04.23 - just do it
what’s going on in d.c.
Hand-painted Nikes are on display at CulturalDC’s mobile art gallery in Navy Yard. The exhibit, Overboard, is inspired by a 1990 incident when thousands of Nike shoes were accidentally swept into the Pacific Ocean. (while we’re talking Nike, superstar gymnast Simone Biles just announced she’s leaving Nike for a deal with Athleta that more closely reflects her values)
If you missed the pumpkin patches last fall (or are itching for more), local favorite Butler’s Orchard is hosting a spring festival this weekend complete with tractor rides, farm animals, slides, and other - potentially more geared for children - activities.
With relatively nice weather expected this weekend, it could be a great time to visit one of the region’s sculpture galleries, including Glenstone and the Kreeger Museum.
D.C. florist She Loves Me is popping up at Le Diplomate this week with tulip bouquets.
let’s talk food and drinks
my weekly best bite: The mantoo shrimp dumplings at Adams Morgan’s Lapis
As of this week, there are five newly minted Michelin starred and six new Bib Gourmand (more moderately-priced) restaurants to visit in D.C. Jônt is D.C.’s newest two-star establishment (joining Minibar and Pineapple and Pearls). Other notable new Bib Gourmands (aka the ones I’ve enjoyed) are Mt. Pleasant’s Elle, Columbia Heights’ Makan (Malaysian food), Mt. Vernon’s Karma Modern Indian, and Dupont’s Residents Café & Bar.
Tamales are on the menu in La Cosecha, the Union Market food hall this weekend. GuamTamalera is setting up shop both days beginning at 11 am and offering five varieties.
In a move worth bookmarking, Washingtonian compiled a list of every waterfront restaurant in the DC region.
what’s on our minds?
Burnout has been on the top of journalists’ minds this week - from The New York Times’ YOLO economy article featuring employees quitting stable, but unfulfilling or staid, jobs to take on passion adventures (or just take time to reset), to WSJ’s feature on ways tech executives are trying to fight employee burnout (read - wellness checks and feedback on if meetings were necessary. ed. note: unlikely the meeting was necessary). But, no profession is likely feeling the crisis as acutely as health-care workers. A recent WaPo-Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that about 30% of health-care workers have considered quitting the industry due to the pandemic. The Washington Post dove into the issue, interviewing many health-care workers as they describe disillusionment with the system (and Americans writ large), mental health crises, and and increased workloads driven by the pandemic’s high volume of patents coupled with shortages of employees.
Quick links to other weekly #goodreads:
They Hacked McDonald’s Ice Cream Machines—and Started a Cold War - per Wired, “Secret codes. Legal threats. Betrayal. How one couple built a device to fix McDonald’s notoriously broken soft-serve machines—and how the fast-food giant froze them out.”
The ‘Marriage or Mortgage’ Trap - per Bloomberg CityLab, “In a new Netflix show, couples decide whether to spend their savings on a wedding or a home. We asked personal finance experts how much reality TV reflects actual reality.”
The Incredible Rise of North Korea’s Hacking Army - per The New Yorker, “The country’s cyber forces have raked in billions of dollars for the regime by pulling off schemes ranging from A.T.M. heists to cryptocurrency thefts. Can they be stopped?”
A 23-Year-Old Coder Kept QAnon Online When No One Else Would - per Bloomberg Businessweek, “Nick Lim provides tech support to the U.S. networks of White nationalists and conspiracy theorists banned by the likes of Amazon.”
what are we watching/reading?
Cruel Summer on Hulu/Freeform. This chiller (unrelated to the Taylor Swift bop) tracks a kidnapping and its fallout in Texas over three summers - 1993, 94, and 95 - on those most closely victimized (and/or implicated). At the heart of the mystery are two teens, Kate - the victim - and Jeanette - accused by Kate of knowing where she was held and not reporting it. Only the first two episodes are out, but thus far, I’m thinking this may be my show of summer.
Keeping on last week’s scammer thread, HBO Max released Generation Hustle. a docuseries that follows ten young swindlers’ stories. Some episodes feature familiar names - Anna Delvey, WeWork’s Adam Neumann - while others take on more obscure scams, such as a man who pretended to be a Saudi prince and another who defrauded people into paying for his extreme travel adventures.