My special friend Joel (in Thailand pronounced "Joelle" as it should be) and former desk mate at my former job which is about to be a former newspaper now that its current owner has, as in former times, stopped paying his employees. Uh, yeah, so that's my friend Joelle. He's actually from Brooklyn, not from somewhere ethnic and special, although it sure looks like he has on a ruffled shirt to go with that quaint hat now that I take a closer look.