I recently came across this beautiful balcony in DC’s Adams Morgan neighborhood.
This is one of the densest neighborhoods in the city, so the balconies on townhomes tend to be drab fire escapes instead of lush balconies like this. The townhome owner fit as many plants onto this back balcony/stairs area as possible without it looking super cluttered.
I think the chandelier on the first floor is overkill, but otherwise I love it. 🎍
The Embassy of Australia on Scott Circle is being torn down this summer. It’s very interesting to see which buildings that DC deems worthy for preservation, and which foreign-owned buildings get maintained.
I guess this one didn’t make the cut.
Australian Embassy construction in Washington DC
Apparently toward the end, the embassy was in such disrepair that scaffolding had to be erected to prevent the facade from falling onto pedestrians. At least the property is being redeveloped and not simply abandoned like some other embassies in the city.
Hopefully the the building will be treated better.
It looks like Halloween came early to the Logan Circle/Dupont neighborhood.
This creepy decoration is at the intersection of 17th Street and P Street NW. It’s not quite as interesting as the Barbie Pond, but just as quirky and a bit more topical.
An ominous skeleton in the DuPont / Logan Circle neighborhood.
An ominous skeleton in the DuPont / Logan Circle neighborhood.
A crowd favorite at Nellie’s Drag Brunch is Sapphire Ardwick Ardmore-Blue, a D.C. drag powerhouse known for her crowd-work, short wigs, high boots, and of course, that Khia number.
You can keep up with Sapphire’s bookings and “Motivation Monday” shenanigans on Instagram and Facebook.
Here are some photos from brunch!
Just prior to shutdown, I was halfway through a modified version of the “75 Hard” exercise fad.
The gist my routine was that I worked out twice a day for a minimum of 45 minutes per session. It was a big commitment, but felt great (most of the time).
I never subscribed to some of the more arbitrary rules of the 75 Hard program — like the requirement that one session has to be outside, or that you can’t make-up missed sessions when work gets crazy. Even I understood that flexibility is needed for thunderstorms and client demands. I also wasn’t going to take 5 minute cold showers every day because that’s clearly nonsense.
The point of this fitness spurt was to train myself to understand that exercise is something to be prioritized. Scheduling two exercise sessions per day instead of just one also makes it very hard to skip working out altogether. In short — I was on a roll.
There are plenty of ferocious pitbulls guarding various places in Ivy City. The local convenience store is surrounded by a yard with two particularly aggressive pits that recently charged after my dogs on one of our morning walks.
Gunter (the Chiweenie) held his ground, and they actually became friends of sorts.
The lack of nightclubs during the pandemic has not made the streets safer — particularly in Washington DC’s Shaw/U Street neighborhood.
We’ve seen a car jump a curb and almost hit a group of Black Israelites. They were convinced it was a miracle that they weren’t injured, and I think they may be right. That driver sped off.
Then the next weekend, this nonsense happened:
Nellie’s weekend drag brunch was one of my go-to events before everything shut down for quarantine.
There are a lot of drag brunch options in Washington, D.C., but what keeps me coming back to Nellie’s is the consistently strong cast of performers with fresh songs and outfits every week. Out-of-town performers also often supplement the regular cast, giving me the opportunity to see new talent.
Working from home continues to be far more interesting than expected. There haven’t been additional dramatic rescues, but there are a strange amount of fires in the neighborhood.
Since March, I’ve seen a fire about every-other week. For a while, there was even a homicidal arsonist on the loose.
The number of fires that I see from my desk is in part due to the great unobstructed view from my window — I can see anything smoking between Ivy City and Maryland. However, there are still too many fires in this part of town for my comfort.
Aside from smoke, helicopters frequently buzz past the building — but that’s likely an everyday occurrence in the District and far less scary than the choppers in St. Paul. 🔥
One of the special (but slightly sad) things about street art is its ephemeral nature.
This mural is in the H Street neighborhood of Washington, DC, on the side of a townhouse. The construction next door looks like it will seriously obstruct the mural, if not completely close off the space between the buildings. I guess she’ll spend the next few decades staring at a brick wall, creating a really cool, if obscure, miniature art alley.
I recently got Gunter some University of Miami gear and he…doesn’t seem to happy about it.
As a Chihuahua mix, Gunter is extremely difficult to shop for. He’s exactly between sizes, so things are usually too large or small. In this case, the UMiami shirt is a bit too tight.
Weekend walks have been a bit strange. Some parts of the neighborhood are bustling with activity, but others are completely abandoned.
After seeing the recent “It” horror movies, the last thing that I want to see on an abandoned street is a balloon following me.
After nearly a decade, I finally purchased new pairs of Vibram FiveFinger Shoes. My toeshoes inspire horror and side-eye from my friends, but they are my new go-to for dog walks. The only downside is that the mesh coverings make Vibrams unwearable if it’s wet outside, which is quite often given the weather this summer.
This is one of the few pairs of shoes that I’ve actually worn into the ground. I had to get new pairs because my original Vibrams had holes in them toward the end. The new shoes are still fresh, but will they probably not last another 10 years given how much I’m wearing them, but we’ll see. 👠
One of the new Union Market apartment buildings has this beautiful mural of a woman. It’s clearly designed for Instagram photos, but at least it’s a little more creative than yet another pair of wings.
No clue what happened to the green bike racks. 🚲
It’s about 7 a.m. and I’m walking Ingrid by the side of Gallaudet University on my way back from Starbucks. I have my headphones in — focused on my audiobook and distancing myself from other pedestrians.
The street back to Ivy City is West Virginia Avenue NE, which features an odd morning mix of dog walkers, joggers, prostitutes and drug dealers. A guy about my age exits a yard, crosses West Virginia, and starts walking diagonally toward me. The guy says something to me, but I have my headphones in so I pretend not to hear him and keep hustling forward with the dog.
The guy gets into a SUV and drives off.
We are still walking along West Virginia Avenue a few minutes later when the SUV reappears and slows down. The guy rolls down his window and waives to get my attention. I stop and take out my headphones.
Guy in car: “Are you interested in me at all?”
Me: “…pardon me?”
Guy in car: “Would you be interested in a guy like me at all?”
I,
am,
mortified.
I smile, mumble something about having a boyfriend and keep it moving. That was quite possibly the most awkward pickup ever, but apparently I still got it? 🤷
The best place for a D.C. drag brunch this summer is Delaware.
Some of the District’s best performers have taken over The Pines Rehoboth Beach for a weekly Sunday drag brunch.
The restaurant is in Rehoboth Beach’s central tourist district and a couple blocks from the boardwalk. There’s also a sister gay bar across the street called Aqua Grill where people grab drinks after the show.
The Howard Theatre is one of the many venues in Washington DC that put up Black Lives Matter signs this summer.
There’s a new Black Lives Matter mural along my dog walk route. This mural is in an alley near the corner of Mt. Olivet and Holbrook Street NE.
A jungle of cranes and steel beams surrounds Union Market. Every morning, I pass the trunks of massive apartment towers slowly creeping toward DC’s thirteen story height cap.
Gyms recently opened back up in the District for the first time since the lockdown began, but I am not sure when I’ll be back.