why i miss nyc...reason 1...

http://newyork.grubstreet.com/2011/05/xian_famous_foods_in_old_china.html

shake shack has arrived

When is anyone going to create a Shake Shack DC Yelp page already?
It doesn't exist yet. (as of 12:09pm)

I would, but I'm too cool to battle the hype lines. Just kidding. I've loved Shake Shack ever since my first Shackburger. I'll sacrifice standing in line to let more DC'ers try the goodness that is Shake Shack..
I also just want to know how DC ranks it's luscious burgers against all the other burgers in the area.

I hope they put up a shack cam for this location.

UPDATE 2:59pm: So there's a yelp page for it now, but the one and only 5-star review was written by someone who has already tasted SS goodness in NY and hence already love it.

we share soap boxes

This article from the Times is so on point!
"Ahem! Are You Talking to Me? (Or Texting?)

someone please post this on Facebook

A Guide to Smartphone Manners

By DAVID CARR

Published: April 15, 2011

NYTimes.com

A Modest Proposal for a Digital Détente: 10 Rules to Make Sure Smartphones Don’t Make Us Stupid

1. Go ahead, glance at your phone at an incoming text. And please excuse yourself to respond to one that will immediately advance your plot to take over the world. But do not type under my nose. It hurts my feelings.

2. Phones should remain put-away during dinner and lunch with friends, but it should also be permissible to ask for and take a mutual “phone break” if the meal goes on for longer than an hour.
3. Do not use “instant message” for something that is not instant. That’s what e-mail is for, so I can time-shift your request to when I can deal with it. And for mercy’s sake, never use IM if you are a slow typist.
4. Staring at a smartphone in an elevator seems like a good deal for everyone. I mean, as opposed to what?
5. Do not think that tweeting about having a drink with me validates my importance. Having a drink with me validates my importance. Memorialize it later or when I am in the restroom.
6. Do not link all of your social media together. If I wanted to follow you on Foursquare, I would follow you on Foursquare. Finding out on Twitter that you are the mayor of the Boerum Hill IHOP doesn’t meet any current needs I have.
7. Put that “reply all” button behind glass. Use only in case of emergency.
8. Do not sign me up for a “really cool” social messaging group; I’m probably not cool enough for it. And even if I were, your list is likely full of people I try to avoid as a matter of course.
9. Do not hold private, banal conversation in public places. Going back and forth on Twitter with someone is the equivalent of using your outside voice in church or on the train. We are not interested.
10. Do not become a dynamo of self-promotion on social media as so many advise. If your Facebook page scans as an ego gymnasium, I probably stopped checking it years ago. Yes, social media is a great professional tool, but it is not supposed to serve as a hand-crank on your brilliant career.

continuing theme

Look what I just added to my to-read list: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6006670-the-dumbest-generation

PAUL bakery...

...is coming to DC in May (per Eater DC)! I'm looking forward to enjoying all the baked goods at their US flagship store. I'm also quite surprised that said flagship store will be in DC.

so timely...

...is this article about woodworking classes for kids from the Times! ...and so related to my last post about appreciating pre-mobile media-social media pasttimes. It's not surprising that wood shop class is on its last legs, but it is sad. With the dwindling presence of such educational opportunities, common sense and basic skills and knowledge are also dwindling. This may explain some of the stupid things I see everyday...like people forgetting to turn on their lights when driving in bad weather or at night.

the hipster in me - a post laced with generalizations

Oh no...did you read that heading right?! G has long known my aversion to social media and mobile technology (is it contradictory I have a blogger account?). After reading this article in the Times, I felt a strange sort of comfort knowing that there were youngish people (tricenarians and younger) who still appreciate low-tech things like typewriters. I bet this crowd is similar to the crowd that still appreciates rotary phones, takes an interest in farming, buys vintage, prefers low-tech toys over electronic ones, or like the article says, knits or keeps bees.

What do these people all have in common?! I will go out on a limb and propose that they're all hipsters, if not in the full sense of the word, then to some extent. And the fact that I too appreciate all those things makes me like them (to some extent). YUCK! I also like going to wineries for cheese and wine, appreciate the stylings and modern-mixed-with-classic design of West Elm and Room and Board furniture, and yeah, I do shop at Whole Foods - does that make me a yuppie too? Double YUCK! Although I'd like to think that choosing a career in public health makes me immune to such labels, I still fit many of the attributes of a yuppie, as described in the yuppie wiki page, such as "enjoying the cultural attractions of sophisticated urban life and thought," but I am NOT out of touch with the hardships and concerns of those less fortunate than me. I also have been shopping at Trader Joes and farmers markets before yo mama was born. I also knit in college before hipsters started selling their knit goods on etsy.

My point? I was a hipster and a yuppie by the age of 12 in 1993 - a time when I spent many hours listening to slow jams, SWV and David Benoit and all his smooth jazz friends while thinking about sports and boys and how awkward I was.

Perhaps my excellent foresight has something to do with my early coolness. I have a pretty good track record of calling things (e.g. after all his man-whoring, I called Tiger Woods as being 'done'. I also called this: people's driving habits and style are directly reflected in the way they drive shopping carts.) I was way ahead of my time. Strange kid - but way ahead of my time. Maybe hot pink flower-patterned jumpsuits will finally catch on.

DC tops cities for restaurant expansion

How timely! http://www.nrn.com/article/10-strongest-retail-markets
This is good news for the area's explosion of food-related social media outlets...all of which I've looked into for employment opps. The dream lives on...

crowded brain

So many things to write about, so little time! Here's an abridged list:
- new blogger mistakes (lack of focus, inconsistent postings, ignoring SEO strategies)
- foursquare? the feast?
- Eater DC has finally gone live.
- Why didn't I know about Ruth Bourdain??? ...maybe that's why I didn't get hired by Eater.

important debate: scrunchies

Back in or forever out?
http://www.stylelist.com/2010/01/28/hair-scrunchies-scrunchie/

I must say, I do like the way Sienna Miller looks in the picture.

new fav words

buvette
soignee
confute

my letter to my church

Hello,

I've been an occasional parishioner at St Matt's for years now. While looking on the parish website for enlightening Lenten activities, I noticed the '40 Days for Life' posting. I haven't always agreed on the church's stand on certain issues, nor have I disagreed on all of them either, but I find this activity to be cockamamie.

Rather than harass Planned Parenthood patrons who 1)are not going to PP for fun, 2)who face difficult life situations and decisions, 3) may be going to PP for reasons other than abortion, why not go to the NRA and pray outside their offices? Many MANY more lives are lost senselessly from gun violence, particularly in DC.

Planned Parenthood provides affordable STD testing, primary care and preventive health services. They provide health education services. It's well known that DC has the highest HIV/AIDS rates in the nation, particularly among young African American girls and women. If the chuch is so 'pro-life', why shun PP, an organization that provides life-saving services and educational programs to such an at-risk population?

Please reconsider your focus. As Catholics, we should not judge others, especially those who are already in a difficult place in their lives.

Sincerely,

ellen

lenten reflections

...place-holder posting for future thoughts about what I will be doing during Lent for Lent.

weekend

Awesome weekend. Now for a flush of my brain of the weekend's festivities:
Virgil's BBQ
Whiskey Tavern (oh lovely spicy backs)
L'asso
Uniqlo
Shoegasm
Eataly
High Line
Chelsea Market (Jacques Torres)
Spain
Cienfuegos
Jo's
456 Shanghai

...a weekend filled with inter- and intra-personal reflection. More later!

my idea

...just so it's documented that I thought of this before anyone else has (or at least before I've found it on the web), here is my proposal for a new site:

- have a map of all the routes every airline serves.

I don't think this exists yet and it would be helpful to see which airline I should be considering when shopping for airfare, no?

waste land

Last night Mary and I saw Waste Land, one of the Academy Award nominees for Best Feature Documentary. It was the first of multiple free screenings of the nominees at the Nat'l Archives and it was so wonderful. I actually didn't know the complete synopsis of the film going into the screening and was glad I didn't because it was surprisingly and refreshingly uplifting. Highly recommended. If only these were the types of films that were regarded as blockbusters...the world would be a more thoughtful and informed place.

where credit is due...and gay marriage

This morning, GM reported its first annual profit since 2004 - $4.7 million - the most in more than a decade. To state the obvious, I credit this to the Obama administration's Big Three bailout. According to the Times, tens of thousands of GM employees will receive profit-sharing checks of over $4000 each. Chrystler and Ford are also cutting bonus checks to their employees. By saving GM, the government has indeed preserved jobs, which is what the initial goal was. Although the government still needs to sell its remaining shares at high enough prices, it has also already recovered billions from GM. (ok - it's only about $7 billion out of the $50 billion needed to validate the decision to save GM (as of Nov 2010), but still, things are looking up and thousands of jobs were saved) Where are the anti-government naysayers now? Somewhere thinking of other stupid things to harp about, that's where. Many of said naysayers believe in 'less government' yet these are the same morons who want the government to do many things still - including banning gay marriage - another hot topic in the news this week. Ban gay marriage! The least of things the government needs to do!! And/or SHOULD do!!

check out my mad skillz, yo

To my readers (all 2 of you) -
You probably noticed that the number of postings has tripled in the last 24 hours! That's because I've learned out to import postings from my old blog (circa 2006-07). So everything I wrote there is now here. It's important to note that these postings were from years ago, as some of the content was worth posting then (or maybe not) but I wouldn't necessarily post it now. I guess you can say either 1) I've grown up or 2) I haven't grown up but actually gone backwards or 3) I'm still the unthoughtful writer who wishes she was more insightful and witty. Regardless, I'm glad to have all my thoughts - past and present - in one place (not including my xanga I kept while in college - that was great stuff).

i was told i should write about something...

There have been a few requests for me to start writing already. A few days ago, Tony Kornheiser mentioned on his radio show that many people write about themselves - what they're doing, the conversations they have, what their thoughts are - and then there are those who write. The latter are people who can write pieces about a certain topic and that have a beginning, middle and end.


I was contemplating this while thinking about what direction I want to take the Train and concluded the following: I know very little about many things and know a lot about very few things. For me to write postings as Mr. Kornheiser described would be to do a research paper everytime. Forget that.