Of the numerous romantic notions surrounding the writing life, perhaps none dies harder than that of the solitary, ink-stained wretch plugging away at his or her latest work in some dilapidated garret, alone and unnoticed and oblivious to what's going on around him or her. Writing may be a solitary act, but as any intellectually honest writer can tell you, writers need communities: first, because the realities of today's writing life necessitate that one be... more ›

If you've been to the box suites at RFK Stadium, you may have noticed photos of acts that have played the stadium lining the hallway - U2, New Kids on the Block, the Promise Keepers and so on. But after we finished laughing at the New Kids, one plaque off to the side caught our eye: "Robert F. Kennedy Stadium, site of Olympic football, 19 July-4 August 1996." What? The Olympics were at RFK? There... more ›

While we celebrate the reopening of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery as classic examples of what museum care and innovation should be, the Smithsonian Institution at large may be slowly losing its grasp on the rest of its constituency. D.C.-based art critic and blogger Tyler Green has some critical words in a Los Angeles Times op-ed about the dilapidated conditions the other Smithsonian museums are suffering due to Congress' underfunding of the Institution, and the questionable sources to which it is turning as a result. more ›

Last week, a Los Angeles Times story touched on an approach to tourism that's gained a foothold in Italy: sight-jogging. Over in Rome, running tourists who sign up for the program might start by doing stairs (as in the Spanish Steps), zoom past the Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon, head up Capitoline Hill and back down the other side around the Forum and the Colosseum, loop the Circus Maximus, and end, Audrey Hepburn-style, at the Bocca della Verità. Provided that crowds are relatively light, the sight-joggers might see the sites in a fraction of the time it takes strollers to cover the same ground. At the end of the run, they might have an idea of what they'd like to return to, and what they'd might like to skip. What's more, they'd certainly have gotten a better sense of the layout of the city than would those folks who opt for horrid bus tours. more ›

All this month, the Kennedy Center is hosting the Festival of China, with a full schedule of concerts, exhibits, and other events. Although many do not really fall under the rubric of our Classical Music Agenda, we are leading off our suggestions for you with Chinese concerts. FESTIVAL OF CHINA: >> There are some interesting dance companies performing at the Kennedy Center this week, beginning with the National Ballet of China, in the Kennedy Center's... more ›

-- If you haven't had enough fun playing around with the Los Angeles Times' wiki-enabled interactive editorial, take a look at John Daniszewski's dispactch from Tehran about charges of official manipulation in the recent elections ... and saying that "[n]ew doubts and divisions have come into view" regarding the Iraq war, Paul Richter tracks conservative North Carolina Rep. Walter Jones Jr. and his shifting stance on Iraq and how that's playing back home ...... more ›

Calm down, you World Bank bureaucrats. We have not allowed the news of your new boss to pass us by. As President Bush positions his nominee to run the Bank and European governments brace for the coming change, it’s difficult to see who comes out ahead in the transfer of power. One early winner is definitely the guy who’ll change the office nameplate, as they’ll merely have to scrape the “-ensohn” off the door and replace it with “-owitz.” more ›

Well, Inauguration Week has come and gone. Even now, the last of our out-of-town guests are making their way out of our snowblanketed city, Ana Marie Cox is peacefully sleeping one off, and black bandanna-bedecked suburbanites are planning on returning to their regular jobs waiting tables at Denny’s. It was a week filled with pomp, protest, train derailments and the inexplicable vandalizing of Adams Morgan. Next time, maybe your friends at DCist will get credentialed.... more ›

There are two water-related stories of note: more ›