the New Deal - Then & Now

I don't know that I can tell you just how good this feels to me...

particularly while crossing Victory,

in front of the church,

with the sun..

..and a breeze.

What i learned today.

I love dogs that eat fruit.

(ok, I already knew that.)

I love dogs that eat almonds.

(!)

I love dogs that give hugs.

(hump grabs do not count.)

I really love when said dogs are part American Bull Terrier.

(a-stereotypical much?)

A phone...

that looks like a regular candybar-style, except all the keys on the front are touch, rather than real buttons.

except,

its hinged at the top, like a flip,

revealing a full-length touch interface underneath,

with the GUI reoriented for texting, scheduling, media, what have you...

close it -

back to the candy.

Hey, stop stealing my idea.

Don't Bite

"I'm too intellectual for property"

damn.

now if only I could right a decent rhyme more than one line at a time.

(see what I did there.....)

(nope not just that, but THAT too. See?)

{I'm special}

[braces look like boobies]

I believe I may have developed

an inseparable relationship with my hair.

So much for commercial acceptance.

$*%"! it.

i'll sweep.

Lalah Hathaway - Boston

yep.

Introspective

"From Above"


-copit-

Once, sometime ago,

when I was very,

very sad,

there was a person who told me

"come home";

it made me feel better. It may not have cured me, but it's certainly stayed with me.

Now....

despite the trouble that might be caused by that person occupying an impossible place in the subverse that is my psyche,

and what that person eventually said/didn't say,

I think

(at some point)

I want* somebody to say "come home" to me again.

(maybe soon)

*(need?)

stereo-typin'

(brooklyn-based, minority run non-profit theater) just sent me my W2s for work I did there last year.

1) I sent my taxes to the momcountant in Febuary.

2) TAXES ARE DUE IN TWO WEEKS.

....... : /

I guess they figured I we always wait to do our taxes late, so....

(sigh)

See, uh-sumption is a cycle.

I would say...

that I hope to be greeted the way John Bul Dau's mother greets him...

but I guess that would mean having a mother I haven't seen for 15 years,

who thought I was probably dead.

..

...

I guess it's enough just to watch.

...Just finished reading the Watchmen...

feel disappointed,

not in the book,

but the possiblity that humanity can be that stupid

/

easily manipulated;

and that that the idea of God could be conceived in a book?

Though, it could be argued, that's already been done.



Read it.

John Hope Franklin

Another of them is gone.

I shook his hand. I believe I said thank you.

The first time I read West African history,

not Egypt,

not afrocentric conjecturism,

researched history,

it was from a book with his name at the bottom and picture on the back.

Again, sir,


Thank you.

In the year two thousaaaaaaaand....

In the year two thousand, professional athletes will be allowed to pose with their wife or significant other....

Well, provided that she's -

um.

Hm.

Sure-fire Cure for the doldrums,

blues, general meloncholy

is here.

TVOTR

Roughly two and half years after it was supposed to, Return to Cookie Mountain is growing on me.

Rocky Road

I can't believe my mother used to let me eat this every morning.

Catwoman

hurts.

Punk

Rock

(exhale) (stretch)

I don't know if it was finally opening,
or the giant oatmeal raisin cookie,
or the Halls vitamin C drops (which are de-lish on an empty stomach),
or finally finding somebody who understands how out of place the dance scene  is in Slumdog,

AND that it is not a Bollywood movie so "it's Bollywood" does not compute,

AND agree that it takes away from the ending,

and that the person getting all this is Indian,

but I feel better today.

I doubt the sun being out hurts.

Tired

In a show. Been getting short headaches while in tech for the past couple days. Been riding the bike to and fro. Been getting up around 6:30-8:30 for past week. Been going to sleep around one.

Been waking up feeling like I over-exerted the day before. Ache in one side of my neck like I slept in wrong position (which I didn't). Been feeling soreness in throat periodically; don't now.


When auditioning for this show, I thought that it would be my last show for a while. I agreed to do a character that I really didn't want to. 'Cuz, you know, actors can't pronounce the word "no". That's why we have agents.
Took part because I needed a please-accept-me crack fix after not even getting a callback for a show I wanted to do earlier this year,

to say nothing of my inability to book a national commercial...

I want to smack one person in the show definitely,
I want to smack another person in the show sometimes,
I want to smack a third person, only when they try to perform the duty of the title they've been given (eyeroll).

Well, I said I wanted to perform outside of the circle that I'd been working in.

I think I may have found an avocation rather than a profession.

I want my 7.5 years back.

Um, chicken fried bacon?

Really?

(pelo)

I had a (nother?) dream about cutting my hair last night.

This was of particular note because it happened within the context of an acting class (if I am recalling correctly).

I'm in the class and, at the end, the room is stormed with a team of hairdressers trained on me. It seems as though it's intended as a surprise.

I respond bruskly, negatively. Then inform the instructor of this class as to the basis of my indignation.

I believe I compared touching a locked person's hair without permission to doing the same to a woman's breast.

Even then, notice that's it's generally considered un-acceptable to make that request.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _*

Summary: I have hair issues.

"Dispatches from NAPPYVILLE"

Dispatches from Nappyville: WTF, NPR? Way to totally mischaracterize discussions about black women, hair and Michelle Obama

by Guest Contributor Tami, originally published at What Tami Said

That Farai Chideya is no longer holding it down at NPR’s “News & Notes” is abundantly clear. Yesterday’s “News & Notes” segment–” The Obama Effect on Black Women’s Hair Issues–was some serious insipid nonsense. Since the dawning of the Obama era, I’ve sensed a disturbing trend in coverage of black women’s issues by mainstream media. Having a black First Lady seems to have inspired the media to take some notice of the unique lives of African American women. Good. Problem is, the gently increased coverage is shallow and inconsequential, and often has the feel of detached voyeurism–academically peering at the exotic world and strange habits of black women (oddly, this is so, even when the work is presided over by black women). A product of these travel guides to Blackchicksylvania is the “Lawd, us black wimmin’s hair sho is complicated” story, which usually includes the meme that Michelle Obama’s hair is a hot topic among black women. And so goes the “News & Notes” piece by Allison Samuels, featuring celebrity stylist Marcia Hamilton.

Listen.

Says Samuels, “We now have an African American president, with an African American wife and two African American daughters. So now we talk a lot about hair–things we probably didn’t talk about when we had First Ladies who were not African American. So, the conversation has gone from one end to the other. Should Michelle wear more natural hair? Should she cut her hair? Should she have a perm? Should she press and curl? Why do we have such an obsession, even now, in 2009, with black women and hair?”

First, I would love to know where these purported conversations about Michelle Obama’s hair are taking place. Where is this obsession with her tresses flowering? So far, I’ve seen several articles about the phenomenon (I believe Salon has peddled it, too.), but have yet to experience it among any, y’know, actual black women. As far as I can tell, in real life, no one is riding Michelle to bust out the cornrows at the next State dinner. (According to Samuels, black female bloggers are calling for Michelle and her daughters to be champions of black hair. Why’s everybody got to blame the bloggers these days? I’m plugged into the top black blogs and haven’t seen any such discussion percolating. Hmmmm.)

Now, there has been some discussion about how the politics of black hair might effect the politics of the nation. It is no coincidence that when Michelle Obama was portrayed as a radical on the cover of The New Yorker, the cartoonist drew her with a big ass afro. And many nappies have noted that Barack Obama may not have been elected president if the woman at his side had been rocking twists or locs. Natural, black hair is demonized in our society. People often attach meaning to it where none exists. I assume that Michelle Obama likes her hair just fine. But anyone with a lick of sense should understand why the styles she chooses tend to be straight and conservative. If I were Michelle Obama and my spouse were a black man seeking the highest office in the land in a country still struggling with racial bias, I’m pretty sure that I’d wear a flattering, conservative, straight style, too. Not to mention the look she had to maintain while climbing the corporate ladder herself.

Recognizing the politics involved in Michelle Obama’s appearance is not the same as calling for her to be the poster child for nappydom. Although you all know I advocate natural hair, I recognize that the decision to wear it is not one to be taken lightly. As much as I might like to see more black women decide that nappy is beautiful and professional and elegant, I’m not about forcing my choices on other women when I won’t be the one living with the consequences.

Many black women have fraught relationships with their hair because we are the only race of women who are expected to change the natural properties of our natural hair to be deemed acceptable–professionally and personally. Rather than discuss this in a meaningful way, Samuels and Hamilton normalize the pathology surrounding black women’s hair.

Some choice quotes from the report:

“Our hair needs certain enhancements…”

“Black female hair can’t handle the stress of ‘getting done’ every day…”

“Don’t all little black girls get their hair straightened on special occaisions?”

“In our community, straight hair represents a more polished look.”

There is a lot of discussion about the damage created by heat and manipulation to achieve straight styles a la Beyonce…the need for weaves and extentions…and some offhand acknowlegement that the deifying of straight hair is a learned societal value, but the conversation never comes back around to the ridiculousness of black women having to go to such great lengths to be accepted. No one ever brings up this simple fact:

Black hair can be styled every day and maintained with ease if it is worn as it is naturally meant to be.

White women’s hair would be deemed “difficult” too if society suddenly decided that ponytails and straight bobs are “radical” and “too ethnic,” and only tightly-kinked hair is acceptable. If white women had to use chemicals and extreme lengths to maintain afros or kinky twists, then people might roll their eyes and snicker “you know white women and their hair,” too.

But Samuels and Hamilton position straightening and weaving as simply what we have to do to look good. Even as they decry the idea of “good” hair, they also dish about special suppliers that provide the best Indian hair for high-quality weaves, stashing your weave in the glove compartment of your car in case you need it (Huh?) and Hamilton actually suggests that men wanting a black woman with real hair “go to Africa.” She then acknowleges that even women in Africa are wearing weaves. (Yippee! Sarcasm.)

I am offically over the Michelle Obama/hair discussion. If we can’t have a real talk about black hair, then let’s not have one at all, particularly in the mainstream media. And let’s leave Michelle Obama out of it. With her fierce intelligence and accomplishments, there is so much more that she can be to our country and the black community than our “Great Black [Hair] Hope.”

(Weird)

Thomas Grunfeld

Yes, those are real animal remains.

Saw up close at an exhibition th'other day.

:/

Katrese Barnes

The person who actually wrote this,

was the female half of the brother/sister group

who did this.

Know your Black history.

 

 (unfortunately, she passed away after a long battle with cancer roughly 10 years after I posted this.) 

(splash)

I mentioned that I've been privy to 3 acts of public excretion while in NYC.

That was wrong.

I've witnessed at least SEVEN acts of public excretion since being in NYC.

The most recent was a woman in the Times Sqr subway station* around 1pm this past Saturday.

(pull pants to thighs, lean against wall in a squat and.....)

And as proof of the small world theory,
I'm very certain it was the same woman from the WSB.

(ahem)

ew.
Avoid all puddles in new york city.

*3rd time in the subway system

Soul Sessions

is officially my friend*.

Just saw Tell Me for the first time.

Never even occurred to me that there was a video for Didn't Mean to Turn You On.

Don't you wish Alexander O'Neal was yo pawpaw?



*still somewhat begrudgingly, until no longer owned by Viacom

(sigh)

help.

George Frmn

I've always seen George Foreman of 60's and 70's painted as this lumbering, bestial, mute brute -

in contrast to the affable, garrulous salesman of the 90's-now.

However,

if you can watch Foreman v Frazier I,

and see the Cosell in-the-ring in-ter-view

(that no one EVER shows),

you can see not just the salesman, but:

the preacher
the father

and something people never think of him as...

the social activist.

(big up 5th Ward)

Damn shame it takes 40 years to see a human being.


(young man, no?)

conjugation

yikes

yikeser (still trying to understand how this works)

yikesest (...reversible....{!})

Why is it

EVERYTIME I stop on Soul Sessions

(I'm trying to give BET another chance)

"Long Distance Girlfriend" comes on?

Sleeping Beauty

Animated short.

Excellent.

meaning:

funny.

Monster's Ball

Was flipping through and it was on IFC.

First instinct was to keep going, figured it was time to try again.

Managed to make it through THAT scene,

...only took 7 years and change.

Actually, it is one of the better shot sex scenes I've witnessed.

Berry's hospital scene's powerful; I sort of feel the same as I feel about it as I feel about D. Washington and Training Day: I don't yet see anything I didn't already know she was capable of (it was new to YA'LL, not those of us who paid attention).

I no longer hate Billy Ray Cyrus I mean, uh, William Robert Thornton,

But the film impresses me more than any of the individual performances,

(shrug)

maybe that's how you tell...

None of this changes my views regarding who won and what they won for that year,

and why (?)

I am ever more against awards shows.

That is feeling progressively less about spite.

I was just thinking how I'd feel about this,
how other's would feel about this,

were it an older,
darker,
(less Hollywood pretty?)

actress as Leticia Musgrove.

Then I remembered Ms. Bassett turned it down.

(let's not even get into Storm)

Whole

I've been fighting over how to say this.....or just excusing myself from saying it....or just procrastinating.....

but here goes:

Within the past couple years, I had the minor epiphany that I will never reach any of my potential until I find my other half.

(sigh).....background? Ok.

Back yon, when I was living off the credit bought by my "potential" in college, we were assigned a book called The Symposium by Plato. It was one of the few books I read for Human Situations. Actually, I think it was the ONLY book I read for Human Situations (it's short). Aside from that, it was notable to me at the time in my dismissal of it as largely a justification for pedophilia an elevation of homosexuality as a being more pure than heterosexuality.

Oh, and Aristophanes' speech about human life-partnering being about trying to restore wholeness stuck with me as well. In short, humans were originally spherical with a face on each side. Zeus got mad (as usual) and tore us in half. Since then we've been searching for our other half.

Skipping ahead a couple millenia...

I used to work on a car lot. I did not enjoy working on a car lot. It was just a lot of empty attempts to part people from as much of their money as possible to me, and had no great deal to do with my personal fervor for automobilia. The manager of the lot was the daughter of the owner of the chain. One day I went in and expressed my possible desire to move on. I cannot remember why she told me this, but she stated that sometimes it's hard to do w/o having a reason....someone (family?) to work for. Thinking about it now, she might have been saying that as much in reference to herself as to me (found out later she was in an ending marriage w/no kids; she now how has a diff hubby & a trio of romperdom to contend with). At the time I felt like there was at least one other human being in that building and hung around until after she was replaced. I think I put in my notice a week within her leaving. Or close.

Anyway...the point.

(sigh)

I have a strange relationship with women. I am a self-admitted and unashamed mama's boy. I slept in the same bed with my older sister until I was seven. My childhood was spent largely around her and my mother with most interaction with other children coming when we visited family. I went to the mall with my mother far more than I ever did my (one) homeboy and a couple other friends I made through him.

I had (what I consider) my first true love in 10th grade. I had my first official girlfriend two years later. She lived about 75 miles away.

I dealt with peers and the ensuing pettiness for the first time in college, in coed dorms. I had a girlfriend that I saw more than once a month for the first time (admittedly, was more about the state than the person at the time). I let some miscreants piss me off early on and went on to behave an entitled, spoiled ass for much of the next 3.5 years.

I left there and found who I thought was my match...went back and forth for a while, finally decided to say it out loud upon having to do the long distance thing. That fell apart.

Since then I've been in one long, confusing, maddening, uncommitted relationship and one other that was just long and uncommitted.

In the interim, I have several female friends who, at some point, were attracted to me/didn't get why I wasn't attracted/thought I wasn't attracted/moved on/met me while I was in a relationship and moved on/blahblahblah...

(inhale)

I'm sort of scabbed over now. I can't feel like I used to. Having someone hold my hand doesn't feel the way it used to. Being around someone doesn't feel the way I remember it. I don't get that sensation of glow like I did sitting in the back of a car in a parking lot at night back in 19XX. I've had moments. The second I sense "in love" coming from the other direction, though...(cringe)
It's like the side of my face that's been numb since my wisdom teeth were removed. There is sensation there, but it's dull. It's just enough to remind you what's not there.

So, at some point in the past few trips around the sun, 2006 I think, I came to the conclusion that we are only half until we find our other. I didn't immediately think of Aristophanes or my former manager, but I won't deny them their presence in it.

There have been times when I thought it would have to come with someone new - too much pain built into the past. That "new thing" feeling used to be what I said I missed most in the college relationship**. Plus, there's the chance to develop a new image among that person's community...a chance people won't scowl and eyeroll when you make the announcement.

There have been times, including more recently, it's felt that it would have to be someone I already know. I'm tired and don't feel like putting in all the work to learn somebody new. It's always funny how you can get out of these relationship things 'cuz you think the other doesn't get you, then you move a few years on and talk to them, and you're astonished at what they knew about you and what you didn't know about them. Or did.

I even managed to have a little crushy flare up for an ex last week.

(inhale....exhale)

(inhale)

(exhale)

There was somebody, once, who I was ready to marry. I knew then that I she was who I wanted to partner with, but I felt like I didn't have anything to offer her. You know, the stuff that the "man" is supposed to be able to offer; stability and such. My father said to me "when you gonna marry that girl".

Now, I'm pretty sure that I feel I will never have anything, accomplish anything until I find that other.

I will never reach my potential w/o another energy to fill the space that my procrastination, ephemerality, etc. leaves empty. I am not enough human to do it by myself.

Whole.

Though I'm not really sure how to get there from here.




(**in fact, what was missing most there was truth)

Intersexed

deep.

Found while researching Klinefelters.

Recessed

According to the numbers I've thrown into Excel(tm), I spent about $1400 more in '08 than I made.

The accountant's gonna have fun this year.

I Hate Facebook.

I also hate listening to these two fornicate.

:|

Broome/Watts/W. Broadway

Went back to the spot of last night's party. This time it was 9:30p.

Crossed W. Broadway heading west on Broome, decided to turn around and continue south via W. Broadway. I was crossing Broome via W. B'Way when last night's fun happened.

I rode up onto the sidewalk and waited for the light to cross Watts. As I was in the cross walk,

THE SAME THING ALMOST HAPPENED*.

As I the cab driver drove off apologizing and others were still looking at me, ANOTHER CAB ALMOST HIT A PEDESTRIAN IN THE SAME SPOT. At least mine recognized his mistake. That dude just floored it away.

Again, this was AFTER rush.

W. Broadway should be made one way here. Each of these instances occurred when drivers tried to turn left onto Watts or Broome from W. B'Way.

One of the city's more dangerous intersections.

Be wary.

*and this time I was wearing my hi-visibility jacket.

First(plural)

1) While riding down the WSB, I smelled a sulfur smell after/around 23rd St. This is nothing out of the ordinary, I've caught this wind from this location before. It's slightly interesting, though, given that about 8 blocks later I glanced to my left to see a woman use the end of a park bench as the platform from which she got rid of her excess liquid.

- First time I've seen a woman excrete publicly*.

2) While in the Mid-Manhattan Library, I stopped at the self-check kiosk to accouter myself for the trip back south. I apparently walked up on the end of an encounter between a seemingly Asian woman and and, I believe, a south Asian man.

Her: "But why make a racial comment? I mean 'go back to China'?... I'm not even Chinese."

- First time seeing two people at the self-check kiosk at the same time.

3) The Raleigh has been feeling particularly lively the past couple rides, today included. I decided to stay on the avenues rather than peddle all the way back to the WSB. I got to Houston and found a non-cobble-paved road that I thought I'd not tried before. I took it and crossed over Houston, picking up a fair bit of speed. I looked up and saw a lady jaywalking, and, not seeing any cars, either assumed she was going to beat me or just didn't take notice of me. I assumed she'd continue and went to pass behind her. She suddenly decided to become attentive and was startled and started to hop back.......putting her BACK into my path. I stopped short of her and moved past in front of her as she exclaimed something involving an expletive. I shouted back over my shoulder, "Baby, if you gonna cross, CROSS".
I came to the red light at the next intersection (that I'm sure I would've passed had I not had to slow down) and stopped**.
  Now, what I didn't realize about the path I'd taken is that it was an exit point for a Jersey tunnel. These are one of the most dangerous types of traffic feature you'll encounter in the city. There is heavy traffic, which really isn't so bad. In fact that's usually better because you can move through it while it crawls. Another problem, is that they tend to be forks where people can make a hard turn, or veer in the direction of that turn, or go straight - it's harder to read what people are going to do****.
 As I was going straight through the intersection, a white Suburban approached attempting a left hand turn across my path.
 Which is fine, except he didn't seem to have time# to wait for me to get across the intersection first.
There was a moment of hesitation where I thought he was going to hold off realizing that I was coming, but, like so many people during evening rush*, he saw pull back a little and moved forward anyway.
I knew the hit was coming***.
Halfway through the hit, I knew wasn't going to be hurt.
After the knockdown-barrel-roll-into-standing (if you're going to go down, get up fly), my worry was whether the bike was ok.
I thought we'd both gotten away with just some scratches, I realized that the back wheel was out of true - but not bent. THAT I made sure to check 'fore I let cousin leave the scene.

- First bike/moving vehicle "interaction". Thank you that it wasn't anything I couldn't walk away from.

May it be the last.

(inshallah)


* You mean I never mentioned the time I was headed back to the Times Square station from Times Sqr Arts Center when, right after I turned the corner a dude leaned against a building, pulled down his trousers and shot off a Saturn V rocket squeeze? I was certain he achieve lift.

** I'm one of those few people who stops for red lights while walking and riding. I go through if it's clear, but I don't sit there halfway in the street waiting for the slightest opening to run (unless it calls for it). I let traffic have their light...so if they cross me on mine, I feel no remorse about giving them both barrels of indignation about it.

*** Every time that I've been hit by a moving vehicle, I knew it was coming. Once while at a stop sign in Texas, I saw the lady behind me not looking up while creeping forward...(bump). The ones you see, you can work through. It's the ones you don't that can muss your hair. Ergo, keep your eyes open and your head moving. You more likely to miss them altogether that way. Anyway.

**** And, to make it worse, it was evening rush. Worst rush of the day. Had I realized what time it was, I would've gone to the bike path. Mos def.

If someone asks you to pray for them,

or someone else,

don't ask why.

Just pray.

Being Boiled

goes kinda hard.

(there's a Kanye/Pharrell protege' somewhere on a collision course with the first :30 of this song.

Human

 

There has never been a time when this was not one of my favorite songs. I heard it when I was younger but connected to it for some reason...something about the idea of being fallible (though I'm sure I didn't really get what the song was about).

I just watched the DVD The Human League: Live at the Dome this past weekend. In it, it's stated that this song was not really a Human League song. Listening to it again and finally hearing some of their other music, I agree completely. It's not HL, but it is one of the best Jimmy & Terry* songs EVER.

Interesting interview on the DVD. Frankly, I'd skip the actual performance. I think it just serves to show how heavily electric music is not best suited to live performance#...not synth pop anyway (not much for a musician to do) AND that you shouldn't shoot the concert video on the last day of a long tour (damn, Philip Oakey, what happened to that high note). They didn't really build a stage show so....just listen to yer vinyl or magnetic tape.

Sometime between yesterday and today on the bus, I realized that I have lived this song out - if not in quotes, at least line by line.

Then again, maybe most of us have.

*Why did they never do a producer album? Is there a Jimmy and Terry greatest hits set? I think they and Alexander O'Neal** should get their lifetime achievement awards the same night.

**I just looked at the wiki entry for O'Neal. I didn't know he worked with JJ & TL (though it figures, the similarity in their sound is hard to miss)
***I HAD NO IDEA ABOUT HIM BEING REPLACED BY MORRIS!!!

#nearly two decades later, my positioned has shifted on this. I have seen some great electronic live shows - ed. 4/7/'26

Moto-sickle

(jump)

Force

"Embrace it or deflect it. Why oppose it?"




(mike terry - redbelt)

Just in case you need a reminder

this is who you* elected the last time.


*(by "you", you know who I mean)

Peas and rice

Just tried my first batch.

maybe a little too much coconut milk,
maybe added too much rice (although that was done in an attempt to suck up some excess milk),
too long on the fire for what I was going for,

but not bad for a shot in the dark.

"Walk Hard" by Dewey Cox

Is actually a darn fine song.

Lil' Nutzzak's "Hard", on the other hand, is a loathe & like-it-for-a-second-before-hating-it-for-being-so-apt-and-getting-depressed type thing.

iss cold,

but I see sun;

so I'm happy.

I think this picture of Mary Tyler Moore

is dope.

Wait..this is legal?

Ew.

And more pork.

I should be upset by this.

But, you know what?

Go ahead.

Thin the herd.

BTW: Inauguration

Yes, I was there.

No, I don't feel as bad about missing the MMM now.

For all of the traffic, misdirections, and lack of facilities, I wish I could do it once a year.

Perhaps I'll settle for again in 4.

We'll see.

Am I the only who thinks

Dr. Rockso and Lil' John should do a song together?

James Earl Jones says talk, dammit.

A lifetime of achievement, but James Earl Jones isn't done - USATODAY.com

Does being born in September

mean you were conceived in hope?

Further Adventures in Sub/Urban Decay

deadmalls.com

labelscar.com

"I guess I have a lot of borderline health...

...disorders that limit me politically when it comes to eating."

Joyce from American Splendor

(the film)

(which I am currently viewing)

in roughly 10 mins,

i'll be heading south to the 44th president's inauguration.

not sure what will happen, or how to feel....but i pray we all have the opportunity to wax ad nauseum after the day is done...

inshallah.

'Toya Frazier

It's been a loooooooooooooooooooooooong time since I've seen her. I wish that I'd seen her since she grew up and got married (lil' 'Toya?!?!?!).

Growing up she was the annoying little sister in the neighborhood*. Though I never got to see her as a woman, I'm glad we at least had some fun playing basketball.

May the Spirit conduct you toward heaven...

 

 

*I was likely the annoying little brother, but she was younger than the rest of us. Figuring out socialization around the big kids can be challenging. Also, I don't think the above conveys just how much I wish I'd gotten to see her grown up. I think the basketball years started around my junior year of HS. She'd grown out of the awkward toddling years. I'm still annoying - ed. 4/7/'26 

Bagger Vance -

do watch if you still need an example to explain the magical negro,

or if you want to see proof that, if you wrote it for Morgan Freeman, only Morgan Freeman can pull it off.

Otherwise, don't.

Raisin Brahms

funny.

I want some Raisin Brahms.

I think that I think..

we need God...because we need somebody we can't lie to.

You don't have to be fearless...

just fear less.

(sometime after 3:30a)

(sits on floor in front of radiator under picture large window, arms outstretched, hands on cold glass)

"Our father, which art in heaven,

Hallowed be they name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors... and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever...
God, I'm asking for your help with the usual...asking for help with money.

(thinks)

Even though...even though -

(sighs, feels strong heat on his face; it seems to radiate up tangibly - billowing the hairs on his arms as it dissipates up into the cold above him; senses the metaphorical separation/difference of earth/heaven)

He continues to talk to God. He thinks, then he catches himself, forces himself to speak the words, as though he's realizing that saying them out loud forces him to deal with their truth.
He speaks....and comes to a realization, an epiphany...an honesty. It is scary. In the midst of the converstation with God he begins to think that he should be writing this - then relents. He wonders if tapping this out on a computer will relieve the words of their power, save him from the responsibility of realization.
As he does this, his thoughts begin to muddy...connection getting lost. He decides to try to write using the portable device he's playing music through (to aid focus, ironically) with the hope that he can channel the connection through the writing -> pray via performance. He struggles trying to maintain the connection while recollecting words. He fails.
He goes back to his computer. He turns it on. He sits, trying to remember the exchange.

(sighs)

...

He thinks about how in our times of need, we run to God begging....usually for the same thing, like children. He thinks about how told God that he'd asked in the past for this exact, same thing...
About how he, in that moment, questioned whether he meant it before - no - whether he truly believed that he would receive what he has asked for; if that's why he didn't receive it.
He remembers that, at the window, he considered how people, in those moments of desperation, will say all the things they'll do, change their lives, "do better"....
He remembers that it struck him how, when asking God for anything now, he just asks and concentrates on the idea of belief, yet doesn't deal with the idea of changing his personal protocol to do it. He remembers that the feeling in his body when he realized that he could not bring himself to say, "I will dedicate myself to you, God". He can't bring himself to say it, even to himself in his own head, let alone out loud where the universe can hear it.
He can't do it - because then he will be bound by the truth of it. He will be held to the responsibility of that dedication. He feared it. He remembers thinking to himself that, maybe this inability to dedicate to God is the reason he can no longer dedicate himself in a relationship...to a person.
Yet, when he thought about writing this realization instead of praying it, he resisted, not wanting to separate the words from their power. So what stopped him?

He stops.
Breathes.
Wonders what it means.
Wonders if he will ever grow up,
cease being fearful.

(wonders if he should go back and try to have another
talk with God)

The Reason I Refuse to See Shrek the Musical:

I need no other reason.

I wonder who works

at Fidelity near Xavier....

"Leroy" & Alabama vs. GSU

Breaking the Huddle: Integration

In the section about Wilbur Hackett, Jr.'s first game against the Univ. of Mississippi, Hackett's father recounts hearing "Leroy" used as a seemingly pejorative term for his son. I've seen this doc before, but it was on this second viewing that I was reminded that I'd heard a classmate use the name in reference to our Black classmate while in grammar school. I don't know how he came upon it. It's use wasn't malicious, and she didn't receive it that way. It was a joke between them, I thought...or perhaps he was calling her by her father's name, which is something we did as children. She is one of the those member of Black Gen X who was blessed with a name beginning in "La", so I thought it might have been the similarity to "Le".
But having just seen this program now makes me wonder. If I ever have the chance to speak to him again, I hope I remember to ask what the origin of that was.

A later story in the show is about USC's first game against the then still segregated Univ. of Alabama. One interviewee contributes that when USC's Black players led the team out onto the field, he heard an attendee remark:

I thought we were playing some team from California. That's Grambling!

The best jokes are always anecdotal.

ColorQ World

: interracial relations between non-Europeans


interesting.

New York City Chinatown > Newspaper Articles

New York School for Chinese Is a Magnet for Black Pupils

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	New York School for Chinese Is a Magnet for Black Pupils By YILU ZHAO November 2, 2002. New York Times, pg. A1
	[more articles about Shuang Wen Academy] Paul and Denise Gamble have never been to China, and they were never particularly interested in its language or culture. Yet their two school-age children attend Shuang Wen Academy, a public school on the Lower East Side where much of the day is spent learning Mandarin. Their children are part of an unexpected phenomenon at the four-year-old school: while most are children of Chinese immigrants, almost 10 percent of the students are black, and many of them come from the outer reaches of the city, enduring long trips for the chance to attend a school that has developed a reputation for excellence. ''When I tell my friends that my children are in a bilingual school learning Mandarin, some are shocked,'' Ms. Gamble said. ''Some think I'm crazy. Some ask, 'Why would you do that?' Well, I just want my children to have a good education.'' Shuang Wen is one of more than 150 small public schools established in the late 1990's as an alternative to larger, impersonal public schools. The school, whose name means dual language in Chinese, has many teachers who believe in dual-language education, and its goal is to teach students Mandarin and Chinese culture. Although only two of the school's first class of 45 students were not of Chinese descent, Shuang Wen gradually gained a reputation among some of the city's black middle-class parents for being nurturing yet rigorous. In last spring's citywide third-grade math and English tests, Shuang Wen ranked third in math and 23rd in English among the city's almost 1,000 elementary schools. Now, before the start of every school year, more and more black parents arrive at the office of the principal, Ling-Ling Chou, seeking admission for their children to the prekindergarten class -- which is based on interviews with prospective students and their parents. They are undeterred by the fact that their children will be among the few non-Asians in the school, or that Mandarin is famously difficult to master. Chinese instruction runs from 3 to 5:30 p.m. daily. All subjects, however, are taught in both languages. Shuang Wen is housed in a corner space in Public School 134, at East Broadway and Grand Street, and blacks are not the only non-Chinese among its 245 students. But the 23 black students are by far the largest non-Chinese group, outnumbering the 11 whites and 8 Hispanics. As an alternative school, Shuang Wen admits students from all five boroughs, and many of the black children live an hour or more away. There are no school buses serving them, and parents have to drop off and pick up their children. For Ms. Gamble, a supervisor for the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs, the trip from her family's brick house in Cambria Heights, Queens, starts at 6:45 a.m. Often, her car is stuck in traffic jams. To the Gambles and other black parents, the sacrifice -- long days for the children and a difficult trip for the adults -- is worth it. ''The long hours and the challenging curriculum are good preparation for the future,'' Mr. Gamble said, ''when they go to college, when they go to graduate school.'' But not all the black parents' friends agree. ''People would ask me, 'Why Chinese? Why not French? Why not Spanish?' '' said Bridgitte Fouche-Channer, another black parent whose daughter is in second grade and whose son is in kindergarten at Shuang Wen. ''I would ask them, 'Why not Chinese?' '' Sometimes, friends would even accuse the parents of betraying their heritage. Ms. Gamble had a ready answer. ''My children know their heritage,'' she said. ''They know they are African-Americans of West Indian descent. They are not Chinese, nor are they pretending to be Chinese. ''Call me a snob. Call me what you want. I just want my children to have a good, solid education.'' Ruth Smith, a lawyer who had considered sending her daughter to private school, remarked, ''If I had sent my child to a private school, she would be in the minority anyway, since that school would be mostly white.'' The Gambles have decided to send their third child, Patrick, 2, who can already sing ''Happy Birthday'' in Mandarin, to Shuang Wen in two years. Like many of the black parents of Shuang Wen students, Ms. Gamble, Ms. Fouche-Channer and Ms. Smith are from the West Indies, and that is not a coincidence, they said. ''Shuang Wen reminded us of the kind of schools we know from home,'' said Ms. Fouche-Channer, explaining that schools in Trinidad, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic are often strict and orderly, like Shuang Wen is. The Chinese parents are generally enthusiastic about the school's ethnic mix. ''The black kids are really nice, and they showed my kids the way when they were new at the school,'' Christine Chuah, who has two children at Shuang Wen, said in Chinese. ''They are seriously interested in learning Chinese, and we like that.'' The teachers, mostly Chinese-Americans or recent immigrants from Taiwan and China, have embraced the non-Asian children as well, offering them extra help with Mandarin. When Paul Michael, 8, the oldest Gamble child, started at Shuang Wen in second grade last fall, his parents and the school's teachers worried about whether he could catch up with his classmates, who had studied Chinese for two years. But his teacher, Li Ron Wu, had faith in him. ''Ms. Wu said, 'You can do it, Paul Michael. You can do it, Paul Michael. You will do it, Paul Michael.' '' Ms. Gamble said. ''And he did it.'' Now, his Chinese is on par with his classmates. Mrs. Smith, whose daughter, Iliana, 5, is in kindergarten, said that every day, as soon as she gets home, she asks to do her homework. Ms. Gamble said her children even ask to go to school on days when they are sick. Ms. Fouche-Channer said her daughter, Addis, a second grader, reads beyond her bedtime frequently. ''They love their school,'' said Ms. Fouche-Channer, whose younger child, Makonnen, is in kindergarten at Shuang Wen. ''That's the only way to describe it.'' With its academic success, Shuang Wen has become a desirable alternative not only to neighborhood public schools, but also, for some parents, to the city's elite private schools. Lydell Carter, a senior program officer with New Visions for Public Schools, an organization that has financed some of the city's alternative schools, including Shuang Wen, is a firm believer in early bilingual education. He transferred his son, Jelani, into the school's fourth grade from Friends Seminary, a well-known private school. Non-Asian children who started at Shuang Wen in the early grades appear to speak Mandarin as well as children of Chinese descent do, frequently without any trace of an American accent. And in classrooms, in the dining hall and on the playground, the non-Asian students and their immigrant classmates mingle easily, holding hands, arguing with and teasing one another, seemingly unaware of their racial difference. And a few black and Chinese families have become close. Joshua Foote, a black third grader, regularly calls Jennifer Shyue and her parents for help with Chinese homework, and the families sent the two children to a Chinese camp in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., last summer. Occasionally, however, some Chinese children will flaunt their higher marks in Mandarin tests to their non-Asian peers. Some black parents have also complained that the school did not take note of Black History Month. But Gabrielle Gamble, a first grader, sees all the children at the school as her friends, regardless of their ethnic backgrounds. At school one day, her teacher assigned her to be a buddy and guide for Linda Lin, a shy new classmate from Fujian Province in China. In the lunchroom, Gabrielle tried to shield Linda from the rambunctious boys while keeping her company. ''What do you like to do?'' Gabrielle asked, earnestly, in Mandarin. Linda, who was blushing, shook her head. ''Do you like food? Do you like toys?'' Gabrielle asked, again, in Mandarin. Again, Linda simply stared at her. Gabrielle looked away, sighed, and concluded, in English, ''She doesn't like talking. But I will keep talking to her.'' By the end of the day, Linda still wasn't talking. But, at least, she was smiling back at Gabrielle. *** Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company

Kenya-nese

Is This Young Kenyan Chinese?

BEIJING, July 11 -- Nearly 600 years ago, 20 Chinese sailors swam ashore an island off Kenya's east coast, having escaped from a shipwreck.

They went on to marry local women and convert to Islam.

Now a 19-year-old girl who claims to be one of their descendants has come to China to study, having been given a scholarship by the Chinese Government.

Mwamaka Sharifu, from Lamu island in Kenya, will begin her studies in September.

She says she is a descendant of sailors travelling with Chinese explorer Zheng He (1371-1435) in the Ming Dynasty.

Sharifu's story has attracted a lot of attention, as this year is the 600th anniversary of Zheng's first major voyage around the Indian Ocean. Some scholars believe Zheng is the first man to travel a direct sea route linking the Indian Ocean with the West.

Countless exhibitions, books and documentaries began coming out in China about his adventures. Sharifu was invited to China and arrived on July 1.

"I feel proud and happy to be part of it," she said. "I am looking forward to studying in China."

Sharifu said she admires Zheng's courage and adventurous spirit. "I was born as brave as my ancestors," she said. "It is rare for girls in my Muslim village to go so far to study, to such a big and different country."

"My mum and dad were worried about me. But I told them I will be fine in my home country."

Born to a poor family, Sharifu's father, Sharifu Lali, a fisherman, 55, and her mother Baraka Badi Shee, a housewife, 53, couldn't support her university education.

"The scholarship will change my life and the lives of the rest of my family," she said. "I believe that through hard work - a characteristic of the Chinese - I can make a better living."

Having already been to Shanghai, Taicang and Nanjing in Jiangsu Province, Sharifu appeared quiet when arriving in Beijing on Friday, where she will tour the Great Wall, the Forbidden City and Tian'anmen Square.

"China is far better than I thought. It is so beautiful and well-planned," she said.

"Beijing is a big city," Sharifu added. "But Taicang city will always be a special place for me as it is said it is where my ancestors came from."

Located in East China's Jiangsu Province, Taicang is where Zheng set sail from.

Legend in Lamu Island says two of the Chinese ships struck rocks off the eastern coast of Kenya and 20 sailors swam ashore. However, local tribes said they could only stay if they could kill a big python in the village.

One sailor - a master swordsman - lured the python out of the cave and killed it. The Chinese sailors stayed, married local women and converted to Islam.

The heritage of Chinese descendants in the African village has been passed on from generation to generation, not by written records but by oral tradition.

"My grandma said some Chinese sailors came to Kenya by way of the Indian Ocean. Most of them died after a storm at sea but some survived," Sharifu recalled.

Now, only six people on the island of 7,500 people are known as Chinese descendants. They are Sharifu, her mother, her two sisters and two younger brothers. However, despite Chinese porcelain being unearthed on the island and the existence of Chinese folklore there, it is not known if the group really are descendants of Zheng's sailors.

Sharifu said that in 2002 some Chinese experts came to her home and cut some of her mother's hair for DNA tests in China. Later, she said, they told her mother that she was a Chinese descendant.

The teenager was calm when being questioned about her Chinese blood, saying that people have a right to doubt her. "Asking questions will help people know more about me. And I am convinced that I am a true Chinese descendant."

Sharifu's story was put under the spotlight after she wrote a letter to the Chinese Embassy in Kenya last year, expressing her wish to pursue a higher education in China.

"I want to learn traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) so that I can treat my people in Kenya after graduation," she explained.

The Muslim girl wore a grey silk scarf around her neck.

"When I was in Kenya, I used to wear the scarf on my head. But now I keep it lower, because I think people here like to see me."

(Source: China Daily)

Have I mention

how quaint Flight of the Conchords is?

'Tis.

Quite.

"Sona"

She needs a pen pal, can you help her?

"Hello. Please do not be surprised this message is not spam mailing. You probably will be very surprised that I write you a letter. But yesterday, I was surprised, too, when my e-mail address, came a letter, which said about love, about the feelings among people. The main motto of this letter was the phrase «Looking for love and you      
will be happy». I liked the letter. In the list of e-mail address, I saw your e-mail and decided to write to you. Perhaps you are looking for love? Maybe this letter - the fate? I do not know how the man who sent me the letter, hear my personal e-mail. But I think it is not important. The most important thing is that now I can write you a letter. You know, I want you to learn more. But first, I want to tell a little about me. My name is Sona. I'm from Armenia. I am 27 years old. I have never been married and have no children. I am pretty, quiet, kind and sociable girl. I would be interested to talk with you and know you closer. I compose their communication with the primary objective - creating serious relationships. Relations without           
deception, without any games. I want to find this man who can love and respect me. I hope that you just want to find their love? I believe in romantic relationships, appearance and age is not the most important thing. The most important thing is that people know how to love and respect on this! I have different hobbies and interests, among them - sports, cooking, reading, music. Of particular interest to me a matter  
of housekeeping, cleaning the house. I like to experiment in the kitchen. I love animals. I am leading a healthy lifestyle. I do not smoke nor drink alcohol. My new friend, can you tell me about you? I want you to learn more. The following letters, I will tell you about me, in more detail.


I give you my e-mail address:  sonshabig@gmail.com


              
                                                                                                                                              
Of course, I will send you a lot of my photos, of whom you know my      
life. In my photo showing all the moments of my life - joy, muse, and   
even in some sad moments. I eagerly await your response will be. I      
really want you to learn more. Please do not forget about me. Your new  
friend from Armenia, Sona."

Sent to me from an address from a person named Jarrett LAY. Apparently the spammers have figured out not everyone responds to "male enhancement" and general porno spam.

"If you don't go when you want to go...

...when you do go, you'll find you've gone."

Name the quote, win a cookie.

Scent of a Woman

Currently watching Scent of a Woman. From I can tell, this is the only movie I know of wherein* he's not annoyed me. I can't sit through Scarface.

More and more I'm experiencing what everybody else has and understanding the hype.

*this is the second time I've used this in the past hour. Seems like there must be a limit.

Extra: During a promotional job, I went to the Labyrinth Theatre with someone and Philip S. Hoffman walked into a rehearsal room behind me.

More extra: The gentleman that plays the skycap who greets The Colonel and Charles at the airport on their way to New York directed a piece in the last show I worked on.

Cat Dancers

I've yet to figure out why I'm so fascinated by this documentary.

I'm, like, famous.

Geek famous.

sache'

This just in:

You don't have to be gay to have a better-than-average eye for transvestites.

But having so many women trying so damn hard is starting to make things harder.

Useless chatter....ole'!

Last night

a NYC actor told me I remind him of J. Wright.

About 40 mins earlier, the founder of a 40-yr-old theater company told me that I'd just performed "10 times better" in a reading that I had in a full production at said theater company a few weeks ago.

Moral?

Take it all for what you will.

3D

Earlier, I dreamed I was in a 32-bit, first-person 3D adventured game.

That is all.

I have something I need to say.

(currently waiting for the words to orient themselves)

Cold Day in ....

It seems the idiom finally caught up with the election.

Guess mama nature was as stunned as the rest of us.

Homer Smith

Just turned it to Lilies of the Field.

It never before occurred to me that Schmidt is the Germanic equivalent to Smith.

TV One wins again.

pitiful

If you use Firefox,
and type "alek wek" into the search bar next to the address bar,

you will see that the third suggestion that comes up

(which more/less means that it means it is the third most common phrase searched on google using the terms you've entered)

is "alek wek ugly".

(sigh)

Alan Keyes & 'nem (eyeroll)

(from Chicago Tribune)

Suit contesting Barack Obama's citizenship heads to U.S. Supreme Court today

Justices will decide whether to consider the case

By James Janega |Tribune reporter

6:30 AM CST, December 5, 2008

The U.S. Supreme Court will consider today whether to take up a lawsuit challenging President-elect Barack Obama's U.S. citizenship, a continuation of a New Jersey case embraced by some opponents of Obama's election.

The meeting of justices will coincide with a vigil by the filer's supporters in Washington on the steps of the nation's highest court.

The suit originally sought to stay the election, and was filed on behalf of Leo Donofrio against New Jersey Secretary of State Nina Mitchell Wells.

Legal experts say the appeal has little chance of succeeding, despite appearing on the court's schedule. Legal records show it is only the tip of an iceberg of nationwide efforts seeking to derail Obama's election over accusations that he either wasn't born a U.S. citizen or that he later renounced his citizenship in Indonesia.

The Obama campaign has maintained that he was born in Hawaii, has an authentic birth certificate, and is a "natural-born" U.S. citizen. Hawaiian officials agree.

Among those filing lawsuits is Alan Keyes, who lost to Obama in the 2004 Illinois Senate race. Keyes' suit seeks to halt certification of votes in California. Another suit by a Kentucky man seeks to have a federal judge review Obama's original birth certificate, which Hawaiian officials say is locked in a state vault.

Other suits have been filed by Andy Martin, whose case was dismissed in Hawaii, and by an Ohio man whose case also was dismissed. Five more suits, all later dismissed, were filed in Hawaii by a person who is currently suing the "Peoples Association of Human, Animals Conceived God/s and Religions, John McCain [and] USA Govt." The plaintiff previously sought to sue Wikipedia and "All News Media."

The most famous case questioning Obama's citizenship was filed in Pennsylvania in August on behalf of Philip J. Berg and sought to enjoin the Democratic National Committee from nominating Obama. The U.S. Supreme Court denied an application for an injunction and hasn't scheduled a conference on other aspects of the case. Earlier, a federal judge rejected it for "lack of standing"—ruling that Berg had no legal right to sue. In cases like this, judges sometimes believe the matter is best left to political institutions, such as the Electoral College or Congress, said legal scholar Eugene Volokh of the University of California at Los Angeles.

The remaining case with the highest profile is Donofrio vs. Wells. Because it was referred by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to other justices for conference, it gained undue importance for people unschooled in how the court works, Volokh said.

Many petitioners seeking stays of pending events have their cases distributed to the full court, he said. Of those, Volokh found that 782 were denied in the last eight years while just 60 were heard—and not all of those ultimately were successful.

Related links

• Tax activist's ad challenges Obama's eligibility for office

• Barack Obama birth certificate Photo

• Group's founder on WGN-AM: It's not about Obama Audio

• See the group's ad

FunnyMayne

The flag

a post from the Houston Chronicle website by poster "Rider" about the seeming rise in criminal hate activity:

" bullwhip wrote:
"Rebel flag...stands for pride of heriatage only. "
.
Not even that. It is a loser flag, and I say that as the great grandson of two CSA veterans. There is no heritage in the Civil War or the CSA to point to with pride, it's the story of hundreds of thousands of poor white people getting screwed by the rich elite power structure. Most of the men who fought that war had ZERO stake in its outcome, in secession, or in the preservation of slavery. Slavery was what kept southern white people poorer than the average northener. The war was "a rich man's war, and a poor man's fight." Two out of every three Civil War deaths were the result of disease, diseases made worse by poverty and malnutrition. Amputation rates were tremendous due to the mini ball rifle. Rich planters could get out of serving by paying for someone to go in their place. One son was exempt for every twenty slaves the family owned, due to breakdown of discipline on the plantations. Desertions (at pain of execution) by poor whites whose families were starving and eating clay and boiled vines was in the tens of thousands by the end of the war. The whole thing was a colossal screw job on poor white folks like my ancestors. I'm proud they served what they saw as their duty, but I am saddened they and thousands like them were so terribly exploited by a handful of rich whites who looked down on them if truth be known. How could this possibly be any kind of heritage to be proud of? There's a misunderstanding, all right. What you are talking about, the stars and bars, is the banner of The Great Bamboozlement. And I am not even talking about race, if you notice. This is purely from a white perspective and from the perspective of a Confederate family. Boy were we stupid."

Lil Wayne on PacMayne

LIL WAYNE ON PACMAN JONES

I don't think the Pacman Jones situation is sad at all. I do not think Pacman Jones should be in the NFL. If I was the commissioner, I'd kick him out. They keep giving him chances and he keeps messing up. You got guys like Hines Ward out there getting fined for making plays on the field on one hand, and then on the other hand you got guys in situations where people are getting shot. Come on. You have to be smart about the company you keep. I should know. But sometimes it's not just friends—it's family members who are into bad stuff who bring you down. And how can you get rid of family? You can't. That's why I think, in his situation, there is no way he's turning it around. I mean, come on. He's a grown man. They don't give these huge contracts to kids. His main job is to stay out of trouble and he can't do that, so I'd kick him out of the league.

From here

Bayard Rustin

Bayard Rustin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Claudette Colvin

Claudette Colvin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

3, 3, 3 Browsers in One!

Lunscape - 1 browser, 3 rendering engines - Download Squad

Mm. Tangy.

Notre Dame Band Gets Props

Wow.

studentathlete

ESPN - Timing is right for FSU's Rolle - ACC

Comfort Zone

For Tension Headaches,

I prescribe black + green tea with ginseng*, steeped for at least 10 mins.

Don't forget to STOP doing what caused the tension. If being prone is not an option, sit upright - no slouching/leaning allowed**. If at a computer, get away from turning the the head out of line from the body. Get forehead should orienting the same direction as the knees.

BREATHE. Deep breaths - none of that chest heaved, flex-necked, bug-eyed madness. Long, relaxed inhalations.

* I find Twinnings Earl Grey works for me, waiting for it to cool enough to gulp.

test at one's leisure.

SEMA 2008: Green trucks - AutoblogGreen

SEMA 2008: Green trucks - AutoblogGreen

My favorite of the bunch given the tag on the rear glass.

1000hp/25mpg

(gasp)

http://www.extremebiodiesel.com/

(insert proper literary term here)

(click)

BET Loves Real Negroes

"Are you that African-American female or male, early to late 20's to 70's who is funny, articulate, loveable and outspoken who speaks from both the heart and from the streets? Are you up on game in the world of music, television, movies, sports, news or whatever is current! Well, this is your chance...BET is looking for everyday people for a totally unique new show that is up on what's hot in our world and let's real people go off on what we want to talk about. Experience in voicing your opinion. We prefer for you to live in LA or it's surrounding area! If not, you must submit your audition to us asap!

You should email your audition and upload it on youtube or a link! Be unique with your audition. Please email your audition to: info4pam@gmail.com. Thank you!

NO DVD SUBMISSIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED!! ONLINE SUBMISSIONS ONLY!"

(ed: have fun with that)

B.H.O.

The Camaro

is finally starting to look like a Camaro to me.

Particularly this one. I think it's because it properly looks like a slot car.

(Weight)

I have the unique and wonderful predicament of having a fickle attention span as well as a generally one track mind.

I can't multi-task for sh*t.

I am currently in a show that runs Wednesday to Sunday. Given the above, while I'm in a show, I am completely useless with regard to anything other than completing my performance duties on the day of a show. This is the case despite the fact that it is a series of one acts, of which I am in the first and can leave the thee-ay-tah after my roughly 15 minute performance is over.

So, that leaves me with two days of the week that I have to overcome my regular, non-arteestically weighted laziness to get anything done. Thus it was that this past Tuesday became the day I dedicated to getting my absentee ballots completed for the November 4th elections.

Given that I was voting in my home state and have not kept with the goings on of my home state, I was roughly clueless regarding all the voting issues other than the presidential election. Now, if it were anybody else, I'd take the position that one shouldn't be voting on issues of which one does not have a working knowledge. Since I NEVER take my own advice, I had to vote on them anyway. There's also the suspicion I have that not voting on everything would make my presidential ballot void...(political superstition). This is one of the many occasions that I consult the wisdom of the great-and-powerful Maternal Unit. The maternal unit was at work that day, however. I had to turn to my other bosom confidant - the internet.

So, I bared down and, in between (insert random distractions here) and having to flake on a movie, I managed to make my decisions on the various issues. Before I sealed my ballots with the glue of certainty*, I called the Matron herself to see what she had to say about the Senate candidates, as I had no patience to look through voting records and there were two independent knuckleheads on the ballot I couldn't find anything about.

Or that I was just too damned tired to find anything on.

She ran through the people and I settled on easy answer (a).

I can't remember what it was, but she asked me about something...and it was one of those things I rant on ad nauseum (long list that list of things is). As I was yammering, out of nowhere she asks,

When are you going to take a break for a while, and come down here and get a job somewhere, and help me with (my nephew)?

It caught me off guard. As I was about to ask why - or just tried to figure out something to say, she dismissed the question. It was a dismissal, though, that was mired in the sincerity of the previous.

But she let me off the hook. I took the opportunity to go completely to another topic. I yammered. She vented a little about my neph. She said she'd be sending something via e-mail and we got off the phone.

It seems like it must have been a year ago that I said to her that I was thinking of coming back home for a while to do what she had asked about - get a job and help with the kid. I guess it is because I'd made up my mind to that I was going to stay in NYC that her question seemed to come so much out of the blue.

Still...

I miss her. I miss them. When I was in grad school, I was thinking that I was missing an important part of his life. Lately, I've been thinking about how much I'm missing of my parents. In the way she asked the question, I can't help but think that she's thinking the same thing.

In four years, my mother will be the age her mother was when she died.

It is a stupid, insane sacrifice that some of us make to be up here doing this.

And right when it seemed I'd made up my mind about it...

I haven't booked a commercial of any kind since before I left to go home during the summer.

Maybe it's just time to go home.

So, I'm tired, but I can't go to sleep. If I sit anywhere that's quiet for any length of time, this is what I think about. Maybe this is what all of us from far away think about all the time. Maybe it's just me.

And, so, that's where the 2-3 tons you see me wearing comes from.

(shrug)

Such is life.