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And this is what it looks out on:

Photo by DCPS student William Webb

Investigating Where We Live 2010 Exhibition Opening Reception at the National Building Museum:

“Take a visual journey through three DC neighborhoods in an exhibition designed by teens. The 2010 IWWL exhibition showcases a fresh perspective of DC through the eyes of young people. Students investigated the neighborhoods of Petworth, Trinidad, and the Southwest Waterfront. Their original photographs, writings, and artwork are featured in this exhibition.

For more information, please contact Outreach Programs at [email protected].

Date: Friday, July 30, 2010
Time: 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Address:
401 F Street NW”

Thanks to a reader for sending in this great beauty:

“This is the newly rehabbed back patio of a Shaw house I’ve lived in since 1998.”

And this would also make for a great ‘judging backs of rowhouses’, sweet:

After the jump see before photos! (more…)

From an email:

We’re starting an ice cream club. A what? Consider this: In the hottest summer ever, an unemployed chef has been sitting at home with an industrial-sized ice cream maker at his fingertips. What do you think he’s been up to?

Our “club” will work like a CSA, or community-support agriculture—a produce-buying scheme where members pay a farmer at the beginning of the season and receive a load of fruits and veggies every week.

Here’s what we’ve got to offer: Every week of our club includes six 4-ounce portions of ice cream and sorbet—that’s equivalent to 1½ pints of Ben & Jerry’s—that was churned no more than 48 hours before you get to eat it. We’re trying out the club for the steamy month of August, and “membership” options include one, two, three, or four weeks.

I’ll be curious to know what you guys think of the prices.

Details after the jump. (more…)

Sax Restaurant & Lounge will be located at 730 11 Street, NW in the old POSH Lounge space. It’s alcohol application says:

“New tavern and lounge to serve petit, modern French cuisine and include cabaret type
live performances by uniquely talented artists, from classical ballet to Latin or Adagio.
Seating capacity is 328. Total occupancy load is 328.”

Sounds interesting, yeah? I actually wasn’t familiar with Posh – were there any fans?

Danny Harris is a DC-based photographer, DJ, and collector of stories. In September, he launched People’s District, a blog that tells a people’s history of DC by sharing the stories and images of its residents. Every day, People’s District presents a different Washingtonian sharing his or her insights on everything from Go Go music to homelessness to fashion to politics. You can read his previous columns here.

“My adopted parents brought me to D.C. when I was two years old from Baltimore. My adopted father was a cement finisher and my adopted mother cleaned houses for a living. We lived a nice life up in NE until I realized that I was adopted when I was about 12. When I learned that, I dropped out of school and ran away from home to find my birth parents. I needed to know who they were and understand why they abandoned me. I took off to Baltimore knowing only my grandfather’s name.

“In Baltimore, I was alone and hungry and stole some food from a store. When the cops caught me and asked me where I lived, I gave them my grandfather’s name. They took me to his house and that was the first time I met him. I didn’t know what I was going to find when I met him. I had all of these grand ideas that my parents were rich and would take me back into their loving family.

“My family was not rich, but my grandfather was very warm towards me and he introduced me to my aunt and eventually to my Mom. Turns out that my Mom had seven kids after me and kept them all. I was so angry that of all of the kids, she decided to give me away. My real mother was happy to see me, but never offered to take me back and never did anything for me, so I was back on my own at 12. I have no hard feelings towards her. She is who she is and I need to accept that. As for my father, I didn’t meet him until I was 47. He found me.

Continues after the jump. (more…)

This great big standalone is right on Georgia Ave, NW not far from Flip It Bakery. I was also digging all the hanging plants on the wrap around porch.

A reader sends this one from The Erie in Adams Morgan. If you have a great view, garden or tomato please send a shot to princeofpetworth (at) gmail (dot) com.

Danny Harris is a DC-based photographer, DJ, and collector of stories. In September, he launched People’s District, a blog that tells a people’s history of DC by sharing the stories and images of its residents. Every day, People’s District presents a different Washingtonian sharing his or her insights on everything from Go Go music to homelessness to fashion to politics. You can read his previous columns here.

“I am a D.C. staple, just like the president and mayor and all of those people. Come on, I am Blelvis, the black Elvis. Everyone knows me. Now, I am basically a street performer for lack of a better term. But, I have not always been a street performer. I used to have a band, Blelvis and the Sun Blisters. We played all over town.

“I grew up in the Petworth area. I went to Petworth Elementary, Macfarland Junior High, and Roosevelt High School. I have lived in Montana, Wyoming, Arizona, and Texas. A sad, but true commentary about D.C. is that most young, black people have never left the metropolitan area. I am fortunate that I have seen a lot of places, but I always came back to D.C.

“People always ask me, ‘Why Elvis?’ I guess we were connected since birth, as I was born the same day, but different year, as Elvis on January 8. You can say that Blelvis was born the day that Elvis died on August 16, 1977. As a teenager, I used to listen to the radio a lot, but never liked Elvis. When he died and they announced the the king was dead, all of the radio stations started playing his music non-stop. I kept changing the stations, trying to find one that was not playing Elvis, but I couldn’t. At first, I was pissed and then I heard ‘Treat Me Nice.’ I was like, ok, that sounds pretty good. Then another song came on, ‘(You’re so Square Baby) I Don’t Care.’ Anyway, I ended up listening to Elvis the whole night. I was like, damn, he put out some good shit. A couple of days later, I got my first Elvis album. Then, as the old southern expression goes, whole hog or nothing at all. It means whatever you get into, go all of the way with it or don’t do it at all. That is the way I am.

Continues after the jump. (more…)