Kilbuck Portrait

Amanda's portrait of Donald Kilbuck next to the man himself. Painted in the late 1990's.

Donald & his portrait.

Update: The portrait lives! 25 years later (Oct. 2023), Donald sent me a photo of the portrait in its current location in Soldotna; specifically, "Funny River at Little Way's from the Small Plane Airport."

 

May it live forever!

Raymond is a Gangsta

In Anchorage, I was working with severe schizophrenics for awhile. They'd been released from the mental institution & were transitioning by living under supervision in a block of apartments with an adjoining staff area so they could have their living skills evaluated before being set out to fend for themselves in the community.

There was this guy, Raymond, who constantly had his coffee maker on. He just refused to shut it off. It started to melt-down & was determined a fire hazard by the staff, so they removed it. 

He was without coffee for a couple of days until, one day, I dropped by on my rounds & Raymond is sitting on his couch enjoying a hot cup of coffee like usual. 

Me: "Hey, they got you a new coffee maker"?

Raymond: "Nah, I've been making it in the dishwasher".

Me: "?????????????"

Upon checking the dishwasher, sure enough, he was tossing in a bunch of coffee grounds instead of soap, running a cycle, & stopping it before the water drained out. The entire bottom of the dishwasher was full of hot coffee. Then it was just a matter of dipping a cup in there.

And this is how Raymond came to be known as, "the Schizophrenic McGuyver."

- - - - - - 

The only other thing I know about Raymond is that he used to use pages from the Bible as rolling papers for cigarettes. I think he just did it to get people worked up.

He also is said to have purchased a new car with a briefcase full of cash at one point in the past, but that may or may not be just a story.

[Originally posted on I'm Nacho Steppinstone, Jan. 3, 2004]

Found Photo

I found this laying on the ground in Anchorage, Alaska:

I don't know...pumpkin carving school?

[Originally posted on I'm Nacho Steppinstone, Dec. 21, 2003]

Donald's Storage Unit, 1999

Donald visiting his storage unit at the end of the millennium.

Donald's storage unit.

Donald was a perpetual couch surfer who rarely had a fixed address. He would stay with friends or in halfway houses throughout southern Alaska. He kept many of his personal belongings in his van, but he also had a storage unit in Anchorage where he could offload some things when his van got too full. I visited his storage unit with him on several occasions when he needed something and had to dig through several boxes of unsorted items to find it.

Found Photo

I found this one in Anchorage as well:

Anchorage is for lovers.

[Originally posted on I'm Nacho Steppinstone, Dec. 29, 2003]

PS -

I spruced this photo up a bit for Valentine'd Day, 2020: