The last time I had my heart broken? When Brian Lamb, the founder and CEO of C-SPAN, decided back in 2004 to put an end to Booknotes after 16 years on the air. Sunday nights found Lamb spending an hour (an hour!) with a non-fiction writer (usually a historian, journalist or biographer), peppering them with questions about their latest book and providing viewers with background and insight into their subject and origins. Unlike most......

Seattlest has a talk with the photographer from last week's "Segway Mom" and then experiences some dissension in the ranks over the question of wine vs. beer. It's not West Side Story, but about as close as they'll get. They're also still waiting on some inbox relief after a spammer is arrested. As Chicagoist counts down the days to its third anniversary party, they found all-organic pizza to be underwhelming amidst the hoopla, tried......

Is it terrible to say that one of the reasons I love long weekends is that the entire town empties out, and while my friends are all stuck in traffic on the way to the beach, I can roam the blissfully quiet streets of D.C.? For those of us inclined to stick around town to enjoy the peace, or maybe because we're just plain broke, take the chance to fill your Saturday night dance card......

After the whirlwind of April arts events, May looks to be a little quieter, perhaps even serene at times. Though if you're looking for a party, we've got the info for this week's Artomatic events, which is only just past its halfway point. >> Ever dream of being one of those madly rich people with original Van Goghs or Kandinskys in your climate controlled, wood paneled library (in the east wing)? Bring your envious eyes......

>> Congratulations are in order for the local D.C. blogs that won awards from the 2007 Bloggie Awards. Frank Warren's PostSecret won for Best Topical Weblog and Best Community Weblog, and Wonkette took home the honor of Best Political Weblog. You guys make it look easy, and we know better than anyone that it's not. Way to get that product out on them corners! >> Sixteen different Springfields across the country are vying for the......

Planning on heading to the movies this Saturday night? Mind taking your camera with you? It seems that a group of lonely singles in the D.C. area are planning on finding each other at the multiplex this weekend, having previously announced their intention to don a white hat to signify their status as being "available." The plan was announced and discussed on Frank Warren's popular PostSecret blog: -----Email Message----- Sent: Sunday, December 3, 2006 8:22......

MONDAY The enormous efforts undertaken by naturalists to save the California condor are documented by John Nielsen in his book, Condor: To the Brink and Back—The Life and Times of One Giant Bird. Nielsen will be at the Audubon Naturalist Society to sign and discuss his book, bringing with him the hope that the condor will one day again fly with ubiquity across the western skies, and that my special recipe for crème brulee—which calls......

FRIDAY: Canadian supergroup Stars wowed Death Cab for Cutie fans when they opened their show last year at 9:30 Club, and now they return as headliners to set the Black Cat stage on fire. Of course, this concert has been sold out for ages, and the desperation for tickets on Craigslist is palpable. We'll see you fellow lucky bastards in what will no doubt be a breathtakingly long will-call line. For the rest of you,......

We've mentioned it before, but in case you missed it, Fusebox is closing its doors, and they have indeed announced a closing reception: It's this Saturday, Feb. 11 from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Sarah and Patrick would like to invite everyone to come and drink a toast to five years of great art. Other gallery owners no doubt are also encouraged to attend and poach their now homeless roster of artists. See you all there.......

FRIDAY: >> The Freer Gallery kicks off it's 10th annual Iranian Film Festival this weekend, and it's well worth a look. We'd recommend Tahmineh Milani's latest film The Unwanted Woman, a story about a married couple confronted with the devastating effects that sexual desire can have in their society. Milani is the same filmmaker who was jailed after her 2001 film The Hidden Half perturbed the fundamentalist Iranian government. As you might imagine, Milani has......

DCist is happy to share news this week of area events and exhibits by our fellow bloggers. First off, Lenny Campello of DC Art News, opens a show of his recent drawings on Friday at the Georgetown Fraser Gallery. There's a reception for the show that night from 6-9 p.m. A drawing from the exhibit is shown at right. >> Frank Warren is still sharing secrets people send him in the mail on his......

We first discovered D.C.-area artist Frank Warren's PostSecret project at the 2004 Artomatic exhibit. The artist was handing out blank postcards addressed to a P.O. box, encouraging visitors to write a secret on the card and drop them in the mail. As the replies came in he would display the replies -- ranging from whimsical to disturbing -- at the exhibit. After the close of Artomatic the project kept growing: the City Paper began printing......

Washington Post Magazine's Photo Editor Keith Jenkins is an avid blogger and user of the community photo sharing website Flickr. After seeing lots of good photography produced by D.C. photobloggers and members of the D.C. area Flickr group, he decided to create a feature in the magazine highlighting some of the online community's best work. He has invited anyone who "regularly posts photos to their own photoblog or flickr site" to submit photos to the......

We first mentioned D.C. area artist Frank Warren's PostSecret project in January, but his creative Artomatic exhibit idea seems to continue to grow. For the project he distributed thousands of postcards addressed to him asking attendees to share a secret anonymously through the mail. Some of the cards were displayed at the Anne C. Fisher gallery at her show of 10 Artomatic artists. After starting a blog to highlight some of the most interesting and......

Today will be mostly sunny blustery and cold with highs around 30. This photo of Lafayette Park was taken by Thomas Michael Corcoran. D.C. Government: Rolling in Dough: D.C. Chief Financial Officer Natwar M. Gandhi announced yesterday that the D.C. government had a surplus of $318 million in 2004 and has amassed $1.2 billion in savings. After withholding most to accommodate for expected increases in healthcare for city employees and other expenses, Gandhi is......

A show of 10 artists from last fall's Artomatic show has opened at the Anne C. Fisher Gallery in Georgetown. The brainchild of Fisher and F. Lennox Campello of the Fraser Gallery (and prolific author of popular blog D.C. Art News) "10 Most Wanted" showcases a few works from some of the two gallery owners favorite Artomatic artists. The works on display range from abstract paintings and mixed media panels to sculpture, photography, and interactive......