People of Durham

These are the People of Durham. They are your neighbors, friends, and strangers.

[peopleofdurham]

Norma is the kind of person who will break your heart in one moment, and then tie a string around all of the pieces and make them into a happy balloon in the next. She has a huge laugh, a fine rollicking and soulful sound that trembles off of her body and becomes waves. It is impossible for anyone who can hear her laugh not to be rocked in those waves and find themselves smiling around their pancakes. When I leave the diner I feel overwhelmed by how blessed I am to have spent time with such a fine person. In this photo I promised to tell the good people online about how "innocent" and "demure" she is. Boy did we have a good laugh about that one.

[peopleofdurham]

To be fair, I believe John would rather I post this photo. Because he seemed pretty surly about the first shot, I asked what preference he had for a pose and this was the result. When I showed it to him in the viewer he nodded gravely in consent.

[peopleofdurham]

I see Matt every day that I work downtown. He is always walking with one of his very cool hats on. I don't know where he is going or coming from but there is always something comforting about seeing Matt in one of his hats. Today I was delighted to see a little dude in a cool chapeau with him. When I ran out to investigate, Matt said that the little buckaroo was his son, John. Apparently, I had interrupted them on a very important mission: stomping on red ant colonies. 

[peopleofdurham]

Madeline is a really fun kid who is known to tromp around in her red cowgirl boots and cause a fun ruckus. In this picture she is dancing herself into a dizzy and funny mess at Durham Farmers' Market. Well, to be honest, we danced together until we were both dizzy and laughing.

[peopleofdurham]

Dorothy is one of the weirdest and coolest people I see regularly in Durham. She is known to sing when she feels like it and laugh as loudly as she wants to. She just crackles with energy. This photo of her is from winter 2012. She came up to me gently cradling these berries in front of her and said, "How could anyone just step over something so beautiful?" 

[peopleofdurham]

Amongst the sea of white at the very first Marry Durham, there was this woman in her all black. I asked her what the black was all about and she kind of looked at me like I was a total idiot. Taking a chance at possible beat down, I asked if I could take her photo. At the time she was eating nachos and just posed with them. I very gently asked if she wanted to put them down out of the shot. She shrugged and simply put her bouquet in front of them as a shield. What a woman.

[peopleofdurham]

I spied Miss Diane while driving up Holloway and I hopped out of the car to snap a photo of her. She said she had just come from a wonderful birthday party in which she didn't get to dance (gesturing at her hurt food) but she sure did eat a lot of cake. I ended up writing a really creepy short story about Miss Diane. Don't tell her, though.

[peopleofdurham]

This is Blanche, my style icon and basically I am looking into my future when I see her. She used to volunteer at the Rescue Mission Thrift but I haven't seen her in a dog's age. I miss her fierce and fabulous fashion something awful.

[peopleofdurham]

Two things Darron has said to me that made me laugh:

1. I don't know why, but white people are totally obsessed with me!

2. I know I have to use my feet to make any money. If you are sittin' you ain't gettin'. 

[peopleofdurham]

I asked this cool dude if I could take a photo and he said "Of course!" and then went on to tell me all about his hat. This has to be the coolest mail dude on the planet. Or at least in this Whole Foods shopping center.

[peopleofdurham]

I asked this young padawan's father if I could take a photo and the Jedi in training immediately posed, then reposed so I could get the most serious angle possible. We talked a little bit about Star Wars and I could tell that I was suddenly in the category of An Adult WHO Might Be Cool.

[peopleofdurham]

I met these two at the Raleigh Flea Market but they live in Durham. Apparently neither of these girls goes anywhere without their shades.

[peopleofdurham]

This is Jerie. She doesn't actually live in Durham but I couldn't resist running out work and snapping her photo. We bonded instantly over our love of Sephora and long haired cats. Her husband was quietly smiling and taking our photo. Her daughter works "someplace very technological downtown".

[peopleofdurham]

My handsome dude saw this character walking down Alston Ave yesterday. As usual I hollered "Pull over please!" and he did, because he knows me well. I scrabbled out onto the hot pavement and as if drawn by magnets, I met J.C. and his orange friend, George. When I asked J.C. about George he said, "Oh he's my best friend, we go everywhere together." Then he gestured to the car and asked "Who is with you? Would he like to meet George too?"