The Georgetowner July 28, 2010

THE

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GEORGETOWNER

Volume 57 Number 22

Since 1954

july 28 - august10 2010

King

of the,

Kastles

Tennis Fever in Washington

George Washington: Distiller —Food & Wine

Another Look at Norman Rockwell —Museum

Why Live in Georgetown?

—Real Estate

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contents

Vol. 57, No. 22

Serving Washington, DC Since 1954 “The Newspaper Whose Influence Far Exceeds Its Size” — Pierre Cardin

Publisher Sonya Bernhardt

4 — Web Exclusives

Editor at Large David Roffman

5 — Up and Coming 6-7 — Georgetown Observer

Feature Editors Garrett Faulkner Gary Tischler Publisher’s Assistant Siobhan Catanzaro

About the Cover:

Contributors Alexis Miller Andrew O’Neill Jody Kurash Jack Evans Linda Roth Bill Starrels Mary Bird Jordan Wright Claire Swift Kathy Corrigall Pam Burns Ari Post Michelle Galler John Blee Lauretta McCoy Jennifer Gray Donna Evers Photographers Yvonne Taylor Tom Wolff Neshan Naltchayan Jeff Malet Malek Naz Freidouni Robert Devaney Advertising Director Charlie Louis Advertising Justin Shine Elle Fergusson

Mark Ein with Anna Kournikova. Photo by Jeff Malet.

The Georgetowner is published every other Wednesday. The opinions of our writers and columnists do not necessarily reflect the editorial and corporate opinions of The Georgetowner newspaper. The Georgetowner accepts no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts or photographs and assumes no liability for products or services advertised herein.

The Georgetowner reserves the right to edit, rewrite, or refuse material and is not responsible for errors or omissions. Copyright, 2009.

THEN...

10 — Education At School Without Walls, a Theatre Without Limits

About our contributors

12-13 — Real Estate Ask the Realtor Mortgage Featured Property

Ari Post:

14-15 — Performance/Art Wrap American Modernism & Rothko “Telling Stories” with Norman Rockwell

“This tennis article has been the culmination of three generations of tennis in my family, thanks to my father, uncle and grandfather for equipping me with the knowledge and love of the game.” Page 16

Graphic Design Alyssa Loope Jen Merino Counsel Juan Chardiet, Attorney

Published by Georgetown Media Group, Inc. 1054 Potomac St., N.W. Washington, DC 20007 Phone: (202) 338-4833 Fax: (202) 338-3292 editorial@georgetowner.com www.georgetowner.com

8-9 — Editorial/Opinion

16-17 — Cover Story The King of the Kastles 18-19 — In Country Paws in the Plains 22-23 — Food & Wine Plates From the Park Wright on Food Cocktail of the Week 24 — Body & Soul Murphy’s Love Between the Sheets

Gary Tischler on politics:

25— Is the Price Right?

28-31 — Social Scene Monaco Celebrates Children Uniting Nations FotoWeek DC Launch Party Cookin’ Up Numbers Gtown Biz Group Offers Historic Fun at Halcyon House WARL Brunch at Old Ebbitt Grill

“Where the 2006 election seemed almost dreamily sleepy and below the radar in the summer months, this race has a daily, electric and strange feel to it, covered almost 24/7 by a blogosphere that never lets up.” Page 7

Follow us on The Georgetowner

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Come explore

Georgetowner com News & Politics

sophisticated style at Georgetown Park.

Five Bike Sharing Stations Coming to Georgetown Under a new bike sharing system in the District, Georgetown is expected to receive five stations, as announced by the D.C. Department of Transportation today. The system called Capital Bikeshare will begin in the fall.

New Retail Openings, Closings The end of July is a busy month for possible openings and closings in Georgetown. Check out our list of retail changes in the area including two firsts for D.C.

Coming Soon: Electric Car Charging Stations

Discover over 80 outstanding stores, right in the heart of Georgetown.

Waterfront Nears Completion, Despite Hang-ups The second phase of the Georgetown Waterfront Park, which includes a waterfront staircase, fountain and promenade, has stalled in recent months, owing to budgetary snafus and unforeseen construction obstacles.

In response to a federal grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, D.C. plans to install 10 public charging stations by the end of the year, and another 10 by 2011. The electric vehicle charging station company recieving the grant money, Coulomb Technologies, plans to install several units in Downtown buildings this year.

Fire Breaks Out in Georgetown Residence A Georgetown home on O Street caught fire around 5 p.m. on Monday, July 26. No one was injured and the fire was quickly controlled. Flames could be seen at the top of the house when the fire department arrived, but the fire was under control within an hour after it had been reported.

Add your event online Our Online Calendar is User-Friendly Looking for a way to get the word out about your community event? Add it to our Web site’s calendar. Just visit www.georgetowner. com/events to see our current calendar and to add your event. Please include a name, time, price, location, category, a short description and a way to contact you (such as a web address, e-mail address and/or phone number.) Events will appear on our Web site once approved.

M Street & Wisconsin Ave. 202-342-8190 Photo by Scott Suchman

Aaron Reeder plays Youth in “Passing Strange” through Aug.8.

4 June 2, 2010 gmg, Inc.

Arts & Society No Stranger to ‘Passing Strange’ “Passing Strange,” now performing at the Studio Theatre’s 2nd Stage, taps into a long tradition of growing-pain and coming-of-age tales. But it also feels and plays as if the whole couple of hours had been lived and imagined right on the spot.

4 July 28, 2010 gmg, Inc.

Anthony Lyn directs “Mary Poppins” at Kennedy Center

‘The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs’ debuts at WM Theatre

Lyn provides an inside look at life as the tour director of Disney’s popular musical. The former actor speaks about working with Catherine Zeta Jones, child actors and the truth behind rumors about Disney.

Monologist Mike Daisey premiered his latest monologue on July 19 in a one-night appearance at the Woolly Mammoth Theatre. Daisey discusses the cult-like sensation of the Apple computer brand, while taking the audience through his journey to China, where all Apple products are made.

Up

&

Coming

July 29 Redskins Training Camp starts at 4 p.m. Fans are invited to watch the Washington Redskins in action on the practice field during their training camp through August. Visitors should bring lawn chairs or blankets. Fans will have the opportunity to get autographs and take photos with the players after each practice. Parking and admission is free.

month-long contest that challenges bartenders to create their own version of Washington’s native cocktail. The D.C. Craft Bartenders Guild will sponsor the event. Nearly 25 bars, including the Passenger, the W Hotel, Proof, Cafe Atlantico, Urbana and Againn, are competing. The event costs $10 at the door and includes a free classic Rickey.

Summer Evenings at Dumbarton House: “Jazz at the Jewel” will be held at 6:30 p.m. and is free to all. In partnership with the International Club of D.C., the museum has opened for extended summer hours with a local jazz band ensemble in the north garden. Blanket picnicking is welcome with wine and cheese for sale on-site. Event will move inside to the Belle Vue Room ballroom in the case of inclement weather.

July 31 The power of poetry will be used to throw a benefit for the Louisiana Bucket Brigade from 4 to 6 p.m. at Eatonville Restaurant. The Brigade is a grassroots organization with a history of helping Louisiana residents fight air pollution from refineries. The organization is now helping the victims of the BP oil disaster. Tickets are $10 and available online or at the door.

Events for the last day of the Loudoun County Fair will start at 10 a.m. Visit the Loudoun County Fairgrounds at 17564 Dry Mill Road, Leesburg, VA for some summer fun including extreme cycling, carnival rides, extreme cycling and demolition derby. The fair is a one-week event from July 25-31. The price includes all shows, main events, animal and craft exhibits and parking, but not the midway’s carnival rides. Daily passes are $10 for adults and students ages 13 and up, but $5 for children ages 6 to 12. Admission is free for children under 6 and active military personnel with a valid military ID. Check out the fair’s website for more events, activities and weekly pass prices at www.loudouncountyfair.com.

August 5 The Bravo Broadway Concert will feature Tony Award winners Jodi Benson, Michael Maquire and Debbie Gravitte in a benefit towards the Alzheimer’s Association. The concert will be at 8 p.m. at the George Mason University Center for the Arts (4400 University Drive, Fairfax, VA). Tickets start at $40. Call 703-7669005 for more information.

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Salutation Nation is a free yoga event sponsored by Lululemon Athletica. The D.C. version of this nationwide event will be held at the White House Ellipse at 9 a.m. Join your neighbors, friends and family to “take your asana outside” of your usual workout space.

Invisalign (wire-free braces) Digital Xray Veneers & Porcelain restorations Digital Charts Implant Restorations One Hour Whitening Computer designed 1 hour Crowns General/ Child dentistry We also speak Farsi, Armenian & Spanish

August 1 Frederick Douglass Family Festival will begin at 1 p.m. at the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site. The historic site honors Douglass’ life and achievements as he freed himself from slavery and helped to free millions of others.

Douglass moved to D.C. after the war to serve in international affairs and as U.S. Marshal for the District. The site will hold a free family festival with games, prizes, crafts, a choral performance and an exhibition from a local art gallery. Visitors are invited to bring picnics or purchase food.

August 2 The Rickey Month winner will be announced at The Passenger in Mount Vernon Square (1021 Seventh Street) at 6:30 p.m. Rickey Month is a

“Top Dentist of Washington, D.C. 2005, 2006, 2007, & 2008” (Consumer Checkbook Magazine)

“America’s Top Dentists 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, & 2008” (Consumer’s Research Council of America) The Arts on N Street Festival and Arts Market will be held Aug. 7, 8, 14 and 15 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The festival will be held on N Street between Seventh and Ninth streets at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center and is free to attend. Local artists, musicians, fashionistas and businesses will have the opportunity to present their work to the public and network with each other.

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observer

Georgetown Village on Track for 2011

By Garrett Faulkner

T

ry this sometime: hang around some Georgetown locals for a while, and you’ll notice the word “village” gets tossed about quite a bit.

In everyday usage, it’s probably not a throwback to a time when Georgetown was a village in the literal sense, and it’s certainly not a offhand suggestion that Washington’s most famous district is dusty or parochial. And it’s not just an earthier, more lustrous synonym for dry buzzwords like “community” or “neighborhood,” though that’s a little closer to the truth.

The “village,” in this sense, is about the people who make it tick, the movable parts, the folks who greet each other on the street by name and raise their children together and meet every month in churches and schools to determine their common destiny as neighbors and friends.

The Georgetown Village, as in capital-V Village, owes much to that school of thought, while bringing something quite unprecedented to the table. Conceived largely by Georgetowner Sharon Lockwood and based on a similar concept in affluent neighborhoods such as Boston’s Beacon Hill and, in the District, Capitol Hill, the Village would form a kind of local volunteer cooperative to keep an eye on its aging citizens — helping seniors change a light bulb, drive to a doctor’s appointment or simply

a few handpicked committee members, including Lockwood herself, who will spearhead the fundraising effort. The project is still zeroing in on a final membership fee, and volunteers still will require recruiting and training. Even securing office space is still on the to-do list.

But, as Lockwood and her committee chairs pointed out, the tasks that still need doing haven’t hindered their progress so far.

The project is already finalizing its 501(c)3 nonprofit tax status, and has Capitol Hill Village founder Judy Canning spoke to Georgetown residents about been given a green light the logistics behind the project. to begin accepting donations (Lockwood has keep them company, all while allowing them wasted no time here, already having corralled to “age in place” at home rather than a nursing $25,000 since the first meeting in March). While facility. While less expensive than traditional Georgetown will be the top priority, the project assisted living programs, beneficiaries will still will also cover Burleith, and possibly Glover be required to pay an annual membership fee to Park. The organization’s Web site, though still cover the non-profit’s operating costs. in its infancy, is now online. The Village has An informal meeting of Georgetown resialso come up with a logo and a catchy slogan: dents — who, the Village leadership hopes, “Neighbors helping neighbors.” will be among the project’s first brigade of vol The central focus of the meeting was a preunteers — was held on July 21 at the N Street sentation by Capitol Heights residents Mike and home of Angie Leith. Sharon Lockwood, a Judy Canning, who founded a village project in retired World Bank employee who is now car2007 spanning four square miles between the rying the torch for the concept in Georgetown, Capitol and H Street. The Cannings, who have conceded that at present, though the Village has mentored Lockwood extensively on the Georgepulled together advisory and officer boards, the town project, described an uphill but successful project is little more than a gleam in the eyes of battle to kickstart the concept in Capitol Hill,

which managed to raise $160,000 from neighbors alone by launch day. Even more challenging than fundraising was recruiting dedicated, effective volunteers to perform house calls and services, which now number as many as 200 per month. Keeping volunteers enthusiastic, Judy Canning said, means preserving the village theme, the camaraderie that, when cultivated, blossoms even between strangers.

“Keep it personal,” she reminded the Georgetown gathering. “You may find out there’s a person around the corner who you’ve never met who’s willing to take you to a doctor’s appointment.”

That idea might sound crazy in a big city, but it’s getting noticed. The day after the meeting, the Washington Examiner, which did not attend the meeting but had spoken earlier with Lockwood, ran a short write-up about what’s next for the non-profit. Even Georgetown University, often at loggerheads with neighbors over town and gown spats, has expressed interest in the project. The University’s community relations execs, Linda Greenan and Brenda AtkinsonWilloughby, pledged support for the idea at the meeting and offered to brainstorm closely with the Village leadership.

In order to launch in early 2011 as planned, the Village hopes to recruit enough volunteers in the fall to begin providing tangible assistance to residents. The project will also need to secure $200,000 in donations by the end of the year.

The next recruitment and planning meeting will be held Wednesday, Aug. 25 at the home of Rose-Marie Catonio, 3139 N St., 6 to 7:30 p.m.

Twenty-three neighborhood homes have volunteered to host informational meetings this fall before the project takes off.

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gt

observer

Candidates Charge Through Ward 2 Council chairman candidate Kwame Brown, now an at-large councilmember, speaks at a forum downtown.

By Gary Tischler

E

very election campaign is a process, an ongoing ebb-and-flow epic, punctuated by candidate forums, straw votes, polls and news. Campaigns also heat up at various times, beginning with candidacy announcement, going through polls, attacks and counterattacks, policy debates and the waning days running toward the climax and voting.

In the case of the District of Columbia primary — the Democratic Party primary, which in this city is tantamount to the election in November — that would be September 14. A lot has happened already.

Four years ago, a young, ambitious Ward 4 councilman named Adrian Fenty was taking on veteran and heavily favored city council chair Linda Cropp, criss-crossing the city hellbent on knocking on every door of every house. Cropp and her managers weren’t paying close enough attention and the result was a devastating victory for Fenty, winning every precinct and ward in the city. He brought with him a new chairman — Ward 7’s Vincent Gray — and other new faces, including Harry Thomas Jr. in Ward 5, Mary Cheh in Ward 3, At-large Councilman Kwame Brown and Tommy Wells in Ward 6.

This time around, things seem a little resonant of the previous run: Fenty is once again facing a city council chairman in self-dubbed candidate Vince Gray, who finally entered the race in the spring, prodded by supporters and a polled dissatisfaction with Fenty’s style and way of operating.

But it’s also different: where the 2006 election seemed almost dreamily sleepy and below

the radar in the summer months, this race has a daily, electric and strange feel to it, covered almost 24-7 by a blogosphere that never lets up.

Gray has polled well, but there have been no recent polls. He’s won big citywide straw votes, although straw votes, because of their size, are rarely true indicators of results. The campaign has turned surprisingly negative, with periodic outbursts of anger and hostility flaring up. With Gray’s mayoral candidacy, the new chair will be either Kwame Brown or former D.C. Councilmember and mayoral candidate Vincent Orange, after Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans chose not to run. The Brown vs. Orange choice now seems like slim pickings to some observers, especially after news that Brown carries an unpaid $50,000 credit debt and owns a boat called Bulletproof.

And all that is before last week’s firings of 241 teachers for “poor performance” under a new and still controversial evaluation program called IMPACT launched by Michelle Rhee.

Over the last few days, we peeked in the candidates at a Hotel PAC forum, at the Penn Quarter Association forum for non-mayoral candidates and a Ward 2 Democratic straw poll.

Under the prodding of moderator and WRC reporter Tom Sherwood, Fenty and Gray engaged in some heated exchanges notable for what appeared to be genuine anger on Gray’s part. When the mayor in a boilerplate statement thanked the Hotel PAC “for this opportunity to debate the issues,” Gray responded in turn by saying angrily, “You’ve had lots of opportunities to debate the issues. You just haven’t shown

up.” He called the mayor’s failure to show up at a recent education forum “shocking … That’s his issue, for heaven’s sake.”

When the mayor again criticized Gray for his human services gig in the 1990s, Gray said “what in the world could you possibly know about the 1990s?”

At the Penn Quarter forum, Brown and Orange both touted themselves in different ways: Brown talking endorsements, including several organizations around the city and “all of my fellow councilmen,” Orange touting his experience on the council and his rise from a poor family. In the at-large council race, Clark Ray came across as experience-hungry and energetic, Phil Mendelson as experienced. Tommy Wells touted his experience and progress in educational reform, which he’s supported. Challenger Kelvin Robinson promised to push for more choices in education. The former chief of staff to Mayor Anthony Williams proved articulate, vocal and knowledgeable, though without highlighting failures, it’s always tough to topple an incumbent at the ward level, and Wells seems anything but complacent.

At the Ward 2 Democratic straw poll in Thomas Circle, it was politics and campaigns as theater.

While supporters showed their signs outside with a sea of bobbing blues and grays held high for drivers to see (with much honking ensuing), Gray and Fenty appeared one after the other to give their stump speeches and engage with supporters. Fenty, it turned out, won the vote by about a 30-point margin, enough to breathe a sigh of relief, but not big enough to free himself of worry.

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Editorials/opinion

Remembering Daniel Schorr

By Gary Tischler

Jack

Evans

Report

C

ontentious, abrasive, thorough, skeptical, dogged, courageous, trustworthy. High praise, indeed.

All of those words are job requirements and descriptions for what today is an endangered species in the field of journalism: the investigative reporter.

All of those words pretty much fit Daniel Schorr, one of the last of the great television and radio reporters who passed away at the age of 93 last week.

Today’s luminaries in the news may have more memorable faces, more dramatic delivery, and they’re certainly better looking, but they can’t hold a candle to the likes of Schorr, who managed to tick off just about every president, elected official and government official he came in contact with, including Nikita Khrushchev, Eisenhower, JFK, CIA directors, senate committee chairs and, most fondly and importantly to him, President Richard Nixon.

Schorr, who died while still working for National Public Radio, came from the Edward R. Murrow informal school of journalism, full of tough, in-your-face, questioning reporters and anchors. That school included Walter Cronkite, once the anchor for the nation on CBS, a network for which Schorr worked until becoming embroiled in intelligence committee findings he discovered, reported and then leaked IN TOTO during the presidency of Gerald R. Ford.

Schorr was discovered by Murrow and became a member of his team, though in his own idiosyncratic way. He was a CBS reporter in Moscow until a KGB reporter refused to

I

let him return. He managed to anger both Barry Goldwater and Lyndon Johnson, but most of all he made Nixon, who didn’t like the media to begin with, turn green and paranoid.

Schorr managed to win Emmy for his Watergate reporting on CBS, for “outstanding achievement within a regularly scheduled program.”

His reporting landed Schorr on Nixon’s infamous “enemies” list a large and eclectic rundown of political foes which also included the likes of Broadway star Carol Channing and New York Jets quarterback Joe Namath. Schorr, like many members of the list, was inordinately proud of his presence there.

In the 1970s, a House Committee investigating

the intelligence community, especially the CIA, decided to dub its finding secret. Schorr leaked the findings to the Village Voice after CBS refused to run the story. He was subsequently fired, leading to questions about his integrity, a reporter’s most valuable asset. Schorr, in the end, was vindicated, and you can find an echo of the incident in the recent leaking of classified information about the Afghan war by a watchdog Web site.

Schorr’s passing, like that of Cronkite, is a reminder of the huge changes in the media.

They’ve never been replaced.

Gauntlet Thrown Down on education

By Gary Tischler

T

here’s no question that education reform is the biggest issue in the 2010 District of Columbia election.

Mayor Adrian Fenty ran on a promise to reform the District’s woeful school system and won big time in 2006. Now, he’s backing his designated Chancellor Michelle Rhee in her every move, including her struggle to gain control over hiring and firing teachers. Rhee herself seems to have interjected herself into the campaign when she questioned challenger Chairman Vincent Gray’s commitment to education reform and whether he would support a activist reform chancellor like herself fully.

So it stands to reason, as rumors swirled last week, that when Rhee announced that she was dismissing 241 teachers, the majority of which had received poor or below-minimum performance evaluations under a new and controversial grading system, sooner or later the other shoe would drop.

After all, the 241 (and another 700 or more who are under the cloud of being judged “minimally effective”) teachers, coupled with the nearly 300 who were terminated after a controversial budget crisis last year, amount to over 10 percent of the D.C. teacher workforce. (Some of the 241 were fired for not being properly credentialed).

The firings, based on a new evaluation

8 July 28, 2010 gmg, Inc.

system called IMPACT, which included at least 50 percent value on test scores, comes about a month before schools are set to open and a little less than two months before the Sept. 14 primaries.

Yet, at this writing, political response has been muted. While the D.C. Teachers Union and its president have vowed to challenge the firings, which would seem to indicate they were surprised by the evaluations, and while there is considerable chat among bloggers, education professionals and the like about what the firings mean and the use of IMPACT, Gray so far has not taken a stand. He said only that he wanted to look further into the basis for the firings.

The firings, and the union protest, come after the District and the union had successfully negotiated a complicated contract agreement earlier this year, which included retroactive pay raises for the teachers but more control over firing by Rhee.

An impending mass firing, or the use of IMPACT evaluation for this year appears not to have been mentioned at the time, although the union did object to the use of IMPACT in general.

Mayor Fenty and Rhee aggressively defended the firings as further steps forward in education reform. “Every child in the District of Columbia Public Schools has a right to an effective teacher, in every classroom, every school, every neighborhood, every ward of this city,” Rhee said. Fenty said the action puts the District one step closer to that goal.

Not explained was who would replace the fired teachers.

The issue now becomes who takes command of the education reform issue, an issue in which D.C., for better or worse, is now in the forefront of a national movement. With the firings, that issue has become central to any future debates in the election campaign.

Errata In the July 14 cover story “Faces of the Farm,” a photo of Paul Rosenthal of Blue Ridge Dairy on page 17 was incorrectly labeled. The online version of the article reflects the change.

The Georgetowner and Downtowner strive for error-free publication. Please send corrections to editorial@georgetowner.com.

’m feeling a little more optimistic these days and wondering if we are turning a corner, at least in one respect, with regard to the economy. For the first time in the last couple of years, I can see how some development projects important to Ward 2 could move forward. The key in all instances has been this: access to capital is opening up and people are looking for places to invest. Fortunately, I think D.C. has rebuilt and maintained a good reputation over the past decade as a good place to invest. Not just because of the relative economic stability that comes with the presence of the federal government, but also that we, as citizens, have brought the city back to life. We are no longer the financial and physical wreck we once were a decade ago, and if I have anything to do with it, we will never, ever return to those days. That doesn’t mean there aren’t still challenges ahead, of course.

I think the economy is warming up a bit, and what that means is investment capital is loosening and looking for a place to go. D.C. needs to be in the position to say, like a kid perhaps, “Pick me, pick me!” We are doing all we can to make this happen and having conversations about projects large and small across the city and ward.

Of particular interest are the Market at O Street project in Shaw and the new Convention Center hotel on Ninth Street. Both of these projects, after several financial delays, appear to be back on track and moving. I particularly appreciate the hard work of Roadside Development in moving the O Street project forward. Imagine trying to finance a development that contains a new Giant grocery store, a hotel, condos, senior housing, an underground garage, and other retail.

The financing for each of these components, in case you didn’t know, can be quite different.

You can secure financing for the grocery store, but there was a serious downturn in financing hotels for quite some time. The complexity of the financing of this project cannot be underestimated, so I am especially glad we’ll see a groundbreaking in earnest in early September.

Bravo! This truly is a lynchpin project in the heart of Shaw that I believe will help spur other positive investment.

The new Convention Center hotel, likewise, is making headway after a period of stalling.

The District stepped up to the plate to help provide bond financing for the project, but a dispute between JBG and Marriott on some other issues delayed moving forward on the matter. Like any number of other disputes, you just have to get the parties to keep talking, and I salute the work of Attorney General Peter Nickles in getting the two parties to settle so we can move forward on issuing the bonds, with groundbreaking commencing shortly thereafter.

This project too will serve as a catalyst on the west side of the Convention Center and will help serve as an anchor to further investment along Ninth Street in Shaw.

The District government, of course, has very little influence on the national economy, as one might expect. But, where we can make a difference is in two ways: by stepping up to the plate as needed and providing financial assistance to close gaps and move projects forward in tough economic times and by keeping our nose to the grindstone and not giving up on projects we know will be a success, such as these two. There have been many challenges standing in the way of both of these projects — political, economic, logistical, etc. — but I have found that if you keep focused, you will be prepared to move forward when things are looking up again. And at this juncture, I think things are looking up.

Profiles

in

politics

The Blue and Gray: ‘Vince’ Optimistic About Campaign

By Gary Tischler

V

incent Gray isn’t a natural politician.

Maybe that’s why it took him so long to decide to challenge Mayor Adrian Fenty, taking on a man who’s much younger, who can tout progress and numerous achievements, who has a Midas-like war chest and who got into the mayor’s chair by winning every precinct in the District of Columbia.

“I like to think things over, carefully,” Gray recently told The Georgetowner. “It wasn’t an easy decision by any means. It’s a big risk. A lot of people were urging me, asking me to run. I’m still getting used to the idea that no matter what happens I won’t be on the council anymore in any capacity.”

Not to mention that if he should lose — and lots of so-called political experts say that’s likely — his political career is pretty much over. Gray, in short, made a decision not to run for re-election as city council chairman (for which he was a shoo-in), a position he had filled admirably by almost any measure.

I met Gray last week at Busboys and Poets (at Fourth and K Streets), which is near his campaign headquarters.

Asked how things were going, the mayoral candidate sounded enthusiastic. “Great,” he said. “It’s going great, really great.” When I suggested that things seemed to be getting testy, as evidenced in some of the exchanges at the Washington Hotel PAC candidate forum the previous week, he nodded. “Yes, they are,” he said, “It’s getting a little tense sometimes.”

In recent days, we’ve watched Gray several times, at the forum, on television, at the Ward 2 straw poll, and in person. If an election campaign is a drawn-out process, something like a boxing match of punches, counterpunches and dancing back and forth, Gray seems invigorated by the process, or at least he’s enjoying himself. For sure, candidates often repeat the same things over and over again, but Gray repeats some of his best stuff with relish.

As in: “When it comes to yard signs, the city’s turning blue, and the other side is green with envy.” It’s a hokey line, but it gets cheers from supporters every time, and a few laughs too. Gray laughs right along.

This an election campaign that seems to have been sparked not so much by a clash of ideas — although there are significant differences between the two — or even a conflict of wills, although that started becoming evident over the past year.

Rather, it’s a contest sparked by a growing unrest and dissatisfaction with the mayor’s way of operating, his style, his approach to dealing with the city council and constituents.

Increasingly, Mayor Adrian Fenty, the executive leader as action figure, came to be seen as brusque, disconnected from voters (especially east of the Anacostia River), arrogant and unwilling to work with individuals or groups.

Polls in January showed that while people appeared to like what he’d done in terms of school reform, public safety and development, they had serious reservations about his way of operating. Which doesn’t necessarily translate into support for Gray, a man who remains something of an enigma in large parts of the

city. “I’ll say this,” Gray says. “I didn’t start out like some other people dreaming about becoming mayor or some such thing from the get-go,” he said. “I wanted to be a baseball player, and I was good at it, too.”

The self-described “through-and-through homey” grew up in a one-bedroom apartment at Sixth & L Streets N.E. He went to Logan Elementary, Langley Junior High School and graduated early at 16 from Dunbar High School, where he played first base, “hit over .500” and was scouted by professional baseball teams.

“It wasn’t in the cards,” he said. “But you know, I still think about it sometimes.” Gray still plays in a city softball league, apparently as reliable a hitter as ever.

In his younger days, politics wasn’t on his mind — he went to George Washington University, studying psychology and getting undergraduate and post-graduate degrees. From the beginning, he was passionately engaged in issues involving people with developmental disabilities. He worked at the Association of Retarded Citizens (now known as the ARC).

“Here’s a moment that affected me powerfully,” he said. “I was given a tour once of Forest Haven, a mental institution run by the District, a horrible place. I saw female residents and patients there, being herded outside, with no clothes, being hosed down. I’ll never forget that.”

Gray led the effort to finally close down Forest Haven, an achievement he still speaks about with pride. In 1991, Mayor Sharon Pratt Kelly made him Director of the Department of Human Services, in an era when the District government was heading for its lowest points.

Fenty and his spokesmen repeatedly criticized Gray for being a part of that administration, whose failures eventually led to the imposing of a Control Board on the city, which oversaw its operations and finances.

Gray chafes at the criticism, especially from Fenty. “What in the world do you know about the 1990s?” he said angrily at the hotel forum.

“You have no idea, you need people to tell you what happened.”

To Gray, that period was about public service, which later would include his becoming director of Covenant House, a faith-based organization that serves homeless people and at-risk youth.

“You take pride in things like that,” he said.

“I do. Because you can help people.”

He took a keen interest in education, almost naturally, given that his wife Loretta, who passed away from cancer in 1998, was a teacher in the D.C. Public Schools system all her professional life.

Gray, who has two grown children and two grandchildren, still lives in the family’s Hillcrest neighborhood home, pretty much by himself. “I’ve got a cat,” he said.

Hillcrest is in Ward 7, from which, in 2004, Gray launched his first political race for the council seat occupied by Kevin Chavous, who had run unsuccessfully for mayor. Less than midway through his term, he was encouraged to run for council chair by his supporters.

“I said at first that maybe they were having a mental health problem,” he said. But

run he did, winning a very tough and tense race against Kathy Patterson, the highly regarded Ward 3 incumbent.

He rolled into office with a triumphant Adrian Fenty, and several other new members, including Kwame Brown, Harry Thomas, Jr. from Ward 5, Tommy Wells from Ward 6 and Mary Cheh from Ward 3. It seemed, four years ago, like a fresh slate, a new beginning.

It was Gray who presided even-handedly — and forcefully — over the hearings for the legislation that would allow Fenty to take control of the District schools and initiate the school reforms that would culminate with the selection of Michelle Rhee as chancellor.

“This mayor voted against mayoral control when Mayor Williams tried to get that,” Gray pointed out.

Fenty announced the appointment of Rhee without consulting Gray or the council first; The Washington Post had the news before they did.

Gray dismisses the suggestion that this was an early catalyst for his decision to run. “A lot of things had already happened, and were continuing to happen.” he said. “It was an accumulation of things.”

But the school reform process, which included a delayed, drawn-out contract negotiation and the abrupt and controversial firing of nearly 300 teachers last fall over mysterious budget shortfalls, took its toll on Gray, and increasingly appeared to leave him at odds with both Fenty and Rhee.

“It’s not something I set out to do when I was elected chairman,” Gray said. “At first, a lot of people were urging me to run. And then, well, you feel compelled to do so.”

Gray sees it as another way to serve. He is known as the kind of chairman who will work hard to reach out to others and arrive at a consensus. And there is a way of doing that, as far as he’s concerned. “You respect people,” he said. “You work with them. You bring people together. You give and take. But especially, it’s about dignity and respect.”

He accused Fenty of cronyism during the parks and recreation fiasco last year, saying the mayor bypassed the council while giving contracts to his friends, a matter still under investigation. He’s clashed with District Attorney General Peter Nickles frequently over the issue, and has gone so far as to suggest that Nickles be fired.

Ray, who likes to listen to jazz and Motown

oldies, is clearly energized on the campaign trail. He still slams Fenty for a recent no-show.

“Here we are,” he said. “We’re going to hold a public forum on education, which is the mayor’s number one issue. He holds the cards, and what happens? He’s a no-show. He doesn’t show up. I was shocked, let me tell you.”

Clearly, there are style issues here. But it goes deeper than that — it’s generational. Fenty will be 40 this December, Gray is 66. If Ray has a political idol, it’s Walter Washington, the city’s first mayor under home rule. “He had such a difficult task, but he stood tall, he behaved with great authority and dignity, and he tried to do what’s best for the whole city.

That’s what I intend to do.”

“The question isn’t about firing people, or what I would do with Michelle Rhee. It isn’t about one person. It’s about the whole city.

Education isn’t just about test scores, it’s about expanding vocational education and jobs, it’s about early education and special education and charter schools and community schools and equal resources.”

In fact, his education proposals aren’t so much different from Fenty or Rhee as they are more expansive and more inclusive.

“We’ve got to reach out to everybody, we can’t govern from some lofty hill and just do things without talking to people,” he said.

“When I’m mayor, I’ll be mayor for the whole city, not just parts of it.”

gmg, Inc. July 28, 2010 9

education

At the School Without Walls, A Theatre Without limits

Tyler Herman

By Ari Post

A

s the old adage goes, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Those who canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t do â&#x20AC;Ś teach.â&#x20AC;?

However, this is not quite the case for Tyler Herman, the 23-year-old theatre instructor of Washingtonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s acclaimed magnet school, School Without Walls.

Referred to by students and faculty as â&#x20AC;&#x153;Walls,â&#x20AC;? the institution is well recognized as the best public high school in the District, and one of the best in the region. Established in 1971, SWW is of a certain Montessorian ilk, helping students to expand their education beyond the classroom â&#x20AC;&#x153;Wallsâ&#x20AC;? and turn the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s capital into an equal player in their intellectual cultivation. With a student body of less than 500, the students are afforded plenty of individual attention to help shape their futures.

Backed by new principal Richard Trogisch and Chancellor Michelle Rhee, the school has recently been restructuring itself to achieve higher academic standards in an ever-expanding, open-ended classroom environment. The new building, in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood, forgoes lockers to keep the school looking less like an institution, and more like a welcoming environment for children to learn.

SWW has a partnership with The George Washington University to provide classes free of charge for qualifying juniors and seniors.

The newly established GW Early College Program offers students the opportunity to achieve

an Associates Degree in Liberal Arts while theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re still in high school, granting them access to all the educational amenities that GW has to offer. The schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Gilder Lehrman Initiative funds historic field trips around the region with visiting historians serving as guest lecturers and seminar leaders.

The list of student electives â&#x20AC;&#x201D; of which they are free to take plenty â&#x20AC;&#x201D; rivals some colleges, and there are mandatory internships within the city for graduating seniors.

Yet, as of last November, there was no theatre department. Enter Herman.

A recent graduate of Cornell, Herman came back to the area, having grown up in Silver Spring. With a degree in theatre and dance, and a minor in music, he didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have much intention to teach upon graduation. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I wanted to be an artist,â&#x20AC;? he says.

Picking up small work in a number of local theatres, he began instructing youth theatre programs part-time at Round House Theatre and other local high schools. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I had heard a lot of

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horror stories about public schools,â&#x20AC;? says Herman. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Students are unruly and uninterested.â&#x20AC;?

But when Walls approached him to take on a position in their theatre programâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s maiden voyage, he was surprised at what he found. â&#x20AC;&#x153;A 99 percent graduation rate, and a 95 percent collegebound rate,â&#x20AC;? he exclaims. â&#x20AC;&#x153;These kids are smart. And they want to learn.â&#x20AC;?

Still, Herman maintained that he didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to simply be a teacher. He laid out his objective in starting the theatre program as a working actor. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m big on creating work,â&#x20AC;? he says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I am a working actor in this town, so I want to bring it around to the community, create a mindset of not just fun, but a career.â&#x20AC;?

Hermanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mission is to use the schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fresh program as a way to reach out to the community, producing relevant work with as much input from the students as possible. The productions are not just for the public, but are inspired from within the public.

As SWWâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first main-stage production, Herman chose Molièreâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Miser,â&#x20AC;? a satirical comedy about a rich moneylender and his children who wish to escape his penny-pinching household (allude away, my fellow metropolitans).

However, the copy Herman had was a translation from the 1950s (Molière was French), which, according to Herman, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Felt stuffy, not very timely or relevant.â&#x20AC;? So Herman, fluent in French, took it upon himself to retranslate the show, change a few characters around, put in a

song and dance break, and fill in plot holes from the original script.

The style of theatre is actor driven, the leads played their own instruments, most being members of the high school band. Herman even decided to have the students play their own songs, which they began improvising onstage, creating a different theatre experience every night.

In many sections of the new text, Herman would merely write down framework and recommendations, then had the students â&#x20AC;&#x153;Create their own moment.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;They made the show their own by crafting the characters they were creating, making it genuinely funny for them and the audience every night. Taking ownership of the theatre â&#x20AC;Ś I come in with my ideas, and they take it and do their own thing, and sometimes itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s even better. So, encouraging that creativity has become a huge part of the process.â&#x20AC;?

He wants his students to tell their own stories. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to create high school-level work,â&#x20AC;? he says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I want to create real work thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s done by high school students.â&#x20AC;?

Herman is now looking to get certified as a teacher â&#x20AC;&#x201D; no teaching degree, just to be clear, but a vocation degree.

As far as his own work is concerned, he is working through the summer with Young Playwrites Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Arena Stage, and Round House Theatre. He will soon be appearing in â&#x20AC;&#x153;In Faction of Foolsâ&#x20AC;? with Welders Theatre Company.

A year out of school, and Herman is entrenched in theatre. He is beginning the framework of a winter festival at SWW with work primarily written by his students. A Shakespeare drama in the fall, a musical in the spring, all while working on his own theatre projects outside the classroom.

If the old adage had come about with Herman in mind, it would surely read a little differently: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Those who teach, do.â&#x20AC;?

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WE’VE STILL GOT IT!

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With a circulation of 40,000 we are still “the newspaper whose influence far exceeds its size” Advertisers! Get results now and call 202-338-4833 or email charlie@georgetowner.com for more information. gmg, Inc. July 28, 2010 11

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3023 O Street

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entrally located on the premier, tree-lined O Street in the highly sought-after East Village, this circa-1905 home is a Georgetown classic.

This spacious and handsome Victorian-inspired house has been entirely renovated and reconstructed while preserving much of the original architectural details.

The contractor who completed the reconstruction of this residence was recognized for his work on the 2008 D.C. Design House. The residence has also been updated with top-of-the-line amenities, custom built-ins, moldings, central air conditioning, lighting, speaker/ media systems and custom-made drapes. The home offers high, 10-foot ceilings in the main level, beautiful southern pine wide board floors, handsome gas log fireplaces and bay windows. A gracious staircase with beautiful oriental runner leads to the upper level landing. This landing has access to the master suite featuring a fireplace and a custom-designed marble bath, a large second bedroom/library with exceptional custom built-in cabinets, bookcases and office space and a hall custom-designed marble bath.

The lower level has a family room with built-in flat screen television and wet bar, a custom-designed marble bath and a third bedroom. This period residence epitomizes traditional Georgetown living in the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s capital.

Listed for $2,250,000 Contact William F. X. Moody or Robert Hryniewicki Washington Fine Properties 202-243-1620

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real

mortgage

estate

ask the realtor Dear Darrell: I picked up a copy of The Georgetowner last weekend, and once again began to think about moving to the city from our home in the suburbs. I love the energy of the city and think I would love living in D.C., but we have a one-year-old and another child on the way.

I worry that living here will be difficult for the children, and that the cost of owning real estate in D.C. is way more than where we now live. This isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t exactly a â&#x20AC;&#x153;real estateâ&#x20AC;? question, but I would appreciate your thoughts. â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Melissa H, Gaithersburg, MD Dear Melissa: Great question, and a very difficult one, because the choice of where to live is based on so many case-by-case variables. In principle, I believe very strongly that children can thrive in the city environment, and in some ways the city model is more like small-town living than suburban life is. In Georgetown, for instance, there is a town center, and one can walk to the post office, the library, parks, schools, tennis courts, restaurants, and the town â&#x20AC;&#x153;streamâ&#x20AC;? (i.e. the Potomac).

Kids still play on various sports teams and belong to youth clubs â&#x20AC;&#x201D; two which come to mind immediately are the Jelleff Boys & Girls Club and the Guy Mason Park rec center complex.

Imagine living on R Street, rolling out of bed, and taking the kids across the street to Rose Park to run in the fields, play on the playground, hit

a tennis ball or hike down to Rock Creek Park to throw rocks in the stream. The about-to-open renovated Georgetown library is two blocks away. There are French, Turkish, Korean, and Egyptian restaurants â&#x20AC;&#x201D; not to mention Ledoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Pizza â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a stoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s throw away, and countless other restaurants within a few blocks. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s an easy stroll to a showplace Safeway, and there is the easy access to the museums, monuments, galleries and music venues of downtown D.C. Then there are the properties themselves: onelevel, two-level, three-level row houses, condos and co-ops, many with decks, patios or back yards. With a little work, I believe you can find a property which would suit your family.

In general, the prices are likely to be higher than suburban property, but the tradeoff is the community, more time off the roads, less money on commuting costs, less stress, and easy access to the incredible variety of life in the city. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve described Georgetown above, but same applies to numerous other communities all over D.C. Obviously I canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t tell you that your children would be content in the District, but my guess is that if you are content here, they will be also.

Children learn from their environment, and they will certainly learn things peculiar to city life, things which I believe will enrich their lives in a very special way. And, of course, yours too!

Darrell Parsons is the managing broker of the Georgetown Long and Foster office and abides

by Equal Housing Opportunity regulations.

Have a real estate question? E-mail him at darrell@lnf.com. He blogs at georgetownrealestatenews.blogspot.com.

Rates Are At Record Lows

By Bill Starrels

I

n a July 22 release by Freddie Macâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Primary Mortgage Survey, the 30-year and 15year fixed-rate mortgages reached record lows. The survey for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages began in 1971 and for the 15-year began in 1991.

The average fixed rate for a 30-year mortgage was 4.56 percent with around one point.

The average for the 15-year mortgage was 4.03 percent with a one percent origination fee.

Adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) also saw new lows. The average for a five-to-one ARM was 3.79 percent with a one percent origination fee.

One year ago the averages were substantially higher: 5.20 percent on 30-year fixed, 4.68 percent on 15-year fixed and 4.74 percent on 5-year ARMs. Besides the significant fall in rates, another item of importance is the new spread between ARMs and fixed rate mortgages. A year ago, a five-to-one ARM was actually more expensive then a comparable rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage. Today an ARM carries a significantly lower rate of around 80 basis points.

Folks with ARMs that are adjusting now will end up with fully adjusted rates around 3 percent. This would be for â&#x20AC;&#x153;Aâ&#x20AC;? paper loans. ARMs for less credit-worthy clients would adjust higher.

The interest rate nadir is due to a combination of weakening confidence in the economy which causes a flight to safer investments. Another factor is the lack of inflation and the prospect of deflation. These factors ultimately drive interest rates lower.

Last week, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke testified before Congress, stating that the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Fed expects a gradual recovery to continue, and it believes the current policy stance is appropriate to support a recovery.â&#x20AC;? Translation?

The Fed is not changing rates any time soon.

There will be small likelihood of a rate hike well into 2012.

Some well respected economists are calling for the yield on the 10-year Treasuries to go to the mid 2 percent range, and perhaps down further to the 2.2 percent range.

If so, one will need to meet the demands of todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s underwriting standards. Expect a full documented loan. This means pay stubs and possibly tax returns will be required for income verification. Assets will be verified using bank and stock statements and good credit.

Expect mortgage rates to continue to remain attractive for the near future at least. This is truly a great time to refinance or buy a home.

Bill Starrels is a senior mortgage loan officer who specializes in refinance and purchase money mortgages. He lives in Georgetown and can be reached at 703-625-7355.

ď &#x2C6;ď Ąď Žď ¤ď šď ­ď Ąď Žď&#x20AC;­ď &#x17D;ď Ľď Ąď ˛ď&#x20AC;­ď &#x2122;ď Żď ľ ď &#x2014;ď Ľď&#x20AC;§ď ˛ď Ľď&#x20AC; ď Şď ľď łď ´ď&#x20AC; ď Ąď ˛ď Żď ľď Žď ¤ď&#x20AC; ď ´ď ¨ď Ľď&#x20AC; ď Łď Żď ˛ď Žď Ľď ˛ď&#x20AC;Žď&#x20AC;Žď&#x20AC;Ž

'SFF &TUJNBUFT CZ "QQPJOUNFOU POMZ Call Us at 202-581-1622 or visit us at www.HandymanNearYou.com gmg, Inc. July 28, 2010 13

museum

“Telling Stories”

Norman Rockwell, “The Flirts” 1941, oil on canvas Collection of Steven Spielberg © 1941 SEPS: Licensed

by Curtis Publishing, Indpls, IN. All rights reserved

By Gary Tischler

P

oor Norman Rockwell. The guy can’t get a break.

Every time there’s a big exhibition of his works — as there is now at the Smithsonian American Art Museum — you can bet your mortgage that someone, somewhere in the art world is going to scream bloody murder.

As in: he’s not a real artist, he’s kitschy, his paintings — most of them originally seen as magazine covers — are too corny, too rosy in their vision of America to be true.

You can debate all of these points to a farethee-well and inevitably, the debate starts to betray political views right alongside critical views.

Worst of all for his critics, perhaps, is that Rockwell, in his time, and right up to this moment, continues to remain popular.

Check it out: at almost any time during the week, the exhibition “Telling Stories: Norman Rockwell from the Collections of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg” is thick with people — young, old, parents and children, grandparents and grandchildren, older, for the most part, and white, for the most part. Tourists, for the most part.

There’s a thin line between populist and popular art, of course, and the geography of that line has so many footprints on it as to make it unidentifiable. Rockwell’s work is and always was squarely aimed at the great American working and middle class. It was meant to reflect an American landscape and people-scape that was easily recognizable.

What galls a lot of critics — even as far back as the 1920s — is that Rockwell’s work, excellent though it may be in brush strokes, draftsmanship and technique, straddles the thin line between illustration and art, per se. In the age of abstraction, Rockwell’s work sins again in that it doesn’t push forward, it cuts no edge, there’s nothing revolutionary in his work in terms of boundaries. And in the age of a rapidly changing

14 July 28, 2010 gmg, Inc.

America so diverse as to be almost unrecognizable, Rockwell’s people and imagery seem almost like a dream instead of having connection to reality.

And yet, here are the people in those rooms, trying to find themselves and a story. Rockwell lingers, like a hanger-on at a party for which he’s improperly dressed, just beyond the buzz, an elderly uncle with a bow tie.

To some critics, Rockwell’s work suggests an absence, a kind of intolerance that characterizes

small towns steeped in sentiment, which, to critics of almost any kind of artistic work, is like garlic for a vampire. That kind of criticism, of course, is rife with intolerance itself.

“Norman Rockwell is an artist and a storyteller who captured universal truths about America that tell us a lot about who we are as a people,” said Elizabeth Broun, the Margaret and Terry Stent Director of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. That’s probably not entirely accurate — or, at least, it’s a little more complicated than that. Through his illustrations for Look Magazine, The Saturday Evening Post and, much later, his work that embraced the Civil Rights movement, Rockwell engages an ideal wish Americans have for themselves, the wish of the virtuous and bucolic nation where small things are big. Think for a moment about his great Thanksgiving painting — it’s almost THE holiday experience, which no doubt has inspired numerous movies about the holidays from hell as a counterweight. Yet it’s Rockwell’s painting we dream about if we dream.

This exhibition is about Rockwell’s storytelling gifts, and indeed, he had fantasized about wanting to become a director. His storytelling paintings are about what happened before and what happens after: here’s Gary Cooper being made up for a cowboy scene, here’s a sophisticated mom peering into a mirror, her daughter watching her; here’s truck drivers eyeing a blonde with manly admiration; here’s a bulky cop on a soda fountain with counter with a small boy; here’s a little girl on top of the stairs watching a Christmas party; here’s a woman being cajoled and yelled at by her fellow jury members; here’s a baseball rookie

Norman Rockwell, “Children Dancing at a Party (Pardon Me)” 1918, oil on canvas Collection of Steven Spielberg

Norman Rockwell, “And Daniel Boone Comes to Life on the Underwood Portable” 1923, oil on canvas Collection of Steven Spielberg arriving at camp.

Here’s a boss, his red-haired secretary, a window-washer. At the exhibition, a mom explained the story to her daughter “He likes her, she likes him, she’s looking at him,” she said. “She’s not paying attention to her work. Maybe she’ll get fired. Maybe she’ll see the window washer outside.

Maybe they’ll fall in love, go on a date. Maybe.”

This is what Rockwell does best: invite people into the stories in his paintings, backtrack, fast forward, wonder and speculate. It’s the stuff of the material that Lucas and Spielberg, both movie directors who themselves try not to visit too much the dark side where Darth Vader and postmodernism live.

His covers, illustrations, paintings and works of art may not be everybody’s cup of tea, and the America he portrayed may not include or be everybody’s America. It would indeed be a sad world if it were Rockwell’s world alone. But you can’t help but feel sometimes that we remember the works as real, even if they weren’t. If art is at least in part something that has the power to pull at you and not let go, then that’s art. It cuts through the edge where the heart and memory lies.

“Telling Stories” runs through January 2, 2011.

Norman Rockwell, “Boy on High Dive” 1947, oil on canvas Collection of Steven Spielberg © 1947 SEPS: Licensed by Curtis Publishing, Indpls, IN. All rights reserved. Photo © 2010 American Illustrators Gallery ™ NYC

art

wrap Patrick Henry Bruce, “Painting (Still Life),” c.

1919 oil and pencil on canvas unframed: 59.7 x 93.7 cm (23 1/2 x 36 7/8 in.) Collection of Deborah and Ed Shein.

What’s Red, White, Blue & Black: American Modernism & Rothko

A

Edwin Dickinson, “South Wellfleet Inn,” c. 1950-1960 oil on canvas 84.5 x 110.8 cm (33 1/4 x 43 5/8 in.) Collection of Deborah and Ed Shein.

t the National Gallery of Art, early American Modernism from the Shein collection is featured on the first floor of the East Wing. The National Gallery does not have a strong showing of works from this critical period in American art, and the Shein collection will help fill in the gap. There are some very strong pieces here by major players, including Marsden Hartley, Georgia O’Keeffe,

John Marin and Stuart Davis. But it is the lesser-known artists that can sometimes surprise.

One such surprise is Patrick Henry Bruce’s “Painting (Still Life)” that rivals a similar piece

by Davis. In many ways I prefer the Bruce, which has a quiet energized classicism. Bruce’s “Painting” was completed in 1919, in the heat of the fray. Davis’ “Unfinished Business” was finished in 1962, toward the end of Davis’ career. Bruce was a much more important painter than Davis in 1919. He was a friend of Sonia

and Robert Delaunay and possibly influenced the stark reductivism Matisse adopted in the ’30s for his large “Dance” murals. Unfortunately, Bruce, a descendant of Patrick Henry, killed himself in 1936. Though Davis achieved more and left a greater mark on American abstraction, Bruce deserves to be remembered.

I recall James Rosenquist remembering his teacher Edwin Dickinson, who said that the light was all off in New York studios, since north in New York City was not true north. If there is

“American Modernism” runs through January 2, 2011.

Mark Rothko, “Untitled, 1964,” oil and mixed media on canvas Overall: 175.5 x 167.6 cm (69 1/8 x 66 in.) framed: 184.8 x 177.3 x 7.3 cm (72 3/4 x 69 13/16 x 2 7/8 in.) Gift of The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc.© Copyright 1997 Christopher Rothko and Kate Rothko Prizel.

By John Blee

a northern light, it exists in Dickinson’s work, including “South Wellfleet Inn,” circa 1950-60.

It is off every beaten track as a painting, coming close to a kind of obscurist realism. It is playful and morbid, like most of the work of Dickinson’s I have seen.

One cannot escape the fact that O’Keeffe’s “Dark Iris No. 2” and Hartley’s “Pre-War Pageant” eclipse most of the rest of the show, with the exception of Marin’s “Written Sea.” The Marin is one of the most restrained I have ever seen. It is more of a drawing than a painting, but masterful. The O’Keeffe and the Hartley are both at the center of their respective identities.

O’Keeffe’s “Iris” is resplendently sensual. With Hartley, I quote Georgia O’Keeffe on his shows at Steichen’s gallery and say it’s “like a brass band in a small closet.”

Going into the tower where Matisse’s cutouts used to hang is now as Zen a place as I have been in D.C. It’s the home of several of Mark Rothko’s darkest work in as perfect an installation as possible. Somehow the off-rectangle of the tower with its high ceiling could not be a better setting.

The intermittent playing of Morton Feldman’s “Rothko Chapel” makes it complete. Feldman has written of his music that, “I envisioned an immobile procession not unlike the friezes on Greek temples.” A friend of mine recalled what Rothko said, on visiting a temple in Greece, “I’ve always been painting them, now I am in one.”

Darkness is not a metaphysical state much in favor these days. The medical industry is making huge amounts of money as a result. But facing darkness — and rendering it — is tough.

Shostakovich did especially in his 14th and 15th quartets, as did Beethoven in his late quartets.

In painting it is rarer. I recall Turner’s “Peace – Burial at Sea,” who, when he was questioned on the black sails he had painted, replied “I only wish I had any color to make them blacker.”

Reflecting on Rothko’s pictures, they do seem to me to bear some relation to Ad Reinhardt’s black paintings — though unlike Rothko, Reinhardt was ironic in his black pictures.

Rothko is closer akin Gerard Manley Hopkins’ in his poem “Carrion Comfort”: “Of now done darkness I wretch lay wrestling with (my God!) my God.”

gmg, Inc. July 28, 2010 15

The King of the

Kastles

All photos by Jeff Malet

audience is encouraged to become part of the game, to interact with the players — root for them, even heckle them — and the players can let their own personalities come through. The Williams sisters, John McEnroe, Anna Kournikova, and Andy Roddick are among the national members that bring their game and their voice to the WTT stage.

For the Kastles, Ein has recruited Serena and Venus Williams as the marquee players, and assembled a veritable “who’s who” of all-star teammates, led by coach Murphy Jensen, renowned ten-

Mark Ein & the DC Tennis Scene

M

Above: The Washington Kastles with Mark Ein, Mayor Adrian Fenty, and Billy Jean King at center Below: Bobby Reynolds of the Washington Kastles

Venus Williams at a press conference for the Washington Kastles

By Ari Post

ark Ein, owner and founder of the Washington Kastles, the District’s World Team Tennis franchise, has brought his love of tennis to the nation’s capital, and in doing so has created a home base for the city’s widespread tennis scene and a center for community development.

When I met Ein at Kastles Stadium during the team’s practice, the metronomic clop of tennis balls washed through the empty arena like a summer shower. The players, preparing for an evening match, lent a pensive aura of determination to the otherwise languid silence of the blistering July morning. The familiar sounds were a comfort, recalling countless hours spent courtside working on my elbowy forehand, being reminded to bend my knees, get my racquet back, and adjust my grip.

Ein can relate to these fundamental tennis foibles, but his game has progressed considerably more than mine ever has — or perhaps ever will. Hitting with the Williams sisters in his inner-city tennis stadium might have helped. “If I wasn’t doing this interview with you,” he says, “I would be out right now doing drills with these guys.”

A successful venture capitalist who grew up around the area and a lifelong tennis player, Ein founded the Washington Kastles as part of World Team Tennis only three years ago. World Team Tennis, started by Billy Jean King, matriarch of professional tennis and advocate for gender equality, is tennis most have never experienced. It is played in a co-ed team format whereby each set is a different combination of opponents. A five-set match covers every combination of players: women’s and men’s singles and doubles, and mixed doubles.

Nor is the etiquette quite in the vein of typical Wimbledonian cordiality. “It’s tennis in a basketball or hockey environment,” Ein says. “We have cheerleaders, mascots. We play music in between the points. And while 3,000 people [the capacity of Kastles Stadium] is actually a pretty good tennis crowd, it feels like three times that number because everyone’s rooting for your team. It’s a very different kind of crowd.”

It’s an environment unique to tennis that allows fans an opportunity to see their favorite players in a more congenial setting. The

16 July 28, 2010 gmg, Inc.

nis personality and veteran champ who knows how to balance athletic discipline with the high-profile exposure of this tournament.

However, what makes WTT a unique institution is that, more than just showcasing competitive tennis, the cornerstone of the organization is bringing tennis into the local community, with a history of working with non-profits and charity organizations. “That’s honestly the core of this franchise,” says Ein. “When I started this, I had a mission statement … To expose tennis to a wider audience, create a center of fun activities in the middle of the city during the summer, help local charitable partners, and bring the city together … I never said win a championship. I never said win a match. It really was using this as the catalyst to create this sort of magnet where we could do all kinds of other great things. And that’s really what drives us.”

Ein has partnered with 35 leading charity organizations through the Washington Kastles. Every evening when the Kastles play a home game, between 100 and 300 children are brought to the match for free. Any fans under the age of 16 get a chance to rush the court after the match for autographs from all the members of both teams. Ein and the Kastles give out a thousand tennis racquets over the course of the season at free youth tennis clinics to children who want to learn the game but lack the means or equipment.

The Kastles host nine of these tennis clinics a season, the majority on the stadium courts in the heart of downtown, where the old convention center once stood.

However, they sometimes go into the community to host them in rec centers and racquet clubs. The clinics are led by the players themselves — by the Williams sisters, Anna Kournikova or Murphy Jensen. It allows the star athletes to give back to the community and seems as meaningful to them as it is for the children.

“If you talk to Venus and Serena,” says Ein, “one of the reasons they love World Team Tennis is because when they were eight years old they went to a World Team Tennis clinic that Billy Jean King was throwing. They said it changed their lives forever to see Billy and get to meet her and be inspired by her. And so when they come to town, they do the same for inner city kids in Washington. They’ve done that every year they come. They did it again this year.”

Introducing tennis to youth culture is a critical mission of Ein’s, as well as the WTT league. He believes the fundamentals one learns in the game are resounding life lessons. “It’s the sport of a lifetime, not just because you can play your whole life, but because the lessons you learn stick with you in life,” he says. “Tennis is unique because of its individual nature. It teaches you discipline, self-reliance, problem solving — because it’s you against one person within four lines trying to figure

Above: Kastles Coach Murphy Jensen signs an autograph for a young fan Below: Mark Ein with John McEnroe Right: Anna Kournikova coaching a young player at a WTT tennis clinic

it out. It teaches you strategy. It teaches you to think on your feet. It teaches you to be fit. And these are all fantastic lessons that you can apply to anything you do in life, whether it’s business as I’ve done, or anything you decide to do.”

Ein met Billy Jean King just over three years ago at the US Open tournament. After being introduced, the conversation moved quickly in the direction of organizing a World Team Tennis franchise in Washington. King had long desired a WTT team in the nation’s capital, but

had never found the right owner. Until Ein came along.

King upholds a few major tenets within the league that inspired Ein in his efforts to spearhead the project: to promote gender equality — WTT is the only professional sports organization where men and women play together on the same team — make tennis accessible in a community atmosphere, expose new players to the sport in an engaging environment, and

introduce tennis as a team sport, creating an entirely new dynamic within a well-established, traditional game. Or, as Ein simply states it, “Make it more fun.”

And while the causa causans of World Team Tennis holds steady, make no mistake that this is still among the highest quality professional tennis one will see outside of the majors. The companionship of teammates and a sense of home turf offense, almost unheard of to the solitary tennis champion, motivates players in fresh and unfamiliar ways.

Unlike most tennis tournaments, where players represent only themselves and fans cheer for good points more frequently than an individual, a WTT match really does function more as a baseball game. The home team will have the fans on their side. “Here, people are rooting for your team,” Ein says. “And that really gets people playing.” No one wants to see the visitors win, whether the Colts are trampling the Redskins, or the Washington Kastles are being defeated by the New York Sportimes.

And then there is the added pressure. In a typical tennis match, the pressure is largely internal.

But on a WTT team, team pressure can keep a beaten player from giving up. Letting your team down can be far worse than letting yourself down, and this sharpens the players’ focus. It was this very sense of camaraderie that carried the Kastles to the championship last year.

“We were down three championship points,” Ein explains, crouching in, reliving the memory. “Olga [Puchkova] — who won it for us — she hadn’t had the greatest year. And she was playing … one of the best girls in the league, [Vania King]. And every point Murphy [Jensen] was coming out in between and saying, ‘You’re good. We love you. You’re gonna do this, you’re gonna do this.’ And he, like, literally carried her through. I mean, she was unbelievable, but the team really carried her through.”

Only three years after their founding, the Washington Kastles have a championship under their belt. Most matches in the 3,000-seat Kastle Stadium sell out. Ticket sales and sponsorships are by far the highest in the league — three times the league average and 40 percent higher than the second highest team. “It’s truly

succeeded my expectations in every respect,” admits a humbled Ein, who attributes the ultimate and holistic success of the Kastles with the thriving state of the Washington tennis community “I think D.C. is one of the best tennis communities in the United States,” he says. “I was a ball kid at what’s now the Legg Mason …

There’s a long history of people supporting tennis.” With 60,000 adults in the Washington region registered with adult team tennis leagues, the District’s tennis scene would appear to be in its golden age.

To an outsider, tennis can seem beside the point, sluggish, even static. On television, the cameras don’t move, and it’s unnervingly quiet save for a few choice grunts and hollow popping sounds. But to those familiar with the game, that small green court with its clean white lines is the projection of interpersonal triumphs, of unresolved grievances. Surely I cannot be the only one to have stood gracelessly at the baseline, lamenting my hopeless serve and envisioning the superhuman potential unlocked

by Sampras, Borg or Graf.

But a tennis player also understands that if you take away the stadium seating and the camera crew, those legendary showdowns between Nadal and Federer that seem to have happened in another world entirely, could have happened down the street at the local swim and racquet club.

Mark Ein and the Washington Kastles balance this experience exactly, bringing the Herculean battles of professional tennis stars down to the community level for all to enjoy.

It is overwhelming and encouraging, inspiring and daunting all in the same breath. The season may have just ended, but the local Legg Mason tournament and the U.S. Open are just around the corner, and there are plenty of fair-weather months ahead. Now is a great time to pick up a racquet — and maybe start eyeing some season tickets to the Kastles.

Contact the author: ari@georgetowner.com.

gmg, Inc. July 28, 2010 17

in

country

Paws in the plains

By Garrett Faulkner

T

he Plains, the sleepy, blink-and-you’llmiss-it country town visitors must wend through to get to Middleburg from I-66, jumped the gun last weekend on celebrating the proverbial “dog days” of August.

Not that Adam, Annie, and a few dozen other shelter dogs were complaining. The July 24 “Dog Day in The Plains,” despite the oppressive heat and humidity, gave the Middleburg Human Foundation in Marshall, VA a chance to strut a number of its furry residents before the public. In all, the event lured in around 60 locals and out-oftowners with the prospect of ice cream, a raffle, a dog-themed puppet show for the kids (“The Barker of Seville”) and, of course, a chance to meet a few doe-eyed, lovable pooches in need of a good home.

Not bad for a town with just one main road, which was practically melting that day. “As hot as it’s been, people have really come out and supported us,” said Linda Neel, who thought up the event as a fundraiser for the shelter. Her husband Tom, with whom she owns the art and design gallery Live an Artful Life, was more blunt.

“Pretty good for a billion degrees,” he joked.

Not surprisingly, ice cream sold fast and shade was a valuable commodity.

In all, the three-hour event managed to raise an estimated $1400 for the rescue organization (the official total is still being counted), which relies on help from over 100 volunteers on its four-acre

18 July 28, 2010 gmg, Inc. 7KHB*HRUJHWRZQHU LQGG

Volunteer Meg with five-year-old Adam.

farm to manage its community of rescued pets and livestock, which includes everything from dogs and horses to more unusual critters, including donkeys and chickens.

Perhaps more importantly, the gathering provided a venue for the shelter to show off photos and profiles of the animals under its care, and arrange live, in-the-flesh meetings with dog lovers who turned out that day (naturally, there’s no better way to get a pet adopted than to set

Sherry Miller with two-year-old Annie.

up an aww-mom-can-we-keep-him scenario).

Foundation President Hilleary Bogley was happy with the day’s results, saying that in a time of diminished financial contributions by the public, extra visibility always helps.

“I hope it turns out to be an annual event,” she said. Her canine companions seemed to make an impression, too. A two-year-old puppy, Annie, was on her way to being adopted by that afternoon, pending a little paperwork — Bogley, the

Linda and Tom Neel, Sally Deluca

court-appointed humane investigator for Fauquier County, is known for her thorough background checks to ensure adoptees are headed for a responsible and loving family. The shelter also passed out fliers urging fans to vote in a contest that would make it a prominent feature in the upcoming mutt flick “Smitty” with Mira Sorvino.

(Voters can visit www.middleburghumane.org and click on the red banner.)

Dog day, indeed.

$0

yvonne taylor Photography

Coming up in Country:

Aug. 1-27 Summer in the Cellar Berrywine Plantations and Linganore Winecellars host Summer in the Cellar on from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays and from noon to 6 p.m. on Sundays in August at 13601 Glissans Mill Road, Mt Airy, MD. Relax in a wine cellar while

tasting summer wines. Tour and tasting is free. Contact 410-795-6443 for more information.

Aug. 14 “The Big Chill” Visit Lansdowne Resort for a summer harvest tasting of goodies from veggies to gourmet fruity desserts paired with Willowcroft wines. The event is from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Aug. 14 at the Lansdowne Resort, location at 44050 Woodridge Parkway in Leesburg, VA. Contact the resort for reservations at 703-729-4073.

Aug. 20 Vineyard Movie Night Magic Lantern Theater presents a movie under the stars at Veramar Vineyard, location at 905 Quarry Road, Berryville, VA. The movie starts at dusk and visitors are invited to bring their own picnic or purchase light food at the event. Participants should be blankets and lawn chairs.

The cost is $7 per person, which will go towards Magic Lantern Theater, a nonprofit organization. Contact the vineyard at 540-955-5510 for more information.

MEMORIES

PORTRAIT

Aug. 1 Sunday Polo Matches King Family Vineyards hosts a weekly polo match at 1:30 p.m. each Sunday at 6550 Roseland Farm, Crozet, VA. Roseland Polo Club heads this weekly summer polo season. Matches are not held if weather or field conditions are poor. Participants are invited to tailgate at each event. Contact the vineyard for more information at 434-823-7800.

SOCIETY

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gmg, Inc. July 28, 2010 19

Your Dining Guide to Washington DC’s Finest

1789 RESTAURANT 1226 36th St, NW With the ambiance of an elegant country inn, 1789 features classically based American cuisine – the finest regional game, fish and produce available.

Open seven nights a week.

Jackets required.

Complimentary valet parking. www.1789restaurant.com

BANGKOK JOE’S

Bistro Francais

3251Prospect St, NW

3000 K St NW

3124-28 M St NW

Come and enjoy contemporary Thai cuisine & Sushi bar deliciously prepared at Bangkok Bistro. The restaurant’s decor matches its peppery cuisine, vibrant in both color and flavor.

Enthusiasts say we offer professional, prompt and friendly service. Experience outdoor sidewalk dining in the heart of Georgetown.

(One block from Georgetown Lowe’s theatres)

A friendly French Bistro in the heart of historic Georgetown since 1975. Executive chef and owner Gerard Cabrol came to Washington, D.C. 32 years ago, bringing with him home recipes from southwestern France. Our specialties include our famous Poulet Bistro (tarragon rotisserie chicken); Minute steak Maitre d’Hotel (steak and pomme frit¬es); Steak Tartare, freshly pre¬pared seafood, veal, lamb and duck dishes; and the best Eggs Benedict in town. In addition to varying daily specials, www.bistrofrancaisdc.com

BANGKOK BISTRO

Open for lunch and dinner.

Sun.-Thurs.11:30am - 10:30pm Fri.-Sat. 11:30am - 11:30pm

Georgetown introduces Washington’s first “Dumpling Bar” featuring more than 12 varieties.

Come and enjoy the new exotic Thai cuisine inspired by French cooking techniques. Bangkok Joe’s is upscale, colorful and refined. Absolutely the perfect place for lunch or dinner or just a private gathering. www.bangkokjoes.com

www.bangkokbistrodc.com (202) 965-1789

CAFE BONAPARTE 1522 Wisconsin Ave Captivating customers since 2003 Café Bonaparte has been dubbed the “quintessential” European café featuring award winning crepes & arguably the “best” coffee in D.C! Located in sophisticated Georgetown, our café brings a touch of Paris “je ne sais quoi” to the neighborhood making it an ideal romantic destination. Other can’t miss attributes are; the famous weekend brunch every Sat and Sun until 3pm, our late night weekend hours serving sweet & savory crepes until 1 am Fri-Sat evenings & the alluring sounds of the Syssi & Marc jazz duo every other Wed. at 7:30. We look forward to calling you a “regular” soon!

www.cafebonaparte.com (202) 333-8830

CITRONELLE (The Latham Hotel) 3000 M St, NW Internationally renowned chef and restaurateur Michel Richard creates magic with fresh and innovative American-French Cuisine, an exceptional wine list and stylish ambiance.

(202) 337-2424

Café La Ruche 1039 31st Street, NW Take a stroll down memory lane.

Serving Georgetown for more than 35 years - Since 1974 Chef Jean-Claude Cauderlier A bit of Paris on the Potomac.

Great Selection of Fine Wines Fresh Meat, Seafood & Poultry Chicken Cordon-Bleu *Duck Salmon, & Steaks

Voted Best Dessert-Pastry in town, The Washingtonian Magazine FULL BAR Open Daily from 11:30 a.m. Open Late ‘til 1 am on Friday & Saturday night “Outdoor Dining Available” www.cafelaruche.com (202) 965-2684

CLYDE’S OF GEORGETOWN 3236 M St, NW This animated tavern, in the heart of Georgetown, popularized saloon food and practically invented Sunday brunch.

Open for Dinner.

Clyde’s is the People’s Choice for bacon cheeseburgers, steaks, fresh seafood, grilled chicken salads, fresh pastas and desserts.

Valet parking.

www.clydes.com

www.citronelledc.com

(202) 625-2150

20 July 28, 2010 gmg, Inc.

(202) 333-9180

(202) 333-4422

CAFE MILANO 3251 Prospect St. NW

(202) 338-3830

CHADWICKS

3205 K St, NW (est.1967)

Cafe Milano specializes in setting up your private party in our exclusive dining rooms. Our detail-oriented staff also will cater your corporate meetings & special events at your office, home or other locations. Check out our website for booking information or call 202-965-8990, ext. 135.

Cafe Milano is high on the restaurant critics’ charts with excellent Italian cuisine & attention to service. Fresh pastas, steaks, fish dishes, & authentic Italian specialties. Lunch & dinner. Late night dining & bar service.

A Georgetown tradition for over 40 years, this friendly neighborhood restaurant/saloon features fresh seafood, burgers, award-winning ribs, & specialty salads & sandwiches. Casual dining & a lively bar.

Daily lunch & dinner specials. Late night dining (until midnight Sun.Thu., 1A.M. Fri-Sat) Champagne brunch served Sat. & Sun. until 4P.M. Open Mon-Thu 11:30A.M.-2A.M. Fri-Sat 11:30A.M.-3A.M.Sun 11A.M.-2A.M.Kids’ Menu Available. Located ½ block from the Georgetown movie theatres, overlooking the new Georgetown Waterfront Park

www.CafeMilano.net

ChadwicksRestaurants.com

(202) 333-6183

DAILY GRILL

1310 Wisconsin Ave., NW Reminiscent of the classic American Grills, Daily Grill is best known for its large portions of fresh seasonal fare including Steaks & Chops, Cobb Salad, Meatloaf and Warm Berry Cobbler.

Open for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.Visit our other locations at 18th & M Sts NW and Tysons Corner. www.dailygrill.com

(202) 337-4900

(202) 333.2565

FILOMENA RISTORANTE 1063 Wisconsin Ave., NW One of Washington’s most celebrated restaurants, Filomena is a Georgetown landmark that has endured the test of time for almost a quarter of a century. Our oldworld cooking styles & recipes brought to America by the early Italian immigrants, alongside the culinary cutting edge creations of Italy’s foods of today, executed by our award winning Italian Chef. Try our spectacular Lunch buffet on Fri. & Saturdays or our Sunday Brunch, Open 7 days a week for lunch & dinner. www.filomena.com (202) 338-8800

BISTROT LEPIC & WINE BAR 1736 Wisconsin Ave., NW Come and see for yourself why Bistrot Lepic, with its classical, regional and contemporary cuisine, has been voted best bistro in D.C. by the Zagat Guide.

And now with its Wine bar, you can enjoy “appeteasers”, full bar service, complimentary wine tasting every Tuesday and a new Private Room. The regular menu is always available.

Open everyday.

Lunch & dinner.

Reservations suggested. www.bistrotlepic.com (202) 333-0111

CIRCLE BISTRO One Washington Circle, NW Washington, DC 22037 Circle Bistro presents artful favorites that reflect our adventurous and sophisticated kitchen.

Featuring Happy Hour weekdays from 5pm-7pm, live music every Saturday from 8pm-12midnight, and an a la carte Sunday Brunch from 11:30am-2:30pm.

Open dailyfor breakfast, lunch and dinner. www.circlebistro.com

(202) 293-5390

FAHRENHEIT Georgetown 3100 South St, NW Restaurant & Degrees Bar & Lounge The Ritz-Carlton, As featured on the cover of December 2007’s Washingtonian magazine, Degrees Bar and Lounge is Georgetown’s hidden hot spot. Warm up by the wood burning fireplace with our signature “Fahrenheit 5” cocktail, ignite your business lunch with a $25.00 four-course express lunch, or make your special occasion memorable with an epicurean delight with the fire inspired American regional cuisine. www.fahrenheitdc.com (202) 912-4110

Celebrating over 31 years of keeping bellies full with good food and thirsts quenched with tasty beverages. · Fantastic Happy Hour · Free WiFi Internet · Buck Hunter · Trivia Night Tuesdays Including: Terrace Dining Upstairs www.garrettsdc.com (202) 333-1033

Panache Restaurant 1725 DeSales St NW Tapas – Specialty Drinks Martini’s Citrus - Cosmopolitan - Sour Apple - Blue Berry Summer Patio – Open Now! Coming Soon.

“New” Tyson’s Corner Location Open NOW! Dining Room Monday - Friday: 11:30am-11:00pm Saturday: 5:00pm-11:00pm Bar Hours Mon.-Thursday: 11:30am-11:00pm Friday: 11:30am- 2:00am Saturday: 5:00pm- 2:00am (202) 293-7760

SMITH POINT 1338 Wisconsin Ave., NW (corner of Wisconsin & O St.) Smith Point has quickly become a favorite of Georgetowners. The Washington Post Magazine calls Smith Point “an underground success” with “unusually good cooking at fair prices.” Chef Francis Kane’s Nantucket style fare changes weekly, featuring fresh combinations of seafood, meats, and farmers market produce.

Open for dinner Thurs- Sat from 6:30 pm-11pm. www.smithpointdc.com (202) 333-9003

2813 M St. Northwest, Washington, DC 20007

M | STREET BAR & GRILL & the 21 M Lounge 2033 M Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036-3305

Nick’s Riverside Grille 3050 K St. NW Washington, DC 20007

Whether it’s a romantic dinner or a business lunch, enjoy wonderM Street Bar & Grill, in the St. GregNick’s Riverside Grille is a famful Boudin Blanc, Fresh Dover ily-owned waterfront restaurant ory Hotel has a new Brunch menu serving great American fare, fine Sole Meunière, Cassoulet or Pike

by Chef Christopher Williams Feasteaks, authentic pasta dishes and Quenelles by the fireplace in this turing Live Jazz, Champagne, Mithe freshest seafood! Our Georgeunique “Country Inn”. Chef Patmosas and Bellini’s. For Entertaintown waterfront dining room has rick Orange serves his Award ing, small groups of 12 to 25 people spectacular views of the Potomac Winning Cuisine in a rustic atmowishing a dining room experience River, Kennedy Center, Washingsphere, where locals and celebrities we are featuring Prix Fixe Menus: ton Monument, Roosevelt Island, alike gather. La Chaumiere also of$27.00 Lunch and $34.00 Dinner. the AKey Bridge, the surrounding SEAFOOD WITH VIEW fers 2 private dining rooms with aDELICIOUS Washington, DC area, plus our spaLunch and dinner specials daily. cious outdoor terrace is a great dinprix-fixe menu and an affordable ing spot to take in all the waterfront wine list. www.mstreetbarandgrill.com scenery!

Washingtonian’s Best 100 restaurant 28 years in a row. www.lachaumieredc.com www.nicksriversidegrille.com (202) 530-3621 (202) 342-3535 (202) 338-1784

57

SEA CATCH

Peacock Cafe 3251 Prospect St. NW

1054 31st St, NW

Established in 1991, Peacock Cafe is a tradition in Georgetown life.

Lovers of history and seafood can always find something to tempt the palette at the Sea Catch Restaurant & Raw Bar. Sea Catch offers fresh seafood “simply prepared” in a relaxed atmosphere. Overlooking the historic C&O Canal, we offer seasonal fireside and outdoor dining. Private party space available for 15 - 300 Complimentary parking Lunch Monday - Saturday 11:30am - 3:00pm Dinner Monday - Saturday 5:30pm - 10:00pm Closed on Sunday Happy Hour Specials at the Bar Monday - Friday 5:00pm -7:00pm www.seacatchrestaurant.com

The tremendous popularity of The Peacock Happy Day Brunch in Washington DC is legendary. The breakfast and brunch selections offer wonderful variety and there is a new selection of fresh, spectacular desserts everyday. The Peacock Café in Georgetown, DC - a fabulous menu for the entire family.

Monday - Thursday: 11:30am - 10:30pm Friday: 11:30am - 12:00am Saturday: 9:00am - 12:00am Sunday: 9:00am - 10:30pm (202) 625-2740

(202) 337-8855

SETTE OSTERIA 1666 Conn. Ave at R St. NW (Dupont Circle) Edgy. Witty. Casual.

THE patio near Dupont Circle for peoplewatching. Pizza masters bake delicious Neapolitan thincrust pizzas in a wood-fire oven.

Menu favorites include pastas, salads, lasagnas, Italian specialty meats and cheeses, and lowcarb choices.

Daily specials, Lunch & dinner. Late night dining & bar service. www.SetteOsteria.com

(202)483-3070

Tony and Joe’s TOWN HALL Seafood Place 2218 Wisconsin Ave NW Dive into Tony3000 andKJoe’s Seafood Place this summer St, NW If you’re in the mood for fresh delica- Town Hall is a neighborhood favorite Ranked one of the most popular and enjoy the best seafood dining has of to Glover Park, offering cies from the sea, dive into Tony Georgetown and in the heart seafood restaurants in , DC, “this Joe’s Seafood Place at the George- a classic neighborhood restaurant and cosmopolitan”send-up of a vinoffer. Make your reservation and mention this town Waterfront.

While today enjoying bar with contemporary charm. Whethtage supper club that’s styled after tempting dishes such as Maryland er its your 1st, 2nd or 99th time in the a ‘40’s-era ocean liner is appointed be entered to lobster win a FREE Brunch forwe’re Two!committed to serving you fresh and shrimp door, with cherry wood and red leatherad tocrabcakes, THE OCEANAIRE 1201 F St, NW

scampi you have spectacular views of a great meal and making you feel at booths, infused with a “clubby, old the Potomac River, Kennedy Center, home each and every time. Come try money” atmosphere. The menu Washington Monument, Roosevelt one of our seasonal offerings and find showcases “intelligently” prepared 202-944-4545 | www.tonyandjoes.com Island, and the Key Bridge. Visit us out for yourself what the Washingfish dishes that “recall an earlier onHarbour Sundays for our award winning Post dubbed DC the “Talk of Glover time of elegant” dining.

What’s Washington | 3000 K Street NW | ton Washington, brunch buffet. Come for the view, Park”Make a reservation online today more, “nothing” is snobbish here. stay for the food! at www.townhalldc.com Sunday thruand Thursday: -10PM@tonyandjoes Lunch: Mon-Fri- 11:30am -5:00pm Tony Joe’s 11AM | Friday & Saturday: 11AM - Midnight Serving Dinner Daily5PM-10:30pm Dinner: Mon-Thur 5-10pm. Fri & Beverage Service until 1:30AM Brunch Sat & Sun 11:30AM-5PM Sat 5-11pm. Sun-5-9pm. every night Free Parking available www.theoceanaire.com VISITwww.tonyandjoes.com OUR FAMILY OF DC RESTAURANTS (202) 333-5640 (202) 347-2277 (202) 944-4545

57

3003 M Street N.W., Washington, DC 20007

La Chaumiere

57

Garrett’s Georgetown

57

’S NICKERSIDE E RIV GRILL

nicksriversidegrille.com

TO PLACE AN AD IN OUR DINING GUIDE. elle@georgetowner.com

202.338.4833

Sequoia 3000 K St NW, Suite 100 Washington, DC 20007 Eclectic American cuisine, Coupled with enchanting views of the Potomac River make Sequoia a one of a kind dining experience.

Offering a dynamic atmosphere featuring a mesquite wood fire grill, sensational drinks, and renowned River Bar. No matter the occasion, Sequoia will provide an unforgettable dining experience. www.arkrestaurants.com /sequoia_dc.html (202) 944-4200

Zed’s 1201 28TH St, N.W. ETHIOPIAN IN GEORGETOWN Award Winning Seafood | Poultry | Beef Vegetarian Dishes also available 100 Very Best Restaurants Award 100 Very Best Bargains Award Also, visit Zed’s “New” Gainesville, Virginia location (571) 261-5993 At the Corner of M & 28th Streets 1201 28th Street, N.W. Email: zeds@zeds.net (202) 333-4710

gmg, Inc. July 28, 2010 21

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CONTACT Elle Fergusson

cabanasdc.com

wright on food

George Washington: Statesman, General, Distiller

Our first president tipples a glass of rye whiskey. All photos by Jordan Wright.

By Jordan Wright

G

meet us at

Nickâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

eorge Washington is still entertaining in fine style at his Mount Vernon home with the release of his original recipe un-aged rye whiskey, now being sold for the first time since 1814. A limited number (only 471) of the bottles, priced at $85, were available this month and I was thrilled to be number 30 in the queue. There was also a commemorative boxed set containing an engraved shot glass and mini bottle of the aged variety, a tempting bracer for a brisk autumn fox hunt. â&#x20AC;&#x192; A magnificent morning greeted eager tasters who toured the distillery and gristmill along the banks of Doe Creek, where the rye whiskey is being made and bottled by hand, just as it was done two centuries ago, according to original records uncovered at the estate. â&#x20AC;&#x192; Virginia state Senator Toddy Puller, whose efforts cannot be understated in sponsoring Virginiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new distilled spirits tasting law, which allowed Mount Vernon a special designation to

sell the whiskey, was presented with the first bottle by Dennis Pogue, Mount Vernonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Associate Director for Preservation, and Dr. Peter Kressy, president of the Distilled Spirits Council

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22 July 28, 2010 gmg, Inc.

C o c k ta i l o f t h e W e e k Maker’s Mark Bourbon and now distilling his own WhistlePig Farm rye whiskey in Vermont, described the whiskey this way, “Its nose is slightly floral, earthy and grainy, with a taste that is surprisingly sweet and mellow with a berry taste.” He added, “The whole process was exhausting. Everything was made by hand and we did it in two weeks!”

The estate currently has around 50 gallons laid back of the two-year-old whiskey aging in oak barrels. It won’t be available until next spring. But according to Pogue, the demand for the un-aged variety has been so high they are trying to have a new batch ready at the same time.

Local mixologist Todd Thrasher of Restaurant Eve and PX in Alexandria was so inspired he created a new recipe just for the occasion:

I Cannot Tell a Lie

Master Distiller David Pickerell in front of the distillery.

1 ounce George Washington rye whiskey 1 ounce bourbon 1/2 ounce Luxardo maraschino cherry liqueur 2 ounces cherry vanilla juice (recipe follows) Dash of Fee Brothers cherry bitters

Cherry Vanilla Juice (DISCUS), who proudly told of his association’s commitment in leading industry funding for the $2.1 million archeological excavation and reconstruction.

James Rees, president of the influential Mount Vernon Ladies Association, spoke of Washington the innovator and entrepreneur. “This was the largest and most successful distillery in the United States, marketing to the West Indies, England and Portugal,” he said.

Master Distiller David Pickerell, formerly of

Mix together 1 quart of pitted cherries and 1 scooped out vanilla bean. Pass through a food mill.

To serve: Stir all the ingredients together and serve in a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with a Luxardo cherry. Courtesy of Todd Thrasher, www.restauranteve.com.

For questions or comments on this article, contact jordan@whiskandquill.com.

Plates from the Park: Tomato Bread Salad

N

ow in its eighth year, the Georgetown Farmers’ Market in Rose Park, sponsored by the Friends of Rose Park in cooperation with the D.C. Division of Parks and Recreation, is open from 3 to 7 p.m. every Wednesday (rain or shine) until the last Wednesday in October at the corner of O and 26th Streets.

Each week the Friends of Rose Park suggest a recipe using ingredients in season and available at the farmer’s market. This week we are featuring a recipe for Tomato Bread Salad, provided by Pam Moore of the Friends of Rose Park. There are delicious tomatoes and tasty fresh bread available at the farmer’s market, and this recipe produces a wonderful salad for a hot summer evening.

The Barrachina piña colada

By Miss Dixie The Caribe Hilton is one of the most well established resorts in all of Puerto Rico. The hotel is set on the edge of San Juan on its own peninsula amid a lush tropical garden and private beach. It rose to prominence in the 1950s for its famous guests, including Gloria Swanson, Elizabeth Taylor and John Wayne. It even garnered a mention in Hunter S Thompson’s first novel, “The Rum Diaries.”

The holiday spot has also has earned its spot in cocktail history as the birthplace of the piña colada. Before my visit to San Juan, I learned from my Frommer’s guidebook that the piña colada was created in 1954 by bartender Ramon “Monchito” Marrero at the Hilton’s Beachcomber bar.

Marrero spent three months mixing, tasting and discarding hundreds of combinations until he felt he had the right blend. It’s been estimated that some 100 million piña coladas have been sipped around the world since then.

The resort boasts two watering holes — a casual outdoor grill with a swim-up bar and the sleek and stylish Oasis Bar, complete with a floor-to-ceiling glass view of the churning Atlantic sea. However, I thought the most fitting way to sample the piña colada would be to have one delivered by a handsome cabana boy to my beach chair at the Hilton’s exclusive lagoon.

The drink was frothy and sweet. It provided an ample antidote to the scorching Caribbean sun.

For a girl who is accustomed to drinking martinis, the recipe was did not pack much of a punch, but its flavor was enhanced by the glamorous beauty surrounding me.

Later in the week, as I wandered through the streets of Old San Juan, I came across the Barrachina restaurant with a plaque mounted outside, boldly stating “The House where the Piña Colada was created in 1963.” Intrigued, I headed inside to a bar in the garden courtyard and ordered one.

According to the Barrachina, the piña colada was invented when the Barrachino’s owner met Spaniard Ramon Portas Mingot, who had worked in some of the finest bars in Buenos Aires, during a trip to South America. Mr. Barrachina hired Mingot as head bartender. While experimenting, Mingot mixed pineapple juice, coconut cream, condensed milk and ice in a blender, creating the drink known as the pina colada. I guess they’re always two sides to history.

The drink at Barrachina was thicker and creamier. The lovely courtyard lined with tropical plants and wrought iron exuded a graceful ambiance that fit in with the charm of Old San Juan. Barrachina’s cocktail had more of a rum kick and the price was bit easier on my wallet. Given a choice between the two, I preferred Barrachina’s version. Still, there’s something to be said for having your cocktails delivered by a suave young man on a private beach.

The Barrachina piña colada 48 ounces pineapple juice 15 ounces of coconut cream 10 ounces water Blend ingredients, but do not mix with ice.

Instead, freeze the mix, stirring occasionally until it reaches a slushy consistency, or by using an ice cream maker. Pour rum to taste in individual glasses and add frozen mix. Decorate with cherry and pineapple.

Ingredients to make a piña colada can be purchased at Dixie Liquor at 3429 M St. in Georgetown.

Tomato Bread Salad

• 1/2 12-inch French baguette cut into 3/4-inch chunks • 1 large garlic clove • Olive oil Rub bread with oil and garlic, toast in a skillet on the stove until golden brown.

• 6 medium or large tomatoes, cut into large chunks • 1/2 medium onion, chopped • 3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil • 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar • 1/2 cup olive oil Place drained tomatoes in bowl. Whisk vinegar and oil together. Mix all ingredients and serve immediately.

gmg, Inc. July 28, 2010 23

I s t h e P r i c e Ri g h t ?

Back to Basics

By Caitlin White and Nicole Zimbelman

G

rocery shopping when you forget your list is never fun, but at least youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll always remember the five basics â&#x20AC;&#x201D; bread, milk, eggs, orange juice and cereal. So this week for â&#x20AC;&#x153;Is the Price Right?â&#x20AC;? five area grocery stores â&#x20AC;&#x201D; CVS, Giant, Safeway, Trader Joeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s and Whole Foods â&#x20AC;&#x201D; went head to head as The Georgetowner team went back to the basics to explore the prices of the simplest grocery items.â&#x20AC;&#x192; Whole wheat bread can be found at a low price at Safeway with its name brand item for $1.49. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s also fairly cheap at Giant for $1.99. Trader Joeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s charges $2.59 for a loaf of their name brand bread and CVS Natureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Val-

ley bread is $3.49. Whole Foods 365 Everyday Value brand is $2.99 a loaf. â&#x20AC;&#x192; Whether itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s to put in your cup of coffee or for the kidâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s breakfast cereal, everyone needs a gallon of milk on hand in the morning. The cheapest place to find a gallon of 1 percent milk is your local Trader Joeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s for $3.29. Safeway, Giant and CVS are all relatively priced at $3.79, $3.99 and $3.89. Whole Foods is the most expensive for a gallon at $5.29. â&#x20AC;&#x192; Trader Joeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s and CVS have the best-priced eggs at one dozen for $1.99, while Giant sells eggs for $2.19. Safeway name brand eggs are $2.29 and Whole Foodsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; eggs are $2.59. â&#x20AC;&#x192; Safeway advertises the lowest priced orange juice with their name brand 64-ounce container

for $2.50. Giant and Trader Joeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s name brand juice costs $2.79 and $2.99 respectively. CVS Florida Orange Juice costs $2.89 and Whole Foods brand name orange juice is $3.99. â&#x20AC;&#x192; Corn flakes are an old favorite and Safewayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 18-ounce box only costs $2.59 as opposed to products like CVSâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; 12-ounce Kelloggâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Corn Flakes and Trader Joeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 12-ounce Oatmeal Flakes that cost over $4. Giantâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s name brand 18-ounce corn flakes cost $2.59 while Whole Foodsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; 18-ounce name brand cereal costs $2.59. â&#x20AC;&#x192; Visit our Web site at www.georgetowner. com for a complete breakdown of prices. Make sure to check back next issue for more great shopping deals!

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MURPHY’S LOVE: ADVICE ON LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS Dear Stacy: I am the stay-at-home-mom of a great little 12-week-old boy. Not going back to work has been quite an adjustment, but my husband and I always agreed that I would leave my job until our kids go off to kindergarten. I have missed my colleagues and spending time on big projects, but I know that the “project” I’m currently managing is about as big as it gets.

It’s my dear husband who doesn’t seem to get it. Nearly every day, he comes home from work and asks, “So, what did you accomplish today?” Now that I am at home with our son, my husband suddenly expects me to become a domestic goddess.

He wants me to make dinner every night, cancelled our maid service, and even thinks I should mow the lawn. None of this was consistently part of my responsibility before the baby came. We hired out for the jobs we didn’t like doing (housework, lawn care), and split the rest (cooking, shopping) between us. Today, his list of to-dos is so long he can’t keep up with it all, and the truth is, I don’t want to keep up with all of that. I thought we chose this new lifestyle so I could be a parent, I didn’t think I was signing on to be a servant.

How do I explain myself without sounding like a whiny brat?

— Overworked on O Dear Overworked, Hmm, part of me wants you to just follow this script: “What did I accomplish today? I kept your son alive.”

While that’s probably not the most productive response, it felt pretty good to type.

It sounds to me like both you and Husband are still adjusting to becoming parents! Now that Baby is on the scene, you may need a reminder or clarification conversation about your household game plan. Have you had a conversation about your own expectations during this stay-at-home time? Does he know how you feel? Does he know how it sounds to you when he asks what you’ve “accomplished”?

When you say you don’t want to come across like a “whiny brat,” it suggests that some part of you is feeling bad about not taking on all the household duties. That sounds like the modern Superwoman complex gone awry. Presumably you and Husband made the joint decision to have a child and the joint decision to parent with you at home. A calm, honest conversation about your own feelings and expectations is the only way to ensure that he actually hears what you’re thinking.

And who knows, you might learn that he isn’t feeling so great about not being on-site with your son. Men have their own Superman complexes — is he allowed to name his feelings about the situation? Perhaps his questions are only masking his own disappointment about the way things are going.

Again, an honest conversation is the only way to find out.

Meanwhile, I’d also recommend that you to seek out old friends who are newly minted stay-at-home-moms (or meet some new ones) to find a support circle during this transition time. You haven’t chosen the “easy” route here, and just because you’re already walking it doesn’t mean you don’t need some encouragement from others on the same road.

Dear Stacy: I have been married for 11 years to the love of my life. We have two children together, a nine-year-old boy and a sevenyear-old girl. My husband is everything I have always wanted. We have always been very compatible and I feel so lucky to have him as my partner.

Lately though, I have started working

Illustration by Ari Post

By Stacy Notaras Murphy

closely with a male colleague, I will call him “Bob.” We’re on a big project, which has included some travel together. The more time I spend with Bob, the easier and more fun it becomes. On the last trip, when we went to dinner I felt like we were “on a date.” I felt a lot of attraction for him, and I think he felt the same for me.

We didn’t talk about it, and neither of us did anything to make a move.

My question is whether I should tell my husband. We have always been completely honest with each other, and I would want him to tell me if he felt as much attraction for a woman as I feel for Bob. But I asked my best friend and she thought I was crazy to potentially damage my marriage when I have no intention of acting on the feelings. I don’t know what to do — should I keep it a secret? Bob and I will be working closely together for at least another six months.

BETWEEN THE SHEETS: INTIMACY IN MIDDLE AGE

— Attracted in Arlington Dear Arlington, Let’s run through the scenarios. What exactly would telling him do? I agree with Best Friend that it is likely to damage your relationship with Husband, but what other purpose would it serve? Do you want to tell him so that you are semi-publicly shamed into not acting on the feelings? Or perhaps a part of you wants Husband to lose it, giving you permission to seek solace in Bob’s open arms? Or maybe you come from a tradition where lusting in your heart is such a burden, you just want to confess to someone? If that’s the latter’s the case, my advice is simple: find someone else to talk to. If you’re still unsure of the purpose, let’s turn the conversation away from Husband and back to you.

What is this really about? You make such a strong case for your great marriage, I wonder if you are allowed to admit that things might not be as wonderful as they “should be.” Yes, marriage is about partnership, family, and unconditional love — but those things don’t always add up to something sexy and intriguing day after day. Do you need more romance, excitement, spontaneity? That’s nothing to be ashamed of, and the good news is you can get it at home, with a little work and creativity.

When we’ve been with our partner as long as you have, we sometimes forget that we have to use actual words to convey what’s going on in our brains. The two of you may have honed your connection over the last 11 years so much that he’s a mind-reader when it comes to co-parenting or picking out your favorite ice cream at the store. Still, he might need a little more guidance on this one, since family routines are notorious for soothing even the best of us into relational apathy. You don’t have to own up to the attraction to get what you want, you may just have to make surprise vacation plans, or just flirt with him a little more in public. Give it a shot before setting off a bomb in your happy home.

Stacy Notaras Murphy is a licensed professional counselor and certified Imago Relationship therapist practicing at the Imago Center of D.C. in Georgetown. Her Web site is www.therapygeorgetown.com. This column is meant for entertainment only, and should not be considered a substitute for professional counseling. Please send your relationship questions to stacy@georgetowner.com.

Illustration by Mariya Pantyukhina

BODY & SOUL

By Dorree Lynn It seems like the longer my wife and I are together, the less we make love. I always wanted more sex than she did and that felt bad. But in the last year, my erections aren’t what they used to be, and now she’s the one who wants to make love more and I’m not so sure I can. Is it too late for us? — Ray, 57 t can be very frustrating when you first realize that “old faithful” (your penis) can’t deliver like it used to. So what are you going to do, just give up on the party now that your wife is finally in the mood?

Many people say that as they have aged, they have evolved new ways of being sexual. Instead of the super-stud, whambam-thank-you-ma’am sex of their youth, they have experimented with different permutations, positions and possibilities. For most people, the process can become slower, richer, fuller and better than ever. But the learning curve requires us to be more vulnerable and exposed, and that can be scary.

Up to this point, most of us were too busy making our lives in the present to think about how to live them in the future.

The word “intimacy” may not even have been in our life lexicon. Who had time or inclination? Performance-oriented intercourse, culminating in a predictable orgasm and a quick trip to the bathroom, does not always involve deep intimacy.

Talking secrets together, cuddling, touching, caressing, connecting, kissing and allowing yourself to deeply melt into someone else who at the same time is melting into you, is a different experience — a deeper level of intimacy that you can have for the rest of your life, even as your body and health change.

Getting from wherever you are to wherever you want to go will take some effort. But we don’t think it’s drudgery, do you? It’s both an inner exploration and an external execution that involves other people. There’s even opportunity to become more “holistic” and learn about the sexual arts from the East, such as Indian kundalini. In the last decade or so, the ancient Indian art of tantric sex has been quietly slipping into American bedrooms. Rather than the usual foreplayintercourse-climax, tantric sex teaches lovers how to extend the peak of sexual ecstasy — sometimes for hours — so that both women and men can experience several orgasms in a single sexual encounter.

I

Dr. Dorree Lynn is a Georgetown-based psychologist and life coach committed to helping people have better relationships fulfilling sex lives. She has appeared on “Good Morning America,” MSNBC, CNN, PBS and other major programming. She is the author of “Sex for Grownups,” available from Amazon.

GMG, Inc. July 28, 2010 25

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-We Alter Leather & Fur. Monogram & Reweaving -We Accept Major Credit Cards 1520 Wisconsin Ave. N.W. - Washington, DC 20007 M-F 7:30-7 - Sat 8:30-6:00 pm Telephone 202-625-7108 - Fax 202-333-3173 gmg, Inc. July 28, 2010 27

Social

Scene

Monaco Celebrates This year’s celebration of the fifth anniversary of the reign of Prince Albert II of Monaco was particularly festive as Ambassador Gilles Noghes shared the delight of his compatriots at the announcement of the Prince’s engagement to Charlene Wittstock, a former Olympic swimmer for South Africa. Their union will give the principality its first crown princess since the death of Princess Grace in 1982. The July 13 reception at the Metropolitan Club was attended by members of Monaco’s consular corps, who came from posts throughout the United States and Canada. Guests enjoyed The Little Singers of Monaco, who sing each Sunday in the Cathedral and were making their ninth visit to America. They sang the national anthems of Monaco and the U.S., a Monagasque folk song and concluded with “America the Beautiful.”

— Mary Bird

Monaco’s Honorary Consul General from Florida Michele Kessler, Ellen Noghes, Bonnie McElveen Hunter

Prince Albert with fiancée Charlene Wittstock, courtesy of Amedeo Turello/Monaco Palace via AP

Nina and Philip Pillsbury, Whitney and Heidi Debevoise Megan Capiak, Matiss Brunaus

Anita McBride, Aniko Gaal Schott

Children Uniting Nations Photos by Neshan H. Naltchayan Children Uniting Nations (CUN) is a proactive organization created to bring attention to the plight of at-risk and foster youth. Children in foster care receive role-model support, guidance, a sense of community and awareness of the importance of education. In conjunction with CUN’s Fifth Annual Conference in support of foster youth mentorship gains in Washington on July 20, Lani Hay, Christine Warnke and Greg Houston hosted a private dinner at Neyla. CUN founder Daphna Ziman said, “our children are our future. We are simply the gatekeepers.” Jermaine and Randy Jackson have lent their support to the program in honor of Michael. At the following evening’s gala in the J. W. Marriott ballroom, Randy said, “we had parents who told us our dreams could come true.” Jermaine charmed the room with his rendition of “Smile,” Michael’s favorite song. Daphna thanked him, remarking, “there were moments that I heard Michael. You are continuing the dream.” — M.B.

Halima Rashid (Jermaine’s wife), Jermaine Jackson, actor, Quinton Aaron, Daphna Ziman, founder and chair of CUN and Randy Jackson at the Children Uniting Nations Gala

28 July 28, 2010 gmg, Inc.

Cathy Philpott with two of The Little Singers

John and Holly Sukenik

Daphna Ziman and Speaker of The House Nancy Pelosi

Jermaine Jackson

Social

Scene

FotoWeek DC Launch Party Art enthusiasts and supporters gathered at the Corocoran Gallery of Art Thursday to view Corcoran’s newest exhibition, “Chuck Close Prints: Process and Collaboration.” The event also gathered excitement for the upcoming photography festival, Fotoweek, which takes place November 6-13. The launch party celebrated FotoWeek’s new partnership with the Corcoran Gallery of Art and the Corcoran College of Art + Design. For more information about FotoWeek, visit www.fotoweek.org. — Jillian Rogers

Paige Lovejoy and Margaret Babingdon

Abbey Brandon and Jillian Rogers

Scott Ressler and Laura Wallach

Cookin’ Up Numbers Rebecca Klemm holds a PhD in statistics and has taught students, judges and juries via storytelling. The Georgetown resident is also an avid patron of the arts and works with the Helen Hayes Awards to determine annual theater award decisions. She has created Numbers Alive! to demystify numbers and math. The first result is “Cookin’Up Numbers,” which premiered at this year’s Capital Fringe Festival. The play follows cookie baker Becca, who is guided by the mathematical character Pi through Numberland. Together they discover the unique personalities of puppet numbers and learn how mathematics is the ultimate universal language. The aroma of chocolate chip cookies wafted through the auditorium and cookies awaited happy playgoers after the performances. For more on this learning tool, visit www.numbersalive.org. — M.B.

Ceren Ozer, Gabrielle Bulisova and Tatyana Mikhailova

David Robinson, Alissa Greer and Telisport Putsavage

Cary Pollak, Rebecca Klemm

Yvonne Roen as Becca with Erik Onate as Pi, photo by Lorraine Chickering

Doreen Lehr, Nancy Davies

Ann Yeck, Donna Christenson

Lee Mikeska Gardner, her son Max Jackson, actress Barbara Papendorp

gmg, Inc. July 28, 2010 29

SOCIAL

SCENE

WARL BRUNCH AT OLD EBBITT GRILL On July 18, the Washington Animal Rescue League (WARL) took over the Cabinet Room at the Old Ebbitt Grill for a champagne brunch to raise funds for the league’s new Disaster Rescue Fund, which will be used exclusively to transport and care for large-scale dog and cat interventions. In cooperation with the Humane Society International, the League recently rescued dogs when the only shelter in Kuwait burned to the ground. WARL’s doors at its state-of-the art facility are never shut to local animals and CEO Gary Weitzman echoed the mission that “no adoptable dog will go without a home or be euthanized.” Chief Development Officer Rob Blizard mentioned upcoming programs, such as a late September reception to launch a $25,000 challenge grant from Friendship Animal Hospital.

— M.B.

Kim and Robert Paschall, Jean Schaumberg

WARL COO Mary Jarvis with Gary Weitzman

WARL board member Lois Wye, Deborah Miller

Anthony and Jacqueline Dobranski

Rob Blizard, Lynn Pomponi

W

hile the temperature heats up outside, we welcome you to relax in the “coolest” destination in D.C.: The Living Room of Georgetown.

Whether you’re searching for a spot to chill while enjoying your morning brew or dropping by after a busy day at work, you can “beat the heat” in this peaceful refuge, reminiscent of a large familial living room. With loft-like high ceilings, plush couches and a homey ambiance, The Living Room of Georgetown provides a sense of community in the heart of this hip, historic neighborhood and serves as an alternate gathering place where one can relax, savor a refreshing cup of coffee or glass of wine, conduct impromptu meetings and surf the complimentary wireless internet. This oasis of comfort is pet friendly too!

3100 South Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20007 202.912.4100 www.ritzcarlton.com/en/Properties/Georgetown 30 July 28, 2010 GMG, Inc.

Ditch the sweltering and “un-cool” outdoor happy hours and enjoy refreshing summer cocktails in our stylish Degrees Bar & Lounge and enjoy. Sip on the Razz Carlton, a revitalizing combination of black raspberry vodka, Chambord, raspberries, and lemons; the Blue Basil made with vodka, lemon, blueberries and basil; or indulge in a Capitol Kiss comprised of 10 Cane Rum, simple syrup, raspberries, blueberries and fresh spearmint leaves.

Our popular Boutique Spa has added new treatments to leave you revitalized and ready for summer.

The Elements Massage, based on Chinese Astrology that each person’s element is determined by their exact time and location at birth, uses the element that appeals to you the most you can restore balance and harmony within and feel strong again. You can also enjoy the Spa’s new organic treatments, including the Blueberry Organic Scrub or Wrap, and a Blueberry Detox Anti-Aging Organic Facial, which covers your skin in fresh Blueberries, Blackberries, Raspberries, and Pineapples high in antioxidants for an instant natural lift with the benefits of reducing fine lines and wrinkles. This stimulating energizing treatment has age defying benefits for smoother looking skin that is refreshed and radiant.

I hope to you will join me soon for a refreshing cocktail or rejuvenating spa treatment right here in your home away from home, The Living Room of Georgetown!

Best wishes,

Grant Dipman General Manager

SOCIAL

SCENE

GEORGETOWN BIZ GROUP OFFERS HISTORIC FUN AT HALCYON HOUSE The Georgetown Business Association invited historical figures Abigail Adams, wife of President John Adams, and Benjamin Stoddert, Secretary of the Navy, who built what is now Halcyon House on Prospect Street in 1783, for its monthly get-together at the historic Georgetown mansion on July 21. Guests wandered through the house and walked the grounds, enjoying food from 42 Degrees Catering. — Robert Devaney

Debbie Beard of Windows Catering, Ray Kukulski of the Citizens Association of Georgetown and Elizabeth Webster, GBA secretary.

Ruben Reyes of the City Tavern Club with social media entrepreneur Kate Michael of K Street Kate, a former Miss D.C.

Model Kori Lei with Aaron Jakulla, a graphic design marketer.

First lady Abigail Adams (Bonnie Fairbank) and Benjamin Stoddert (John Curd) greet event planner and film producer Kimberly Skyrme.

ANN HAND &

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William F. X. Moody Robert Hryniewicki 202-243-1620

Kimberly Casey & Daryl Judy

NEW PRICE! Semi-detached Historic Federal completely updated. Gracious principal rooms, gourmet chef ’s kitchen, master suite with walkout garden. 4 BRs, 3 full, 1 half BA. $2,099,000

John Eric 703-798-0097 William F. X. Moody 202-243-1620 Robert Hryniewicki 202-243-1622

have joined our Firm GeorGetown, washinGton, DC

Beautiful 4 bedroom, 4.5 bath Victorian with hardwood floors and high ceilings throughout.

Features an updated kitchen, spacious master suite, lower-level in-law suite and rooftop deck. $1,525,000

Nancy Taylor Bubes

Kimberly.Casey@wfp.com Daryl.Judy@wfp.com

202-361-3228 202-380-7219

202-256-2164

Great Falls, VirGinia

NEW LISTING! Handsome & spacious Colonial with high ceilings, great open spaces flooded with light, 5 BR, 5.55 BA, 3-car garage, chef ’s kitchen & large breakfast area, walk-out lower level opens to great back yard - almost acre lot with easy access to everything! $1,365,000

W. Ted Gossett

703-625-5656

West end, Ritz Residences, Washington, dc

wesley heiGhts, washinGton, DC

GeorGetown, washinGton, DC

Dupont CirCle, washinGton, DC

Ellen Morrell Matt McCormick Ben Roth

William F. X. Moody Robert Hryniewicki 202-243-1620

Nancy Taylor Bubes

William F. X. Moody Robert Hryniewicki 202-243-1620

NEW LISTING! Luxurious living at the Ritz Residences. Featuring unique floor plan design with front balcony and rear terrace, 2BR/2.5BAs. 24-hour concierge service + valet parking.

202-728-9500

Charming English inspired home available for first time since 1964! Prewar architectural details have been preserved. 3 bedrooms, 3.5 baths.

Majestic private gardens throughout large corner lot. 2 car garage. $1,100,000

Sun-filled 3 bedroom, 3 bath Federal in the heart of Georgetown. Features hard floors, open living room/dining room, beautifully updated kitchen, & private rear patio perfect for entertaining. $995,000

202-256-2164

INTERNATIONAL NETWORKS • LOCAL AFFILIATE

32 July 28, 2010 gmg, Inc.

NEW PRICE! Sun-filled 700sf 1BR/1BA unit in Dumbarton Place. Impeccably maintained since 2005 construction. Gated walkway leads to secure private entrance. 24hr security, concierge, roof deck, gym. 2-car garage parking. $499,000