D.C.’s getting more bike lanes separated from cars, such as this one on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Friday is Bike to Work Day, and organizers of the event in D.C. expect at least 12,000 riders to participate. That’s more than double the number who turned out in 2006.

If that growth sounds remarkable, it’s no surprise to anyone who’s been on the District’s streets lately, particularly the ones that have been retrofitted with lanes that separate cyclists from city traffic.

Just how popular has cycling become here? On his regular ride to work in Foggy Bottom, Bryce Pardo, 27, won’t even take the 15th Street cycle track — the on-road bike lane lined with pylons — because of a new problem: “It’s so crowded. There are trains of bicyclists.”

As of 2010, 3.1 percent of D.C. residents surveyed by the Census Bureau reported that biking was their primary mode of transportation to work. While still low, that represents a 169 percent jump from 2000.

As longtime D.C. bicycle advocate Peter Harnick put it, “You’re not a freak if you do it anymore.”

One huge contributor to the surge in cycling: the September 2010 launch of Capital Bikeshare, which has put more than 1,000 hard-to-miss red rental bikes on the streets, accounting for nearly 2 million trips to date.

What may turn out to be an even bigger factor going forward, however, is the city’s strategy of separating bikes from car traffic. Jim Sebastian, who oversees biking and pedestrian programs for the District Department of Transportation, credits several recent projects, including the 15th Street cycle track and the median bike lanes on Pennsylvania Avenue, with attracting a wider variety of cyclists. “It’s not just people in Lycra,” he said.

The key to the success of these two routes is that there’s something other than a stripe of paint between cars and bikes. “It forces cars to be more aware of bikes and know where to expect them,” said seasoned cyclist Martin Thomas, 39, who has altered his commute route to include 15th Street and wishes there were more separated lanes.

He’s in luck. DDOT is slated to install an eastbound bike lane on L Street this summer. A westbound lane on M Street is about a year away.

Riders can expect several other protected lanes too, especially after Washington was selected last month as one of six U.S. cities to take part in the Green Lane Project. Funded by the Bikes Belong Foundation, a nonprofit working to make cycling safer, the project aims to promote these modern bikeways.

Separation requires new traffic patterns that can frustrate everyone on the road initially, said Daniel Hoagland of the Washington Area Bicyclist Association. He recalls how confused people were by the changes on 15th Street in 2009. Drivers parked in the bike lanes, pedestrians walked in them, and cyclists zoomed in both directions (despite markings indicating traffic was one-way).

These days, most drivers and riders navigate the street with ease, and a recent survey completed as part of DDOT’s Bicycle Facility Evaluation showed that 84 percent of neighborhood residents support the current setup.

Hoagland predicts people will get the hang of the patterns more quickly as these separated lanes pop up across the city. Maybe they’ll all be riding on them soon, too.

Rolling Along

Washington is ahead of many American cities when it comes to bicycling infrastructure and support, but advocates say a few obstacles remain for riders. Projects underway aim to help get us over those hills.

Lanes and Trails

The L Street cycle track being installed between New Hampshire Avenue and 12th Street NW this summer, followed by one on M Street next year, will represent a huge improvement for east-west bike travel. But neither will go far east enough to connect with the Metropolitan Branch Trail (which still isn’t completed between Union Station and Silver Spring), the H Street corridor or across the Anacostia River. More cycle tracks, including one on First Street NE, are on the horizon.

Parking

Do you have a place to lock up your bike? Not always, says DowntownDC Business Improvement District’s Ellen Jones, who’s obsessed with finding more bike parking to meet demand. “We’re trying to add 25 bike spaces a year, but there’s a tsunami we’re experiencing,” she says. Downtown has 534 racks, but she suspects that number needs to double.

WMATA also recently acknowledged how key bike parking is by adding racks to several stations. And the system’s first Bike & Ride facility (an enclosed structure with space for more than 100 bikes) opened Tuesday at the College Park Metro station.

Education

City cycling requires confidence that many people lack. So WABA and BikeArlington have launched Two Wheel Tuesdays, a weekly event at 7 p.m. that tackles topics, such as navigation, handling intersections and fixing flat tires, that can make folks apprehensive about biking.

Tenacious D’s comeback album, “Rize of the Fenix,” out this week, isn’t a masterpiece, but there’s something undeniably appealing about Jack Black, left, singing faux-rock songs alongside Kyle Gass, right, again. It’s easy to forget, but when Tenacious D released its now classic eponymous debut in 2001, Black wasn’t yet a Hollywood superstar, and mixing comedy with music was still a novelty.

Of course, I might be biased. I was 13 when I first heard Tenacious D, and its songs about the devil, friendship and four-letter words spoke to the comedic sensibilities of my teenage self.

In high school, I formed an acoustic duo and we’d cover “Tribute,” Tenacious D’s most revered song. When I got to college, the first movie I reviewed for the student newspaper was the duo’s 2006 flop, “The Pick of Destiny.” Two years later, I started dating a girl who was an extra in that very film. ( Coincidence? Fate? We’re still together, and I’m still not sure.)

For me, “Rize of the Fenix,” which pokes fun at “Pick of Destiny’s” failure, and Black’s rise to stardom, feels like being reunited with an old friend. Neither of us is the same, but it’s fun to get together and relive the past.

Especial Dos Backpack ($119) Timbuk2.com

Highlights: the sturdy woven nylon fabric, the handy sleeve for a tablet, the hitching place for a u-lock, the zippered compartment for easy access to essentials and the sternum straps for stability. The “cooling panel” on the back helped — a little. Pedal away with no fear of wrinkles with Timbuk2’s OCD Packing Folder ($35-$39).

SODO Handlebar Bag ($78)

We managed to squeeze in a rolled-up pair of pants and a shirt, a bagel and an apple. Plus, the waterproof compartment on top for your smartphone means you can text without removing it — but not while pedaling!

ORP Rolltop Backpack ($110)

It’s light (0.9 pounds), waterproof and built like a bucket, and it has a top to roll down if you’re not carrying much or to pull up for bulky loads. (It definitely can hold a tablet computer — or a six-pack of beer.) Comfortable shoulder straps and a sternum strap keep the ORP (for “Operation Readiness Pack”) from weighing you down.

RIBZ Front Pack ($59.95)

This appears to be the world’s only front pack, which makes so much sense for cyclists. Your stuff, stored in a couple of zippered compartments, hangs in front of your chest, not your back, so … no sweat!

Traditional bags might prove too awkward to carry while cycling.

Will your laptop weather a downpour? Will your dress slacks get mussed? Will your banana squish?

If you join the growing ranks of bike commuters on Friday’s Bike to Work Day, those are a few of the questions you may face. And then there’s the biggest question of all: How will you carry the load?

Back It Up. A pack on your back is as straight-forward as it gets. “Just fold your clothes nicely so they don’t get wrinkly, throw ’em in and go,” says Sara Stodter, 24, who rides 3½ miles from South Arlington to work in Ballston.

And some riders think the pack is a safety plus, as it can serve as an airbag of sorts to break a rider’s fall. Pack man Rob Summers, 43, who commutes nine miles from Capitol Hill to Arlington, once crashed against a bridge’s guardrails. “My shoulder and elbow were bruised,” he says. “My back wasn’t.”

Packs aren’t perfect, though. They’ll make your back sweat. A lot. Newfangled models boast “breathable” panels, but nothing can withstand D.C. humidity. A pack can also block upper-body reflective garb. Look for a brand with reflective material or stick on reflective tape and a light. Another potential pack problem is lower back pain. Slowly increase weight to see how you bear up, suggests orthopedic surgeon Jeffrey Schwartz, and play with handlebar and seat positions to cope with pack pressure.

Keep in mind that added weight can affect your center of gravity, says Greg Billing of the Washington Area Bicyclist Association, although not as much as bags hung on handlebars. Using that technique in college, Billing went to swing around a pedestrian: “The bag swung back into the wheel, and I flipped.”

Rack ’Em. Many cyclists opt to get the weight off their backs and onto the bike. Install a rack on your bike (about $40 for a rack and $12 for labor at 14th Street’s Rollin’ Cycles) and hook on a pannier, which is a bag that hangs from a bike’s rear.

Longtime cyclist Roff Smith, who blogs at My-bicycle-and-i.co.uk, raves about two well-constructed brands: Ortlieb (“completely waterproof”) and Carradice (“extremely water resistant — I have never had anything get soaked with it and I’ve ridden in some nasty downpours”).

An alternative is to go full frontal: The old-fashioned basket is finding new fans. Carolyn Szczepanski of the League of American Bicyclists likes neatly arranging her stuff in a basket, whether it’s a laptop or a pizza. “Even when I turn I don’t worry about anything falling out,” she says.

Cycle Through. You needn’t commit to one carrying style. And you may discover unconventional options. “Milk crates are pretty light,” says 38-year-old Washingtonian Niko Welch, who’s attached a crate to his rack with grocery ties and once used many, many bungee cords to haul a small refrigerator.

Specialty carrying products abound, too, such as the bamboo baguette quiver ($16). And for a perfectly preserved banana, try the $6 container from Bananabunker.com.

Can you explain to me why a grown woman (my boss) would be such a drama queen about everything? If she has a bad day, everyone has to have a bad day. If she has to take a sick day, it’s a major crisis and it’s like the world is ending. If even small changes get made in how she thought that things were supposed to go, she can’t deal. How can I stop the insanity? -Frustrated Employee

Psychologists can’t analyze people from this many degrees away (as Kevin Bacon breathes a sigh of relief), so I don’t have answers for why she’s like that.

But I can urge you to work on controlling what you can control, and it’s not her. Develop coping strategies to manage your anxiety: a mantra, a walk around the block, a visit to that sarcastic co-worker’s cube, a favorite song on your headphones or a few moments of meditation or yoga (yes, there are office-appropriate poses). The less affected you are by her antics, the less she gets the earthquakes she’s looking for. Of course, she won’t completely change unless she chooses to. But you can keep her from poisoning your day, and therefore lessen her impact on the workplace.

Just One Couple, But Two Views

I’m finding that my boyfriend and I have very different values. I had a conservative upbringing, and I’m very “rigid” about a lot of things, according to him — my views about sexual things, drinking, drugs, gender roles, etc. I respect him and his views, and appreciate how open-minded he is. But I am not that. He’s always joked that he will “loosen me up,” but now that we’re talking about marriage, I wonder if we will always butt heads. -Opposites Attract

That depends on what butting heads looks like. Is it respectful, patient discussion, or a literal cracking of your skulls together?

Conflicting values don’t have to be a bad thing. What counts is how you handle them. Before you consider marriage, you must move from thinking about your different values hypothetically to more practically. For instance, right now, your night-and-day perspectives might be cute. But will you let your 13 year-old have a sip of beer? Will you give condoms to your 16 year-old? It’s not that you need a spreadsheet committing to these exact decisions. But you need to have an idea of where the common ground is, and how you’ll reach decisions together.

Junk food is cheap at a store featured in the HBO series “The Weight of the Nation.”

If you plan to snack while watching HBO’s new documentary series “The Weight of the Nation,” better grab some fruit. And better yet, grab it from a farmers market.

The first half of the four-part program debuted Monday night; the program concludes tonight with two more episodes dedicated to our ballooning waistlines. “Weight” hammers home the message that humans evolved to store calories, and in a society that has industrialized food production and engineered out activity, that’s making us sick. But it’s not all bad news. Several folks featured in the series are working to change habits, including Preston Maring, a physician with Kaiser Permanente (one of the partners in the HBO project), who recognized how badly some of his patients were eating.

His solution: hospital farmers markets. Employees get fresh lunch options, patients can pick up produce after appointments and neighbors have a regular reminder to eat their veggies. After Maring got one off the ground in Oakland, Calif., in 2003, that seed of an idea grew into something much bigger.

Now there are more than 40 KP-sponsored markets and farm stands (with a single vendor), including five locations in the Mid-Atlantic region. The newest one, a farm stand in Gaithersburg (655 Watkins Mill Rd.), opened Monday.

One hurdle to shopping at farmers markets is the price, but as the program notes, the real cost of unhealthy foods is much higher. You’ll have to shell out for junk later in health care costs, and taxes keep the prices of processed foods artificially low due to government subsidies for corn and soy.

Maring believes the bigger problem is the ubiquity of fattening foods. “When you get down to the reality check, what we choose to eat is because it’s right in front of us,” says Maring, who thinks that putting produce everywhere can change that. “We need to make the right thing the easy thing to do.”

Watch Out

See it free at Theweightofthenation.hbo.com or attend a screening at 6 p.m. today at Prince George’s County Community College (301 Largo Road, Largo, Md.) in the Rennie Forum.

The Numero Group’s meticulously curated and expertly packaged Eccentric Soul series showcases independent soul music from the ’60s and ’70s. The label rescues true gems from these micro-scenes, which would otherwise be lost to the heaps of 45s, LPs and master tapes getting dusty in disorganized basements.

Previous Numero releases have focused on Chicago and Detroit, but the series came to D.C. last year with the release of “Who’s Going to Save the World,” an LP by long-lost Adams Morgan band Father’s Children. The group also features on the new “Eccentric Soul: A Red Black Green Production,” a collection of engineer Robert Jose Williams’ largely unreleased 1970s recordings made in his parents’ basement in Silver Spring.

RBG Productions clients Skip Mahoaney and the Casuals, Dyson’s Faces, the Summits, East Coast Connection, Promise, and the Exceptions, above, all reflect the R&B and soul that dominated the era: smooth and chart-friendly. But none of these groups broke through to major-label stardom like Williams had hoped, and RBG Productions wound down by the end of the ’70s.

Thanks to Numero, Williams’ work won’t be lost to the dustbin of history.

Jennifer Balarezo, left, uses specially made mannequins to teach students CPR.

Jennifer Balarezo, 34
Title: Owner, GOTCPR LLC
Salary: $79,000 (company earned $122,000)

What She Does: Balarezo teaches people how to save lives.

An emergency medical technician (EMT) since 1999, she uses CPR and other lifesaving techniques in her work. CPR also played a role in a defining moment of Balarezo’s life. In December 2003, her father, who was suffering from terminal lung cancer, went into cardiac arrest at home. Balarezo called 911 and performed CPR until emergency services arrived, but her father’s body had shut down so much that he couldn’t be saved. In the aftermath, Balarezo realized her training as an EMT helped her stay calm during a crisis. It gave her a new goal: “I want to be able to help people feel somewhat secure in how to react in an emergency,” she says.

Since May 2007, she and her staff of three instructors plus four freelancers have been offering training in CPR, first aid and Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS), as well as the pediatric versions of those techniques, to individuals and groups around the metro area. They work with new parents as well as personal trainers, doctors and nurses who need to renew their CPR certifications.

Classes, which are based on the American Heart Association’s (AHA) guidelines for CPR, last one to eight hours and cost from $65 to $300, depending on the type of skill taught. Instructors guide students step-by-step through lifesaving techniques. Balarezo uses mannequins whose chests rise and fall just as a real person’s would when the breathing techniques are performed correctly. She also has defibrillator trainers identical to the real thing that don’t administer a shock.

GOTCPR’s steady clients include corporations such as Gold’s Gym and area hospitals such as Inova Fairfax, George Washington University and Johns Hopkins University.

Would You Want This Job: Balarezo sets her teaching schedule, which allows her to work as a lead EMT with her own ambulance and crew for the Dale City, Va., Volunteer Fire Department. She’s also taking classes to become a physician’s assistant. With her schedule so full, the pace can be grueling. “We do anywhere from one class a day to four or five classes,” Balarezo says.

Being around people who want to help others perks her up. “I really, really enjoy the stories that people share, even if it’s tragic,” she says. “I just love to listen, and I love to share because I can completely empathize.”

And the money is good. Balarezo says she can earn in a day what she made in two weeks at the Vienna credit union where she worked for nine years before starting GOTCPR.

How She Got this Job: Balarezo credits GOTCPR’s success to her experience as an EMT and her decision to hire only firefighters, EMTs or paramedics as CPR instructors.

“To teach CPR or first aid, I think that you should be in a setting where you’re actually doing this. It’s different if you’re being taught by someone who’s never actually done CPR versus us, because this is what we do,” she says.

Balarezo became certified as an EMT in 1999 through Northern Virginia Community College (NVCC) and joined the fire department in 2010. In between, she earned a bachelor’s in biology from George Mason University, graduating in 2009.

She also taught CPR and first-aid classes at NVCC from January 2005 until she started GOTCPR. For advice and business questions, she consults with her AHA Training Center coordinator.

How You Can Get This Job: To become certified to teach CPR and first aid, check out instructor courses at AHA, the American Red Cross, EMS Safety Services and Safety First Training. Courses cost about $450.

Master’s student Charlie Cornelius, right, teaches a 10th-grade class at Dunbar High with fellow teacher Henry Johnson.

Today’s teaching degrees are anything but cookie-cutter. The industry trend toward not-so-textbook master’s programs helps education professionals specialize in what secondary schools need most: Strong school leaders as well as teachers who can reach students from a variety of backgrounds.

These focused teaching degrees offer more flexibility in finding a job — and perhaps a bigger paycheck.

Even some teachers-in-training might not know the full slate of possibilities, says Christopher Kamar, 28, who will earn a master’s in education leadership from George Mason University in December.

“People who have been through their first career and are looking into teaching or some field in education are looking at a lot more options than just being in the classroom or being certified in a specific subject,” says Kamar, who was poised for a pharmacology career before he started substitute teaching.

Education Leadership

Kamar’s options led him to enroll in GMU’s master’s in education leadership with an eye toward leading one of Fairfax County’s six pre-professional academies, which are high schools with classes that help students enter the workforce. Kamar now teaches a pharmacy technician course at one of them, West Potomac High in Alexandria.

The education leadership program targets teachers who want to work in school administration, perhaps as a principal or a superintendent. The George Washington University, Howard University and the University of Maryland also offer education leadership degrees.

“Most people will be looking for an assistant principal job right out of our program,” says S. David Brazer, associate professor and coordinator of George Mason’s Education Leadership Program.

With the master’s degree and an eye toward a job that’s higher on the totem pole, education leadership grads stand to earn more money than your average teacher, Brazer adds.

It takes most of the program’s 275 students, who are typically full-time teachers, two years to complete the program, which includes an internship. Besides covering such education-degree staples as curriculum development, students learn to manage both finances and employees.

“They learn how to analyze schools and school districts from a more general perspective than the view of an individual classroom teacher,” Brazer says.

Next, students identify problem areas at the schools where they’re interning and create and implement action plans to address them.

“The internship piece is really what appeals to me,” Kamar says. “The activities they have outlined for us and the standards that we have to meet really give us an advantage as far as what it’s like to be a real administrator.”

Urban Education

Not all teachers want to leave the classroom to be an administrator. Those passionate about helping at-risk students can hone their skills with a master’s degree in urban education from Johns Hopkins University, the University of Maryland or the University of the District of Columbia.

Urban educators learn how to teach effectively in a classroom where many students arrive unprepared, several grade-levels behind and with life challenges that distract them from school, says Julie Sweetland, director of the Urban Teacher Academy at UDC’s Center for Urban Education.

Second-year students in UDC’s urban education programs work in local schools.

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Of course, Sweetland is quick to point out that “most things about urban education are the same as rural, suburban, private — whatever you want to say. The heart of great teaching stays the same no matter where you are.”

In the first year of their two-year program, UDC’s master’s students are in class full-time studying theories of urban education. They spend the second year as employed, paid teachers, while still enrolled part-time at UDC. “That allows us to bring a mentor to your classroom to support you through your first year of teaching,” Sweetland says.

“What I like about our program is it feels like specific training for teaching in D.C.,” says Charlie Cornelius, 29, who will earn a master’s from UDC next spring and teaches a 10th-grade world history class at Dunbar High School in Northwest D.C.

“There’s a lot of what I’m learning that wouldn’t be applicable to teaching in the most affluent place in the world, but is really applicable to what we’re doing.”

Special Education

Special education is another in-the-classroom job with a twist. Special-ed instructors focus on traditional subjects such as math, science and history, but they adapt the teaching methods to work for children with mental and physical challenges.

“The special educators who come from this program understand how to service the community in which they teach,” says Teressa Papproth, 48, who is studying elementary special ed at the University of Maryland and wants to start a nonprofit that provides after-care to special-needs kids. “We have specific classes that we take on understanding how students transition not only from elementary to middle and middle to high school, but out into the community and workplace.”

At UMD, students can specialize based on the type of disability or based on the students’ age range. Everyone takes classes in subjects such as math, social sciences and English before moving into special-education classes. The students also spend two or three mornings a week helping out as teachers in a classroom.

“Our special educators know how to collaborate … they know how to modify the materials, they know how to adapt or help students access it,” says M. Lynn Brown, who works for the program.

You can also earn a degree in special education at George Washington, GMU, the University of Virginia, American University and Howard.

English as a Second Language

If you want to teach in a classroom and have a knack for language, check out programs in teaching English as a second language (ESL). It could make landing a job easier.

“There’s a high demand for ESL teachers here, which is a big perk in the job market,” says Jennifer Hanger, 27, who will earn an ESL master’s from Marymount University in December and wants to teach middle schoolers. “There are so many immigrant and refugee students and students who have been born in the U.S. but don’t speak English in their home.”

Another perk: ESL teachers can teach anywhere in the world, making this one of the most flexible degrees in the field. Marymount grads have taken jobs teaching English in Defense Department schools in Japan, Korea and Bolivia, among other nations.

You can earn a degree in ESL at Marymount or Maryland, while other schools such as GMU and UVA offer graduate certificates.

Marymount’s program, which started in 1992, was the first in Virginia to lead not only to a degree but also a license.

Besides classes in course design, students also work with linguists. “It’s a little more technical than teaching English because you get to break the language down, which I think is really interesting,” says Hanger.

Whatever their reasons for going into teaching, the students say furthering their own educations is a way to help the next generation.

“I really like the idea of doing something good,” Cornelius says.

Matt, 30, is a management analyst for the Navy. Candice, 28, is an attorney. They live in D.C.

The Main Event: They’re getting hitched June 1 in Cohasset, Mass.

How They Met: At Madam’s Organ.

First Impressions: “I thought he was very cool for asking for my number instead of Facebooking.”

First Date: Half-price wine night at Chef Geoff’s.

First Kiss: After he walked her to her bus stop after their third date. “It was very passionate,” she says.

How he Proposed: Over dessert at B. Smith’s after her birthday dinner. “I finally called out his shaking hands and asked what was up. He then surprised me with a party with my family and friends.”

Stupidest Fight: “I think I lobbed an uncooked sausage at her once during a fight,” says Matt.

Pet Names: Tons, including Wolfie, Mr. Bear and Mr. Bosch. Candice also calls him “Sasquatch” and “peanut-butter bear.” She is “chocolate bunny.”

Their Song: The cover of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” by Israel Kamakawiwo’ole.

With Infinite Funds: Matt says, “I would have done the whole thing from space, or at least in zero gravity.”

Andrew, 27, is soon to enroll in grad school. Alison, 30, is a lawyer who drafts legislation for the U.S. Senate. They live in Rosslyn.

The Main Event: They’ll say their vows May 19.

How They Met: On Match.com. A few days later, they agreed to meet.

First Impressions: “I was immediately smitten with her lush, thick, huge, wild mane of hair.”

First Date: Dinner at Bar Pilar.

How he Proposed: He asked her during a walk in the woods after a raptor festival, but she didn’t say yes for an hour. “I needed some time to process it,” Alison says. “That doesn’t mean I’m any less excited to marry him.”

Most Hated Clothing Item: His T-shirt printed with a WMATA map. “It’s so shrunken and deformed you can see his belly button.”

Pet Names: She calls him “Barnacle” and he calls her “Starfish.”

Stupidest Fight: When he ate her lunch, lasagna leftovers, for breakfast. “He asked how he was supposed to know I had laid claim to it. I asked him who eats lasagna for breakfast.” “Sometimes I eat unconventional breakfasts,” he says.

Kristen, 24, is a law student. Matt, 24, is an elementary school educator. They will live in Vienna.

The Main Event: They will wed June 2 in Kristen’s hometown of Ainsworth, Neb.

How They Met: At a coffee shop in Jordan. They tried to keep their relationship platonic, since he was Australian and she was American. “Love doesn’t work over 16 time zones,” Kristen says.

First Date: While on a Fulbright in Egypt, she went to visit him on her break.

First Kiss: “I had planned for it to be at the airport with some roses, but it turned out to be in my garage when we got to my place.”

How he Proposed: In front of the first Christmas tree they decorated together. “He came to America to take care of me during law school finals because he knew I wouldn’t.”

Stupidest Fight: She got angry at him for something he did to her in a dream she had.

The answer: A gray sliver of facial hair still associated with a game show more than a decade after it’s been shaved off.

What is Alex Trebek’s mustache?

Indeed, “mustache” was the first word that sprang to mind when CNN’s Lizzy O’Leary — a contestant on this week’s “Jeopardy! Power Players Week” — was asked about Trebek.

Of course, even O’Leary acknowledged that her answer doesn’t apply anymore. But it says something about the lasting power of “Jeopardy!” that it’s hard to picture Trebek — or the show — without the mustache.

“It’s an iconic show,” said former Obama White House press secretary Robert Gibbs, who competed against O’Leary and “Hardball” host Chris Matthews in an episode airing Monday. “You watched it some in college. You watched some after dinner or something. It’s something that’s been with us for so long.”

In Trebek’s 28 years as host of “Jeopardy!” (weeknights, 7:30 p.m., ABC), D.C. has always been a hotbed for contestants, and the show hasn’t lost its popularity in the region.

Hundreds of Washingtonians lined up early at DAR Constitution Hall last month to see Trebek take his act on the road for the show’s teen tournament — which aired the past two weeks — and the Power Players contests, featuring an array of celebrities competing for charity.

This isn’t the first time “Jeopardy!” has come to Washington. Another “Power Players Week” was held eight years ago.
“We’re like the presidential run, except in reverse,” Trebek said. “When people are elected president, they come to Washington, D.C., and if they re-elect they have to stay for eight years. When we come, we leave for eight years.”

Trebek comes to D.C. for a few days each year to host the National Geographic Bee. But bringing “Jeopardy!” to the District gave the host a larger time frame to see more of the area’s famed landmarks — and to experience some everyday D.C. nuisances.

During the taping, Trebek took jabs at Metrobus drivers (“Have they never heard, ‘Don’t block the box’”), our traffic jams (“I’ll never complain about traffic in L.A. again”) and the ever-present sound of emergency vehicles (“Can you go a period without hearing sirens in Washington, D.C.?”).

The celebrities competing this week have a distinctive D.C. flavor, with many either covering the news or making headlines, like Gibbs, and his predecessor in the Bush administration, Dana Perino, who competed against NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabar and CNBC anchor David Faber in an episode airing Tuesday.

Other local tie-ins include clues about D.C. sites and one about a certain Nationals pitcher.

About the only thing missing was Trebek’s mustache.

“It’s in a drawer in my dresser in Los Angeles, so I can’t put it on at any time,” joked Trebek, who wore a fake mustache as an April Fool’s joke in 2001, months after his famous shave. “But I don’t think I’ll grow it again. If I do grow it again, it will come out a lot whiter.”

It’s a good trick to keep Trebek and “Jeopardy!” from showing their age.

Trebek in Another Role

Alex Trebek, above, has hosted “Jeopardy!” for 28 years, and has been in the television broadcasting business for 50 years. The other game shows he’s hosted include “The Wizard of Odds” and “Classic Concentration.” He told the audience in Washington last month that he’d love to star on “The Hollywood Squares” and later told reporters that moderating a presidential debate sounds appealing. “I’d be able to bring the everyman approach,” he said.

Arlington: $1,900

1BR: 1028 S. Walter Reed Drive, Apt. 402

A gym with personal flat-screen televisions and free yoga, a “Zen” pool deck (with designer chaise lounges!), an oh-so-modern lobby — the Halstead is sleek living in Arlington at its best. The 670-square-foot one-bedroom includes a spacious living room, plush carpets and stainless steel kitchen appliances. The bedroom’s window looks out onto a roomy balcony. Downstairs, a recreation center offers free pool and foosball, along with a wet bar. Free shuttle bus to the Pentagon and Pentagon City Metro stops. (Listed by Bozzuto)

Trinidad: $1,999

1BR: 1616 Trinidad Ave. N.E.

From the outside, it’s an ordinary brown brick row house. But inside, this three-bedroom home offers domestic bliss. There is a spacious living room, two small sunrooms, big closets in the bedrooms and a backyard for get-togethers. The kitchen boasts shiny black counter-tops and new appliances, along with a washer/dryer (shared with basement tenant). It’s an easy walk to H Street; the Metro is a bus-ride away. The neighborhood is a bit dicey — 34 violent crimes were reported last year — but that rate is dropping steadily. (Listed by owner)

Rebecca Houseknecht of Odenton is one of the subjects of “First Position.”

I don’t remember what I wanted to be when I was 11, but I’m sure it wasn’t a dancer (and this was long before I’d discover that I can only really dance if I have a minimum of two glasses of wine; otherwise, I’m the moving embodiment of awkward). That’s not the case for the kids — and they are kids — in “First Position,” a documentary about a super-elite ballet competition.

Opening Friday, the film follows young dancers who range in age from 8 to 19, most of whom are sure the hardcore world of classical ballet is where they belong. (There’s one hilarious and endearing exception.) The weird thing is, most of them seem to understand completely what’s required of them, both to make it to center stage and to stay there. Like other elite activities that effectively launch children into adult careers — gymnastics, acting and the like — the kids in “First Position” give up an inordinate amount of normalcy to reach this level of ability. But, in the film, it’s clear that (for the most part) these aren’t kids pushed into competition by their parents. They’re young people who have a creepily innate idea of what they want to do when they grow up and the talent to get there.

The film isn’t an exposé on what these kids have to give up. It’s a nuanced, valuable look at all they might achieve.