A cat's tail — based on a true story

It's a summer night in the 'burbs.

A warm breeze.

Dogs, barking.

A siren.

Then more sirens, followed by more sirens and a police helicopter.

Floodlights.

Red and blue lights flash — radio squawking. A uniformed officer is on his feet. The cul-de-sac is blocked by a black-and-white.

Neighbors call each other. "What's going on?"

Helicopter circling.

The officer walks the street, shining a light into the darker corners of the front yard landscapes.

He stops.

Another black-and-white appears from the shadows, strutting across the lawn in its summer lion cut, an embarrassing poof at the end of its tail. Its body language says, "HEY, THIS IS MY YARD!"

The officer reacts to a squawk on his radio, hurries back to his cruiser, and drives off.

Helicopter follows.

A warm breeze.

Dogs, barking.

All the black-and-whites have left the neighborhood except one.

And now it wants something to eat. And a nap. Happy that it’s done its job.

Remembering Kevin Lynn Funk

Today is my brother’s birthday. He died in 2004 after living 49 years with muscular dystrophy.

I made this portrait of him in 1973 when he was 18. In my memory of him, this photo sums up his worldview: This is who I am, and if it makes you uncomfortable, fuck off.

He told do-gooders to “fuck off” when they tried to hand him money when they thought he was on a street corner begging for it (he was just waiting for a ride).

He told servers to “fuck off” when they assumed he was deaf, dumb, or both when they would ask, “And what does he want?”

Ultimately, he told everyone to “fuck off” when he had a stroke and refused to be force-fed. After a brief stay in the hospital, he went home with my parents, where he died a few days later.

I wrote about him in 2020 during the early stages of the pandemic. You can read it HERE.

Sadly, I only discovered this image recently in my box ‘o negs. Nevertheless, I’m glad to make it part of the family album.

Where's Dad?

In the spring of 1994, after my 40th birthday, I took a trip to the Grand Canyon with my son Alex and my best friend, Robert.

This photo makes me laugh because I am almost always the one with the camera, which means I am rarely in my pictures.