More Jake, More Nina

Jake Giving Thanks For Money & Cigarettes

I wish there was a way I could mash up this picture of Jake with this song by Nina Simone. To my mind, they kind of go together.

A Message From My Neighbor

Last night I came home to find the above message from Evelyn, my eighty-five year old neighbor advising me as to her daughter's current medical condition. Together they share a small apartment in my building with Evelyn the live-in nurse. It may seem cruel to post a message like this but for the past several years I've been listening to her melodramatic updates ("The doctor says she won't make it to Christmas") as to the seriousness of her daughter's many ailments and lately I've grown skeptical. Like other people here, I've run errands for them, lent them small sums of money and offered countless, if meaningless, words of encouragement.

But I've also begun to see more erratic behavior from the daughter as she shuffles through the courtyard in her flannel nightgown with her ever-present flyswatter and smoking her cigarillos ("doctors orders"). Lately she's begun to stand totally still on the landing lost in what I'm guessing is an opiated haze.

The low point occurred earlier this week when the daughter collapsed outside their door. Not surprisingly, Evelyn screamed bloody murder. I dragged her daughter inside but although she was trying to talk, for the most part she seemed merely oblivious to her situation. Later I tried to talk with Evelyn about the possibility that painkillers are a big part of her daughter's problem but she wasn't listening.

In other words, I wish them the best but I've begun to detach myself from their lives.

Truck

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Truck And Fourth St. Bridge

Spider!

Recipe of the Night:
Avocado Cream Soup with Shrimp
1 box Trader Joe's Vegetable Broth (32 oz.)
1 box Trader Joe's Number Guacamole (16 oz.)
1 bottle TJ’s Heavy Cream (16 oz.)
¼C Pale Dry Sherry (optional)
1t Salt; ½t Pepper
1 bag Trader Joe's Cooked Salad Shrimp (16 oz.), thawed

1) In a saucepan, bring the broth to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low, and when the stock is simmering, stir in the guacamole & heavy cream. Add the sherry (optional), salt, pepper.
2) To serve the soup hot, add the shrimp & cook until shrimp are heated through.
3) To serve the soup cold, refrigerate the soup and then add the thawed shrimp just before serving.
4) Garnish with a dollop of sour cream

Quote of the Night:
Develop an interest in life as you see it; the people, things, literature, music - the world is so rich, simply throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls and interesting people. Forget yourself.

Henry Miller

Video of the Night:

Lightning Hopkins

WGA Strike *Is* Over

"...'If they get paid, we get paid.' This contract makes that a reality. It's the best deal this Guild has bargained for in 30 years after the most successful strike this Guild has waged in 35 years. It was arguably the most successful strike in the American labor movement in a decade..."

Patric Verone
President of WGA

Rusted Paint

If you'd like to do me a favor, please go here and vote for my "Mother Father" photo. Thanks.

Election Day (L.A. City Hall)

"Anyone who thinks the Democrats are a lock to win in November has somehow forgotten about Karl Rove, the right-wing radio network, the hanging chads of 2000, the Swift boat debacle, the intimidation of black voters in Florida, the long lines of Democratic voters standing forlornly in Ohio, and so on."

Bob Herbert
New York Times
February 2, 2008

Man On A Dark Street

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