Wonderful sight on an evening bike ride:

On a relatively desolate major street, with barren houses across the street from an empty shopping center parking lot in a mixed (hispanic) / (African-American) neighborhood just south of my house:

A lit open second story window, and a papillon against the screen barking.

You know how few new bars are left in this city?

I've begun getting food and a beer at restaurants with vestigial lounge areas that seem to be no longer in use, so I can have a beer and stare at the lounge, in case anyone ever disputes that I haven't been there.

I've done this twice already, once at a (Mexican) restaurant last spring, and now most recently at a (Polish) buffet a few weekends ago.

Tattoos perspective of a (young) (lower class) (Polish-American) bartender...

...as she told it to this (Mexican) guy who's a regular at the bar that she works at:

"Arm and back tattoos I get, but I'm sorry, neck tattoos are just ghetto."

How nice some (African-American) pedestrians are...

As I was biking on an early Saturday afternoon through this mixed (hispanic) / (African-American) neighborhood SSW of my house on my way to new bars, this (middle-aged-ish) (African-American) woman walking across the street as I bike by calls out, "Be safe!".

Addendum: "chinches".

In order to communicate with the (Mexican) woman at the laundromat, I had to use my smartphone to look up the Spanish word for "bed bug", which is something like la chinche.

Etymologically, that *must* be connected with the word "chinch" that's used by urban African-Americans.

I wonder what the story is behind that word!!!

What two disparate communities, to have the same-ish word (but not the white community).

Mini-political rally in the city: Anti-mayoral sentiment, bed bugs.

So, a few weekends ago I was at a mini-political rally in the city, where this progressive candidate for the state legislature announced her 2nd candidacy (she lost relatively narrowly last election cycle, w/only grassroots support,vs. a slick well-funded guy).

First off, the lead-in speaker complimented the crowd of mostly (African-American) activist locals, who had recently driven the city's mayor from the stage at a recent appearance of his.

"They say we have the strongest mayor in the country," he was like, "But you're stronger than him!".

After the rally, I was chit-chatting with a(n older) (African-American) woman I met, and to whom I had mentioned that I had bed bugs.

"Chinches, we used to call them, growing up," she was like.

Then, she reminisced about how her mother somehow used a candle to get rid of them, and how this one kid came into class once with his arm all bit up from forearm to shoulder.

"People talk about bed bugs so much now like they're something new," she was like, "But back then, that was just life in the 'hood."

Bonding with the laundromat woman.

The one (Mexican) laundromat woman tolerates my Spanish, and also was very nice when I came in right before last load once to do laundry after a long day of cleaning vs. bed bugs.

So, when I was in relatively late again, I apologized profusely.

I also went to go get a beer while my stuff was in the drier for an hour, and asked her if she'd like one ("una").

"Si!", she was like.

So, when I left, I got a 6-pack of Modelo to go.

When I got back to the laundromat, I offered her the 6-pack, but she just wanted one, and had me hand it to her secretively, out of sight of the camera.

I then told her to take another one ("una otra"), for my being there late the one other time.

"Okay," she was like, and we met and we furtively passed one from my bag to a pocket in her dingy blue apron.

When I left that night, she called me "amigo".