Please remember to vote May 1st!

Temperance back deck, originally uploaded by Prince of Petworth.

Unfortunately Temperance Hall doesn’t have HBO so they will not be able to show the Sopranos Sunday evening. The good news is that they have a phenomenal back deck that should be taken advantage of with this great weather we’ve been having.

House of the day New Orleans style, originally uploaded by Prince of Petworth.

Looks like they’ll be able to throw beads on Mardi Gras.

I had a chat yesterday with a woman who lives around the corner and a few blocks down from me. We had never met before yet we talked for about 1/2 an hour about how squirrels are digging up our flowers. She was about 60 and had a delightful carribean accent. We concluded that cayene pepper should probably do the trick.

Starbucks coming, originally uploaded by Prince of Petworth.

I spotted this sign in Columbia Heights touting a Starbucks on the way. It got me thinking about Petworth. When I first moved to Petworth, I thought, gosh it would be fanastic to have a Starbucks of our own. Now, I am begining to wonder. I had the opportunity to speak to the owner of ‘Blessed 7-9′ on the corner of Shepherd and 5th. I posted a photo of his new sign a few posts below. At anyrate he was a really super nice guy. I asked him if he could stock 2% milk and without hesitating he said “yeah, no problem”. Then I told him I liked his new sign and he was thrilled. He insisted that I try a cup of his coffee. And I have to tell you, it was delicious. I thought it was going to be horrible and stale but I couldn’t have been more wrong. It was fantastic and only $1.25. Which brings me back to Starbucks. It would be a shame if we got a Starbucks and it hurt our very hard working local business people. It is a debate I’m having. Would it hurt Domku? So what are your thoughts – would you like to see a Starbucks in Petworth?

Soccer match, originally uploaded by Prince of Petworth.

I started my day sorely dissapointed because my tennis match had fallen through and it was such a beautiful day. So I decided to take another walkabout. What a great decision that was. I encountered another beautiful DC phenomena. There are a series of “semi-pro” soccer matches that take place all over the city. I was stumbling along 13th Street when I ran into this one at Cardoza High School on 13th and Florida, NW. Now, I love soccer but this, like the papuseria, was like visiting another country. I had encountered an El Salvadorian soccer league. There is a $5 dollar entry fee but the kind gentleman allowed me to enter without charge. He must have been fan of PoP. At any rate this league features 16 teams and they play every Sunday at Cardoza. Which is fitting because they certainly weren’t Olympique de Marseille. But they did have an awful lot of heart. Plus there were two refs to make it very professional. The match that I saw pitted River vs Alianza. Spanish was spoken freely and there was also El Salvadorian delicacies available for purchase. Once again, it was like entering another country and it was fantastic. The players come from all over DC and I’d say there were about 100 people viewing the game from the stands. I saw more injuries than beautiful passes but there were moments of brilliance for sure. So if you like soccer or are just looking for something new to do I can guarantee you this is worth $5. And in the end River defeated Alianza 1-0.

Ward 4 Special Election website has put out a terrific guide on the upcoming election. This website has been nothing less of spectacular, it is absolutely worth checking out. Don’t forget to vote on Tuesday!

I would to take this opportunity just to explain the purpose of this blog. I love Petworth and I love Washington DC. Sure, I have complaints but overall I think we live in the greatest city and the greatest neighborhood within that city. I have lived in DC for 10 years and 4 of those have been in Petworth. I say that, because I understand the geography of DC. Some people have written to complain that I have remarked on areas outside of Petworth. That is true. But I’d like to explain it this way: the Marines, I believe, have a saying, God, Country, Corps. Those are things that they are most honored to serve. And I have my own, Washington DC, NorthWest DC, and Petworth. That is who is I seek to serve. The whole purpose of this blog is to share my love of those three things. Of course, Petworth will take up the bulk of posts but that doesn’t mean I have restricted myself only to cover Petworth. I love this city. And I love Petworth. And every year I find more reasons to love both. And I will continue to do so. So understand that I know the geography of DC probably better than most. If I remark on a neighborhood outside of Petworth, I am aware of this fact. Some people like to bust my chops, and often I need my chops busted. As a matter of fact, a blog has sprung up whose sole purpose is to make fun of this blog. And that is cool. I am flattered. But for this blog, I have a few rules. One is that pure hatred will not be tolerated. That is not to say that debate is discouraged. On the contrary debate is good. And because we live in such a diverse community, diverse in politics, opinions as well as diverse in race- no doubt people will disagree with one another. That is cool. But realize we are representing this community to the outside as well. For some reason I have readers, in Germany, Japan, California, NY etc. We should recognize that we are a major voice of this community. Again, pure stupidity and hatred will not be tolerated. And let us remember that it is diversity that makes this community great. I have said it before, but it is the combination of old time residents, new residents, residents originally from other countries that make us so special. We must embrace this diversity because without it, we are simply ordinary.

The Washington Post reports that there is a debate going on in H Street about what actually constitutes a fast food restaurant. Very interesting stuff. We’ve had our only little debate about Fast Food right over at PoP. Interesting to note that city has a flexible defintion of a fast food restaurant. H St, NE and Petworth are facing some similiar development issues so I thought it may be of interest.

While not in Petworth you can get to it on the Green line and I’ve heard such great things, I thought I’d mention it here too. Gallery Place Living has just posted that Cow Girl Creamery on 9th street has some excellent cheese tasting deals.

Is it ok to park your car in your backyard if you don’t have a driveway? I.E. is it ok to park your car on the grass in your backyard? Personally, I don’t see why it is necessary here in Petworth because there is so much street parking. What do you guys think?

Columbia Heights Condos, originally uploaded by Prince of Petworth.

Here is a picture of some beautiful newish condos in Columbia Heights. It looks great except for one detail. Check out the door. It looks like a door from a county jail and I know because I’ve been in a county jail…

So last night I went out looking for good Petworthians to profile because I hadn’t done a profile in a while. So I saw this nice couple at Temperance Hall. I asked them if they were familiar with PoP. And to my surprise the women said “yes, you are the one who carries a gun in his pocket.” I was shocked because she was referencing a really old post when the only people who read this blog were my mother and some crazy guy. For the record, I do not carry a gun. She got that idea from this post. Anyway, I assured her that I didn’t carry a gun. So I asked if I could do a profile of them but they declined saying they were shy. However, an interesting thing they did tell me was that they were both defense attorneys. Unfortunately, the woman left me with these parting words about my post “we wouldn’t defend you.”

Petworth News has just done a phenomenal job of covering the last Georgia Ave. ‘Great Streets’ meeting. He has done a really thorough overview. You can read the full article here. I am most excited about:

“I learned just yesterday that neighborhood developer LaKritz Adler has succeeded – after what was apparently a grueling process – in getting the Murrell Building under contract. They are planning a renovation of the building to be completed later this year. Robb LaKritz says their plans are to open a new, vibrant neighborhood business on the ground floor consistent with the renderings and sketches being proposed by the Great Streets plan.”

You can read the post here.