saw this, is a mystery to me. Call it a senior moment, I suppose!

** Yes, you read that last one correctly. I said country. There are U.S. expats living overseas and citizens in other nations who are following our elections and supporting one candidate or the other.

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

Singin' the Greens... And Blues...

Porch chairs in the old style

Hm. I wonder if the lime imparts a buttery quality?*

Yesterday evening, I went back to the same neighborhood I was walking in on Sunday before I got soaked in a deluge. Sunday's walk covered part of 13th Street between Colorado Avenue and Emerson Street over to 16th Street. Yesterday, I walked 13th Street between Arkansas Avenue and Kennedy Street over to Georgia Avenue. I'm determining I live in a pretty non-descript area with very little of interest to photograph. At least, to me anyway, because I see these surroundings all day. As a result, I think tomorrow I'm going to drive over to Georgetown and walk over there. And, I've got to get out and about again and taking pictures of stuff like museums and people and the like.

Green pods in the late afternoon sun

In the meantime, though, here are the results of yesterday's constitutional, as my cousins across the pond would say. When I got home and download my photos, I noticed a running theme in colors. I grouped these four together because they all had some kind of green something in them. Two them also threw in some blue and I just thought they all looked kinda cool together.

Sleeping cat on green porch

To see some more of the photos I took on yesterday's walk, visit Standing Room Only.

* Inside family joke. I'm a culinary snob and I once commented on the buttery qualities of lime to my family. Now they tease me about it. All.the.time.

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

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