C A P I C O S T I A

Check out the plans for the new Penn Branch Center... right here on ICGProperties.com ! Check out the airy, light-friendly glass and steel architecture, the environmentally conscious green roofing , the restaurants , the sidewalk cafes and the people! Imagine spending a Saturday afternoon, dozing over your laptop at Dunkin' Donuts or Panera or Caribou Coffee! Imagine heading down to a bar for drinks with the fellas on Cinco de Mayo ! Imagine celebrating your whatever with your whoevers, amidst the primal, smokey scent of STEAK on the grill, wafting up and along Carpenter Street! Imagine all of the schemes you'll have to come up with just to drive by this place, without pulling over for something. You'll never get downtown . You will never see Capitol Hill , again. And speaking of downtown, imagine the GATED PARKING that will end the abusive over-crowding of Penn Branch Center's parking lot by commuters. It's so crowded during the day, it sometimes takes several...

I'm not sure how this is going to work. Bill Press on TV for two hours is probably going to feel kinda like eating a bucket of wheat and washing it down with table cream. Gotta lighten this up with something, I think.  More here.

Social Security Is Not The 'W' Word One thing that today's political arguements are doing for the general public, is to help us to understand just what Social Security is. Unfortunately, some of our Congress people still don't seem to understand what it means. Like me, an older woman in my social Security age range, You may remember seeing "FICA"(?) as a deduction on your pay stub. I learned years ago that FICA meant SS. I didn't have the understanding that it also covered payments into "Medicare." In more recent times this information has been spelled out more clearly on pay stubs. In other words folks, these are programs we have paid for, along with our employers who are required to match our contributions. So, double what you contribute is sured for you. ____________ that our money is somewhere earning interect, so there should be a lot. We receive reinbursements in the form of SS checks when we arrive at our _______________ age. In My case th...

Brangler Oppossum (above) is the only thing gathering in these hills, my friends. (Originally published, July 23rd, 2009) If it seems some Penn Branch folk are always bellyaching about the lack of quailty retail in our neighborhood, don’t judge us too harshly. It’s more than just bellyaching. Prior to the Reagan Era 80s and the Inflation that preceded it, this neighborhood had plenty! I remember drugstore diners with GREAT coffee, movies at the Hyland Theatre (at the Hyland Cinema , once located next to the Pope Funeral Home) and, with valet, at Coral Hill . There were even several restaurants, a cocktail lounge or two, a bowling alley, ..and all right here, in and around Penn Branch. I remember seeing my neighbors at these places and the feeling of relaxed belonging and protection it gave me. I remember hearing my father laugh about bumping into Mr. Such N. Such at that cocktail lounge, and how, after the encounter, he’d decided that Such N. Such probably wasn’t such a bad guy, after...

Penn Branch Center, charming as ever! (Clockwise from top right) Penn Branch Liquors, CVS Pharmacy, Beltway Beauty and Star Pizzeria, below it. (Originally published, July 15th, 2009) She sits at the corner of Pennsylvania and Branch Avenues, this brick and concrete goddess. Our Penn Branch. She sits there, with a mouthful of meatball subs, twinkies and Cool Ranch Doritos and washes it all down with a Colt 45. She sits there, fixing the one good eye she’s got left on you, as your car makes a mad rush for the John Philip Sousa Bridge. For Capitol Hill. National Harbor. Adams Morgan. Cool places. Exotic places. Faraway places, where cafes litter the sidewalk. Where laughter, foreign accents and live jazz tease the imported air. Where people linger. Celebrate. Hook up. I cannot honestly say that I remember the last time I wanted to visit Penn Branch Center, the prehistoric strip mall at the corner of Pennsylvania and Branch Avenues, for anything, ..and I don’t know anyone else, who does, ...

What in Dante's Hell is 'Capicostia'? There's something about living here, ..in Penn Branch, Fairfax Village, Pope Branch, Dupont Park, Twining, Hillcrest, the Randall Highlands and probably Fairlawn, too, ..that's different than living in other parts of River East, and the culture-angst is something only we can understand.  When you think about it, the only thing separating us from Capitol Hill and everything the Hill represents - sophistication, culture, history, relevance, style - is a stupid bridge and a river, and, while it seems rather inconsequential, we all know it isn't.  Not in D.C. And, especially, not over there, West-of-river, ..in Capitol Hill, Georgetown, Downtown, No'Ma and Adam's Morgan. There's a fleeting anxiety among some of us, who live in the neighborhoods along Pennsylvania Avenue, that we're unfairly characterized as less intellectually sophisticated, less cultured (appreciative of history and the arts), less relevant a...

Washington, DC has had an 5.9 RS earthquake and is expecting aftershocks. If you're in the area, keep perishable foods, plenty of bottled water and weapons/firearms on hand; you may also want to put some of these items in your auto, in case you must evacuate your house. Please don't forget the water, as it's very hot here in DC. Keep a half-full glass of water in a centrally visible location and monitor it for shaking. If you think it's something other than an air-conditioner, passing truck or some kind of machinery, head for an exit. We're okay here, so far.