What I learned ...Last Year (Part 2)

What did I learn last year? Nothing. I learned absolutely nothing.

I want to say that during this time of enforced precaution, where we all needed a bit more vigilant to the world around us that I looked inward and explored who I was, what I wanted and what I hoped to achieve in life. I want to say that I spent mornings meditating, found my soul in a pot of greens and learned to speak to my inner child like a zen grandparent. That built a paradigm that helped me shore up my weaknesses, bolster my strengths and plot a course into the living possibility of the future.

I did none of that.

I watched a bunch of old movies, home renovations shows (Love it or List it is fantastic) and weird Netflix cartoons. I played video games (Okay, I played the Sims 4 which is terrible but addicting). I half kinda wrote some stuff.

I officially meandered through this portion of life.

I did lose some weight, as I'm eating a lot more veggies and a lot less starch now.  I do have a little home gym setup now, and as of yet it does NOT have any dirty clothing hanging from it. I discovered sheets made out of this jersey material that are fantastic. I'm gonna have to get a new couch soon.  

I don't want to talk about what happened last year outside my house. At least not right now. Working from home the days begin to blur after a while. Weekends no longer beckon, they practically sneak up on you. The news becomes a window into the world, but if you've ever stepped outside and realized you really do need a jacket you know that the world can still sneak up on you, even when you're paying attention. Just like last year it still feels like we've packed ten years worth of living into twelve months. It maybe that more isn't happening, we just have better access but sometimes that just isn't the sense you get. But that's for another time.

Working from home made me realize that I need people. I need the concrete interaction, not just the tweets and the IMs,texts, and emails, but the voices, the stories, the energy. That I need the smiling faces, the frowns, the joy and the anger. I need the person part of the person. But in my need for conversation that I've hung on to contacts for too long in some areas common sense would have made me abandon ages ago. Every conversation isn't a good conversation. And that I've been nervous about starting it in others because I'm always concerned with wasting other's people's time. But I know these things about me and my personality. I tend to care to much, in general. Ah, life would be so much easier if I was an asshole.   

So what have I learned? Nothing that I didn't already know but I stubbornly find myself reluctant to change. But you can't grow in your comfort zone. And life was gonna change anyway, so you may was pick the changes you want before some others are forced upon you.

So. Some bourbon. Some ice. A promise to myself. And let us begin.

The difference an Omicron makes...

Ramblings Post #400
Life comes at you fast. We always think we have time. But things happen when we aren't looking. And we have to adjust, figure out a new plan, and move forward because time doesn't stop. So do what you gotta. And don't forget to have some pie. Sweet Potato. Because it's good, and the world it makes the world right.

Let me say this...medical clinics need a one diagnosis or less lane.

Anyway, the day after Christmas this year myself and forty other hearty souls, properly socially distant of course, gathered in an urgent care facility in hopes of being seen. I was about number seventeen or eighteen in line, but only because I had arrived an hour before they opened. I was grateful that they were open, offering same day PCR testing, and hadn't already booked up online...because they weren't taking online appointments. Such are the holidays in the days of Covid.

I haven't done a crowd of any kind since my running partner's birthday drop in last summer when we all had gotten vaxxed up and thought that the 'Rona was on the way out. It was a fun evening, live jazz on the deck, folks having a good time, dancing, cards, food on the grill, etc., but I've had a couple of scares since then so I've become a bit of a homebody. Okay, that last part is an understatement. I leave my house to get groceries and pick up food to go. That's it. But as luck or fate would have a week ago some old partners of mine came into town for the Celebration Bowl and I broke with routine and went by their hotel to see them. My plan had been to drop through, say hey, revel in some old memories and then excuse myself and take it to the house. I ended up in Downtown Atlanta because their hotel was in Buckhead and they would still be lost on a side street if I hadn't served as street guide. My fault really, should have stuck to the plan, but I hadn't been social in a minute, so there I was.

In any case, my plan had been to ride down to the folks on Christmas Eve, spend the day and then ride back on Sunday. I had my bag half packed, the few gifts (most of which I picked up from my brother) ready to load into the car and went to sleep with visions of highway driving in my head.

I awoke with a cough and sneezing. 

Now, I never did develop the fever or lose my sense of taste, but better safe than sorry and my parents are old, so I called and updated them and realized I needed to get tested.

Let me back up a bit though. My last test before this one was at the beginning of the month. I'd felt a tingle and started coughing so I decided I needed to know. I decided this after ELEVEN in the morning and jumped online to see what I could get. Well, the drug store around the corner had an opening. A bunch of openings. Really, they could have just had a button that said "I'm on the way." I chose the time slot at ONE to give myself time to clean up the house first. I drove over, got in the drive thru line, gave the attendant my name and check in code, she sent out the kit in drive thru slide, I did the swab, dropped it in the box. Leaving the house, test and drive back took all of twenty-five minutes, but only because there were two cars in front of me in line.

The experience has changed.

To start, I went online but the drugstore had no slots for Christmas Eve. Or the day after Christmas. Or the week after Christmas. I expanded the search and the nearest branch with slots was on the other side of the city. On the next Thursday. At 5pm. And by the time I clicked refresh they were gone. My brother searched his neighborhood for the at home test kits, which were in the stores last week but have disappeared with the surge. I checked another drugstore chain, and then looked to see what the county was offering. I finally found this clinic, open on Christmas Day where I decided my Christmas present to my mother would be easing her mind about my status. They opened at 8:30am, but I didn't get there until almost 10am. I figured it was Christmas, what other idiots would be out here like this? As it turns out, quite a few.

The nurse was kind enough to give me the skinny on the proper time for arrival, so we return to the beginning of our tale, with me in a parking lot with a growing crowd trying to get a test to set my mother's concerns to rest. I got there an hour before they opened. I was checked in fifteen minutes after they opened. They didn't test me until almost noon. Same test as before, the ID confirmation and actual swab and what not took less than three minutes. But they had actual patients with actual issues not related to Covid, so there was a bit of a wait. And I sat there and waited. Because that's what you do.

I tested negative by the way.

But damn. Now watch the scalpers do the at home tests the same way they've done the PS5s, which I still can't get.

Barkeep. The good bourbon, your boy is gonna live. Well, at least so far.

Your honor, we find the defendant....

This is a political post. 

I had this dream.

The Wisconsin Bar Association held a press conference and declared a mistrial in the Rittenhouse ....well, thing. Action, let's call it an action. I dreamed that the Bar Association as a whole had looked at the whole...action...and decided the obvious display of bias on the part of what is supposed to be it's referee was just too egregious and just decided to rescind his license effective immediately. Pretend he died they'd say. And if the world could just hold up, they take a month, let everybody settle down and then start over.

I mean, although I'm certain more than few in the region see the circumstances of what happened that night differently than I do, I would hope they would at least be affronted with how blatant this thing is getting.

But that's not going to happen.

It's almost like it's not understood that it was this type of action - one where the law is applied as one person sees fit in front of everyone, damn what you other people think - that sparked the demonstration that got us to the night that got us here. It's like a total lack of self-awareness. It's why now the National Guard is on alert for verdict. A few years of civil rights demonstrations, followed by a tone deaf incident leading to another demonstration and then another incident and we've...well, some folks... still haven't gotten the idea that maybe justice really needs to be blind. Or at least hold the cane, bump into stuff and pretend, real, real hard.

I'm going to be honest, I didn't think they'd get a conviction there. Just the demographic make-up of the region. Even without the prosecution bringing up Call of Duty, or rulings that suddenly Apple zoom is suspect or not being allowed to call the people the defendant shot 'victims.' The judge finds no issue with the defense calling protesters to rioters or looters, but go figure. People have looked at the judges past conduct and claimed that this is about par for the course with him. But someone should tell him THIS isn't the usual course, this is Augusta's older cousin. All the little personal quirks should have been left at the clubhouse.

I do find it odd that trying to get a murder conviction against a minor who crossed state lines, with a illegally acquired weapon, who then purposely went to an area where it was possible he might have to use that weapon, after publicly stating he wanted to do just that, would be a hard sell. I mean there are photographs and video. And even with the admittedly less than great witnesses, we would normally get there. As someone in the legal profession, the judges restrictions on Rittenhouse's previous statements, considering what we theoretically all learned in law school regarding state of mind, are a bit hard to swallow. But even if all of that were...even keel... I still just didn't see a conviction there. It's just that part of the country. I've read people swear that this clearly self defense. How I don't know, but they swear. These are probably the same people who don't see what Aaron Rodgers did wrong, but as I said, its that part of the country.  

What I didn't think was that the situation would look like this. Because although I'm aware the court has in essence followed the law in the usual manner, it feels like the judge has done everything but straightened the defendant's tie, patted him on the head and told him to show us all that pretty smile, because they won't let the bad 'prosecutor men' hurt him. And the idea that it even feels this way is wrong. 

I'm hoping for the best. Either way the verdict is not going to be liked. But the version I'm hoping for involves the incident/rights demonstration cycle at least getting a break. For a couple of weeks at least. 

Sigh.

Seems like I've heard this one before...

Ramblings Post #399
First, let's be clear. I do NOT have an OnlyFans account. I mean, as a customer, not as a creator. Not either one. Seriously, I'm barely suitable to show my face in public. The idea of taking off my shirt and preserving those images for posterity (or the internet - same thing) might get deported from the planet. Yes, I've lost some weight, I think, but for me to get camera fine would involve an act of God and plastic surgery. I've said it before and I'll say it again, my biggest asset is a lovely personality. I'm a delight!

I could never bring myself to give OnlyFans any money. Don't get me wrong the women seemed...interesting. And a number of them supposedly were surprisingly relatable. I understand that one of the features was that the women would actually interact with followers regularly, and that it wasn't just a show on the internet. And for those people who performed, it provided a safe environment in which to work since it was all virtual. Which actually says a lot more about the state of society than I'm gonna comment on this post. Oh, I've given money to worse endeavors, I assure you. But something about it just didn't sit right with me.

And now the good folks there have banned (or are going to ban) content not safe for work, and go back to what they were doing before. Um...

Let me explain. While my only involvement with OnlyFans was to occasionally ignore the young woman who would follow me on twitter so she entice me to open my wallet on her behalf, I did have an account with another site called Tumblr (which I've admitted here before and I'm sorry). That actually wasn't a half-bad hangout, a interesting mix of photo collages, art, creations, gaming stuff, stories, and just whatever someone wanted to put on there. It was free form, and could be almost magazine like if done right. There was a little eye candy too, but what got me started was the vast array of imagery, some of which I have used on this very blog. And the eye candy.

Anyway, when I say I've heard this one before, well, the creative and eclectic Tumblr already mapped out this future. A few years ago, the then very popular Tumblr was purchased for $1.1 billion dollars. It was going to be a multi-media powerhouse to rival Facebook that had grown organically, so the future was bright. And to protect that future post the sale the site pretty much banished the adult content, all that eye candy, behind multiple-multiple impediments. Essentially they just hid them away and put a lock on the door. Well, within the first 90 days about 30% of their user-base packed up shop and headed for other parts of the internet. Whoosh. I'm not saying the two events were connected, but hey. So you think there would be a lesson there. I would, but apparently not. 

Tumblr did all things....

As much as THE OWNERS don't want to admit it, for investor purposes, adult content pretty much MADE OnlyFans. While the platform was originally was designed to showcase musical and other artists with small but devoted followings, it was barely on my radar prior to the shift to more ...interesting content and I stays on the internet. I mean with Tumblr the draw of the adult stuff wasn't as clear, but here the brand has become attractive women saying "come check out my OnlyFans!" Which is kind of definitive. And as I've said over and over again, IP is not a fungible as people think it is. You would expect change of something like this to be gradual, not a hard and fast turn.  

Just last year OnlyFans handled some $2 billion in revenue on sales $12.5 billion through this portal, something most sites not named Amazon would kill for. Quite a bit of that was the adult stuff. So what is going on here? Why the hard turn? Well, to be honest this is greed. The company is trying to get "valuation" which is investor talk for "even more money" but like by the end of the quarter. Yes, it grew organically, but now the owners are done with that. And just like with Tumblr this cleaning up the site is part of the getting valuation process, because investment groups hate porn. (I started laughing as soon as wrote that.) Now that they've got a "BRAND" they're hoping to convert the platform back to the musical artists and other influencers. *giggles*

Just so we're clear, how did that cleaning up the adult stuff work out for Tumblr and its deal? Well, let's see, they ended up being sold again not too long after in 2019 for ...checks notes... $3 million doll ...checks notes again....um, million? THREE Million?  

Whoa.

But it could work this time, what do I know?

Barkeep, it's me. I used to come in here all the time. I'm the guy that orders the bourbon when the vodka is free. Remember? Yeah, I'm that guy! 

Never fight a land war in Asia...

This is a political post.

This morning, as I sometimes do, I took a peek at Reddit. Sometimes it's something funny, gets my day going with a chuckle or laugh. They have some neat architecture stuff, gaming, movie stuff and writing prompts to flex my creativity. Everything really. It replaced Facebook for me. But this morning it was...not good.  

This morning I watched video of people desperate to escape Afghanistan running alongside and then clinging to the exterior of a plane DURING takeoff. 

The end of the video isn't from a movie...

This is a shitshow.

This whole "action" was a shitshow at the start. It was a shitshow under every President who presided over it (...including my man Barry!), it's a shitshow now and because of how we're leaving it will be a shitshow in the future. I think the United States should very much think about getting out of the Nation Building business. Democracy R Us might need to close up shop. We had twenty years, most of a generation, and we wasted it. Instead of  developing infrastructure, or building up small local industries to help alleviate poverty, a mass education system or building up political parties we simply set the stage for the sequel to our ignominious Vietnam exit. The country we "liberated" didn't last 14 whole days without us standing there propping it up. And now the women and children we filled with hope will pay the price.  

And a good part of this is the current administration's fault - I mean, who didn't see this coming and why didn't we try to mitigate it. People have been screaming about getting the translators who worked with the troops out of the country for months. Yet we sat around looking at each other like we were sure some "other" agency would handle it, or if we waited long enough the problem would just go away. I see pictures of Taliban fighters holding US weapons now, because apparently the idea to take our toys with us never even occurred to anyone. There will be explanations in the future, reasonable explanations and reasons why X or Y didn't occur or fell out of the timetable. Some we'll be okay with, others we will not. But here every mistake here isn't a dollar value, but an actual human life that might be over, or worse just beginning the dark days ahead. One does not cling to the outside of a jet hoping to be carried away if one does not believe whatever you're leaving will be worse.    

By the way, the folks over at Ya'Queda are busy trying to pretend that Cheato's "historic peace summit" with the Taliban just last administration, and his invitation to them to come to Camp David, are merely figments of our imagination. Even now some conservatives look at the Taliban's plan to ban gay marriage, abortions and vaccinations and wonder if they were on the wrong side all along. That's just disturbing. Last year the GOP were screaming that Biden would have us at war forever, while Cheato would end it and bring our troops home. Well, the Dems actually followed through on the past administration's plans. And this is where we end up. *Sigh*

If this is where we're going, and it looks like it is, then we need to start expediting the process for getting those out who want to leave... yesterday. We may have gone in with the best of intentions, but like most things of late it turned into a ideological farce covering up a cash grab. And we are responsible. But then cleaning up messes caused by Republicans *cough* Bush *cough* is what the Democrats do best. 

The plane is supposed to hold 102. They squeezed in 800.

Black Art - Stuff I like

Ramblings Post #398
I like art. I would love to be able to take art trips, to travel to someplace and spend a day or two in a museum or gallery just gazing upon the art, consumed by it. There is something deep inside that moves someone to create. I like to think I'm affected by it, although my daily word count might have a different opinion. To see nothing and envision something there. I recently found out that some people just can't imagine - they literally can't see it in their head. Their imaginations don't work like that. So maybe I'm lucky. And that means I should share. 

This is the artist and some of her work. She goes by the pseudonym Hudayouthinkiam, because although her work his nature and animals, her most striking work focuses on women and their sexuality. But she doesn't paint faces, so the question is who do YOU think I am?  

Sometimes it's the detail that the artist is able to capture, if not highlight. Note the individual hairs, the small scars. It's like a photo, but richer and deeper. This piece by Babajide B Olatunji is in my opinion fantastic. The artist's work capturing the Tribal Markings really makes it more than just a story or idea you've heard of that happened or happened in Africa.

But sometimes detail isn't what you want. You want a vibe, a feeling, a concept. Art by Alyah is bright, fresh and colorful. In these times where we've started to regret those nice neutral colors that we painted the living room, her paintings give a bright splash of possibility. 

I want the future to bright and colorful, but also to be a study into who I am and where I've come from at the core of me. I like to think I'm more than just a black boy from South Carolina. 

Barkeep. There is a bottle down there with some moonshine in it. I know, I put it there.

Deja Voo....all over again

This is a political post. 

How are we HERE again? 

I have avoided writing about the Chauvin Trial.

As someone said on Instagram the other day, I'm just not up for anymore black pain and suffering. It is becoming a carousel that we can't get off for some reason and the longer we take the more dangerous the pressure grows.

I did catch snippets of the closing arguments. When his defense attorney argued that the framing of the prosecutors "completely disregards" what happened before Floyd was pinned to the pavement it brought back an old memory. After the riots in Los Angeles following the Rodney King verdict long ago, one of the daytime talk show people had an episode where they went down into the neighborhood and white and black people together. And I remember distinctly a young white woman standing up and trying to justify the beating Mr. King took at the hands of the police. She pleaded with the crowd to understand that "we don't know what happened before the video started." And an older white woman stood up, as young girl stood there repeating we just don't know and put her hand on the girl's shoulder. Her words were profound. She simply told the young woman that "there is nothing he could have done to have deserved what happened to him."

There was nothing that George Floyd did that day, or any other day, that deserved a penalty of death. Period.

And for the record, his medical condition and previous drug use should be no defense. The eggshell plaintiff rule should be in full effect here. I'm still amazed that the defense attorney characterized Chauvin as feeling threatened by the crowd, despite all the testimony and video showing otherwise. I'm not sure if he was expecting cheers as casually killed a man by leaning on his neck ..with his hands in his pockets. Threatened? I'm really not sure what was going through his mind. And frankly I kinda don't want to know.

Now, even if you don't believe in defunding the police (still a dumb name for a good idea) as many of the jurors indicate they do not, the concept of watching a man in custody being killed in slow motion, casually as it was, should move something inside you. I hope. As the prosecution stated, "To be very clear, this case is called the State of Minnesota versus Derek Chauvin. It is not called the State of Minnesota versus the police." The idea of bad cops getting away with it, time and time again, only undercuts the idea of the police as the good guys in the eyes of the public. And will eventually begin to increase the real, not just perceived, danger that officers face out in the field. This nightmare scenario has to stop somewhere, so why not here? Believe it or not, if you think about it, this actually is a pro-police prosecution.

And considering that during this trial we have experienced the deaths of Daunte Wright at the hands of the police just a few miles from where this trial is taking place, and Adam Toledo's death while his hands were raised as instructed. Meanwhile, another part of the same state a man who rams two police cars, assaults an officer and led the police on a chase with an officer hanging onto the side of the truck is taken into custody. I can only wonder what the difference in circumstances was.

I'm hoping for the best. Maybe we've woken up that continually granting ultimate power on an individual basis to people usually not vetted for bias or other dangerous tendencies probably isn't a good idea. I mean, the evidence should be clear here. Because if not, then I think 2021 is coming for 2020's Most Turrible Year belt. 

So, YOUR boy.... (as required by Internet Rule #478b)

Ramblings Post #391
My friend and I trade memes to pass this lockdown time. I mean, I haven't been vaccinated yet and there IS a 1 in 5 chance of having a serious medical aliment that follows you for the rest of your life if you get it, so I'm enjoying some me time. But anyway, we trade memes. Silly memes, sports memes (she hates the Cowboys) and political memes. But she's not as attuned to frivolities of the Internet like myself. But she does occasionally send the wicked curve-ball. I'm glad this isn't in her wind up.

I have absolutely no interest in viewing Lil Nas' new video for his new single MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name). Zero. Why don't you watch it before you judge you might retort? I would decline, for the preview images have already given rise to the idea that it is not for me. Note here, I didn't say bad, evil, demonic,  objectionable or not worthy of it's creation. I said that it is NOT FOR ME. There are a lot of things in this world that may be in essence good, or at least something we should reserve judgment for... like say, bananas or Adam Sandler films. But sometimes you just know something isn't for you, and subjecting yourself to it would problematic. So I'm going to say that this song, which I understand is along the lines of an open letter to himself about coming out as gay, is not for me.  

And no, I don't eat bananas because first there is just something wrong with the texture and second the taste of them is just weird (perhaps it's just me because I never really ate them because of the texture). And Adam Sandler is hit or miss, honestly.

Now I've watched and enjoyed other media focused on coming out stories, on gay men and women, on satanic worship, etc, so I don't think that this is bias thing. I thought South Park's gay couple of Satan and Saddam Hussien was funny, so the visuals for the video are not even a wholly new idea. And despite the 73,000 remixes of Old Town Road I was still in favor of  the young man getting his money. I mean Lil Nas X's rags to riches story of his come up is fantastic. The ASCAP money alone must have been staggering. And since then he's become a new millennia celeb, putting up top choice snark on Twitter and doing the rounds. 

This is his next project? This? 

I'm not sure what he's going for here. Is this a declaration of his identity? Because I'm fairly sure most of us already knew he was gay. An image change? I thought we already had enough "evil" rappers, but maybe he's got a spin on it we haven't seen. A record label indulgence for a successful artist? Wouldn't be the first or last time. But whatever this is he's definitely committed. Instead of just the video which could be waved away as a questionable artistic choice, as part of his promo he had commissioned 666 pairs of Nike Air Max 97 shoes in black and red, which feature a real drop of blood (hopefully his own, but I don't know), a pentagram attached, the number 666 emblazoned, and a bible verse about the devil, John 3:18. A collaboration with art collective MSCHF (which Nike has disavowed), the shoes were priced at $1,018 a pop and sold out in less than a minute. 

If you're gonna be a bear....

What I don't understand is that he is mildly upset, perhaps weary, of the outrage. He knew this was coming, after all he lives in a country that takes umbrage at people not saying bless you when someone sneezes. Lap dancing the devil in your music video is just a bit above that. Yes, we are an increasingly secular country, but when you push at the boundaries things don't always go as planned. I hope he calculated the duration properly - see Dixie Chicks. 

Like Issa Rae once said, I'm rooting for everybody black. This don't really have my blessings though, but then who am I to judge? I just hope he knows what he's doing, because while things have changed in the past few years, they ain't changed that much. 

Barkeep. Let me get a glass of that Cali Red from Snoop Dog. My people say that wine is the bomb.

Black Art - A Mood

Ramblings Post #389
I like art, in all it's forms. From the small pieces, the large pieces, the graffiti, the abstract, the classical, the experimental. Music, sculpture, paint, writing, landscaping, culinary (yes, they're art!) and all the rest. My life is my mind, my imagination, and art is the key to the forces that shape it, that help me to interpret the world around me. Everything in my life is shaped by, oddly, everything else in life. And one day I hope to affect the world around me.

By Dwayne Jones

Digital Artist. Yes, because it's the finished project, not what he started with. I like this for the colors. It brightens up a face so often clouded by the world around it, but still allows enough of it through for the resolute attitude to display.  

theartofka2ra

I like her eye. The work has a soft feature, that feels more like a vibrant cartoon, which allows the viewer to assume certain things. I think of this character as smart, funny, and health conscious. She feels like a vegetarian, not a vegan, who works out at home because she took a spin class and didn't feel like paying $65 to sit in a room and pretend to ride a bike...and get yelled at. In simpler terms, the artist while not getting into details, has created a story from an image. 

By Arinze Stanley - Machine Man #6

And now this guy. This is NOT an photo. This is a drawing, Charcoal and graphite on paper. This guy's talent is absolutely amazing. The level of detail. The way he is able to capture the tiniest nuance. I hope he charges a grip. When I first found him he was just getting hot, and now he's doing actual shows. And I hope to be able to give him full price for his ability one day. 

I want to spend a day with art. 

Barkeep. A tall water. Seriously. I really haven't hydrated today, and I know I should everyday, and so drinking at this point would be just bad. Why don't you think I'm serious? I forgot.

Black Art - A Scene

Ramblings Post #388
This pandemic has brought out the worst and best of us. But as I've said, I am an artist. I find stories and tales in the small moments and build them into epics that cause mental thunderstorms of creativity. And I've looked upon the great works and sniff in derision that 'I could do that'. (By the way, I'm wrong, I probably couldn't do that, but who are YOU to tell ME.) And I am weirdly searching for perfection in a world where I know that the real beauty is in the errors. But I will continue. I will produce. I will create. I will be who I dreamed. If there is nothing interesting on TV. 

Visual by Desiree Mattsson

 

I like this visual. It's staged by Desiree Mattsson for Vogue Arabia, which I guess is a thing. I'm not sure how magazines that focus on style work in countries or regions where the people I imagine are their focus are suppressed, but if it works for them, well hey. The look is cool in tone, with the highlights of jewelry that catch my eye. It is very nice work.  

by Naledi Tshegofatso Modupi

And there is this piece. Striking hard edges mixed with curves and shapes. It feels like I'm missing something but can still feel it. She describes her work as reductive or semi-abstract, a sort of getting down the essence of the person.

"85 To Africa" (2019)by Dr. Fahamu Pecou

This, right here. This I do want. Perhaps it is the duality of the image, the visuals of both things that are typically African and stereotypically from Atlanta that get me. Or maybe that I've lived in Atlanta for a long time and this just feels familiar. Like I might see (or since we're in a pandemic - have seen) it in a popup shop in Little Five Points. Either way, he's got immense talent and I may have to get one of his. 

"Now, back to writing my own piece of art," he lied. 

Barkeep, do you have any chocolate milk? I know it's a bar but I'm just vibing on some ice cold chocolate milk right now. And I already drank the last of it? Right...

The Final Pitch Meeting...

This is a political post. 

Open on a cold but clear Washington DC morning. You can feel the excitement in the air, something was about to happen.

Then there, in the sky. It is a man, a single man hurtling to earth. All eyes turned skyward, enthralled by his daring. Who would be so bold, so daring as to interrupt the swearing in of Joe Biden? Less than five hundred feet from the earth his parachute opens, a grand American Flag with a soaring eagle superimposed upon it. Cut to outside the gates guarding the Capitol Building forlorn supporters of the outgoing President who had prayed for a miracle suddenly feel their hearts leap with joy. Cheering wildly. The shots from across the nation all channels, the entire internet, suddenly switch to a live feed from the capitol.

He lands firmly at the top of the steps leading to the dais. His golden mane is perfect, shirtless his perfectly sculpted pecs and eight pack abs glisten with sweat and dignity. He is the embodiment of all good and true in America, the living embodiment of the perfect man. He is so amazing. He storms, no, almost Fred Astaire like, he dances down the steps. You see the crowd is in shock so nobody moves. As he starts the dancing down, the women are swooning at his rampant masculinity, the men cowed by the same. You can see the fear on their faces. At the bottom of the steps a hapless Obama tries to intervene but he is easily disposed of, almost casually, knocked aside as though he were an errant piece of paper. The golden one pushes a frail, stammering Biden aside, lays his hand across the offered Bible and growls at the quivering Chief Justice John Roberts, who we show has wet his pants. And he says, get this, he says "Swear me back in, I'm not going anywhere!"

Outside the fence the crowd ejaculates in joy, grown real men weeping tears of happiness that the truth had finally been revealed. The soldiers look at each other and immediately realize their beaten, you can see it on their faces. And then....

What? No good? I think the Q-Anon crowd will eat it up. My audience will love it! This could work, I'm telling you...

That's how I pictured Cheato trying to convince the Network to renew his contract for the President gig. Him and Guli at one side of the table, him huffing and puffing his way through the scenario, Guli doing hyping him up and doing sound effects. He's the master of the deal, I mean, he just needs another season.

And with that, this cycle of President comes to a long overdue close.

The reunion show is scheduled for a Federal Pen near you!

A word about Dr. King

Please don’t act like everyone loved my father. He was assassinated. A 1967 poll reflected that he was one of the most hated men in America. Most hated. Many who quote him now and evoke him to deter justice today would likely hate, and may already hate, the authentic King.
~ Bernice King

As we are on the cusp of a beginning of a return to what we hope is some degree of normality, we're interrupted on threshold as those people who have been enabling Cheato for the past four years are now invoking the words of Martin Luther King Jr. in an attempt to seemingly disappear their recent past. I've seen quotes from the good doctor by Senator Lindsey Graham and so to be former press secretary Kayleigh McEnany as though when they hadn't lived lives in direct contradiction to the man's teachings. The term hypocrisy doesn't even begin to cover it. 

But let's put that, and hopefully them behind us. 

We as a people like to re-write history to suit our own ends. Since his death Dr. King has been lionized in popular culture, but in the end he was just an ordinary man on mission during difficult times. In his life he was threatened, vilified, shunned and insulted. But he didn't let those circumstances deter him from his service. And some of us need to stop acting like America was always with him.

Dr. King hoped for a better America, and worked diligently towards that idea during what could be considered the Racial Cold War. He wasn't perfect, but who among us is. However his work and his legacy have served as inspirations for us to build on. Not just Black people, but all of us. But while we admire him, let us not drift into the realm of fantasy in our memory of him or his time. It does not serve him or us well. 

Despite fifty years and our best efforts we have not traveled far enough from where he left us. That's a reality. But that should not deter us from our efforts to push on. Overnight successes sometimes take decades. And since our goal is better place for ourselves and our posterity all we can do is grit our teeth and lean into the wind going forward. We may not live to see the final outcome, but we ARE going forward from where we are now.

Let us march.  

December 35th, 2020

This is a political post.

Is this just a holdover fate couldn't get on the schedule last year, or is 2021 gonna try to one-up 2020?

Following most election years, the final certification of the incoming president is usually a quiet affair. The previously announced and counted electoral college votes are brought forth in ceremonial boxes, re-counted in front of everyone and affirmed. I mean, we already watched the states cast them, can do math, so we know the outcome so there is little set piece. There is the occasional objection (democrats did object in the last election), but the ceremony proceeds with such regularity that most of us were not even aware of the requirement until this year.

That's them.

But after losing the election that seemed to take forever to count, refusing to concede, and getting 99% of his challenges for non-existent fraud thrown out (note that not a single lawyer when standing in front of judge argued fraud) and then getting caught on tape trying to Godfather a state officer to do him a solid, well, long story short let's just say this hasn't been a normal election. And since the Veep kindly informed el Cheato that he didn't have the power to pick which electoral college votes got counted, and declined to even try, things have gone even less well. So of course the orange one upped the ante and held a rally on the Ellipse to tell his rabid, and apparently constitutionally ignorant, followers to go down the lawn Capitol Building where the ballots were being counted and do something. And so they did.

It took a while but that old so-and-so from Carolina was exactly right. Under Cheato the Republicans have lost the Presidency, the House and as of this afternoon, the Senate. But instead of simply brushing themselves off and learning from their defeat they're...checks notes...storming the Capitol Building during session and making America look like a banana republic or backwater dictatorship to a worldwide audience. Yeah, sounds about right.

If this happened somewhere else we'd already be looking for a reason to invade. This is America, we're supposed to be the tsk-tsking as those less constitutionally created countries have things like this happen to them. This is supposed to happen over there, wherever there is. But that was then and this is now.

In the chamber of the House of Representatives furniture barricaded the door as security drew weapons and Congressmen put on gas masks. In the Senate the Veep was rushed out as protesters screamed through the doors. Senators were evacuated and somebody smartly grabbed the actual ballot certificates before rushing out. Broken windows, American flags thrown from the roof, protesters scuffling with police and later cavorting on the floor of the House screaming at the wind. Which is amazing because the Capitol building is a secure structure. Or it was supposed to be, except for the video of security opening gates and taking selfies with the rioters.

 

Yes. Rioters. Or Terrorists. Because the instant they broke through the security barricades in an attempt to incite terror in the hearts and minds of our elected officials they became the definition. Domestic, but still the definition. Yes, it's just that simple.

Curious I turned to Newsmax and OANN to see their coverage. As expected it took them less than a minute to pretend this was just a peaceful protest and respectful of the history despite images of people battling with the Capitol Police or hanging from the gallery in the House chamber. And they tried hard to compare it a hypothetical "Antifa" attack that they quickly assumed would have involved apocalyptic damage. Then as if taking a cue, on social media the type of people who watch these channels swore that the protests had be infiltrated by agents wishing to make them look bad. They asked that we ignore there t-shirts trumpeting revolution with the date just below, or the rioters screaming about how they were taking the building or intended to occupy it all night.

 

Because reasons. 

 

The saddest part is that no one will be held accountable for this. Well, in a stunning move Twitter did suspend Cheato's account for twelve hours, which has no doubt lead to a teeth gnashing rage that we'll all be spared from. That will be the long and the short of it. Despite the law, including ones that Cheato himself approved of, and despite there being hundreds of photos and by now hours of video, there is little likelihood of real punishment. That most of these terrorists are going to walk away from this free and clear is a different kind of appalling.

 

And you KNOW why.

And that's part of the problem. If we're going to be a country of law and order, it can't be law and order for just some people. The greatest country in the world can't be great for just a few. This day, along with the elections that turned Georgia blue was supposed to be the dawning of a new America. This would have been dawn, the inauguration more like fresh coffee or that first good stretch. But instead, because as it was so aptly pointed out this morning at the rally this is no longer the republicans versus democrats or conservative versus liberals, with all the machinations, footwashing and fawing by McConnell and the boys it's become Followers of Cheato versus Everybody who is not. Maybe karma will get them. Because I'm not even going to mention that I didn't see many Covid masks at all. But then the election is over. We weren't supposed to ever hear about it again. Remember?

This level of ridiculousness can't continue if we wish to remain America. Prosecution needs to happen. A lot of prosecution. If only to demonstrate we follow the law here. At all levels. And it's got to start with Cheato.