I went to Janney Elementary briefly for the end of sixth grade (after 3 months in England and 3 months in New Jersey), and they were super welcoming to the new girl with the weird accent, and it seemed like a great school. I’m happy to report it is ranked #2 elementary school in DC. It feeds into Deal JH and then Wilson HS, and they’re all in/near Tenleytown, and close to metro.

I can speak only for the four DC think tanks that are my clients (I’m a freelance copy editor), but there was an increase in work sent my way during the 2008 recession. That tells me that they laid full-timers off but kept the main purpose of their organization alive.

This is probably a question to ask your place of work, though, since their financial health will depend on their sources of income.

Apparently you’re not the only one: What to Do if You Get Motion Sickness while Riding Metro, from 2017

ob·nox·ious (/əbˈnäkSHəs/)

adjective

extremely unpleasant

Example: “setting up auto play for infinity"

Is this it? Just a guess that it might be a later than expected closing for Purple Line construction.

> The right lane of southbound Wisconsin Avenue at Elm Street in Bethesda will be closed off for an extended period of time beginning August 25, according to the Montgomery County Department of Transportation.

>The closure will “allow vehicles to access the Purple Line Bethesda Station work zone,” MCDOT stated in a tweet Monday.

>There is no current timetable for how long the closure is expected to take. MCDOT stated that it will be “long-term”.

Beatty was a family friend when my family lived in Beirut in the early 50s, when he and my dad worked for USIA. The first of his books that I read is Which Way to Mecca, Jack? , a comic novel that couldn’t be farther from his Exorcist. Part of it took place on an airplane, see, and the Muslims needed to pray toward Mecca . . . I think he wrote other comic novels, if you need a break from his horror!

I’ll try that, thanks.

I am a big fan of the CityMapper app, and never get lost any more. I ride my bicycle through the park an average of 50 miles a week, which means I frequently try new trails for variety and it has never steered me wrong, and finds the tiniest trails, almost deer paths, to get me from Point A to Point B. No matter where you are, it can lead you back to civilization, or at least to the closest street/metro station. As for vastness, you can start small by getting yourself to Peirce Mill or Veirs Mill (MoCo, but in the Rock Creek watershed), which has many simple trails nearby. And for a simple hike, again in MoCo, hie thee to Lake Needwood. The trail around it is, I think, 3 miles, and will give you a breath of fresh air and many gorgeous views of the lake.

(Side note: I have traveled to multiple US and European cities, and CityMapper has been available in each. Thank goodness, because I always used to get lost!)

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Rock Creek Park is vast, and changes every day. There’s a world to explore in your backyard.

Yes, but keep in mind that we all have a blind spot when it comes to our own writing and we should never attempt to copy edit ourselves. This is why self-published books are so laughably full of errors, and also why the manuscripts I’ve worked on that presented the most challenges have been those with a note attached from the author: “This won’t need much work because I have [or my wife has—for some reason it’s never a husband!] already copy edited it.”

I’ve spent the past 30 years as a freelance copy editor for nonfiction books and other documents, and have worked for dozens of publishers. The short answer to the question of errors that make it into the published book is that publishers don’t want to pay for quality.

Many tasks in the life of a manuscript are now handled by freelancers, and in some cases every step except project management is outsourced. So that’s one issue, that managers might not have access to the best copy editor out there. But another issue is that good copy editors—like me!—get tired of doing what amounts to pro bono work: when publishers pay very low project/page rates, they’ll get lower-quality work. When I accept work from publishers who pay a low rate, I read it only once then skim once more quickly. It’s far from ideal, and leaves lots of bugs no doubt, but it’s what they’re willing to pay for.

On the other hand, I have other clients who pay by the hour, and tell me to spend as much time as needed to catch every error. With those clients I read three or sometimes four times, and very few errors slip by me.

My credit card gives me one free checked bag, and I always check my bag now. It’s so much easier to move around an airport during transfers when all I’ve got is my small carry-on with me. In addition, it means I can take my Swiss Army knife with me, and larger bottles of shampoo etc.

As for delays at my destination? The longest I’ve had to wait for my bag is a few minutes. The airlines I use, anyway, are hyper focused on getting bags to the conveyor belt before most passengers have deplaned. YMMD, but that’s my experience.

Edit: I should also add that the United app lets me track my bag from drop off to destination, but I also have an AirTag hidden in my locked (TSA approved) suitcase. The only time TSA has opened my suitcase was when I’d put my iPad in it, so now I just carry it onboard.

Check out the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club. Many of their trips are weekend work trips, maintaining trails, shelters, and cabins, but they also have a robust list of ski, camping, and other trips.

Not to be morose, but this pressure can be especially difficult in the case of an unexpected death. Funeral homes can be very stressful when they show you different options for burial, service, limo, and so on, and you feel the need to decide now, and to get “the best” for your loved one. Depending on circumstances, there might not be a way to slow the increasingly expensive runaway train.

I’m not sure what the solution is in the case of unexpected funerals, but (for older people) preplanning and prepaying end-of-life rituals can be a last gift to those left behind.

Walden, by Henry David Thoreau, has the most individual passages and flickers of genius of any book I know. Time after time in my long life I’ve reached back to Walden to succinctly express something intangible. Just a few that live in my head:

• I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself than be crowded on a velvet cushion.
• I am no more lonely than . . . the first spider in a new house.
• Making the earth say beans instead of grass—this was my daily work.
• I say, beware of all enterprises that require new clothes.

And the passage that truly shaped my life, encouraging me to seek adventure in very literal ways:

> As I was leaving the Irishman's roof after the rain, bending my steps again to the pond, my haste to catch pickerel, wading in retired meadows, in sloughs and bog–holes, in forlorn and savage places, appeared for an instant trivial to me who had been sent to school and college; but as I ran down the hill toward the reddening west, with the rainbow over my shoulder, and some faint tinkling sounds borne to my ear through the cleansed air, from I know not what quarter, my Good Genius seemed to say—Go fish and hunt far and wide day by day—farther and wider—and rest thee by many brooks and hearth–sides without misgiving. Remember thy Creator in the days of thy youth. Rise free from care before the dawn, and seek adventures. Let the noon find thee by other lakes, and the night overtake thee everywhere at home. There are no larger fields than these, no worthier games than may here be played. Grow wild according to thy nature, like these sedges and brakes, which will never become English bay. Let the thunder rumble; what if it threaten ruin to farmers' crops? That is not its errand to thee. Take shelter under the cloud, while they flee to carts and sheds. Let not to get a living be thy trade, but thy sport. Enjoy the land, but own it not. Through want of enterprise and faith men are where they are, buying and selling, and spending their lives like serfs.

Apparently that song is not a parody, but was written “to annoy people for 12 minutes.” [Source](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albuquerque_(song)

I’ve bought interesting beans from a vendor at the farmers market. The one I go to is Silver Spring on Saturday. I don’t remember his name, but he’s the only coffee guy there.

I filled my bottles at National Airport last week, so yes.

That’s bad to hear. When people are angry with bicycles I wonder if they just don’t realize that traffic is lighter—fewer cars—when more people are biking or walking. Duh, but somehow all they see is the Other, so, the Enemy.

WABA has a Crash Reporting Form.

Maybe people are trying to get away from defining each other by where they work (DC), where they live (NYC), or what they drive (CA). If so, that’s probably a good thing!

If you don’t mind going just over the border into Maryland, Take the red line to Silver Spring, walk a few steps to the bus depot, and catch the #20 bus that leaves on the second floor [Edit for clarity]. Turn left at the top of escalator, and the stop for #20 is right there. Ride the #20 about 15 minutes to New Hampshire and Elton Sts, and walk across the parking lot to 10141 New Hampshire Ave where there are two very large thrift stores next to each other: Unique and Value Village. There are many aisles of men’s clothing in both those stores.