Time to Drop #DMV?
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- Parent Category: Onstage
The best case for the argument that it’s time to retire the descriptive term “DMV” is that it still requires explaining to just about everyone who doesn’t reside in the metropolitan DC area. Though it’s been used quite a while, except for us locals and Nikki Minaj, no one intuitively gets that the acronym means District, Maryland and Virginia. And except for us, no one uses “DMV”. Now we know this is just opening up a very old discussion thread, but we revisit the subject because there’s a point to be made to aspiring artists from our region that using the term doesn’t help when the goal is building a national following. Brand recognition is a measurable indicator for growing an audience. So here’s the rub; if using DMV was indeed a cultural phenomenon cultivated by the area hip hop community, it’s had the opposite effect than its original intent. DMV is still very much a local brand. It’s had years to grow into a nationally recognized brand. It hasn’t. And it won’t.
We Recommend! - Coffy Cafe
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- Parent Category: Onstage
Columbia Heights is seriously hip, and one of the best examples of how this neighborhood draws an incredibly diverse range of folks together is the highly regarded and very laid back Coffy Café. For coffee, crepes, conversation, and free Wi-Fi there just isn’t a similar location anything like this place. Labeling itself as a “modern café with a mod 60’s flavor” the venue has been providing space and ambiance for the cool for 3 years and is independently owned and operated. Located at 3310 14th Street, NW, Coffy is “… a place for community meetings, to unwind with neighbors, sit with a book and a latte, dine on a sweet or savory crepe or get a cupcake.”
For the uninitiated, crepes are a type of very thin pancake, usually made from wheat flour --- buckwheat and white flour at Coffy -- and served with a variety of fillings, from the most simple such as sugar to the immensely imaginative such as mango, lemon, walnuts, whipped cream with caramel drizzle. Coffey Café owner Philecia Harris was convinced by a friend to focus on crepes as her main offering and the suggestion has proven to be quite a hit.
If you love a café with great music as a backdrop this is just the place for you. The staff selects a daily playlist of music from the 60’s and 70’s that ranges from smooth and relaxing, to tap your feet, to feel like dancing, all blended as perfectly as the coffee. Coffy Café also has meeting and party space available at reasonable pricing. Stop by soon to take a look and enjoy the coffee and crepes. We highly recommend it! Find more info at their Facebook page and follow @CoffyCafe on Twitter.
#ThoughtfulThursday: Dasha Kelly "Home Alone"
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- Parent Category: Onstage
Poet, writer, artist and entrepreneur Dasha Kelly is the founder of the arts program Still Waters Collective which utilizes creative writing and spoken word to shape confidence and leadership with youth across southeastern Wisconsin. She has performed on HBO’s Def Jam and her writings have been published in anthologies, text books, magazines, and online. She will be performing tonight in DC at Spit Dat, the acclaimed open mic series that recurs each Thursday at Emergence Community Arts Collective (ECAC), 733 Euclid Street, NW. Below is an excerpt from her poem “Home Alone”. ..
Except from “Home Alone” by Dasha Kelly
When I’m alone, in my mirror, I make myself promises
I promise more movies, fewer emails, longer baths, new words
I promise to keep my heart in my left hand, so it can be free
but I can still keep watch, such a rambunctious thing
Some of these are promises in progress
I make them all in good faith
I am good faith when I’m alone
I am peace when I’m alone
I am beautiful
I am wise
I am gentle
I am quiet
So surprisingly quiet
I am listening to the murmur, moaning and meandering of my thoughts
I am floating when I’m alone
I am smearing foodstuffs on my face and in my hair
I am flossing and exfoliating
Peering into the eyes of the anxious preteen who refuses to leave me
I am welcoming a new face that is mine, but not really
I spend a lot of time in the mirror, these days
An exercise that feels exactly like prayer
