Photo by Hugh Clarke

In lieu of an Ask Me Anything this week (though I still have a few to answer and if you’d like to add some questions to the queue, feel free to do so at [email protected]) I’d like to share with you a message I just received. This is in response to yesterday afternoon’s “This super-senior gal was taken in by the shelter at 18 years old when her former owner passed away.” (by the by, one reader is currently trying to adopt Julep, stay tuned) Update: Damn it! The reader has a cat and Julep has to be the only animal in the household. So if others are able – check out Julep here!!:

“not everyone is obsessed with dogs or likes to look at them every day. I associate them with piles of shit scattered all over town and constant episodes of neglect and irresponsibility on the part of dog owners that are a burden to every neighborhood. to me this is just grotesque and self serving.”

So, are you freaking kidding me??!?! Read More

Photo by Hugh Clarke

Ed. Note: Thanks again to everyone who has donated to the St. Baldrick’s Fundraiser in the fight against Childhood Cancers. We are about 50 bucks short of our goal but I’m gonna give you a shot of my youngest daughter petting Dingo to inspire you to push us over the line! If we somehow can get to $2000 I’ll add a shot of my daughter hugging Dingo which will melt the coldest of hearts.

If there are others who’d like to make a donation, any amount helps, please do so and get a free PoPville shirt at the head shaving event at Boundary Stone this Sunday!

“What’s the largest number of comments that a post has received? What was the post?”

Back in the day the posts that brought the largest amount of comments were crime posts. But part of that was because I gave much more open reign back then and as I’ve said before, today, I’m much more strict in deleting incendiary and racist comments. Also back in the day any post that touched on gentrification would result in tons of comments. Today, many neighborhoods that we cover are quite frankly gentrified so the posts don’t evoke the same emotions.

So what are posts today that usually get a ton of comments? Generally anything about bike lanes (though that too is becoming more “normal”/accepted), dog poop/neighbor disputes and of course neighborhood boundary disputes (which I try to avoid because after 10 years I find them incredibly tiresome at this point.)

But believe it or not the most commented post we’ve had in a long time was last Friday’s Question of the Day What is the District’s Dining Scene Still Missing?, which had 408 comments. Read More

Photo by Hugh Clarke

Ed. Note: Thanks again to everyone who has donated to the St. Baldrick’s Fundraiser in the fight against Childhood Cancers. We are about $400 short of our goal but almost there! If there are others who’d like to make a donation, any amount helps, please do so and get a free PoPville shirt at the head shaving event at Boundary Stone March 12th!

“Here’s a random question – how do you pick out the rentals/houses of the day? Do you have a method or process?”

It is very very arbitrary. I like to do a mix of neighborhoods. In other words if I picked a house in Columbia Heights yesterday, I’d like to pick one from Trinidad or Capitol Hill the next day. Same thing with rentals. I also like to mix up the asking prices, the sizes, condos, coops, row houses, stand alones etc. But it really is very arbitrary. I basically just search new listings and look for houses/apartments that seem interesting to me. Which also basically applies to every post on the site : )

“Sometimes the comments for GDON are not always, uhm, complimentary. Do you get many complaints from owners or Realtors?” Read More

Photo by Hugh Clarke

Ed. Note: Thanks again to everyone who has donated to the St. Baldrick’s Fundraiser in the fight against Childhood Cancers. We are 3/4 of the way there! If there are others who’d like to make a donation, any amount helps, please do so and get a free PoPville shirt at the head shaving event!

1. Why is the last post of the night always (usually?) at 10:22? I’ve had fun wondering about it. Is someone’s birthday October 22? Is it your lucky number?

When I schedule posts the default is military time so, 10:22pm is 22:22 and I just like the way that looks. When my older daughter was born, years after I’ve been doing the blog, she was born at 22:22 which was insane and I’ve taken it as a sign to keep it going.

2. Will you ever use the frog again? I was — and am — totally charmed by the Frog Prince.

Nope. The frog prince is permanently retired. Maybe I’ll bring him back briefly for special occasions like the 15th or 20th anniversaries.

3. I’ve also wondered how you go about screening the comments — and what criteria you use. (Yes, I’ve been scrubbed more than once, and would like to do better….)

There’s a couple ways to answer this. And this screening has evolved over time. Basically, all the overt racist hateful shit gets deleted immediately. If I catch the subtle racist stuff I’ll delete that too. If commenters are assh*oles to me, to you, to anyone and they make it personal – it’ll be deleted. If someone has been an assh*le, racist, crossed the line in the past I’ll remember that. They are held on a very very short leash. If they don’t like it, I don’t give a frog’s fat ass. I came to this conclusion a few years ago and it has made my life much more enjoyable. Hopefully for you too. Read More

Photo by Hugh Clarke

Ed. Note: I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has donated to the St. Baldrick’s Fundraiser in the fight against Childhood Cancers. Even though I’m an idiot and posted the wrong link yesterday, we’ve gotten halfway to the goal. Thank you so much for your generosity. And if there are others who’d like to make a donation, any amount helps, please do so and get a free PoPville shirt at the head shaving event!

If you have a personal question you’ve been dying to ask me – fire away! You can ask in the comments (which I’ll go back to and pull from) or just send an email with your question to [email protected] with “Ask me Anything” in the title.

“Dear PoPville,

Are there any crime stories for which you wish you knew more background information about the victim?

Although I had not worked with her in years, Carolynn Ellis, worked in the front office at my federal agency. We got the email from management that she died suddenly on Monday night (struck and killed by a DUI driver at 10th and U St, NW), but it didn’t take long to figure out what happened. Shared the thread from PoPville with a few folks who liked knowing that the community cares.”

I absolutely wish I knew and could share more about not only the victims but the perpetrators as well. Read More

Photo by Hugh Clarke

Ed. Note: If you have a personal question you’ve been dying to ask me – fire away! You can ask in the comments (which I’ll go back to and pull from) or just send an email with your question to [email protected] with “Ask me Anything” in the title.

“Dear PoPville,

I always wonder what a typical day is like for you.

-Do you plan your walkabouts in advance? With a map?

-When you go on walkabouts, do you bike to a starting location or just start walking from wherever you are?

-Do you ride your own bike or are you a bikeshare member?

-What kind of camera do you use and do you ever feel strange photographing someone’s house? (especially the close-ups)?

-When was the last time you held a typical “day job”?”

So, a misconception that some folks have is that I do a big walkabout every day. I wish my friends, I wish. Back in the day, I did go on more mini walkabouts during the week but I’m actually in front of the computer far more often than some realize. These days I have day care drop offs and pick ups and when I’ve completed them I am usually at the computer non-stop from 9am-3pm. During that time I pre-load posts through the whole day as well as that evening’s posts. I will then juggle posts around as breaking news/interesting reader notes/tips come through. Then I usually do the dishes from last night that I’ve left sitting in the sink. Then I’ll crack a beer. Usually a delicious delicious Dogfish Head 60 minute or an RAR Nanticoke Nectar. If I just want a lager I’ll have a Devil’s Backbone Gold Leaf Lager or a Bikini Blonde Lager from Maui brewing. But I digress Read More