Photo by PoPville flickr user Tactile Necessity

Flower Power 2012 Walk and Reception:

Florida Avenue Park
Florida Avenue and 1st St NW
Saturday, June 23rd, 2012
4:00pm – 6:30pm | $10.00

It is time to enjoy the warmth and wonderful plants, flowers and colors of our Nation’s Capital. We invite you to be a part of our Bates Area/Truxton Circle neighborhood garden walk and reception on June 23, 2012.

During the neighborhood walk, you will see some of the best gardening in our community and experience the different styles and architecture of our homes. You will be invited to neighbors’ front and back yards to see the great garden each home has to offer.

At the end of the walk, you will vote on your favorite yards and help select the best of each street. Of course, it is summer so a reception will follow. The reception will give you the opportunity to meet new neighbors and catch up with old ones. You can pre-buy your $10 tickets on Paypal (no account required) by using this link.

See all of tonight’s and the week’s events here.  To add your event, click the events tab up top and then click “add an event”.  You can add concerts, museum/gallery exhibits, fundraisers, sporting events, bike rides etc. You can add anything you think will be of interest to PoPville.

“The picture was taken at ‘Devil’s Throat’ at Iguaçu Falls on the Argentina-Brazil border.”

Photo by flickr user Aaron Webb

From a press release:

Mark Anderson, Owner of Improv Comedy Clubs in Tempe, Arizona and Washington, DC Missing

National Celebrities Join in the Search

Mark Anderson 60, owner of the Tempe, Arizona and Washington, DC Improv Comedy Clubs, was reported missing by his wife on May 12. Mark was last seen in San Diego on Tuesday, May 15 but was also recently spotted in Dallas. Mark, who has a two year old son, may also be in Oklahoma City, Phoenix, San Diego or Washington, DC, places he has frequented in the past.

According to authorities, Mark may be suffering from a mental illness and in need of medical attention. He was last seen driving a silver 2011 Dodge Durango with Arizona license plate AWE8050. Anderson is described as white, with gray hair, brown eyes and glasses.

Celebrities who have known Mark through the years are also helping in the search through their social media channels including Kevin Nealon, Judd Apatow, Kevin Hart, Paula Poundstone and Aziz Ansari. “I’ve known Mark since we both started out in stand up comedy in the early 80′s,” said Kevin Nealon. “I’ve always been grateful for his friendship, sense of humor and admire his business savvy. My friend’s disappearance causes me great concern and I pray that he is found safe and is reunited with his family.”

There is a reward for information leading to finding Mark and anyone with any information can call Private Investigator Thomas Martin at 1(800)577-1080 or email helpmarkwanderson@gmail.com.

Pre-haircut

Wanted to send you an update on the little dog who we found on our front porch last week.

We put up signs around the neighborhood, including a lot around the places people thought they had seen her, and posted a notice on Craigslist and a couple of blogs. No one has contacted us, and we did not find her on any lost-dog listings. We haven’t seen any signs looking for her.

We took her to the vet. They said she was 1-3 years old, slightly underweight but otherwise seems healthy. She is unspayed.

She spent the first day under the bed and growling, but has warmed up to us a lot since then. She’s very sweet and non-aggressive. She is not housetrained, so we’re working on that. She also had obviously never been groomed; her hair was very long and very matted and dirty. We took her to the groomer — it was a bit tough, but she got through it and I think she feels good with her new hairdo.

At this point, pending peace negotiations with the cats, we are planning to keep her. Depending on how things go, she may become the Annie’s Ace Hardware store dog!

New haircut:

Read Kevin’s previous post here.

When I said in my first post that the basement project will take about a month of weekends, I realize now that may have been a bit misleading. I should have said the project will take about a month with most of the work happening on the weekends. I have a full time job, and my father the contractor, has a schedule filled with remodeling jobs he is working on during the week. So while most of the big progress happens on the weekends, I work at night when I get home. Last weekend we got all the framing, electrical, and drywall rough-in work done, so my weeknights were devoted to getting the second coat of mud on the drywall so it could be sanded and primed.

I’ve been working with my father in his remodeling business since I was six years old, and while I have done nearly every aspect of a remodeling job, there are some things I don’t have a lot of experience with, and doing the second coat of mud is one of them. Every seam, corner and screw hole has to be finished. The first coat is to get the drywall tape on all of the joints and around the corner beads. Perfection is not vital because the mud shrinks and always requires more coats. The second coat however places a much higher value on quality workmanship, a skill that comes from experience. This “quality” is about the thickness of the mud you put on for the second coat which directly dictates the amount of time it will take to sand that second coat and much touch-up on future coats.

I mention all of this because while I was very aware of this “thickness to sanding ratio,” I struggled. Big time. And on Sunday I paid the price for my lack of experience by spending eight hours sanding. It was exhausting and my shoulders were on fire. But I learned my lesson the painful way. In many situations, seeing the results of your hard work are worth the pain. Drywall work is not one of those times. If you get into any big drywall projects, unless you want to skip going to the gym for a week, I suggest paying a professional the quality will be better, and they will be faster.

Continues after the jump. (more…)

Photo by PoPville flickr user A. Drauglis Furnituremaker

We appreciate all you’ve done and continue to do for us. Hope all the moms out there have an amazing day!

Photo by PoPville flickr user fromcaliw/love

• Light skinned, Dominican Female
• 12 years old
• Approx. 5’ 6” tall and 130 lbs.
• Long sandy brown hair, possibly in a ponytail
• Wearing blue or green t-shirt, khaki pants, and a blue hoodie
• Last seen being dropped off at school at the intersection of Georgia Avenue and Otis Place, NW at 7:07 AM
• Do not think it was a runaway
• Honor roll student and athlete

MPD has escalated the search to a critical missing persons case.

UPDATE: 12:03am “The child has been found and is now safe. Thank you, MPD.”

Thanks to everyone who wrote in and tweeted about Vento Restaurant getting papered over at 2120 P Street, NW. While their website is still active, the phone number listed has been disconnected. Vento replaced Stars Bistro in Aug. 2010. Not sure who is moving into the space but I’ll be sure to update when more info becomes available.

From an email:

What’s a pie CSA subscription? Kinda like what it sounds – sign up on our website to get a pie a week for a month. Like sweet pie? Get a sweet pie every week. Like savory pie? You can get that too. Like them both? Get them both.

Of course, you’ll only make a long term commitment like that for some seriously good pie. So thank goodness we sell some seriously good, one-of-a-kind pies. We only sell two types of pie a week – one sweet and one savory – so we can work with the freshest local ingredients from the farmers’ market. Our pie flavors change from week to week, depending on what’s in season. Like this week – our sweet pie is pear and ginger pie (with pears from Kuhn’s orchards) and our savory is a kale and cheddar quiche (kale is from Garner’s Produce). Our flavors run the gamut from traditional classics (when strawberries come into season we’re doing strawberry rhubarb, because there’s no way to improve on strawberry rhubarb) to completely original (savory apple pie with blue cheese and caramelized onions? We’re totally doing that come fall). Oh, and our carefully crafted crust is full of flaky layers of buttery goodness.

To get the pies, people can order through our website by Tuesday, and pick up that Friday or Saturday at our four pick up locations throughout DC. People can buy the pies we’re offering that week, or they can make a longer-term pie commitment and sign up for the CSA. And we have two sizes of pie – nine inch (six to eight servings), and six inch (two servings).

Last week we noted the great tree blooms, this week the azaleas are awesome. This is one of my favorites from Harvard St, NW between Adams Morgan and Mt. Pleasant.

Photo by PoPville flickr user theupper

You can talk about whatever is on your mind – quality of life issues, a beautiful tree you spotted, scuttlebutt, or any random questions/thoughts you may have. But please no personal attacks. I’ll open this thread every morning at 10am.

Photo by PoPville flickr user Mr. T in DC

From a press release:

Neighbors Asked to Plan Ahead: Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon to Close Streets

· Detours, access lanes and full closures listed at www.competitor.com/community
· Race will welcome 21,000 runners from all 50 states, benefits numerous charities

What:
As the only marathon to run entirely through the streets of D.C., the SunTrust Rock ‘n’ Roll USA Marathon & CareFirst Rock ‘n’ Roll USA Half Marathon will welcome more than 21,000 runners to tour the sights and scenery of the city.

When:
Saturday, March 17th

Who:
Neighbors and residents along the 13.1 and 26.2 mile race courses are encouraged to plan ahead and note road closures, parking restrictions and access points to navigate effectively on race day.

For a full list of closures, detours, access routes, an interactive map, and parking restrictions, please visit www.competitor.com/community.

Road Closures:

Most closures will be in effect between 7:20 am and 12:45 pm, with streets opening on a rolling basis as the last participant passes. Roads directly adjacent to RFK Stadium near the start and finish of the race, will close between 12Midnight and 3:00 am. Major closures include:

· C Street NE Eastbound from 19th Street NE to North Carolina Avenue NE and from 22nd Street NE to 19th Street NE
· C Street from E. Capitol Street SE to 22nd Street NE
· E. Capitol Street SE from 13th Street SE to 2nd Street NE and Westbound from Minnesota Ave. to C. Street NE
· E Capitol Street NE from 22nd Street NE to 19th Street NE
· 9th Street Tunnel NW from Constitution Avenue NW to Maine Avenue SW
· Columbia Road NW from Connecticut Avenue NW to Harvard Street NW
· Constitution Avenue NW from 3rd Street NW to 20th Street NW and Constitution Avenue NE from 13th Street NE to North Carolina Avenue NE
· Anacostia Dr. SE from Douglass Bridge Access Road to Nicholson Street SE
· Minnesota Ave SE from L’Enfant Square SE to E. Capitol Street SE

Marathon Road Closures

One of my favorite sights from spring – the hundreds of flowers blooming along the banks of Rock Creek Parkway:

Last week we learned that the National Cathedral still needs $18 million worth of restoration work to deal with damage from the earthquake that hit August 23, 2011. Walking around town, I’ve realized there are a lot of smaller buildings that need help too. In particular, I’m sorta terrified of the damage at the funeral home on the corner of Randolph and Georgia Ave, NW. It looks like the whole thing up top could come crashing down.