More from Brooklyn: James and his young parents.Does that girl love that kitty or what? Sean does too but he's engrossed. It's a familiar sight.

A few details:
No one is sure exactly what purpose that flak jacket once served -- see mannequin behind Becca's head -- but it has lots of pockets: for ammo? for bandages? Came from an army surplus store.

See the white skinny pipe behind the mannequin? That's part of the old radiator system that, when it's working--which it wasn't the night we were there a week ago, is the source of heat for much of the apartment. A couple of Slavic repairmen came in the morning and fixed it. With those accents and chattiness and quick work, they were a little Seinfeldian (and I'm not even sure what I mean by that).

See that trunk under Sean's feet? My dad got that from an Ambassador Bruce, this fellow or his wife or his family. My dad was a painter, a house painter, in Washington, DC, in the 40s, 50s, and 60s and he got a lot of work in Bethesda and Northwest DC and Georgetown. Sometimes he came across the most interesting people and sometimes these people were tossing things out -- like that old trunk. My dad genetically and/or culturally passed along his tendency to say "you can't possibly throw that out; I'll take it to my house and find a good use for it." Most of these items are now either in my house or my sister's house, or with his three grandchildren, of whom Becca is the youngest.

Note to JGH: I saw your comment a few days ago noting that your old neighborhood was at Plaza and Vanderbilt in Brooklyn. This apartment is about 6 or 7 blocks away, near Bedford Avenue and Plaza Place. Which is so funny, because you might remember that last year my daughter was in a tiny apartment just around the corner from where you work! It's usually a big world -- but not always.