This is, above all else, a blog about DC. More specifically, it's about a DC that the residents - you know, the people who actually have to live and function in this town - would like to see. Nightlife. Food-life. Transit-life. Politics-life. Life in DC, how it should be.
About our name:As all you DCers know, and as most of you non-DCers don't know, there is neither a West Capitol Street nor a J Street in the District. There's no West Capitol Street because that's where the National Mall is. It's part of the design.
But why no J Street? When I moved to town in 2000, one of my friends explained that the theory he heard (which, to be fair, he presented as an urban legend) was that Pierre L'Enfant had a grudge against John Jay supposedly due to some malfeasance with a woman. Out of spite, when L'Enfant named the streets, he skipped over J.
Other theories suggest other forms of animosity between the two, mostly over some treaty or some other slight L'Enfant felt America had done upon France.
The most likely story, according to both
The Straight Dope and
Snopes, is much more mundane. Back in the day, the letters I and J were used somewhat interchangeably. It would be somewhat akin to us having a C Street for the "s" sound C can produce, and another C Street one block away for the "k" sound. Having I and J together would just be confusing. Hence the newer letter, J, was omitted.
West Capitol and J is an intersection that doesn't exist. This blog is about a DC that does not exist, but one we'd like to see.
About the authors:Jambro is a semi-retired director in the theatre, and was co-Artistic Director of The Theatre Conspiracy until 2000. She is currently occupationally slumming it for a think tank in Dupont. She currently enjoys Buffy the Vampire Slayer on DVD (TV series), and really All Things Whedon, in addition to Lingo (and really, All Things Woolery). She's hot, taken, and has
her own blog.
Checkypantz is the other writer here. He's underemployed and looking. He currently enjoys All Things Cybertronian and All Things Constitutional. He's somewhat less hot than Jambro, and also has
his own blog.
A sidenote: If there were a "West Capitol Street" and a "J Street", and they followed the conventional taxonomy of the rest of DC (i.e., they go where you would expect them to go), they would never intersect. It's the one failing of the name, really. This is all stuff that we'd want to see in DC, stuff that's possible, and even likely. "West Capitol and J" just has the benefit of being clever.