7.23 - when it rains, it pours
It’s week three for MIDC and week one of the new mayoral orders to wear a mask at nearly all times when not home (hopefully you were doing this already?). With that in mind, last night was a great night to stay in, with heavy storms and wind overnight with gusts reaching 63 (!) mph.
So, what’s new in washington d.c.?
Miss walking around museums, especially for the air conditioning, on hot summer days? While almost all museums are still closed, the National Gallery of Art’s West Building reopened this week. The museum is offering timed entry passes for about 100 masked visitors per hour, as well as open entry to the Sculpture Gallery. Or, maybe you’ve been missing seeing your favorite animals at the National Zoo (minus everyone’s favorite panda bao bao)? You’re in luck - the zoo reopens on Friday with 5,000 passes available each day.
Get sweaty and dance outside with 305 Fitness on Wednesday evenings and weekend mornings. The classes are offered at both the roof of Union Market and the alley of Manhattan Laundry (where classes were held inside pre-pandemic), cost $20, and are bound to be a good time full of good vibes.
let’s talk food
Lots of food pop-ups this weekend! Otabe, a Japanese comfort food concept, is making sandos and sando boxes at Ellē in Mount Pleasant this weekend; Soleado is serving chicken burgers at 14th Street’s Seven Reasons; and local favorite Peregrine Espresso is finding a home at H Street NE’s The Pug.
There’s a new coffee shop in Shaw - The Roasted Boon. As a high-tech feature, the shop, named for the Eritrean word for coffee, offers a touch screen roaster for coffee on-site and packages of beans for sale to take home.
what are we thinking about?
Major sports leagues whose seasons were dramatically interrupted are working feverishly to regain some semblance of their lost seasons (and revenue). Some attempts are starting more smoothly than others - while both the NBA and MLS brought teams to Disney World bubbles, the MLS season was initially called into question when multiple games were postponed due to positive COVID-19 tests by players. Games are now being played as scheduled, but unfortunately for the D.C. United, their tournament hopes ended earlier this week with a loss. The NBA season, slated to restart next week, hopefully will bring better results for the Wizards (and most importantly, safety for the players and staff in the tightly-controlled bubble).
In Europe, one league was able to finish its season, even if the eeriness of empty stadiums meant the league needed to get creative and import crowd noise from the FIFA video games. Liverpool, a top contender in the Premier League for the past 30 years, made it its life work to regain a title for its fans - who were, ironically, unable to see Mo Salah raise the Premier League title this week at Anfield after their team secured a 5-3 victory over Chelsea and their star American player Christian Pulisic.
With the deepest apologies to all of my roommates who probably have the theme song of The Office seared into their brains for life, rewatching seasons upon seasons of The Office may be the overwhelming constant of my young adult life. Cliché, I know. But, you like what you like - and I’m definitely not alone. I have often wondered what it is about The Office that pulls so many younger viewers in. I mean, when I started watching the show in high school, I had no real concept of an office environment and I’ve never worked anywhere or with anyone quite like the cast of characters at Dunder Mifflin. Plus, the obvious sexual harassment and other problematic elements of the comedy pop out more and more each time I watch. But yet, I’m hooked and probably always will be. With that in mind, yesterdays article from Vox on “The enduring appeal of The Office in a crumbling world” particularly resonated.
“To me, The Office belongs to such a specific period of time. And that period of time is ‘before,’” she said. “It’s one of the most comforting shows that I’ve binged, because it demanded nothing of me, wasn’t too infuriating, and took place in an almost impenetrable bubble. Blundering bosses used to have hearts of gold and wanted the best for you. That’s not our reality. But it was once. And we hope it will be again.”
Quick links to other weekly #goodreads:
They depended on their parents for everything. Then the virus took both - per The Washington Post, “Now the Ismael children — 13, 18 and 20 — are struggling to cope with grief, but also with how to keep a car running, pay bills, be a family.” (ed. note: if you’re able, financially support the children through a GoFundMe here)
The Teenagers at the End of the World- per The New York Times, “Young climate activists like Jamie Margolin are building a movement while growing up — planning mass protests from childhood bedrooms and during school.”
How Harvard’s Star Computer-Science Professor Built a Distance-Learning Empire - per The New Yorker, “The pandemic’s indefinite suspension of classroom learning has already forced universities nationwide to thin their faculty ranks in anticipation of lost revenue. It has also prompted speculation about the future of higher education. Harvard, which has an endowment of more than forty billion dollars, is likely to weather the upheaval. Will a handful of élite institutions grow dominant by expanding their online enrollment, while second-tier schools go under? If the pandemic leads colleges to embrace online coursework to a new degree, what will become of campus life as we know it?”
what are we watching?
Superstore on Hulu/NBC/Peacock. Superstore isn’t new - it’s due to return for a sixth season this fall. But, despite combining sitcom style laughs with a biting cultural awareness, it’s still mostly a sleeper hit. It’s a comedy about the daily hijinks of employees in a Walmart-esque store in St. Louis, but also covers pressing societal issues (we’re talking immigration, unions, living wages, health care access, guns, etc.) in a non-sanctimonious way.
The Florida Project on Netflix. This notorious Oscar snub came out in 2017, but was recently added to Netflix’s library and hits a little different during this pandemic era. At a high level, the beautifully shot film is about the lives of a 6-year old girl and her two best friends who live and play in a run-down motel on the outskirts of Disney World. The film does a masterful job of juxtaposing the wonder and adventure of childhood with the very real effects of poverty and tumultuousness on their lives.
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‘til next time -courtney