A regular summary of irregular news and notes from neighborhood blogs and email lists around the District.
Aesthetically Pleasing: New Columbia Heights discovered a fun new addition to the city: bike racks that spell out the letters “D” and “C”. He writes, “The other day I was on Harvard, just east of 14th Street and saw these cool bike racks: they say ‘DC’. Always nice to see more bike racks in the neighborhood, especially cool ones like this. There used to be a real lack of them. I’m not sure how many people will need to park their bikes in this location, but hey, couldn’t hurt.” Commenters are generally pleased with the recent racks, referring to them as “neat-o”. Although one commenter didn’t pick up on the symbols and wrote, “I’ve never looked at them from this angle, so I never noticed the DC. Thanks for pointing that out! Just thought they looked stupid until today.”
Odd Discrimination: A member of a Tenleytown email list found something unsettling in a shopping center concerning the upcoming holiday season. In a post titled “Where Went Christmas?”, she asks, “Does anyone think it’s odd that Chevy Chase Pavilion has a sign advertising two seasons — Hanukkah, and ‘Winter Wonderland?'” It’s good that she called this out, because the people behind the sign probably forgot about Christmas. Another member of the list retorted with, “As a native of Chocolate City, I ask, ‘Where went Kwaanza?'”
Speaking in Tongues:Is your young child fluent in German? Well you are in luck! A member of a Cleveland Park email list is selling bags full of German children’s books. She wrote, “I’m cleaning out stacks of German children’s books that my 7-year-old and his older brothers have outgrown. They are mostly for ages 5-7, with a bunch of 1st grade beginning-reader books (our youngest is now in 2nd grade). The price is $5 for hardcover books in very good condition, less for paperback and books with marks or tears. I have two shopping bags full.” Perfect for all the bilingual children out there.
Cultural Baby Gap: A post on a Brookland kids email list proves that sometimes you have to be a parent to have any idea what someone is talking about. A member recently posted, “Anyone getting rid of/selling a nap nanny or have one I could borrow to test out? Our little sausage has gotten too fat for his bouncy chair and fell out the back!” This statement can be very misleading if you’re childless.