Missing a birthday celebration may seem like a small inconvenience for some, but for others, birthdays offer an event to look forward to, and a sense of normalcy.

Washington has another reason to celebrate today. Ian MacKaye, frontman of The Teen Idles, Minor Threat, Fugazi and The Evens, is 50 years old.

FRIDAY: >> The fun, free funk and soul dance party, Moneytown at Rock and Roll Hotel, is featuring a special guest DJ named Harry Hotter, which is reason enough in itself to check to it out just to see if he’ll be dressing the part. DJ Nitekrawler will also be there as usual. 9:30 p.m. to close. And don’t forget to check out our full preview of 1990s, who play downstairs with Red Romance and…

Inside the House is a DCist feature offering an insider’s view of fine dining issues by the hostess at a D.C. restaurant. By DCist contributor Nadya S. Nikiforova It’s probably been awhile since you wrote a check — because you pay all your bills online. You look up directions on MapQuest instead of looking at a paper map all the time. You might have even met your sweetie on match.com. So, it’s no surprise that…

People celebrate birthdays, holidays and anniversaries. This evening we acknowledge the day that an event and a phrase now embedded in the consciousness of the District were born. That’s right, folks. Today is the 16th anniversary of then-D.C. Mayor Marion Barry’s infamous crack-cocaine bust. Props to D.C. Metblogs for reminding us about this evening-of-note — we had honestly forgotten to make the dinner reservations and buy the gifts. What would District residents do without having…

A federal contractor was taken to the hospital yesterday with non-life threatening stab wounds after some sort of confrontation with another employee. The USDA complex at Independence Avenue and 14th Street SW was put on lockdown as the situation was brought under control. But the details behind the stabbing are still quite sketchy, the Post reports. Like many federal departments and agencies, security at Agriculture is farmed out to private security contractors, but is overseen…