It’s the beginning of 2010, and I’ve gotta set my goals! Last year I gave up buying plastic water bottles, and it worked! I recommend it to everyone. We saved lots of money, and got attached to our water bottles and filtering system. It works just fine, and now we’ve got more room in the refrigerator for BEER! ☺

So here are the resolutions:

• More writing: journal every day, on paper. Some stuff didn’t get recorded last year because I didn’t want to share it with the world. So I need to organize my thoughts on paper first.
• More exercise: get in that gym, at least twice a week.
• More travel: including within DC. There are some great exhibits and museums that I need to see. Concerts and shows, too!
• Home improvement: continue to green my lifestyle, purge the junk and organize the good stuff.
• Taco night on Mondays: to simplify menu planning and because we like tacos. ☺

Wish me luck, and I wish you luck with your resolutions… if you’ve made them? If you haven’t yet, I hereby give you til the end of January to come up with some. We’ve got 11 months to go, folks. That’s a lot of time to pick something to improve on or have fun with.

Most importantly,

★  ♪ ♫   Happy New Year! ♪ ♫ ♪ ★

Ten years ago, I visited Berlin with a great friend of mine. It wasn’t our primary destination in Germany, or our main purpose for travel, but it was certainly tops on our list of things to see.

I’m old enough that I watched the wall come down on television with my friends in college, and I had heard Pink Floyd’s, Ronald Reagan’s and U2’s demands that it come down.

But 10 years ago, there weren’t yet celebrations of the anniversary. Things were still a bit uncomfortable. And when we crossed the border to East Germany, people were still a bit rusty on their English. And even a bit rusty on their German. We found our cab driver was more comfortable with Russian.

When we got to the wall itself, I was floored by how long it was, and by the variety of artwork covering it. The portion near the Brandenburg Gate is such a small bit, and it doesn’t show the large gap between the guard stations where people could get shot down in no man’s land.

The wall just went on and on, covered by messages of hope, despair, anger, frustration and love. The East Germans had splattered their guts on the wall over the years, trying pretty much everything to get past it. Art was their last attempt.

Anyway, that was ten long years ago.  Congratulations, Berlin, Germany. The drastic change — the domino effect of positive changes — that came from the wall coming down is something we should all remember when things look dim.

Last week I went to get my morning coffee and I was met by a belt buckle with a young man attached to it.

The buckle clearly stated the man’s affection for Texas, and I found it distracted me from noticing much of anything else about the poor guy. I was also distracted from noticing anyone else in the coffee shop, which really bothered me, as a city girl who prefers to be aware of her surroundings.

Living in DC, especially in the summer, I am reminded on a daily basis of how America is full of different types of folks. We are city mice and country mice, liberal and conservative, blue collar and white collar, civilian and military, guests and staff, students and faculty – etcetera.

As tourists from around the country visit their nation’s Capitol, it’s interesting to hear them speak to each other on the Metro or in our museums.

I truly enjoy the sense of wonder I get to relive through a tourist when they are awestruck by our Metro trains or they get their first glimpse of the Washington Monument.

As tourist season wraps up, I have been watching students arrive to attend the numerous universities in DC. These students bring a fresh set of accents and experiences to the city, as does the Congress with their staff.

I hope all who read this, Americans especially, get the chance to visit their Nation’s Capital to see it in action. I like to see you here! Washington is much more than a land of bureaucrats and politicians. It is filled and surrounded by Americans, and those eager to learn more about us.

I may not strike you as the most patriotic type, but truth be told, I am proud to work in my nation’s capital.

This weekend, in Arlington, my house will shake as Rolling Thunder starts to arrive on Friday night. These are motorcycles carrying veterans traveling to gather on Sunday at the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial in honor of POWs and soldiers Missing in Action. I have always loved this annual tribute, a real reminder that Americans will never forget their soldiers. Here in DC, it’s hard to forget the military, but Rolling Thunder puts a different face on who a soldier is, and really shows you what dedication to a cause means. Some of these people come across the country every year. And they have been since the sixties.

Our country counts on dedicated men and women who have put their lives on the line for the rest of us. That is what Memorial Day is about. I salute each and every soldier, National Guard, Coast Guard, Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines that has stood between my freedom and whatever other alternative lurks beyond. Thank you. And thanks to your families. Happy Memorial Day.

If you want to help out,  visit:

• Rolling Thunder
• Soldiers’ Angels
• Tweet to ReMIND

Related:

• Huffington Post – Bob Woodruff: Waging the Battle at Home

Traveling is so much fun, but how can you get to all the beautiful places in the world without burning some jet fuel?

OK, you’re right, you could sail across the Pacific, after biking cross-country. Or hop a barge that happens to be going that way. But the likelihood that you have enough vacation time to do all that is slim to none. For me, it’s right out. If I want to go somewhere to enjoy the scenery, I better get there fast. So when I get there, I’m extra-conscious of how green I am.

I just talked to a friend today about his fabulous photos from his Asian vacation, and it turns out that the folks that took him on his trip are extra-conscious of how green they are, too. And they’ll be glad to take you on your next trip, to Asia, Australia, Africa, Europe… pretty much anywhere interesting.

Intrepid Travel – They come highly recommended. Pass it on!

Here’s a smart way to get yourself moving. Borrow a bike.

And you don’t have to beg your roommate or sister. Go to http://www.smartbikedc.com/ and sign up for a subscription. For the low price of $40/year, you can have access to a number of bike racks around town, and feel free to pick up a bike here, drop it off there, tool around town in between… generally be a DC biker without all the hassle of storing a bike and keeping it running.

Truth be told, there isn’t a lot of maintenance to be done on the average bike-about-town, but if you can’t seem to save up for that bike, and you don’t have a good place to stash one, this is an excellent solution. Really, $40 is not SO much that you couldn’t just use the bike subscription a couple of times a year for a bike around the Tidal Basin with a friend. And meanwhile, someone else is using the bike.

The Smartbikes are designed with a rack in front for your bag, and they’ve strategically located check in/check out points around downtown DC. Don’t be surprised if the tourists figure this one out too.

Personally, I’ll be hoping for some Arlington bike racks in the near future.

It’s the last week of Fishnet Music, a record store I opened 3 years ago with my friend Lisa and her mother Terry in Ocean City, MD.
Our doors will close Friday, March 31 after lots of blood, sweat and tears – mine has been mostly remote, e-mailing ads and website updates from DC, after the first summer of driving back and forth every weekend.
If you live down there, please stop by and get some great deals on CDs and records at our close-out sale. If not, think of us this week. It’s hard to say goodbye. We met some wonderful bands that played in-store performances for us, and really enjoyed giving people an alternative place to look for and learn about music.
www.fishnetmusic.com