I’m very sorry that I was absent from last week’s New Friend Friday. No excuse could adequately make sense of my blogger revolt. So to make it up to you, this week’s NFF is bulked up from the fat of the land. And it comes in various fragrances and neon.

Today is a strange day at Gordon’s Photo Center. Outdated camera equipment is strewn about and a done-up young man in black helps customers with UV Filters and NFL-endorsed camera bags. This is Asa Gilmore, this week’s NFF. Asa has worked here for two and half years and said he quit back at Christmas. But for liquidation sales like this one he comes out of the wood work to blast Eagles of Death Metal , wear killer fiddy cent shades, and slang merch.


In his sparetime he is a photographer and and videographer. His film Nevada Bad Ass won him Best of Northern Nevada Local Film Makerfrom RNR last year and his new film The Sisyphus Project is going to drop hot blingsauce in a squidgit.

Fastforward, if you will, to last night, Friday. I find myself at the Swiss Chaletbar on 2nd St. A major grope session is happening near the pool table to when a woman walks in adorned with a handful of plastic wrapped roses. This is Carol, our other NFF and you can find her most weekends selling roses at various bars.

We step outside under a sizzling neon martini glass and I learn that Carol just does this on the weekends to support her 5 kids. She exclaims to me in enthusiasm that she has a grandchild on the way in 9 days and they’ve already picked Anthony Valentino as the name. Her Greek Italian husband had the final say in the very Italian name and Carol tells me that she is Polish. More recently they both moved here several years ago from Sacramento. Now she spends every weekend night with a fistful of flowers and a dash in her step.

See you all soon and enjoy the new batch.

Love,
erik