It’s a dark and dreary day here in D.C., full of November rain. But melancholy has no place here, as it’s Thursday. Time to turn our eyes to the beautiful moments from the last week.

Here are three from mine:

1. As Rudi and I pedal over to the D.C. Tweed Ride start location Sunday morning, we find ourselves amidst the pealing of church bells from across the city. It’s a heart-stirring experience.

2. I signed up last night to take part in the Help the Homeless Walkathon and friends have already boosted me my fundraising goal. There is absolutely nothing beautiful about those who don’t have steady work, a safe roof over their heads, or enough to eat. But in tight times, it is good that there are places who reach out to serve people who have so little. Martha’s Table does good work to help children, in particular, and I have excellent friends who believe their dollars can make a difference.

3. Apple crisp just out of the oven — with a helping of whipped cream.

What are some of the beautiful things from your world this week?

On Sunday, Rudi, Michael, and I took part in the first ever D.C. Tweed Ride. The goal was a well-dressed and leisurely ride about town followed by libations at a respectable ale house.

We got all dolled up:

Michael even managed to borrow an old bike:

The weather was gorgeous, with sunny skies and warm temps, which meant perfect riding conditions for those with bare legs and arms, but a more harrowing (or, at least, sweaty) experience for those who went with authentic wool suits.

The ride itself went off for us without a hitch, although the start was slowed by the overwhelming number of people who thought this sounded like a most fun outing.

Want more photos? (more…)

Pairing your fun new argyles with impractical (but cute) three inch heels is just asking for the metro escalators at both ends of your journey to be out of order…

I’ve recently switched to a new cell phone plan. For years, Rudi and I were on the same family plan and I didn’t have to think about it one way or another so long as we paid the bill. But then Rudi got an iPhone and I didn’t. He switched over to AT&T, but I had enjoyed our days with Verizon and saw no reason to change with him.

However, this meant that it was now going to count against our minutes for me to call him. A plan where you can call x numbers for free seemed to make the most sense to negate the cross-carrier dialing I expected to do.

My plan went into effect last night and my phone prodded me to select myFave Five. I added Rudi’s cell and my folks’ landline and a friend with whom I can spend hours talking about all those important nothings that make up our daily lives.

Then, I was stymied. I decided to sleep on it. Clearly I would have my answer in the morning: Who were my other two “faves?”

In the morning, it was a bit clearer. One chatty friend usually calls me on my landline, but when I initiate the conversations I call from my cell. Clearly he’d be #4.

But still no clear-cut answer about my fifth slot.

My mother-in-law? Rudi and I talk to her once a week at least, but shouldn’t she go into Rudi’s list, rather than mine?

Someone here in D.C.? I send them lots of texts, but don’t actually spend a lot of time on the phone…

One of the friends I used to be able to spend hours with on the phone but who no longer seem to be around when I call … ? It could be a temporary situation caused by life changes or maybe it’s a portent of a change in our relationships….

A friend with whom I don’t talk very often but who can talk for hours when we do connect?

A friend I talk with on IM with practically every day? We don’t converse on the phone a lot, but might that change?

It shouldn’t be this hard. I should just pull up the last five phone bills and assign that fifth spot to whomever accounts for my largest chunk of minutes. But it’s the terminology that snags me: “myFaves.”

That suggests that there is an emotional hierarchy that I’m assigning here. These should be my five favorite people. The ones I want to talk to more than anyone else, irrespective of how — or whether — we converse.

That’s not, of course, what T-Mobile is expecting from me. (Or maybe they are. I don’t know.) They, I assume, figure this is just going to be an easy semantic-free decision.

It’s part of why I don’t join FaceBook. The term “friend” is bandied about there with such ease. Just because two people occupied the same space for a year or four or thirteen doesn’t make them friends. Acquaintances, sure. But friendship suggests more, and the FaceBook usage merely diminishes the value of the term.

I want certain words to mean something. Friend. Favorite. Love. These are words with big emotions behind them and to toss them about cavalierly suggests that they aren’t important to us. These should be words we use with care and caution and with only a few people. I’m not tossing those words out there to anyone I’ve ever met. I want you to understand that when I say that I love you or when I call you my friend there is a power behind those words.

Call me old-fashioned. Call me the English major I was.

Or just call me.

And then we can talk about who should have that fifth spot on my phone…

One of the best things about living in D.C. is the proximity of great bookstores, especially Politics & Prose.

A couple weeks ago, Barbara Kingsolver came to town. Knowing how popular she is, the store arranged for her to do her reading at a local church.

She started off behind the pulpit, but after a little while moved to center stage.

I have enjoyed her work since sophomore year when I took a class on contemporary women’s writing. We read The Bean Trees and I fell in love. More recent books have merely reinforced the sentiment. I especially enjoyed Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, which was one of the best books I read last year.

Her new novel, The Lacuna, focuses on the first half of the 20th century. It sounds great, and I’m eager to start reading it.

After reading for half an hour or so, Barbara took questions from the audience, including interesting ones about whether she felt sad leaving her characters behind when she was done working on a book.

She also signed books.

I managed not to fall down in front of her when it was my turn. But I did stumble all over myself in a fangirlish effort to thank her for her writing. She was gracious, in just that way I knew she would be.

Oh, and she did say she liked my shirt.

I will own that shirt forever.

The apartment is a mess from this weekend’s attempts to make it cleaner. I am a mess — reasons unclear. I know I spent this afternoon in a foul mood. An evening nap did not help. Tea did no help. Dropping my dinner all over my skirt and the floor certainly did not help. Neither did two nighttime nap. I have brushed my teeth and am hoping actual sleep will help. Only time will tell.

Regular blogging will return tomorrow. I can’t wait to tell you about the Tweed Ride because it was a lot of fun.

Talk to you tomorrow.