{"id":2866,"date":"2011-07-06T17:50:32","date_gmt":"2011-07-06T21:50:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.brianrose.com\/blog\/?p=2866"},"modified":"2011-07-06T17:50:32","modified_gmt":"2011-07-06T21:50:32","slug":"washington-d-c-14th-and-t","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.brianrose.com\/blog\/2011\/07\/washington-d-c-14th-and-t\/","title":{"rendered":"Washington, D.C.\/14th and T"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>
\nBen’s Chili Bowl on U Street, Washington, D.C. — \u00a9 Brian Rose<\/p>\n

I stayed in Washington with my family at a hotel on Dupont Circle. We walked up 18th Street through Adam’s Morgan, an ethnically diverse area I lived in briefly in the ’70s. Afterward, Brendan, my 12 year old son, insisted that we return to Ben’s Chili Bowl<\/a>, a Washington icon that he and I visited a couple of years ago. This being the 4th of July, a line of tourists formed in the adjacent alley.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n14th and T, Washington, D.C. — \u00a9 Brian Rose<\/p>\n

From Ben’s we walked down to the intersection of 14th Street and T, a corner mentioned in my song Open All Night<\/em>. Today, the area has greatly gentrified–a sidewalk cafe and a high end furniture store occupy two corners. But the other corners remain partially empty and somewhat bedraggled. So, despite the upscale incursions, 14th Street still feels like it’s on the edge between one thing and another–which in D.C. usually means between white and black. The t-shirt above says I Am DC, I Demand the Vote<\/em>, a reference to the fact that citizens of the District of Columbia are not represented in Congress, an inexcusable disenfranchisement of approximately 602,000 people.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n14th and T, Washington, D.C. — \u00a9 Brian Rose<\/p>\n

Open All Night<\/p>\n

Smoke blue breath in the window
\nHarsh lights and watery eyes
\nBurnt out butt out and out of sight
\nThe deal goes down at moonrise<\/p>\n

A newspaper blows through this tunnel of love
\nA tumbleweed in the city blight
\nPissing neon in the pouring rain
\nOpen all night<\/p>\n

Skin green splitting in the back room
\nStill praying to God above
\nDim names left back in the diner
\nAll for a thimble full of love<\/p>\n

There’s news of a murder up at 14th and T
\nAnd the waitress shivers with fright
\nAs two cops tell a fish story
\nOpen all night<\/p>\n

She wipes the counter and she sweeps the floor
\nShe makes the coffee and she asks do you want some more
\nShe looks in the eyes of a desperate man
\nShe can’t say much but she can understand
\nAnother aimless loner
\nAnother brittle voice
\nAnother ghostly goner
\nHis head in his hands
\nOpen all night<\/p>\n

And outside the street is a minefield
\nTo the ex-soldier with the tattooed arm
\nA cigarette stuck on his lower lip
\nHe thinks of his mom back on the farm<\/p>\n

And thick thighs snicker behind him
\nShe says boy you don’t have to fight
\nCome on home with me baby
\nI’m open all night<\/p>\n

(\u00a9 Brian Rose)<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Here is my song:<\/p>\n

Open All Night<\/a><\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Although I’m proud of my version of the song, go here<\/a> for Lucy Kaplansky’s stunning performance.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n14th and R, Washington, D.C. — \u00a9 Brian Rose<\/p>\n

From 14th and T we walked back to Dupont Circle, and ended the day watching the fireworks on the Mall.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ben’s Chili Bowl on U Street, Washington, D.C. — \u00a9 Brian Rose I stayed in Washington with my family at a hotel on Dupont Circle. We walked up 18th Street through Adam’s Morgan, an ethnically diverse area I lived in briefly in the ’70s. Afterward, Brendan, my 12 year old son, insisted that we return […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2866","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-photogs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brianrose.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2866","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brianrose.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brianrose.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brianrose.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brianrose.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2866"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/www.brianrose.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2866\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2889,"href":"https:\/\/www.brianrose.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2866\/revisions\/2889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brianrose.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2866"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brianrose.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2866"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brianrose.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}