D.C. resident and blogger Gene Healy has written an article discussing his thoughts about our fine city. He opens by asking: “If you’re committed, as I am, to a government small enough to be run out of a double-wide trailer, how can you stand living in a city that’s a concretized insult to your ideals?” The answer, it turns out, is learning to appreciate its neighborhoods (in this case Mt. Pleasant), and embrace D.C. as a “contrarian’s paradise.” Healy mentions the Marx Cafe, a notable Mt. Pleasant Eatery decorated with black and white photos of marxist rebels. He concludes:

It’s a city built around the narcissism of small differences–the embodiment of a long-running argument so screechy and grating that you’re almost convinced there’s some matter of principle at stake. It’s a graveyard of petty ambitions, and deeply held ideals sold for the glory of the occasional lunch meeting with Denny Hastert. It is also–both despite and because of all that–a relentlessly interesting place.

(Photo from Declan McCullagh’s site)