A regular summary of irregular news and notes from neighborhood blogs and email lists around the District.

Bike Ballet: The Columbia Heights email list’s discussion of sidewalk-habituating cyclists stretches on. Some posters have chalked up the sidewalk use to the hazards of riding close to cars: “Ever see a cyclist get ‘doored’? There are countless reasons that bikes are up on sidewalks when bike lanes are not around. And even then, you can’t go 2 blocks without someone double parked (cops in many cases) in the bike lane. Most of the behavior that I see people whining about right now is generally in reference to a very small portion of cyclists in the city, most of which act like that with or without wheels—how often do you mark your memory for cyclists that are not causing issues?” Another agrees, “The FIRST time I was doored or otherwise hit by a car while biking, the driver thought I was in the wrong—for riding in the street, not on the sidewalk. All the transportation diversification of late is a good thing. The city may just need time to habituate itself.” A third poster has a gentle solution: “If everyone just thought of it as a ballet where their choreography affected the steps and flights of others, there’d be a lot less rancor.”

Those Are Some Expensive Groceries: “In case one needs two more reasons NOT TO SHOP AT GIANT,” blares a poster on the Shepherd Park email list, “(1) We stopped at the Harris Teeter on Kalorama (1/2 block off of 16th Street) recently: a huge surprise. It’s not all that far, they have free underground parking, the produce is wonderful (Whole Foods quality), their shelves are stocked with items I have never ever seen at Giant, AND their prices are markedly LOWER than either Giant or Safeway!” The screed continues, “(2) Today, I went up to Giant to get some yogurt; they didn’t have the kind I wanted (should have known). So I hopped across the street to the Rite-Aide, which did have it. I was gone all of 15 minutes total and came back to find my car had been towed! They take it to Rockville—how convenient!—and it costs $158 to get it back. Their security people say they saw me cross the street. Well, I can understand they don’t want METRO customers using the lot—but 15 minutes? $158? Rockville? Last time Giant ever sees a dollar of this family’s money!”

Give Us More of the Same: U Street Girl is skeptical that the owners of Dupont Italian Kitchen will be moving very quickly to open a new establishment on 14th Street between Florida Avenue and W Street NW. “Their plans for the space are new retail and office space on the top floors. The building will be renovated and then new tenants will come in. No word on what types of retail tenants will come in, but I will keep you posted. I do doubt the speed at which this will get done, as we haven’t seen any movement on the La Fonda space since November.” The new tenants will replace Mercadito, a Latin grocery store. One commenter writes, “Here’s my suggestion for the new space: A LATIN GROCERY!!! (but with 50% less hobos). Grrr.”

Chevy Chase, ISO: Members of the Chevy Chase email list are in pursuit of the following: “shoe repair shop,” used electric dryer and outdoor gas or charcoal grill,” a replacement or repair for “exterior wooden shutters,” “maintenance/repair for Mercedes,” the owner of an “Abyssinian cat,” “used dehumidifier,” and a “slide converter.”