Auguste and the Spectators

At the Phillips Collection

The Tivoli

The Tivoli Theatre was built in the 1920 as a grand movie house. But by the mid-70s, the classic movie houses were being closed all over the city, and all over the country. The Columbia Heights neighborhood had also deteriorated, with crime rising and business plummeting. The theatre was unused for many years, but has recently been given life as the home of DC's GALA Hispanic Theatre.

Happy Holidays

So if you've been wondering where I've been, I've had an epically bad cold for a tremendously long time.  So unless you want monuments made of huge tissues, Hall's cough drops, or sculptures of Vick's Vapor Rub, this will have to do...  I'll be heading down south for Christmas, but I'll be back by the New Year, ready to document life in the District. Until then, thank you for reading, and Happy Holidays to you all!

Christmas at the 930 Club

Over the weekend, I went to a City and Colour show at the legendary 930 Club.  While waiting outside, I took a few shots of the 930's trademark antenna, now string with Christmas lights for the holiday season. 

Christmas Card Time

I hate it when I get holiday cards from the neighbors before I've sent mine out. But every neighborhood has that one family that always sends out their cards first, throws the best parties, and has the biggest trees. Everything is always perfect.  They always have the cutest, smartest kids and the most literate dog.

Put Some Swing in Your Step

This is the beautiful, shiny, red espresso maker at M.E.Swing's, DC's oldest coffee roaster.  Across the street from the Eisenhower Old Executive Office Building and just a short walk from The White House, M. E. Swing's is always full of people waiting to get the signature brews that have made Swing's a District fixture since 1916.  This is quality coffee, available in a variety of blends of bean-origins, and without the bitterness that plagues most coffee chains.  The one drawback is that there isn't much in the way of seating space, but on nice days, outside seating is available.

If you need a little more than caffeine to get your feet moving, I'm also been putting together an ongoing few lists of my favorite music of 2011.

Love Under the Umbrellas: The True Story of Hillary and Joe

Oh, Joe, you're so funny!

You may remember a few months ago when I visited the White House and took a picture of Secretary Clinton with Joe Biden (and also this one of President Obama...#humblebrag).  That original shot was actually one in a series which I posted on Facebook as a pictorial love story.  I kept getting emails saying , "You should put those on your blog!"  So, by popular demand, I give you the overly satirical Love Under the Umbrellas: The True Love Story of Hillary and Joe.  

And so charming.

Really, I'm blushing.

*Deep voice* Would you like to dance, Hillary?

You're such a great dancer, Joe.

Even our umbrellas have chemistry.

If I could just touch those beautiful lips.

Oh yeah? Prove it big boy.

Joseph Biden!

I am not that kind of girl! *hand on hip*

I said "no," Joe.
I didn't mean anything by it, Hill!

I'll have you know...

Oh, what am I saying? I can't fight it. I have to run my fingers through your soft, silvery hair.

   

[CAPTION CENSORED]

H: Oh no, a camera! We were just...uh...rehearsing! Yeah, that's it! Rehearsing! For a play!

J: You're going to email me those later, right?

Water Feature

In the courtyard of the Smithsonian Museum of American Portraiture and American Art, there is a water feature where water flows gently over the paved stones at a very shallow depth, so shallow, in fact, that if you walk through it (and everyone does-it's irresistible) your feet will be dry by the time you reach the doors leading back into the museum.

Gin And Tonic

This mural, at a Foggy Bottom restaurant,Tonic, pays tribute to the eatery's history as a pharmacy. Founded in 1890 by GW alumnus, Richard Quigley, Quigley's Pharmacy has been a fixture in DC life for almost 125 years.