While in Amsterdam to retrieve my lost mobile phone, I happened to meet Maria selling the Daklozekrant ("Homeless Person's Journal") on Metro line 53. Perhaps because Maria has a smile that would light up the darkest night, she has the gift -- in an environment in which any kind of panhandling usually annoys -- to engage in conversation those whom she's inviting to buy the paper. And then there's that astounding wig, a major work of art...
-- Jim
