1. This story about a 12 year old from Baltimore who is currently the national youth chess champion is wonderful and I hope people make books and movies about this kid.
2. This map of rents in the DC area is hardly a surprise to folks who have priced the area, but it does illustrate a thing that I have found is not obvious to folks who haven't had to strike out on their own. Yes, the DC area has a robust job market and a decent public transit system. However, living near transit costs you, and living not near transit either means paying for a car, or dedicating additional time, two buses to get you to metro, or three buses to get you where you're going. Also, yeah, those are the average rents.
3. This list of bookstore owners who are authors include some suggestions for book reading.
