Another Bingo Night came around and we found it very well-attended with a great assortment of locals and visitors from New York, Paris, Columbia, and Costa Rica. It was a very energised crowd: hard-fisted drinking, talking dirty, and given to counting the doilies in a room. Early on, Leopoldo and Thomas accepted my gift of a good luck charm for their first bingo game; Leopoldo's mother had sent it from San Francisco as a gift to me, and I keep it on my desk to ward off demons.

In a moment of pure enthusiasm mixed with our great friend, Greed, Thomas snatched the lucky icon, fully convinced of his inevitable win...

...but, it was Wire owner, Carl, who won the prize. I assured everyone--once again--that it is quite hard to "fix" bingo. And, in any event, Carl only prints embarrassing photos of me; why would I want to help him win four drinks of hemlock?

And, there in the sultry, tropical winds of a Miami night, a showgirl did all she could to counter the full moon.

Leopoldo and I just reveled in the wonderful crowd of locals and tourists we greeted and met, counted our blessings and went home.