My Kind of Store

Have you ever heard of Steve and Barry's? I hadn't, until I read this article. I like the idea of buying an entire outfit for under $20. Is there one in the Boston area?

I'm Sure This Is Ignorant...

... But exactly how many places are we bombing right now? God save the War on Terror.

Chickens Roosting

The only major problem I have with Rev. Wright's statements is that they suggest someone other than the US government is to blame for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Watch these when you get a chance.

The Good Reverend

Reverend Jeremiah Wright has become the latest distraction technique in this increasingly chaotic election season. Why?

Because he is black?
Because he is the opposition's clearest shot at the squeaky-clean Senator from Illinois?
Because he is divisive?
Because he is un-American?
Because he is an agent of hatred?
Because he disrespected the memory of those who died on and because of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks?

Depending on who you ask, you'll get a different answer.

Me? I think it's a combination of several things. One, he's black. And if you take issue with that--why have we never gone after the Billy Grahams and the Jerry Falwells with the same intensity and scrutiny? Americans--especially the generations of whites who came of age after World War II--are relative strangers to notions of oppression and struggle. A gross over-generalization, to be sure. But really, is it not odd to condemn one man's indiscretions (if they are that) while virtually ignoring similar sins perpetrated by a whole group of guys?

Today, on my favorite show, The View, Elizabeth Hasselback started in on the Rev. Wright nonsense again. Frankly, I find her to be a willful racist, which, yes, is worse than an ignorant one. Sure, the effect is the same, but there's something to be said for intention intensifying action. Her unrelenting criticism of Obama's relationship to the reverend is laughable, considering Hasselback remains one of the Bush Administration's perkiest apologists. She offends me on every level, and I don't understand how the other women on the panel can stand sitting next to her day after day. She should be fired and replaced with an educated conservative. Someone like Laura Ingraham springs to mind immediately. Sure, I agree with pretty much none of what Ingraham says, but at least she gets her information from, say, books and newspapers rather than quick surfs to Fox News Channel during American Idol or Dancing with the Stars commercials.

So now, to conclude this bitch session, allow me to go on the record as supporting some of Rev. Wright's most controversial statements. As for the famous "chickens coming home to roost" comment--that's already been attributed to the great Edward Peck, a white diplomat worthy of at least 10 minutes of your time on Youtube. And bringing it back to schoolyard politics, consider the following hypothetical: A bully punches a different kid in the playground every day, until one day, the kids get together and fight the bully as one.

And some of his other statements--goddamn America, the United States of White America, white people intentionally inflicted AIDS on the black community--may seem far fetched or more intense than my own beliefs, but I understand and respect his anger. It's important to be angry about the right things. Do I think that Rev. Wright properly expresses his anger? Absolutely not. But I do not judge him, and I think that, if we all listened a little more closely to what he has said in the past--and not just the nonsense he spewed at the National Press Club yesterday (which was surely an ego defense strategy)--we would see more truth than insubstantial sound bytes looped on shoddy cable networks allow.

Coming Together

Yesterday
Sonia and I
Working on the musical
Hearing my words
Feeling her songs
It's special
Can't wait for you to see it

Yesterday
I joined a gym
I've been getting fatter and fatter since moving to Boston
I started running a few weeks ago
But I've been slacking this past week
I'm thinking that $35/month
And a one-year contract
Will whip me back into shape
Because I'm a cheap bastard
And I hate getting nothing for my money

Yesterday
My cousin called me
To talk about plans
And revisit a subject long forgotten
Just in time
Considering the events of the past week
And she didn't even know
Holler family
Holler Secret

Today
Meeting with a good friend
A chef
A big-deal chef
To discuss projects to do together
It's a good feeling
Being busy
Feeling needed
And appreciated

Today
I sound like an episode of Dr. Phil
Or worse
Stuart Smalley
Which means I still have work to do
To get back to the asshole that everybody loves
Or hates to love
Or loves to hate
Go out and enjoy the weather, my friends
It's a beautiful day

What's Worse Than Bursting into Tears at Work?

A lot. But that doesn't make it any less embarrassing.

She's Just Being Miley

Who is responsible for Miley Cyrus? She was born in, like, the early to mid-90s. She wasn't even a zygote when 90210 first started airing. How, in the name of Bob Iger, did the Achy-Breaky Love Child become the teenage Oprah. Seriously--I know homegirl is only 15, so I'll censor my true thoughts here. But can you imagine what a nightmare that little mogul is behind the scenes. And really, who has the balls to challenge Annie Liebovitz so publicly. I smell the beginning of the end for Ms. Montana

While we're on the subject of fucked-up 15 year-olds, turns out Roger Clemens is a bigger scumbag than anyone could've imagined.

Ecstasy

Is when clarity and decisiveness go to bed with each other.