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KLMNO POSTLOCAL Talk to us. Talk to newsmakers. Talk to each other. Join the conversation at
postlocal.com They fixed it!
Readers list the things they want changed in their communities on our online Daily Gripe feature. Here’s one that got changed.
Wrecking the view
A Porsche 928 GT may not seem like the most obvious eyesore, but that’s just what one became after spending five weeks in the parking lot of a Bethesda shopping center. “It has a broken driver’s side window, no license
plate, the hood is partially popped up, and the interior has seemingly been stripped,” a concerned reader wrote in. Turns out, the car wasn’t stolen — but it was on
private property, so the police couldn’t tow it. Instead, they notified the manager of the shopping center. Last week, the car was removed.
This isn’t the first time an area resident’s complaint has been fixed after reporting it to the
Daily Gripe. Know of something that needs fixing? Submit it at
washingtonpost.com/dailygripe.
Conversations
Many readers of Dr. Gridlock’s blog responded harshly to reports that Maryland plans to replace its black-and-white standard license plate with a red, white and blue one, commemorating the War of 1812.
Not-so-hot plates? silentjay: “Well, it’s harder for the cops to read.”
Ballermd: “I, for one,will be glad to see the old, uninspiring black-and-white plates go. But change, just for the sake of change, is no good.”
Chris737: “I’d have no problem if Maryland offered it as an optional, third custom design.”
maxcat: “That’s the best they could do?”
nrubenstein: “Hopefully, the public backlash will be strong enough that they withdraw it or at least keep the old design available.”
Read our coverage of this story today on page B1. Then share your comments and take
our online reader poll at
washingtonpost.com/drgridlock. “
Hot Topic: Hoarding Readers, newsmakers and Post reporters sharing their views.
JOHN KELLY’S WASHINGTON
The hazards of using family as column fodder
Lovely Wife is a fat, greedy, unfeeling shrew. She is not a fat, greedy, unfeeling shrew, and I regret any suggestion otherwise. She is appropriately proportioned, thrifty, refreshingly unsentimental and . . . um . . . See, there’s no way I can win, so I might as well address a question that readers sometimes ask: Does my family mind when I write about them? The answer: Usually, no. But occasionally . . . Here’s the deal: In Friday’s online discussion
C
I asked readers to share stories of precious items they’d lost and whether they’d ever found them again. In the midst of the roiling back-and-forth that characterizes our Friday chats, I typed the following: Now let me ask what you think of this: A few
years ago my wife decided she didn’t like the wedding ring she had, i.e., the wedding ring I slipped on her finger on Aug. 1, 1987. We’d bought it used from a jewelry store, just like mine. It had a few small diamonds, some of which had fallen out. I think also it had shrunk —or something. Anyway, she sold it and bought a new one. Is that weird? My wife usually does not read my chat in real time, choosing instead to read it later. And so it was on Friday evening as we were sitting in our study — each of us at his or her laptop — that I noticed the temperature in the room drop about 30 degrees and heard a sound I instantly recognized as the tiny muscles around her lips drawing tight.
Ah, I thought. She’s probably gotten to the
Any mayor who sets a taxicab rate at $1.50 per mile deserves to be repeatedly victimized.
— Reader starclimber9, responding to reports that two bicycles were stolen from the home of D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty earlier this month.
PHOTO BY MICHAEL NORTHRUP FOR THE WASHINGTON POST Post reporter Michael S. Rosenwald behind his dining room table, overflowing with piles of stuff.
Unclean, yes. Unhealthy, too?
H
Check out the work of our new political columnist Mike DeBonis — and tell him what you
think of Mayor Fenty and other local politicians — at
washingtonpost.com/debonis.
Today on
POSTLOCAL.com World Cup fever
Need a soccer bar to get your fix? The Going Out
Guide has you covered. Check out
goingoutguide.com. Fashion fix
Get tips on style, shopping and the latest trends live at noon from Janet Bennett Kelly and Holly Thomas on
washingtonpost.com/discussions.
ow much is too much? In an article for Sunday’s Washington Post Magazine, reporter Michael S. Rosenwald examined the messy state of his life and asked himself, “Am I a hoarder?” Accompanied by professor and author Ran-
dy Frost, he took questions from Post readers Monday. His work engendered a range of responses on
PostLocal.com.
Randy Frost, during the live chat: “Most of what we see in hoarding is an exaggeration of how we relate to the possessions in our lives. They have a magical quality and mean much more to us than is apparent from their physi- cal properties.”
Nymous: “Rule of thumb: If you have not used it in the last year, you will never use it again. Ditch it.”
kcx7: “This is NOT laziness. This is NOT being a slob. This is mental illness.”
jefinch: “Are these the kind of memories that he wants his wife and son to have of their home? I strongly urge Mr. Rosenwald to seek competent psychiatric help, before the piles and clutter created by his illness push family and friends out of his life.”
Observer10: “I am not alone!”
coqui44 “Once these problems grow roots, it is difficult to unroot them. But he CAN make progress, little by little, with the correct help.”
SuperiorityComplex: “We got a professional organizer, threw out eighteen bags of stuff, do- nated another ten to a variety of causes and turned our too-small spare bedroom into a luxurious walk-in closet (with a window!). So far, three months and we’re still good.”
Latest news Get local breaking news, weather and traffic
reports delivered right to you. Visit
washingtonpost.com/localalerts.
Tell us What do you think of our local coverage? Send
us an e-mail and let us know. Write to
metro@washpost.com.
THE DAILY QUIZ
According to the CDC, what year did the rate of teen pregnancy hit its peak? (Hint: Check today’s Health & Science section!)
EARN 5 POINTS: Find the answer, then go to
washingtonpost.com/postpoints and click on “Quizzes” to enter the correct response.
What do you think? Post readers are interacting with reporters, newsmakers and each other every day about local issues at
postlocal.com.
POINTS EVENTS
A Life’s Work: Meet the Bradlees Please join Ben Bradlee, his wife Sally Quinn, and their son Quinn Bradlee for a pre-Father’s Day celebration on Wednesday, June 16 at 6 p.m. at The Washington Post. Enjoy a discussion of the Bradlees’ new book “A Life’s Work: Fathers and Sons,” with observations by Sally Quinn. For details, log in to
washingtonpost.com/postpoints and click on Events & Contests.
POINTS & REWARDS
Ford’s Theatre: Company coming? Be sure to tour the historic Ford’s Theater! Tickets are required; see
fordstheatre.com.
Regency Furniture Showrooms: Find just the piece your living room needs for a new look. See
regencyfurniture.biz.
Sheehy Auto Stores: You see the Sheehy name all around the metro area for a reason—great buys on new and preowned cars. See
sheehy.com.
Washington Bridal Showcase: Plan now to attend spectacular August shows in Richmond and Baltimore. Details at
bridalshowcase.com.
washingtonpost.com/postpoints
Not a PostPoints member yet? Log onto
washingtonpost.com/postpoints for more information about this exciting free program.
Michael S. Rosenwald, on the live chat: “For me, the next step is really to understand that my stuff isn’t me, and I’m not my stuff. I think that’s a huge hurdle to get over.”
part about the wedding ring. My initial flustered defense — “Do you have to read everything I write, woman?! Can a man have no secrets!?” — did not fly. I don’t write about really personal stuff. My daughters’ boyfriends, or lack thereof, are off-limits, for example. Of course, since our family is so boringly well adjusted there isn’t much dirt to dig. (Although, having just written that, I have now invited heroin addiction, Scientology and Republicanism into our home.) Sometimes a statute of limitations applies. When my older daughter accidentally shaved off half an eyebrow I filed it away for use in the future — five years in the future as it turns out. One of my favorite columnists in Britain’s Guardian newspaper, an American ex-pat named Tim Dowling, writes a weekly column about his family and has a deal with his three kids: He’ll give them 5 pounds if he quotes them directly but they can collect only if they claim it that day. (And if you think my wife comes off bad in my column, you should read about Tim’s. She makes my wife seem like a cross between Florence Nightingale and Mother Teresa.) I try to write the truth. But the truth can be shaded in certain ways, doled out selectively, certain facts emphasized, others de-emphasized. Certain words can be employed to convey a feeling (“the wedding ring I slipped on her finger”) that, although technically true, might not tell the whole story. What My Lovely Wife suggested I pass on to you is that she bought that wedding ring with her own money — me being a penniless freelance writer at the time — and that neither of us liked it much, it looking rather 1980s (and not in a good way).
She did not replace it because her finger had grown too fat (“had shrunk — or something”) but because it was ugly and starting to fall apart. When her parents died, she inherited her grandmother’s wedding ring, and she thought that seemed a more lovely thing to wear. She sold the old ring, along with some other jewelry, because, well, who couldn’t use the money? My wife sometimes says she should have her own column, to correct errors that might somehow have crept into mine. I don’t really think that’s necessary, dear.
Send a Kid to Camp
A week into our drive to raise $500,000 for Camp Moss Hollow and we stand at $19,849. Not a bad start. You can support this annual campaign to help needy kids experience the great outdoors this summer by mailing a check or money order, payable to “Send a Kid to Camp,” to P.O. Box 96237, Washington, D.C. 20090-6237. Or contribute online by going to
www.washingtonpost.com/camp and clicking on the donation link. To use MasterCard or Visa by phone, call 202-334-5100 and follow the instructions on our taped message.
kellyj@washpost.com
Summer video contest: What are you doing this summer? We want you to show us by
taping and submitting a 30-second video capturing how you’re spending your summer in the metro area. John Kelly is one of the contest judges. Enter at
washingtonpost.com/30-second-summer and win a prize.
A complete list of PostPoints Spots can be found at
washingtonpost.com/postpoints.
orrection: In my June 11
washingtonpost.com online discussion, I may have given the impression that My
TUESDAY, JUNE 15, 2010
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PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY ANDREA LEVY
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