15 posts tagged “washington”

Staccato on a Metrorail Green Line train, mid-afternoon on the return commute

Mar 23, 2007
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Black guy with long braids and shades gets on the Metrorail Green Line train to Greenbelt yesterday at around 3:30. Appears to have a need to show off to the entire car full of passengers, his voice at a feverish pitch, quick and sharp, staccato, cutting through my reverie and my futile attempts to enjoy a leisurely read through my current book.

"Who needs a wife? Fuck a wife! I'm a bachelor for life! I'm a bachelor for life! (10 times over until I thought he'd never stop)."

Okay, okay, we get the point, I think.

And then, "I'm the reason you threw away our dildo..."

I wondered if this string of rhyme was a creation of his own or a song he had piping through the headphones.

I guess he tired of ranting or got off the train.

There was a sudden lightening of the mood.

When he was there, it was like everything else around me stopped as people shifted uncomfortably, sat out the interminable end of his tirade or glanced knowingly at one another, most of them annoyed and wanting silence or space for conversation.

I have nothing against rap or hip-hop. I used to listen to groups like Naughty By Nature all the time, over a decade ago before my musical tastes hit one of many areas of metamorphosis in my life. I'm not even offended by curse words, hardly notice them. Heck, I say them myself, a bit more than I should. But what seemed to bother me was that his voice, the vibrations, this negativity in the air, was almost palpable, as if it took charge of the air around me, the space in which I enjoyed a brief respite. His vocality took that away from me, shook me to the core.

I'm all for freedom of speech and diversity, but when you are squeezed together and having to coexist with others in a speeding tin can, an onslaught of words such as this seems to be suffocating, and the situation calls for some understanding of noise pollution.

Of course, I know it also calls for me, the newcomer, to develop more of that thick urbanite skin, that ability to shrug off what's antagonistic and be more aloof, unconcerned and just accept the way of my new life.

One person's art is another person's villainous verbosity.

Jen

Meeting the DC Web Women, a Washington, DC-based group connecting women of the Web for over a decade

Feb 28, 2007
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Last night was two hours well spent. I attended a pizza party event to meet the members of DC Web Women, a phenomenal group that has been in existence in the Washington DC area for over a decade -- 12 years, with their anniversary coming up April 19. I found out about the group, which boasts over 2,000 members so far (locally, nationally and internationally), through Marilyn, a lady business owner I met at a Social Media Club event in the DC area I'd attended a couple of months ago.

In my opinion, DC Web Women is an amazing resource for collaborating, learning, socializing and networking, both personally and professionally. Its members were so incredibly friendly and helpful that I found myself among friends.

I had been a member of the group through one of its two LISTSERV mailing lists for two months before the meeting. But having the opportunity to meet face to face, share ideas and learn more about the organization was worth its weight in gold to me.

The meeting was held to introduce DC Web Women's online membership profiles directory, which is now accessible to members signed up under the site's LISTSERV accounts (signup for this LISTSERV is free under the "Join" link located at the left-hand side of the site.)

Matrix Group International, Inc., currently the third top firm in this industry in the Washington DC Metro area, donated the directory to DC Web Women. Their CEO in the Washington area was in attendance and gave us brief information on the directory and how it was created. It allows its members to better market themselves via the skills they possess or immediately find a good fit from within the membership in accordance with certain needs they may have as business owners, mentors or mentees, or even those wishing to learn more about a certain topic or get a good recommendation for a restaurant in town.

I am glad I joined and followed my colleague's advice, because I feel that being a part of this group comprised of a variety of career women, such as marketers, writers, programmers, editors, designers, and even librarians -- prolific, intelligent, trendsetting women -- will truly be a boon to me in continuing to grow further in my career and personal life through networking, staying abreast of technology and finding opportunities to take me further through my freelance writing, public relations, marketing and research ventures.

Plus, it was just a refreshing change to find and connect with people with like interests.

Shot of the Metrorail tunnel art under U Street, Washington, DC

Feb 23, 2007
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U Street area's Metrorail tunnel art in Washington, DC

Oh the life of a college student, part-time that is

Feb 19, 2007
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UMDCampus

Great class tonight, a lot of engaging discussions. Many of the students in this sociology course I'm in arrive early and leave a few minutes after the scheduled class ending time. So you can tell it's an interesting class. Our instructor is from Kenya, and he's been educated in London and Paris, so he has an endless wealth of knowledge and a more global perspective to share with us. I'm glad of that. I truly think that every college professor should not only have a requirement to be degreed, but they should also have had to spend a significant amount of time outside of the country. We need more instructors like this that cause us to think and really explore the world around us rather than doling out the conservative drivel of textbooks that tell us what to think.

Earlier, in the University of Maryland student cafe inside the main library, I wrote this rant centered around an assignment that I perceived was due today. Then, I later found out from a classmate that my assignment was not due until NEXT Monday --- whoops.

"So much for getting my first short assignment done for my class. I was sure that I had plenty of time today. However, I guess I have now learned both a better version of patience and to plan ahead more than I did.

The assignment was simple -- to use our textbook and two other introductory sociology textbooks, take the definition of sociology from each and then write a short bit about what school of sociology we think the author of the book hails from, according to how each definition was worded. However, we couldn't use any sources online, which is the avenue I would have chosen had I had the choice. I thought I'd just use the entire day Monday, since I was already off, to accomplish this. A whole day? Plenty of time, right? I'd sleep in and just hop on over to the University of Maryland's library since the one in Greenbelt, Maryland, where I live was closed.

I didn't count on a lot of things, like how long it would take me to get around on campus -- finding parking and figuring out the lay of the land. I couldn't make a copy of the book without a copy card. Well, in order to get the copy card, I had to buy one, which was $1 (minus the amount you then need to load onto the card in order to make copies and perform print jobs). However, as seems to be my lot in life, I was armed with credit cards only, and the machine would not accept them. I headed back over to the Stamp Student Union, from whence I had just come, to locate an ATM and withdraw money. Back and forth and around and around it seems I went to navigate so much just to accomplish a small few tasks.

Then, it turns out, in a university of this size and stature, there was only one -- count it ONE -- introductory sociology text in the entire library. The librarian told me they didn't generally carry textbooks.

So that was great news. I knew they didn't carry them in the Borders or Barnes and Noble types of bookstores any more than this library did, because I'd already combed through the stores throughout the week. So where does one find a sociology textbook then without buying one?

I'm going to arrive early and discuss this with my instructor today, but this is a really frustrating beginning to my studies.

Also, I was disheartened to discover that University of Maryland University College students are not offered access to the UMD wireless network, to which there are over 200 points on campus. We use the facilities and attend classes here, but we cannot access the wireless when we need to get on the Internet and do some research in the library. I find this very disconcerting. Even when I offered to pay for an account, I was told that the option is not even available.

One thing I believe about student life -- is that nothing is set up to be inexpensive or easy. It's as if college is not just about taking classes and showing your smarts but navigating many annoying, inconvenient levels of bureaucracy, paperwork and the lack of common sense, as if in a video game, to see who can remain patient and keep her wits about her.

I am already tired and my class begins at 7 p.m. and lasts another three hours. I hope to discover I wasn't the only one who had pains locating enough textbooks for our assignment. I guess we will see.

On the up side, I have my bearings better. I now have a clue as to where the Stamp Student Union is in relation to the McKeldin Library. This is the first time I've had the opportunity to glimpse the campus during daylight hours, and when I drove around at night before, I succeeded in nothing more than getting lost.

So at least I won't feel like such a lost soul. I'm now debating whether I might benefit better from just taking courses online from now on, to save myself the hassle of beating feet all over campus just to accomplish the things I need to do, to avoid the freezing cold commutes to Marie Mount Hall where my classes are held. But I'm afraid I'd let myself off the hook too much were I to just have my classroom contained within the framework of my laptop, which I could choose to open at will or not. Plus, the time-consuming walks from place to place have got to add to my daily exercise quota, right? That's got to be good.

Long evenings, costs, frustrations -- I guess without these things college just wouldn't be college, would it now? Besides, there are many other people who have undergone this process and lived to tell about it. I'm sure I can too, and that I will come out wiser and with gobs more patience than I ever dreamed of acquiring."

So, as you can see, I was very excited to find out I had another week on the assignment. I guess if I'd kept up with my syllabus and actually referred to it, I could have saved myself a lot of heartache today.

Loreena McKennitt's "Ancient Muse" tour comes to Washington DC

Feb 17, 2007
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I just hit Ticketmaster Online and bought my ticket to see Loreena McKennitt's international Ancient Muse tour that comes here to Washington DC on April 24, DAR Constitution Hall. I found out about it in the Washington City Paper, one of my favorite local publications in the area.

I'm so excited. I've always loved her music ever since she did the song "The Mummers Dance," and that was years ago.

She's kind of obscure to those not interested in this genre, kind of like a New Age, Pagan type of music

AncientMuse

I'd call it. This is really a once in a lifetime chance though, because I don't think she goes on tour often, so even for $75 bucks, it is totally worth it in my opinion.

Oh I just love living in Washington DC -- finally I'm in the right location for me, a place where I can never get enough culture, art and music! DC totally rocks, IMHO.

She's kickin' butt and takin' names with Avonwalk for breast cancer

Feb 15, 2007
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In case anyone was wondering what happened with my earlier enthusiasm on posting about the upcoming Avonwalk for breast cancer, I just wanted to announce that I will not be doing it this year.

I've thought about it, and since I didn't hear a lot in reply from friends and family, and I'm already working and going to school and feeling pretty busy lately, I plan on trying again next year since this is an annual event.

I think once I've been here longer and know more people in the Washington DC area and once I'm more used to my schedule, I will give it another shot.

So, it seems like a cop-out, but I just don't want to make a promise I cannot keep, because that's no better than not doing the event. For the people who expressed interest, I thank you and hope you'll keep me in mind for donations next year.

My best gal friend at work is doing the event, and I'm going to be donating to the cause via her page on the Avonwalk website. If you feel that you'd still like to give and don't have any of your own close friends in mind for that, I'd like to suggest you consider Maureen as a representative.

She is the spunkiest, coolest, most intelligent go-getter of a friend I know, and I know she would very much appreciate your support. You can access her page and see how far she already has come to her goal here.

Thanks and take care! I was tempted to try, but I know how I am about taking on too many projects that excite me at once, and this is one cause I'd not like to shirk my duties on. Very worthwhile! Please check out.

P.S. You do not have to live in Washington DC to donate, because it can be done online.

The housing dilemma that is slowly sapping my sanity

Feb 8, 2007
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Here's my worst pet peeve of the day: Establishments where you place your order and wait in line for a while, only to be greeted with a blank look when you present your credit/bank card and are told they do not accept them. Hence, they wasted your time, and you wasted their time, ingredients and resources, AND the time of the people behind you -- all because they could not be bothered to place a single sign nearby to tell people it's cash only. People, it's becoming a virtual world. I don't believe the majority of us even carry cash on a regular basis.

I detest cash only places - have no patience for that, especially in a place like Arlington, Virginia, where I work in the D.C. Metro area for god's sake. This happened to me this morning, and I looked at the lady, incredulous, and replied, "Oh, well, forget it" and walked off. What was I going to do? I was on a 15-minute break, and it wasn't like I could magically produce a wad of cash from the palm of my hand in place of the card.

I'm sure this would not have been such a big deal to me had I not had my day begin badly in the first place, with me slipping on ice and tumbling roughly down the concrete stairs of the townhouse where I live, bruising and skinning my knees and probably waking up half the neighborhood, as the unexpectedness of loosing my footing immediately jarred me. I lay there feeling dejected and frustrated for about five minutes and began to cry uncontrollably, because this was just the sort of thing I didn't need when I was already racing against the clock. Then, to top things off, my wet hair had frozen into a big stick Bride-of-Frankensteinish mess on my head, and once I righted myself and dusted the wet snow off of my clothing and school books, I had to brush hard to make it decent. There was no time for anything else.

This commuting thing is starting to slowly unravel me. When it began, I was new to the area and didn't know anyone, didn't have anything going on, no college classes yet. I used to get to work a half hour early and feel I had time to breathe when the commute was new and novel.

Now I'm getting to work on time, but at the cost of having to leave the house with my hair still wet, not having anything to eat or drink before I do so, and anxiously speed-walking my way from house to car and from car to Metrorail train station, my heart pounding in my chest. I realize that I'm wasting three hours daily on this commute, and I'm harboring some major anger regarding everything to do with this hectic schedule of mine. I'm so worn down in the evenings that I am irritated when anyone calls me after 10 p.m. I won't even answer the phone if they do. To top things off, once I moved downstairs to the basement apartment from the top-floor room I was in (I rent with roommates), my Verizon signal started becoming choppy. Now, not only do I deal with late-night phone calls, but if I answer, I only get a half-garbled message, and that irritates me even more.

Had I not had only a week or so to get out here for this job, I would have certainly found a better place to live. But, things as they were, I had to turn to Craigslist to save my ass, and that's how I came to be in the boonies of suburbia Maryland.

But being locked into a yearlong lease (since it was the only option I could find upon first moving here on 10 days' notice), there is nothing I can do for nine more months.

A studio in a neighborhood across from where I work runs about twice what I'm paying now, and I could afford to live there and deal okay with even such a small space, but my fear is that I'll lock myself into a cycle of renting at that high rate, and then never be able to save up for and afford a home of my own. I'm a contractor, so there is no guarantee that my job and current pay rate will hold forever, and I'm not ready to take such a risk of moving into a place only to discover I don't have the same level of job a year later.

Anyway, a pretty mess I've gotten myself into, it seems.

Any suggestions? Should I move into a room for rent near where I work and end up paying rent in two places? I don't think that would be a wise decision. Should I move into the expensive place when my lease is up and take my chances? What are the rules for subletting here? And is it a hassle or easy to do? I'd love to hear from anyone living in an urban area who has been in the same predicament. It would be an amazing upgrade in my life if I could live in this place and walk to work, begin to have a life and not feel I was chained to this constantly moving rope that keeps slipping from my grasp.

I've tried different methods to try to get to sleep earlier, but I get home around 7 p.m., and once I do that, I have to eat, study and run errands. And forget working out or having a social life - there is no time for that.

Google does Washington (D.C., that is)

Feb 7, 2007
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And, in the news... Google comes to Washington

Two strangers on the Metro's Yellow Line transport me to the past

Jan 31, 2007
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Bleep -- bleep -- bleep!

The sounds of a video game in full swing cut through the background sounds of the morning commute from inside a Metrorail train car. I turn my head to see the kid glued to it and muse how the thoughtful touch of a button to considerately turn down or mute the volume is the furthest thing from his hard-wired brain. He is oblivious to anything but the digital connection he has to this machine.

Behind me, a man mumbles something about it to the neighbor in his seat, to the effect of not having had gadgets like that when he was a kid. The man beside him pipes up and agrees. They exchange ages in relation to this, and they spiral backward into a reverie about "party lines." Not the kind of party lines you'd expect to hear as a topic of conversation between two men in the District, I think, smiling, as I eavesdrop surreptitiously on this odd bit of conversation.

The two, who were strangers (as far as I can tell) before this incessant noise brought them to a common ground, reminisce about a time that this type of telephone system connected people within local areas, using different rings to designate calls for each separate household. We modern types who hardly pee without having a cell phone clipped to our belts -- and the few of us who even dare to navigate traffic while simultaneously texting from these mega-multi-function phones (not that I'll admit to anything) -- would have a hard time contending with this archaic system, I think. It is only effective if one party is not constantly tying up the line to the disadvantage of other users. That was during a time when people did not live and die by the phone and the constant availability of communications. Things were not so global, I guess, so they had only to walk down the street to gossip with a friend.

It's hard to fathom now that Alexander Graham Bell once had quite a few doubters as to the eventual success of his invention. Oh, if he could see us now racing about like scurrying rats, data fed to us from every possible source, virtually controlled by this flow of information at times, our world shaped on so many levels by advertising and the news media. I mean do we really ever know what we really think and feel about anything anymore? Can we honestly, 100 percent say that what we speak of and support comes from our own volition and not because of the programming we receive from hearing something over and over on television?

So moments like this morning's idle chat between two commuters are the ones I treasure - the rarity of a human conversation erupting in such an unexpected time and place as during the hubbub of the public transit commute, when an unspoken code seems to dissuade talking.

So call me nosy, because I am.

These moments, no matter how abbreviated, as a whole, over time, give me better insight into this urban culture. I liken myself to a sociologist of sorts, a spectator who is entertained by being a fly on the wall and trying to gain insight into the lives of others. I hope this will help me to develop my craft as a writer. No subject is more interesting to me than people, the stories of our lives, and why we behave the way we do. This world, our society, is a vast frontier that will never be fully and completely explored and will always invite my curiosity.

That's where the meaning of life is to be found. Not in looking down from the ivory tower of corporate offices or pushing people out of the way to get to the top, but in the simple in-betweens -- moments such as this when commonalities arise and spark words between two unaffiliated people; stooping down to pick up something someone dropped, catching up to him and getting a smile in return.

Nah, you would never guess that I'm an idealist, would you? Not in a million years.

Here's a Wikipedia article on party lines, for more info.

Help me help BOOBIES through Avonwalk.org for breast cancer

Jan 30, 2007
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A friend reminded me of something I would like to do that means a lot to me. And I thought 'what the hell; what am I scared of?' I've let the fear of having no experience in fundraising scare me away.

I have long felt called to do this Avon Walk for Breast Cancer I have doubted my ability to reach enough people to raise the $1,800 that is the minimum I must either raise or fund in part or whole by myself before the end of the campaign. I really feel this is a valuable program that I'd like to contribute to, but it is also my first fundraiser. I will be walking about 40 miles in May here in Washington D.C., for this, and that's the easy part, in my opinion.

I need to make my decision this week. If I do, I then have over 3 months to raise that money.

I thought I'd take an informal poll to see if there was any chance I could do this - kind of like a preliminary scan of the possibilities.

Would any of you be willing to either help direct people to my Avonwalk.org personal homepage once I begin it, or make a donation of any kind?

Please don't take this as spamming. I would not message any of you directly on this, unless you left a comment agreeing to this or wanted more info. I just need to give myself a basis on which to make my decision, rather than throwing myself into thin air, and I thought 'Voila!' maybe I can ask my friends on the sites I sometimes occupy.

Any ideas on how I could do well with this fundraising effort, or how I could promote it? You would be able to check the progress of this fundraising effort on my Avonwalk page and see how your part contributes to the whole.

Please feel free to leave any comments on whether you would be willing to help me or get your friends, family or coworkers interested. I have personal experience with cancer in my family (my grandmother, taken from us in 1994), and this means a lot to me. I don't get nor want any of the money for myself. It's all for the overall effort to help rid us of this disease that has already taken more than its share of wives, daughters, sisters, mothers and others from their families.

This is an exciting nationwide effort taking place in many major metro areas, and every bit you can give can help get us just that one needed step closer to combatting this disease.

Thank you, even if all you can do is read about this and pass it on to those you know to see if they are interested. Knowledge can be just as powerful in fighting this disease as money, but it also takes funding in order to make headway.

In addition, this just gives me a ballpark idea of how receptive interested people I know (or virtually know at least) are to this. No one in any way is held liable to pay. It is only out of the goodness of your heart.

Please either message me regarding this on my blog, or, if you wish to solicit the support of others, please have them email me at positiveacts@gmail.com - thnx. I created positiveacts@gmail.com for this effort and other volunteer-related activities, so please only use it for that.

SEE MORE ABOUT THE AVON WALK ON TECHNORATI.