Jen

Beginning Nov. 1, 2007, I will be taking part for the first time in NaNoWriMo at this location in Columbia.

I cannot wait to get started.

http://sfgrotto.org

I want to visit the S.F. Writers’ Grotto because it was started by Po Bronson and other writers. Po is the author of “What Should I Do With My Life?” If you haven’t read that, then get thee to a bookstore or library pronto and give it a read – it is really inspiring and an interesting social documentary of people, our lives and the sometimes long, sometimes rocky road to success.

He happens to be an author I’ve long admired. I’ve met him before, and he was such a humble person, willing to sit down with this fledgling writer, an Army journalist - me - whom he did not even know and commit a few minutes before his book reading at a Borders bookstore in Virginia.

One day I’d like to come to San Francisco and seek out this writing group he helped found.

I ventured out to Kramerbooks and Afterwords Cafe, just across the street from the Q Street North exit of the Dupont Circle Metrorail station on the afternoon of Dec. 29, 2006. I had some daylight to kill, so I figured why not explore.

I absolutely ADORED this place! If you are in Washington or visit, you should totally check this place out. What could be better than a pub, restaurant, coffee shop and bookstore (not to mention social meeting place) in one?

One of the Washington publications once commented on this place that if you had not been invited here for drinks after work, you were not yet a true Washingtonian. So I guess I’m not a real one either, because technically I invited myself; and I don’t think that counts. But the sun was shining, and I get to see so little of that – much less than I would like. When I commute to work, it’s dark, and when I get home, more of the same. The only daylight I get all day is this one short-lived 30 seconds or so as my train crosses over the Potomac before diving back down into the darkness of Commuter Land.

Today was a nice change. I walked out of work, eschewing a short commmute on the Metrorail, and over to a local Best Buy, to look for a Palm wireless keyboard for my new Treo 700p. After that, I was going to have pizza at a place nearby. And then I thought ‘why not try something new for a change?’

I had come across a review of Kramerbooks on the 43 Places website once, and bookmarked it to check out sometime. Well, what was I waiting for? I had a perfect day at my disposal and had even gotten off of work in time to catch those elusive sun rays. Sometimes I can be a real hermit, and my hope is that keeping this blog will inspire me to explore more places and meet more people rather than sheltering myself away in the burbs of Greenbelt, Maryland, where I reside.

To get to Kramerbooks, I hopped the Yellow Line to the Gallery Place/Chinatown stop, and then the Red Line toward Shady Grove and soon I was exiting the Dupont Circle station into the still beautiful daylight as a musician played just near the top of the escalator.

P.S. Apologies for the attached pic – It previews upright, but then no matter what I do, it “turns on me” once I save it (pun intended :) Also, find me at http://dcmetrorider.vox.com

I was driving to Reisterstown, MD, in Dec. 2006, when I got way off track and ended up in PA, over an hour past it. It was a charming town from what I saw of it, but I was too frustrated and lost to enjoy its small-town splendor.

I was here yesterday at noon (Tues., Dec. 26, 2006) and upon every hour there was a light show that sent down showers of snowflakes along the walls as holiday music played in the background. Pretty amazing architecture for a train station.

I enjoyed my trip to Manhattan with friends yesterday and seeing Rockefeller Center at Christmastime for the first time – my last two visits to the city having been during two different years, each in the month of July.

Tues., Dec. 26th, 2006 – Went with my friend and met up with her two very cool gal friends, who inspired me. They were in their 60’s, and I’m 34, and if I have to grow older, I’d want to be just like them, but errr well… closer to me. The four of us ordered just a plain old thin crust pizza with pepperoni and cheese and it was good. I had a Stella Artois beer along with mine. It was maybe not THE best NY pizza I’ve ever had, but I enjoyed it. Because, “when in Manhattan…”

Tues., Dec. 26 – I went with my friend to meet her two gal friends Carol and Bev in Manhattan for the day, and this is the last place we all met up. I had a great refreshing drink, a peach cosmo, along with four pieces of salmon sushi, and my friend and I split the thickest bleu cheese burger and tastiest fries I’ve had in a long time. My friend had a pomegranate martini, which I sampled and thought was pretty lip-smackin’ good. The service we experienced left more to be desired, but the food and the Buddha Bar/Norah Jones music and ambience of the dimmed magenta lighting was worth it. A fun place for my third day ever in Manhattan. I so love visiting New York.

I’ve driven through here many times, but on this New Year’s Day (2007), I am going into the city to see the Mummers Parade, a local annual event that takes place there; and my aim is to try a “real” Philly cheesesteak sandwich.

This Christmas weekend (2006) with my friend who was kind enough to take me with her since my flight out of Dulles, back to my former home in Wyoming (through the blizzard-swept Denver airport), was abruptly cancelled. It was really a nice last-minute gesture from her, someone who had only known me two weeks; and I was very appreciative. Plus, I got to see a whole other part of the country.