For better or for worse, I’ve always been a planner. Whether it’s a simple night out or a vacation in a new country, I not only do the research, but also verify it, organize it, email it, badger about it, and finalize it. (And now, I frequently pin it, too.)

Now, I have an outlet for my obsessive-compulsive research and planning. I’m pleased to announce that I’ve taken over the weekly “Get Out” column for the Washington Times, which covers the best of the best in cultural events, nightlife, and other happenings in the Washington Metropolitan area. It’s published every Friday in the print weekend section as well as online. I’ve been writing it for three weeks now, and I’m excited to see where it goes.

I’m not going to lie. It also fulfills my Carrie Bradshaw fantasies: “Sorry, I can’t. I have to write my column.”

Anyway, this week’s column is especially relevant, with a brief history of Dracula in honor of the Washington Ballet’s new performance, as well as a homage to the bygone days of Edgar Allan Poe and film noir.

The Washington Ballet presents Dracula

Now, stop wasting your weekend drinking a tired vodka soda at a crowded bar, and get out!

P.S. I highly recommend visiting the Hirshhorn Museum’s Ai Weiwei exhibit that I mentioned in my first column. I was lucky to attend the pre-opening party–which, by the way, was a gorgeous party with superb moo shu duck rolls in the opulently decorated Sculpture Garden outside the museum–and I’m eager to go back to explore the exhibit in-depth for a few hours.  It’s an exhibit that’s not only important in the scheme of politics and human rights, but also contains some extraordinary art.

L to R: Beijing’s 2008 Olympic Stadium, 2005-08; Divina Proportione, 2006; F-Size, 2011.
Installation view of Ai Weiwei: According to What? at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C., 2012.