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THE Q&A
CAFE
with Carol Joynt
On
Fri at 8 pm
Sat at 6 pm
Sun at 11pm
We thank these
notable people who appeared at
The Q&A Cafe
since 9/07.
Thank you for a great season of shows:
DAN RATHER
HOWARD FINEMAN
MARK WARNER
SHEILA JOHNSON
MICHAEL HERRRALD
AMY HOLMES
SAM DONALDSON
CARL CANNON
JONATHAN ALTER
PHILIPPE COUSTEAU
STAN KASTEN
SCOTT SIMON
CONNIE SCHULTZ
ROBERT FRANK
VALERIE PLAME WILSON
ROBERT NOVAK
AMB. PIERRE VIMONT
DAN GLICKMAN
MARTHA JOYNT KUMAR
DAVID BALDACCI
BOB RYAN
MICHAEL ISIKOFF
DAVID CORN
MAYOR ADRIAN FENTY
DR. MICHAEL JACOBSON
LEONARD DOWNIE, JR.
RICHARD MOE
TUCKER CARLSON
DOUGLAS FEITH
TED SORENSEN
~
We are on hiatus for the summer, resuming mid-September. Return here often to find out what's coming up and when and so forth and so on. Join our mailing list for frequent updates through the summer
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Swimming in Quicksand;
A Daily Journal of Survival
By Carol Joynt
carol@nathansgeorgetown.com
FRIDAY, JULY 18 ... Others having their birthday today...Chace Crawford, Nelson Mandela, Kristen Bell, Steve Forbes, Vin Diesel, Richard Branson, Martha Reeves, Adam Platt, Joe Torre, Richard Branson, Nancy A. Miller and the late Hunter S. Thompson.
Thanks for the emails. I'm fine. Or, fine enough. Just as I report the up and good times here, I report the down and challenging times, too. That's why it's "Swimming in Quicksand." It's what I do.
My good friend NB took me to La Chaumiere for lunch, which was a delight. And cool. Oh so cool. My meal was chilled asparagus Vicyhyssoise, perfect little Soft Shelled Crabs sauteed in lemon, butter and herbs, and an Apple Tart with ice cream and caramel sauce, with one candle stuck in one raspberry, making it possible for one wish. My son joined us at the end and then the two of us fulfilled his plan for my birthday: to see "The Dark Knight" on its opening day. A whole lot of summer movie fills the screen and, yes, HEATH LEDGER dominates, though CHRISTIAN BALE is a treat all his own. One of my emails reminded, "it's always darkest before the dawn," and just like that a character in the film said the same thing. Message duly noted. If only I could track the darned storm's future path on radar, though.
EARLIER... Well, the word from Black Op did not involve DefCon 3 circumstances, but our work is before us and a challenge. Then a meeting with a Georgetown landlord who I like, who is smart, who has many decades of experience here, who said my situation with Nathans is "hopeless." I hate that word. I know the world is full of hopeless situations, but I hate having it applied to me. I don't want my life to be hopeless, my efforts to be pointless, to working so hard for no return. But he has a cold, hard and realistic point of view. He knows as I know that no one has offered to move Nathans to a new location and it's unlikely to happen. "There's no money in restaurants right now," he said. He also knows I could not do it alone and would need investors, and none has stepped up.
He believes The Q&A Cafe has a viable future, but again, there would have to be a group that got together to give it legs. He knows as I know that I am not a business person. I have skills, but they do not include doing a business. I could teach a business course in running a business for a decade while not understanding any of it.
His scenario for the future is that the landlords will find a buyer for the Nathans building at a price far, far lower than $18 million - more like $7 to 7.5. Or, if they don't find a buyer or tenant they will let it sit empty, as they did with the Cellar Door buiding, which sat empty for years until Philadelphia Cheesesteak signed a lease. "Either way, you are out," he ssaid. Boom. "You should talk to a bankruptcy lawyer and file," he said. Oh, I have, I have. But I can't file for bankruptcy because I am personally on the lease. "You have a noose around your neck," he said. Oh, yeah. I know.
I talk to as many people as possible to try to learn as much as I can, to get perspective, to hope for some little kernel of epiphany that will help me find a solution. I don't expect anybody to hand me a free pass. I have to do this myself. The part I don't like, which is happening more often, is when I hit walls. Too many walls today.
I cried only in the car. By the time I got home and parked I was better again. A friend is taking me to lunch. That will turn the tide.
EARLIER...It's my birthday, which always makes me think of my mother and father, but it's starting like any other day: a message last night from Black Op to phone him this morning on a "land line." In my world, that kind of message is like having an anchor chain tied round your neck. In othe words: no matter how great the desire to feel UP, the chances are better of getting dragged down by reality. So be it. This is what I do: survive. Roll with it. Try to find the bright side. Look for solutions, even when they continue to skitter away like time and pigeons.
Went out last night to the ball park for a game between Hill democrats and republicans -- all members of the House or Senate. Seriously. It was a kick to see these dudes in their little baseball outfits, taking it oh oh oh so very studiously. Warming up, practicing their throws, their swing, stuffing their faces with hot dogs. Hey, it's probably the only time Congress has fun anymore. Nats stadium was a steambath. Between rain, heat, humidity, sunlight - oh, well. It's summer. It's baseball.
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