D.C. now has its own apartment therapy page. AT DC, which caters to hipsters looking for advice on where to buy Chip Cheery Food Storage Containers or how to sound proof a U street rental beset by a restaurant karaoke night came into being about two weeks ago.

Rachel Grad, one of three District residents hired to write for AT DC, says business on the site is picking up. “We’ve had a lot of interest, both from readers and DC stores/services,” she writes in an e-mail. “It’s surprising and fun to see the comments to our posts.”

Their first client? A Northwest resident beleaguered by an ugly bathroom. Last Monday the resident wrote in:

Dear AT DC, I recently moved into an older condo building. The bathroom needs renovation but I can’t afford any major overhauls right now. My bathroom was probably last renovated in the 1980s and the sink pipe leaked and ruined the cabinet under the sink. I also can’t stand the tile stains that I can’t remove, no matter how much I scrub. Do you have any quick and inexpensive tips to help my bathroom? Please help!
—New to Kalorama”

Responding to the decor problem Grad suggests:

For the sink cabinet, you can put a piece of plywood on the cabinet bottom and then cover it with a shelf liner…If generic household cleaners don’t work to clean your tile stains, try a commercial grout cleaner….We also suggest repainting the bathroom in your favorite bright color (semi-gloss paint is good in bathrooms). New accessories will also help your bathroom decor (new soap dish, candles, etc.)

Situation: handled. Crisis: averted.

—Rend Smith

I was not as wise as Stephanie, who blogs about playing dress-up and getting dumped at Fashion Robot. After getting the brush off — at orientation, no less — she concludes: “I am officially becoming a lesbian or something. All dudes are too fucking girly.” Well put.

Stephanie recently discovered the sub-cultural history of Doc Martens, which I really thought had gone out of style forever. I’m pretty sure mine got incinerated.

Blogger Jeff Simmermon, whose recent disagreement with Murky Coffee in Arlington and its iced espresso policy grabbed headlines, has turned his attention toward more weighty matters. Simmermon is using his blog, And I Am Not Lying, to raise money for the family of Marisol Caceres, the 12-year-old girl found strangled in her Northeast home.

The blogger  knows the victim’s stepbrother, Jose Andrade. In an Aug. 6 post, Simmermon tells how he interviewed Andrade in 2006 “about a walkout he and YARG [Youth Action Research Group] put together at his high school to support a just immigration reform.”

The writer took an automatic shine to the worldly teen:

Not only was he the most thoughtful, intelligent, precocious and wise 19-year-olds I’d ever met - he may have been one of the wisest human beings I’d ever met. Once he opened up to me a little, he was this busted fire hydrant of knowledge about philosophy, classical music, video games and maybe jazz, too. The only organ bigger than Jose’s mind is his heart. I remember a lot of late nights at our friend Danielle’s place, him telling me about growing up in Columbia Heights while I made us dinner.

Though he didn’t know Marisol personally, Simmermon says he “saw her effect on Jose, and I could feel his love for her just pour out of him when he told me how smart she was, how kind and giving she was even as such a little girl.”

After a few more earnest words, the blogger asks his readers to dig deep into their pocket: “Marisol’s family needs money now. They need it badly.” Among other things, the family needs money to move: “Imagine having to come home to that same apartment every night.” A PayPal “Make a Donation” button appears toward the end of the post.

Via e-mail, Simmerman says that the last time he checked, which was Monday, readers had ponied up $2,000.

He adds that the donations aren’t the only positives being generated by the post: Marisol’s relatives and friends are connecting with each other in the comments section. Particularly moving is a note of support written to Jose Andrade, and left by his evidently estranged father, Jose H. Andrade Sr.:

Son You may not want to read this but I hope you do, I want you to know that I LOVE YOU with all my heart and I wish you would let me help you, you are not alone just open your heart and let me in.

your friend talks very nice about you, so I know you have a big heart Henry jr. I always wanted to be part of your life and now more than ever, son life is short lets not waste more time. I can not fix the past but the future can be better. We remember Marisol when she was little and we know how much you love her. Tell you mom and your sister that we’re very sad for your lose and that we’re HERE to help this is my email andrade***** I LOVE YOU Darling, Sabrina y Kevin.

—Rend Smith

This past Thursday, to prodigious applause and a minimal throwing of old fruit, the City Paper launched its 2008 Fringe & Purge blog.

Ever since, we’ve been positively inundated with questions, compliments, and offers of a decidedly salacious nature. Rather than responding individually, I’ve decided to offer some answers right here, for all to see.

After the jump:

Read the rest of this entry »

For proof that all our moms are adorable crackpots, please browse Postcards From Yo Momma. This is a new tumblr project from New York journalists Doree Shafrir and Jessica Grose. (Tumblr is basically blogging made very, very easy.)

Anyway, the ladies have solicited emails from readers’ moms — you know, the ones that are at once neurotic and doting and sometimes very mean. Or the ones in which mom tries to be cool and tech savvy. I have been giggling at the posts all week long. My boyfriend, however, thinks I’m goofy for getting such a kick out of it. He thinks it’s a symptom of the way women get all chummy with their moms as we get older. Whatever. It’s funny.

A shame, really, that the Post couldn’t get through the publicist to the author of the blog Stuff White People Like. But who really needs white people? In D.C., a multicultural city of the aughts if ever there was one, we’ve got the newly minted author of Desis 101, or What Desis Love, Hate, and Love to Hate. (To help out the white people, Desis are Indian-subcontinent people.)

Alka Kothari started the blog—which now includes entries on why Desi women store things between their breasts and why the Desis are “Loving to Be Using the Funny Grammar”—after reading Stuff White People Like. Sure, sure, there’s that whole immitation=flattery thing going on. But Kothari, 34, who is Desi, who grew up in the Chicago ‘burbs, and who now lives kind of in Shaw, off U Street, and not inconceivably in Logan Circle, takes a more anthropoligical approach. And it’s still funny. And educational:

When sitting down to a meal with Desis, one will often be asked earnestly and directly about the cut, color and clarity of one’s last bowel movement. Such questions are particularly common at the breakfast table as a means of gauging the dietary dos and don’ts for the coming day. After an initial assessment, a variety of pastes, spice mixtures, potions and pungent treats will be brought out in a special tin devoted to poop-regulation.

“I really want white people to read it,” says Kothari, who says she does bargain “crazy hard” like other Desis, but does not necessarily pull platters of fruit from her cleavage. “I’d love it if people here became more interested in India as a result….because there is this idea that Indians are going to take over. I mean there are a billion of ‘em, so it’s probably time the U.S. started learning a little more of the nuance.” And also, it’s way better than Stuff Asian People Like.

I posted here a few weeks ago about LNS founder Reed Landry’s assault on my friend Liz Glover at the Young and the Guest List party thrown by Washington Life magazine. It was pretty lame behavior for an aspiring media mogul. Turns out there were a few things I didn’t realize when I posted: Reed broke Liz’s camera and she has evidence. Wonkette put up the video today–the important bits are near the end. It’s a little grainy and mostly audio but you can clearly see/hear three things in sequence: Reed’s face approaching, the sound of something hitting the camera, and Liz saying “Help! Help!”

A Roundup of Morning Roundups

There’s nothing presidential about the Presidential Inn. It’s shady, it’s unsafe, and it’ll leave you feeling disgusted. Wait, maybe it’s a little presidential. Plus, SmartTrip gets smarter. (DCist)

It just might be possible to be fired for overenthusiasm. And Beyoncé is in denial: thinks she’s a positive influence on the youth. (Rock and Roll Daily)

For those also annoyed by continued frizzy hair from never-ending humidity, things are looking grim. U.N. declares climate change “mega-disaster.” Recommendation to Sen. Larry Craig: Take U.S. flag pin off for mug shots. (The Ag)

A Roundup of Morning Roundups

Bush nixes more money for a kids’ health insurance program while the police union weighs in on the age-old question: Keys or feet? (DCist)

Bill’s valuable to Hillary’s campaign. Oh, and white males are a key demo. (Wonkette)

A Berkeley education is now a hell of a lot cheaper. And there’s good news for fans of Imus and/or that post-apocalyptic CBS show starring Skeet Ulrich. (mediabistro.com)

A Roundup of Morning Roundups

Hearts are breaking: Both Sen. Warner and Etan Thomas are having cardiac trouble. At least Thomas should be able to get a poem out of it. (DCist )

Ian MacKaye lives on; grammar dies a slow death. This age-old question finally answered: If I were an awards ceremony, what would I wear? (Idolator)

Place not likely to be killed: Texas. Place likely to be killed: Iraq. (Wonkette)

Blackwater CEO makes sweeping statements. Plus, South Korean president puts Kim Jong-il’s style to shame. (The Ag)

A Roundup of Morning Roundups

Sometimes shiny objects are more important than, say, a four-alarm fire. Former schools auditor caught with allegedly stealing half a million dollars; probably was bad auditor as well. (DCist)

Blackwater really needs a better screening process for hiring employees. Putin tries hard to be the last person at the party. (Today’s Papers)

Barack Obama wins (the third-quarter fundraising race)! And John McCain prefers Christians. (The Ag)

A Roundup of Morning Roundups

Enjoy the weather. From inside. In its usual example-setting fashion, D.C. makes more carbon dioxide per capita than any other city in the U.S. Plus, Lisa Marin gives herself a big bonus; called ballsy. (DCist)

Candidate update: Gingrich is not one, Richardson is rolling in the dough, conservative Christians don’t approve of Giuliani, and Hillary cackles. Also, Letterman makes Paris look bad. And so does her new haircut. (The Ag)

Unsurprising: More than 1 million people entered the lottery to buy tickets to the Led Zeppelin reunion show. Surprising: Tickets sold out almost immediately to the Spice Girls reunion show. And parrotheads and carrotheads go head to head. (Rock and Roll Daily)

A Roundup of Morning Roundups

It’s that time of year to ponder the upcoming holidays, including everyone’s favorite: holiday bonus day! But Tangherlini is playing the scrooge and reconsidering cash bonuses. Who does he think he works for? An alt weekly? (DCist)

Bloggers finally have a purpose! Ex-pat bloggers are providing the breaking news in Myanmar as the traditional media is getting a heavy hand. Alliteration is getting out of control in the Blackwater coverage. We’re now up to: Blackwater’s Baghdad bedlam. (The Ag)

Hopefully you like living in your overpriced, shoddily made condo, because you won’t be selling it for a long, long time. And Bush readies his big red veto stamp for the measure that would expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. (Today’s Papers)

Plus, getting engaged wins you an interview with Ann Curry! (Fishbowl DC)

A Roundup of Morning Roundups

An Arlington judge rules that Virginia’s abusive-driver fees are unconstitutional. What we can expect: a long fight with lots of news coverage. D.C. residents continue to be terrorized by manholes. (DCist)

If you dance awkwardly, your song will be popular. Wes Scantlin learns that pools are to be looked at, not touched. (Rock and Roll Daily)

Things are getting messy in Myanmar; the junta is breaking up demonstrations and reportedly shooting monks. Almost as crazy: Paris is going to Rwanda. (The Ag)

Hillary is fickle, Clarence Thomas is lonely, and Blackwater is scary. (Wonkette)

A Roundup of Morning Roundups

It’s hot out. Metro fare hikes might be lower than expected. And lowest of all: People are robbing gravesites for the vases. (DCist)

Ahmadinejad declares discussion on nuclear power is closed. France and Germany want to keep talking about it. Bush skims over the issue, preferring to talk about Myanmar—or rather let sanctions do his talking. (Today’s Papers)

Charles Gibson is leading the race for nightly viewers, but Brian Williams is close on his heels. However, Americans really just want to see O.J. Simpson. (Fishbowl DC)