Spring Cleaning

This Sunday was supposed to be spent in Petworth building a long-overdue door frame and doing some yardwork. I showed up at the place around noon and apparently, everyone was still asleep. I didn't have the heart to start operating a nail gun while four people were sleeping off the previous nights' indiscretions. So I went home and completely overhauled the living areas and basement of my house.

With the help of a female friend (e.g. someone with an aesthetic sensibility) we transformed my dust bunny-ridden living area/romper room into an actual clean, comfortable living space! Who knew it could be done. It looks great.. now the hard part, keeping it clean. I also cleaned up my basement/pool room/work area, making it possible to walk from one end to the other without tripping over a circular saw or rotting corpse. Yes -- my house has become civilized. Let us hope it is not only temporary.

I will be writing shills* in the next few days for The Allegro, the new 297-unit development at 14th and Meridian, and also for a book of historic photographs of Washington, DC. In the case of the Allegro, the building management contacted me, and I asked them for a tour. I have been very interested in this development as it has unfolded over the last year or so, as it is probably the most visually appealing new structure in Columbia Heights. Today I had the opportunity to tour the premises and take pictures. I will post my impressions in the next day or two. In the second case, the publisher of a new book called “Historic Photos of Washington, DC” by local author Matthew Gilmor sent me a free copy of the book in exchange for a "possible" writeup on my blog. Since the history of Washington happens to be another fascination of mine, I couldn't refuse. I'll write up my impressions of the book here soon. I guess being a small time local blogger does occasionally have it's benefits... free swag and guided tours!

*Not really. In neither case will what I post be read by anyone else before I post it. I just wanted to be completely transparent - that I was contacted by the publisher of the book as well as the management of the Allegro as part of their marketing efforts. I actually think that's really cool that they are in touch with neighborhood bloggers like myself. It shows an interest in community voices and a desire to be engaged at the low level. Yeah it's still marketing, but it seems like a good kind of outreach to me.