Shorts (Because I ain’t posted no kind of love in a while) 07.02.03

* I am overjoyed because that lemon the Mets traded for from Cleveland has been traded to the White Sox. I specifically mean Robbie Alomar and that duck will probably hit .300 in the Windy City. But at least he’s not booting balls and nonchalantly hitting .260 at Shea.

*I had this whole thing about rap music and why I do kind of hate it—having to do it how people take it seriously, like rap can cure cancer, narrow economic inequalities, send people to Pluto, and bring back your saintly great-Grandmother. I don’t remember the whole argument and even though I could recreate it, that would be a long post. I reserve it for a later date. And I think I wrote some of it in an email to Dia L.

*But I will say that while rap music is fun and a reflection of our times, the interests that put out the music pander to the violence and rebellion side of culture—which always sells. It’s okay to take it seriously. But it is sad to know that some people have internalized this as a way of life, with nothing and no one to counter the fallacies of respect and revenge, along with the fallacies of how one can improve one’s bank account.

*Additionally, it is really annoying to hear your campers have this interchange:
-What’s your name?
-BONECRUSHER.
-What you represent?
-A-T-L.
Five times in four minutes.

*Camp De Fambul was v. good. My boys were chill and mostly behaved, posturing as 16-18 yr olds will. They had a good time. There was Harlem Shaking and discussions on leadership; Talks about bigotry and basketball; and they all switched gear daily, so four kids wore the Atlanta Hawks cap, they switched the “Original Celtics” jerseys, et cetera. Now, some of the girls done lost they minds and got into a claw fight (with no Vaseline?); and we had a couple of boys who were… “energetic.”

The best was Crystal and her Yonkers girls. They do not have roots in Sierra Leone or western Africa, like most of the kids from the camp, but they came just the same. Crystal is 14, and kind of mature and smart. And a little bizarre; a bunch of us took a walk where she kept talking. She started with how the castle on Manhattanville’s campus looked like a Scooby-Doo setting, and then broke down all the parts of that; continued into A & E shows about the macabre and death.

Of course me and Sammy loved her. She was hilarious. Apparently she gets along with kids too—she has her little posse and the boys love her. Crystal smiled incessantly, told bad jokes, dragged people out on the dance floor… jockeyed for attention… was working hard on her British accent and asking Selvadurai to speak, so she could imitate his.

*I got the pics back from the Chicago wedding and I looked back in my blog to try and remember everyone’s name. But when I returned from Chicago I was tired and had nothing more to say. So I didn’t chronicle it. Which sucks because I have a picture of the very beautiful B-ball Jamie (I think), along with pics from me-J.Hayes-Nate from US Cellular Field a/k/a US Cell Block as the natives call it, and shots of Malfait in Indian garb on the horse, shots of old friends Walnut and Joshu, and shots of Jessie Lynn and Feiser.

So I will tell a story, a month and a half late. Read on.