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You are here: Home / Balloon Juice / Meetups and social events / Open Thread: Possible DC-Area Meet Up?

Open Thread: Possible DC-Area Meet Up?

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Note from beloved (by me, anyways) commentor EFGoldman:

I’ve been in touch w/Shakezula about a possible Lawyers Guns & Money/Balloon Juice combo meetup in DC in the next couple of weeks. Here are the details:

We’re arriving in DC Friday, May 6, staying thru Tuesday May 17 (leaving the 18th). However, for the whole first week (thru Saturday the 14th) we won’t be available in the evening, because the reason for the trip is to take care of our toddler granddaughter while mom & dad are in London and Paris. We could do brunch or lunch, because she goes to preschool.

From Sunday thru Tuesday the 17th, we can do any time.

For the week of babysitting, we’ll be at Lyon Village on Lee Highway, just off I-66. Sunday thru Tuesday, at the Best Western on South Glebe Road just off 395. Either way, we’ll have a car.

I can attest from the couple of meet-ups we’ve had here in Boston that EFG and (especially) his lovely wife are wonderful people with whom to talk. (Yes, Boston-area peeps, we need to do another meetup — maybe at the Helmand?)

Meanwhile, leave a comment if you are interested / have suggestions for a DC venue, or email me (click on my name in the right-hand column or use annelaurie at verizon dot net) and I’ll forward your message.

Reader Interactions

85Comments

  1. 1.

    WaterGirl

    I have never heard of this EFGoldman, i wonder if he’s any relation to our beloved efgoldman? :-)

  6. 6.

    MattF

    I’d be happy to meet anywhere that’s metro accessible. Even in these days of Metro unreliability.

  7. 7.

    Baud

    However, for the whole first week (thru Saturday the 14th) we won’t be available in the evening, because the reason for the trip is to take care of our toddler granddaughter while mom & dad are in London and Paris, so we can have a week long party/Baud fundraiser at their place replete with hookers, blow, and adorable grandchildren

    Edited to reflect probable intent.

  12. 12.

    No One You Know

    Dang! My husband and I won’t be in DC until the end of May. Raise a glass for us!

  13. 13.

    WaterGirl

    @TaMara (HFG): First you lose the special color in the comments because you are a front pager. Then you can’t edit unless you go behind the scenes. Next thing you know, you’ll be waiting for your comments to be fished out of moderation by someone else. (just teasing)

  15. 15.

    WaterGirl

    It’s cold and rainy here so I don’t want to work outside, and the Illinois marathon is going on here today so I don’t want to leave the house and have the hassle of all the main streets being blocked off. I have no patience for that. So it’s 1:30 in the afternoon and I’m feeling antsy and there’s nowhere to go. /whining over

  22. 22.

    boatboy_srq

    Reminder: Elizabelle still has the voucher from Murphy’s from last time, so if Old Town Alexandria is a possible venue then we have someplace for the short list.

    (And yes, I’m in if at all possible).

  24. 24.

    schrodinger's cat

    Here is the male version of the same song (see #26) sung by A. R. Rahman (Of SlumDog Millionaire fame). The lyrics are inspired by a Amir Khusro’s poetry from the 13th century Punjab.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30zJZPb-o3Q

    Bonus Trivia: Rahman is a native Tamil speaker, and Punjab is northern India (and the other half is in Pakistan). So its like an Italian singer singing a Swedish song!

  26. 26.

    Gimlet

    Crystal ball murky as to outcome.

    link

    To Iraqis who have lived through the reign of Saddam Hussein, the American occupation and the current turmoil, the Green Zone has long symbolized tyranny, occupation and corruption. Above all, it has been a sign of the separation between ordinary people and a ruling elite unresponsive to the aspirations of Iraq’s citizens.

    The mere presence of protesters in the halls of government on Saturday deepened a political crisis that has paralyzed Iraq’s government as it struggles to keep up the fight against the Islamic State and faces a collapse in oil prices that has sharply reduced government revenue.

    The protesters were mostly supporters of the Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr, who has rallied his followers to push for demands and has largely supported Mr. Abadi’s promises, still unfulfilled, to improve how the government works. The ease with which they penetrated the rim of the Green Zone suggested that security forces were supportive of the protesters, as there were no reports of shots fired.

    The Parliament was stormed after a session that had been scheduled for Saturday was postponed because a quorum could not be reached. Mr. Abadi had been expected to introduce several new ministers as part of a promise to overhaul his cabinet and fill it with technocrats instead of politicians beholden to a party or sect.

    On Tuesday, Mr. Abadi gained approval for some of the new ministers, but only after a revolt from opposition lawmakers who had called for his ouster, even tossing water bottles at him as he entered the room.

    It was unclear on Saturday afternoon how Mr. Abadi would respond, and how he would regain control over the country’s politics.

  28. 28.

    Yellowdog

    I’m up for it. Metro accessible would be nice. Include me in. I live in Maryland, north of DC.

  29. 29.

    WaterGirl

    Is there any reason that I might be having a ton more birds than usual this past week? Is it just that birds are passing through on some spring trip back home? (Central Illinois) I”m not really a bird person, but I have noticed more interesting and unusual birds in the past 3 days than I have in the past 3 years.

  32. 32.

    WaterGirl

    Off to wash 4 days of dishes – my dishwasher has been broken for a couple of years and I had a cut on my hand that kept me from washing dishes these past few days. Hoping for a lively, hopping thread when I return. I’m counting on you guys, don’t let me down.

  33. 33.

    Alain the site fixer

    Sorry bout that folks. The repository restored back one too far and make it go blech.

    I’m still trying to figure out why the buttons are gone. Since some folks mentioned issues last night, I’m reasonably sure it wasn’t caused by this morning’s upgrade to WordPress 4.5.1. But I’ll see what I can figure out.

  34. 34.

    Technocrat

    @Alain the site fixer:

    Kids today and their “buttons”. Why, back in MY day, you needed scissors and tape to edit a comment. Then you had to drive around and show the edit to all your neighbors.

    /lawn #whippersnappers4real

    ETA: That was fast.

  35. 35.

    Alain the site fixer

    In best Nixon’s Head voice “Buttons back!”

    Sorry for the bumpy ride.
    Next time an update-related issue happens it will be 5 seconds of grief; this time panic set in for 1 minute before coolness returned and I used the new back end approach to recover. I rolled back changes to before plugin and WordPress updates. I’ll take a better look at this Monday to see why the plugin update scrambled the edit comment function (it screwed it for Admins too, FYI).

    Enjoy the weekend.

  36. 36.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    @schrodinger’s cat: Alain installed a new version of FYWP this morning (see one of the morning threads). Apparently lots of his previous customizations need to be copied over and that apparently hasn’t been done yet.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  38. 38.

    Alain the site fixer

    @Technocrat: Advantage of putting the site in a git repository – rolling back changes is quite quick…and rolling back changes too far can also be too quick. It’s all sorted out now and now the site should work as it has for the past few days.

  41. 41.

    Uncle Cosmo

    I’m interested (coming from uptown Baltimore) but what time? I presume evening, but how early? Last MARC train northbound leaves Union Station at 10:30 PM & I really would rather not drive. Someplace near a Metro stop please.

    (And yes, the buttons are still AWOL!!)

  42. 42.

    Alain the site fixer

    @efgoldman: It should be all fixed. Two important things – 1) my sincerest condolences and deepest sorrow and 2) I wish I could make the Ballston/Lyon Village meetup to meet you. That’s my old stomping grounds, from age 10 to 35 I went there frequently as I lived, worked, recreated, shopped, and ate around there.

    First – Italian Store Pizza – it’s great stuff. Maybe not to your standards, but it’s pretty good for around here.
    Second – got to Eden center and get some Pho where the real Vietnamese eat it! It’s quite an experience and a great, cheap meal full of comfort and joy.

    Best, and I hope you have a great time in the DC area!

  45. 45.

    Cheap Jim, formerly Cheap Jim

    Everything south of the river is on Glebe Rd or Lee Highway, isn’t it?

  46. 46.

    max

    @efgoldman: Hmm. Site also won’t save comments, and takes forever to load, which means this will probably disappear into the ether, I don’t know why I’m typing it.

    ‘…We will control the italics. We will control the bolds. We can delete the post, or we can make disappear it in moderation. We can change the font size to a tiny blur or grow it to a huge size…’

    For the week of babysitting, we’ll be at Lyon Village on Lee Highway, just off I-66. Sunday thru Tuesday, at the Best Western on South Glebe Road just off 395. Either way, we’ll have a car.

    Only an hour and a half drive. Crap.

    max
    [‘Pardon me, I’ll just sit with my imaginary banjo.’]

  47. 47.

    Alain the site fixer

    The wife and I used to enjoy Carpool quite a bit. Maybe a bit loud, but good bbq/bar food, pool, casual/comfortable. But it’s been a few years, it certainly may have changed.

  49. 49.

    MattF

    @Cacti: Ah. I’ve been missing Wonkette since they don’t have links on this page any more. Gotta keep them in mind.

  52. 52.

    Gimlet

    @Cacti:

    If you represent the prevailing attitude in the circle of Hillary’s closest advisors, it is difficult to see why a Sanders voter would support her in the fall election.

    Apparently Team Hillary holds Sanders’ supporters in contempt, not really worthy of Hillary and their votes while needed are unappreciated and will only reluctantly be accepted from outsiders you deem despicable “BernieBros”.

  53. 53.

    Cacti

    @Gimlet:

    The subtitle for articles like: “A Liberal Case for Trump” should be –

    “Shit that had to be written by an upper middle class white male”.

  59. 59.

    BaldwinBro

    @Bob In Portland: —Most here have you “pie filtered’, ala Cleeks pie filter.
    They love an echo chamber, go to his site, see some of the omg “I was exposed to___”- fill in the blank.

  61. 61.

    eemom

    Oh fer fuxsake. Even a nice pleasant Saturday afternoon thread about a meet up has to devolve into the same old shit?

    I’ll try to come too. Also would prefer near a metro stop.

  64. 64.

    Shana

    I’m currently in Las Vegas helping out my brother who had his gallbladder removed yesterday so I’m away from my calendar (shut up, I’m old) but barring something important I’m in. I can drive or metro so location isn’t that important.

  65. 65.

    Redshift

    I’m always up for Murphy’s, but while it’s technically Metro-accessible (free city shuttle from King Street), it adds a bit to the travel time for those coming from farther afield.

    We had a Balloon Juice meetup at Carpool a few years ago, and it was all right. It’s Metro-accessible and potentially even walking distance from Lyon Village. Louder than Murphy’s, but perhaps not too loud on a Monday night. It’s pretty much all changed over since I used to spend more time around there, so ‘m not familiar with any of the other places there except the Melting Pot, which doesn’t really work for large groups.

    BTW: My kid tells me that North and South Glebe were physically separated at one time, to keep things segregated. Lovely!

    I don’t think that’s true. I grew up in Arlington (in elementary school during desegregation!). Glebe is the major north-south thoroughfare, going to Alexandria, for example; there’s no way it could be blocked at Rt. 50. It is true that a lot of South Arlington was the “black neighborhood,” but as far as I know that was accomplished with things like redlining, not physical barriers.

  67. 67.

    Barbara

    This is really close to where I live. I feel like I should have a better idea of where to go for something like this, but I really don’t. Just about anywhere in Virginia or D.C. would work for me. My only idea is Harry’s at the corner of 10th and E Street, and while it gets crowded and is kind of a dive, you can reserve a block of tables and they are very accommodating.

  68. 68.

    Barbara

    @efgoldman: No, that’s not right. Schools were segregated, and neighborhoods probably too, but the “black neighborhood” was around what is now the Virginia Hospital Center, in North Arlington — basically, from around Lee Highway at Glebe Road, to George Mason, back towards the hospital. There are several buildings in North Arlington that were associated with the African American community in Arlington that are close to this area, including the Stratford School (H.B. Woodlawn) and the fire station on Lee Highway.

  70. 70.

    Barbara

    @Barbara: Well, my edit got lost — There is also majority African American neighborhood in South Arlington called Nauck (in back of Shirlington Road). The thing is, no one ever needed to physically separate roads. The cultural and legal impediments to mixing were strong enough. Did you know that the state of Virginia abolished local school boards when the Arlington School Board voted to desegregate its schools to comply with Brown v. Board of Education?

  72. 72.

    eemom

    @Barbara:

    My only idea is Harry’s at the corner of 10th and E Street

    omg, that is right across the street from the building I work in! Though these days, I mostly work at home.

  73. 73.

    mike in dc

    Maybe. I have a doc review gig, so it depends upon the time and location. I will be in downtown DC. Anywhere metro-accessible is fine. We should get Farley to promote his books at Politics and Prose sometime.

  75. 75.

    Pinksnapdragon

    It’s been a while since I’ve been to one of these. It’s about time I showed up at another one.

  78. 78.

    Ben Mays

    One suggestion for a meet-up is the relatively new Peter Chang Restaurant, 2503 N Harrison St, Arlington, VA 22207. (Note, not PF Chang) He has a small chain in Virginia. Came here as the Executive Chef for the Chinese Embassy. Great fresh food.

  80. 80.

    low-tech cyclist

    The hotel isn’t that far from the Del Ray area in northern Alexandria, which has some of my favorite restaurants. But unfortunately Del Ray is not near a metro stop.

  82. 82.

    PaulWartenberg2016

    @efgoldman:

    They break my heart half the time, but I’m hoping they make the finals again. If they do, Stamkos might be healthy enough to play for the Cup.

    I’m okay about the Rays but they worry me, their pitching is not as good as it used to be and they still have no decent hitters.

    And the Bucs just did the dumbest move of the draft TRADING UP for a freaking KICKER in the Second Round. That’s like serving hot dogs at a Klingon banquet: it’s simply not done.

  84. 84.

    mikefromArlington

    Not there anymore but if you’re at 395 and Glebe you’re close to an area called Shirlington. A place there called Guapo’s has pretty decent Mexican food, great server and massive margarita’s!

    Also on the same street is a whiskey place across the street and a micro brewery further down the street. There used to be a pool hall there but it was changing owners so not sure if its still open. All good options after Guapo’s if you need more liquid.

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