As a native New Yorker, I refuse to call this pizza, however delish it may be.
Pizza Jar
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Closing Time
While I only partook of their wares a handful of times, I was disappointed to learn Friday of Capital City Diner’s closing this weekend.
Given the news, I wish I got out there more frequently. A combination of work schedule + location + personal finances + other factors prevented me from doing so.
The diner’s presence brought something to its neighborhood north of H Street NE, though: a sense of nostalgia, warmth, and comfort. The H Street strip isn’t short on eateries, but I always thought CCD had a charm those other places didn’t.
And the milkshakes were awesome. They came with crazy big straws. You know, the kind you’d get from a bubble tea stand.
The diner’s goodbye letter hints at the possibility of a rebirth in the future. Whether it happens or not, I wish them the best.
Typefaces
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I can sum up this Mashable infographic on western typography thusly: Guttenberg, Helvetica, Comic Sans.
T4RD15 Spotted in Virginia
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A blue car in the Old Dominion State bares a license plate that reads “T4RD15″ (TARDIS), but is it bigger on the inside?
Happiness is slurping the dregs of your soup straight from the bowl.
‘Gay is Good’
As I worked an overnight shift last night, I sadly learned that Frank Kameny passed away yesterday afternoon at the age of 86. Kameny was one of the driving forces of the LGBT rights movement, and coined the phrase “Gay is good.” That yesterday was also National Coming Out Day, the timing seemed oddly fitting.
Thanks to a certain former employer, I had the fortune to meet him on several occasions. A couple years ago, I wrote a piece on DCist on his house gaining recognition as an historic landmark in DC. A segment of 17th Street NW here in town is designated “Frank Kameny Way.”
‘Double Dare’
Amid the sadness that punctuated this past Thursday, I tweeted that my favorite game show as a kid, Double Dare, debuted 25 years ago on Nickelodeon.
My poor mother; I drove her crazy with this show. My obsession ran the gamut from restyling the logo – which I traced ad nauseum from the home game instruction book – to having not one but two birthdays parties with the show as a theme. The sequel, of course, wasn’t quite as good as the original.
Before cable came to my neighborhood, the only time I could watch it was during visits to my dad’s place. Then came syndication, and I taped nearly every episode so I wouldn’t miss a drop of gak. Saturday night airings of Family Double Dare were an event for me.
My obsession lessened with time; the original run ended in 1993. A revival in 2000 surprised and delighted me, but ultimately fell flat like a whipped cream pie that missed the oversized clown pants. Not that I’d mind seeing a revival done right, though.
Now, with my generation’s newfound interest in nostalgia, the show seems to be re-entering the pop culture consciousness. T-shirts I could only ever find on Ebay are more easily available. References to the show made its way into a couple of music videos, one of those being a Funny or Die clip (see below).
It’s surely another sign I’m getting old. I have to admit, finding and re-watching clips of the show on YouTube brings back some fond memories. Happy 25th, DD!
Henson
Twenty-one years ago, I mourned the loss of a visionary I never met: Jim Henson.
I didn’t understand it at the time. There I was, a kid of 12, visibly upset that Kermit’s original voice was silenced.
It turns out of course the loss meant more than that. Henson’s work brought me countless hours of joy for as long as I could remember. Sesame Street was part of my morning ritual in my preschool years. Saturday nights were spent laughing at the antics of the Muppet Show. And I can’t think of how many times I watched Labyrinth, the Dark Crystal, and various Muppet films on summer camp movie days.
His characters educated and entertained me. They were part of my daily life for years; they, and by extension he, felt like family.
Henson’s death didn’t mean his creations would suffer the same fate. Indeed they live on, inextricably infused with his spirit.
I could count on one hand the number of public figures I truly mourned. Henson was the first. The second was a well known doodler by the name of Charles Schulz, but that’s a blog post for another time.
Last night, the count went up to 3. Three public figures, ah-ah-ah!
Crazy Ones
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Here’s to the crazy ones.
The misfits.
The rebels.
The troublemakers.
The round pegs in the square holes.
The ones who see things differently.
They’re not fond of rules.
And they have no respect for the status quo.
You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them,
disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them.
About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them.
Because they change things.
They invent. They imagine. They heal.
They explore. They create. They inspire.
They push the human race forward.
Maybe they have to be crazy.
How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art?
Or sit in silence and hear a song that’s never been written?
Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels?
We make tools for these kinds of people.
While some see them as the crazy ones,
we see genius.
Because the people who are crazy enough to think
they can change the world, are the ones who do.
MTA Weekender
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I wish Metro would do something like this for service interruptions here. I especially love how each individual line is laid out, especially in high density Manhattan.