Ballard Street by Jerry Van Amerongen for May 10, 2022

A bit of an Alfred Hitchcock look going there. A man of mystery and danger.

Mr. Merchant is working hard at emulating his idol, Alfred Hitchcock.

Mr. Merchant is a shoe salesman down at the Ballard Discount Shoes ans Insecticide Shoppe. He’s way too full of himself. Told me my feet were too narrow for my height.

Next he needs a bard to accompany him. “Bravely strode Mr. Merchant; to the Shoes and Insecticide Shoppe.”

Appropriately, Russel is a caricaturist.

Where do failed police sketch artists go? Ask Russell.

He is faster than a speeding bullet!

Russell feels that it’s important to catch the prideful Mr. Merchant before the step off the curb trips him up… again…

And a fine job it was.. till they invented smartphones.

I used to sketch waitresses in restaurants. I would sit at the counter with my sketch pad. They would always turn the same way coming out of the kitchen with orders, so I got a fresh “snapshot” every few minutes.

One day, at the Sorta Gorda restaurant on Highway One, the waitress I was sketching saw a toddler waddling toward her with a toothpick in his mouth. Without breaking stride, she reached down and plucked out the toothpick seconds before the child fell on his face. Very cool!

Must be nice. How much does that set him back? :)

Russel’s good. Almost as good as Mr. Van Amerongen. Almost.