I went and voted mid-morning today at the Mount Pleasant Library, Ward 1, District 39. The line went down the sidewalk, across and alley, and down the side stairwell into the basement of the Mount Pleasant Library. Right at the bottom of the step going into the basement doors was a leaf-covered specimen of human feces. I couldn't wait to get through the door!
When I got through the door I was breathing again, and talking to the people in front of me. We noticed some of the election officials turned their attention toward the door. We turned around and saw that the woman who was directly behind me had stopped at the door, 50 feet behind. I yelled back asking if she couldn't smell the "poop"? The officials made her move forward through the door. She may have been drunk.
I saw my friends Solomon and Susan, and Michael a customer from Swing's Coffee Shop, and my old neighbor Spencer at the polls. I joked loudly with Solomon about voting for George Bush. I had the choice to vote by pencil ballot or electronically. I chose paper ballot, as did most people. I fed my vote for John Kerry into the mouth of the electronic ballot box. On my way out the door I pointed to the leafy pile, revealing the source of the stink to the other voters in line (to their chagrin).
This is Stich the Hairless Cat in his owner Moana's travel bag. I lifted this cat out of its bag and it bit me. It didn't have sharp teeth though. When petting this cat, your finger will stick to its skin.
It's Halloween and Sunday. This is Saint Augustine's Church on 15th and V Sts NW. Today the Redskins determined the outcome of the election by losing to Greenbay. The NFL has voted for Kerry.
Nice costumes in Adams-Morgan. Here a Viking calls his buddy while resting on a parked Metro train costume. Goodbye Daylight Saving Time, hello longest night of drinking all year!!
I went to the Corcoran Halloween Dance tonight. I walked around and photographed everyone having a good time. The costumes were shiny, skimpy, bloody, dark, pasty and creepy ... they were all great. An uneasy feeling hung over the event the entire night, perfect for Halloween.
This is an Anti-Communist China woman from Siberia. Her sign says she was held in a Siberian Concentration Camp. I tried to understand what I could. One thing is for sure, if she were a citizen of the United States she would vote for Bush. She had all kinds of Pro-Bush pins and items. I couldn't understand why, until I saw that one of her signs read that she was seeking political asylum in the United States. She isn't the only international homeless person I've met. One of my good friends, The Bum Isaac, is also internationally homeless. The man speaks nearly every European language. In the summer he is usually here in DC. In the winter he takes the Greyhound south down to Florida. Last week Isaac got his passport from the North Holland Embassy; he is a resident of North Holland. He told everyone at Swing's Coffee Shop that he was off to South America last Friday. We suspect that is where he is.
Here is respected photography writer, critic, and author (also the Chair of Photography at the Corcoran), Andy Grundberg holding up a photo of mine that was in last Sunday's New York Times. It is the third time the Times has run the photo. The first time, Dec., 20, 2001, it appeared on the front page. The second time, the photo was in the New York Times Review of Books. I didn't know the most recent photo ran until today when Andy revealed the clipping from his attache while walking into M.E. Swing's coffee shop. The photo, that depicts battlefield prisoners entering the detainee facility at the Kandahar International Airport in Afghanistan, is also in my web portfolio.
In the student lounge at Sandy Spring Friends School some students relax from their scholastic activities to partake in multiple hands of "Texas Hold'em." I thought it was smart they were using scraps of paper in place of actual money. I mentioned when I was in high school my "un-assigned" study hall was at the end of the day so I could leave early. Me and my good friend Ruben Del Angel had the same un-assigned period. We would walk home together. Something I didn't mention was that, while walking off school grounds we would shout the lyrics to our favorite oldies tunes through opened classroom windows.
It's a scenic ride on the train back from Sandy Spring Friends School. I am working my internship there and sharing what I know about photojournalism with the students. When I am there among the students I remember back when I was their age. Today, I was going over the high school students' photo story projects with Lori the journalism instructor. I told her I had been editing photos since high school, maybe before. Down by the playground I saw a middle school student sitting on the bench drawing during recess. I remembered drawing at the picnic table during recess when I was in Preschool. When I boarded the yellow school bus that takes me to the Metro train, an interested student said, "Are you a photographer? That's one of the things I want to be." I told him to stay interested in art.
I walked up to Mount Pleasant to see my friend Solomon. He was just waking up late in the afternoon because he works as a DJ on weekends. I spotted him before I could make it to his house at my old favorite 7-eleven buying milk, cereal, and ramen noodles. Last night he DJed at a club called FIVE. He is the newest member of DC's DriveSafe DJs, who have recently celebrated their 10-year anniversary.
It's the beginning of the end, game one of the World Series. I went to watch the game with others at a small gathering at Andrew and Maris's place on Capitol Hill. We were all hoping for Boston to win it against St Louis, they did. What a great night of baseball ... crepes and mimosas, beer and pizza, laughing into the wind, and yelling into the oscillating fan.
