The first thing of note at the Earth on Stone on Earth is Naturally So exhibit, now at Flashpoint gallery, is the smell. A musky, damp, soil smell envelops you immediately and is a soothing contrast to the hot concrete outside. It’s the equivalent of getting out of the city, finding that perfect hiking trail in the early morning, and breathing in the damp cool earth; exhaling the stale city air. The smell emanates from the sod covering the majority of the floor and trailing up a small hill, drawing your eye to the back wall where a video of the outdoors, by Evan Wells, is playing. more ›

Memorial Day is this Monday, meaning a lot of Washingtonians have a three day weekend. With the extra day comes extra opportunity to take a day trip (or two) around the area. We polled our staffer for some good destinations in the area to share, so pump up the bike tires, get out the hiking boots or start the car (Zip, Flex, or your own). And if you have any other good suggestions, let us... more ›

LAist is experimenting with blogging dates from J-Date, but finds the best men are found offline. Some date vicariously online and that is one reason why porn is big -- really freaking big -- so they ask if they should cover XXX since the heart of it lays in the city's San Fernando Valley. A writer grapples with her food porn photography obsession, another gets censored on Flickr, one gets scooped by the LA... more ›

We've only ridden the Virginia Railway Express commuter rail once in an ill-fated experiment to see if it could help us bypass Memorial Day Traffic on Rt. 66. It didn't. But for the thousands of Virginia commuters who count on it to get them to work every day, their ride is going to might get a bit more expensive. For the fifth consecutive year time in recent years, VRE is hiking might hike fares to... more ›

You'd think summer is when we'd get all the outdoorsy, hiking shots, but James W. Bailey has been taking some great photographs during his treks out to the countryside lately. He took this nice shot of a fallen tree on the Appalachian Trail in the Blue Ridge Mountains. more ›

James W. Bailey uploaded this serene image to the DCist photo stream to remind us that summer isn't the only time we can enjoy the beach. In fact, bundling up and packing a thermos of hot chocolate to watch the sunset in the sand sounds mighty fine to us right now. James took this photo at Greenbriar Lake in Maryland and passes along some useful hiking information to go with it. more ›

Today's nice, isn't it? I think we can probably kiss any chance of a big snowstorm goodbye for this winter, which leaves me a little pissed at missing out on the giddiness I experience during blizzards. You folks out there who don't appreciate the beauty and wonder of feet of snow -- and the days off that go along with it -- are in luck. Why, you ask? Because of this weekend's impending heat wave.... more ›

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Catherine Andrews contributed to these picks FRIDAY: >> It's your duty as a local music loving citizen: you must make it out to the Black Cat tonight to catch the line up of Washington Social Club (read our interview here), Monopoli, and Cartel. Their live shows range from frenetic to slowburning to melodious, and they're all a treat. DCist will be there with stacks of t-shirts to sell and info about the site. 9:30,... more ›

After predictions that both T.S. Bonnie and Hurricane Charley would both dump buckets of precip on the city and therefore ruin everyone's weekend, the remnants of both storms bypassed the area. Some of Charley's outer bands clipped the city, but for the most part, the weekend was dry and cool. more ›