The gourmet cupcake trend really took off back in the late ’90s when HBO’s Sex and the City series name-checked New York’s Magnolia Bakery.

But I don’t think the craze began spreading (seriously) to Washington, DC until a few years ago. Hello Cupcake appears to have opened in August 2008, while Red Velvet Cupcakery didn’t open until January 2009. Georgetown Cupcake claims to have opened in February 2008 as “DC’s first and only cupcakery.” Cupcakes Actually located in Fairfax, VA opened in May 2009. And Frosting in Chevy Chase, MD opened sometime in late 2009 or early 2010.

So if the lines of people stretching up the block from Georgetown Cupcake aren’t enough evidence for you, how can you verify the spread of this fad? Well, the Washington Post‘s Going Out Gurus have added a “best cupcake” to their Best Bets guide, and personal blogs have also sprung up on the topic.

DC has no shortage of good (traditional) bakeries — Patisserie Poupon in Georgetown is one of my personal picks. So what makes people shun the old school bakeries in favor of what a type of sweet that has in the past been considered a low-rung “poor man’s” product? One commenter on the DCist blog sums up my thoughts on the matter rather succinctly:

Anyone who is willing to stand in line for a cupcke for the same amount of time it would take to bake a dozen cupcakes deserves to stand in line for a cupcake.

And another notes, “And pay as much for one cupcake as it would cost to make a couple dozen.” Perhaps somewhat less PC, a third commenter adds, “I see about several people in this photo who would be better off jogging around the block a few times rather than standing in line all day for cupcakes.” All in all, waiting as much as an hour in line for a cupcake seems like a waste of time (especially when you can bake a dozen in your own oven for probably about $5). The mark-up on these “designer” bake good is enormous — As DCist again notes, I hope this is one fad that has already jumped the shark.

To Do:

• Pick apples at a local farm and make an apple pie completely from scratch
• Take photos of the Air Force Memorial at sunrise
• Eat a burger at Ray’s Hell Burger
• Eat Japanese noodles at Wagamama (if they open a DC location, as is the rumor)
• Fly a kite in the Smithsonian Kite Festival
• Attend at least one event at this year’s Duke Ellington Jazz Festival

Have Done:

• Visit the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens in Anacostia
• Take pictures of the National WWII Memorial at night
• Wander around Adams Morgan Day Festival (I think the last time I went was in 2006)
• Watch free international films at the National Gallery of Art and the Freer/Sackler
• Eat Greek food at St. Sophia Cathedral’s annual summer festival (again, it’s been years since I attended)
• Taken pictures of the sakura over the Tidal Basin at sunrise

I was listening to NPR today and learned a new word (which is suppose is a statement on modern society): Perma-lancer. This means essentially: A permanent freelancer. A person originally hired on a contract basis, but now essentially a full-timer (though without the perks and benefits of a full-time employee). This sort of “permanent temp employee” status seems in my eyes not that dissimilar to Japan’s freeters (フリーター) who are not “regular” employees (正社員). Generally freeters do similar or the same work as regular employees but do not receive the same benefits or job security… hm.

But anyway, here are a few links that I’ve stumbled upon lately:

• 日本映画データベース
• Midnight Eye
• Smithsonian Kite Festival

(1) US: Clinton and McCain win the New Hampshire primaries. After Obama and Romney’s victories in last week’s Iowa caucuses, campaign-watchers debated back-and-forth on whether Clinton would be able to best him in New Hampshire. As recently as yesterday, polls were showing Obama ahead. But who believes numbers anyway? As a side note, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer ran a story about support for various candidates on Facebook (nevermind the fact that a lot of facebook users are too young to vote). According to this article, Obama is more than twice as poplar than Clinton among participants of Facebook’s Politics Pulse page. On the Republican side, the leading candidate is Ron Paul (who received less than 10% of the Republican vote in Iowa). Frankly, I don’t even know who he is. And in closing, the WSJ has an interesting interactive graphic that shows visually how cramped the primaries are this year.

(2) France: France’s president Sarkozy has publicly discussed his relationship with Italian model-turned-pop-singer Carla Bruni. When asked whether or not he plans to marry her, he replied, “There’s a strong chance you’ll learn about it after it’s already happened.” Talk about a rumor-starting press conference…

(3) Georgia (yes, the country, not the state): Although Mikhail Saakashvili (მიხეილ სააკაშვილი) is well on his way to being recognized as Georgia’s next president, the main opposition candidate, Levan Gachechiladze (ლევან გაჩეჩილაძე) and his supporters have been complaining vigorously that the election results are invalid. “You are a falsifier, a swindler. You personally falsified the election, and you will pay for this, I promise you,” he accused during a protest rally. “Resign! Otherwise we will protest every day!” With most international organiations and media calling the elections “free and fair,” it’s hard to see how Gachechiladze is going to make his case stick.

And on a completely different note, I’m aiming to explore some more of DC’s restaurants this year. Some of the ones I’ve marked down but haven’t had the chance to visit yet are listed below. As always, suggestions are welcome!

• Arax Cafe: Westover
• Momo Sushi & Cafe: Alexandria
• Cho’s Kitchen: Fairfax
• Vaso’s Kitchen: Alexandria
• TNR Cafe: Courthouse
• Couscous Cafe: Dupont Circle