Freecycle is a movement across the country designed to make sure that nothing ever gets chucked into a landfill until it’s been on an email list for at least a few weeks, and DC has their very own yahoo group dedicated to such a concept. Today’s highlighted message comes to from someone who likely drives a better car than you, probably has a better job than you, and likely goes to sleep each night on a pile of money surrounded by beautiful women.

They still need a carseat for their Porsche.

WANTED: Boxster Car Seat

I would hope to not have to turn in my wheels with a little one! Does anyone have the Tequipment car seat which can be installed in the passenger seat of the Boxster? I realize it involves a trip to the dealer for proper installation and airbag deactivation, but hoped I might pick up one from someone whose little one has outgrown it. Can pick up anywhere, anytime. Thanks!

Good to know they’ll meet you anywhere.

What do you visualize when you read this Metro press release?

Metrobus “cowboys” are set to drive and brand their “steers” – in this case 40-foot long, 30,000-pound Metrobuses and various maintenance modules – to victory in the 30th Annual Bus Roadeo on Saturday, September 30, from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Would it be individual bus operators and teams of bus mechanics competing to safely and quickly complete an obstacle course or troubleshoot maintenance problems? Or would it be the final scene from Dr. Stranglelove where the crazy Maj. T.J. ‘King’ Kong rodeo rides the bomb to oblivion?

Either way, I know you’re excited and can’t wait to bring the whole family for events and entertainment like music, catered food, visits from McGruff the Crime Dog, Max the Metro Mascot, the Metrobus Robot, a Custom Auto Show, and a safety-related competition sponsored by Metro’s Department of Safety and Risk Protection.

I may be a transit foamer, but even I have my limits.

Be sure to watch your speed today – I’ve seen three speed traps around Arlington while going to and from work. This poor bastard got tagged on Quaker across from the shell station. The speed trap I saw earlier was on Washington at the exit for Columbia Pike – just before the exits for 395.

If you haven’t noticed – the new trick they are using these days is to have motorcycle cops park their bikes on the sidewalk – the cop stands hidden behind the parked cars on the street – and then steps out in front of you as a nice little “surprise.” Be careful out there…

This isn’t the kind of bike Wayan’s always campaigning for, but I figured he could appreciate the sentiment if not the vehicle.

This week’s CityPaper cover story goes after the home of the University of Maryland in just about every way possible.

What local colleges have a better student life than College Park? Strayer, AU, Georgetown, GW, Southeastern, GMU, Howard, NOVA, Catholic, Montgomery College, Marymount, Gallaudet, UDC…

…stocking the student body with mathletes has done little to address College Park’s greatest shortcoming: It has the locational charm of a highway rest stop.

…an ugly shopping strip, a scarcity of choice, an air of lurking danger, and the promise of thoughtless mayhem.

That the CityPaper is going after a large commuter school is not surprising. Only one of the five parts of this story takes a look at how College Park is trying to improve itself; the other four parts are details of how bad a place the CityPaper perceives it to be.

Is the CityPaper is being fair with this article? Terps, we await your reply.

No Pain, No Gain!

I love the WashPost’s “Dating Lab” in the Sunday magazine. Every week they have some dating train wreck for us to gawk at.

Last week I noted they had a call out for crazed athletes like I:

LOOKING FOR SCHOLARLY TRIATHELETES — and other singles wishing to be set

While my supermodels would revolt if I applied, I tossed the suggestion to the DC Tri Club.

After questioning how the WashPost could misspell “triathlete” everyone warmed up to the challenge until Nicole broke down what it means to date a triathlete.

To quote a snippet of her enlightening post:

• “I am an active person.” Really means: Aside from my 40 hour job, and the 8 mandatory hours of sleep a night. 10 hours a week are devoted to me during the off-season and 20 during race season leaving us 4 hours.

  2 of which are spent inhaling food and you not talking to me, so lets make the best of the 2 hours we will spend together on average each day. If you are a licensed message therapist or doctor this would make the most optimal use of our time together. Nutritionist is also acceptable, but I probably already know just as much as you.

• “I enjoy sharing quiet moments together.” Really means: It’s taper time. Just back off because I am strategizing and in a pissy mood because I am worried about my “A” race and can’t workout.
• “I enjoy relaxing soaks in the tub.” Really Means: I’m going to stop on the way home and buy two bags of ice, throw them in the tub with some water, and sit in this torture chamber for 30 minutes.

Now doesn’t that make the life of my supermodels sound all romantic and exciting? Yeah, that’s why I have so many who call me back after the first Saturday morning 8am Haines Point brick workout.

At the risk of encouraging the Borfization of our fair city, I have to say that this bit of sticker modification at the local Costco gave me a smile. And after the discussion earlier this week of post-processing of images I thought I’d give the picture a little filter love…

The Court is amazing before a rain with dark clouds framing it. There is something about the soft light and the color of the sky that makes the stone look creamy and easy to take in. Or, maybe that is the only time the court is diminished by something greater.

While we’re all just a speck of sand in this thing we call the universe, and none of what we do really matters in the grand scheme of things, sometimes it’s worth noting and recording a little piece of history. Case in point, when Alfonso Soriano (aka “cry baby”) became only the fourth player in MLB history to hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases, he etched his way into his own little piece of modern history. Some of you may have already forgotten this amazing feat, but thanks to Scott Ableman’s lens and quick-acting shutter finger, I never will.

I always thought it would be fun to be a sports photographer, or better yet, a presidential photographer, to record momorable moments such as this. I’ve taken quite a few photos of protests and rallies in the short time that I’ve lived in DC and I will always be able to look back at them and remember what it was like to be a part of something big.

NBC’s The Biggest Loser isn’t the only show in the new Fall line-up to diss DC. CBS’ new show Jericho, about surviving nuclear holocaust, has giving DC the rub as well. (Although considering the circumstances maybe that’s a good thing).

In a dramatic scene from last night’s episode a character marks, with red pins in a map, all the U.S. cities to be nuked in the attack. Somehow Washington DC doesn’t get a pin! That doesn’t make any sense at all. We get Atlanta and Denver nuked but not DC – what? The character’s hand even sweeps passed DC on the map – but no pin.

Granted a few pins get placed off-screen, and DC might be one of them, but if you were directing this scene – the big reveal that the US just got massively nuked – wouldn’t DC be one of the first cities to really ram it home to the audience that the U.S. is wiped out?