Occupy DC Flash Mob, Union Station.
On October 20th, 2011, more than 100 Occupy DC protesters flooded a $1000-a-plate fundraiser at Union Station. The fundraiser was put on by Conservation International, and featured WalMart and Northrup Gumman CEOs, along with former admin officials.
Every Nook and Cranny: Capitol Hill Books
WASHINGTON, D.C. – A faded, handwritten sign states that J.D. Salinger’s book signing is canceled for “tonight,” over a year after his death. The fridge upstairs holds a sign, which reads “Poetry,” and is stacked with books in front of it. An old kitchen sink is filled with cook-books of all sizes. A small bathroom is home to the foreign language section. A one way staircase encompasses books against the wall.
You can discover these hidden treasures in Eastern Market at Capitol Hill Books. This used bookstore leaves barely any room for customers to bring a backpack, or to make any sudden movements while they browse the medley of books. The small pathways are dimly lit with a few small chairs in between them. Books are piled up in messy stacks from the carpeted, creaky floor, stacking up to a few inches from the fragile ceiling. Unlike most bookstores, small ladders and foot stools are a necessity for customers to use when they are finding books. Some shelves are left untouched and are crammed with books from all angles, so that removing one book could have a Jenga effect. People seem powerless in comparison to this tiny yet extremely extensive bookstore.
Jim Toole, who claims to be “100 years old,” has run the place since 1995. The store was founded by Bill Kerr in 1991, when Kerr worked at another bookstore, Wayward Books, down the street. Kerr lived and died upstairs in the bookstore, and his sister sold the store to Toole soon after he passed. Toole was tired of working for other people, writing proposals for the department of energy. He says that he is now working harder than he’s ever worked in his life, running around like a “striped-ass-ape looking for books.”
His mission was to expand every nook and cranny of the entire building. He has a complete spectrum of books for the variety of people who come into the store from the flea market outside. He turned Kerr’s bedroom into the “mystery room,” where stacks of soft-cover mysteries fill every space available. He has a business closet for the lawyers, and a separate section for art, travel, history, gardening…you name it; and he will have a hand-written sign taped to the closest adhesive-friendly object.
Unlike other independent bookstores, Toole does all of the buying and selling himself—he does not have publishers or printers bring books to him, since he only sells used books. He goes to estate sales and yard sales on weekday mornings to search and purchase one-of-a-kind books. “The best place to get books from is from dead people—they don’t take them with them,” he says. “ I clean the people’s bugars off the books, I price the books, I shelve the books, and I sell the books,” he adds.
A stickler for good conversation and customers, Toole has hand-written notes all around the store, humorously reminding customers of his rules. The door has a sign which reads, “A bookstore—not a phone booth.” Behind his tiny desk, a sign lists words “not spoken here,” including the words: Oh my god (or gosh, or OMG), neat, sweet, totally, whatever, like, perfect, and that’s a good question.
“Life is not a simile,” Toole says in a metaphor. “I have thesauruses here, I’m ready to give them out to people so they can use other adjectives,” he says.
Talking about E-books, Toole says that he is from a different generation. “I like the ability to open and close a book, and sit down by a fireplace,” he says. “You can’t come and fondle books anymore because you can have a little machine in your hand, and read every book that ever was published. That means I’m out of business,” he adds.
Even with the rise in E-books, Capitol Hill Books is crammed with people on any given weekend. Customers pick a nook to explore, and make piles of books that interest them, getting in the way for others to walk by. They interact and bargain with Jim at the register, where he hands them a handwritten receipt of their purchase. The books will continue to keep piling closer and closer to the ceiling with Jim’s hard work.
Zoolights at the National Zoo in Adams Morgan. Go for free before January 1st!
More information here.
Photos from the Punk Rock Flea Market at St. Stephen’s Church in Columbia Heights.
Personalities at the Rally
1) Dressed in shirts that make up the word “Sanity,” this family drove from Virginia to attend the rally. They decided not to take the Metro because the lines would be insane. “Insane in a good way,” the mother adds.
2) Lis Riba and Ian Osmond drove from Massachusetts to the rally. Riba, with a library degree, insists that if people had more information, it would help with the rhetoric. She served tea during the Glen Beck rally at the Boston Commons in MA.
3) Connor Pettice from Pennsylvania, an avid Colbert / Stewart watcher, holds three different hand made signs at the rally.
4) The Adair brothers bring a photograph of Betty Adair, their mother, with them to the rally from Detroit. “She couldn’t come so we brought her with us,” they said.
5) Liz Burke, 25, came from New York City to attend the rally.
Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear
October 30th, 2010
Colette Wasdahl traveled from Massillon, Ohio to come to the rally. She was “frightened of fundamentalists more than tornadoes.”
Sarah Jedrey, above, dressed up as the character Yip Yip from Sesame Street. ” If you are going to have fun, why not go all out?” she said.
Paula Mayhew, above, traveled from the “wicked west” of Manhattan. Dressed as a bipartisan witch, she supports “fear, fear for everyone— both republicans and democrats.”
Midnight workers, Adam’s Morgan
ADAMS MORGAN, Washington, DC October 20, 2010—On a busy city block, a construction worker from Grade Line Engineering & Construction LLC makes dirt into concrete on his night shift. Cars and buses surround the construction in front of the Adams Morgan metro stop.
Kevin H. Lange, Vice president of Grade Line Engineering and Construction LLC, shines a light for his crew members to see underground. The workers are placing a new storm sewer underground, an EPA mandate to separate sanitary sewage from storm water. “We’re doing good for the environment; that’s the goal,” says Lange. “Once you get workin’, it’s a neat environment to be in,” he adds.
I spoke with Connie Picciotto, the infamous protester who has been outside of the white house since 1981, protesting for peace around the world. Currently, she is trying to “stop the proliferation of mass weapons, as it is a big threat to our entire planet.” She is there 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, rain or shine. She says that she receives food from local bakeries, although her agenda was not concerned with talking about how she received food. She was there to protest.
Above, she feeds a squirrel some of her bread while protesting.
At the same time, there was a protest to free political prisoners in Iran. I found it extremely interesting how tourists stood in front of the protesters to take pictures of themselves in front of the white house, paying no attention to the protest.
I also went to the Renwick Gallery to see the ” Art of Gaman: Arts and Crafts from the Japanese American Internment Camps.” http://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/archive/2010/gaman/ It’s a wonderful, truly inspiring exhibit. Check it out!
I interviewed Rev. Jesse Jackson on behalf of the Investigative Reporting Workshop at the One Nation Rally, where thousands of people from around the country came together to call for justice, jobs, and education for all.
See more photos I took from the rally on the American Observer here.
NATIONAL MALL, Washington, D.C. October 2nd, 2010—- Pamela Mason traveled from Colorado Springs, CO to attend the One Nation Rally. A member from the NAACP also raises her voice alongside her.
“A wide array of progressive groups drew tens of thousands of activists to the Lincoln Memorial on Saturday for a rally aimed at firing up their members and showcasing the diversity of their movement” — Washington post
I covered the One Nation Rally with the Investigative Reporting Workshop and the American Observer today. Very exciting!
Here’s a photograph of:
Doris Wojtala, 79, traveled by car from Michigan with Nancy Boler, 59, to attend the One Nation Rally. They lobbied their senator on Thursday concerning the deficit reduction effecting social security and medicare. They were “not giving up on progressive America.”
Interview with Jesse Jackson and others to follow!
“The homeless do use a lot of technology, just like anyone else, because the internet is for everyone to use.”
A short feature I made on Eric Sheptock, a homeless, homeless advocate in Washington, D.C. I followed him around for three or four days, going to Thrive DC, the CCNV shelter, and the MLK library where he uses the computers to blog, facebook and twitter. An inspiring character, who is more well-connected than most of the people I know.
I took these photographs during the time I was creating my documentary on Eric Sheptock, a homeless, homeless advocate. I saw many of the homeless sleeping outside of the shelter in Judiciary Square, and went back on a saturday night to spend time talking and photographing these women.
JUDICIARY SQUARE , Washington, D.C. September 18, 2010—- Martha Boyer and Annette Jacobs are two of the many homeless who sleep on the bridge by judiciary square. The city lights are the only things that reflect their faces at night. Cars and buses zoom pass this bridge behind them on any given night in the nation’s capital, contrasting the homeless who stay in the same street for over 10 hours a night. The cart in the foreground is the only subject in focus, speaking to their current state and only possessions.
