Got this one from some TV show :-)

"Men are lazy. Even if there is a great meal across town they'll usually reach for the nearest donut"

Of course this little diddy was uttered in response to the wonderment of a man stepping out on an inconvenient but fantastic woman with the local troll.

Tee hee...

But is the sentiment true? What assumptions is this idea based on? Why do I find it hillarious? Are there Historic examples? do I have personal examples? Why is this even important? Is it?How does it effect me, my relationships, my love?

I'm not quite so cynical. I kind think if he's looking for something a donut can't give him, he'll make the trip.

The assumption question was a good one though. (1) that this laziness only speaks to men (2) all men tend to have this trait, and thus are the same (3) there's a difference between a great meal and a donut (4) the analogy of food to women is valid. in other words, he's eat one way ergo, he'll fuck according to the same paradigm...

I've Got This Hood Habit

I reside in an urban area 1 mile from downtown and 1/3 mile from the water in the city where I Live.

Now when I say urban, I mean the Hood.

I'm broke so I usually stick close to home and walk everywhere; to the water, downtown or just around the hood when I feel like it. When I walk around I stand out. There are many neighborhood peeps who walk but they aren't shlepping around Ralph Lauren totes full of writing stuff and strolling. They are looking for a fix, not inspiration to write about.

I thought by now they'd be used to me. It's been months, but I still attract a lot of attention.

Now I don't mind talking to people. In fact, I know everyone in the hood (to many a snob's disgust.) But the attention gets more intense once I open my mouth. The conversation is always some variation of:

Them: Yo ma
Me: wassup, hello
Them: Dayummm
Me: Well you have a nice day.
Them: Hole up, Hole up
Me: I'm actually on my way- C-ya
Them:Whay you from? You talk white
Me: smile
Them: Whay you from? You ain't from here.
Me: There you go
... and on and on and on

Now the conversation is old but not bad. It's that as I start strolling away, inevidably they follow and start getting louder and louder. That part's urksome. Safety becomes more of a concern the closer a motherfucker gets to you. Moreover, everyone watches everything. Negros following you around really gets the hood talking.

But no on is gonna stop me from walking in my own neighborhood dammit. So I have this habit. I talk to myself on a dead cell phone. No one will interrupt you if you are talking on the horn.

Now, I can still be polite and wave or nigga-nod to everyone on the street. (everytime they call me "red," it tickles me) I can stop and talk if I want to, and there's the added benefit of letting me talk out the thoughts in my head.

Yes. I understand talking to myself is neurotic. Even with a prop.

But it works.

;-)

I'm in love (stop rolling your eyes)

Favorite quote of the day.

“I just don't know if O [Obama] can keep hold of the leash with so many wolves on the end of it.” (responding to Christopher Hitchen’s opposition to the possibility of a H. R. Clinton Secretary of State. Hee hee)

I’m in love with a guy who would love the above quote. He’s fabulous. Smart and tall and sweet and a gentleman who doesn’t mind letting me have my way. He let’s me admire his aggressive side, while admonishing me for having a submissive one.

Him: “You should be careful. Someone might take advantage of that.”

Me: “Backatcha buddy”

I know I know… Rock Star.

He’s big-and-huge-and-tall.

He inspires me to write things. (Not a bad writer himself.)

He took me on a ferris wheel before dinner once. He always picks a great bottle of wine. He kissed me for the first time at my favorite club on the beach, on a white couch, while some Asian guy was spinning hip-hop in the corner, an afro-cuban band was warming up downstairs. His compliment about my smile was what did me in… but I had a crush on him from the moment I laid my eyes on him... I didn't need much convincing.

The second time was at my favorite club mainland. This time, the leather couch was black. The DJ was spinning old school, and poetry was warming up upstairs.

He took me to a Brazilian bar-b-que. Holy mackerel! Meat and wine. He asserted, “Don’t mess with any of the green stuff” referring to the salad bar. He ordered the carrot cake, and Icewine “in honor of me.”



After closing the place down, in the parking lot, we had the sexiest political conversation in existence.




I shit you not. Test me on it. I'll put it up against anything. He asserted it was the funnest political conversation he's ever had... but that it was more appropriate for late-night-showtime than Meet-the-Press.




hee hee.


How can you not fall a little in love with a guy like that?

He let me wheel around his Escalade after the second time at the Brazilian place. He was concerned… but tried not to show it. Hee hee.


He’s willing to eat my cooking—after a little brow beating. I demanded to make him a meal for his birthday.

I dig him.

(Update: I injured his brand new car... yikes. I'll write about it once I get over the shock)

You're invited.

My mind wandered to a pair of family traditions my father rocked: Christmas Eve breakfast and Christmas Brunch.

For December 24th. He makes pepper-pot.

Warning. This Breakfast is hard core. Pepper-pot is rustic and meaty and mollasses filled. It's Guyanese in that half the time you have no clue what kind of meat your eating, but it always has massive bones to knaw around. Don't even consider silverware, it's eaten with wonderbread. The more people you have in your company the better; but get it while you can get it... cuz the four of us (my brother, two younger sisters, and I) can kill an entire pressure cooker full in one sitting.

Told ya. There have been good natured fights and injuries.

Christmas brunch is civilized in the classic British-Guyana tradition. Unlike the previous morning's free-for-all, you're clean and dressed. Dad's Garlic Pork is the standout on the menu. Good garlic pork is marinated for a month in some brine you can clean space shuttles with; but you can get away with only marinating it for a few days if you're feeling lazy. It's white and fried, and no bones at all. The taste is intense.

Yummy.

As my family changes, I hope the four of us, (my older brother, two younger sisters and I) continue the pure raucus that is pepper-pot and the gratitude to be among the ones you love that is garlic-pork.

It's about time to start the marinate for December 25th.

:-P

Are you as politically aware as Sarah?

The Sarah-Palin-thought-South-Africa-was-the-southern-region-of-the-country-Africa thing made me gaze at my own navel and wonder if I have the common knowledge required to be politically saavy. So I nosed around the web to see if there was some kind of meter-stick to measure.

et voila.

The Pew Research Center for the People & the Press published a report, a Political Knowledge Update. The conclusion, "Most of the Public Is Familiar with Key Political and Iraq Facts"

It suggests that you take the quiz of questions for yourself before you actually read the report.

So, really really really hoping that I'd never embarrass myself at parties the way SP did on international television, I took the test to see if I was bright.

Apparently I am :-)

I don't mean to brag but I'm over the 80% tile compared to the rest of you yahoos.

More after the jump

Unfortunately, according to the report, the national average for women was below the national average at 39% (on one hand it means I'm doubly as smart as the average woman in the area, the bad news is that it's fuckin 39%!!!)

Of course, the Pew reports that the average person does not know enough, they normally pay attention as does the media. and as the war wained less knowledge was absorbed/learned/accumulated.

interesting. I wonder what Sarah would have scored.....

OH... that's it. she brought the average down. we should tabulate it like ice skating, you know you can drop her score as low (and mine as high, hee hee) and just average everyone elses... then I bet we wouldn't be losing to the boys.

so there!

Doth he protest too much?

That handsome devil, Colin Powell, ONCE AGAIN went on a diatribe regarding a post in the Obama administration....

Powell: Let me just say this... I'm not looking for a job. Now I think I may be of some help from the outside because of my considerable experience with the UN Security Council, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and as Secretary of State, and from my loooooooong military career, and I look evil people right in the eye...

You know I was knighted by Queen-Mum, right?

He sighs wearily, "Now if the President of the United States asks one to serve... one MUST consider it, so of course, I would give it appropriate thought; but I am not looking for a job.

Nor have I been offered one

But it's cool, cuz I'm not lookin

Nor have I been asked...

hee hee.

President-Elect Obama

Well he won. This is delicious on many levels... But I'll just mention two: Love and Pride.

I'm watching the coverage of civil rights activists with tears in their eyes. They are overwhelmed and it makes me love them.

I love them because I'm NOT overwhelmed. Because of those weeping men and women who have been through so much for me, tonight was not revolutionary; it was a manifestation of the reality I assumed would be. I'm fortunate enough to grow up in a time when I think, "Of course a charismatic genius with a killer smile and ambition for days is gonna be President... um he's the best of the lot."

So although I felt weird with everyone ONLY talking about race... I fell in love with those angry motherfuckers that paved the way for me all over again.

But I'm also really proud of US. Because we got together and made a choice that we were going to change shit. It wasn't legislated by Congress (no, I'm not hatin on the Voting Rights Act) It wasn't decreed by the Supreme Court (no, I'm not hatin on Brown v Board); we didn't amend the Constitution (you know I'm not hatin on the 13th Amendment)... All I'm saying is that about a bazillion of us got together, gave five bucks, connected and said, "This is the guy we want. It's gonna be a huge change and some folk are gonna try to stop us... but this is what we want.

Oh, and we're gonna do it with some class."

We then proceeded to blast the electoral map so hard it now looks purple. hee hee. We made the win so massive that no amount of voter supression, cheating, or other sillines was going to deny us.

President-Elect Obama. The possibility of what might happen to our politics gets me excited, but that will have to wait until tomorrow.

Tonight, the love and pride is about all I can handle.

:-P

Ahh... THAT's what bugs me about Sarah Palin!

It's election day. Indulge me.

I have been struggling with the whole "Sarah Palin" issue. I couldn't figure out why she bugged the hell out of me. I wouldn't talk about her because people literally go ape-shit when her name is mentioned.

Apparently I don't live near the "patriotic" parts of the U.S. because everyone around me hates her. The reasons they give are sexist, personally insultling, childish and immature (not to mention mean)... so I can't subscribe to any of that silliness. For the record: (1) I believe McCain when he says he's proud of her. (2) I think she is a smart woman (3) I do find her a tad inarticulate, but hell, I respect a lot of folks who are not well spoken, so that's not enough for my fundamental distaste for her, and my FEAR of her as a politician.

Yes Y'all. That woman scares me.

At any rate, Peter Beinart penned an article in the Washington Post yesterday. Good Job man! for seeing past the noise and articulating one of the real reasons the nation has turned on the Alaskan Govenor:

Obviously, her wobbly television interviews haven't helped. Nor have the drip, drip of scandals from Alaska, which have tarnished her reformist image. But Palin's problems run deeper, and they say something fundamental about the political age being born. Palin's brand is culture war, and in America today culture war no longer sells.

Ahh.... that's it. Her political paradigm is out of date. That's why when she presents "Palin on Patrioism" she is coherent, but her ideas don't add anything to the landscape; when asked about the economy, healthcare or foreign policy she can't even put a sentence together. With an issue that partially invokes a culture-war (like taxes) she makes half sense...

Her political perspective is as outdated as her hairstyle.

Sigh... it also explains the qualities that I actually like about the woman (I find her ambitious, spunky, feminine, and competitive.) But that the focus of our politics and the proof of our patrotism must manifest itself in a war with "other" Americans is antithetic to the goal of the current body politic.

In the New World Order there's still a place for identity politics, don't get me wrong. We are a salad afterall, not a melting pot. But the my-identity-is-more-American-than-your-identity-game must stop. The pendulum is on the macro not the micro. We are no longer single-issue-me-me-me choosers; We are national-international-global choosers. So when she rants about abortion, and defines what's truly American; we go, "alright, whatever." But when she explains she keeps her eye on Russia out her window, or "Drill baby Drill," we go, "WHOA!"

She's ten years too late. That she can't even see the disconnect, is also of course, worrisome.

My dear sweet Peter's article also sheds light on my confusion over the Palin-as-the-future-of-the-Republican-party idea. I know some Republicans love her and she's got that cover-girl quality. But the idea fuckin scared me for some reason. It's because her paradigm will just get in the way of our progress.

The economic challenges of the coming era are complicated, fascinating and terrifying, while the cultural battles of the 1960s feel increasingly stale. If John McCain loses tomorrow, the GOP will probably choose someone like Mitt Romney or Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal to lead it back from the wilderness, someone who --although socially conservative -- speaks fluently about the nation's economic plight and doesn't try to substitute identity for policy. Although she seems like a fresh face, SarahPalin actually represents the end of an era. She may be the last culture warrior on a national ticket for a very long time.

A little insight is good.

I'm sure it's not the only reason she bugs me. (her knack for stoking white crowds into bloodthirsty mobs is unsettling.) But it's a good start :-P

I've got my ZEN back.

Happy Election Day!

Pursuant tradition, Dixville Notch opened their polls at Midnight and are already done with election 2008. The New Hampshire town just called the first race for Barack Obama. I stayed up for it because it's a tiny lilly white town which at one time was a hundred percent Republican.

Hell, they might still be... they only have 21 registered voters.

My intuition's been telling me it's gonna be an ass-kicking-- thus the zen.

I guess a bunch of pundits agree with me

Let the election binge begin...

GO VOTE!!

If you haven't done anything to contribute to the GOTV effort. Call up 3 friends and get them to the polls. Here I'll help you:

You: Hey Dude/Dudette.

Them: Wassup

You: How's fluffy? (Fluffy is anyone: the boyfriend, the dog, the kid.... I don't know. It's your friend-- just ask about their "fluffy")

Them: great!! thanks for asking.

You: So what time are you voting? (this makes them unconsciously start visualizing and planning to get there asses up)

Them: 3 o'clock.

You: Cool, do you know where your polling place is luv? I got LOST getting to mine. hee hee

Them: Yeah, it's at the strip club across the street.

You: Sweet, How you planning on getting there chica/chico?

Them: I'll drive.

You: Awesome, Let's have a drink after, I bet you'll be thirsty.

Them: Cool.

You: You know what? Fric and Frac live around your way. Why don't you give them a ring and see if their lazy asses voted yet. If they roll with you, you'll have company in line. :-P

Them: Good idea, thanks.

You: No Prob good lookin, my pleasure. See you tonight.

Them: bye

NOW: you prolly won't get through the entire conversation... at some point they are going to say, "I don't know." THAT's when you offer to help, look up their polling place, offer to drop em off, and pick em up; or connect them with a neighbor...

Do that and you'll earn your wings for the day.

Long Lines at Polls

Good Girl Rachel!! Check her out



I shit you not, I was thinking the exact same thing. The Supreme Court ruled years ago it was illegal to require a fee, a Poll Tax, at the polls. It unreasonably disenfranchised poor people from their constitutional right to vote.

Similarly, if folks can't afford to wait in line (due to health, or age, or financial obligation) they are being similarly disenfranchised from their fundamental right to vote. States that fail to provide reasonable access to ballots are violating the damn Constitution.

There is no excuse! this is 2008. ummm just call the guys from American Idol.

Now, the Supreme Court decision was in response to the use of a pole tax to deliberately stop poor people and blacks from voting... I'm not saying Republicans intend to stop more diverse Democrats from the ballot in order not to get their asses kicked.

I'm not sayin that. (But I did just read a story that the NAACP is suing Virginia because in black areas polling places have 20% fewer voting machines)

Your darling Scrub is not sayin that.

I was so zen...

about the days running up to November 4th. Sigh. I was helping out with the GOTV thing... I got on that huge conference call with Barack Obama last night. Shit, I even jumped on the Young Dems conference call with HRC this afternoon...

You know... just squeezing out the last bit of this piece of history. (in a very cheerful and relaxed way I might add.)

Then I plopped on the couch and turned on Hardball.

"Breaking News, National Polls: Gallup has B.O. up by 14; CNN has B.O. by 9; ABC has B.O. up by 11."

AARGH!!!

This killed my zen. Which pisses me off on a number of levels.

To start, true zen should not be so fragile... so it must have been some kind of quasi-zen.

Next, polls are ridiculous. (1) they don't account for the bullshit in people, and we KNOW people lie and tell strangers what they think they want to hear (2) the samples are way to small. How on earth can you extrapolate the pulse of a nation of 400 Million by calling a thousand? or even Ten thousand (they never call that many). (3) Even if they could, Pollees are self selected. So they are only polling people that share a certain trait, the tendency not to hang up on a pollster. (4) Pollsters are not getting a true cross-section. For example they only get to people that have house phones AND are home to answer them. I'm busy. I've NEVER been called to answer a poll in my life, political or otherwise.

Moreover, National polls are both irrelevant and HARMFUL in a general Election. (1) um... electoral college? (2) We may be up by 25 points in some states; but we're only up 1-4 points in the other states we need to get to 270. (In these states we need every-fuckin-body to go vote and the lines are going to be long as hell).

I can already see some lazy ass in Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio or Missouri who's gonna think were up by FOURTEEN, so he'll start drinkin early and stay his ass at home.

Tweety (Chris Matthews) made the joke, "Wouldn't it be hilarious if Barack won the popular vote by 5-10 Million votes, but McCain won the electoral college, so he became president?"

I think I blacked out.