Adrian Loving’s routine: “Get up and grab breakfast at a local dive carryout, check e-mail and Facebook, feed the cat, crank out some design work, dance in front of the mirror for an hour to some new house tracks, harass clients for payment, then hit a local bar for a beer and to listen to a set from a DJ friend, or rock a set myself at Marvin or an art-gallery party.”

A renaissance man, Loving splits his time among Marymount University, where he teaches graphic design; Dissident Display, the art gallery and multimedia studio he cofounded with business partner Ayodamola Okunseinde in 2005; and whatever bar or venue he happens to be DJing at the time.

A self-proclaimed “social stylist,” Loving is interested in creating more outlets for music and art to be featured in Washington.

“Washington is still the best-kept secret in the country with regards to culture, price, and creative spirit,” he says.

Washingtonians who enjoy cheesy, campy, and just plain crazy films were dealt a blow last month when the Washington Psychotronic Film Society lost its screening space at the Meeting Place.

For the unfamiliar, the term “psychotronic” was coined by Michael Weldon, author of the Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film, to encompass films on the fringe of mainstream cinema, including horror flicks, spaghetti westerns, science-fiction schlock, and more.

“People seem to think that a psychotronic movie is just bad or unmentionable,” says Carl Cephas, president of the Washington Psychotronic Film Society. “But in reality, a psychotronic movie is a movie of peculiar interest—a movie that has a little extra something but you can’t explain what it is.”

Cephas has been involved with the organization since it launched in 1988 and is known among friends and psychotronic film fanatics by his moniker, Dr. Schlock.

“I’ve always loved the names of television creature-feature hosts,” he says. “There were always captains and counts but no doctors, so I decided to become Dr. Schlock.”

When not busy rewatching a movie from his 1,000-plus collection or catching the latest flick at the Uptown Theatre (“To me, it’s the fullest experience”), Cephas can be found DJing at Lucky Bar on Fridays during happy hour.

“I used to be in the band Tony Perkins and the Psychotics. But now I’m just a couch musician,” he says. “I tried standup comedy, but I wasn’t ethnic enough and too bizarre.”

We spoke to Cephas about his movie collection, some of his favorite films—psychotronic and otherwise—and the future of the organization.

Change has come to Washington—and it’s not just taking place within the walls of the White House. On the court of professional women’s basketball, ch-ch-ch-ch-changes have taken place, with Julie Plank as the newest Head Coach for the Washington Mystics and Angela Taylor as general manager. It’s an exciting time says team star player Alana Beard, who’s been with the Mystics for the past five years.

Beard, originally from Shrevenport, Louisiana, started playing basketball at the age of 12. At Duke University, she became something of a legend as the first female basketball player to have her jersey number retired. In 2004, she joined the Mystics fresh out of college after being selected in the first round of the draft. Since then, Beard has consistently delivered great performances on the court—even if the team’s overall performance has slowed down a bit.

We chatted with Beard about the chances of the Mystics making it to the playoffs this year, her feelings about the team’s new coach and her love of slushies.

The closing of Olsson’s Books & Records at the end of September was a sad but hardly shocking turn of events—the local chain’s fate was the latest example of an all-too-familiar narrative: the death of the independent, small shop.

Amid all this gloom and doom, however, there are still two beacons of hope for Washingtonians who enjoy cozying up with a good book: Kramerbooks and Politics and Prose. The latter, particularly, has become the epicenter for the capital region’s literati—a must-stop destination for any author seeking exposure and a bump in book sales.

Williams & Connolly sports-and-entertainment lawyer James L. Tanner Jr. got his first taste of Washington during an internship at Procter & Gamble while enrolled at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Tanner was so taken by Washington that he moved here in 1993 after finishing law school at the University of Chicago—where he had President-elect Barack Obama as a professor.

He cut his teeth working in mergers and acquisitions and corporate law at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom’s DC office for four years, and in 1996 served as a senior adviser for the Clinton/Gore campaign.

In 1997, he was recruited by Williams & Connolly to help bolster the firm’s sports practice. Under the mentorship of Lon Babby, a sports-and-entertainment lawyer and a partner at the firm, Tanner successfully added to a roster of athletes that included Grant Hill and Tim Duncan.

Tanner’s talent, like that of the athletes he represents, has not gone unnoticed: In 2002, he made partner at the firm. He’s been recognized by various sports publications including Sports Illustrated and Sports Business Journal and in 2006 made it onto The Washingtonian’s list of 40 top lawyers under 40.

These days, he represents the likes of fellow UNC Tar Heels Marvin Williams and Brandan Wright, the Mystics’ Alana Beard, and Josh Childress, who left the NBA to become the highest-paid player in the history of European basketball. Tanner took time to answer some of our questions.

At this point, as the star-studded “Prop 8: The Musical” video makes its rounds on the Web—with 1,230,789 views and counting—it’s an understatement to say the passing of California’s Proposition 8 last month unequivocally changed the gay-rights movement in our country. The clip, posted yesterday on the Will Ferrell Web site, FunnyOrDie.com, is the latest example of the growing viral activism among gays and gay-rights supporters in response to the measure outlawing marriage for same-sex couples in California—an uprising that sprang, as the Daily Kos’s Markos Moulitsas and others have pointed out, not from special-interest groups but from a grassroots level.

For some perspective on the role of the Web in the rise of the individual as a mobilizing force within the gay-rights movement and where—or if—organizations such as the Human Rights Campaign fit in this paradigm shift, we chatted with Christopher Johnson, who as director of interactive communications for HRC, is aware of the power of the Internet. Johnson oversaw the launch of the organization’s blog, Back Story, in June 2007 and continues to manage its day-to-day operations as the main contributor. Prior to joining HRC, he worked as deputy press secretary to Congressman David Scott and communications director to Congressman Melvin Watt. He also works along other bloggers to address issues of interest to the gay community.

Read below for our Favorites interview with Johnson.

If you’ve been following Stylista, The CW reality show where contestants vie for a junior-editor position at Elle magazine, you know last night’s episode was not local contestant Johanna Cox’s shining moment. Burdened with a lackluster team and poor strategy, Cox—who prior to joining the show penned the popular fashion blog A Serious Job Is No Excuse —found herself in the bottom two.

Our stomach dropped and our eyes teared up as the normally cool and collected Cox imploded in front of the cameras. Was this the end of the road for our local girl? Could she really be getting the boot before Kate? Nooooo.

In the end, it was fellow bottom contestant Danielle who was eliminated, giving Cox the opportunity for redemption. Phew!

We talked to Cox about DC’s fashion scene, the magazine industry, and Stylista, of course!