Ever wanted to take a tour of famous writer’s homes in the area? Now you can, with DC Writer’s Homes as your guide! Kim Roberts and Dan Vera have compiled an amazing list of famous (and not so famous) literary figures, focusing on residences you can still walk by today. Picking three notables at random: Philip K. Dick, Ambrose Bierce, and Randall Jarrell.

I’ve been inspired by Nature Boy’s presence in Lafayette Park for a while now. He usually holds court on a bench near the Andrew Jackson statue, on the path from H St to the White House; he’s a distinctive presence with long white dreads and a regal air, wearing only a “loincloth” of cut up jeans, and carrying a long wooden staff. So it was great to see a little mention of him in the Washington Post’s print version on Tuesday, and this online series of pics featuring him. Turns out Elijah Alexander is a former preacher who set out to demonstrate the possibility of living a simpler life. (The photo here is one I took of him in May 2010.)