Compass & Coffee Spoons

Winter Wonderland

 
 
 

Springtime in Washington

I think it's pretty unarguable that springtime is the best time in Washington. It's how I imagine summer in Maine to be, at least according to the LL Bean catalog: cool enough at times to wear a sweater, but warm enough at times to wear capris. Granted, spring seems to last about a week, but oh what a week it is. And, for about a week, we have the best thing in the entire city to enjoy: the cherry blossoms. Here's my first viewing from Saturday--a muddy, dreary day. I hope to go a few more times when they're at fuller bloom.

 

 

 

 

Capturing Urban Decay

I saw this photographer's site over at Even Cleveland.  Kevin Bauman has a portfolio of 100 Abandoned Houses in Detroit. As an urban planner and in my line of work, I'm fascinated by the changes in the economic fates of areas. And, when buildings are left to fodder, it's interesting to think about their role in the past. The families that lived there, the people who shopped there. Once, these homes were built by well-to-do residents of the Motor City, in neighborhoods that were presumably also well-to-do. Even having studied why these things happen, it still is kind of jarring to think about...how homes, buildings, and even towns and cities turn into places people don't want anymore...

Happiness Is A Full Tummy & A Warm Bus

I'd just like to say how good it feels to catch the bus on a cold night within a few minutes of having spent a lot more than I should have on a restaurant week dinner.

Seat hogs...in their native habitat

See this is what I'm talking about...cmon.

Open Letter to DC Area Residents and Governments

Dear Kind Folk,

You see that white stuff on the sidewalks and roads? That's called ice and snow. It happens every year. Some of you may be new to this, so let me help you out. If you don't remove it and it's below zero, it won't go away, and people will fall and hurt themselves.

Thanks.

Christine

 

I had taken this photo last night as a positive Commuter Sentences because of the serenity of it. I of course forgot about the aftermath.

Commuter Sentences: To Catch a Thief

As I was exiting Union Station, I saw a teenager running really, really fast. It was one of those occasions when your brain has to catch up with what was happening. I thought "Boy he's running fast!" and then "Looks like he's running because he stole something." By the time I thought "Someone should stop him," he had run through the doors to the food court on the lower level and a man behind me was screaming "Stop! Police! He stole my iphone!" The man was running around like a crazy person screaming police. [As a side note, a Metro employee--who I don't believe was working at the time--responded "He sure did." Well, thanks, lady, that's helpful.]

Okay, this is disturbing on so many levels. This guy was not in a dark alley or even a semi-deserted street. Nor was he pressed in a train with so many people that anyone could reach into his pocket and take it unbeknownst to him. This was a busy metro station at UNION STATION which is a block from the Capitol. Crime happens here a lot. What's disturbing is that the guy was SCREAMING "Police!" and it took at least 10 min (or so it seemed) for them to show up and that was, I believe, because someone called them. (This oddly did not occur to me as something to do.)  At that point, a car with lights shows up and talks to him.

The Metro police are rarely where they need to be. And now, they're going to start random searching of bags for suspicious materials. Why not start with being present and catching people who have just robbed someone with about 50 people in view? This reminds me of a time (post 9-11) that I told Amtrak police about a backpack left under a chair in a waiting area and was treated somewhat condescendingly...I mean, seriously!!!! This is turning into a total rant, but in further news, I have noticed grafitti more and more on trains and busses. Whatever happened to dealing with stuff like this to prevent bigger crimes--a la the recently maligned Broken Window Theory? C'mon Metro! Between delays, fare hikes, and fear of crime, people will find alternatives when they can...

M-M-M-Myyyyyyy Verona!

I saw the Shakespeare Theatre Company's production of Romeo and Juliet (R 'n'J) last week when my mom was in town. It was interesting to see yet again something that you know so well. I took Shakespeare in college, and have read a great many of the plays, and have seen many on stage as well, but none do I know so well as R 'n'J. Why? It's because of a simple thing called puberty.

I was nothing short of obsessed with R 'n'J in middle school. First of all, reading Shakespeare was difficult and gave you an intellectual heft unheard of for most middle schoolers. Second, everyone knows that R 'n' J is the most absolutely totally romantic and passionate plays of, like, ALL TIME! Or, is it?

When I was 13, I had "reading" (which is an interesting class to have at 13--at that point, doesn't English class suffice?) with Miss Bruno. Miss Bruno was sooooo worldly and wonderful. She was young and hip but yet mature.  To think of it, she was probably under 25...which is frightening for me now, so we won't think about that. Miss Bruno bucked the system (sort of), and thus was a hero in the mind of pre-teen. She was an art student and teacher who wore long palazzo pants from the Limited (the height of sophisticated fashion), lacy shirts, and granny boots. It was in her class that we read Shakespeare. To be specific, R 'n' J. We memorized--without prompting--the balcony scene. In fact, the picture below is a picture of Mollie and me practicing (can I hear a "boy you're brave"? I mean look at that 'fro!). Mollie's holding up her copy of "The Complete Shakespeare. "We were planning to do a mini production of the play. I don't think it ever came to fruition. Mostly because the girls all wanted to be Juliet and as you can imagine, NO boys wanted to be ANYTHING.

Miss Bruno showed us Franco Zefferelli's film version. She couldn't have been too against the system, because she stopped the tape and fast forwarded past the love scene/naked breasts. This caused us much chagrin because of course, that was one of, like, the MOST romantic and sexy scenes of them all. I think she eventually relented and showed us part of them being in bed, but no naked breasts. This of course completely removed any point of the whole thing for the boys.

I can still to this day recite the balcony scene "Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo. Deny thy father and refuse thy name..." or at the very least say it along with the actors. Unlike the people who insist upon humming along with the opera [I'm talking to YOU old man beside me at La Traviata!!!} I resisted doing this.

The Shakespeare Theatre Company's version used all male actors, as they did in Shakespeare's time, as acting was too vile for a woman. I heard many people from the audience at intermission say it was "overacted," but in some ways, that is the point. 

Part of R 'n' J is comedy. It is a comedy of the absolute drama that accompanies adolescence. Indeed, the sillness that is romantic love in general. People in adult relationships realize that love ain't this dramatic. If yours is, congratulations, I think.

The serious note is that when this drama is taken to its end, it is because of the greater silliness which is violence, machismo, and the hatred adults hold against other adults for ridiculous reasons that even the involved parties can't remember.  In that, it has applicable lessons for our own time.

Top: Photo by Mrs. Rock, author's own collection. Bottom: Photo by Scott Suchman, Shakespeare Theatre Company Web site.
 

It's Friday, 4:15 EST. Do you know where your VP is?

Ours is heading home, which doesn't seem fair, bastard.

Commuter Sentences, Special Edition: or, Further Reasons Why Taxis in DC Suck

Okay, since taxis in DC moved to a metered fare system, they don't suck AS MUCH as they used to, but that doesn't make them NOT suck. Witness tonight. Ted organized a small army of people to go to the showing of Arsenic and Old Lace (love it!) at Screen on the Green. I insisted on taking a cab home, because after hearing about my neighbor's break-in and other crimes in my area, it wasn't worth it. Though Ted was going to walk, he figured what the hay, since we LIVE FIVE BLOCKS from each other. Keep that in mind. Five blocks. Barely. So, anyway, we get in the cab, and the driver says something I don't understand. All I knew was that it was something that meant we were going to be paying too much.

For those of you not from DC, let me explain. In normal cities, you get in a cab, the driver sets the meter, and then you get out and pay what's on the meter. You could drive with five people and each go to a different place and at the end of the ride, the fare is paid. Not so in DC. For the longest time, DC had a zone system. In the zone system, you could pay as much as twice as much if you were one block out of a zone. It was crazy. To go 1 mile from Union Station to my house, it would cost $10. The drivers bitched and moaned that everyone except them wanted a meter system. This was because people thought they couldn't be cheated if there were meters. Not so.

In the old system, Ted and I shared a cab once. We ended up EACH spending $20, which we didn't find out until Ted had already been dropped off. 

$3.00 initial fee + $1.00 fuel surcharge + $1.50 passenger fee=$5.50 + fare

The driver informed us he'd "save us" by resetting the meter because normally he would have to charge Ted the full fare and then charge me another additional full fare. WHAT? What is this, an airline? Why, then, wouldn't we get separate cabs? What savings is there in sharing? Whatever...so, when Ted got out, he paid $8.75...actually, I think he gave him $10.

Next, the meter's reset: $3.00 initial fee + $1.00 surcharge=$4.00+ fare

The dude drives me (slowly...by the way) the five blocks, which the cheapskate in me for a moment considered walking until I imagined being held up, and I get out and pay $5.00. That's $15 to go a little over a mile. Though scarier, it would have been cheaper to have been mugged. (Or, for that matter, to have driven into work).

This great taxi photo with a pre-meter rant can be found by Wayan Vota on Flickr.