Two Things Challenge: Many / Few

Pigeons: A few or too many?
(Click image to enlarge)

This week's Two Things Challenge was Many / Few. I give you a picture of pigeons: many taking off after being spooked and a few sticking around.

Want to see how others interpreted this challenge? Visit 2 Things Challenge.

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

Urban as Art

Urban Van Gogh : Georgia Avenue NW

When you live in an urban setting and you walk the same streets day after day, it can sometimes be hard to find something interesting to photograph. Recently, though, as I try to see the potential of everything as a picture, I captured these two images. I recommend clicking on them so they enlarge and you can see some of their finer details.

Romaine Hearts : On L Street NW between 20th and 21st

*****



At the end of a momentous week, here is a photo essay from the Boston Globe that captures not only the emotion of the inaugural here in Washington and around the country, but also around the world. A shout out to my friend, Virginia of Birmingham Daily Photo, for sending this to me. Thanks, VJ!

And in case you missed Mr. and Mrs. Obama's first dance at the Neighborhood Ball--the official ball for the District of Columbia--go back to Wednesday's entry and check the YouTube video at the end of that day's entry. I promise you won't regret it.

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

Two Things Challenge: Textures / Shapes

Textured glass in rectangular shapes create an impressionist portrait of fall :
St. Gabriel's Catholic Church : Washington, D.C.

This week's Two Things Challenge was Textures / Shapes. Unlike some past challenges, this one was pretty easy. This first photo is my favorite of all the ones I took. I actually snapped it a couple of weeks ago when I was photographing St. Gabriel's Catholic Church. My cell phone rang while I was in the sanctuary, so I stepped into a side vestibule to take the call. This was the view out a tiny window in the outer door. I love the simple shapes, and the different textures in the glass panes made the fall colors outside look a little like an impressionist painting.

Shapes : Geometry is everywhere!
(Click images to enlarge.)

These other photos are things I've stumbled upon over the last few days as I've been out and about. For shapes, I noticed this wall at the entrance to a parking garage on L Street between Connecticut Avenue and 17th Street NW as I was headed to the Metro the other day. Then this manhole cover grabbed my eye while I was out walking. The geometric shapes screamed out "Photograph me!"

Textures : Peeling paint and peeling bark
(Click images to enlarge.)

For textures, I love the juxtaposition of texture on a human made structure and texture on a natural structure. In this case, peeling paint on the door of a garage and peeling bark on a maple tree (I think. I'm bad when it comes to tree varieties!)

There you have it! If you'd like to see how others interpreted this week's challenge, visit 2 Things Challenge. Everyone is welcome to participate!

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

Etiquette

Red Line train to Glenmont arrives at the Farragut North Station.
Getting to the platform level on Metro can be tricky for out-of-towners and requires
a working knowledge of escalator etiquette.

If you've ever visited Washington, D.C., you've likely ridden the Metro at least once during your trip. One of the constant complaints from locals--i.e. those of us who live and work here at least 50 of the 52 weeks out of every year--who use Metro is the lack of common sense exhibited by business travelers and tourists, particularly when it comes to escalator etiquette.

Yes, you read that correctly. Escalator etiquette. So, to ensure you don't get yelled at--and believe me, you will if you commit this infraction--let me give you a crucial pointer on how to use escalators on Metro. To access most stations and/or their platforms, you have to use escalators. When boarding an escalator, if you're too tired to walk or escalators scare you and you want to stand, that's okay. If you're going to do that, though, please stand to the right.

Stand to the right, walk on the left. Easy peasy.
Or so you'd think. But alas, no.

Too often tourons, as we call them (tourist + moron = touron), think the escalator constitutes an amusement ride and they stand on the left, on the right, in the middle, wherever. If you do this, I promise you will get yelled at. Most of us will yell something polite like "Stand to the right, please!", but it's also possible you'll get yelled at in ways that could leave you thinking D.C. is a mean, nasty town full of mean, nasty people. It certainly can be mean and nasty in its own uniquely political, partisan way, but in the case of Metro most of the people who want to get past you have somewhere to be and they're in a hurry.

So, let's review. When using Metro in Washington, D.C., stand to the right, walk on the left? Just like the picture above.

Everyone got it? Good. Now, no excuses! If I find any of you City Daily Photo bloggers violating escalator etiquette, I'm gonna bean you with my tripod--permit or no! :-)

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

Two Things Challenge: Black / White

Farragut North Metro Station

This week's Two Things Challenge was Black / White. I really had a hard time choosing which pictures to use for this challenge. In the end I settled on one people watching/structural architecture combination, a nature photo, and a slice of urban decay. I had a number of others I wanted to use, but that would have been going overboard. However, in the next week or so, I'll post one or two of the other pictures from which I had to choose.

The first photo (above) is the fare gate level and train platform at the Farragut North Metro station on the Red Line (Glenmont to Shady Grove.)

Morning glory in the morning sun

This second shot is one I grabbed a few mornings ago on my walk. The sun had just come up and caught this morning glory at the right angle, making it almost transparent.

Not just closed on Sunday. Closed every day.

Finally, on a different walk a few days ago, I wandered along 3rd Street NW between Kennedy Street and Missouri Avenue and stumbled on this sign in the window of what was once a Chinese carry-out place. The place is now vacant except for a note on the door announcing the store's closure due to an illness in the family, a few chairs, and lots of dust. Oh, and this sign, of course!

To see the other participants in this week's challenge, go here.

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

P.S. If you want to see these photos in color, go to Standing Room Only.

Scandal

The Mayflower Renaissance : Site of fame and foolish frolicking

Anyway who has traveled on business or vacation has stayed in a variety of hotels and motels along the way. Among the elite hotels in this town is the "Grande Dame of Washington"--the Mayflower Renaissance Hotel. Built in 1925, it remains--more than 80 years later--the largest luxury hotel in Washington with 660 rooms, including 78 suites. When the Mayflower opened, it had more gold leaf than any other building in the country outside of the Library of Congress. In the late 1980s, the hotel underwent more than $11 million in renovations. During the reconstruction, a skylight and two murals were uncovered. They had been covered during the Great Depression and World War II to mask the opulence of the building.

The Mayflower has been the site of presidential inaugural balls in the Grand Ballroom for every president since Calvin Coolidge in 1923. Among other historic footnotes: FDR penned his 1933 inaugural address here. Harry Truman lived in the Mayflower during the first 90 days of his administration. FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover and "the man who ate lunch with him every day for more than 20 years" Clive Tolson dined daily at the Town & Country restaurant in the hotel.

The hotel has also seen its share of uniquely Washington scandals, involving several politicians and their illicit ladies. Among others: John F. Kennedy's mistress, Judith Exner, stayed here and would sneak over to the White House for trysts when Mrs. Kennedy was out; Bill Clinton's infamous intern, Monica Lewinsky, stayed here at the height of the impeachment trials; and, most recently, Eliot Spitzer, former Attorney General and Governor of New York, was caught in the company of a prostitute in room 871 back in February of this year resulting in his ignominious resignation.

One of these days, I'll go and shoot pictures of the interior. In the meantime, the hotel's website features a lovely photo tour.

On a separate and lighter note, Virginia of Birmingham Daily Photo emailed me yesterday evening and asked to see a picture of my People's Choice Award. Here it is:

It may not look like much, but I'm having it framed anyway!

No fancy-schmancy certificates or trophies or cash prizes for this competition. Just the label from the back of my framed exhibit piece and an overlapping piece of paper letting me know people liked my photo. They liked it. They really liked it!

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

The University Club

The University Club of Washington, D.C.--
former Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill loved playing poker here with Richard Nixon

This building is the University Club of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1904, the club was organized in the Willard Hotel and was formed by the gathering together of alumni from 66 universities and colleges. Twenty-four other cities had similar clubs at the time. The University Club's first president was then-Secretary of War and later-to-be U.S. president William Howard Taft.

The Club was originally located at 15th and Eye Streets NW near McPherson Square, but the Depression saw drastic declines in membership numbers. Eventually, the Club's facility was bought by the United Mine Workers. Meanwhile, over on 16th Street, the Racquet Club of Washington decided to build its own building. The organization was likewise not immune to the Depression and the two clubs merged into one in 1936.

Until the 1980s, it was exclusively a men's club, but after lengthy controversy and discussion women were finally admitted to the club. Perks of membership include: dining, accommodations, fitness centers, event rooms, and reciprocal agreements with clubs in the U.S. and Puerto Rice(1), South America(2), Canada, Mexico, Africa(3), Oceania, Asia and the Middle East(4), the Caribbean(5), and Europe(6).

1. Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawai'i, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.
2. Argentina, Chile, Columbia, and Peru.
3. Kenya and South Africa.
4. Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, India, and Egypt.
5. Bermuda.
6. Belgium, England, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal, Scotland, and Spain.

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential, 2/08

Wyeth

Art by N.C. Wyeth hanging outside the boardroom of a prominent D.C. institution.

I have a friend who works for a leading conversation and research organization here in Washington, D.C. At a party a few months ago, she mentioned that they have hanging in their corporate headquarters several original canvasses by the artist N.C. Wyeth. I just about hyperventilated with glee.

I didn't get the titles of these paintings, but I believe this one depicts Columbus sailing to the New World.

If you grew up reading the Scribner Illustrated Classic of Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island and Kidnapped!, you've seen the illustrations of N.C. Wyeth. And, if you've visited any museum of cultural significance in the United States, you've likely also seen paintings by Andrew Wyeth, N.C.'s son. Andrew's most recognized painting is Christina's World.

Wyeth's depiction of the Eastern Hemisphere.
A companion map of the Western Hemisphere hangs on the other side of the doors to the board room.

Getting back to N.C., tucked into the quiet headquarters of this prominent organization reside several N.C. Wyeth paintings that are simply stunning. My aforementioned friend was gracious enough to give me, my mom, and a friend of hers a personal tour of the paintings earlier this week.

N.C. Wyeth produced many a seafaring, swash-buckling buccaneer painting. This one is in the library.

According to my friend, N.C. Wyeth was a good friend of the founder of the conversation and research organization and said friend would occasionally pose as a pirate for N.C. in some of his paintings! That's also how they ended up with these wonderful treasures.

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential, 2/08

Spring?

Crocuses: a sign of spring or a midwinter tease?

After seeing the really cool frog exhibit at National Geographic yesterday, I decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and being downtown and went on a long photo safari. I walked down to the White House at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, then turned around and headed north. I walked from the aforementioned 16th and Penn all the way up to 16th and Colorado--more than four miles uphill. From Colorado, I hooked a right and headed home.

Over the next several weeks, you'll see the results of my walk from America's most powerful home to my humble abode more than five miles away. In that walk, you'll see parks, statues, art, philanthropic institutions, old and new architecture, trade unions, homes, and churches. In fact, tomorrow I'll commence a new feature here on D.C. Confidential I'm calling "The Churches of 16th Street." You'll soon see why.

Today's picture is a bunch of crocuses (croci? What's the plural for crocus?) I found under a tree in front of the office of the National Education Association on 16th and M Streets NW. I hope it's a sign that spring is right around the corner.

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential, 2/08

Rrrrr-iiiiiiib-it!

Statue of a tree frog outside Explorer's Hall, National Geographic Society

If you live in or will be visiting the D.C. area between now and May 11, you absolutely must visit National Geographic's Explorer Hall. And why, you ask? Because the Society is currently running an exhibit called Frogs! that features some really, really, really cool, living specimens. All of today's pictures were taken at the exhibit.

How many poison dart frogs do you count?

The poison dart frog is so lethal, one little frog can kill 10 humans!

While my friends and I were there today, a NGS staff person came out to feed the dart poison frogs. In the wild, if you encounter one of these beautiful but deadly specimens, steer clear! The poison from a dart frog is toxic enough to kill 10 people! And these little buggers aren't very big. As I mentioned, at one point this morning, a staffer came out to feed them and actually picked one up with her bare hand. I thought for sure we were going to have to call 911. As it turns out, there was no need. Being a curious sort, I asked her, "How were you able to handle a deadly, poisonous frog and you're still breathing?"

This little dart poison guy was barely an inch long! His legs and hindquarters were
iridescent blue, while his head was iridescent gold. He was pretty!

Turns out dart poison frogs are not toxic in captivity because they aren't eating the bugs they eat in the wild that produce the toxin that leaches off of their skin and is lethal. In captivity, they're fed fruit flies and crickets, which render them non-toxic. How cool is that?

Golden Mantella frogs.
Unlike their cousins, these are not poisonous.
There are actually three frogs in this picture.
Can you find the third one?

We also saw a variety of toads, as well as Amazon Milk frogs, Chinese Gliding frogs (they actually use the webbing in their feet to fly!), Smokey Jungle frogs, Waxy Monkey frogs, Borneo Eared Frogs, and tadpoles!

Amazon Milk frog just chillin' on his branch

Borneo Eared frogs enjoying a little shut eye. Well, two of them are anyway...

Here's a fun fact: toads and frogs aren't differing species. Toads are, in fact, frogs!

Chinese Gliding frog in green. These guys use their webbed feet to glide from tree to tree!

Chinese Gliding frog in blue. Isn't he a handsome little guy?

Needless to say, we had a great time, despite the crowds and five jillion kids. (Although, even the kids made it fun as I watched them watch these frogs with utter amazement.) This exhibit was so totally cool, I'm going back on Friday, when I'm downtown again for a meeting.

One of the five jillion kids enjoying the dart poison frogs with her grandma!

Stroller parking was at a premium!
(I'm just glad the NGS prohibited strollers in the exhibit.
Nothing more annoying than being bumped by these transit apparatuses!)

From top to bottom: Delicate Balance, Gary Staab, sculptor; Dart Poison frogs are indigenous to South America; Golden Mantellas are found in Madagascar; Amazon Milk frogs live in French Guiana, Brazil, Ecuador, and the Peruvian Amazon; Borneo Eared frogs inhabit Borneo, Sumatra, and many Indonesia islands; Chinese Gliding frogs are found in southeastern China, Myanmar, Vietnam, and Laos.

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential, 02/08