Ian Westcott

@ianw.org

93 Followers 122 Following

We’ll see. https://ianw.org

On the sidewalk outside the Gaspee Street side of the Providence train station, a large piece of plywood lays lengthwise against a construction fence, with a small square cut out of one corner. The words “USE SIDE ENTRANCE” are written haphazardly on the board in orange spraypaint. Two road cones sit on either side of the plywood.
My thumb holding a satirical Gadsden flag with a yellow background and depiction of a spotted lanternfly over the words “TREAD ON ME”
In Search of The West River Greenway a walking conversation Sunday, May 3 @ 10:30 am Meet at Branch Ave & Vandewater St part of Jane’s Walk PVD ppsri.org/events
The mural on the wall of Mr. Lemon, at the corner of Appian Street and Hawkins Street, depicting an anthropomorphized lemon with green arms and legs, holding a small stop sign and saying “Hi!”. An actual stop sign is visible in the foreground.
Cornwall Street at Sherwood Street in Wanskuck features a “Dead End” sign. Is it a dead end?
A wheelchair-accessible parking space, leading to an entrance to Iola French Park in Wanskuck that’s too narrow to accommodate a wheelchair.
The West River running through a culvert between the buildings of the Wanskuck Mills, now an apartment complex.
Screenshot of a Boston Globe article featuring a photo of Eric Swalwell at a podium and the headline “Congress forced out Swalwell and Gonzales. But now lawmakers are asking, what next?”
A black elbow-shaped electrical plug, plugged into the seat-back outlet on a Delta Air Lines 757-251
Excerpt from linked article: “In 2025, when the Fair Share tax was still relatively new, lawmakers dramatically under-estimated how much revenue it would produce. The FY2025 budget law planned to for $1.05 billion in Fair Share revenue; in fact, high-income households paid more than twice that amount.
A new Riese & Müller Transporter2 vario front-loading cargo bike with front cover/windscreen, parked on the Michael Van Leesten Bridge with the Providence skyline in the background. Gus is sitting in the front bucket under the windscreen, waving his mittened hand in front of his face. My North St. Woodford backpack pannier hangs from the rack above the rear wheel.
Screenshot of a push notification from the “Sky Guide” iOS app, alerting that the planet Uranus is ideally placed for observation tonight, with a computer-generated illustration of what the planet looks like. The joke is looking at butts.
Clip from the movie High Fidelity (2000) in which the character Rob Gordon (played by John Cusack) looks at the camera and screams, “WHAT FUCKING IAN GUY‽”
The rear bumper of a dark blue Subaru Crosstrek with a Rhode Island license plate. A large white bumper sticker reads “THIS ROAD THST WE ARE SHARING IS SOCIALISM, COMRADE!” with a stylized depiction of a woman in a red blouse holding her hand up as if to gesture toward the road ahead. A smaller bumper sticker to the left reads “CAPITALISM IS A DEATH CULT” in thick white letters on a black background.
One side of a RIPTA Providence Link trolley token, in my palm. Shiny brass coin featuring a rubber-tired RIPTA trolley emblem in the center, surrounded by an outer ring with the text “THE PROVIDENCE LINK” at the top and “781-9400” at the bottom.
Photocopy of the Wall Street Journal from August 11, 1997, excerpting the article “Before the Fall: Small Church Seeks Purity of Eden” by Jennifer 8. Lee. The article text cannot be reproduced here in full, but it describes the activities of Harry Westcott giving a sermon in the nude, and interviews him about nudism and Christianity.
My arm holding a large red bag of peanut butter m&ms, opened. A train platform is visible in the background.
Visual depiction of the Trolley Problem with the text, “if I let go of the lever just before the trolley crosses the switch then I’m not responsible for what happens”. In this satirical interpretation of the Trolley Problem, if the switchman is holding the lever but then simply lets go, he believes he would free himself from the moral obligation to intervene.
Providence Journal headline: “Streaming is taking over TV, and Mark Patinkin is freaked out”
My bicycle, locked to a post at the Providence train station, with a “CARS RUIN CITIES” sticker placed in the front basket.
Little Brownie Bakeries’ Thin Mints ingredients: Enriched flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, vitamin B1 [thiamin mononitrate], vitamin B2 [riboflavin], folic acid), sugar, vegetable oil (palm kernel, palm and soybean oil), cocoa, caramel color, contains 2% or less of cocoa processed with alkali, invert sugar, leavening (baking soda, monocalcium phosphate), cornstarch, salt, sorbitan tristearate, soy lecithin, natural and artificial flavors, oil of peppermint. ALLERGY INFO CONTAINS WHEAT AND SOY INGREDIENTS.
Tagalongs nutrition facts: About 7 servings per container Serving size: 2 cookies (25g) Amount Per Serving Calories 140 % Daily Value* Total Fat 8g 10% Saturated Fat 4g 20% Trans Fat 0g Cholesterol Omg 0% Sodium 80mg 3% Total Carbohydrate 13g 5% Dietary Fiber 1g 4% Total Sugars 8g Includes 7g Added Sugars 14% Protein 3g Vitamin D Omcg 0% Calcium Omg 0% Iron 0.7mg 2% Potassium 60mg 0% *The % Daily Value(DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a serving of food contributes to a daily diet. 2000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
A large group of trees in the center of a square frame, with a meadow of low brush in the foreground and hills in the background. clouds hang over the hills, providing a gray backdrop to the dark green leaves. Some white wildflowers dot the light green plants in the foreground meadow. Location: Creamery Meadow, Andrew Molera State Park, Big Sur, CA Date: August 9, 2010
Cover of RIPTA’s system map from the year 2000, featuring a photo of RTS bus 9842 signed for route 34 bound for Providence in the foreground, and the Rhode Island state house in the background.
A light blue Subaru Crosstrek parked on Gaspee Street across from the Providence Train Station and in front of the Rhode Island State House, which is lit dark blue, on the backdrop of the night sky. Leafless trees are visible as well.
Gus sitting at a table in an Amtrak Acela train car, with the windows of New Haven Union Station visible through the train window.
Interior of New Haven Union Station. Gus is eyeing the models of old New Haven Railroad equipment on display above the wooden benches in the waiting area. The station ceiling has red ribbons draped across it, and a Christmas tree is visible on a balcony in the background.
Screenshot showing Amtrak train 475 arriving into New Haven at 5:25pm, 7 minutes later than the scheduled arrival time of 5:18pm
Gus looks out the window of the southbound Amtrak Hartford Line at the dome of the Connecticut State House at dusk.
The historic station building at Hartford Union Station, visible across the gap where a second track should be, from the window of a train on the remaining track.
A blurry Gus looking at a blurry CTrail locomotive through the train window
Gus points at some freight cars in Hartford Yard through the train window
Out-of-focus view from the Warehouse Point Railroad Bridge over the Connecticut River at sunset, as viewed through a dirty Amtrak window.
The front of Amtrak Metroliner cab car number 9641, painted in diagonal yellow and black stripes, laying over on track 8 at Springfield Union Station.
The waiting area at Springfield Union Station, featuring a large digital departure board, lots of seating, a clock, and a decorated Christmas tree.
The Quoaboag River in West Warren, seen though a dirty train window on the westbound Lake Shore Limited.
View through the square window at the end of the last car of the westbound Amtrak Lake Shore Limited train in Rochdale, MA, with tracks curving to the right.
Gus in a bus seat, looking out at a row of cars in a lot off Main St in Worcester.
Lunch plates in a diner booth, with Gus eating a strip of bacon.
Foreground: The Miss Worcester Diner, Worcester Lunch Car # 812 and a National historic landmark. Background: Freight rail cars on a trestle overhead.
A WRTA bus pulls away from a bus stop on Southbridge St in Worcester
People waiting in the covered Worcester Regional Transit Authority bus hub in downtown Worcester.
Foreground: Digital arrival board at Worcester showing Commuter Rail and Amtrak arrival times. Background: CSX Worcester intermodal yard.
Gus waiting on the new center platform at Worcester Union Station, looking east toward the CSX intermodal yard.
The interior of Worcester Union Station (the smaller part)
View out the front of the Amtrak Thruway coach bus to Worcester, showing the profile of the driver and a passenger, with Route 146 north in the background.
Gus (toddler) walking in the rain down the sidewalk on Gentian Avenue in Providence. Wearing a blue raincoat, black pants with white polka dots, and blue rain boots.