December 31, 2011

Great Falls, VA

December has included a lot of bubbly.

DC Good Eats

One of my favorite subjects in one of my favorite cities....the Washington Post names the 40 Dishes Every Washingtonian Must Try.  Admittedly, I've only tried a grand total of nine of them!  Shame!  Then again, of the forty, fewer than half were in The District proper, and I'm not often outside the city limits for eating good grub - at least not something like tacos.  Perhaps, next year, I'll expand my boundaries.

Shout-outs to a few of my favorite dishes - moules at Granville Moore's, Margherita D.O.C. pizza at 2 Amy's, the Blue Buck pancakes at Market Lunch, and palak chaat at Rasika.  A few treats from some of my favorite venues were also included like Founding Farmers and Sticky Rice.

I've been enjoying some festive meals and drinks over the month December with various friends for various festivities including The Tabard Inn (delicious house-smoked salmon plate with cocktails fireside); Adour at the St Regis (love me some holiday prosecco), Mio (excellent new chef, Puerto Rican-inspired menu); Lincoln (their kale salad is money! and their deviled eggs jar is garnished with caviar).  And last night, I enjoyed The Meal of the Year at Little Serow....shhhhh, please don't tell anyone, it's that special.

#OccupyDC - Action

Today there was some OccupyDC action.  Some planned protests of both the sleepers (those who love in tents) and other Occupy activists intended to disrupt Washington.

Today's demonstration was about 100 or so protesters marching down K Street NW, and blocking the intersection at 14th.  This is a block from my work, so I could see and hear it from the windows, and at some point walked over to observe and take some pictures.

Streets were blocked with heavy metal newspaper boxes, trashcans and chairs, and the Occupiers stood in the boxed intersection in the pouring rain chanting.  Police had all four sides cordoned off with police cars, horses and ultimately a wall of police facing off.  It was pretty non-confrontational - protesters chanted and sometimes taunted, police watched them stone-faced and sometimes took the bait.  There were easily an equal number of protesters and police, and an even greater number of spectators taking pictures with their phones.  But you can't block traffic forever, and eventually police began clearing media and bystanders to sidewalks, and then told protesters to also clear the street or face removal.

At this point, as I understand, police rode a bunch of horses slowly into the center, scattering a good number of protesters who did not enjoy facing off against a large imposing animal.  Soon enough the protesters played their role and lay down in the street.  And the police played theirs, giving them warnings, and then began removals and arrests, as protesters again played their part resisting arrest in acts of civil disobedience.   I checked Twitter a few times - #OccupyDC - to see how the scene was described, and I was a bit disappointed to see the tweets, while overall accurate, seem more sensational than what I had witnessed,

I'm quite proud of my city in the handling of OccupyDC.  There hasn't been evictions of the tent cities.  McPherson Square park (and Freedom Square a few blocks away) have codes of conduct posted by the protesters, including how to interact with police and respect the park.  Likewise, park police have posted signs of what is and is not allowed (generators must be cordoned off, for example).  DC's mayor and  Council has expressed support - as long as health and public safety are not threatened.  So far there has not been pepper spray, raids or helicopters as in Oakland and Atlanta.

The methods are a bit fringe-y for me, and the messengers far too scraggly to be effective.  But the principles of the movement speak to me - even with my iPhone and Starbucks and desk job.  Long live Occupy!

Occupy: Great Graphic Design

This, and many other fabulous graphic posters available at www.occuprint.org