With a title like this, I could very well write about the Palin/Beck rally participants that descended on my city this weekend… But instead I’ll stick to the (hopefully) less-polarizing topic of cupcakeries. I’m not entirely sure when the fad of cupcake-focused bakeries began sweeping America. National Geographic says: The gourmet cupcake trend really took [...]
The concept of car-sharing is no newcomer to the DC region — Massachusetts-based Zipcar opened its DC office in 2001, and Seattle-based Flexcar was also in the area (before its merger with Zipcar). However, bicycle-sharing for commuters (as opposed to tourists) hasn’t been as quick to catch on. SmartBike DC is a self-service public bike [...]
ASEAN and the Obama Administration: Views from the Region SPFUSA Asian Voices Seminar Series Monday, March 30th, 2009 12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. (lunch will be served) The Cosmos Club Powell Room 2121 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. (business attire required) Speakers Bambang Harymurti, Corporate Editor-in-Chief, Tempo (Indonesia) Mr. Bambang Harymurti is Corporate Editor-in-Chief of [...]
Being an NPR addict, I’ve had an earful and then some of debate on the economic stimulus package — ask a question about money, and suddenly it seems like everyone’s an expert. I’ll make no such claims here, but I’ll still add my own two cents to the ongoing debate: (1) Some Republicans in the [...]
Lately, due to general life busy-ness, I’ve fallen behind on my unofficial list of things I’d like to do in the DC area. It’s amazing how after more than two decades of being in this city my list just keeps getting longer and longer. I’ll do this list in two parts. First, things I have [...]
Carter Doctrine (1980): “Let our position be absolutely clear: An attempt by any outside force to gain control of the Persian Gulf region will be regarded as an assault on the vital interests of the United States of America, and such an assault will be repelled by any means necessary, including military force…” Anyone who’s [...]
Two DC-related but otherwise completely different topics for today: The National Cathedral Greenhouse and Spa World. If you haven’t heard the recent news, the National Cathedral has, to the dismay of many long-time locals, decided to close its greenhouse. Of course, I oppose the decision. Do I ever shop at the greenhouse? …well, no. But [...]
Some people don’t seems to understand when I express my dislike for suburbs — the traffic, the strip malls, the sub-divisions, the never-ending traffic light systems — it’s frankly all a mess. And you don’t have to look far to find stories about the traffic congestion. I think that’s my biggest gripe about the suburbs. [...]
Senario: You’re walking down the streets of Tokyo without a cellphone, and you need to make a call. How do you locate one of the dying remnants of a bygone era: the public pay phone? Well, fear no more. This website conveniently maps the location of over 17,000 pay phones in the Tokyo metropolitan area. [...]
As a native Washingtonian, it’s easy for me to say, with an air of boredom and disdain, “I hate politics.” But it’s impossible to deny that I do have some interest in the topic… after all, for better or worse, politics does make the world go-round. Here’s a little round-up of some recent political happenings: [...]
Some people complain about congestion on the DC metro, especially the organge line. Of course, larger subdivisions further out from the city center–especially along the infamous orange line–have pushed up rush-hour metro ridership to new heights. I wonder if anyone considered this when they thought out the Dulles Corridor extension? As you can see from [...]
Reading back through my last few months of entries, I realized that I’ve lost touch with what’s happening locally. Maybe that’s why the Washington Post keeps sending me advertisements asking for my subscription…. But joke aside, I really haven’t been doing all that much around the WMA this fall. Somehow I intend to find the [...]
Obviously, as far as this blog goes, I’ve been letting the grass grow under my feet. In all other aspects of life, I think, I’ve been sprinting at full speed. Work has been busy–but I suppose that’s been a given recently. Aikido has also taken up a decent amount of time. I’ve been lazier than [...]