Jamie Does The District

laughingsquid: Callinectes Douglassi, Giant Stained Glass Crab...

Fri, 17 May 2013 18:41:27 -0400

laughingsquid:

Callinectes Douglassi, Giant Stained Glass Crab Sculpture at Baltimore Washington International Airport

What?! This is awesome!!

jamdizzle: Poor thing is finally all encased in its...

Tue, 14 May 2013 09:15:19 -0400

jamdizzle:

Poor thing is finally all encased in its scaffolding. #dc #washingtonmonument

inothernews: I swear I can hear Capitals fans gnashing their teeth right about now. That’d...

Mon, 13 May 2013 23:12:54 -0400

inothernews:

I swear I can hear Capitals fans gnashing their teeth right about now.

That’d be accurate.

The Ups And Downs Of Living In DC

Mon, 13 May 2013 15:43:14 -0400

The Ups And Downs Of Living In DC:

No one has it all together, not even our nation’s capital.

Preach it!

I’ve been listening to bands for 12 hours in the rain and...

Sat, 11 May 2013 21:54:12 -0400

I’ve been listening to bands for 12 hours in the rain and am covered in mud. Phenomenal time y’all!

If by some act of beauty we get a repeat of this amazingness...

Fri, 10 May 2013 12:33:15 -0400

If by some act of beauty we get a repeat of this amazingness tomorrow at Sweetlife, I will literally lose my shit.

You guys! This is a portable CD player a middle aged man was...

Fri, 10 May 2013 09:08:49 -0400

You guys! This is a portable CD player a middle aged man was carrying on my walk to work.

THEY STILL MAKE THOSE THINGS?!

inothernews: JUST THE TIP Workers finished installing...

Thu, 09 May 2013 20:39:06 -0400

inothernews:

JUST THE TIP Workers finished installing scaffolding Thursday in Washington, D.C., at the Washington Monument, which was damaged in an August 2011 earthquake. (Photo: Mark Wilson / Getty Images via The Wall Street Journal)

Awww. My poor monument :(

jamdizzle: Enjoying the day on @batesk712’s new rooftop. He...

Sat, 04 May 2013 15:46:33 -0400

jamdizzle:

Enjoying the day on @batesk712’s new rooftop. He better get used to me hanging out here all the time.

gemmacorrell: Me right now. Yes. Accurate.

Thu, 02 May 2013 08:54:15 -0400

gemmacorrell:

Me right now.

Yes. Accurate.

Orangutan a at the National Zoo. My favorites.

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 20:39:38 -0400

Orangutan a at the National Zoo.

My favorites.

An Open Letter to the North Carolina Legislature:

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 12:43:00 -0400

Before I get into the nitty gritty, I just want to get something off my chest. I love North Carolina. Truly I do. It took me a long time to get there, in part because moving to a new town when you’re 10 is hard and I didn’t want to allow myself to love this new place. But I do. They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, and I have found that to be almost painfully true as someone who is no longer a resident of North Carolina. I find myself often longing for the cool mountain breezes, ice-cold creeks, sweet tea, and southern hospitality. I wear a pendant of the state around my neck, publicly displaying where my heart lies, and that while Washington, D.C. might be my home right now, it’ll never actually be home.

Yes. I don’t live in North Carolina anymore. I left for “greener pastures” so to speak. I come from an area that has some of the highest unemployment in the country and was just listed as the fifth most miserable metro area in the country. I needed to get out, and D.C. presented fantastic opportunities for a twenty-something girl, both professionally and personally. That being said, I’ve always thought North Carolina would someday become my “forever home.” While I’ve grown to love my new city, I’m not sure it has the staying power in my heart North Carolina has. I’m not sure it’s where I want to build a life with a partner and maybe, someday, have a few children.

You see, North Carolina has so much potential. When my parents moved my sister and me to the state it was due, in part, to an article listing our small town as one of the best places in the country to raise a family. Things weren’t always easy (and I do wonder what metrics they used to make that determination), but I wouldn’t trade that move for anything. North Carolina proved itself to be a fantastic place to raise a family, and the experiences I was able to take advantage of are incredible and the envy of some of my new D.C. friends. It is because of how great my childhood and adolescence were that makes me think about moving back to the state at some point.

However, my views and thoughts about moving back have changed significantly in the past few months. My heart breaks to see what you legislators are doing to my great state. It seems a day doesn’t pass without me reading an article about another horrid piece of legislation you’re trying to pass. You are letting your own personal ideological agendas get in the way for what is best for your constituents.

Take H.J.R. 494, for example. This resolution would establish a state religion in North Carolina. I think we all know what religion that implies. What a slap in the face to hundreds of thousands of people who reside within North Carolina’s borders but do not identify as Christian. What a slap in the fact to the people, like me, who would like to eventually move back (and there are more than a few of us young’uns who’d like to do so) who don’t identify as Christian. What a slap in the face to companies, who don’t discriminate based on religion in their hiring practices, who would like to set up shop in your state. Now, I know what you’ll say. You’ll say that this bill isn’t discriminatory and all of that nonsense. I’m not stupid. Establishing Christianity as the religion of North Carolina is letting all of us non-Christians know exactly what you think of us. You may not “actively” discriminate against those who have different views of God than yours, but you are damn well doing it passive aggressively.

We could also look at the Racial Justice Act and how you all want to repeal it. Yes. You want to repeal a piece of legislation that was passed in order to protect defendants from racial bias during their trials. Something which has happened in the past and the Racial Justice Act has helped to right those wrongs. Michigan State University College of Law did a study that helped prompt this act, in which they showed racial bias being used in determining juries. Now, I’d like to believe race doesn’t play a factor in anything anymore. But I’m not naïve, and I know it does and sadly probably will in some capacity for the rest of my life. It’s really discouraging we need laws like these on the books, but studies have shown time and time again that this issue is a real issue. Repealing this is a slap in the face for not only all those who are not Caucasian but for anyone who wants to see our criminal justice system as fair and as efficient as possible.

Or we could look at HB 217, which would allow youth as young as 13 to enter into the adult criminal justice system and remove judicial oversight. If this bill were to pass, it would give prosecutors complete discretion over the future of NC children (and yes, a 13-year-old is still considered a child) and strip juvenile court judges’ of their decision making power, which is the only neutral and unbiased decision maker in transfer cases. Instead you could wind up with a juvenile offender, who desperately needs rehabilitation in a safe environment instead of incarceration, in an adult prison, which has actually been shown to increase the risk of recidivism, especially among young offenders. A recent exposé on Rock Center with Brian Williams delved into this issue. One consequence of this (out of the many) is the issue that a child in an adult correctional facility is not safe with adult inmates and is more likely to be put in solitary confinement. This is something that is emotionally and psychologically traumatic, and resulted in the child featured on Rock Center committing suicide. Is that what you all want? A bunch of children being put through something so psychologically damaging that they feel their only way out is to take their own lives. Outrageous.

We could also talk about the Dorothea Dix campus. That was a royal cluster, wasn’t it? It must have really confused the business community (the ones who you say you have their backs). How are we supposed to attract new businesses to our state if you can just tear up leases because you don’t agree with the people who came before you who put them into place? That has got to be all sorts of comforting to business leaders.

I could bring up the proposed Medicaid overhaul, charter schools no longer required to have licensed teachers, or the ridiculous IDs with the “fuchsia” (apparently that is distinctly different from pink, according to the McCrory administration) bars on them for “illegal immigrants” (your words, not mine). Or, not legislatively, the initial decision to hang the Confederate flag in the Capitol. That was a real classy move.

The damage you’re inflicting right now will take years upon years to recover from. I can’t even begin to imagine how hard it’ll be to overturn the nonsense you’re proposing when we actually have some people in Raleigh who are putting the citizens of the state first.

North Carolina is quickly becoming a national laughing stock, on par with some of the more, shall we say “backwards” states in our union. Friends in D.C. often greet me with, “What the Hell is going on down in your home state?” I’m getting awfully tired of trying to defend the state as a whole with trying to write those in the legislature in Raleigh off as ideologues. It is getting harder and harder to do so.

In this “race to the bottom” my only hope is your utter disregard for what is good and right in the state helps bring people together to voice their outrage over what you’re doing. So when the time comes we’re mobilized to take our state back and out of the hands of the likes of all of you.

I know I’ll be ready.

Sincerely,

Jamison Doran

If you’re someone who prides yourself on being a WMATA...

Mon, 02 Jul 2012 22:05:00 -0400

If you’re someone who prides yourself on being a WMATA sexual harassment advocate don’t you think you’d realize how inappropriate this tweet is and what that word means to so many people? To equate fare hikes and power outages to rape is disgusting, regardless how the word may be loosely defined (I’m not stupid as he indicated in a reply to me, I just obviously have far more sensitivity in regards to this issue as I know people who have been the victims of rape and sexual assault). As someone very much in the public sphere he should know how to choose his words better, especially someone who is a self-proclaimed “sexual harassment advocate” and got up in arms over Metro Spokesman, Dan Stessel’s comments regarding “flirting.”

A perfect time for little sister to visit...

Mon, 02 Jul 2012 12:11:36 -0400

My little sister visited this weekend and we had a really grand time playing tourist. I was particularly happy she chose this weekend to come (and use a hotel room in DC) because thanks to the derecho Friday there has been no power at my house. Which given the record breaking heat is obviously miserable. So hooray for Katie and her fabulous intuition knowing a hotel would be the way to go!

Friday, I finally made it into DC after a really bizarre morning. No power. My cell phone was dead (turns out there wasn’t any cell service either so this didn’t really matter). Limited hot water, etc. You forget how much you rely on electricity to do things. I couldn’t make coffee. I couldn’t check the bus schedule. I couldn’t get in touch with Katie or the rest of my family to let them know I was alive. It is really bizarre. After finally making it in the city (after going through areas of huge devastation) I camped out at a Starbucks briefly to get enough juice in my phone and then met Katie at the airport.

We decided to head to Georgetown. Katie wanted to hit up Lush, which is basically her favorite place ever. Before we got to shopping though, we went to Serendipity 3 and had lunch and frrrozen hot chocolate!

Yay! Frrrozen hot chocolate!

After lunch (and dessert) we shopped a little longer before deciding to hit up, one of my new favorites, Bandolero, for margaritas and guacamole served with chips and chicarrones. So yummy.

After snackies we made our way back to the hotel and decided to be lazy. Katie was tired from being up early and not feeling like she was in the right time zone, and I was tired from being up all night the previous night because my room was 90+ degrees.

We got moving on Sunday, knowing there was quite a bit we wanted to accomplish before our dinner at Jaleo that night.

The first thing on our agenda was to visit The Art of Video Games (well first thing after satisfying Katie’s craving for Dunkin’ Donuts). Unfortunately neither of us did the research we should have and ended up walking past the National Portrait Gallery (where the exhibit is being held) and all the way to the National Gallery of Art. Ooops. So we perused the gift shop briefly and then backtracked to where we needed to go.

I’m embarrassed to say I didn’t realize the Portrait Gallery had a second floor! It was super nice and had really interesting modern art!

Second floor!

Modern Art wing.

Exhibit with TV screens in each state showing what the artist thinks of when he thinks of that particular state.

From a distance, I thought this was an actual woman and was concerned she was eating so close to the art…

And finally the main event:

Katie was quite excited about it, but wished it had been a bigger exhibit, however she agreed that it was awesome a national museum was doing such an exhibition. As someone who is not as into video games as she is, I was still able to appreciate how cool it all was.

Next up was my personal favorite, The Newseum! Last time we were there they were putting the finishing touches on their HP New Media Gallery and Katie was disappointed she didn’t get to see it. It was very cool and highly interactive. Also, surprisingly empty for how busy the museum was.

On our way out we found out they had artists doing caricatures for free, so we each decided to get one done.

Katie’s!

Mine!

After the Newseum we made our way over to the Hirshhorn. Which is something neither of us had done before. And it is, well, interesting. I think the art is a little too modern for my tastes. I mean, one exhibit was a room that had music playing and had mattresses and pillows all over the floor. That’s it. I honestly don’t want to think about what goes on in there. Ew. There were some things that were a little interesting though.

They had statues of all the Chinese lunar animals, and this is Katie in front of a snake.

This exhibit isn’t done until 2012, but it looks like it will be pretty cool. The entire bottom floor is going to be covered in quotes in messaging.

Katie walking through a really bizarre interactive exhibit.

Another exhibit.

As you can see, there was a lot of neon going on.

After becoming thoroughly confused by the Hirshhon we made our way to the National Archives, somewhere Katie had never been to! I think she enjoyed seeing the Declaration of Independence (or what’s left of it) and the Constitution.

After all that excitement, we cooled off with some Rita’s before heading back to the hotel to cool off before our yummy dinner!

So that’s all of the sightseeing, because dinner was such an awesome affair, I’m going to devote another post to that later on.

It is damn hot in the District today. Thank goodness for Happy...

Fri, 29 Jun 2012 15:26:28 -0400

It is damn hot in the District today. Thank goodness for Happy Hour.

Pure happiness after getting the decision!

Fri, 29 Jun 2012 14:31:33 -0400

Pure happiness after getting the decision!

Amen sistas!

Fri, 29 Jun 2012 14:30:48 -0400

Amen sistas!

A small representation of the mass of people outside SCOTUS...

Fri, 29 Jun 2012 14:29:43 -0400

A small representation of the mass of people outside SCOTUS yesterday.

Protect OUR Care!

Fri, 29 Jun 2012 14:28:54 -0400

Protect OUR Care!

Jamie Does The District

laughingsquid: Callinectes Douglassi, Giant Stained Glass Crab...

jamdizzle: Poor thing is finally all encased in its...

inothernews: I swear I can hear Capitals fans gnashing their teeth right about now. That’d...

The Ups And Downs Of Living In DC

I’ve been listening to bands for 12 hours in the rain and...

If by some act of beauty we get a repeat of this amazingness...

You guys! This is a portable CD player a middle aged man was...

inothernews: JUST THE TIP Workers finished installing...

jamdizzle: Enjoying the day on @batesk712’s new rooftop. He...

gemmacorrell: Me right now. Yes. Accurate.

Orangutan a at the National Zoo. My favorites.

An Open Letter to the North Carolina Legislature:

Related to post below: So something that most people would view...

If you’re someone who prides yourself on being a WMATA...

A perfect time for little sister to visit...

It is damn hot in the District today. Thank goodness for Happy...

Pure happiness after getting the decision!

Amen sistas!

A small representation of the mass of people outside SCOTUS...

Protect OUR Care!