Hello 2019!

hilda
Frightened by rocktrolls and the passing of time

Has it really been 3 years since I last wrote a post? Time passes more quickly as one ages and science finally agrees with me.

I’m glad to some of the posts here continue to be relevant and resonant with Google searchers. In particular, posts on Mexican nicknames and Kurdish dancing are still being found which brings this old blogger heart of mine a bit of joy.

Thanks for reading and feel free to comment, ask questions or make suggestions.

Found in Lincoln Heights: Little Waves


“Come on back to the water mama!”

Like a lot of other Lincoln Heights residents, I’ve moved from one rented house to another, sometimes moving one house down from the previous, sometimes one block over. All of my neighbors did the same and we’d often find ourselves neighbors again on a new street.

It seems we are all pretty settled now, our wandering ways curbed by the bad economy and the tight rental market. When we do move, it’s due to a reason not of our own choosing: eviction, gentrification and the other assorted maladies that affect the landless class.

It was in one of these houses I found this photo. I’m fairly certain it was the 1907 Craftsman house on Griffin Ave. I do remember finding the photo right when we moved in, maybe behind a drawer, in a door jam or under the carpet we pulled out. It was a treasured find which I taped to the wall as a tribute to the families that once made the house their home.


Five Feet High and Rising-Johnny Cash

“How high is the water mama?”

Mysterious Found Note

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(click on image for larger size)

I found this slip of paper in a 1907 book called ‘Historia Patria’ from Mexico. I had been curious about what language the note was written in and asked about it a few years ago when I was blogging on Myspace (gasp!). A friend did his best to try and make out the script and used this nifty website to try and determine the language. http://www.unicode.org/charts/

My theory now is that is was written by someone who was trying to copy letters out of a book and probably was not accustomed to using a writing instrument. I can imagine someone picking this book up and attempting to write without instruction. The strange gnarled letters was their interpretation of what they saw on the page.

Coincidence, part two

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Barcelona, 2001.

Just moments before this photo was taken, my friend and I remarked that there was so much graffiti on the walls of Barcelona that we might even spot a Chaka tag. Coincidently, a few blocks later and causing a great deal of astonishment, such a tag appeared.

“Coincidence on the other hand, is total freedom, our natural destiny. Coincidence obeys no laws and if it does we don’t know what they are. Coincidence, if you permit me the simile, is like the manifestation of God at every moment on our planet. A senseless God making senseless gestures at his senseless creatures. In that hurricane, in that osseous implosion, we find communion. The communion of coincidence and effect and the communion of effect with us.”

2666 by Roberto Bolaño

Found in Lincoln Heights: Prison Love Letters

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A series of objects, photographs, letters and other items found on the streets of Lincoln Heights.

Sunday in the park, bittersweet afternoon of the weekend about to end.

This photo and letter were found in an alley near my house. There are many more but I decided to start with this particularly touching letter.

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Please click the letters to read in a larger view.

Found in Lincoln Heights: Stuffed Ventures

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A series of objects, photographs, letters and other items found on the streets of Lincoln Heights.

They look like they’ve just cut a deal. One thousand stuffed and stripped pigs to be made on antique sewing machines. To commemorate what kind of holiday? Or perhaps the blue stripes pay homage to a foreign futbol team? The windows in the photo are the type most coveted in refurbished and remodeled lofts.

It’s been awhile since I posted anything in this series, mostly because I misplaced my collection. Alas, the bag of left behind objects has been located and the sharing of found objects commences. I found the founds.