As unpredictable weather and utilities challenges impede my ability to crank out articles quickly, I offer what might initially seem like a “throwaway”. It’s a reference to one of my favorite topics: not just a labelscar, but one in particular for an eatery I’ve featured way more often than its current national prevalence (or lack
Several months ago, I stumbled into a restaurant cluster called The Block in Annandale, a somewhat distinctive suburban district in the overwhelmingly suburban Fairfax County, Virginia, just south of Washington DC. The unassuming exterior (which I’ll review shortly) betrayed a lively, hip interior that managed to generate at least medium buzz after 9pm in this
As the holiday season fast approaches, I find it increasingly difficult (perhaps impossible) to meet my usual goal of five blog posts per month. December is always the toughest month of the year to accomplish this feat, and, having begun the month with a post that was longer than I expected, I may have to
Not so long ago, near a prominent intersection in Arlington County, I stumbled across my first confirmed example of bike boulevards. The concept has existed for a while, and though I’ve been familiar with term for over a decade, frankly I’m a little behind-the-times in encountering one just now. Then again, if this is what
As if it weren’t obvious already, I’m fascinated by architectural oddities—aesthetic efforts that don’t quite come together as intended, or fail to mesh with their surroundings. Plenty of people feel much the same, as evidenced by the numerous blogging initiatives on the subject, though many bloggers are more vituperative than I intend to be. (Then
My over 900 articles on this site have rarely gone viral in that they amass thousands of responses or get picked up by national media. I’m just not that big. (And I don’t try to be; after one unpleasant experience, I vowed never again to pay to boost visibility of blog posts via social media
Coming on the heels of an article where I unexpectedly concluded that the best decision might be to save a strip mall in College Park, Maryland, I now view more or less the same subject through a different lens. Leaping across the Potomac River to Virginia, the state might change but the metro area is
Cute little dog! A French bulldog, it seems? It’s got those bat ears. Are they still both the most popular and most expensive dog breed in the country? Doesn’t matter. I wrote a feature about regulating animals in privately owned businesses barely a month ago; I don’t usually return to a topic that quickly. And
Seen a flick at a single-screen theater lately? Ever seen a movie at a single-screen theater at all? Odds are strong—for any American over the age of 35 who grew up an urban cluster (basically any community over 5,000 people, per the Census’s revised definition—the answer is probably “no”. Some very remote small towns have
Bear with me. This article is almost too dinky for a mini-post. Really more of a Tweet (what do they call those now, after the renaming?), so I’m stretching the content to its limits, inversely, by posting fewer words than just about ever. But the previous article on the Durham Can Opener took me way
As unpredictable weather and utilities challenges impede my ability to crank out articles quickly, I offer what might initially seem like a “throwaway”. It’s a reference to one of my favorite topics: not
Several months ago, I stumbled into a restaurant cluster called The Block in Annandale, a somewhat distinctive suburban district in the overwhelmingly suburban Fairfax County, Virginia, just south of Washington DC. The unassuming
As the holiday season fast approaches, I find it increasingly difficult (perhaps impossible) to meet my usual goal of five blog posts per month. December is always the toughest month of the year
Not so long ago, near a prominent intersection in Arlington County, I stumbled across my first confirmed example of bike boulevards. The concept has existed for a while, and though I’ve been familiar
As if it weren’t obvious already, I’m fascinated by architectural oddities—aesthetic efforts that don’t quite come together as intended, or fail to mesh with their surroundings. Plenty of people feel much the same,
My over 900 articles on this site have rarely gone viral in that they amass thousands of responses or get picked up by national media. I’m just not that big. (And I don’t
Coming on the heels of an article where I unexpectedly concluded that the best decision might be to save a strip mall in College Park, Maryland, I now view more or less the
Cute little dog! A French bulldog, it seems? It’s got those bat ears. Are they still both the most popular and most expensive dog breed in the country? Doesn’t matter. I wrote a
Seen a flick at a single-screen theater lately? Ever seen a movie at a single-screen theater at all? Odds are strong—for any American over the age of 35 who grew up an urban
Bear with me. This article is almost too dinky for a mini-post. Really more of a Tweet (what do they call those now, after the renaming?), so I’m stretching the content to its