12/20/11 The Snarkinfested Christmas Happy Hour was held at Acre 121 on Monday night and it was a doozy! Fans of the blog downed a blue specialty drink called the Snark which had a gummy shark floating on the surface. The highlight of the evening was when the lovely and talented Ms. Kristin Johnson was crowned Miss SnarkInfested in a thrilling ceremony.
12/16/11 Rehearsal for “Night Before Christmas” fashion show in Silver Spring, MD on Friday night.
12/16/11 The great essayist and contrarian Christopher Hitchens died last night after a long battle with esophagel cancer.
He was a literate and passionate writer whom I enjoyed reading because he was quick to drop his line of argument and go straight for the ad hominem attack. He made a career out of going for the personal attack, actually.
I also think of him as being a good host. I made the above portrait of him in June 2004. He was being interviewed by a TV crew when I showed up at his huge apartment in The Wyoming that morning. I checked out his bookcases while he finished up. I remember PG Woodhouse and many books on photography and film criticism. He came over to greet me wearing socks and we immediately started talking as though we’d known each other for years.
I’d taken his picture before. Back in 1999, I was photographing red carpet arrivals for the premiere of the anti-smoking movie The Insider. It was held at DC’s art-deco movie palace, The Uptown and a lot of big wigs had been invited. Everyone was waiting around for one of the movie’s stars, Al Pacino to show up when I saw Hitchens walk into the movie house with a cigarette in his mouth. A couple minutes later, he was roughly escorted out with a goon at each elbow. It was like watching a scene from a silent movie. I told him how funny I thought it had been for him to tweak the crowd by walking into the theater smoking. He laughed but said he’d no recollection of it.
We sat down and had a whiskey. I took pictures as we chatted. His wife came in at one point and he introduced me. We talked about his forthcoming book on Jefferson and his tiff with Sidney Blumenthal and we talked about movies. We talked about a book called The Cruel Sea which I’d read because he mentioned it in one of his columns as being the best novel about the Battle of the North Atlantic. It’s 11 am and I can’t quite tell if he’s already blotto because he’s amazingly coherent on every topic we touch on. But then he lights a match and holds it in front of my face. There’s a longish pause. I don’t have a cigarette in my mouth to light. Makes me laugh. He offers me a smoke and I take it – you can see it in the ashtray above. “How did I know you smoked” he laughs. And then we drank some more.
12/14/11 Artist Kevin Paulsen installs his mural in the “speakeasy” room Monday afternoon at The Hamilton – a huge new restaurant and music venue from the Clyde’s group which is set to open next month at 14th and F Streets.
12/12/11 Antique store window in Georgetown.
12/07/11 She’s not jaywalking! I caught Ayala Pavia Tuesday afternoon dashing through the rain at the special intersection at 7th & H Streets which allows you to cross in all directions. Once we were safely on the opposite corner, she happily agreed to answer some DC-centric fashion questions:
Q. Who are you wearing?
A. My favorite leather bomber jacket by D & G, a Calvin Klein dress, and Gucci heels.
Q. Does DC have a particular sense of street style?
A. Yes and No. The people who live in DC definitely do. It’s a cross between urban chic and classic conservative dressing. I don’t seem to see much in between. Tourists and commuters in the city are a bit all over the place when it comes to style; there is not really one look for them.
Q. Are there any style trends you notice all the time?
A. Leggings are definitely in. Knee high boots and fedora hats. A lot of shabby chic. Oh, and Ray Bans! Everyone seems to own a pair in the city, whichever style they prefer.
Q. Which DC neighborhood is most fashionable?
A. Well, I would have to be biased and say my neighborhood, Logan Circle. There is a balance between business sophisticated and urban chic. I love hanging out around the 14th and U Street area. There are so many cool and eclectic people. Even taking a trip to Whole Foods on P Street is fun just to watch the urban fashionable crowd. I do it all the time!
Bio:
My background is European and my father lives in Milan, so I have always had a love for fashion. I began my career in retail with an internship at Valentino, sales at Neiman Marcus and finally management at Saks Fifth Avenue which really solidified my own personal style; edgy and sophisticated. More recently I have switched career paths and work for a company called LaserShip. Shipping is a very interesting and challenging career with many exciting opportunities. Please take a look at our website www.lasership.com and contact me with any inquiries regarding your shipping needs at apavia@lasership.com.
12/05/11 Jackson Browne tunes up “backstage” before singing to Occupy Washington DC at Freedom Plaza Monday afternoon.
[Sarah and guys from the band.]
12/02/11 Images from “Winter Wonderland,” the 2011 Georgetown Gala sponsored by the Citizens Association of Georgetown held at the Embassy of Russia with music by 70s tribute band RIGHT ON!
[Honoree Franco Nuschese, owner of Cafe Milano.]
[DC Mayor Gray doing conga line to the tune of "Love Train."]
